Dieting, a visit to Bath, a noisy bus, use of English words

I am writing on what I suppose is a fairly personal matter but I have no qualms about sharing such things. If you have been suffering some of the same symptoms it may be worth looking at some of the matters I have mentioned below and seeking advice.

Please understand that what I am writing does not comprise medical advice.  It is just me trying to figure stuff out.

After many years of difficulty with my stomach and its performance I have been seeking advice and today I attended with Francoise a consultation with a dietitian and an acupuncturist by the name of Stacey Beckitt.  She is very intuitive and perceptive and has been helping me  recently.  If you would like a reliable person and you live in Bath you might want to have a look at Stacy’s website,  https://staceybeckitt.com/

The problem with prescribing anything by way of a regime is that each person is different. They have different tolerances to different things and may have inherited certain weaknesses and qualities from, for example, their parents and it could go back to some condition when the patient was still in the womb.  Also we don’t know in each case the effect of eating one type of food with another.

I don’t mind discussing my situation because we all have bodies and we all have to look after them. The problem is that a lot of food is manufactured without considering our health so for example homogenized milk has had its structure changed  and cannot be digested by the body and so goes into the veins.  For this reason I was advised to try KoKo milk or almond milk.

I was told that porridge has the ability to raise blood sugar. This hit me like a bombshell because I thought porridge was ‘good for you’. I’m now going to mix it with stewed apples and nuts to mitigate the effect and also buy organic porridge.

I understand that I may be intolerant to histamine.    Histamine intolerance means you have high histamine levels in your body. It can happen if your body cannot break down histamine. It can affect multiple systems in your body, but gastrointestinal symptoms are most common.  Histamine is a chemical responsible for major functions including sending messages to your brain, and triggering the release of stomach acid to help digestion.

When there is too much histamine or it can’t break down properly it can affect your regular body functions. Gastrointestinal symptoms are the most common and include digestive issues, abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, constipation,  flatulence, nausea and vomiting.  Well I seem to have a enough of those symptoms.  I was recommended to have a test.

Tomatoes have high histamine.  I love them.   They are best grilled. If they are fried, I get symptoms. It was suggested that I use coconut oil which is much better than sunflower oil. It may be that the wrong type of fat is a trigger. Olive oil is as good as coconut oil.

Many people suffer from dehydration and it is the most common cause of symptoms. If you drink coffee, you need to have three times the volume of water to make up for the caffeine in the coffee. The same applies to tea,  there is also caffeine in the tea.  Coffee is a diuretic and takes some minerals and vitamins out of the body.

Not everyone knows that when you drink water it needs to be digestible and if you place a grain of rock salt under your tongue and leave it to dissolve and then drink the water the system will be able to absorb it more.< >An Epsom Salt bath is a good way of taking in iidine and indeed magnesium<

I have a time-related problem in that I seem to have more trouble with gastric juices in the afternoon then the morning.  In other words I produce less digestive acid in the afternoon and I found in recent years that my main meal should be at lunchtime.

I thought that in the afternoon I would start on herbal teas  as ordinary tea or coffee and cake can repeat on me in short order.  We discussed chamomile and ginger tea but for me, avoiding peppermint tea would be a good idea.

We also discussed having tinned foods including tinned rice pudding. It may be that there are small amounts of chemicals in them that affect the digestion and I was told that even with iron pots there is a certain effect which is deleterious.   I made a vow that I would try to make my own rice pudding, which I adore, and only put the minimum necessary ingredients.

Alcoholic drink I find a problem, I can drink small amounts of white wine but pinot gringo from a bottle I get in a supermarket is more deleterious than the same named wine bought in the Wetherspoons by the glass.   I did a dowsing and found that red wine and rosé wine had no effect but white wine was indeed deleterious.

Evidently, an Epsom salt bath is a good way of taking in magnesium and most of us are deficient in this substance.  General information, deficiency here causes your thyroid not to produce enough thyroid hormone, which can cause other health conditions.

Also, we need to pay attention to our iodine intake, an English medical website says that iodine deficiency affects about 2.2 billion people worldwide and it is most common in developing countries where people may lack access to enough healthy food.

