National Food Strategy Report – Food should make us well instead of sick…

Listening to BBC Breakfast this morning (other breakfast tv shows are available but my choice is the BBC, it’s the least bad option until Frasier starts on Channel 4) my ears pricked up when I heard the headlines “Tax on sugar, salt and GPs to prescribe fruit and vegetables!!!” I could feel the red mist descend as the conclusion that I nearly jumped to on hearing that headline was that the price of food would rocket and make life even …

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Life goes on…

As the end of 2020 approached (that was just last week) many people online seemed to be falling in to the usual New Year nonsense trap. I don’t mean the usual suspects of New Year New You, Dry January, Veganuary or whatever-you’re-having-yourself-anuary. I am of course referring to believing that a particular dawn on a new day will herald magical changes which were hitherto unlikely. Get real. (I sold this piece to the editor as a little bit of hope …

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2020 through the lens of disability…

This year I’ve been mostly at home, maybe that’s been your experience too.  This isn’t new for me as since 2015 I’ve been living with chronic illness. The essence of 2020 has been our shared experience of being forced by circumstances beyond our control to stay in, when all you really want to do is go out. As the stark reality of having an altered Christmas becomes ever more apparent you may be longing for those heady days of living your …

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For health advice it’s not 111, it’s “Phone First”…

  There’s an important transformation happening to our emergency health care. You might have heard about it on the local news/radio but it’s possibly been drowned out by the sheer volume of other headline-grabbing news. It’s not deliberately in the background or being introduced by stealth. It’s just got a lot of competition like the vaccine and Brexit innit. This change is something called “Phone First”, part of No More Silos, an initiative borne from how our health service came …

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Build it back, build it better – NICON Health and Social Care conference…

Last week I attended NICON 2020 usually held in La Mon hotel this conference was held virtually and although it is essentially an “industry” event, all stakeholders were welcome. Which included yours truly who as a service user was allocated a ticket through my involvement with The Patient Client Council The Department of Health website describes NICON as “a Health and Social Care platform which exists to influence policy, support and brief members, inform and influence the media and politicians …

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Who else needs Tesco Finest Naan Bread as much as I do?

I was all set to write a piece on stoic philosophy as we head towards an uncertain autumn/winter period. Hoping to share some relevant personal experience of living with a chronic illness as a result of a serious infection. And then I revisited my online shopping basket and found that many items I had placed in my ethereal basket are no longer available. “Fack this” I thought, “who else needs Tesco Finest Naan Bread as much as I do?” Before …

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The mixed messages of The Eat Out To Help Out Scheme…

Obesity is hitting the headlines again and we’re all being encouraged to be a bit more fit and a lot less fat. Which reminds me of my favourite food stories. A couple of years ago I was out for lunch with my children in a bustling local café. Above the background noise, we couldn’t help but overhear a customer at the next table loudly proclaiming her request to have all fat removed from the bacon in her toastie that she …

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A love letter to libraries…

As lockdown measures ease we are heading into new territories and hoping for a safe future. Aspects of our lives which we may have previously taken for granted are opening up again. Most notable to me is the reopening of our libraries. And hairdressers, obviously. I’m not a complete eejit. One of the upsides of lockdown has been the plethora of homes being shown on tv. I enjoy scanning past the interviewee and looking at whatever part of the house …

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This world will break your heart but kindness is everywhere, notice it…

If you’re like me and regularly wake up at silly o’clock no matter the weather or time of year, you’ll have developed the best strategy for gently starting your day. I’m well practised in this art of either watching the sunrise or lying for hours waiting for the first touch of the day to show in the sky, depending on the season. Being awake early or having disturbed sleep isn’t a new thing for me, it revisited me as yet …

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The benefits of growing your own fruit and veg…

In the current climate of lockdown we are moving into the slow lane and finding it offers time to focus, observe and maybe start hobbies that we perhaps didn’t have time for until now. One of those is definitely gardening and growing your own food. I had previously grown salad veg in my garden and have fruit trees. I always enjoyed being able to eat something freshly picked, there’s nothing quite like the homegrown taste. And yet gardening even on …

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What’s your lockdown luxury?

Is it having a lie in, eating a packet of biscuits with your cuppa or finally watching that box set you’ve been promising yourself? Maybe you’re doing a spot of online shopping. Who hasn’t ordered something online only for it to turn up not quite as expected, or indeed how it was described. I recently ordered a Slanket for my daughter. (A Slanket-a blanket with sleeves!) I got it on eBay so I shouldn’t have been surprised to open it …

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A rescue mission for the cat and her kittens…

I’m getting into the habit of writing for Slugger and I’m enjoying that feeling of satisfaction in doing something meaningful. Thanks for reading and for your comments on my pieces. One of the benefits of writing here is the chance that conversations will spark off in the comment section below. It’s very rewarding and entertaining to see what direction readers will take. It has surprised me that the learning I’ve had from living mostly indoors would be something I could …

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What gives you joy? It might surprise you to discover what activities are meaningful for you…

Back between the twilight zone of Christmas 2019 and New Year I was at a friends’ home for an annual open house. It’s a fixture in my not too busy social calendar because it’s daytime (I don’t do evenings) and also I always meet people who are interesting and I can have real conversations with, not just “curtain talk”; pointless chat about soft furnishings or other subjects. Fashion trends are so fleeting I don’t see the point, it’s all a …

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Be good to yourself. This isn’t easy for anyone, not even for me…

So we are in day eleventy Wednesday of lockdown and I’m at the stage where I need someone to text me each morning to tell me what day it is. Also I need a brass band to parade through my house to wake up the teenagers.  Although in these days of social distancing I suppose an impromptu performance in the garden would be more appropriate. Can’t say I’d be popular with the neighbours though.  In an outstanding feat of achievement …

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Milkmen, breadmen and big knickers…

It’s all gone retro, we’ve got a milkman again and not a moment too soon. It all came about by the power of social media, I found the local supplier listed and hey presto, 4 litres of milk twice a week, thank you very much. Milk is high priority in this household, I have two teenagers and they’re both cereal killers. I know who the milkman is, he’s a familiar figure in our local area delivering milk to shops. One …

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How not being a 90s Supermodel can help in lockdown…

Back in the heady days of pre-lockdown (remember them?) a friend and her son had asked us to join them for dinner. I politely declined and suggested they visit us instead. You see, I like to compare myself to the supermodels of the 90s who wouldn’t get out of bed for less than £10K. I don’t do evenings. My reluctance to go out in the evening is unrelated to any financial incentive or indeed my appearance, I simply can’t do …

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A beginners guide to self-isolation…

This is my kickback at the numerous self-important posts on twitter, full of pap, endlessly telling everyone how to work from home, how to structure your day, how to set a timetable for home schooling.  Well my online friends, if that’s your shtick look away now.  I am particularly well qualified in this area as I’ve been mostly housebound with disability for 5 years.  All this has been courtesy of a bite from a tiny tick, the size of a …

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