dizzojay | Entries tagged with not supernatural

I was on the radio a couple of night ago!

There's a radio show on a station called 'Absolute' and I listen to it most afternoons. The DJs are called Bush and Ritchie and they're great fun. They do a feature on their show whereby they talk about something that has happened to them and invite listeners to contact the show with their own similar stories.

On this afternoon, Ritchie was talking about how he was planning to travel two hours by public transport to try out a new fried chicken shop which he had been told did the best fried chicken ever, and so listeners were invited to contact the show to tell of times they'd travelled a long way for something small or inconsequential.

I decided to text in and tell them about the time that Mr D and I travelled four hours each way up to and from Lancashire to buy a table. I sent the text and carried on with my day, not even giving it a second thought. A few minutes later, my phone was ringing and when I answered it, a familiar voice said, 'hello, it's Ritchie!'. Well, you could have floored me with a feather! Thankfully he assured me I wasn't live on radio! XD

He proceeded to ask me all about our trip and we had a lovely conversation. Then it was played on their show half an hour later! I had to laugh when it was played, I definitely sound a bit flustered!

So the recording is below - ignore the picture on the video, I was just trying to get as close as possible to Alexa to get the best sound. It's in two parts because I'm a numpty and fumbled the phone and cut it off after ten seconds!

Hope you enjoy!

(8) Radio star!: dizzojay — LiveJournal

I'm a member of a Facebook group for my home village, Lightwater, and today I logged on to see a local photographer had uploaded these wonderful drone shots of the village.

I was struck by how green the village and it's surroundings looked, and it did make me think how lucky I am to live in such a lovely place, so I thought I'd share it here!

As you look at the picture, the heathland on the left is the military ranges, the dark patch of trees across the top and right is Lightwater Country Park and the landcaped patch of trees in the triangle of roads at the bottom right is the local arboretum.

The pink arrow is my house!

The village centre is just disappearing off the bottom of the picture, but he took a lower level picture of that:

464415409_10163809838924989_723148081632211114_n

Welcome to Lightwater, everyone!

I mentioned earlier in the week that Mr Dizzo and I went to a place called White Horse Hill at Uffington, Oxfordshire on Monday.

White Horse hill is a place of great history and legend and I love it, like Avebury, I find it a very atmospheric, spiritual place, and I wanted to share the wonder of White Horse Hill with you guys!

( Read more... )

Mr D woke up yesterday morning looking like he'd been punched in the side of the face, with a patch of angry red swollen rash on his right cheek.

I asked him if it was painful or itchy and he said it was more tingly than painful. That got me worrying, and I suggested he go and see the doctor. Mr D didn't want to bother the doctor, but in the end we compromised and this morning, when the rash looked more raised then yesterday, he went to see the pharmacist at our local chemist.

The pharmacist apparently took one look at his face ad said "you need to book a doctors appointment - today," and went on to explain how he thought it might be shingles.

Mr D got an appontment for a couple of hours later and, sure enough, he's got shingles!

The Doctor told him we've got to watch the rash and make sure it doesn't spread anywhere along his nose or around his eyes, if he does, it's back to the Doctors asap! In the meantime, he's got a course of antivirals to take - 5 giant tablets 5 times a day!

Luckily, Mr D is working from home until Wednesday next week, so he's got a few days to rest up. My next fight is to get him to sign himself off for the whole of next week. I torally believe he will benefit for a good long rest, and he's adamant he's going back to work on Wednesday!

From my point of view, luckily shingles isn't contagious unless someone hasn't had chickenpox, and I have, so I don't have to run away anywhere. That means I can stick around and keep an eye on the stubborn git, and make sure he rests - which he won't, and try to coax him to take some extra time off - which he won't.

*sigh"

I'm writing on behalf of Mr D.

Yesterday evening, we were just sitting chatting and in the background there was a show on Sky called 'how do they do it?' which we were sort of and sort of not watching.

Then an item came on about canned bread.

Mr D and I had never heard of such a thing; there's no such thing here in the UK. We watched the segment about the canned bread with fascination, and now Mr D is desperate to try it.

