Happy Easter

To all my family and friends, my lovely carers, my fellow PALS (people living with ALS), and those kind enough to visit my blog, may I wish you all a very happy Easter. Enjoy the bank holiday break and keep an eye out for the Easter Bunny!

I would like to say a big thank you to those of you who came bearing gifts of chocolate and cards. They were very much appreciated. Also a special thanks goes to Val and Ann for the lovely potted flowers. They add a lovely splash of colour.

Mark

Happy New Year 2011

To my dear family and friends, both near and far, to my fellow PALS (people with ALS), and to those of you who have been kind enough to drop by, let me please wish you all a very happy New Year. May the year ahead bless you all with good health and many happy memories to look back on and cherish.

And let us pray for some significant progress in the field of medical science!

Mark

Merry Christmas

One of my eco-friendly limited-edition e-cards. Only virtual trees were harmed in its manufacture!

To all my family, friends, fellow PALS (people with ALS), and those kind enough to drop by, I wish you all a very merry Christmas. And if you don’t happen to celebrate Christmas then I wish you a happy holiday!

Outside my study window the colour is predominantly white. Snow carpets the ground whilst overhead looms a white featureless sky from which snow is steadily falling. It is very cold out and the roads feeding into the housing estates are slippery and treacherous. But I am far removed from the elements here in my cosy study and so have lost all touch with what it’s like having to get about out there.

I would like to say a big thank you to my aunt Joan who was kind enough this year to take up secretarial duties and sort out all my Christmas cards. So to all of you out there who have received cards from me and cannot work out the writing (on the envelope) – now you know!

I would also like to thank those of you who have sent Christmas cards this year. They are very much appreciated and it is nice to know I’ve not been forgotten even by those I have not seen for a while. Thank you all. I’ve got a nice little collection here on my desk. And apologies to anyone who I have forgotten to send a card to this year or whose address I don’t have. Sandra, if you’re reading this, I did send you a card but it has gone to your old house and I’ve just discovered you’ve moved.

And so before I sign off will you join me in a traditional Christmas song that was written by Irving Berlin Way back in 1942 and updated for the 21st century by me a couple of years ago! Okay, to the tune of White Christmas. 

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I’m dreaming of some new neurones

Just like the ones I used to know

May your days be merry and bright.

And may all your neurones work right!

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Now go and enjoy yourselves… Eat, drink and be merry. Enjoy the festive season and cherish the moment because life is precious at the best of times!

Mark

Happy Halloween

Hope you all have a spooky evening!

Enjoy yourselves! I’m on my own tonight. My meerkat friend is going out trick or treating in the hope that some kind person will give him a nice chocolate coated crispy locust!

Mark

Happy Easter

To all my family and friends, my fellow PALS (people with ALS), and those kind enough to visit my blog, may I wish you all a happy Easter. I hope the Easter Bunny brings you all plenty of chocolate!

I’d like to say a special thank you to my aunt and uncle and to my carers, Ann and Debbie, for the delicious looking Easter eggs. I haven’t started to tuck in yet… but it is only a matter of time . At the moment I’ve placed the eggs below the radiators in an effort to help incubate them. Can’t wait to see what hatches!

Mark

Happy New Year 2010

To my dear family and friends, to fellow PALS (people with ALS), and those kind enough to drop by, let me wish you all a very happy New Year. May the year ahead bless you with good health and many happy memories to look back on and cherish.

And let us all hope for a peaceful new decade. As for me personally, I’m hoping for a breakthrough in a certain field of medical science .

Mark

Merry Christmas

One of my highly sought-after limited edition personalised Christmas e-cards!

To all my family, friends, fellow PALS (people with ALS), and those kind enough to drop by, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and health and happiness in the coming year.

As I write this the ground outside the house is covered in a blanket of crisp snow and the sun is shining down from a clear blue sky, thus adding to the seasonal atmosphere. Children are throwing snowballs, the adults are busy clearing driveways, whilst I can only look on with envy. It’s such a nice day out there at the moment; I really wish I could go out for a walk with my camera and capture some shots of the nearby farm fields. Well I suppose we could always take the wheels of my wheelchair and replace them with skids then hook it up to a team of large dogs and hey presto I’ve got my own sleigh!

Soon daylight will fade and some of the houses around here will start to resemble carnival attractions or Blackpool illuminations. With my central heating running continuously and keeping me at a cosy 20° C I’m losing track of what the weather is really like out there although apparently it’s COLD. Actually having snow in December down here in the South is rather unusual these days (compared to my childhood). Normally Christmas is mild and dry… and nothing like Christmas should be, so it’s nice to see the white stuff just as long as you don’t have to go out driving in it. Personally I blame our upside down seasons on the greenfly affect!

