I can't believe next week is the last week of August. Where have the summer holidays gone?!
Firstly, I want to mention and give you a quick reminder that Terry and Mark are doing a 5K run on 31 August... we would love it if you could donate and help us to raise as much money as possible for the PHA UK! A huge thank you to those who have already donated!
To donate, please visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/nocurealwayshope - Thank you!
Moving on, I have still been teaching over the Summer as the majority of my music students are adults, but I love having my own business and choosing my own business hours. It allows me to work and earn money and also take some chill time too. I have recently had a big take in of new students and I am very excited to have some business plans in place for September. I will share with you once everything is in place, but I am super excited and proud of my music teaching business!
We've had a very busy but enjoyable summer. We saw our friends at the annual uni reunion - these are our friends who went to Southampton Uni with me - reunions always involves lots of banter and alcohol! One of my best friends, Katie, travelled up from Southampton to stay with us for the weekend and it had been over a year since we last saw her, so we had a fabulous time catching up with her. Also, my cousin, Asia, visited us for a weekend too and we last saw her when she was chief bridesmaid at our wedding 2 years ago!! So it was wonderful to see her again too! And finally, Izzy has won a dog show! She now owns a 1st place rosette! We were super happy and believe it's been a long time coming, so we so proud when she won 1st place! You can see her proudly showing it off in the photo below!
I have been very fortunate that my PH has remained stable and I am doing well on my medication. I had a routine PH clinic apt Brompton and they were pleased with me, so that was great! No change and heart still strong! I have been well for all our planned activities, but have made sure that I have rested well after each event. I have been able to keep up with our busy schedule, but have also be very mindful that my body will tell me when enough is enough, which is does do, and I have to listen to it! Therefore lots of rest and oxygen has also played a big part of my Summer!
Terry and I had a lovely holiday together at the beginning of August. We stayed in the UK as holiday prices soar in the middle of Summer, but we were fortunate with good weather and had a really good time. It also saved having to pay out for travel insurance, which is usually an arm and a leg to insure me! Izzy stayed with my mum, whilst we went to different counties for day visits ending with a few days stay in Great Yarmouth. Each day we had to think about everything I needed for my PH. The car was packed with my wheelchair, mobility scooter, canisters of oxygen, disabled badge and other disability certificates to gain free entry to certain places.
Before our holiday, I had made an itinerary to make sure we made the most of each day and didn't waste it, as it's very easy to do that, when staying near to home for a holiday. I looked up each place and its accessibility arrangements. I had to make sure it was wheelchair or scooter friendly, as I wasn't going to do any walking on our holiday, as walking drains my energy quickly. I also checked how much each place was and if they offered "free carer" tickets. Majority of places around the UK seem very disability friendly and if you have the award of PIP or DLA or a disabled badge, they offer free tickets to carers, making it money friendly for those with disabilities - every little helps!
Our first day we went to Kent to visit Hever Castle. We had booked in advanced and Terry went as a free carer. It was a gorgeous day and when we arrived we went straight to the boating lake. We hired a rowing boat for an hour and took it in turns to row. As we arrived at opening time, we had the lake to ourself, which was very peaceful! Afterwards Terry pushed me around the grounds and then we went into the castle. It wasn't as big as I thought it was going to be, but we really enjoyed visiting it as I am a huge Tudor fan! If there was a degree in Tudor history, I'd sign up straight away.. haha! We took a picnic and enjoyed sunbathing in the castle gardens. We had a really lovely time and then we drove to Bluewater and played some mini golf. Overall a great day and it was nice to crash out in our own bed after a very busy day!
The next day, I was pretty exhausted so we stayed in Chelmsford and chilled out. We had to wait in for my Oxygen delivery, as I had ran out, so after delivery we visited the Museum. Since we moved over 2 years ago we've been meaning to go, but now it's had a total makeover, we made it our mission to go in our holiday. It was very interesting and so good for children. So many hand on things to do and it's free entry! We then had a delicious scone at the Museum cafe and chilled out for the rest of the day at home.
The following day we went to Cambridge to visit Duxford Air Museum. We booked tickets in advanced and Terry went as a free carer again. He pushed me around the Museum, but sadly we had gale force winds that day and a tree had blown over obstructing the pedestrian footpath. This meant they closed all buildings around the site, except for one, which is the one we had already been around! Typical! We did enjoy our time there and we will definitely return, probably with some friends next time.
The final part of our holiday we stayed in Great Yarmouth. We got up bright and early and when we arrived the sun was shining, so we went straight to another round of mini golf! We stayed in a hotel at the seaside and spent time doing all all seaside activities, eating donuts, ice-cream, played bingo, the 2p slot machines, arcade games, fish and chips, etc.. It was great fun and we had such a laugh! We also bumped into a lady called Marie, who recognised me from the PH facebook group! It was lovely to see her, her daughter Gemma and the rest of their family. Whilst in Great Yarmouth Terry and I went to The Hippodrome to see the Summer Spectacular. It was AMAZING!!! I won't leave any spoilers, but it was well worth seeing and we are looking forward to returning for their Christmas show later this year!
It was a wonderful holiday and we were soo busy! We had a super time and we always love spending time together. I always love making memories and thanks to Terry for pushing me around everywhere and doing all the driving too.. yes I'm very lucky (and so is he 😉, haha!) I was well for the whole holiday and we enjoyed it all! When we returned it took me a few days to recover with lots of rest and time on my oxygen to get my O2 sats back up.
If you're still reading this, thank you for staying with me, haha! I have recently been doing some exercise and I have been making short videos on my Facebook and Instagram to keep my followers up to date with how I'm getting on. I've conquered a few hills and longer walks, but I have also had to take days of rest, as my body does feel tired after a few days of exercise and I want to make sure I'm not pushing myself. Yes I still have good days and bad days, but I am making the most of the sunshine and getting out in the warm weather. I will continue with my fitness routine and an exercise vlog for YouTube will be released soon.
And lastly, don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel... where we will see you for our return with our first video drop on Wednesday 4th September at 13:00GMT!!
As always, thank you for your continuous support and following! Have a great Bank Holiday weekend! Thanks for reading!
