For the Love of Tile! Get to Homebase this week!

Hello friends,
This is just for my UK friends as it might be a abit difficult for shopping for those of you based in countries elsewhere!
We found a fabulous deal on mosaic tiles at HOMEBASE this week. If you are looking to remodel your bathroom or loo, get there quick before they're sold out.
Homebase put their own brand ceramic and glass mosaic tiles on clearance this week.
We were able to purchase a box of white, glass mosaic tiles, containing ten sheets per box, for only £3.20 in white.
We bought enough boxes to recover our bathroom floor and two small loos for about £32!
The ceramic was slightly more money, which was odd, since my research had shown the glass are usually more money.
I will post photos when we are finished with the work. For sure it will be a project for autumn as we are off to America soon!
Happy shopping!

Oliver Twist is Looking for a New Home Could it be via Bookcrossing?

I have finally finished reading Oliver Twist and so now he is looking for a new home!
Have you heard of Bookcrossing?
I joined it ages ago and now I cannot remember my login informaiton and/or password!
If you haven't heard about it before, you will really love it!
The idea behind it is to share books for free. But the fun of leaving them is just as much fun as finding them!

Bookcrossing uses the terms, 'caught' and 'released'. But it means the same thing. You either leave a book for someone to find or you find them.
Once you are a member of Bookcrossing, you print out little forms to identify yourself and Bookcrossing and leave it in the book you are about to release. It provides information for the person who 'catches' your book so that they can go to the website and leave information about where and when they found the book.

When I joined Bookcrossing a few years ago, I released some childrens books outside a WalMart in Amherst, New York, among the pumpkin display they had there.
I also released a book in Starbucks, on Main Street in Williamsville, New York.
But my favourite release was a book left in the center of an antique table in an antique mall in Jordan, Ontario, Canada. It was my favourite because I could spy on it from a distance as I walked about the shop, and even from the front door of the place. The woman assigned to monitor the section of the shop in which I had left the book, had a very puzzled look on her face as she discovered it. I am sure she was wondering how it got there since she had not seen me place it there! Curiosity got the best of her and she tentatively picked up the book, but she did not seem to 'get it' when she read the note inside.

But it was so early in the use of the Internet, not many people went on-line for much of anything, and so I never did get any follow-up on the books I released, which was disappointing.
But I may have to register again and give it another try - it is so much fun!
So what do you think I should do? Here are some options:

• Donate to a charity
• Release it via Bookcrossing
• Give it to the first person who comments here that they would like it?

I sort-of like the last option so that one of you, who may never have read it, or who would like to give it a re-read, might have it and then pass it along.
It could be the book that travels from blog-to-blog!

It's good to be better and back!
xxx
Maggie

Swine Flu

Hello my true friends!
I am happy to see that in my absence, sweet followers have not abandoned me! It seems like forever since I have written and even longer since I have had a browse on your blogs. But there is a reason: I have been ill with Swine Flu.

Jim's birthday is July 16th, and I had so many things planned but all got set aside when Jim came down with the Swine Flu illness. He was ill for his birthday and just a bit before that, too.
We aren't certain where he came into contact with an infected person, it really could have been anywhere.
Our grandchildren were by the weekend before he got sick, and by 16 July, our granddaughter and her dad, Jim's son, were said to have the disease. So that is one possibility. But Jim's other son had been in hospital with a sports injury to his knee, and Jim was in and out of the hospital visiting him, over a period of ten days or so, and could have caught the bug there. And then Jim himself, was in hospital as an outpatient, and at any time during his own visits he could have contracted the bug. So we aren't certain from where Jim caught Swine Flu, but for certain, I got it from him.

What began for me as a mission NOT to get it at all costs, ended when after a few days of nursing Jim. I busily worked at making sure dishes were fastidiously washed, and all bed and bath linens washed at high temps, and lots of use of bleach, but with no positive results as I , too came down with the flu.

So it has been weeks and I am out of practice typing and even doing the simplest of things!
Jim is well on the mend, with only the occasional cough, while I still cough frequently and require lots of medicine for the accompanying headache. Tomorrow is my last day of antibiotics, so that must mean I am improving!

I would like to pass along some first-hand information about this illness, so that you can be prepared to self diagnose and get immediate treatment.
I have had flu in the past - many times, in fact. So at first, I couldn't believe Jim had it. There was no obvious fever at first, and no vomiting nor diarrhea. He had a cough and a headache and a scratchy throat. Sounded like a cold to me, right?

But then the fever came along, and the headaches got worse, and his joints ached and he coughed up phlegm. A call to the doctor and a prescription was ordered for antibiotic and decongestant with the usual advice to remain in bed and drink fluids and salt water gargles.

By the time I came down with the bug a few days later, the government had the Swine Flu hot line up and running. I took the on-line test for my region of England, and was diagnosed as having Swine Flu.

Tamiflu was waiting for me with a secret number at a local clinic. The medicine was collected and I began taking the drug.

I got progressively worse - uncontrollable coughing kept me up all night long and after 48 hours of it I was a total wreck. The doctor was called and antibiotics and decongestant were ordered and I began a regime of those along with Tamiflu and a lot of pain medicine, too.
What I learned from this experience is that the symptoms are diverse and do not necessarily match and so it is difficult to self diagnose without some help.
Jim had a sore throat but I did not. My throat only got sore after constant coughing.

As soon as I could stand to sit up at the computer for a bit, I looked at the Tamiflu website.
It is a good resource for you to help self-diagnose. They have a graph there with symptoms of cold vs flu that is good for a self-check.
Reading what you can on the government hot line will help, too, especially taking the quiz.
And being aware in any changes in your body - especially fever - and then looking into Swine Flu symptoms will help you.

If you do get it, you know the drill - rest, fluids, and more rest is all you can do. I found sitting up as much as possible was helpful. Lying flat was the worst!
Wishing you all well and hoping none of you get this nasty illness, but if you think you have it, look it up fast and take all precautions you can in getting Tamiflu and medicine to help your body fight this thing. It really is a tough one and wears you down quickly.

I will be visiting your blogs soon!
xxx
Maggie