I would like to say a big thank you to Ann and Francesca who have done so much to help me prepare for Christmas. They have both literally been my hands these past couple of weeks. So to all my friends who have received a card from me and can’t work out the handwriting – you have Ann to thank for it. And to those of you who have received gifts this year a special thank you goes to Francesca who spent a lot of time yesterday wrapping them up despite feeling really ill herself.

I would also like to thank those of you who have sent me some really nice Christmas cards this year. They are very much appreciated and it is nice to know I’ve not been forgotten even by those I have not seen for a while. Thank you all. And apologies to anyone who I have forgotten to send a card to this year or whose address I don’t have.

And so before I sign off will you join me in a traditional Christmas song that was written by Irving Berlin Way back in 1942 and updated for the 21st century by me last year! Okay, to the tune of White Christmas.

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I’m dreaming of some new neurones

Just like the ones I used to know

May your days be merry and bright.

And may all your neurones work right!

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Now go and enjoy yourselves… Eat, drink and be merry. Enjoy the festive season and cherish the moment because none of us know how long we have!

Mark

Into the New Year

Happy New Year!

A belated Happy New Year to you all! I hope 2009 brings you good health, much happiness and some lovely memories to look back on and cherish. For those of you making New Year’s resolutions may I wish you all the very best. As for myself the only resolution I have is to simply survive the year and to hope that the disease plays nice with me and doesn’t take away my ability to walk (my leg muscles are definitely weakening). With spring not so far away I shall be looking forward to getting out of the house for some much needed fresh air and sunlight (I’m growing tired having skin the colour of frozen chicken ). I’ve been cooped up in the house for quite some time now and could do with a change of scenery (preferably somewhere hot). At the moment however with temperatures lower then parts of Greenland, home is definitely the place to be, especially right now as I’ve just noticed that it has started to snow. In fact I feel a little tune coming on…

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“Oh the weather outside is frightful,

But the fire is so delightful,

And since we’ve no place to go,

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”

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Christmas came and went in a blur…as usual. The older I get the faster time seems to fly. I guess our perception of time changes as we age. Something to discuss with Professor Hawking the next time I see him (I help him with his sums now and again ).

For the most part Christmas was a quiet affair with only my carers calling in to look after me. Boxing Day was much more enjoyable and spent in the company of my brother and his wife. Unwrapping presents proved to be a real challenge this time as my hands are getting quite bad now. I’m losing a lot of the dexterity and strength that I once had. Even trying to separate paper held together by sticky tape was a real struggle that left me feeling weak – but I managed to do it. I got some nice presents as always, although truth be told the lovely coffee table books like The Wildlife Photographer of the Year are not terribly practical for someone with so much upper limb disability. It’s so difficult for me now to even pick up books, let alone be able to separate and turn the pages. But stubbornness and a determination to enjoy this lovely annual collection of photographs won out over common sense. I’m becoming more difficult to buy gifts for. I do have a few photos from the day to post which I’ll upload shortly. Sadly I think my days of taking pictures are at an end. I did try to take a few on Boxing Day but it was a complete disaster and I had to give up (and that was with the camera mounted on a monopod with a cable release attached).

Gaining some inspiration from all the Wallace & Gromit I watched over Christmas I think I’ll need to engineer myself some Arm-O-Matics as my attempt to take advantage of the January sales and buy a whole new set of arms in The Body Shop was a failure. Sure, they had some in stock but just not in my size and I thought somebody is bound to notice if I start walking around with my knuckles dragging along the ground .

So here we are already a week into the New Year. The close where I live is devoid of cars once again and everyone has gone back to work – except me. A couple of times a day there is a flurry of activity outside as young mums pull into the close to pick their children up from school, turning the close into a car park. Apart from that it’s very quiet. As for me I spend far too much time on the computer these days as my options dry up in addition to listening to music, reading and wondering what the year will bring. Time will tell.

Mark

Christmas wishes

One of my personalised xmas e-cards that I have fun creating

To the tune of White Christmas…as performed by Bing Crosby. Written by Irving Berlin (1942)

 

I’m dreaming of some new neurones

Just like the ones I used to know

May your days be merry and bright.

And may all your neurones work right!

 

Not much to write this time (thank goodness I hear you cry) except to wish all my family, friends, fellow PALS (people with ALS) and those kind enough to stop by, a very merry Christmas and health and happiness in the coming year. I hope you all get what you want for Christmas. I know what I’m wishing for!! Now go and enjoy yourselves!

Mark