Nearly the New Year. Two hours left of this decade

I turned 64 This past October so I have seen a few New Years celebrations! It makes me no sort of expert just a senior experiences person! I have done okie kokies blocking the A2 in Ospringe as the customers of three pubs poured out of the bars  banging tin trays and spilling the contents of glasses as they put the left leg in!! One year me and a mate went to Trafalgar square and got into the fountains but we had planned ahead and had dry clothes in the car!  So we managed to get in a few clubs before returning home to Faversham.
since I have been married for over forty years most of my New Year Celebrations have been at home!
Our normal New Year eve would involve a Chinese take away. Tonight was no exception other than it was home cooked. The local takeaway closes Tuesdays. So off to Asda for Chinese cook at home! Sweet n sour chicken boiled rice and a beef curry plus duck wraps with plumb sauce!! 👍I am in bed it's now 10:30pm and some crappy film about pregnant women in New York is on. I am so engrossed I decided to write this post wishing all of my readers a very happy and prosperous 2020 and may you all have good health. I hope I can start blogging about my Multiple Sclerosis and the ongoing colostomy saga! Will I get my op this new decade? See you in the new year just 78 minutes away!😁

Just getting back into Blogging

I shut all of my old blogs down  iin a fit of despair and I am now semi over my despair so back at it.I have no real news about the area other than last week our two Conservative MP's got re-elected. Being a recent convert to the Labour Party https://labour.org.uk/   
I must say I'm  very dissapointed  that all of my efforts on TWITTER click here for my account
I wanted to see the end of Brexit and a Labour Government but as you will know nothing of the sort happened the llocal candidates faiiilled but Rosie Duffield was re elected in Canterbury.

Turner Prize 2019 at Turner Contemporary, Margate

Turner Prize 2019 Nominee | Oscar Murillo | Turner Contemporary

Turner Prize 2019 Nominee | Oscar Murillo | Turner Contemporary

Turner Prize 2019 Nominee | Lawrence Abu Hamdan | Turner Contemporary

Margate Caves officially re-opening this week!

Promote Thanet likes to promote local events and none is more local than the grand re-opening of Margate Caves! Those who know if me will be well aware I love Twitter and yesterday I read this tweet:- Drumroll!! The news you have all been waiting patiently for...Margate Caves will officially re-open this Thursday, 22nd August. There’s still work to do, but we're eager to start welcoming you through the doors and down the stairs. Details on the website http://margatecav
If you have a Twitter account tweet about @MargateCaves let's all get on board and get #MargateCaves trending and have a look at their Twitter account Margate Caves @MargateCaves
I don't do Facebook but check @MargateCaves
For their Facebook details!

Listening to Alanis Morissette you learn on Apple Music

When I was around 19 I had ambition to be in a band! That was 1974 and punk was the music to listen to but  I was strictly rock n roll😯  now I am 45 years older and sitting here listening to the 'Jagged little Pill' album and wondering where the years have gone! The drummer and lead guitarist are both dead I ain't seen the bassist in 43 years and my piano was sold to pay my mortgage years and years ago!
Do I have any regrets ? If I do I would never admit them to anyone! But in truth no I don't. I am going on 64 years old and I miss my youth but I don't regret anything! Regrets are for wimps! They won't change the past just ruin my future! I phoned my oldest mate earlier  and he lives in a caravan and is recovering from a stroke and no he has no regrets! You can't change the past but you can change your future! Don't dwell on what has gone before but future in tomorrow! One thing I am going to change Alanis Morrisette  it's got to Ironic and I dont need anymore good advice !!!😁 night folks

Multiple Sclerosis bites back

There is no cure for Multiple Sclerosis  no medication to stop it's relentless journey! I suffer from primary progressive multiple sclerosis and laugh when people say "MS, so you get good days and bad days" I just agree with them. How can I tell them that the common perception is wrong, they are talking about another 'strain' of the disease, relapsing and remitting ms. Where you get stable periods days weeks months even years and then the MS is triggered into action for a period of time and then relapses leaving your body a little worse than before the attack! My primary progressive MS just keeps on its progressive March onwards messing my body little by little day by Day! Today was another very bad day! I tell people who will listen I have bad days and even worse bad days!
No prizes for guessing which today was. I woke at 6:02 now I am bed bound, I have to be hoisted out of bed by my wife! Last night was a bad night so she was exhausted and I didn't shout her to get me up. She woke at 7:45 made me a cup of tea and I woke again when it was stone cold. She had been creeping about trying not to wake me. She asked did I want another cup to replace the cold one I said no thanks and drank cold tea with my medication. Painkillers antidepressants and the like. As I said nothing to stop the relentless march  of the MS. The can alleviate some of the side effects but no it's progress!
I re-awoke at just after 1:00 shouted down to Heather who made me not tea that l drank slowly and she finally hoisted me outta bed just after two! I go into the bathroom on a shower stroke commode chair. I used the commode with the help of an enema that Heather administer's  daily. My bowels no longer work, I am awaiting an operation to fit a colostomy bag. When it's fitted I will be a two bag person on bag for poo one bag for pee! Strange I can remember when I aspired to be a two car family. Two bag human doesn't quiet hold the same allure!
By the time I had done the pooing and had a shave and a shower I was exhausted! I joke with my kids I have had a sss day today Sh1t shave and shower. I only shower every other day so ss or sss day. Work the ss  days yourself remembering I shave every day.

