LIARNA’S 14TH BIRTHDAY

Up earlier then I would have liked as I woke at 4am and after 40 minutes of tossing and turning I decided to get up.

I have done bugger all today answered one letter and did some blogging.

Slept in till 5.50am which was a surprise but not a big deal. Another cooler day.

Kathy rang she said that Summer now has Covid.

Tim had an appointment with the new physio a nice young woman, she wants him to do some exercises and will be back in 2 weeks.

Sue came over to see me and just have a vent about her body aches and such, I get it and it helps to be able to vent to someone who knows what you are going through.

Had a good night up at 4.50am and thankfully it isn’t hot just nice. Doesn’t stop me sweating but what does other then bloody cold weather and then that can be hit and miss.

Stuck the diary entries into the new diary only to find that some weeks have been stuffed up with Wednesday & Thursday being on the same page like Saturday & Sunday’s are very annoying but it is what it is.

Jessica’s Christmas present finally arrived I sent her a text to come over and get it but she hasn’t replied or come over.

Tasha came down with Freya to help me get ready for bed.

Slept pretty much straight through the night I did get up to pee at some point. We are in for another hot day.

Sue came over to get help filling out some paperwork to get assistance with the cost of moving to Qld. After finishing the paperwork and emailing it off she is told she needs to include her invoices but she hasn’t moved yet, seems she has to move first and then lodge a claim for reimbursement. This had her is tears as she has no idea what she is going to do.

Just as Sue was leaving the cleaners turned up.

As the cleaners left Tasha came down to ask if she could borrow our car this afternoon. Tim started to record the conversation which pissed her off not the recording bit but the fact that he just started doing something else while she was talking to him. This is something he has done his whole life.

Gave Jessica her belated Christmas present which she loved a photo block of her favourite dog “Dot Dot”

Had another good night, woke just before 5am got up but my body has been in a go slow mood. It is going to be another hot sticky day.

Tasha has at last got another job as a domestic cleaner she is happy about it and starts on Monday. She didn’t really want to work as a cleaner again but a paying job is a paying job and she will give it her best.

Tasha and Freya came and helped me get ready for bed.

A much cooler start to the day I had to close the front sliding door as the breeze was making my legs cold.

Kathy and Summer arrived around 8.30am, Summer is here till her dad picks her up after lunch. Summer went up to Tasha’s to see the kitten.

Freya came and said goodbye as she was going home but she told me she would be back in five days.

Slept in as I was tired, I got up to pee at what I thought was 3.40am but now I think it was in fact 4.40am and it was 5.40am when I got up, I am not worried.

Tasha rang at 6.30 to get me to go and wake Blain up as he has work and has to leave in 10-15 minutes and he wasn’t answering his phone. I went and I woke him up.

Hot but I haven’t turned the air con on as Tim doesn’t think it is that hot.

Tim went to Coles to get a few things as he was returning to the car he fell over, took the skin off his knee and elbow but managed to pick himself up and come home without issue.

Tasha told me that Blain went back to sleep after I left him this morning.

Ok here is the question what the hell is Parkinson’s Disease, well from what I know it is neurodegenerative disorder in such diseases neurons which are brain cells die sooner than normal both inside and outside the brain, although most damage occurs in the brain.

We are born with hundreds of billions of neurons and yes many die off naturally and most people have plenty of “spare” neurons. Now unlike most cells neurons don’t reproduce to generate new nerve cells for when something goes wrong.

With a neurodegenerative condition certain types of neurons die at a much faster rate then normal wear and tear and are not replaced.

When too many neurons die a persons everyday motions such as walking, talking, swallowing and writing are effected. Our brains need something called dopamine to assist the neurons to function like fine tuning our brain actions. However, with Parkinson’s this fine tuning action is lost when the dopamine neurons die.

So a persons movements become less smooth and more stiffer, slower and they appear to hesitate when trying to move or do stuff.

Now here we are at another working life in the 1890’s last week I wrote about being a servant and this week I am also writing about being a servant.

The mistress of the household would normally have been taught to cook so she can instruct her cook on such manners. Knowledge of what a mistress should expect from her servants was part of the education of a “young lady”.

There were mistresses of the household who had themselves been a servant and these women were often feared by their servants as they would often impose harsher conditioners. One would have thought they would be more compassionate and understanding but no they were not.

