"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
Quote by: Mohandas Gandhi
 

04 July 2008
Completed  the design and pages website for Hampton Hill Junior school. Just waiting for the rest of the content before launching it live.

Working on the Fete organisation again now.
 

01 July 2008
Launched website for the village fete next year: hhfete.co.uk
 

23rd June 2008
Redesigning the local junior school's website on behalf of the HHA as a service to the community.

Working on the CAD plan for the fete next year and creating up a budget for it.
 

19th June 2008
Permission has been granted by the Royal Parks management to hold the Hampton Hill Association first village eco~fête in Bushy Park.

Anyone who has a keen interest in bringing awareness to the plight of our  environment and the natural world can get involved in this event on 18th July 2009. All enquiries to: ask@hhassociation.org

Visit the graphic artist's website: www.chris-shields.com
 

14th June 2008
Had to attend Kingston Hospital as the steroid eye drops have caused very painful abscesses in my throat and an oral fungal infection! On penicillin tablets and Dystan medicine to clear it up. The eye consultant reduced the number of times I have to administer the eye drops to three a day but stated I cannot stop the drops or the cornea will be rejected. The other thing he said I can do is press a finger against the tear duct of the right eye for 2 minutes after administering the drop to stop the liquid running down the throat. This will then allow my natural defences to fight off infections. The steroid eye drops create a perfect environment for bacteria to grow...so if you have any similar symptoms do go and see your doctor and explain as it took me three weeks to get acknowledgement to my claim that the steroid eye drops were to blame! Many medical websites verify that this can happen but it is rare.

The stitches are due to be removed in June 2009 just a month before the village fete I am organising so hopefully my vision will be restored somewhat then too!
 

11th June 2008
Too busy with the www.hamptonhill.org website plus the up and coming fete and involvement in local charities to do with the environment and controlling the huge ever growing garden to write much in this blog these days. Have a friend from Spain staying a while before going off sailing around the world again in September. He has been an amazing help with the garden and attended a 'Bat Walk' in Bushy Park in my place as I was too ill to go and write an article for the website and magazine.

Have a press pass to visit Hampton Court Flower show on Monday 7th July to write an article for the HHA website and magazine. Will be attending a party in Bushy Park for the Friends of Bushy Park next weekend and another garden party in July in London with a pen pal friend who is the BP Oil Acquisitions Director and who has had the same corneal grafts as I.

See my eye consultant on Saturday to change the steroid eye drops as they have caused the very painful abscess in my throat! Recovering from that now with a high dose of penicillin and finally found an excellent local dentist!

The summer has arrived and life is fun and exciting now :)
 

27th May 2008
The bank holiday weekend was a wash out with rain for most of it so continued researching for and organising the HH Village Fête. Added new updates to www.hamptonhill.org

Vision is not good this weekend. Going to call and try and bring eye appointment forward tomorrow.  Read about side effects of administering steroid eye drops long term and after nearly four months am getting concerned that I am being affected by them as have recently developed some strange rashes amongst other things.
 

20th May 2008
Awaiting permission to use the space we require for the first Hampton Hill Village Fête for June 2009. Will be an all day event from 12 noon until 8pm with typical English Village Fete entertainment and competitions plus live music all day.

Contacting celebrities and bands to appear on the day. Pencilled in four exciting bands so far.

Helped a Production Manager friend with his accounts and in return he has booked a top London sound engineer for the day of the fete.

Redesigning the Greenwood Centre Voluntary Care Groups website as a service to the community.

Planted out more plum tomatoes, a huge Kiftgate rose which was a gift, lots of other flowering plants also gifts and built dog proof beds for more tender seedlings so that friends with dogs can visit. The weather has turned much colder and been very cloudy but little rain. Today the sun is shining so would love to go down to the garden and do some more planting but I have to finish sorting the accounts out for the Production Manager friend and then go help another friend who is moving offices.

9th May 2008
Organising the first Hampton Hill Village Fête for June 2009.

Still no improvement in the right eye's vision and vision in left eye seems to be deteriorating rather fast. Letters are getting jumbled, can't read texts on phone anymore. Hope the right eye improves soon! Been asked to set up a new website for a pub in Eastbourne on the south coast.

Birds lined up on my pergola waiting their turn on the bird table...

After so much rain and now amazing sunshine and temperatures the garden has come to life. Tadpoles are wiggling merrily in the pond, blossom is falling gently like confetti from the apple, quince and cherry trees. Many tiny blue butterflies and bumble bees are happily darting about amongst the haze of blue borage. Birds are busying themselves with their young and their chirping and singing makes the whole world seem a happier and joyful place.

