Gherkin Blind Climb poster
Tag Archive for independence
30
Jun 2014
Archimedes would be proud
As a VIP, I have little tweaks in the way in which I do things to enable me to feel like I am as ‘normal’ as everyone else. (Even though the strong independent part of me knows that I don’t need to be the same as or normal like everyone else!)
One of my tweaks, is to fill my bath to a successful level by using the timer on my iPhone. First the hot water, then the cold. Of course this isn’t fallible, sometimes the water is still too hot or often too cold.
Either way, I am not flooding the bathroom or even close to washing the floor!
As a busy mum, who has increased her classes and time spent at the gym, it has actually been several weeks since I last had a bath (having showered instead, so I am clean and not smelly)
So imagine my surprise yesterday evening, upon filling my bath as my usual tweak, checking the temperature and getting in that I discover that the water didn’t cover me as much as before.
I stood up and used my hands to measure the level of the water, it was the right amount of water, give or take…. So, there was only one answer for it.
There is less of me in the bath to displace the water !!!! YIPPEE
All that time at the gym and eating lovely seasonal fruit is paying off.
And now back to the drawing board on the timings for the water level?
Or, as I did last night, sit in the lower level bath and fill up when I am in it to get the desired depth and temperature.
Either way, I am a very happy bunny.
22
Jun 2014
The silly little things
We are having some beautiful sunny hot weather here on the south coast at the moment. So having taken my beautiful black long haired guide dog out for a good walk earlier this morning before the heat picked up, I needed to pop into town.
So out came the good olde faithful cane….. And off I went.
I have to alter how I use my cane in some shops in town, with their lovely smooth floors no-one can hear me if I use the roller tip and glide it along. So I need to go back to the basic ‘tap tap’ figure of eight so I can be heard and noticed.
Having done my shopping in the store with the big W on the front! I was walking to the exit when a kind gentleman asked if I needed assistance locating the lift, as the store is set into a hill at the back.
I thanked him for his offer, but asked if he could he so kind as to navigate me towards the escalator instead.
He sounded surprise at my request! And was concerned for my safety, so offered to come down with me. I did explain this was not necessary, but he insisted.
So down the escalator we went together (it’s on about half a flight of stairs long)
When we reached the bottom I thanked him, he then went to go back up the escalator to continue his shopping (as I hadn’t realised he wasn’t actually leaving!) So I politely and quietly followed him back up to the store.
When at the top, he asked if I was ok? So I explained that I was perfectly fine.
I went on to explain that as a guide dog user, I was unable to use escalators when working with her, so in a ‘kid in a sweet shop’ kind of excitement I was making the most of the experience !!
It sent him away with a smile on his face and me with a lovely piece of advice from him,
“Take time to do the ‘silly little things’ in life, because they often sculpt you into the sensible person you become”
So yes, I was the grown woman who rose the escalators today. But it is a little thing that I miss, that many take for granted. So I made the most of it and enjoyed myself.
I can’t see if people where looking at me, and as such I no longer worry about what they are thinking !!
21
Apr 2014
When the guide dog became the attraction at the zoo
My guide dog is often admired when we are out and about. Many people are surprised when they see a dog in an inside environment, such as a shopping centre or cinema. But people appear much more surprised when they meet us at somewhere like a theme park.
As it’s the Easter weekend I got the opportunity to go to Drayton Manor to visit Thomas Land with my little boy. We had a fabulous time in the park, lots of rides and my GD Vicky enjoyed all the fussing she was getting while we waited in line for our turn.
She didn’t go on any of the rides with us, she stayed with one of our party so that I had her to guide me, but didn’t have to miss out on the fun and thrills of the rides.
Drayton Manor have their own zoo with a collection of owls, monkeys and a black leopard.
Having phoned ahead of our visit, I had spoken with one of the keepers and they were happy for my GD to go into the zoo area, with the provision that if she of the animals appearedto be distressed I was to walk away.
There were numerous zoo staff around the zoo who were very happy to see us and help explain what was in the enclosures.
