Half of my cup of chamomile and lavender tea is gone, and I am just beginning to type. The tea was supposed to be my excuse to sit down at the computer, meaning that I have other chores which also need to be done.
I have finished four books since my last post. I started out by reading Big John's Secret by Eleanore Jewett, an Ignatius Press Bethlehem Books reprint. I am not a ten year old, but I did not care for this book. It did express tender emotions in John's love for Marm, his friend Reynold, and the Lady Alicia. The book ended with John's fictitious encounter with St. Francis of Assissi in the Holy Land. Over all, however, the plot was far-fetched. I followed this with The Hidden Treasure of Glaston, also by Eleanore Jewett. I liked this book much better. The Hidden Treasure was an adventure story with an interesting mix of truth and fiction. It also showed a tender relationship between friends Hugh and Dickon. The young oblate Dickon took the abandoned Hugh under his wing. Dickon reveals to Hugh a secret cavern on the monastery grounds, which eventually leads them to the discovery of King Arthur and Guinevere's tomb. This was an exciting read which was hard to put down. Tales of King Arthur logically led me to another book which has been on our shelf for years, Hugh Ross Williamson's The Flowering Hawthorn, a Neumann Press reprint. A quick read, the historical references already alluded to in The Hidden Treasure of Glaston. After that I had to do an internet search of Glastonbury Abbey. Here is a neat link with gorgeous pictures:
http://www.glastonburyabbey.com/
After Glastonbury I picked up Barbara Willard's Augustine Goes to Kent, another Ignatius Press Bethlehem Books volume from our home school days. When Anne did a book report on this book years ago, I was confused because I thought it would be about Augustine of Canturbury, and she did not even make reference to him. The title really is a misnomer since Augustine is a minor character in the book. This book gave some insight into what post-Roman occupation, pre-Christianized England might have looked like. It also had romance, and strong female characters.
All of this reading came on the heels of a severe allergic reaction at Christmas time. I made the mistake of going to the doctor for a rash to make sure it was not contagious. The PA put me on Prednisone and Benadryl. After almost a week in bed with no improvement, I decided to dump the Prednisone. Within a day the rash had changed to a lighter shade of dark beet red. I must have been allergic to the Prednisone. I decided to swallow the cost and go for the Shaklee cure, which is what I should have done in the first place. I headed to my up-line and loaded up on Shaklee Healthy Cleanse, Nutriferon, Enfuselle Calming Complex and Enfuselle Shower Gel. I am happy to say that although I am not following the Healthy Cleanse regimen as Shaklee now recommends, I am healing very well. After a Basic H bath the rash turned into peeling skin, as though it had been a mass of minny pustules which had broken open. It looked very much like the second stage of a sunburn. Besides my torso, back and thighs, the skin around my eyes and later my face had also burned, and then peeled. For a few days it looked as if I had been the victim of domestic abuse. Between the Calming Complex and Enfuselle Hand and Body lotion, the peeling subsided, and the redness began to fade.
Meanwhile, I went to the heart center for my tilt table test. It was a bigger ordeal than I thought it would be. First, my appointment sheet said that I was to be there at 8:00 AM. After I was changed and hooked up to the monitor, the nurse informed me that my test was actually scheduled for 9:30. That time came and went. Next we were told that the previous test had taken longer than expected, so we would have to wait. Husband and I were sure glad that we each had books with us. I had finshed my book before they finally came to get me at noon. The purpose of the tilt table is to make the patient faint. I was not conscious of the fact that I had fainted, In my mind I only thought I felt like I was going to faint. But I actually did. (Test aced! I have orthostatic hypotension.). I cried when I got back to my room to recover because I felt so weak. The PA told me that my blood pressure had dipped to the 50's. My heart also raced more than was expected during the test. The PA also told me that my heart monitor had shown an increase in heart rate during my dizzy episodes. The upswing is that I went home with a prescription for two medications, and the recommendation for compression socks, a.k.a. old lady socks.
A week later I dumped the prescription meds because I was having almost every side effect listed on the pharmacy insert. My compression socks came in the mail yesterday, and I wore them for the first time today. My legs hurt for the greater part of the day, but now they seem to be adjusting.
What an adventure!