I learned that our body doesn’t naturally make it, so our diet is the only way to get it. Adults typically require 150 micrograms per day. Pregnant women need 220  micrograms per day,  while those who are nursing need 290 micrograms per day.

I discussed the recommendation of having A sweet course before the main course which sounds daft but if you have sweet sugar food first  and then the main meal on top of it, it will start to ferment and create some of the symptoms that I have.

Use of words chapter 53

This all started off when Stacey said that she would ‘ponder on’ the best advice to give me.  As you know, I am an extreme case of someone who loves word definitions and the use of English language in general. We discussed pondering vs. mulling over vs. cogitating.  Each of these words means about the same thing but the context is different  and should be taken into account.

Here are some more words that cover this situation such as thinking about or thinking over, pouring over, weighing up, contemplating, wrestling with, musing, deliberating,  brooding, speculating, fretting about it or even ruminating though I thought that was for cows.

So, when we are faced with a decision,  how we react to it depends on what sort of situation it is. I would not brood  about buying a house but I would do plenty of weighing up and calculation.

If I was proposed to in marriage I would mull over it if I did not have enough information. If I saw something about the prospective partner that concerned me I would wrestle with it.

Cogitate is quite an interesting word in that it is something imagined or pictured in the mind., a particular idea that might challenge our capacity to think or reflect.

If I were to fret about something that would mean that my previous experience of a situation had been unproductive and I’m trying to find the least bad way of getting through something
Morrisons buffet lunch

I know I’ve mentioned this before but near Stacey there is a large Morrisons branch and they offer this great Meal Deal for four pounds. You get a medium sized plastic container which you fill with cold salad type food and then with that you can have some healthy fruit juice and some crisps or for the princely sum of four pounds.  We did our duty in this respect and then went off to the Central Gardens to eat it.  A passing pigeon took a momentary interest in my crisps but decided after a short while that the food was not up to the standard that they were accustomed to.

Noisy bus journeys

Oh dear, I’m about to reveal my intolerant side yet again. I have already confessed that I don’t like people shouting into their phones, using the loudspeaker on their phone for everyone to hear and shouting loudly.   With buses you have to pick your time. Anytime after school closures or when people are going home after work, is going to be an exercise in tolerance.

I don’t mind school children because they are normally well behaved if noisy but when the buses are full you have to  accommodate someone sitting next to you and I much prefer two seats for myself as most people do

I took the 172 which is the long route from Bath to Bristol via Radstock.  If you want to get to Bristol quickly you take the Express bus which leaves once every 15 minutes.  Behind me sat a lady trying to control three rather noisy children. What gets me is that when they scream suddenly without reason. Well of course they know what the reason is but us mere mortals do not.   Also the child was poking its hands into my seat area. I couldn’t be bothered to react on this occasion and just moved away a bit.   It must be far worse for plane journeys of say five hours.  I have read that some parents let their children run around the plane and cause mayhem without any attempt at control.  The little darlings must not be disciplined.
This sentiment is not in my book. How can they grow without boundaries?

Anyway, I have lived to tell the tale so I suppose  in cases of acute irritation I could move from the top Deck to the bottom but of course I could be going from the frying pan into the fire.  There are perhaps other factors more important.

The mystery of why people still wear masks.

At Bath bus station there was an older woman asking travel advice from two inspectors. I think she wanted to go to Winchester. That would be possible via Warminster or she could go directly from Bristol to her destination. The elderly lady seem quite confused. What I noticed was that she had a mask on  and tied firmly around her face and it was absolutely filthy.

Why are people still wearing masks when their effectiveness has been disproved so many times over it is beyond a joke? Why are they not allowing their breath (waste products) to exhale and why are they inhibiting the inflow of oxygen. It is a great environment for bacteria to thrive.  If I asked  them they would take offense so what is the point.

I need to do a couple of gardening jobs this week but the forecast is for heavy rain from tomorrow evening so once again the weather wins.