The monkeys were the first to spot Vicky.
They were very interested and intreaged by her. They came up to the bars on their cage to see her.
Then there was black leopard, she came right up to see Vicky, yet she wasn’t stressed or showing any aggression, just interest.
And then there was the gibbons, they wanted to play, they were chatting away to Vicky and she in return was making noises to them too. But again, with a zoo keeper on hand, I was reassured that this was friendly chatter that they often sharedamongst themselves during play times.
I was able to get some lovely pictures of the animals in the zoo, so once home I could actually sit down and look through the pictures with my son and he was telling me about what he thought of when he had seen the animals. For me, seeing animals when visiting the zoo with my children is not something that I get to do very often.
It is only in more recent years that zoo’s have allowed guide dogs and other assistance dogs into the grounds, with many restrictions for the safety of the animals and the dogs. With Vicky by my side, both me and my son were able to have a much closer encounter to the animals than we had ever thought possible.
01
Apr 2014
A Gem Lettuce of a Find
As A woman who has suffered from my ‘over-indulgences’ with food, I am tackling my life with a healthy eating attitude to food in addition to getting fitter. Like many who have suffered with depression, I let myself go and used ‘rubbish food’ as my crutch to make me happy…… And guess what? It didn’t work!
Anyway, now I am an active member of my local Slimming World group. With a fabulous consultant in Liz, who is herself on the slimming world journey. She has great snippets of information and ideas to help us all alone.
A few weeks ago, whilst in group, we were talking about how time consuming it is to make and prepare home-made chips. A member in the group admitted that she didn’t have the time for the ‘faffing about’, this was when Liz told us of a local greengrocers that sold pre-cut potatoes for chips.
As a VIP, it has been a very long time since I have had proper ‘home-made’ chips, as although I can peel a potato, slicing it for chips is far beyond me, without the risk if injury that is!!
So, off I went to a nearby Stubbington village to The Fruit Basket…..
WOW! it was a beautifully laid out store, clearly arranged by fruit, core veg, salad, root veg and a lovely selection of miniature veg. Then there was the fridge with the milk and next to that the largest selection of ‘fresh’ pre-prepared fruit and veg.
Not like the bags in the supermarkets, but simply washed, peeled and cut assortments of goodies.
Unfortunately, no pre-cut potatoes for chips.
They did have, peeled and cut potatoes, onions, (which I haven’t cooked with in years) carrots, squash and swede to name just a few of the bit I picked up. And at very reasonable prices with an offer of 4 bags for the price of 3 I was sold.
This in addition to fruit I had picked up, which I must say is still fresh over 2 weeks later (unlike my last fruit/veg shop from the supermarket)
I was a very happy bunny, with a large bag of fresh, healthy foods. That when I got home, I felt it was only right for me to contact the company to tell them how helpful I had found them.
They have 2 shops in my local area and their warehouse is based within Gosport where they supply many local restaurants and catering companies…. Which I why they are able to offer the freshly prepared fruit and veg within their shops to the general public.
So off went my email, I commented on how accessible the pre-prepared range was to me and would enable me to be more independent with my cooking and more adventurous with what I ate (to be honest if I couldn’t cut it or de-seed it easily, I often wouldn’t bother.) I also mentioned about the chips, especially as my Slimming World consultant had mentioned it to a room full of about 45 men and women.
This was the reply I got…….
Hi Theresa,
Thank you for your email.
Glad to hear our prep fruit & veg is useful to you.
We stopped selling the chips due to lack of demand, but we would love to give them another go and see if there is any improvement.
Our prep team will start preparing them in the next few days, so hopefully you will see them in the shop by the end of the week!
Many thanks
Jenni
And true to their word, I went back on Monday this week and there they were….. Bags of big chunky chips.
All I did was par-boil them, then popped them in the oven with a light coating of ‘fry-light’ and salt……. They were delicious and went down a treat with the kids too (which is always a bonus!)
