Welcome to issue 22, this issue has been compiled while wearing extra socks.  Brrrrrr its cold, roll on summer!

Current Activities
 

Fit&Fab  Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:30 am virtual sessions via Zoom. Angela puts you through your paces in the safety of your own home. Seated exercise only if you are on your own. 

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Virtual Pub Quiz   Every 1st Saturday of the month. (next one is 6th Feb 11:00 am) Zoom in with the in-crowd. Several rounds of General Knowledge, Music and Pictures. A bit of a social at the end. Join our Zoom Meeting.  

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87266908505?pwd=RDd1NENCWWR1bnQwYmJkWkZ2QjYxUT09 

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We are delighted to let you know that our care homes are already receiving Covid-19 vaccinations and are able to safely welcome respite or permanent residents.

 

Our local homes are Brampton View and Collingtree Park in Northampton; Elm Bank and Claremont Parkway in Kettering; and Juniper House in Brackley.

 

For more information please contact one of our homes, or call the local Customer Relationship Manager, Andrea Newman, on 07780 829671 or [email protected]

We have lots of supporters who give their time to help us. This month we thank Sydney, Pat, Dennis and Sylvia for their fundraising.  

With changing restrictions, we are offering a postal service either to you, (envelope inside envelope) or to the recipient. The smaller cards are a bargain at £4 to include postage. The larger cards £5 to include postage.

Later in the year we will be offering a free delivery service if you order two cards or more. For now, please have a look in your diary and order a unique card for a loved one and help raise funds for Northants Parkinson’s People. Huge thanks to Pat for being a super supporter.

He had a target of £150 but went well over that!!
We won’t tell you how many candles he had on the cake this year…
Here is a delightful picture of Dennis at our Parkinson’s Awareness day in 2019, he assures us he doesn’t always wear a purple wig and cowboy hat ha ha ha.

There's No Stopping Sylvia
Sylvia has supported us from day one. She's our very own 'Del Boy' selling everything from the back of her car, plants (mostly home grown by Sylva.)  Jams (mostly home grown/made by Sylvia.)  Fruit  from Sylvia's Garden.  We now hear Sylvia is commencing Marmalade production and her annual planting schedule has also started. I don't know how she finds the time for jigsaws!  Thank you Sylvia.

You may have heard through the grapevine that Mel is retiring, well she is not leaving you may be glad to know.

Polly Carter is going to be the new team leader, she is a very experienced community nurse who has been working in the Parkinson’s Nurse team based at Isebrook for the past 12 months. She will have lots of support from all the other nurses and we know you will get on well with her.

In addition, we have Pete Smith back working part time, for those of you who have been around a long time, Pete was the original Parkinson’s Nurse in Northamptonshire, who set up the service over 20 years ago. Since leaving Northamptonshire 11 years ago he has worked in Milton Keynes and London but is very glad to be back working locally again.

So, in total we have Sharon Prendergast and Polly Carter as the team leaders and Mel , Pete, Debbie Smith and Katie Lee as the specialist nurses who are covering Northamptonshire between us all.

Because of the pandemic we are doing much less face to face work so your reviews may be telephone calls this year but we want you to be reassured that we are all working hard to support you and we will see you in person if it is needed.

And also because of the pandemic, the telephone number for ringing the nurses in Northampton has changed. We have our team administrators based in Wellingborough who are picking up all our calls and sending them on to us. They check the phone messages very frequently and we think is a better system, at least during the pandemic.

           A) a  Dress  B) a Chopstick  C) a Type of dumpling in Chinese food 

If, like me, you grow indoor hyacinths, when the flowers die off plant the bulbs outside underneath a spring or summer flowering shrub. Mine are all planted under the hydrangea and usually start flowering in March.

Sow sweet peas now for a good strong plant which can go outdoors in late spring. Fill pots with peat free compost and pop one seed into the middle of each pot. Cover the seed with a thin layer of compost (about 1cm) and water from above. Then place the pots in a cold greenhouse or sheltered spot outside. If outside it is a good idea to put a clear plastic bag over the pots for protection from frost. When the plants are around 3-4cms high carefully nip out the growing point, this will encourage the plant to produce bushy growth. I usually soak my sweet pea seeds in a glass of water overnight before planting into the pots. These are an ideal plant if you only have a patio. They can be planted in a large pot and using canes form a wigwam for the sweet peas to grow up. In actual fact I always put my sweet peas in a large pot with a copper tape band around the top as this discourages the slugs.

Keep checking the winter pansies and deadhead on a regular basis. This will lengthen the flowering period. Also check container plants to see if they need water. We get lots of rain but plants in pots or baskets dry out much more quickly, especially with the strong winds we have had of late. If they do need water try to give it mid-morning when the plants are warming up a little.

On the vegetable front I have sown some chilli seeds (they can take 3-4 weeks to germinate) and they are on the kitchen windowsill as they need warmth to germinate. More on these next month.

