November hasn't been a great month.......it's decided to take the course of wrapping the whole dreadful year into one megga awful month and it seems it's enjoying it! Sick cats and nose bleeds (in their various forms - and trust me there are forms of nose-bleed!) have created the status quo that is November.....
Little "Lady Penelope PLC" (I'm sure she got a previous mention) is now running a bill of around (Pounds sterling) 3,800 which I have had to pay and can only hope that the insurance will re-imburse (less the excess)......a Government grant for Uni just simply doesn't stretch.......Financially (if I was in the luxurious state of not having to worry about money) she is worth every penny and some, but the reality is harsh when you realise that if the problem recurs you won't have the funds to get her better... Why does everything always come down to money??????
Music has not kept me sane this month - true it has provided (in it's ever amiable way) solace for all too brief a time, but reality has intruded too far and too close to home to be put to one side and simply brushed under the carpet.....
Music too has been a source of stress - the battle of harmony knowledge v string quartet has not been a) fair b) true to a cause, c) an even fight, d) psychologically sound....... solace evaporates like ether when you need it most and leaves you with the delusions of a reality you don't want to be in (that sounds like I'm tripping, but trust me I'm far from it!).
Hopefully normality will be restored this weekend with a large baking session of delicious pecan pie, sponge based deserts and some fruity crumble.....and probably some breakfast muffins and some chewy cookies........
Life is strange and challenging, if it was not we would be nothing and there would be no notes on the page and no music to hear.............
Tread carefully and love those who are close to you, no matter what the cost :-) x x x
Monday, 22 November 2010
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Intensive care for cats .....
This year has been an ordeal - nothing short of it, blood in various locations and frequencies and now pus! It seems bodily fluids are intent on destroying that last bit of sanity that I cling to.....
Our little cat - Lady Penelope PLC (purrs loudly and constantly or pretty little cat) was taken severely ill on Friday last - hardly breathing I rushed her to the vets only to learn that she was hanging on by a thread - my world was collapsing. However, they drained 250ml of pus from her lungs and she is now in intensive care. They are fantastic there. She is progressing well and I will go visit her today. It seems that the infection was caused by something she breathed in or by something that got stuck in her fur and then travelled through her skin and into her lungs - the latter is megga ew and I really don't want to think about it. Parker (our other cat and her half brother) is very lonely, but getting lots of tlc. We hope she will be home by mid next week, but apparently it is quite common for a relapse to occur.
She is my gorgeous little baby girl and only 5, this on top of my Mum (83yrs old) coming out of hospital after suffering a severe nose bleed which kept her in for 2 days, her cat being ill and not given long to live and a pals husband dying of cancer after an 8 year battle during which he showed immense courage and determination to live a normal life and give his family fun times to remember. There are hero's everywhere and he was one of them.
I am not alone in this annus horribilus and Her in the Palace would say, it seems that the world has gone a bit upside down this year. Fingers crossed that it will turn itself right again soon.
Music is still sustaining me and today is Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road, Meeting across the river etc - combined with a bit of Steve Reich and a Mozart string quartet.
Food will be healthy fish baked in chilli oil with fresh veg and salad. Followed by a deliciously ripe mango! Solace indeed.
x
Our little cat - Lady Penelope PLC (purrs loudly and constantly or pretty little cat) was taken severely ill on Friday last - hardly breathing I rushed her to the vets only to learn that she was hanging on by a thread - my world was collapsing. However, they drained 250ml of pus from her lungs and she is now in intensive care. They are fantastic there. She is progressing well and I will go visit her today. It seems that the infection was caused by something she breathed in or by something that got stuck in her fur and then travelled through her skin and into her lungs - the latter is megga ew and I really don't want to think about it. Parker (our other cat and her half brother) is very lonely, but getting lots of tlc. We hope she will be home by mid next week, but apparently it is quite common for a relapse to occur.
She is my gorgeous little baby girl and only 5, this on top of my Mum (83yrs old) coming out of hospital after suffering a severe nose bleed which kept her in for 2 days, her cat being ill and not given long to live and a pals husband dying of cancer after an 8 year battle during which he showed immense courage and determination to live a normal life and give his family fun times to remember. There are hero's everywhere and he was one of them.
I am not alone in this annus horribilus and Her in the Palace would say, it seems that the world has gone a bit upside down this year. Fingers crossed that it will turn itself right again soon.
Music is still sustaining me and today is Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road, Meeting across the river etc - combined with a bit of Steve Reich and a Mozart string quartet.
Food will be healthy fish baked in chilli oil with fresh veg and salad. Followed by a deliciously ripe mango! Solace indeed.
x
Thursday, 4 November 2010
String Quartets, Gin & Tonic and baked beans on toast!
My head is full to busting!
There, it feels better already. String Quartetes, Creative Music Technologies and weird stuff that some wouldn't call music, film and opera, classical stuff and the cold that won't go away but is just at that really horrid Alien style slime stage.....probably too much info!
