Personal notes of Laura Whitehead.
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Another one of my piccies is in the papers! Delighted to have been asked by the Herald & Express local newspaper to take and share another photo, this time to accompany the article for the forthcoming RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch taking place this weekend. This time, no birds in the photo, but instead, a pic of the boys.
The photo is in today's edition (29th January 2010, What's On section, on page 9).
More fame for my garden birds, which can be seeing in todays local Herald & Express paper on page 9 of the middle section. If you want to see it in colour, head over to flickr to see it there - http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewhiteheads/4254356878/ and they can also be seen on the BBC Devon website half way down the article at - http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8441000/...
When men* are ill, they generally tell everyone all about it. Loudly. Or just get on and deal with whatever is making them not feel right (as well as letting the world around them know that they are a tad unwell, usually several times per hour!) When us women are ill, sometimes (like the following tale) we generally muddle on through it as best we can.
Perfect example ahead. Even though was taken into hospital on Boxing Day, it had all started a couple days before Christmas. The first alert was the sharp chest pain whilst standing in a very long queue in Sainsburys. I put down to a mild dose of crimbo panic in combo of being in the living hell of a very busy supermarket. The pain kept on going, spreading and getting worse into the following day and beyond. "It'll be gone soon" I thought. Anyway, like most moms, a major part of the whole Christmas Day thing is about having a special family time, making it magical for the kids kids as well as providing a big feast of fine food too (yes, I know I'm missing the proper nativity story thang here!). So I masked the pain with whatever I could find in the cupboards so not to spoil it for the lads.
Next day, all had got just a bit too bad to deal with. So went to the Doctors thinking would be given a directive to go home and put my feet up or some medicine.
Fast forward 48 hours... have now been released from hospital after being prodded and tested in every which way possible, thankfully the outcome of all my pain is not an embolism as had first been thought, but just a humble dose of Pleurisy. (Yes, sounds rather like Leprosy, but I can assure you it really isn't too nasty and not related to the L thing in any shape nor form; and as a bonus it should hopefully be all gone within the next week or two. In the meantime I get to continue to take a wonderful array of different painkillers and anti-inflammatory tablets that come in all shapes and sizes. I now rattle when I move.)
Anyway, less about me. The main part of this story, is that I met several others like me in hospital too during my stay. Not with the same illness as such, but just like me, 'Mums' who had wanted to make Christmas something special for their children or friends and families. They too had tried to mask their illness so not to let it spoil the days festivities, only to be just like me, in a bed, in the hospital.
On the ward we shared stories of how we done our best to hide our lurgies, swopping tactics and more, there seemed to be a growing number of us by the time I left the hospital. Why do we women do it? Mainly not wanting to disrupt the main family event of the year, and also not to put too much of a burden on our wonderful health services too. (of which might I add, all the staff were terrific during my stay. Appreciate them all for their kindness and attention throughout).* - note - this observation may not include all men and am just generalising, but am just going from my average experience of the humble man with the common cold, I mean ManFlu!
** - note - by the end of my stay, also met with a man who had endured extreme poorliness and admitted but hadn't wanted to be a burden to anyone nor the health services over Christmas too, so do not read this as any form of man vs woman story btw, but more of a case that as humans, we're sometimes all just too nice and/or foolish at times, and should possibly acknowledge when we're struck down by illness rather than trying to muddle along.
I am lucky to live in a place that has a field across the road from the house. In that field stands a huge old dead (well, very nearly!) oak tree. Some nights I dream that when I wake up, I'll open the curtains to have Totoro sat in the tree and staring back at me. I am a huge Studio Ghibli fan and with the recent snowfall, couldn't resist making one of my dreams come almost true.
The first I heard of this was what I first thought was a spam email
appearing in my inbox. "Laura - your tits are on the Guardian website!" Hmmm!
Anyway - couldn't help but take a look at the url sent by one of my
buddies to find to my delight, that one of my pics had been chosen as one
of the top ten from the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch Flickr group. Wow! Wasn't the best shot I added to the group, and this pic has also already been used by BBC Devon website too, but humbled none the less.
The other 9 pics which accompany mine are all splended and are much better
than my one, but if you want to take a look, and participate in the
voting, head over to
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/jan/26/big-garden-birdwatch-b...
and cast your vote today! (voting ends at the end of this week!)
The publicity for this years RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch
(http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch ) has been immense. Local and national media has
picked up the story well, and the forecast has been that it has been
hopefully the best year ever. As well as being a fun event, it also helps
to provide a vital snapshot overview of something that we sometimes take
for granted, our little feathered friends that occupy our gardens!
Update - January 2010 - The photo also was included in the Guardian's the best reader photos of 2009.