I've been having a look online, and it just doesn't seem to be available here at all, I would have to order it from the US and the shipment fees are stupid, so I was wondering if one of my US chums could buy us a can of B&M canned brown bread and post it to us? I would, of course, send the cost and the postage to you right away (I can use Paypal or Wise).

You would make Mr D a very happy boy!

Boxing Day (26th December) is the Day of the Windlesham Pram Race. And it's a day Mr D and I both look forward to every year.

Windlesham is our neighbouring village and so walking down to the race route and back is about a 3 mile round trip, a nice way of working off a few of the 12 million calories we ate on Christmas day.

The race passes four of Windlesham's five pubs and teams, and spectators are encouraged to stop off and support each establishment, so it's a 'race' in name only, but the main purpose of the event is to raise money for local charities which include upkeep of Windlesham's open spaces such as the recreation ground and field of Remembrance, wildlife rescue and riding for the disabled.

Each 'pram' doesn't actually have to be a pram, it can be any kind of wheeled vehicle, but the main rule is that it must only be propelled by being pulled or pushed. It can't have any kind of other propulsion such as a motor or pedals.

And that's where the fun starts... there is no end to the imagination of some folks. It always makes me smile that even though it's December and chilly as hell, there's no shortage of men who can't wait to go running around Windlesham wearing next to nothing. (It must be the beer-blanket) :D

It's also a strange fact of British life that the men can't wait to dress up as women, whilst at the same time, looking as unfeminine as possible - and this year's event didn't disappoint! XD

I'm never prouder of my community than I am on this day!

There's always a team that parodies local roadworks

( More pics here )

Mr D and I went over to the Isle of Wight today, our last visit of 2023, and I was particularly keen to get over there as my Dad's health has not been in a good place for the last few weeks.

It's a long story, but Mum and I were pretty sure he was diabetic. When all the drama went down with his foot early last year, the doctors told him they thought he was diabetic and that had probably contributed to his trials and tribulations. However, given that he'd just come off a period of not eating and lost thirty pounds in about two months, he'd had sepsis and consequently been flooded with IV antibiotics, they were never going to get a stable blood reading from him.

They told him to rest up for about three months then come back to get checked out for diabetes, but guess what ...

He never went back.

So consequently he's never had a firm diagnosis and therefore wasn't getting any medication. And he wouldn't go to get checked out because we couldn't convince him that diabetes was serious.

His health had been declining fairly rapidly over the last few weeks, and over the last couple of those weeks he's been going to bed in the afternoon and sleeping a lot. he's also been glugging drinks by the gallon - classic diabetes symptoms.

So, in the end Mum and I discussed it and decided that she should take the initiative, so she went to see the doctor last week without telling Dad. They booked him in for a barrage of tests, and he went along very much under duress.

The test results came back early this week and - shocker - he is diabetic. His blood reading is 26 mmol/l and for context, in an ideal scenario it would be about 5. It's a bloody wonder he's still upright and conscious.

So now he is on a strict regime of finger prick blood tests every morning, and a district nurse is coming to give him insulin injections every day. The doctor wanted to send him to hospital but he refused. Of course he did!

Anyway, when we got to their place today, his reading was 23, still scary high, but slightly better than it was. It's going down slowly, but they're gradually increasing his dose of insulin to find the optimum level.

So here we are again, back at the 'hanging on by a thread through his own inactivity' scenario. I could scream!

*sigh*

Anyhow, just to finish off on a not quite so exasperating note, we had a very early crossing on the ferry this morning and the Solent looked lovely in the sunrise...

410025347_1414708182808548_949896853993970972_n

My first attempt at a panoramic wasn't quite so successful when Mr D deliberately walked across in front of me!!

I have multiple Mr D's XD

409984243_202864832894309_8590265847413752271_n

Mr Dizzo and I went away last week for a few days. It had been a long time coming due to various factors such as conventions, eye operations, parent strife and also logistics around getting someone to take care of the fluffy little ratbags, but finally, we headed off for a few days in Somerset, a county in the south west of England, which is a long time favourite destination of ours.