I am confused - why exactly am I doing this? A reasonably sensible woman rapidly approaching her 50's building up approx 19k of debt (which of course I will have to try to pay off before I retire!) putting mortgage and various other regular payments in jeopardy, living off 3 pounds spend a week (coffee at Uni alone is 1.60) and having the time of my life! Sure, most of the time I haven't got a clue as to what it all means, that I panic about not knowing the theory side of the music, that I haven't got a clue how to compose, that I'm really not sure how applicable my "life experience" is to this bizzare world, but heh! The truth is of course I should have done this years ago, but we can say that about a lot of things and I'm doing it now - so bring it on as the journey is superb!
The G&T is on the desk and I have the next section of the string quartet to tackle - chromatic bit that will get me from A to E major......
Food at the moment is fairly basic as I don't want to spread the cold virus too far so tonight will either be sardines on toast or baked beans on said same toast - at the moment the latter is the preferred option......yummm :-) x
There, it feels better already. String Quartetes, Creative Music Technologies and weird stuff that some wouldn't call music, film and opera, classical stuff and the cold that won't go away but is just at that really horrid Alien style slime stage.....probably too much info!
I am confused - why exactly am I doing this? A reasonably sensible woman rapidly approaching her 50's building up approx 19k of debt (which of course I will have to try to pay off before I retire!) putting mortgage and various other regular payments in jeopardy, living off 3 pounds spend a week (coffee at Uni alone is 1.60) and having the time of my life! Sure, most of the time I haven't got a clue as to what it all means, that I panic about not knowing the theory side of the music, that I haven't got a clue how to compose, that I'm really not sure how applicable my "life experience" is to this bizzare world, but heh! The truth is of course I should have done this years ago, but we can say that about a lot of things and I'm doing it now - so bring it on as the journey is superb!
The G&T is on the desk and I have the next section of the string quartet to tackle - chromatic bit that will get me from A to E major......
Food at the moment is fairly basic as I don't want to spread the cold virus too far so tonight will either be sardines on toast or baked beans on said same toast - at the moment the latter is the preferred option......yummm :-) x
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Oh Maladay!
No blog for a while, largely due to illness...
Mum went to hospital following a severe nosebleed and is now thankfully home recovering, although at 83 she has been badly shaken and was very frightened by the whole experience - something I had not previously experienced. She has always been strong and courageous when ever illness has struck - no matter how severe or mild. I guess as you grow you begin to see your parents as people who have the same fears and hopes and dreams, making them more like you than a 'parent'. Thankfully she should mend over the coming weeks as her drugs settle down.
Her beloved cat, Oliver, however will not fare so well as he has cat lukemia and has lost his appetite. Now on a course of drugs to stimulate his appetite and one lot to hopefully revive his bone marrow we are praying that he will hang on without suffering for a while longer. I have anger to deal with as I know that this disease is preventable by annual vaccination - so don't understand why he hasn't had these.... but that is my bad and there is little I can do about it now.
I too have the dreadful cold which has wiped me out for a good few days and has left a me with a smokers cough (even though I don't and never have smoked!).
Consequently I have been working on my Steve Reich style composition about the Chilean Miners - it's called Fenix 2 and although a work in progress has it's premiere in class on Thursday. Strange times.
Because of the illness cooking has gone out of the window with me consuming large quantities of comfort providing pizza.... it is now time for healthy fish and veg.
Music to listen to at the moment is the Beethoven String Quartets Op.18 - amazing and startling stuff - it's Beethoven as you don't know him and is superb......
Enjoy. x
Mum went to hospital following a severe nosebleed and is now thankfully home recovering, although at 83 she has been badly shaken and was very frightened by the whole experience - something I had not previously experienced. She has always been strong and courageous when ever illness has struck - no matter how severe or mild. I guess as you grow you begin to see your parents as people who have the same fears and hopes and dreams, making them more like you than a 'parent'. Thankfully she should mend over the coming weeks as her drugs settle down.
Her beloved cat, Oliver, however will not fare so well as he has cat lukemia and has lost his appetite. Now on a course of drugs to stimulate his appetite and one lot to hopefully revive his bone marrow we are praying that he will hang on without suffering for a while longer. I have anger to deal with as I know that this disease is preventable by annual vaccination - so don't understand why he hasn't had these.... but that is my bad and there is little I can do about it now.
I too have the dreadful cold which has wiped me out for a good few days and has left a me with a smokers cough (even though I don't and never have smoked!).
Consequently I have been working on my Steve Reich style composition about the Chilean Miners - it's called Fenix 2 and although a work in progress has it's premiere in class on Thursday. Strange times.
Because of the illness cooking has gone out of the window with me consuming large quantities of comfort providing pizza.... it is now time for healthy fish and veg.
Music to listen to at the moment is the Beethoven String Quartets Op.18 - amazing and startling stuff - it's Beethoven as you don't know him and is superb......
Enjoy. x
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