Oops - here I go again

Last week was the week from hell. After my time spent at my local hospital and the uti I honestly believed things would get better.  Not so as we were soon to find out.  Colin and I decided on a very short flat walk on our canal tow path to see how my ph behaved.  It did not, it let me down so badly.  Colin had to half carry me into a pub that was close by as my legs did not want to work and my heart tried to claw itself out of my chest wall.  Feeling very sick and very scared Colin brought the car to the door and got me home.  A ring to my specialist clinic ended up with me being told to go in and have some tests, so here we were again.

There was no clinic on as such so I did my usual walk test, ecg and bloods, and pressures.  Typical they all came back as normal "for me".  We were so frustrated as we wanted me to go "off" again so we could maybe get to the bottom of it.  Robin, my lovely specialist doctor took us into his "other" office, his working one.  Well we had to smile.  As he was walking us round to it it told us that he doesn't allow people into this office but he knew we would not object.  There were clothes everywhere, his cycling gear, papers strewn all around and files.  We could just imagine how his wife has to pick up after him, it was so sweet though that he knew us well enough to allow us into this private domain of his.  

As Robin was doing my heart pressure etc we had our usual banter.  He is so funny and so lovely.  At one stage when the tests showed nothing I said maybe I should go and live with him for a while, he smiled and said he would ok it with his wife.  Anyway the end result is that as there is nothing obvious to see that has changed he wants me to have a 24 hour monitor.  We agreed and now it is up to the doctor to sort this with my local hospital.  Colin and I have decided we shall do the very short walk again and actually hope the same thing happens, two really bad turns in a week is getting very scary.  

Why do I believe all this is happening.  I believe my pressures have risen.  We know our own bodies and I know the feeling I am getting are like the ones I have when this happens.  When I told a friend she asked how they could tell and when I mentioned right heart catheters she said why didn't they just do one then.  The problem is the tube going down into our lungs goes in through the jugular vein.  We do not want too much scarring of this vital vein so they are only done when the need is really called for.  However if nothing shows on the 24 hour monitor I feel that will be the next step.  So here I am, doing very little which so annoys me but I have a life to lead and so I certainly will not allow this to stop me from enjoying it.

The Mill

How many of you watched this series on the television.  It was all about life in the cotton mills and my friend Sue Reid wrote a book called Mill Girl and did some of her research for it here. As we are members of the National Trust we decided on Sunday to get out and about and chose this place to go. It is only thirty minutes from where we live.  The filming for The Mill was done here and what a fascinating place it is. Quarry Bank Mill is in Styal, Cheshire and is one of the best preserved textile mills of the Industrial Revolution.  It is now a museum  and a fascinating one at that. 

The mill still has the water wheel working and many many of the machines are now being used to show people what life was like in these mills.  I myself worked in one for a short time, though I was in the office.  I well remember having to go into the mill itself and the noise of the clattering machines and all the cotton dust flying around, certainly not good for lungs.  

This mill has plenty of history.  It was attacked in 1842 during the Plug Plot riots but it withstood all of this and stands proud today.   It is set in the valley on the banks of the River Bolin which provides water to power the waterwheels and was in a great position for the transporting of raw cotton from Liverpool.

Samuel Greg was left £30.000 pounds when his uncle died.  He decided to make cotton as most of ours came from abroad and he knew it would be a great business.  The building of the mill cost him £11.000 and the equipping of it cost him a further £15.000   

I could talk all day about this place, so amazing it is but I will tell just a little about the life of a child working here.  The children, around two thirds of them girls, were generally, though not always taken from the workhouses.  They were not taken from local workhouses though as it was felt they would run away back to their mothers so a great distance between them was preferred.  Girls were preferred more than boys as they believed boys to be truculent and troublesome!  

I went into the Apprentice house to see just what living conditions were like here.  We were shown into the school room where they received lessons after work for around two hours.  The subjects taught were the two r's.  Here the children were not allowed to be smacked at all, or in the mill.  Their punishment could be standing in a corner for 30 minutes holding a pair of dumb bells at arms length or having their hair cut off.  The hair was very precious to the girls and very well taken care of so such  a punishment was great.

The girls slept in a dormitory that held 60 girls.  They slept two to a bed and of course there were no toilets, just potties.  In the days of this mill being in operation the left and right hand distinction was made clear.  You used your right hand for eating food, etc and the left was used for dirty work, such as wiping your bum!  Straw was used for this and there was a big basket of straw in the room.  The only form of water for washing was the pump outside in the yard. However Samuel Greg was a clever and astute man, he knew that to keep the children in the best condition produced the best work.  He therefore had a doctor on site to care for any ailaments, indeed this doctor actually was one of the first to inoculate the children with the small pox jab after one of the children in the mill died from it.  Now it may well have been that he used the children as guinea pigs as the inoculations were far from tested to the full but no child died from small pox in the mill after that.  