The weather was hideous for the first couple of days, but after that it eased off a little and enabled us to get out and about to enjoy a bit of fresh air.

First stop was to a lovely valley called Batcombe Vale, a previous favourite camping location. Although we haven't been camping for a few years, we haven't said never again, and I really hope to be back here under canvas at some point.

395939402_1242115227180686_3150312221148913263_n

( Pictures here )

Our family had some crushing news earlier this week. To be honest, I'm still processing it.

My cousin's stepson was murdered in London on Tuesday. He was a 22 year old man and was stabbed in a busy street in broad daylight in front of shocked shoppers.

I didn't know the lad, but I grieve with my cousin, Danielle, and her husband, Jermaine, who are both devastated beyond belief. And let's face it, the death of any 22 year old, especially in these circumstances, is tragic beyond words.

It's a sad fact that young black men are the demographic most likely to die from inner city knife crime. It's a statistic that we hear all the time here in the UK, but even so, you never really believe your own family will be touched by it.

What's the solution? Who knows? I don't feel I have any right to speak on this matter. I'm a middle-aged white woman whose greatest childhood hardship was never being allowed to have a pony.

The scumbags that did this have been caught. I can only hope the justice system treats them appropriately and doesn't make Danielle and Jermaine suffer even more than they already are.

Keelen Wong, shine bright young man x
Brixton stabbing: Man charged with murder of Keelen Morris Wong | ITV News London

So, my parents big move happened on Friday. I said a slightly sad goodbye to their lovely house of 26 years on Friday morning, and was there when they finally moved into their new home on Friday afternoon. They're in their new assisted living apartment; it's lovely and I think they're going to be very happy.

They've got lots of methods of calling for help (cords and buttons all around the place) and they've already met their Care Manager.

I went over to support with the move on Friday, and everything ran on rails. The two young guys who came to do the removals were fabulous. They were so patient and respectful and made the whole process so much easier than it could have been.

Mum and Dad have had a little bit of a teething problem with phones, which is the only negative at the moment. Their landline is not set up yet, and Dad's mobile phone died on Saturday. Typical!

On Sunday I went over to the Island with a new mobile phone. I could only stay an hour or so, and I showed Dad how to make and take calls. Then after I left, he phoned EE to put more credit on his phone and EE won't move forward until they have sent him a validation text for him to return. But he doesn't know how to use texts on the new phone. So now his £10 credit has run out and basically, my parents have no way of contacting the outside world, including me, and I have no way of contacting them.

There is a reception at the complex, but I just KNOW they won't be taking advantage of it because they don't want to 'be a nuisance'.

I can't handle this situation, and I need peace of mind, so I'm going over there again on Wednesday to help them get this situation sorted out! I can't go before then because they wn't have a bed for me to sleep in!.

Once this whole situation is settled, I think Mum and Dad are going to really flourish in this place! So despite this brief bump in the road, I'm still thrilled they made this move!

So my parents' move is finally here.

All the parties involved finally got their shit together, and barring unforeseen disasters, it's all set for Friday next week.

I'm going over there to help on Friday, and I'm so happy that I'm able to contribute because I was convinced it was all going to coincide with the aftermath of my operation when I couldn't drive.

I was over there today and took my Mum shopping, and we bought an ironing board, a mirror, a set of placemats, a duvet cover, pillow cases, a rug and four lightbulbs.

When my Mum started looking at wardrobes I had to call a halt because my car isn't that big!

So this is the end of this chapter of their lives and the beginning of a new one. I'm so relieved for them, and just glad I can be a part of it.

Mr D slipped in the shower this morning trying to rescue a spider. He said he didn't see it when he started showering, but he turned round to see it struggling up the side of the bathtub trying to get away from the water and he felt sorry for it.

His good deed didn't end well!

He thinks this was from the bottom of the shower door where the rubber seal has started to get old and degrade. He said 'I caught him and tried throwing him out the window but he was having none of it so came back in and mooched off into the spare room. I was bleeding all over the place so left him to it.'

