ROLE OF THE DISTRICT NURSE

N.B. THE NOTES IN BLUE ARE MADE BY ME.
The district nurse (sometimes known as a community nurse) is a key person in the care of someone who is ill at home. They can visit regularly to give a range of nursing care, including giving drugs and injections, changing dressings, and giving advice on bowel problems and incontinence. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF "REGULARLY".........OUR LAST VISIT WAS 29TH JUNE 2006
The district nurse can also arrange for special equipment to be delivered, such as a commode, a special mattress, bedpans, or a hoist or sling. They can show you how to do everyday nursing tasks such as washing, lifting and personal care. ONLY THING I WAS SHOWN HOW TO USE WAS THE HOIST......WITHOUT MICK IN IT!...I WAS TOLD IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR ONE PERSON TO USE IT ON THEIR OWN
The hospital should let the district nurse know that the person you are caring for is coming home, or the GP may arrange for them to visit. THIS TOOK TWO MONTHS
The first home visit you have will be from a district nurse who has overall responsibility for the nursing help you are given. They will discuss with you what care will be provided. After that, regular visits will be made by the district nurse. Usually, you will see the same one or two nurses. CANNOT THINK OF ANY CARE THEY PROVIDED......A NURSE CAME ONCE TO PUT A DRESSING ON MICK'S CHEST AND COULDN'T WORK OUT HOW TO DO IT
District nurses can visit up to three times a day: morning, afternoon and twilight, although this may vary depending on the services available in your area. Some areas also have night staff. Sometimes a nursing auxiliary will help the district nurse with things like bathing and washing.
WONDER WHO'S GETTING OUR SHARE!

I THINK THAT NOW THEY WOULD BE MORE OF A HINDERANCE THAN A HELP ANYWAY!

MARMALADE CAKE

150g chunky marmalade
175g soft butter
175g soft brown sugar
3 beaten eggs
225g self raising flour
half teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
100g pecan or walnuts

Preheat oven...fan 160c/conventional180c/gas 4.
Butter and line a 900g loaf tin (loaf tin liners are very handy for this)
Reserve 1 tablespoon of marmalade and mix the rest in with all the other ingredients except the nuts......whisk or beat with a spoon until smooth.
Stir in half the nuts, spoon into tin, smooth top and scatter with remaining nuts.
Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. If it starts to brown too quickly cover loosely with foil once the cake has risen and set.
Leave to cool for 5 minutes then tip out onto cooling rack.
Warm the reserved marmalade gently until it has melted then brush over the top of the cake to glaze.
Serve plain or with butter.
Will keep for a few days in a cake tin (if the kids don't get it) or can be frozen for 2 months

Equally as nice using lemon or ginger marmalade

GW'S DREAM..........a possible interpretation

KEYWORDS AND THEIR MEANINGS

Ruth = Stranger (ok a blogfriend but still in effect a stranger)
Symbolises the part of yourself that is repressed and hidden. Possibly the fact that I am not a complete stranger means you are starting to KNOW yourself
Garden
You need to be nurtured
Plants
Fertility and spiritual development growth or potential for growth
Marquee (as in tent)
Take time off from the daily grind or alternatively, instability and insecurity in your current situation
Scaffold pole (as in scaffolding)
Something is temporary. You may be in need of support to reach your goals
Middle-aged people (as in elderly...which middle-aged would be at your age)
Wisdom or spiritual power. They help provide life answers and solutions to your problems and try to guide you towards the right direction
Parkland
Represents a temporary escape from reality. It indicates renewal, meditation and spirituality. Also an indication of a readjustment period after a serious personal conflict or an ending of a passionate affair

It will be interesting to see how you feel these meanings relate to you. From reading your blog I think they could be spot on.

APPLE PANCAKES

Pancakes

125g plain flour

pinch of salt

1 beaten egg

300mls milk

1 tblsp oil

Filling

25g butter

750g cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced

50g brown sugar

1/2 teasp ground cinnamon

50g sultanas

To finish

3 tbspns warm apricot jam

25g toasted flaked almonds

Make the pancakes

Sift flour and salt into a bowl, add the egg, then gradually add half the milk...stirring constantly. Add the oil and beat until smooth. Add the remaining milk and leave to stand for 30 minutes before cooking.

Make the filling

Melt the butter in a pan, add the apples, sugar, cinnamon and sultanas. Cover and simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes until the apples are tender.

Place a pancake on a greased ovenproof dish, cover with some of the apple mixture then put another pancake on top. Continue in this way until all the apple mixture and pancakes are used up finishing with a pancake.

Spoon over the apricot jam to glaze. Bake in a preheated oven, 180C (350F), Gas mark 4 for 10 to 15 minutes until heated through. Cut into wedges and sprinkle with almonds. Serve with whipped cream or creme fraiche.