I have also started my first early potatoes. This is done by placing them in a box in a cool place to sprout, this is known as ‘chitting’. By the end of February there will be a bit of growth, about ½ inch long, and then I will plant the potatoes, sprouted end uppermost, in the large potato bags and I usually cover the tops of the bag with bubble wrap just for protection from any frosty weather. Hopefully the potatoes will be ready to harvest around end May beginning June. Seed potatoes can be bought at garden centres or online. Because of the covid restrictions I bought mine online this year. I was exceptionally pleased with the quality of the seed potatoes and the efficient delivery. There are many different varieties and I have tried quite a few over the past few years. This year I have selected Pentland Javelin for the first time.

I am beginning to feel like Ethan Hunt (you know the Tom Cruise character in Mission Impossible) as I get these jobs offered to me from time to time, by my mission control (Angela).  This latest one was a WEBINAR (on line seminar) this was sponsored by The Cure Parkinson's Trust,  This was one of their quarterly webinars and it was basically a Q&A  discussion to see if any data has shown there to be any co-relation between Covid 19 and Parkinson's. Well to re-assure you people that there is nothing as yet that shows any connection. But as you will appreciate the fact that this is a new area the matter is ongoing. 
The interesting matter is that some patients who had coronavirus/Covid 19 in advance stages, started to show symptoms of advanced Parkinsonism, when a later autopsy was carried out there was evidence to validate this. As anyone who has Parkinson's will verify there are several diseases that portray similar symptoms to Parkinson's  at different stages. There  is an ongoing study being carried out as to whether Covid 19 reacts with the many P.D. medications, so far there is no indication that it does, suffice to say "Its OK me ducks keep taking the tablets"  
I would say that this was the most open of the webinars I have attended, also that it was the first time that one of the experts actually had Parkinson's disease, this coupled with the fact that she was a mid thirties young mum with early onset P.D. Usually the "expert panel" consists of middle age males who do not have the disease. It was nice to be able ask questions, like  "is there any co-relation between coronavirus and the other epidemics of the last 30 years like "bird flu, swine flu or SARS" without being made to feel like an idiot (there isn't any co-relation between them, I only asked the question because they all started in the same area)  I find that although some of what is discussed at these gatherings is "above my pay grade" it is gratifying to find that things are being done on our behalf in trying to make sure that in these days of fast moving matters concerning our health. That we in comparison are the little guys and that someone is out there asking the question, how does this affect those who have Parkinson's.  

Be Kind to Yourself.
By Angela Jeffery

Yes, this lockdown and the restrictions before are hard, I for one am ready to acknowledge that I am mostly all fed up with it, and I know you are too. Add that to the fact that the days are shorter, colder and greyer – it is hard work to remain positive BUT I just wanted to say ……. Be Kind to Yourself.

If just getting through the day, feeding yourself and staying warm is what you have achieved then that is OK. Lately, if you look on social media, (facebook, Instagram etc.) you may see stories of people ‘doing-up the whole house’ – ‘Making Mega Bucks on New Ventures’ – ‘Loosing 5 Stone and getting Super Fit’ – etc etc during these lockdown’s and restrictions. I think these stories just annoy people – they certainly do me!  Most days I get to the end of the day and think – blimey where has all that time gone? So, I am trying hard to be Kind to Myself and I think you should too.

If you are feeling a bit fed up, I would recommend putting on some happy music; tap your feet and sing along – it never fails to lift the mood, music is wonderfully therapeutic. If you are feeling a little lonely, then phone a happy friend, the one who you know can cheer you up – cheer each other up. Or google: best sitcoms/ comedy sketches/ funny jokes and have a giggle.

We will be released soon and we can return to our lives and perhaps we will appreciate the simple things a bit more …. I’m going to try….

Handing over the And Finally spot to Doug this month.  Doug has been delving into some of life's mysteries and now has all the answers.  Phew, I'll sleep well tonight...
 

If the sound of rain falling or the gentle sound of a babbling brook can help you sleep, why does a single tap dripping drive you mad in the quiet of the night? I was asked this by my great grand-daughter Lexii, so I decided to find out.  
This is the best I can find. Humans like most mammals  are governed in the subconscious response of "flight or fight". So when in the quiet time late at night there is gentle rain falling, we hear the sound but in a split second the mind rejects the response and tells us all is fine and there is no threat and we gently drift away. 
But a single " PLOP" when all is quiet, our brain keeps reacting to the response, so we are waiting for the noise to repeat. Part of the problem is the way the noise is created. When the droplet hits the water already in a container (sink or bowl for example) it creates an air bubble as it  breaks the surface tension of the water, this is the "PLOP" you hear, you can stop this quite simply by putting washing up liquid in  the bowl, this changes the surface tension of the water and stops the noise. Allowing you to have a good sleep until the plumber arrives.

Well I never   

From grandad Doug

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