Lucky spider. That's all I can say!

I got back from the hospital this morning, and it's good news!

The operation was a success and that pesky little hole has closed!

I'm now just waiting for the gas bubble to deflate, (the doctor says it it's deflating quite quickly so will probably be gone in 2 - 3 weeks), and then I'll be back to something approaching normal vision again

If anyone's interested in what the world looks like when you have a vitrectomy gas bubble, this is a fair approximation. (The lower bubble area is a little darker and more domed than what is shown here), but now that the bubble is shrinking, this is roughly what the vision in my right eye is like!

Because looking through the gas bubble is like looking through water, that part of my field of vision is blurry and refracted like everything is bigger or further away, and I've walked into doorframes a couple of times! It wouuld be just my luck to end up back in the hospital with a broken toe!!!

It's only been a week, but it feels like an eternity!

I had my operation last Friday the 7th. Everything went well, and I was in and out within a day. There was a follow up consultation the next morning and the doc was happy with it so far. I have another appointment next Friday, to further follow up. Hopefully that will give me more of an indication on how successful the surgery has been.

I currently have a gas bubble in my eye so the vision in my right eye is very weird! It's swimmy and blurred, refracted like I'm looking through a bowl of water. I'm having to type this with my right eye closed otherwise I can see my keyboard reflected across the screen and it's all wobbly and sloshy just like moving water!!

However, on the plus side, there has been no pain at all, and my eye is visibly better looking than it was a week ago, so all good!

( Read more... )

All the pre-ops done yesterday.
BP, bloods, ECG etc. It seems like I'm fit and healthy enough that I'm unlikely to peg out under the anaesthetic, so it looks like we're all systems go for next Friday!

Some of you may have seen this on my Fb page today:

A while back, I mentioned here at my journal that in January I was diagnosed with a condition called a Macular Hole which affects the eyesight in my right eye and I'm currently waiting for a date for surgery to (hopefully) fix it.

Some people have asked me how this thing affects my eyesight, and it's hard to to explain - I've described it as water spiralling down a drain on the focal point of my right eye.

Yesterday, while I was googling some information about the recovery period for the op, I came across this picture which illustrates perfectly what I see when my left eye isn't compensating for the weakness,

This picture looks like it's depicting a much bigger hole than I have in my Macula, but it still looks very famiiar - and really quite trippy!!

I think last time I mentioned my Mum and Dad here at my journal, I was close to my wits end with the whole situation regarding my Dad's health and the resulting stresses on my Mum. Well, it's fair to say the afore mentioned situation has moved on, and thankfully for the better!

Pics and video at Livejournal

It's been a wonderful weekend, not least because Saturday was my birthday, but to be honest, this year my birthday took a bit of a back seat. You see it's my Mum's birthday tomorrow, and it's her 80th, so that really was something to celebrate! So because it was on the Saturday, I spent my birthday celebrating my Mum's birthday!

Along with my family, or in particular, Mum's two sisters and my olderst cousin, we'd arranged a surprise dinner for Mum, and had been working on this via Whatsapp for about 6 months. It was in a nice pub called The Vine close to where she and my Dad live, and Mum believed that she was just going there to have dinner with me, Dad and Mr D.

In the end, thankfully, we managed to keep the secret right until the end (despite a couple of near misses), and when she turned up at the pub, she got the surprise of her life (in the best way!)

( Read more... )

So, today we laid Queen Elizabeth to rest in the first state funeral this nation has seen since 1965, for Winston Chruchill, three years before I was born.

It's been fascinating to watch - truly part of history, and our armed services, as always, conducted themselves flawessly, giving their 'boss' the best send off possible.

I just want to give an honorable mention to these young guys, some as young as 19, because they undertook a huge task under immense pressure, watched by the entire world, and they carried out their task flawlessly. That coffin was lead-lined and I believe it weighed upwards of 500 pounds. I was holding my breath with every step they took, so kudos to them! I hope they can enjoy a well-deserved pint tonight!

