Why Tweet? Why Twitter?

Why Indeed?
In my case its to do with the trickiness of Blogging these days .
I just can't find the words. I don't think its me- I put it down to the medication and the fact that the increased dose I have to take to take migraine at bay results in aphasia and means I just find finding words harder. Literally . Writing and Speaking . So I both say and write less. And when I do both I find it harder to locate the right words and everything takes me longer.
Writing the blog used to be a delight which took me minutes each day . In fact I used to often have ideas for new things I wanted to write minutes after I had finished the last blog post and would often find myself picking up the laptop again and producing a second post or sometimes even a third in one day . Now I find it hard to come up with anything much in a week or even a fortnight . Its not that less happens. In some ways life is as busy with as much if not more going on . Its just finding the words.
And then along came Twitter. I looked at it askance at first , finding it both inane and somehow missing the point ( of anything much ) . Then my sister showed me how she used it . I logged in and started following a few of the same people she followed and saw how easy it was to become involved in a little mini community ( yes , a bit like blogging really) , and the bonus for me was that you didnt have to find many words. In fact the maximum per tweet being one hundred and forty could count as a bonus. And , if you preferred , once you worked out how to post pictures from your mobile, you could instead post a few photos and forget about saying anything very much . Lurking was quite fine. No one seemed to object.
I live in hope that I'm going to be off this stuff soon and that all my words are going to come flooding back . Then my word count will improve again and there will be a blog revival .
In the meantime I keep on minding cats ( some recent changes in clientele with old favourites moving away. They know who they are and will be sadly missed :-(    And some new families contacting me and coming onto the books which is always good.

Ive had to turn some people away as they are a bit too far away - it seems there are less people out there cat minding at the minute and I'm getting calls from further afield which I can't always respond to due to other pressures.

SisterBirthday

I am so excited about my sister's forthcoming birthday!
Its not so much fun having one of those landmark occasions yourself when no one quite knows what to do , whether to make a big song and dance about it , to get a card with the numbers on , buy balloons or fix up a party . If you really dont want any of those things you have to clearly spell it out or surely someone is going to organise something for you that is going to be torture.
But its much more fun when you can get into the spirit on behalf of someone else.
I don't think my sister is terribly keen on surprises. Or parties. She's not a traveller ( much ) . Or maybe she's all right with surprises but doesnt like things being organised for her without some prior  consultation. Anyway , having consulted a bit , I have something in mind that I like . Its not majorly exciting but its good to have something to look forward to .
And then last Friday there  was a bit of a plotting going on . And I quite got into the mood .

My first memory ( I think ) was of when she was born . I say I think because you never know for sure whether these are real memories or ideas that have been suggested . But in my head we were staying at the farmhouse where my grandparents lived . And which was where my sister was born "at home" though of course it wasnt her home or mine . Though maybe we came to regard it as a second home in a way . Anyway in my mind's eye someone , I suppose my dad , was holding me up in the air over a marble washstand to look into a crib of sorts and in there was a tiny wizened monkey with black hair. Surely I can't have remembered this , at twenty months old , it has to have been what I've been told . Yet I do seem to have a picture of a little brown  wrinkled face , not terribly enamoured with the world and me not sure what to make of it I suppose. I have no recollection of the adults around me or of what they said or of what happened next .
SisterBirthday !! Coming up soon . Hope its a happy one !

Sunday morning seems to be taking care of itself whilst I sit staring into space , wondering whether I should be taking action . I have plans. A swim at lunchtime, when the pool should be clearer. I am half heartedly awaiting the delivery of some CatMinding keys , though it is half-hearted and if I went out they would arrive just the same through the door. As I sit here , the To Do list grows slowly but surely . I have a birthday present to buy. A once a year post Summer Holiday ironing pile to do ( and put away till next year probably , as rain is forecast for the rest of the week). Ironing is not really my thing, generally .
I have photos to upload.
A cake to bake , maybe , who knows. A dog to walk .
Outside all is still and peaceful . After a fairly frenetic week , its calming to sit here in one place and reflect . My insomnia seems to have deserted me . I'm not sure if thats something to be happy about . Fewer hours in the day for reading , but I am yawning less at four pm .
I have been on the go since seven am but time to get started for real ....

Gazza goes to Rothbury

YouTube - Gazza interview about Raoul Moat on Real Radio North-East **FULL LEN

For those of you who remember Paul Gascoigne otherwise known as Gazza , you may be interested to hear the recording of his offer of help to Raoul Moat last weekend in Rothbury .
I wonder how things would have panned out of Gazza had been allowed through the police cordons to talk to his old mate ( though he does admit he hadn't seen Mr Moat for a year and a half ).
Thirty thousand people have signed up to a Facebook tribute page in support of Mr Moat ( a "Legend") which David Cameron is requesting facebook should remove but so far this is being refused. 
Where will it all end ?

Back from Holidays

We return from relaxing holidays in the early hours of Thursday  having closely followed the story of Raoul Moat on Sky News , to hear that Mr Moat is eventually involved in a stand-off with Police near the river bank last night .

We receive a telephone call that our friend Steve Hall who is also cycling round UK to raise awareness of the plight of refugees across the world , following in the footsteps of Bjorn Heidenstrom who stayed with us last year , had not arrived at the latest leg of his journey in Hexham .The Shirt 2010 Steve was due to stay in Hexham where a friend of a friend had kindly agreed to offer a bed for the night before he would come on to us .
Later in the morning we received a call to say that Steve had had an accident on the A69 and had been taken to hospital by police and ambulance . Frantic calls led to D tracking him down finally late last night and it was at 11 pm therefore that D saw him and then left him still parked up on a trolley in a hospital corridor in Accident and Emergency with broken ribs and possible head injury waiting for an observation bed.

I fell asleep watching Sky News where Mr Moat was surrounded by Police and with a gun to his head .

The wierdest part of all this was hearing that at the start of the stand off a local man was apparently fishing in the river just metres away from where Moat was holding a gun to his head .
Later , Paul Gascoigne appeared on the scene with food parcels for Raoul Moat declaring himself a pal from former times , presumably from Mr Moats days as a bouncer . Gazza  was interviewed on Real Radio and , slurring somewhat said Mr Moat was a real gentleman and "someone must have wound him up". Indeed.
The Sky News reporter said somewhat enigmantically that most of Mr Gascoigne's interview "could not be broadcast". He was however on the scene offering to intervene.
I myself had high hopes that the two men would have a chat , there would be tears , and that would be an end to the matter .  Sadly ,it was not to be .


I was thus  horrified to wake to see footage of Mr Moat's  removal to the Newcastle General Hospital and discover that he was arriving at the same hospital as Steve . Hopefully by the time Moat arrived Steve was safely on a ward (2 15am). I suspect his confusion would not have been  helped by the armed police accompanying Mr Moat .
Questions now relate to whether Moat killed himself as a result of the firing of a taser stungun. An Independent Inquiry will follow - who fired first ? Sky News continues to buzz.

Steve is to remain in hospital at least another day .