• I finally got downstairs (we have a through floor lift) just after four. I can't walk anymore or stand so am hoisted out of the commode chair back into the bed, dressed hoisted outta bed into the wheelchair! So finally downstairs I eat my lunch at about four thirty. Lunch was served with painkillers! Painkillers are a problem! More painkillers have side effects even stronger painkillers to stop  me taking so many painkillers have even greater side effects. Feeling relatively pain free is a balancing act. The pain free bit is an illusion the medication is not strong enough but the side effects of even stronger ones are just too bad. It's a balancing act one I don't always get right!

This might sound as if I'm moaning, I am not Heather and I have never laughed so much. If we didn't laugh we would cry and self pitty ain't out style. I wrote this so people can read what it is like to have good days and bad days! Today was a good day!

Trip to the seaside at Margate

For various reasons I have not left the house for some time, but this evening I had a trip to Barnes car park at Westbrook. The trip out involved the purchase of Kentucky Fried Chicken from Margate high street. And then along the seafront to Westbrook. I have been in respite care for a month and found myself surprised at the number of people enjoying the seafront even at seven oclock. What else surprised me was the constant stream of cars pouring into Margate! I have been away from Thanet for most of the summer and had forgotten how many visitors actually come to enjoy themselves here.

Whitstable Author Julie Wassmer and the Westgate Literary Festival

I LOVE TWITTER.  Earlier this week I got into conversation with Whitstable Author Julie Wassmer about her new book Murder Fest (Whitstable Pearl Mysteries) Click here for link to AMAZON
she has written several other books in the Whitstable Pearl Mysteries (available at all good local bookshops) she introduced me to the Westgate Literary Festival. I used to blog and tweet about Margate Bookie the Margate Book Festival on the OLD BLOG. my interest thoroughly whetted I decided to write a brief post about both festivals and the dates plus Julies book.
Ever thoght about writing a book? I have, and knowing how difficult writing a 500 word blog post is am terrified by the sheer idea. I am currently half way through a five hundred page John Grisham novel The Reckoning. That equates to roughly ONE THOUSAND 500 word blog post. Well the Margate Bookie and the Westgate Literary Festival will both have workshops run by authors. CLICK ON THE LINKS TO GO TO THEIR WEBSITES.
Enough  about festivals lets talk about Julie Wassmer and the Whitstable Pearl Mysteriesz.  I have just Googled her and and discovered
Julie Wassmer was born in the East End of London, studied at Kingston University and had a variety of different jobs before she finally settled down to become a professional television drama writer.
She worked on several TV series, including ITV’s London’s Burning, C5’s Family Affairs and the popular BBC soap, Eastenders, which she wrote for almost 20 years.
  Yep you are right I got that off of her website, good old copy and paste!! Her books are Based in and around Whitstable one is based at Oare (my brother lives there). Julie has said she will do Guest Blogger article for me  so hopefully you will get to know her and her books better over the coming months.
Links
Julie Wassmer @juliewassmer
MargateBookie @MargateBookie
WestgateLit  @WestgateLitFest
Gina May @DrGinaMay

JulieWassmer

Promote Thanet 2 an explaination

I closed down my old Promote Thanet blog after running it for several years. My main reason in closing it down was my health, I have Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and now I feel I can restart the blog in a more limited capacity. I was an incomer to Thanet originating not far away in Faversham where I had grown up and going to Ethelbert Road School in the late 1960's. I have now lived in the area for the best part of forty years and am now a resident of Margate. Love the local area and a proud MAN of KENT The history of Kent is something I love to find out about and may cover areas outside of Thanet so be warned, I once had a compaint that an article I posted was not Thanet  interest. Its my blog and I will post about whatever takes my fancy so please dont moan because I wont care Praise however I will read and glow in the warm feeling of success. Please feel free to comment but I do moderate all comments as some people find the time to write sick or stupd comments and if they want to waste there time it is fine by me but I will try my hardest to make sure they dont get posted on any of my blogs. Which brings me round to telling you about my only other blog  http://reflectingandmusing.blogspot.com/
Reflecting and Musing is a space where I go when I feel so inclined to just blog stuff but I dont feel I blog on there very often, I hope to  post on here more regularly but I have no aims to be the biggest and best most visitors or win any records. I just aim to do my best and I hope that you will enjoy my feeble efforts.

The Photo below is of work by local Artist Ross Andrews. He captures ephemeral art around the coast both as sand art and wave photography and he also paints. The Next Exhibition of his work will be held in Margates PIE FACTORY click on link below for details

MY SEA – HIS SKY12th September – 25th SeptemberPie factory5 Broad Street, Margate CT9 1EW

or visit Ross's website 

ROSSANDREWS.CO.UK

where you will find links to his social media sites

Instagram

Twitter

ETC.