Versatility

I got this award from Denyse and must now tell you seven things about myself before passing it on to seven other versatile bloggers.



Seven things about me. 


Thing one.
At 17 I did a tandem skydive for charity (and loved it!)


Thing two.
I was born in Gibralter


Thing three.
I have never broken a bone in my body of which I'm immensely pleased. 


Thing four.
Rebecca Bradley is a pen name


Thing five
I can touch the floor with the palms of my hands whilst standing straight. 


Thing six
I have an active bucket list which I fully intend on trying to complete, with the majority of items being places in the world I want to visit. 


Thing seven
I still possess my first teddy which is a penguin with a chewed off nose and is now looking extremely threadbare. 


I would now like to nominate and pass this on to ; Nickie; Crystal Jigsaw; Fiddlesticks; PippaD: Effie Merryl; Lily; and Sardine Tin

Frustration with the NHS

As some of you may be aware, for nearly a year I have been going through a potential diagnosis of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome for my youngest. It was officially first diagnosed in April last year, but previous to that other consultants had mentioned his problems could be a collagen issue, which is what EDS is. We saw a "specialist" who didn't feel he fitted into the EDS box, but in my eyes it was because his symptoms weren't extreme. She said, "it's either mild EDS or he's a little more flexible than other kids" mmm. She mentioned however that she would talk to a German Dr who was doing research on children with capillary fragility which my son has.

Yesterday I received a call from the genetic counsellor saying that the German Dr didn't know why he leaked blood and that's the end of that. They will follow him up in the summer.

Before he was "diagnosed" I had been complaining of joint pain to my GP. Last year I was diagnosed by a rheumatologist with fibromyalgia. I told my GP that this was a huge coincidence considering the issues with my son. He agreed and wrote to the rheumatologist and I have another appointment at the end of the month, I'm presuming to be assessed for EDS.

Last night I was woken up by pain in my shoulder. It felt as though my arm wasn't quite screwed in right, so I wriggled it around until it was. Today I've felt physically fragile. Joints hurting and feeling as though they will misalign at any point.

I'm frustrated waiting for this appointment. I'm frustrated that these issues aren't being picked up. I'm frustrated that I have to push professional Doctors to actually look at a patient when they walk through the door rather than start writing the minute they walk in and do half an assessment so that they can get you out and get the next patient in. What's the point in getting through patients if you aren't offering them any service whatsoever?  

So all in all, today I am frustrated.

Lump Found on Dogs Ear.

On Friday evening I was fussing my much loved springer spaniel Bob, when I found a very pronounced lump under her ear. She has those floppy hang down and get in your dinner ears.

I was fussing her and rubbing her around her ears when I spotted it. Now it's not just a small pea size lump under her skin, and thinking about it, maybe those reading with weak stomachs might want to stop reading, whilst I go on to describe.

It's just by her ear canal hidden in the masses of fur she has round there but this protruded and was instantly noticeable due to its size, poking out the fur in this bald growth looking way. It's the size of a small plum. I washed and blow dried her two weeks ago so know it wasn't there then which goes on to worry me because of the speed of growth.

The visit to the vet was inconclusive, but pretty much as I expected. They can't tell what it is by looking at it, whether it's benign or malignant but what she could say is that it's not fatty and it's not fluid filled (as an infection) it is actually tissue. This doesn't fill me with much in the way hope.

She is now going to have it surgically removed and the lump tested. Whilst they have her sedated they're going to spay her. Won't she wake up a happy puppy!

I'm worried, but keeping the angst for, as and when I'm told I can start freaking. For now, my dog needs an op. She'll be home the same day. All is fine

Published on Ether Books

I have recently had some of my short stories published by Ether Books

Ether books is a free to download iphone/ipod touch and ipad app from the app store. It is full of short stories from already established authors and as they put it, “Up and coming authors” It's simple to download onto your phone/pad or touch and means you can read with your coffee or whilst travelling on public transport. You can even read a quick one whilst standing in a queue somewhere.

There are stories on the app which you can download free and if you like the work from that particular author, you can download a longer piece for only a few pence.


I was thrilled to be accepted by Ether Books for publication on their app, in fact, the emails I sent to Mike of Ether Books were a little on the giddy side.

Two of my “flash fiction” sized pieces were on there first and are free to download and this week a longer piece was added into the Urban Horror section at a cost of 59p. I have an author bio on their website here, which wow, got me all giddy again seeing the word author and my name in the same sentence!