Now, everything gets back to normal and we, in the UK, get used to living with a King. The conversations about where the monarchy goes from here will no doubt start now, and by the time Charles goes, I think we will see a very different monarchy - with some changes that are probably long overdue.

But for now we can just be satisfied that we gave our Queen a fitting send off!

RIP Queen Elizabeth II

So, it's been a funny old couple of days.

It's a stange fact of life that anyone in the UK under 71 years of age has never known another monarch other than Queen Elizabeth II. I haven't studied the facts, but I'm willing to guess that's about 75% of the population who have never known anything other than our Queen.

I have friends and relatives who are on every point of the Monarchist spectrum, some ardently pro, some very much anti. Me, I sit somewhere in the middle. There are aspects of the royal family I don't like, and I'm not what you'd call a royalist. I'm not one of these people that travels to be at special royal events and hangs around Buckingham Palace for a glimpse of the Queen. That said, on balance, I think - as a naton - we're better off with them than without them. Mainly because, as far as I'm concerned, the thought of an elected president scares me because the standard of our politcians, generally, is - to be frank - fucking frightening!

So, given my fairly vanilla attitude toward the Monarchy generally, I was surprised at the strength of emotion I felt when her death was announced.

Mr D and I just stood in the middle of the living room staring at the TV, and I just burst into tears. It felt like something permanent and eternal had gone, like the White Cliffs of Dover had collapsed into the sea!

Our Queen has always been a stalwart. She's always been there, calm and industrious, doing a duty she was not born to do with a work ethic that you can't fault. She's always been dependable and respectable, and even on the rare occasion she gets it wrong, like when she badly misread the mood of the country after the Diana tragedy, she did her best to make good afterwards, and has continued to work on keeping in touch with the modern mindset of the nation - her participation in the 'James Bond' skit at the 2012 London Olympics and the fabulous 'Paddington Bear' appearance at the Platinum Jubilee, was proof of that. She hung on to perform her last duty - to appoint her new Prime Minister - less than 48 hours before she passed away, so typical of the woman who had duty running through her veins.

Hers is the only Royal face I've ever seen on our coins and bank notes, on our stamps in the 54 years I've been alive. I've only ever sung God Save the Queen, and when I was a Girl Guide forty years ago or more, I pledged allegance to the Queen.

Now we, here in this damp little island, have the biggest change that many of us have ever had to deal with. Now we have King Charles. We'll have a different face on the bank notes, and all of us will have to get used to talking about our King. Next year, I'll finally get to see a Monarch's coronation - that 1,000 year old Ceremony that I've never yet seen in real time.

The UK has a couple of weeks coming up, the like of which has never been seen since 1952. It will be interesting, and uplifting, and desperately sad all at the same time.

And as for Charles the third. I'm so sorry for the loss of his mother, and I wish him well.

I hope his reign is more successful than our last two Charles's!

Profile

dizzojay

May 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Syndicate

Page Summary

Active Entries

1: Crossroads Convention
2: Happy Post: Ten go mad in Venice
3: Dearest June
4: Hoppy birthday!
5: God's Holy Tax Accountant
6: Snowflake Challenge 2025 - Day 3
7: Twig time
8: Snowflake Challenge 2025 - Day 11
9: Snowflake Challenge 2025 - Day 10
10: The adventures of the little reed house

Style Credit

Style: Neutral Good for Practicality by timeasmymeasure

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated May. 24th, 2025 12:32 am

Dizzojay's Dean Dreams

Entries tagged with not supernatural

Radio star!

Home Sweet Home!

White Horse magic!

Mr Shingles

A Plea to my US chums from Mr D...

Happy Post: A Boxing Day Tradition

Dad update ... sigh

Time for a break in the country!

Dizzo update...

The big move

It's Moving time!

Incey wincey Spider!

Happy Post: Good news day!

Hello waves

One step closer

Weirdy McWeirdass!

Dizzo update...

A weekend to remember!

Well, that was that then.

End of an era