Breakfast consisted of porridge, not gruel which is oats made with water.  no these children needed strength to do their jobs and their porridge was made with milk. Mixed to a very very thick consistency it looked awful  The children went to work and began whichever tasks were theirs and at 8.00 the breakfast was served.  It was made so thick as they had no plates or utensils.  The dollops of the stuff were dropped into the hands of these little mites and that was that. They were encouraged to eat as much as they liked though, not for them the tale  of Oliver asking for more.  Full bellies meant more work hence more fuel.  Lunch was the same except that this time there were vegetables chopped up  and mixed with these oats.  Dinner was a proper meal, most likely a stew but with meat and many veg.

So much did Samuel want his workforce to eat veg that when he later built a village for his workforce he made sure that they all had a garden that were to be used as an allotment to grow fruit and veg.

Children that ran away from here were fined.  Of course there was no money at all for these children till they reached the age of 18 but then they did receive a small wage and overtime.  Girls that ran away when returned were faced with their hair being cut off.  One boy who lost his finger and ran back to his mom said on being caught that he had no real reason to run away except he missed his mom.  He said the food was plentiful and there were no beatings as there were in other mills.  

I can't say more or you would be so fed up and just pass this by but read if you like it the articles on the web.  I was on my mobility scooter and the guy that showed us around the house was so lovely he always made sure there was a chair set aside for me.  On leaving the house after thanking the narrator very profusely he asked if I had seen the two television shows of the mill with Tony Robinson.  As you may well know Tony is well known for his "digs" and archeology so I told him no unfortunately.  He then said he would send me a copy.  How kind is that.  

On then to my trusty mobility scooter and home, very tired but so pleased we made the effort.  

Candice Pridden

I owe this girl a huge thank you.  The sister of our very own Stacie, Candice went on a diet and is doing so well.  She posts foods allowed, meals etc and to say they look and taste great is no joke.  Now I am not overweight, being with what is normal for me but non the less my clothes were beginning to feel a little tight on me.  As hopefully there is a cruise in the offing I decided to diet.  not being at my best at nights though when slimming world club is on here I decided to "plug into" Candice and she happily allowed me to do this.  Early days being just over a week, ten days to be precise but I have lost three pounds.  I want to lose another seven before I go away which is why I posted on here.  With you all seeing and watching my progress it will push me more to behaving myself, no cheating.

Ceramics again.

Right back to work with a vengeance after the holidays.  I was presented with three things to paint, the head, a plaque and a bowl.  As others were painting heads it seemed to be the best idea to do this as we could swap paints and brushes around.  I like mine, though I wish I could have done her hair a different colour.  However I promised Izzy she would have blonde hair but I have put a few other colours in so she is a bit over the top!  This is fine though as she is supposed to be a caricature anyway so any colour of hair would do.  I was worried about going to class as it is in the afternoon , this is not my good time but it went well and I finished her early and then came home.  I knew I didn't have time to paint any of the other pieces.

Cake decorating and Izzy

I bought a cake for Colin so he could give a piece to Izzy and her mom and Chris when they arrived with his card and gifts for his birthday.  I found one that you decorate yourself so I also bought all the gels etc.  Izzy was so excited when she arrived and I told her to hurry and wash her hands as she had a cake to decorate.  She said she hadn't known she would be doing this but set about it with gusto.  The result was a huge heart in the middle surrounded by different coloured circles and all the candles in the box!  she was so pleased and helped grandad blow them out.

Danielle told us that two days after arriving home from her holiday with grandad she began to cry.  When asked why she was crying she said it was because she missed her grandad!  How sweet.  Colin will be taking her away in the summer.

Panto booked, Peter Pan this year and there will be two more going.  This will be the very first panto for Harrison,  the son of Chris.  Izzy has promised to explain to him about how everyone shouts and to take care of him!  He has just gone three so a great time to start him going to these yearly treats.   Front seats of the circle go very quickly so we were pleased to get them as we booked so early. Though it seems a long time  until Christmas we know how time flies.

Heart warming tale to finish on.  I just loved this! - Follow the Link below: -

https://youtu.be/w_BLSHl3EXU

Not too bad a day here so we shall see what we get up to.  Hope you all have a good day, we must all live life to the full.

Tons of love to you all and thanks again for reading and please like the page when you have read it for me. Sometimes I only get three likes though I know over 100 people read the blogs, it would be super to have more likes!

Carole xxx