Our voyage to South Wales – Day four

We awoke to beautiful blue skys as can often happen on the final day of a trip. We heard that last night, Tuesday, there were only two people on duty. One was the receptionist and one was a cook. Between them they had to serve at reception, take orders at the bar, take orders for food, serve it and clear the tables. I do admire the people for doing the work that I did under great stress.

An unexpected encounter at the lunch canteen

Finally they have replaced the printed menus at the stations with a TV type sign. I notice the addition of two ‘economy meals’ for those needing to save money. It is a nod to those less fortunate or the victim of circumstances to keep body and soul together. I note the offer is to staff as well as the public.

Making a difference

Prior to going in for our meal, I noticed a stand, exhibition style, where two or three of the staff were asking people questions.   The theme of the stand was ” making a difference”.  I was invited to take part. If there’s one thing I am very good at and that is looking at what other people are trying to say  and seeing if they achieve their aim and objective.   The right hand side of the stand featured posters of people in positions of caring. The main problem was it was not clear what they were caring about and in what form the caring happened.   People who smile to order for the benefit of the camera and the publicity shot never comes across in the same way. There was a male helper figure who was smiling but not looking anywhere in particular and for me that image failed.  I need to see ‘heart’ in a picture.

There was another image of a female coloured nurse who was grinning so much it might as well have been a dental examination. That failed too.  On the left was a picture gallery, zoom-like, of a whole lot of different people again who were smiling.  I am confused. I said to the interviewer, this is definitely a case of less is more. There is no call To action or statement  about exactly how people will benefit.  I asked the interviewer directly, and it was a choice of “did you benefit by being listened to, by someone paying attention to your comfort while in bed, inquiring about your welfare etc.”  As I spoke the lady took notes. My impression was that the whole thing had not been thought out. It’s like saying we need to understand what makes a difference to people so let’s start by asking people. Even that preliminary stage you need to devote some thought too possibly by doing a trial run.  At the end of the very pleasant chat I told them that I was really not clear what the whole thing was about. It may be that before starting to ask people you need to  question a cohort to try at least and get the categories of what they might find helpful and supportive and would indeed make a difference.

Eye matters.

For that is why I am here. Francoise found a lovely inner garden with trees and plants designed for rest and respite. I left her doing some sketches. I have an appointment for an eye injection at three pm which I must attend. There is a new drug called Vabismo. A few days after taking it, I found that my vision in my left eye had become more foggy and I attributed it to the new medication. I did some research and found that the drug itself had only been approved in the European Union last September. I found that the testimonials from those who had used this drug were mixed to put it politely. May be I am waking up to what happens to most drugs that appear on the market.

Prior to coming I did express my concerns to the Eye department and they said they would do a scan and extra tests. It is always a good idea to give warning as records are kept and people can muster staff as required I arrived at 2:30 p.m. and was immediately scanned and then taken to an optometrist who examined me further and got an opinion from a senior person in the department. It was agreed that I go back to my old prescription, Eylea, but also that I would have cataract surgery within three months. Evidently they put a new lens in which can on a good day give you better eyesight,

While we were waiting, I talked to an older lady who remembered the time when you had to pay for injections which are now free they cost £2,000 each and that was some time ago because the NHS would not pay. I have had 48 injections so that means £96,000 I would have spent. I do not know if this would be means tested.  Barely a day passes without someone complaining about the NHS but I have had nothing but good service from the people at least when I have had need. I wonder if the bad publicity is because people want the NHS to fail. I am however told that there is a shortage of one hundred thousand staff and that is probably partly down to Brexit but also unattractive working conditions where new doctors work for 14 pounds an hour.

In the car park we saw the car that I showed you last Sunday. The subject matter was initially disturbing to me showing that the owner had been entirely subject to the forces of entropy or evil. However, all coins have two sides and I did eventually see this as a work of art. I did not find this threatening or distasteful because it was that person’s sincere belief that they wanted to worship the devil. People have free will to worship who they want. What purpose is served by condemning a person who I have not yet met. It is more valuable to reflect on why this person should find such an attractiveness in the devil.

