Purple Dragon

There was an article in the Scotsman today about how the gentry in the Borders are annoyed at having to lug their wheelie bins to the bottom of their (extensive) driveways.

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=2374402005

This amused the heck outta me. Yes - there are a lot of potential issues for the elderly. However, my neighbour has to load her rubbish into the boot of her car, and drive to her wheelie bin, for this very reason. (You can see her bin at the top left of my property - at the end of her lane). There is no way she could haul her bin to the end of her lane, particularly in the winter, so she leaves it where the council will collect it, and takes the rubbish there.

You can see a pic of my house at the top of my blog, and my bin is at the gate, which is on the lane on the left hand side of the pic. It takes me a short while to collect up the rubbish, walk to the bins, and then walk back. In my old house, I opened the back door, lifted the lid and dropped the rubbish in. It took all of 30 seconds to take it to the end of the drive once a week.

I now live in a beautiful house, with loads of privacy, and a nice plot of land. The landed gentry also have lovely houses (much nicer than mine, I am sure), and also have loads of land (loads more than me, without a doubt).

Quite frankly, I think they have a nerve to complain about having to take their rubbish out. They should be damn grateful that they are in a position to have a long walk to the end of their drives. I am! The people who live in the high flats don't complain to the papers about having to take their rubbish down 20 storeys to their wheelie bins!

I lost touch with a woman I used to know several years ago, called Clarissa Sharp, and I often think of her. I've googled her name, to no avail - it seems she has a popular name! She lived in Oklahoma, was married to a bloke named Tony, from Wales, and had a daughter, whose middle name was Rhiannon.

Yeah - long shot! You never know though - someone might know her!

When we were in Australia, we were walking along the equivalent of the High Street in Adelaide (we rarely visited Adelaide btw) and this woman shouted my Mum - they had gone to school together in Wales.

So - small world.

Got asked by menhir what SPD is. It is Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction.

Okay - so what is that?

"The two halves of your pelvis are connected at the front by a stiff joint called the symphysis pubis. This joint is strengthened by a dense network of ligaments which means that under normal conditions, very little movement occurs. In order to make your baby's passage through your pelvis as easy as possible, your body produces a hormone called relaxin, which softens the ligaments in your pelvis. As a result, these joints move more during and just after pregnancy.

What are the symptoms?
Pain in the pubic area and groin are the most common symptoms. You may also suffer from back pain in pregnancy, posterior pelvic pain or hip pain. It is common to feel a grinding or clicking in your pubic area and the pain may travel down the inside of one or more thighs or between your legs. The pain is usually made worse by separating your legs, walking, going up or down stairs or moving around in bed. It is often much worse at night and can stop you getting much sleep. Getting up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night can be especially painful.

http://www.babycentre.co.uk