I have only just started writing so this is a big thing for me. I would love your support if you could check out the app (Again – it's free to download) It's been an amazing experience for me and one I have thoroughly enjoyed.

Fun Writing Prompts

I was listening to the the Scott Mills Show on Radio 1 on the way home from work this afternoon and the presenters were playing this random game of choosing album names for a pretend band you would form. It was mildly amusing, but then it became genius.

I listened to the names that were coming up and thought it would be a really great way to come up with writing prompts if you were struggling to get going.


The idea is, you go to any quote website (Not car insurance quote sites, but sayings type quotes!) go to the bottom quote and take the last five words. Now use this as your writing prompt. (They were obviously taking it as their make believe album name) I have done just this and my five word prompt is - begin with a single step.


What a great prompt! 


Try it. What five words do you get? Can you start writing with those in mind now?

Big City Vibe

This weekend I visited London with my husband and youngest child. The reason for this visit was my little boys seventh birthday. When asked whether he wanted a party in one of these organised play centres or a trip to London to see the Natural History Museum, he chose the museum.

I booked a cheap and cheerful hotel and we travelled down Saturday morning. The hotel allowed us to book in early and the man at the counter was very helpful in explaining which bus we needed and then which tube line for the museums.


So we set off. It is at this point that I have to say, I started to love the weekend, London and the ease of travelling about. A bus was arriving at the bus stop just as we were and the tube was sat waiting for us when we got to the tube station. I absolutely loved the whole feel of the big city busy. Transport is regular and often. People are moving about rapidly knowing where they are going. Public transport is used as the mode of transport. People use it to go to work. It's a must have. Really, I know this may sound mad, but buses here run irregularly and I have an hours drive to work each day. I'm contributing heavily to global warming yet here is a city where most people don't drive!

The promptness with which we boarded the bus and tube train wasn't just luck either. It was as equally simple on the return journey, even though I'm loath to admit, we got on the wrong train twice! But due to an all day tube pass and my thorough enjoyment of the experience, it really wasn't an issue. We even did it all again on Sunday with the same outcome. No hanging about waiting. If public transport was that good up here then I would use it.

I really soaked up the whole big city vibe. I loved people watching. The tube is positively aglow with advertisements for technology. People with earphones plugged into their heads and everyone with a phone in their hand. People reading books. I even saw an oriental book being read with the writing going the wrong way down the page! I loved watching the similarities and the differences between people. I loved the buskers in the tube walking tunnel areas (I'm unsure what they're called) I loved the architecture of the buildings. As my husband said, you see it on the television, its strange to be walking in it.

The Natural History museum was simply stunning. Outside and in. The science museum was brilliant. I spent the weekend feeling.... Well just feeling. Soaking it all in. My son loved the museums and the tube and we are planning on doing it all again but going down earlier, Friday night instead of Saturday morning.

I think there's a secret city girl hiding in here somewhere.

Losing Written Documents

For some reason I quite like writing short pieces on a document app on my iPhone, be they blog posts, short fiction or chapters for my novel. This probably works for me as I tend to get ideas just as I'm about to go to sleep which ends in me sitting bolt upright and switching lights on, much to the annoyance of my other half who now just grunts at me and rolls over. 

I recently got onto a bit of a roll and had several blog posts written up and ready to be posted at regular intervals. I also wrote five chapters for my book this way and put some ideas down for shorts. 

For some strange reason I sent the novel chapters to google docs so I still had them if anything happened to my phone, but I didn't do the same for my blog posts. Then something did happen to my phone, I happened to my phone! 

I decided to buy the paid document app that I was using for writing. After I did this, I got a little giddy and tidied up my apps and deleted the free version as I didn't need two versions of the same app clogging up my phone. 

It wasn't until a couple of days later when I looked to post a blog post that I realised I'd deleted it! A week later and I'm still so furious with myself. Ive synched the app back onto my phone, but all that was on it is lost forever. 

It now feels as though I have to write on my blog from scratch and it feels mountainous. I know I will get in my stride again, but that's why the blog has been quiet for a week. 

One lesson I have now learnt, along with putting enough postage on competition entry envelopes, is store written work in more than one place! (It would seem this blog is a list of what not to do's) 

What have you done that you have completely given yourself a hard time over?