He or she is not alone. Many people in positions of authority worship the devil in its various forms. When I had finished my session with the clinic I came into the car park half hoping that the person would be there and I could talk to them in a non-judgmental way but alas the car had left the car park.

Where next

What next?  The woman who served breakfast to us in the hotel said that she herself was going on holiday to Swansea. She says it was a lovely place with a miles worth of beach and she was looking forward to it.  I was very happy to hear about something so close to home. My appetite for traveling never mind flying is not very great at the moment so why not make the best of what is in the locality. If as has been promised the weather will become hotter than I might take  the opportunity.

Incidentally for some reason which is purely economic I guess, this hotel chain charges a premium pride for Saturday night which is by far the highest charge in the week. They charge £156 for the Saturday night.  I suppose they make their money, like the airlines, for adjusting supply and demand and most people who want a weekend away would have Saturday as their core night.

 

My despair at ‘carbon neutral’ agenda as a control mechanism

I try not to think of politics all the time but recent numbers show how futile it is to attempt a significant reduction when countries are belting out so much and where the odd volcano spews out millions of tons of the stuff. Without carbon dioxide (currently a trace gas 0.04% of the atmosphere i.e. 400 ppm) we would be dead.     2019 figures below.

  1. China, with more than 10,065 million tons of CO2 released.
  2. United States, with 5,416 million tons of CO2
  3. India, with 2,654 million tons of CO2
  4. Russia, with 1,711 million tons of CO2
  5. Japan, 1,162 million tons of CO2
  6. Germany, 759 million tons of CO2
  7. Iran, 720 million tons of CO2
  8. South Korea, 659 million tons of CO2
  9. Saudi Arabia, 621 million tons of CO2
  10. Indonesia, 615 million tons of CO2
  11. …………
  12. United Kingdom, 331 million tons of CO2

Don’t forget the 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen

We can ask why this topic is still important in spite of the small %. Here is an article that may start you thinking. Separate the gas produced by industry with the CO enabled by work in the sea, the air, and overseas. It’s not as straight-forward as you think.

The world of the MedBed

So last night I tried the medbed, which is a futuristic device utilizing quantum entanglement. Se a rather glorious picture of it here.

In order to take part you don’t need to visit anywhere. You need to upload a picture of where you will be lying be it a bed or chair. You then send in the picture to the office in Switzerland. At a time determined by you, you sit or lie down in a location related to the images and ask the machine via thought to scan you.  It is an 8 hour test.  I started mine at 11 pm.

This is the technology of the future based on the work of Nicola Tesla.  I noticed certain pricks of energy in my head at various points but also in unexpected places such as the knee. I ‘asked’ the energy to focus on various weaknesses in my body such as my left eye, my stomach, my prostate. I have no idea if healing took place. My guess is that many repetitions are needed to notice an effect.

I spend a lot of time watching videos and one that I was impelled to watch with my partner Francoise was one by Eckhart Tolle on the relationship between us humans and nature. I do not normally recommend a video in what is primarily a Samuel Pepys type diary but this one is outstanding from the paradigm shifting point of view.

I had a paradigm shift of my own this morning.  I had been having a pleasant and productive relationship with an older lady down my road. I did her  garden on two occasions. She paid me what I asked for the second but suddenly I got a phone call from her daughter questioning my charges and asking me to justify them. She is a wedding planner. Its a bit like someone has a wedding, all goes well, the bride’s parents pay the bill, and then someone calls up out of the blue complaining that the flowers were over charged for.

I conducted an intuitive reading on her and found a lot of anger and negativity and thus the need for control.   My poor client was out of her depth and was starting to be taken control of by her daughter. She called me 6 times and I did not respond. I eventually sent her a text

After having been called back following our previous work we did the garden again to your mother’s satisfaction and she paid without complaint. Good-will service will now commence for the next 5 months at no charge as agreed in writing.

I only offered to give my customer a free garden service (which I have never done before) to cancel out the effects of her unfortunate progeny, including a son who is putting it mildly far from pleasant. I need to demonstrate ‘unconditional love’ to her which hopefully will repair the damage before she passes over. She is 80.