There were of course many households that didn’t have servants and by 1901 only one in ten Australian households had them.

Women who did unpaid domestic work for their husbands and families ranged from lower middle-class women who did not work outside the home, to those who also worked in factories or were servants themselves.

Society of course expected every home to be spic and span regardless of how many servants they had or even if they had none. Housework is still considered “women’s work” by many even in the 21 century.

There were males servants and they earnt more then the women and like the work done by women the men also had very demanding jobs such as coachmen, grooms, gardeners and general handyman type work.

The family’s coachman was expected to always be ready to take the family on outings when required. Many coachmen found themselves chauffeurs by the end of the 19 century, when more well to do families acquired a motor-car.

There were many servants who did not “live-in” but worked part time at the homes of the well to do, also many took in washing and sewing. During the depression of the 1890’s these women would often be the only breadwinner in the home. Some considered themselves lucky if the made one pound a week, to support a family of more then 5 people.

Good morning everyone, here we are at another Wednesday which means it is Aussie Slang day.

Smoko: A smoke or coffee break

Slab: A carton of beer usually with 24 cans or bottles

Sook: A person or animal that is considered soft, tame or inoffensive

Spewin: Very angry

Spiffy: Looking good, great or excellent

Good morning all unless it’s not morning then good afternoon or good evening depending on where in the world you are. It is time for this weeks creature and it is then wraparound spider.

This spider is found on the western side of Australia and is only small females are 9mm in length and males only 5mm, they have venom but are not particularly dangerous to humans.

Their colour makes it easy for them to conceal themselves in trees as they are built for tree hugging its body is shaped like a shield with the underside concaved to fit snugly around a branch and its abdomen slightly raised to complete a line.

It builds large orb shaped webs between trees in order to catch its prey.

Hello everyone let me start by saying I believe God created Heaven & Earth and the human race, however, I respect that not all share such views do even though last weeks post and this week’s post are about the beginnings of Earth doesn’t take away anything from what I believe.

So here are this week’s facts about Earth.

Earth has a breathable atmosphere which when viewed from space looks like a thin blue layer surrounding the planet.

In one seconded the Earth travels about 30km (19 miles) around the Sun.

Although the planet is called Earth only about 30 per cent of it is Earth the rest is water.

From 1930 Pluto was believed to be the ninth planet in our Solar System but in 2006 it was removed from the list of planets due to being too small, it is now referred to as a dwarf planet.

The Earth is made up of different layers which are held in place by gravity.

Had a pretty good night up at 4.50am only because my hose to my Cpap mask came disconnected and I had to get out of bed to find it saw the time and decided to stay up.

My feet haven’t been as bad this morning

Tim has gone out to get Sam’s birthday present.

SAM’S 16TH BIRTHDAY

I was surprised to see it was 5.10am when I got up this morning it is a much cooler start to the day.

Sam came down and I gave them their birthday present which they loved nothing fancy 3 different packs of playing cards, as they have decided to collect playing cards. Also gave some things for their arms and a set of fancy fingerless cloves.

Tim gave more practical things as in screwdrivers, a tape message and a small hammer all of which Sam loved. Sam does like to take things apart just for the fun of it.

I turned the air con on at around 9am which I suspect annoyed Tim but I was hot.

What a night last night was I was very restless and it took me a bloody long time to settle down. I realised I had forgotten to take one medication and got up and took it after which I did at last settle down.

I managed to find a diary online I hope it is the type I want.

I have been restless most of the day. Managed to not turn the air con on at all today.

Tim had a doctors appointment to get his medical for his driver’s authority.

Had a good night slept pretty much straight through the night, I don’t recall getting up during the night at all.

Tim went with Jessica for her rego check and noticed that the automatic registration failed as her pension card has expired so it cost her $443. Good thing he noticed. Although like me he has a habit checking the rego online after that time Jess got caught without rego because her CTP didn’t go through even though we had paid it.

Tim had his Dr’s appointment with him was a woman called Sarah who has been appointed by the CTP company “Youi” to help Tim get back to work. If only it would all run smoothly but nope isn’t happening the company Tim works for are being difficult and one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing. Hell I feel that neither hand even knows what it is doing. This is very frustrating for both Tim and myself, I hate seeing Tim so upset and confused.