The Fruit basket will be my regular stop for my fruit and veg needs, you get what you pay for and in saying that, as I have actually found them better value for money than my local supermarket.
26
Mar 2014
Scaling a Mountain.
It has been a busy few weeks and I haven’t had a moment to catch my breath or update you all on what has been going on in the world of Tee.
After months, months and months of putting it off, I booked myself on a new course to really test my ability to do something that you wouldn’t usually find a VI doing. I did a taster course in rock climbing.
I know, many have questioned me “why rock climbing?’
The answer is simple. Since loosing my sight I have also lost my fear of heights.
So in answer to them, “Why not?’
I have a friend who introduced me to it, a few years ago when he spoke of how he used to climb, but as his climbing partner had moved away and life had got away with him, he hadn’t been.
So, I booked the course and off we went to Calshot, a fabulous climbing (among other things) facility.
Unfortunately, like many great places, it is a 60 mile round trip. But definitely worth the trip. But as you can see from the images, they have some wonderful climbs.
I was incredibly nervous. More so, when we arrived and I was the only girl doing the course. Other than my friend, the seven other men were on a work night out. My nerves were soon settled by the course instructor Adam.
Upon completing the online booking form for the course, I had detailed my visual impairment, so Adam was prepared. He was happy to take his time with me to feel and understand the harness before I put it on. He explained that he had never worked with a visually impaired climber before, so if I needed more help or even less, to just be honest with him, so that he can ensure me the best possible experience whilst being safe.
We all went out to the first wall after we had put our harnesses on, ready to start our experience. As their was nine on the course, we were put into groups of three’s. That gave each team a climber, a belay and an anchor, giving each of us the opportunity to have several goes within each role.
It is hard for me to put into words how it felt the first time I started to climb. It was a mixture of nerves, panic, strain and probably the biggest dose of adrenaline I have felt in an incredibly long time.
Having had the opportunity to belay before I climbed, the concern I had about someone holding my weight was quashed. The guy I belayed was quite tall and heavier than me, but when I was helping guide him down, he didn’t feel it. (I am a girl after all and weight it always a concern, one that doesn’t decrease as my sight does!)
So, standing in front of the wall (the blue wall shown in the photograph above) and looking at it in such closeness.
I froze.
I literally hit a wall.
I could see the blue of the wall, but I could only make out the occasional climbing holds, which all seemed to be much further away than my hands and feet could reach. So I started, reaching first with my hands and hap-hazardly with my feet, but I was on my way, very slowly. This was where Simon came in, he started to explain to me where I could move, simple instructions like “left foot left knee’ but it was enough… It meant that although I couldn’t see the holds by my feet or even my feet for that matter, I could see my hands and where they could go, with the explanations from the ground I made it about half way, before fear and emotion kicked in.
Once getting back on the ground and speaking with Simon and Adam, they explained that often the belayer will give such instructions from the ground to the climber, regardless of skill. As it was often easier to see a hold from the ground.
After we had all had a chance to scale this wall, we were taken to a different wall, this was where Adam showed his concern for my sight and my ability. As he had moved us to a wall that had an over-hang on it, which he was concerned that if I were to climb it, I may hit my head. So he placed my team on a wall slightly away from the main group. To a yellow wall, that went straight up.
The yellow was easier to see the holds on (well most of them) as the lighting on this side of the centre was clearer too.
I could go on and on about what it was like to climb this wall, but I’m not here to bore you.
After we had climbed, we went back to the team room to de-harness and this was when after the others had left, I was able to have a very honest conversation with Adam and Simon. Adam was already able to see that I had ‘caught the bug’ and he was so kind as to talk me through different harnesses, climbing shoes and different options for learning to climb.
As we were leaving, he even gave me my own piece of 10mm rope so that I could learn to make a ‘figure of 8’ and practice it in preparation for taking part in the induction training course.
So, my new love affair began…..
That was six weeks ago now!! My induction course is booked for April, but in the meantime I have been climbing pretty much every week as Simon’s guest at the climbing wall.
(But that is another post….)