Seedlings have suddenly taken on new growth and I am planting out tomatoes, marigolds, geraniums, begonias and various shrubs and trying to weed furiously after leaving it for the two week break away. But, I cannot bring myself to pull up the buttercups that have planted themselves along the path I made using old London bricks from a fallen down wall. I also cannot pull up two unidentified tall plants which are probably weeds. One has a mass of beautiful huge dark maroon trumpet flowers and it grows to a height of about five or six feet on very thick stems and the other a cloud of small yellow flowers towering above light green foliage at a height of about four feet so they are staying! There are corners with nettles and huge masses of borage but they are staying too as the wildlife love them and hundreds of frogs live here.

My three baby oak trees have grown taller and just uncurled their pretty shaped leaves to soak up the lovely May sunshine we are enjoying. It was around 24/25 degrees today.  The five year old eucalyptus tree has expanded it's trunk amazingly and spread it's canopy high amongst more established Hazel, Holly and Sycamore trees and gives a nice contrast. The jasmine climbing up my back wall has come into bud. It never dies down and is planted in a small long pot which I have only ever fed from time to time and it goes on and on. Now it has wrapped itself around everything, like pipes and a hanging planter, I can't re-pot it or move it but it seems happy and it's fragrance is intoxicating drifting in through the kitchen window on warm evenings

Self seeded mange tout from last year have already provided their first few pods which tasted delicious. Other plants from last year have produced buds and are about to burst forth providing an array of colours this year. I decided to plant lots more flowers having got over my fear of bees and wasps at long last so this crazy wildlife garden at White Dove Court should be a wondrous site come July.

My chosen name for this place where I live (which had no real address when I moved in 7 years ago) has now been accepted by the post office and council so White Dove Court is official :)

2nd May 2008
Just enjoyed the best 2 week holiday ever in Ayia Napa Cyprus with my father & stepmother but returned with a head cold and sprained ankle from falling off a kerb trying to avoid a palm tree after too many ouzo shots! The skies were brilliant blue and it was hot for the whole two weeks apart from one minute of light rain one evening.

26th Apr 2008
In Cyprus until  Wednesday 31st April. Then will be back online. Set up a new website for www.heavenrockgarden.net whilst over there.

Sun 13th Apr 2008
Lost a very dear friend this morning. We were supposed to go out for lunch today as he had just recovered from a spell in hospital but he was readmitted yesterday and passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 97 at 4am.

Rest in peace now dear Woggy

you will be very deeply missed...
 

Fri 11th Apr 2008
Was asked to redesign and smarten up the website for the Hampton Hill Voluntary Care Group: www.greenwoodcentre.co.uk as a service to the local community which I will do whilst on holiday in Cyprus. Can't stay on the computer too long with the new graft as the eye seems to dry out and becomes very sore so will have to take my time and not spend 24 hours at the screen!
 

Mon 7th Apr 2008
My fun in the garden was suddenly stopped by the snow! Makes my upcoming fortnights holiday to Cyprus on the 16th with my father and his wife even more appealing so packed for that over the weekend ignoring the cold wintry scene outside my window! Then worked on this website adding more health information and stayed in the warm. They promised more snow today but the sky is a vibrant blue and the sun is shining so I will venture down the garden and hope the new plants have not been destroyed by the sudden cold...
 

Mon 31st Mar 2008
Appointment with eye consultant. All is well. Continuing with steroid eye drops four times a day until the next appointment in 3 months time. 

The spring appears to have arrived at long last. Now is the time to get out and prepare the beds in the garden for all the hundreds of seedlings of vegetables and flowers currently growing under glass.
 

Sat 23rd Feb 2008

Some friendly suggestions for corneal graft patients aftercare...
 

Mon 18 Feb 2008
The eye, according to my eye consultant, is well on the road to recovery. The vision is improving all the time. Colours are very vivid but outlines remain blurred. Anti-biotic drops are no longer necessary and steroid eye drops have been reduced to 5 times a day which is a great relief. I am not allowed to swim for the next six weeks until I have seen him again at the next appointment on March 31st.

I can now read very large lettering although there is still blurred outlines but this is an amazing improvement on not being able to see a persons face from just two feet away!
 

Thu 14 Feb 2008
All pain has gone and though there is no longer any discomfort (except the administering of eye drops so often which is a daily grind rather than a discomfort). The vision in the right eye has not changed at all but this is normal and can take up to 12 months to show any marked improvement.
 

Tue 5 Feb 2008
The grafted eye is just beginning to open without pain today. I can see very vivid colours but shapes and outlines are very blurred. Decided that to help the healing process I will stop smoking today. Nicotine patches are assisting with that. Stopped the heavy knock out painkillers now but still have to administer steroid eye drops every 2 hours and antibiotic eye drops every 4 hours.
 