After sending the SMS I felt lighter, more myself, and in that moment how my inattentiveness had cost me dear. It was like a finger of malevolence had been withdrawn.  I should remember to put a protection around myself every morning but sometimes I forget, and this time it was to my cost albeit temporarily. It is always good to have a partner who is on the same wavelength to work things though with and in Francoise I have such a partner. It does or should minimize the risk of making diplomatic mistakes. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

This evening we had a meeting of our local awareness group about all things covid, New World Order and political chicanery in general.  It was in the upstairs of our Wetherspoons pub, a vastly popular meeting place here in Midsomer Norton. It used to be the Palladium cinema, and the origins have been respected by the pub designers.  The problem is that it is noisy. We were in a small room upstairs and after the first dozen or so people entered the volume of noise went up and up until you almost had to cup your hand to your ear to hear what was being said.

However the conversations were jolly enough. Problem is it is very much a closed circle. We can it ‘preaching to the choir’ so not much useful information was spread out without, though a lot was shared. I had some delicious chips but as I write later we are both burping. We reckon it was the fat. C’est la vie.

The day of my operation – the gruesome details

Just listening to a video commentary entitled  ‘GREG HUNTER USA WATCHDOG: RADICAL DROUGHT CAUSED BY MILITARY WEATHER WEAPONS – DANE WIGINGTON’ 36:41  Weather control has been around since the 60’s and is used to bring a country to its knees without them being aware of it.

This morning I had a telephone call from Mike, one of the mechanics at the garage, to tell me that they had fixed the car but wanted to take it on an extended run of 20 – 30 miles to make sure that nothing failed. Since we have had to spend so much money already and that would have meant only an hour at the most I readily agreed.

So I had to be at the Sulis Hospital (part NHS part private) at 12.30. We arrived shortly after 12 and I was ushered to the basement where all the four operating theatres are.   There are a huge amount of forms that have to be filled in, checked, checked again. This is to make sure that they are covered in cases of legal liability.

I have to say that everyone worked together as a team. I was shown into my ‘pod for the day’ which is like a small hospital room with only curtain  dividers. A nurse came along to tell me to change entirely into hospital gowns. The next visitor was the anaesthetist who took a lot of details and described what they were going to do by way of an anaesthetic. I was then visited by a nurse who formally admitted me. I was then visited by the surgeon himself who made a mark on the area that needed to be treated , in this case my left inguinal hernia.

I was then picked up by yet another doctor and taken to a large room full of equipment which also served as an operating theatre. They do not now do general anaesthetic on the grounds that it can lead in the long term to loss of memory especially with people over 50. Instead, using an injection in the spine the lower half of my body was quickly rendered numb and when I say quickly I mean after about 5 seconds. I could not move my feet. I was then fitted with a cannula in my left hand which means that I could be given  other injections should the need require.

The operation which lasted about 45 minutes then proceeded without my feeling anything at all. During the operation I got several unpleasant tricks on my chest area and this was evidently due to a  histamine reaction. It is produced as a by-product of one of the the medications I was given and causes inflammation. In my case I felt I was getting a lot of prickles on my chest like small electric shocks.

I was wheeled out and looked after in the immediate post operative period of about 1-hour to enable my limbs to fully come out of their anaesthetised state. I was then taken back to my pod where I was served a very nice hot cup of coffee with a generous cheese and tomato sandwich

The surgeon visited me again to make sure I was alright and the anaesthetist himself, a delightful chap from Poland,  came by to ask the same.

We had arrived at midday and the procedure was finished about 5:15. Thanks to Francoise for waiting patiently but she was prepared for it. A friend gave us a lift home.  I was not in any pain and could have taken public transport but I thought it was better to have some energy in reserve.

 

An active day – the insanity continues – more rain

I’m getting used to my new car now or maybe its getting used to me. It’s driving smoother and I’m getting the idea that merely touching the gas pedal is necessary in order for it to go forward. It does not require much encouragement since it is a turbo.

