Busy few weeks...

It's been a hectic and chaotic few weeks with winter, in respiratory disease management, our busy period.

Added to this there have been a myriad of project deadlines, business case completions, service spec reviews, performance, information governance, ACP /STP.. TLA (Three Letter Abreviations) ... And we are putting our house on the market.
The latter is what I wanted to share with you.

I love my house, its a fair size, 5 double bedrooms, a massive living room, separate massive dining room, big conservatory, 2 bathrooms and a modern, open plan kitchen that you can swing several cats in... You are getting the idea it is Roomy?
Outside there is room to park 3 cars and the back garden is massive, private, not overlooked and warm.

So why move?
Well it's too big!!

We have brought our family up here and seen our children marry, live with us and then move on. Now it's just Julie and I in this BIG house.
We have invested a lot of money and time but most of all, love, into our house.
It is why it's so. Hard to find something that will ever replace this homely space.
There is something about our home that makes me want to stay and not go. The space, light, warmth and physicality added to the memories make it difficult to part. This house has been an important part of our family. We have shared many good times, some challenging ones too, but the good far outweigh the not so good... And none were ever bad!

As we search, I compare against what we have and what we would be sacrificing for the sake of downsizing...

The search continues...

Reading on holiday

Mental Dental (Murder by Proxy) makes a journey to Mexico.
Thanks David Morris for tweeting it..
International writing, international reading.
Books for chilling with....
Link

Good evening

Hi all
It's been a little hectic and life has been busy... So much so, I've been unable to write anything on this blog.
So what has been so busy with my world?
Paid work, working on a new respiratory pathway for acute and long term managing of COPD, using an NHS app and education plus allowing an alternative to option to admission to hospital, working with the Patient@home team, community services and more....
Added to that, my other services I manage still need input and then life!
The festive season was busy with family and friends.
Now, most of that is behind us... So hope to be on point with my book blogs.

So a quick reminder, there are links strewn around this blog with my Author page on Amazon to access.

My books are a range of fictional work that include hospital ghost stories, for obvious reasons, lottery dreams in a book and also a comedy and scifi story plus a couple of thrilling books based on psychopathic dentists and a heroine that saves the day.

Take a punt, have a look, download a copy of one and have a great evening

All the best

Check your Christmas reads

Please check out my amazon author page for more details on the deals set for 22-29th of this month to see you through Christmas and the new year
Link

Busy

It's been a busy few weeks, so much so I have not posted anything here since early last month!
The day job is in its busy 'peak season' for respiratory illnesses, family commitments have also been demanding, enjoyable but non the less, all absorbing.
Thankfully, today is a little easier.

So what's happening out there?
It's snowing, cold and treacherous on the roads. We had been trying to get to Colchester, trying to travel a route that would take an hour in total... Two hours later, several skids and anxiety attacks +++ with only half the route travelled, we turned around.
The snow has eased but the roads are like sheets of ice now...
I've just returned from walking RosieG, slipping and sliding around and happy to be indoors.

The snow looks beautiful and the landscape turns a different hue with the winter-scape. The frosted leaves, trees and grass, white and glistening... Gorgeous but treacherous.
My mum, comfortable and warm in Gibraltar, has never seen the snow and is always saying we are so lucky... But mum, I'd trade the warm sun to the snow any day.

Childhood stories... Metaphors

I remember growing up in Gibraltar and listening to the many stories my grandad Louis would tell us grandkids about.
We were very close as a family and very protective of each other.
Grandad was the patriarch, he was a leader and very charismatic, far from fearsome but we would all listen to his advice and words of wisdom.

His stories were intertwined with some singing and voice changes. He was a heavy smoker so his gruff voice would make us listen even more intently. He was a great story teller, maybe why I like to write?
They were mainstream themes, issues that we needed to have insight of and learn. This was for our safety but it was delivered through a filtered and Innocent delivery by my abuelo (Spanish for grandad).

I fondly remember the story of 'El mantequero'... I suppose it was the Gibraltarian version of the boogie-man. We used to live near the botanical gardens, it was our playground but we needed to respect that although beautiful, the gardens were dangerous after dark.
El mantequero, the butter man : was apparently a big, evil and immoral man that would leap out if the shadows if he caught you lurking after sundown and take a large, sharp knife out of his hooded coat and cut into your palms, removing the fat from them (butter) that he collected and you would not be seen again.
It was a very effective deterrent for us children for many years.
So much so, I was never comfortable walking through the Alameda Gardens in Gibraltar until my late teens.

When I examine the message and the effect, I realise abuelo was teaching us about being aware of the risk we all had. The metaphor was about paedophile awareness.

On reflection, it worked and it was such a lovely way of keeping us safe. Abuelo loved us and was determined to reduce the risk of harm to my brother, cousins and I.

Have you got any memories that you can share that are similar in nature? Any wise words that are entwined in stories?

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

Really interesting program about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) or brain damage from heading the ball, likened to boxers brain.
The wobbling brain causing tares and irreversible damage from the micro-trauma over years.
What will this mean to the game and its future?
Presented by Alan Shearer, an ex-pro and header of the ball extraordinaire on the BBC.

Having been a football fan all my life, playing for many years and being good and strong at heading the ball, I loved heading the ball. It makes me wonder what will have been the result of the years of heading balls?

Being a father to three boys, coaching teams etc, I always remember my eldest, Paul, saying 'I'm not heading the ball, I treasure my brain cells' I laughed but 'Paul, you were right'.

Having played for decades, I can honestly say I've played in many weather's, with differing quality balls and have headed these too... Frankly, most headers I thought were controlled and not painful. However, there have been some that have felt like my skull had caved in and my brain opened and scooped out. Feeling a bit wobbly for a few seconds and then back to the grind and the game.

So the evidence says don't and the love for the game says yes... So don't get concussed, try to protect yourself and use chest or position yourself back a little to avoid heading where possible.

Food for thought and well presented