Author: Nicola Golding

My name is Nic, I'm 26 and just happen to have Cerebral Palsy that I've had since birth. It mostly impacts on my legs and my left arm and so I use a walking frame. When I'm not blogging I can usually be found making YouTube videos, reading or trying to write a novel.

The Liebster Award #2

The Liebester Award
The Liebester Award

Well, I’ve been nominated for the Liebster Award again, this time by Marie over at Curran Kentucky. Thank you Marie! Well, I say that I have been nominated for a second time, but the logo is different from the last one I received and the rules are slighty altered so I’m  sure if it’s the same one. Nonetheless I’m very happy that she thought of me. Please, go read her blog about living with ME. I find it very insightful and I really like her poems.

So, as always with these awards, there are some rules for me to follow. I have to thank the blogger who nominated me, answer the questions set for me, nominate 10 others for the award and set some questions for them in return. Then, notify them and you can display the award on your blog too, if you like.

 

Ready? Let’s go!

  1. Why do you write?

Because it makes me happy and helps me to connect with other people

  1. Other than the obvious World Peace, what would your one wish be, if you had one?

Ohhh, tough choice. Im really not sure. Maybe an end to world hunger?

  1. What is your favourite part of the day?

I like the morning, it’s when I’m at my most productive.

  1. Laptop or notebook?

Notebook, although I usually use my laptop because I don’t want to spoil my notebooks. What’s up  with that

5. Who is your favourite poet/author? Poet: Emily Dickinson and Nicci French, Val McDermid and Jodi Picoult probably all tie for my fave author.

6. What is your most vivid childhood memory?

Probably the day I got my Mini and Micky Mouse toy pram when I was about three. We were visiting my granddad in the nursing home and my dad took me to Argos to go and get it. I watched for it come down the conveyer belt and when it got to us, dad said that I was still little enoughto ride in it. When we got back to the nursing home, he pushed me to my grandad’s room.

7. What is your favourite word and why?

Sprocket. Just because it makes me smile

8. What would your ideal day be?

One where everyone was equal and there was no fighting.

9. What is your favourite piece of furniture and why?

My desk because it’s where my writing happens.

10. What would you do, if you were told blogging was a new sin?

I’d probably try and find a way to do it anyway. I’d miss it too much.

 

My questions tomy nominees are:

What made you start your blog?

What do you enjoy most about blogging?

What was your favourite childhood toy?

What was the first book you remember reading?

What was the first movie you saw as a child?

What would your super power be?

Hot chocolate with cream or tea and biscuits?

What is your favourite kind of music?

What was your favourite TV show as a kid?

What was the first movie you saw at the cinema?

 

Annnnd, here are my nominees:

Books on the Tube: I always look forward to Kathy’s book reviews. It’s because of her that I started to read the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, which I love.

Linda Bloodworth: I find Linda’s blog to be a very good insight into what itfeels like to write a novel.

How to be Jobless: Being an unemployed journalism graduate myself, I can relate to a lot of the things that HTBJ writes on their blog. It’s really funy and helps to give me a little pick me up when the job hunt is getting me down.

Strawberry Quicksand: I love Yvette’s log, especially her posts about the funny stories she has about being a bus driver. Plus, the comments she leaves on my posts always make me chuckle/

Creative Ability: Maria’s blog is always fully of fun tips on find ways around the things she finds

The Librarian who doesn’t say shh; Again Tara’s writes about YA fiction books.

Salt ‘n’ All That:  Go and read Jackie’s blog for short stories and an insight into her life with Cerebral Palsy.

Curran Kentucky (see above link): Is it cheating to say that if Marie hadn’t nominated me, I would’ve nominated her.

Lucy Milne: Go read my friend Lucy’s blog about dress makin, clothes and looking on the bright side of life.

The Bookshelf of Emily J: Yet anoher book blog I like to read

 

 

 

Getting cold feet

My Microwavable socks
My Microwavable socks

Over the past few days I rally have been getting the feeling that winter isn’t too far away again.

No, not because the trees are losing their leaves or because the days are getting shorter, but because it’s getting to the time of year where I start wearing multiple pairs of socks.

I don’t think I’ve ever met another person who owns quite as many pairs as I do. I have enough to fill an entire drawer so that it can barely close without giving it a huge shove, and then I fill a separate overnight bag too. Even when I wear tights, a put a pair on over my feet.

Because of the way my feet drag on the floor when I walk, I put holes in the toes very quickly. I never throw any odd ones away because I go through them so quickly. Some days, it can take ages to find  a matching pair if I’m head out to an appointment or something like that.

I got the pair of microwavable ones that Rob got me out of the wardrobe the other day in preparation, and it won’t be long before they get used again. I can’t walk in them but I can sit in them while I read books and type all my job applications. My gloves have made a reappearance in my coat pocket too, and I don’t think it will be much longer before I don my hat and scarf too.

