National Poetry Day: Athens Revisited

Hello dear friend,
Thank you so much for stopping by!

Today is National Poetry Day. Perhaps you too are trying your hand at a bit of rhyming. I have dabbled - no more - all my life. Recently I began penning 'snapshots' of holiday moments. I recommend it. It's fun if you keep it very simple and short.

Having just returned from a visit to friends in Athens I wanted to share one of those snapshots with you today. I would love to read some of yours as a swap.

Love and blessings
Teresa x

Edom Café at Sunset (7 pm Sat 21^st September 19)

By Teresa O'Driscoll

Gentle whoosh of waves on shore

Chatter of voices, clink of glasses and ice

Lowering sun winks off watching apartment windows

Edom, Athens, am here once more!

A palm tree clacks its leaves at me

As the wind is kicking up and turning chilly

The sun is a tangerine on the mountain

Its rays a slash of gold on the sea. []

PS Don't forget to take a look at my other blog:  http://teresaodriscoll.blogspot.co.uk/

Also, for further inspiration check out my website:  http://www.teresaodriscoll.co.uk 

PPS Don't forget to check out my book: 9 Days to Heaven, How to make everlasting meaning of your life - which is a practical guide to joyful living!   You can see the book trailer by clicking on this link:  http://youtu.be/154luv8KMns

Use any Supermarket Car Park in UK? Read this to prevent a hefty fine!

                                                  When in Rome do as the Romans!


You know someone actually complimented me on my driving today, they left a note on my windscreen, it said, 'Parking Fine'.
                                                           Tommy Cooper     


Hello dear friend,
I have been meaning to pass on this warning for some time now, but better late than never I think. If you use any supermarket car park in the UK please take note: Have a good look around the car park for signs listing the rules for using that facility.  It could save you from a hefty fine!

It doesn't seem to matter where you are in the country or which supermarket chain you are stopping to shop at. Unless you familiarize yourself with conditions under which you are allowed to park you could come a cropper. From listening to friends and their problems with such parking I'd advise you to especially scour the rules for two things: 1) The length of time you are allotted to do your shopping. 2) If it states you are only allowed to park within the marked spaces.

The first one seems obvious - though not necessarily. A friend, at Christmas time was in an Aldi car park up north. She did her shopping. Had to queue for ages due to seasonal peak of customers. And then went back into the shop to buy a plant she had seen but couldn't carry until she'd stowed her groceries. She later, in the post, got a letter containing notification of a £70 fine, along with a photograph of her car both arriving and leaving the car park. Bah humbug, eh! And the photos were really spooky - big brother and all that! George Orwell certainly knew a thing or two.

My lovely friend had legitimately been shopping at Aldi's for the whole time, but the parking policy was to allow only 1 hour 30 minutes to do so. The queuing and the plant had cost her an extra £70! She was understandably very angry. When she made inquiries in shop she was told - very politely -that it was not the responsibility of the shop but that it was down to the company running the car park. (You make up your own mind about that...!)

Another friend was fined £80, in - as far as I can remember - a Marks & Spencer car park in Manchester, for parking with one wheel very slightly on one of the white lines marking the parking space.

With these two friends as a warning I made sure, that when I first parked in the car park of a new Aldi's I visited, I read the warning board. There, among a list of many things, I found I could only park for 2 hours - fine for me generally, but at least I knew to keep an eye on the time and not get too caught up in shopping. I also read the 'park within the marked bay' rule. And when a couple parked beside me, straddling a line I told them about the rule, and they corrected their parking.

And now I have told you.

Happy shopping!

And if you have your own story to tell I'd love to hear from you.

Love and blessings

Teresa x
PS Don't forget to take a look at my other blogs:  http://teresaodriscoll.blogspot.co.uk/  and http://teresaodriscolldeardiary.blogspot.com/

 plus my website  http://www.teresaodriscoll.co.uk   for further inspiration!

PPS Don't forget to check out my book: 9 Days to Heaven, How to make everlasting meaning of your life - which is a practical guide to joyful living!   You can see the book trailer by clicking on this link:  http://youtu.be/154luv8KMns

Sinus Problems? I have a solution!

The green and beautiful Greek island of Alonisos - photo from Greece Travel - see link below

Hello dear friend,
Thanks for stopping by!

I am blessed, generally, with good health. But sometimes I get a problem with my sinuses which may or may not be painful. Sometimes, like now, it is just plain debilitating. If this is your problem too I have the solution – well something which works brilliantly for me, so I wanted to pass the info along.

My tip is a homeopathic remedy. Yes, I do know that homeopathy is, and may always remain, a controversial alternative treatment. So, if that immediately makes you want to move off this page I urge you to linger long enough to find out more; from my personal experience.

Many years ago I had my first, and rather acute, bout of sinusitis. Three lots of antibiotics later (yes, I know, but I now avoid these like the plague if I can) I was no better. In desperation I walked into my nearest health food shop and asked for help. They recommended me to try a homeopathic solution: Combination Q. Imagine my surprise when these tiny, melt on your tongue, tablets did the trick. From the ineffectual sledgehammer of antibiotics to these powerful yet gentle tissue salts, I was, by experience, persuaded by the effectiveness of homeopathy.

In Athens I was happy to discover that homeopathy owes its resurgence of popularity to an eminent Greek doctor: #George Vithoulkas. He opened the #International Academy of Classical Homeopathy on the green and beautiful island of #Alonisos (visit their website: https://www.vithoulkas.com  for more info). In Greece all homeopathic practitioners must first be a fully qualified conventional medical doctor.

Homeopathy has been around for over 200 years and was discovered by an eminent German physician, #Samuel Hahnemann. In 1831 the success of his therapy during a typhoid epidemic bordered on the miraculous. Later, his cures of patients suffering from scarlet fever and cholera were epic.

Homeopathy is often dismissed by classical medicine because it is still not really understood how it works. Some experts in the homeopathy field maintain that it is an “energy medicine” based on biophysics, quantum physics, and electromagnetic fields. I do not pretend to understand most (any?) of that. But similarly, I don’t really understand how electricity works either. I only know that when I plug in my electric kettle it heats the water. And I only know that Combination Q alleviated my sinus problem. And has done so numerous times over the years.

The brand I recommend is #New Era, Mineral Tissue Salt, Combination Q. If you buy another brand make sure they are fast melt tablets. Don't touch the tablets just shake them into the lid and drop them onto your tongue. I tried something else last year and you had to chew them to get them down. This chomping goes against my research in the use of homeopathy. 

Wishing you all the best. Please let me know how you get on with these tablets if you try them.

Love and blessings

Teresa

PS for more info on the island of #Alonisos visit: https://www.greecetravel.com/aegean/alonissos.htm Here you will find an interesting article on the island co-authored by #Alexia Amvrazi - a former colleague of mine at the Athens News!

PPS Don't forget to take a look at my other blogs:  http://teresaodriscoll.blogspot.co.uk/  and http://teresaodriscolldeardiary.blogspot.com/

 plus my website  http://www.teresaodriscoll.co.uk   for further inspiration!
And then there is my book: 9 Days to Heaven, How to make everlasting meaning of your life - which is a practical guide to joyful living!   You can see the book trailer by clicking on this link:  http://youtu.be/154luv8KMns