Mon 4 Feb 2008
Saw my eye consultant, Simon Horgan and he announced that the corneal graft had gone exceedingly well and the eye was recovering perfectly. He stated that the cornea he had grafted was the clearest he had ever worked with which cheered me up no end. Had a bit of the post operative blues but they soon wear off...
 

Fri 1 Feb 2008
Underwent the corneal graft to the right eye.  Very painful this time for some reason. Was given morphine injections and strong painkillers.
Read more...
 

Sat 22 Jan 2008
Flew back up to Scotland to dog sit two unruly untrained Tibetan Mastiffs. I spent two days arranging for the dogs to go back to where they were bred in Wales for the owner who had decided this was what he wanted and to help the owner I did it so he wouldn't have to suffer seeing them go.
 

Sun 6 Jan 2008
Arrived home from Scotland.
 

Thu 3 Jan 2008
Began to snow heavily and settled. The absolute silence is amazing. Unfortunately the central heating and hot water broke down so it got very cold and uncomfortable.....

Mon 31st Dec 2007
Hogmanay was a hoot with lots of kilted Scotsmen, fireworks and bagpipes. All the inhabitants of the surrounding area took to the streets to see the New Year in.

Thu 27 Dec 2007
Flew to Scotland to spend Hogmanay with old friends from my days in the girl band 'Taboo'. Staying in a beautiful cottage in a pine forest surrounded by snow-capped mountains....

Thu 14 Dec 2007
Just had a phone call to say that sadly there is no corneal donation available for the 28th Dec so my eye operation has been put back to the 1st Feb 2008.

Click the banner below to find out how easy it is for you to give two people the ultimate gift of sight when you are gone!

Fri 30 Nov 2007
Designed and posted up a website for the Hampton Hill Association as a free service to the local community:

Tue 27 Nov 2007
Saw my eye consultant today. Will be admitted to hospital on Fri 28th December 2007 for a corneal graft providing there is an eye available at the eye bank! Corneas are in desperately short supply.
 

Sun 4 Nov 2007
Added a portfolio of some of my past artwork to this site. See: Graphic Art page>>
 

Mon 29 Oct 2007
RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Would you know how to recognize if someone has suffered a stroke? If you did and the victim was treated within three hours, the effects of the stroke could be reversed TOTALLY! If you don't they could end up with permanent brain damage or even dead. Visit this page to learn the three simple ways to tell and print this poster out to hand to others and post up in public places: Stroke Symptoms>>
 

Sat 27 Oct 2007
Attended an open day at Kingston University but found there was no funding available to pay the foundation course fee of £350. So, sadly, that's the end of that project!
 

Tues 16 Oct 2007
Applied to University to become a full time mature student to gain a degree.
 

Weds 03 Oct 2007 -
Received this news today from AVAAZ - still need more signatures on the petition to help the Buddhist monks & people of Burma:

Dear Friends

Our emergency petition to stop the crackdown on peaceful protesters in Burma is exploding, with nearly 500,000 signers from every nation of the world. But the situation in Burma remains desperate, with reports of hundreds of monks being massacred and tortured. Burma's rulers have also killed and expelled international journalists, cutting off global media coverage of their cruelty.

China is still the key - the country with the most power to halt the Burmese generals' reign of terror. We're delivering our message this week with a massive ad campaign in major newspapers, beginning Thursday with a full page ad in the Financial Times worldwide, and in the South China Morning Post. The strength of the ad comes from the number of petition signers listed – can we reach our goal of 1 million signatures this week? The link to sign the petition and view the ad is below, forward this email to all your friends and family!

www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/u.php

HIV is on the increase...

After watching the moving BBC2 TV programme  with Stephen Fry about the epidemic of AIDS, which has increased in the UK by 400% and now affects as many heterosexuals as gays, I hope to bring awareness of this by using the web because so many people still refuse to use protection simply due to ignorance.

One moment of abandoned careless pleasure could cost the quality of life and health and eventually, the tragic loss of life itself in a slow and horrifically painful way. Getting tested should be done by anyone who is not absolutely sure that every partner they have had in their life has been entirely faithful to them (Not many of us can be 100% sure of that!) because HIV can go undiagnosed for many years.

No longer are gays and drug users the high risk members of society. People all over the world have, once again, become highly permissive plus the increase of world travel and interaction has now produced the perfect breeding ground for this devastating disease. The UK government has stopped their campaign to make people aware of the consequences so, do what you can to help stop the spread by reminding everyone you know who has an active sex life of the dangers of not using a condom.

Get yourself tested and remember the complete all clear takes a second test three months later because HIV virus incubates for this period of time. There are special clinics in hospitals where tests can be done on a walk in confidential basis if you are too embarrassed to ask your family doctor for the test. Look for your local hospital website and search for the special clinic section. See: www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories

For confidential help in the UK telephone: 0800 066 066
Lines open 7.30am - midnight daily