It is most difficult to get a  spare key for this almost 20 year old car. I talked to a chap in Bristol who thinks he might be able to do it but in between tinkering with the dashboard whilst I was on the phone he asked me to send a picture of the key for some strange reason and also the registration number of the car. I don’t have very high hopes and I think I shall end up by going to Volvo and paying a fortune for another key.

I’m enjoying the clouds and rain and it is very pleasant to walk on the grass that has been recently rained upon. It does help the earthing that I have referred to and that is good for the health.

It’s a good lesson of websites that you get your database running smoothly before inviting anyone to sign up since if you don’t get it right they may have to sign up again.  It’s a tricky question with subscription sites how many questions you want to ask people. If it’s just an ordinary mailshot, name and e-mail address is sufficient if you want participation, then more details are required. I’m going to run through this with my colleague Graham and were going to beta test it to death. People have a very short tolerance these days and if something doesn’t work the first time they will just leave it aside.

Today I was driving to the allotment and I saw a woman standing punched not moving. She was elderly, I would say about 85, and it looked as if she had just run out of steam.  If I was not in a stream of traffic I would have stopped and made sure everything was all right but I felt somehow that the desire to live was not as strong as it should have been or perhaps she had respiratory problems or some such thing.

I watched a very moving film about a nurse saying how in her New York. NY, Hospital,  interns and students were treating people as objects and not human beings and that they were making decisions to put people on ventilators because Medicare gave each case $31,000 as presumably as an incentive although they were far more likely to die than if they did not have the ventilators. She explained that the patients were in effect blowing up their lungs by pushing in oxygen under far too much pressure. At times she broke down in tears at the lack of humanity. She said the hospitals in Iraq  were better.

I met Helen, a Red Pill person, who is also a homoeopath and asked for a consultation. She is thoroughly on the wavelength and quite disillusioned with the names she gets called including of course conspiracy therapist and has decided like me that it’s better to leave some people alone.

Next Monday we are going to have to wear masks when we travel by public transport. One of the exceptions as people who have respiratory problems so if I’m challenged I shall tell the bus driver that is what the case is. I hope I don’t get dragged off to hospital and put in a COVID ward otherwise I will not come out that’s for sure. I might go to Bath for a special edition of this diary and record what goes on, the number of people who wear masks versus the ones who did not. I have never known a time when so many entries on my website have confirmed the futility of mask wearing.

It does cheer me up enormously to either talk to or be with people on the same wavelength. It  will make up for the number of friends that I will probably lose because my views are known to all and sundry. I listened to David Icke today who pointed out that every time people obey an order that does not have any sense they become more susceptible, more gullible, and they will end up doing anything there told without questioning. That, my friends, is really depressing. How many brain cells does it take to recognise this whole thing is a con designed to get control of us and give us wonderful vaccines to change our DNA.

In spite of all, I do feel that with the friends I have and my faith I can survive these times. When I say the same thing in six months time when the concert halls, football grounds, art galleries are still closed. What about the hotels? Will airlines be able to offer bargain flights any more because they must have lost billions through this nonsense. One can only wonder. As I say, there are two important things in life, a comfortable bed and a good conscience the rest is a bonus.

Drug withdrawal symptoms

I had one terrible day today stomach-wise but did not quite put two and two together. I am / was suffering from withdrawal symptoms and that from such an innocuous medicine as omeprazole, which inhibits the stomach for producing too much acid (Proton Pump Inhibitors). After too long a time taking them on a regular basis I decided to stop, so yesterday and today I had no morning pill. However I did suffer, throwing up almost all my food and liquids to boot. I see the stomach as somewhat like the engine of a car – it is very central to so many things. When that goes wrong ‘you’ go wrong.

I was very comforted by reading on the Internet

The potential harm of useful drugs is that they have a tendency to be over-used. Anytime we use a chemical to manipulate the normal function of the body, there are going to be consequences. Chronic acid suppression is a good example. The body makes acid for a reason, and we are seeing a growing list of complications if we inhibit acid production long term (see table below).