Serves 6

MY DREAM

• Mick and I are sitting at a large dining table in quite palatial surroundings; other people are at the table too but I don't remember seeing any faces or recognising anyone.
• There is a knock at a door; the host (unknown to me) says "Don't worry sometimes that happens"
• I am suddenly going into a large, again palatial, bedroom with a large bay window, there are two beds. I wonder where Mick is. I go to the first bed but a man is asleep in it. I wonder for a moment am I in the right room; but looking round I know I am in our room. I go to the other bed; there is a man asleep in that too. I think "Where are Mick and I going to sleep?"
• The second man sits up; I take out my camera and take his picture; I think "I'll put this on my blog"
• I am suddenly a child; about 9 or 10 years of age.
• I go into my parents room; my younger sister is asleep in a bed in there.
• I say to my parents "I'm going to sleep on the couch; there are people in our room".
• My mother says "Yes the host said can happen".
• I have something? in my hand.
• I see a crevice in a large wooden piece of furniture; it has a note in it saying that if I open the item in my hand something will be revealed.
• I open the thing in my hand; a small orange button with 4 holes in drops out; about 5 more buttons drop from the ceiling onto the carpet; all are orange except for one; this is white and still has thread running through its holes.
• I am now standing wet and naked from having a shower.
• My father gets into the shower.
• All the lights go out.
• Still wet I get into my sister's bed; put my hand on her and tell her not to worry as I am here to protect her. I am not frightened at all.
• As my eyes grow accustomed to the dark I look at the wallpaper; a Red Indian village theme; a Red Indian steps out of the wall; he is not a chief with headdress just an ordinary Indian. I am not frightened.

THIS IS WHEN I WOKE UP; ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED (I DON'T KNOW WHAT OF); I WAS SWEATING, CRYING AND MY HEART WAS THUMPING.

The meanings Manda and I have found for certain key words:

• Eating in company; can show a fear of being alone, suggests a need for company and emotional support
• Palatial (possibly as in castle?); a defended space may represent the feminine nature, or a place of safety and our innermost selves
• Knocking on door; a warning of some sort of difficulty
• Bedroom; a safety zone
• Strangers (as in intruders in my bedroom); the taking on of the masculine role
• Camera; recording events or occasions we may need to remember (I am assuming my blog)
• Child; inner child giving you clarity for a wholeness previously unrecognised
• Mother; needing nurturing
• Father; about power, presence of love; maybe that all is not settled in the world
• Sister; sensitive side of ourselves
• Crevice (as in crack); the irrational, unexpected or our inability to mentally keep it together
• Buttons (only reference we could find was circles); represents the "self"
• Holes in buttons (as in dots in circle); signifies the soul in completion and femininity
• Thread; symbolises an enquiry regarding the way our lives are going
• Orange; passion in ones life
• White; people feel they can rely on you; an abundance of energy and vitality
• Nakedness; reveals vulnerability that lies below the surface of our more confident selves; a general sense that if you were fully known you would not be fully accepted; a desire to be open and honest
• Shower (as in hair washing); a need to clear your/mind head in order to think clearly; can also represent a need to wash someone out of your hair (usually the next person in your dream).....N.B. the next person in my dream was my father..for reasons I will not disclose this is somewhat apt
• Darkness; some kind of negativity; a state of confusion or the depressed hidden side of the personality
• Wallpaper; symbolises an outer facade of some kind
• Tent (as in Indian village theme); maybe unable to settle down; perhaps need to get away from responsibilities for a time
• Totem Pole (as in Indian village theme); links us with a primitive need for protection; a need to look at parts of our lives based around our belief system
  
  
  
  

All I Have To Do Is Dream
By Roy Orbison

Ruth's Coconut Oat Bars

Makes 12
Ready in 55 minutes

For the base
85g self raising flour
85g porridge oats
50g soft brown sugar
85g butter

For the topping
25g butter, melted
3 eggs
175g soft brown sugar
140g raisins
85g desiccated coconut
the grated rind and juice of a large lemon
50g icing sugar (optional)

Make the oat base
Turn the oven to fan 160c/conventional 180c/gas4. Put the flour, oats and sugar in a bowl and rub in the butter with your fingers. Tip into the base of a 26x18cm tin and press down until smooth. Bake for 10 minutes or until pale golden.

Mix the topping
Beat the melted butter, eggs and sugar with the raisins, coconut, half the lemon rind and 2 tablespoons of juice. Pour over the baked base and return to the oven for 20 minutes more until the top is set and pale golden.

Mark the 12 bars while still warm, then leave to cool before cutting through. It is much easier to get them out of the tin when they have completely cooled.

Drizzle with icing (optional)
Tip the icing sugar into a small bowl and mix with the remaining lemon rind. Stir in up to 3 teaspoons of lemon juice to make a smooth icing then drizzle in diagonal lines over the top of each bar.

These will keep in a tin for up to a week. They are best not frozen as it will spoil texture.

Try some other flavours
juicy apricot - replace the raisins with the same amount of read to eat dried apricots, but chop them first to make raisin sized pieces

Slightly spicy - add half a teaspoon ground cinnamon to the oats to given the cake a spicy base.

Orange and coconut - Use a small orange instead of the lemon.