Up at 5am and opened the house up but there is no breeze this morning which is annoying. It is a real muggy morning I am feeling very sticky so I have turned on 3 different fans. When I checked the humidity was up at 96%.

I turned the air con on at midday, as I was fed up with the heat.

I have felt restless on and off all day.

Tim had a talk to his case worker from Youi and seemed in a tad better mood after that. He now has to have different physio on his hand to increase his strength, his lack of strength is one of the things preventing him driving a bus again.

In for another stinking hot and sweaty day how lucky am I.

Had only a short chat with Kathy as neither of us have any news to share.

Tim and I went out for lunch and we ended up ordering the same dish and we both only ate half of it, I think next time we should get one dish to share. The meal was really nice, well I thought it was, Tim, however, thought differently.

I turned the air con on at 10am and thankfully Tim didn’t say anything.

Tasha isn’t able to come and help me this afternoon yet again she will not be home. This is more annoying to Tim then it is to me as I don’t need help as much as I like seeing her and having a short period of one on one time with my daughter.

Awake and up at 4.45am once awake I get up not one for just laying in bed. Thankfully not as sticky this morning.

Ok it is 8.30am I have just folded up the clothes and I am now drenched in sweat.

Air con went on at 10am, even then I suspect Tim thought it was too early.

Sandy called in to drop off an apple turnover for me and left with 10 small packets of cheese & onion chips and a packet of biscuits I didn’t want.

Tasha is helping get ready for bed this afternoon.

Hello everyone as many will know I was officially diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease last year although the first sign of a tremor started way back in 2015, being told at first I had a Functional Tremor although back in 2016 or 2017 I was prescribed some kind of Parkinson’s medication for a short trial, which didn’t work. I was also told that the tremor wouldn’t get worse which of course it did.

When I went back and asked why I was getting worse I was referred to the movement disorder clinic which turned out to be one other neurologist who agreed it was a Functional Tremor and shouldn’t get any worse. It did.

In 2021 Tim and I decided to pay to see a private neurologist the other visit were through the public health system, this guy wasn’t sure he thought possible Functional Tremor with some Parkinson’s overlay and referred to another neurologist this time in Westmead, Sydney a 2hr drive from where I live.

This neurologist thought a Dystonic Tremor with some kind of Parkinson’s thrown in and arranged for me to see another team of movement disorder people, this time there was something like 15 in total who checked me out discussed my case amongst themselves and decided it was more Parkinson’s then anything else.

I was also started on Parkinson’s medication the first lot didn’t do much so she tried another type which helped more but still not satisfied I was changed to another, then another which is the Madopar I am taking now which works pretty well. I still shake and it has spread to my feet and I still breakout in sweat and have balance problems when tired but overall I am doing better.

This will be the first post of a few about Parkinson’s Disease.

Well how would you like to hear about what it was like to be a servant in the late 1800’s. There were servants that lived in as in their wages include food and lodgings, these servants would start their day around 6.00am earlier on wash days.

Tasks undertaken by the servants included house cleaning but also they might be expected to deal with deliverers of milk, bread, meat and vegetables that would be delivered to affluent homes. They may also have to mind the children and do the mending and sewing under the direction of the mistress.

From 7.30pm provided she had completed her daily duties she would be permitted free time and could go out, she would, however, be expected to be back and I bed by 10pm. There were no days off and she was expected to attend church on Sundays, sitting a few rows back from the family.

Some servants would be accepted into the family, respected by the mistress and master and loved by the children.

During the troubled 1890’s housemaids made around 10 shillings per week, cooks made between 15 & 20 shillings, laundresses got between 15 -17 shillings, nursemaids and general servants got paid between 6 & 12 shillings per week.

During the 1880-90’s there became a servant problem with many mistresses finding it difficult hiring servants as due to the increase in industry many preferred to work in factories. They could live at home and spend their free time with friends. This shortage made it hard on those who were servants who had more work to do.

For a little while this year I will continue to share some Aussie Slang words and phrases, why because I am only up to S in my list of slang and I can’t leave it there.

She’ll be right: To turn out ok

Shit House: To be of poor quality, unenjoyable as in this car is a shit house, a broken, run down mess. It also means toilet………Der

Der: I don’t think I have covered Der before it means stupid or obvious

Snag: A sausage

Spag Bol: Spaghetti Bolognese