Tapering off these medicines can be challenging as people can have symptoms for up to 10 to 14 days after discontinuation due to rebound hyperacidity. So, be sure to let your patients know that they may feel worse for a couple of weeks before their body readapts. This is a common quote I hear, “I tried to go off that medicine but my reflux came back with a vengeance, Doc.”

it seems the we need some sort of the bridge in order to successfully ween off this quite addictive medicine. I’m already tapering down the dose but noticed that my stomach pains actually increased. It felt in my case like a rock solid lump in the middle of my chest. I hardly knew who I was, felt depressed, and stumbled around. This is the body reducing its dependence so it is a good sign in a way. You can read the whole article here

How on earth people manage to recover from far more addictive drugs such as heroin God only knows, and what about those who stagger away from the pharmacy with a  large paper bag with 10 different types of medication. I wonder how many people in this country, the United Kingdom, are addicted. What a way to go.

A day turns from hopeless to promising

There’s nothing so powerful as an idea that has reached its time. Yesterday evening I had quite a dreadful experience with my stomach. It was a solid bloated mess and I couldn’t figure out what combination of food had caused it. For example I’m trying a course of sodium bicarbonate which I am combining with omeprazole which is a PPI proton pump inhibitor. Even though they both do good when taken separately, I’m not quite sure if the combination itself is bad and they may well be fighting each other. I have written to the practitioner to enquire.

Françoise went off to do her day work with age UK and meanwhile I decided to do some tree pruning operations in the garden. We have a couple of old apple trees and I looked on the Internet and found a very affable American who explained exactly the principles behind tree pruning and the half-hour video really helped me to have the confidence to do the job. Off to the dump with the spoil. I met my friend Gary there and we had a chat about spiritual commitment and I made a comment that we could not change others if we were ourselves not changed.

There is a program on TV called ‘Something for Nothing’ where a lady called Sarah goes to a particular rubbish tip in Altrincham, Manchester to stop people throwing things away that could be made into works of art and sold at a profit. I saw a chap pointing to something in a woman’s car asking if he could have it. It was actually a plastic filing cabinet, which was exactly what I want in order to minimise the effect of electromagnetic fields, EMF, on my working environment. I’m suffering a lot and find it difficult to hold the mouse sometimes. Anyway, the chap took one but I noticed there was another one in her boot so I asked her if I could take it and she replied in the affirmative. I took it home to find that two of the wheels had broken bases but since I did not want to use the wheels anyway it didn’t matter.

Back to the allotment which is close by to the recycle centre. I have a problem with a man of about 80 years of old who has an allotment but cannot maintain it. He gave up half but I have a suspicion that he is unable really to give the whole lot up with all the work that it involves. The plot is a complete tip, with wire netting, poles, bamboo pieces all over the place. You have to be careful with proud Somerset men, remember this is mining country, so I wrote a letter asking if he was all right and asking if he wanted any help to restore his allotment. I have no problem in helping my tenants. If that does not work  I will have to phone him.

Back home, and I wanted to take up the recommendation of a Functional Medicine practitioner who recommended that I get a particular medicament for my stomach. There was a help line on the website. I do not normally ask for help but on this occasion I did and I got through to someone called Robert, who was not so much interested in selling me the item but explaining the possible causes.

One cause was a possible trauma or traumas that could have triggered a disturbance in the stomach. He recommended going to see someone who could perhaps help me to detect what it was that caused me to dissociate a certain part of my experience. I made the contact and got an appointment with someone who had just had a cancellation so at 3.45 PM this Thursday I shall be exploring this avenue. He also mentioned someone called Wim Hof, who helps the body alkalize through correct breathing. You can find his very impressive breathing tutorials on you Tube.

I definitely feel better at the moment and am reminded of the old phrase that when the student is ready, the master will appear. I feel also that it sometimes takes a drama to precipitate us into making a move forward.

We had another wonderful sunny day today with no cloud in the sky above. I feel a hundred percent better than I did first thing this morning when I got so desperate I rang the Dr. He was helpful and positive but sometimes the answers lie outside allopathic medicine.

Another cold night, an excuse for lighting our log fire and sitting in front of it watching TV.