What do you do to keep warm when the weather turns cold?

//

A catalouge of excitment

My appointment with the occupational therapist (OT) yesterday went well. We’ve recently had a new kitchen fitted in at home, so some of the tips and tricks I learned for managing to do a few bits and bats in the old one won’t really work anymore, which is frustrating and hard, given that it took so long to get used to them. Still, maybe the change will do me good and I’ll learn lots of new stuff that will be useful in the future.

The OT came out to the house and brought with her a couple of things that she thought might help me. These were a bread chopping board with raised edges so that things don’ t fly off and end up here, there and everywhere, like they usually do when I’m trying to butter bread. If you’re ever anywhere near me when I’m making a sandwich I suggest you stand well back because there’s a good chance you might end up covered in something, getting accidently elbowed in the ribs, or both.

The other one is a similar chopping board, with spikes on and a mini grater attached so that I could put something like a jacket potato on it while I get the cheese ready.   Usually when I do this, I have to hold the grater in my weak hand while it’s balanced on a plate, and the cheese in the other. Usually this means that the plate or bowl flies off it one direction, and the grater in the opposite. This makes a mess, and me even more frustrated when I have to try and clean it up.

These items have only been given to me on a short-term loan to see if I find them useful before I spend loads of money on things that don’t really work for me, which I think is a really good idea. The lady left me some catalogues to browse through too, which I’m really excited about, probably because it will remind me of going through the Argos at Christmas when I was a kid. I’ve had a quick flick through them and I didn’t realise just how much was out there! I’m going to sit and give them my full attention later with a cup of tea and see if anything catches my eye, or gives me an ideas of things we already have in the house that I can adapt.

We came up with a list of a few other things to try too over the next couple of weeks so we’ll see how things go. I haven’t played with these ones that she brought yesterday yet, but it’s on the to-do list for this weekend when I’ve bought some food to experiment with. I don’t watch to use the family shopping in case I butcher it beyond all recognition and it’s not edible afterwards. I know this might sound a bit dramatic but believe me when I say it’s entirely possible.

I really hope they help because it gets me down that I can’t help out with the cooking more. I’m willing to spend the cash if I think the difference will be worth it. This could be the start of something really good for me.

Time for change

So, yesterday I took a trip to the hospital to have a discussion about my callipers and pick up some new boots that it’s hoped will help them stop cutting into me a giving e blisters quite so much. I went in there knowing that we’d also be looking at some of the other options that we could try. More on the new footwear in a minute, I promise.

A couple of weeks back, I went to a clinic appointment where someone suggested that we could try using something called Spring Splints at night instead, which I’ve never had before, but  they said I should discuss that further when I went to pick up my new shoes. I  go to a lot of my appointments on my own these days, (don’t you love being a grown up), but this time I asked my mum if she could come along for the ride to offer some insight into things that had worked well for me when I was a child.

After a bit of a debate, it was decided that we could give these Spring Splints a go when I’m resting, and also cast me for a pair of ridged ankle AFO splints for during the day. I’ve had AFOs before . There’s also discussion of using another course of using another method to help release some of the tightness in my ankles. It’s something that I had done a few times as a child and it worked really well. However, that is only at the discussion stages right now so I’ll mention that later on if it goes ahead.

My callipers
My callipers

Anyway, back to the shoes. They look pretty much the same as the ones in this picture, only with one extra strap, and not worn down, obviously. I’ve hunted high and low for a picture of my old splints, but I can’t find one because I used to wear them under trousers or jeans most of the time. Sorry.

When I got my new pair of boots that the callipers slot into, I found that they had an extra strap on the back that should make a difference to the position of my foot so I’ll keep trying to wear them for now until the new stuff comes through. I tried walking around in them for a bit and it’s so far, so good, minus the usual feelings of having to break in any new gear you get for your feet anyway.

I’m nervous about trying the new splints but I’m excited too. I’m willing to try anything that might help in the long or short term so I’ll just have to keep an open mind and see how it goes.

If you or someone you know has tried any of these types of splints, I’d be really grateful if you could leave me a comment or tweet me.

And so, let’s hope that today’s appointment with the occupational therapist goes as well!

Busy week ahead

Well remember what I said last week about all my appointments coming at once?

This week is going to be busy one because I have two, one day after the other.

My first one is to get some new boots to wear with my calipers so that they’ll hopefully blister me less. However, we’ll also be looking at some other options we could try instead or alongside to make it better.

Then on Wednesday I’m seeing an occupational therapist about some kitchen gadgets I could loan to see if they would be of use to me before I buy any. I’m excited about this one because I’m hoping it’ll bring me more independence.

Wish me luck, I’ll keep you all posted as  best I can.