Another topic discussed last week

We also discussed world events which had caught our eye in the news.  I talked about the International Space Station.  Have enjoyed watching the coverage this week from Houston and the ISS

Another beautiful part of Teesdale!

Beautiful Teesdale. High Force

Another week

Finally achieved the goal of emptying our old oil tank, been a long boring job of trickling 150 litres of oil out but got their in the end! 

Had a good week to get out for a walk as weather been really good, Wednesday was so warm you could just imagine Spring had arrived and the cafés and bars on the Newcastle quayside were full.  Haven't had any rain for a out 8 days now and Liz is starting to complain the grass will never grow (starting to sound like a farmer as they are never happy with the weather) 

Therefore was disappointed as this last weekend has been so windy I haven't been able to get out for my walk.  I usually don't see many people when I am out but it is surprising how many people notice I haven't been out walking! They must watch me from behind the curtains!

The theme for this week at the Aphasia Centre was travel and on Wednesday I had to take in a photo of any area of outstanding natural beauty I had visited.  As I live in an AONB I downloaded a picture of High Force waterfall which is in Teesdale,  I was tempted to take a picture of our view as it is  just as beautiful.

I did some more reading skills with the students this week, still struggling with some spellings which is frustrating as it is random ones I get wrong.

The debate on Friday was "should lottery money be used to fund the arts" which I disagreed with because I believe some of the funding which goes into art is a complete waste of time. I think some of it should be for funding deprived youngsters to go on outdoor courses (so they could go for free) that way they would learn some life skills. Some youngsters who live in cities don't see outdoor life.

Also on Friday I started writing My Story which will be part of our project to make people more aware of Aphasia.  My group of five are all writing their stories of what happened to them when they had a stroke, my problem is I don't remember the first 3 months.  

Week five

On Saturday I went to my Mother in Laws 90th birthday lunch at Crathorne Hall, she just had immediate family and a few close friends.  It was nice to go out for a meal for a change and the venue was special to mother in law from her childhood plus Liz and I had our wedding reception there, sadly I have no recollection of this! (no Liz we are not doing it again)

Most of the week was taken up with practising my spellings and then using the words I have learnt in short sentences.   Emma gave me some homework using short sentences using the words I can't remember.  For some reason I am still struggling with the word ARE. Liz thinks it is because it is missing an S.  I have to take my homework back to be marked!

Still enjoy arriving for the clinic early so can sit and have a chat with the other 4 in my group, it is great that   we can all communicate and good to sit and chat to a group of men for a change before we get stuck into our lessons.

Friday is our debate day and this week I had to be Chair for winding Ian up last week over caravans!  The topic this week was "You can never have too much money". It was an interesting debate which I mostly managed to keep control of.

Some pictures for a change

Someone commented that I have very few pictures so here are some from last week for a change.

Senna came to stay for the weekend, she was dog tired after a walk. Seems to have settled in ok!

We had a slight leak in our boiler on Monday night! Managed to get it fixed fairly quick with the help of Percival and Kempy.

Some entertainment from the flat window on Tuesday night when new boat arrived at HMS Caliope base, it was pushed up the river by the dredger.  Note the Quayside bus in the background!

Waiting for the Quayside bus on Wednesday morning.

Week four

The theme this week was television and films, we talked about our likes and dislikes, I said I like watching Golf on TV and I dislike Soaps and Reality TV.

Friday was a good day as our small group started with a debate.  The topic being " The EU demands the UK to cut pollution from traffic fumes"    

The statement for debate being - " the government has a legal duty to protect us from air pollution"

We had to say if we agreed or disagreed with the statement and then five 2 reasons for our decision.

I said I agreed and my reasons were there are to many people living in the UK which causes more pollution and I suggested that 200,000 people should leave each year for the next 10 years.  My second idea was to ban caravans off the roads in the UK as towing a caravan increases air pollution as it reduces the mpg of your car.  I don't think Ian the caravaner was too pleased with my thoughts!

In the afternoon I worked with Dominique, who kindly stood in for Emily,  as she helped me get onto ReadRight on the computer.  It is a software sponsored by the Stroke Association I think with Durham University to help people with partial sight problems to read better.  Liz had seen it before but as I couldn't read at all I couldn't use it.  One problem we have found so far with this is it isn't designed for people who are learning to read against so if you don't know a word you are stuck!

It's nice to be able to travel home in the dry and we got home in daylight, the days are getting longer and Spring is in the air, let's hope we don't get a shock and find Winter hasn't gone yet!