Slipped Disc

Sorry for not blogging in a fortnight. But this time 2 weeks ago I woke with bad back ache. We went out for a walk to the shops, walking usually helps my back. Whilst at the shops I tripped up a kerb in front of a small wall I was going to sit on. The wall broke my fall but from that point on my aching back became my excruciatingly painful back. I couldn't sit, bend, walk up stairs with out it going into spasm. To cut a long story short involving trips to GP and physio it turns out I have a slipped disc, which is healing but still giving me quite a lot of trouble.

Of course no longer are patients advised to have "bed rest" with a slipped disc so I had done the right thing by trying to keep as active as possible. I found some really good advice from the bmj on slipped discs. (Their site is down at the moment for emergency contingency plan testing, but hopefully will be up and running soon.) Anyway its very good advice if you ever need it (and hopefully you won't!)

Last weekend I went to Shakespeare's Globe with my Mum to see Euripides' Helen. It was an excellent production, great refreshing script which married traditional poetic language with snappy modern phrases to good effect. The acting was superb - although Helen's voice grated on me a little but I'm being very picky! I'd put a link to it but we saw the last performance!

After the theatre we went to the Wolesey for afternoon tea. Great surroundings and the cakes and scones were superb but I would have liked to see more cake - bigger slices not just novelty canape cakes! I would have liked to have seen a greater selection of tea too! If you are ever after good teas then I can really recommend the Liberty tea room / cafe! You can download a menu from the website! Teas galore my favourites are the rose tea and the Japanese cherry blossom tea, delicious and good for you!

If I thought last week was quiet...

Well Jase got back safe and sound from New Orleans on Monday click here to see his pics.

On Tuesday I had my penultimate Japanese for Beginners lesson, my Tuesday nights will not be the same when they finish. Due to work commitments and being in Japan for most of October I am not going to embark on the next level until later in the year. I am going to try and get some private lessons though so I don't get rusty.

My stomach problem caused by the hiatus hernia flared up again mid week - turns out granola of all things sets it off! Feeling much better now and still loosing weight which has to be a good thing.

Last night Jase and I went out for a lovely Thai meal at a local Thai restaurant we hadn't tried before. We got to sit in the garden out the back and I had the loveliest sea bass in a sweet tamarind sauce.

Quiet week

I've had a quiet week this week with Jase away in New Orleans. He seems to have had a good time at the conference but not overly enamoured with with New Orleans.

I had Japanese lesson as usual on Tuesday and my hair done on Wednesday. Yesterday I went for a nice walk with my friend David to the National Trust cafe. I had a scone and David some apple spice cake.

Anyway I thought I'd post some pics of Millie the silly chocolate labrador

Here is Millie contemplating the cat flap

Millie in her element!

Millie simming

Action dog!

Durham

On Saturday I went to Durham with my Mum (pictured above) We had a lovely time. Durham is a very pretty town and a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be. There are good views of the cathedral and castle from the railway station where the picture above was taken.

We spent quite a lot of time looking around Durham cathedral after having a lovely freshly baked scone in the alms house cafe. The cathedral is one of the prettiest I have been to rating up there with Lincoln. There is a very peaceful and light atmosphere in the cathedral. We saw Venerable Bede's tomb and the shrine of St Oswald. We then decided to climb to the top of the tower, some 325 steps on a narrow spiral staircase. Some of it was so narrow I had to walk sideways like a crab up the steps! Once at the top the views were spectacular even on a cloudy day, as pictured below.

view of the river

The viaduct

me on the tower roof

After climbing down the tower back to the cathedral we looked around the shops and had a lovely lunch at a cafe near one of the bridges over the river.

Below is a picture of a famous door knocker from the cathedral. It looks a bit like my cat Rookie!

Salmon Family pets

I thought I would introduce the readers of my blog to the Salmon family pets who all live in South Yorkshire with my Mum and Dad. Below is a picture of Oliver who is doing his best impression of Hypno Toad! I named Oliver because he was rescued as a kitten by a woman called Nancy. Oliver is a very sociable cat who for many years behaved more like a dog as his best mate was our little dog Cindy. He would wrestle with Cindy and even would put his head in her mouth! He has calmed down a bit now.


The next picture is of my cat Rookie, who has retired to my Mum and Dad's after I moved in with Jase who is allergic to cats. Rookie is a noisy cat with Siamese in her so she talks a lot and is quite neurotic sometimes. She likes nothing better than to attack USB cables.


Lastly is a picture of my parents chocolate labrador Millie. She is the silliest and greediest dog I have ever known! She is a failed drugs sniffer dog - she was too enthusiastic and thought there were drugs everywhere! She especially loves swimming.

Super market sweep

I liked this video story about a supermarket check out competition in Japan. I love how grateful and proud the winner is!

Commuter cat

I saw this story yesterday and just had to share it. A cat in Devon has taken to taking a ride on his local bus. Obviously the bus is warm and dry so why wouldn't he? Funnily enough my cat Rookie also loves buses although as far as I know she has never been on one by herself only with me after a trip to the vets. She much preferred the bus to a car.