Tag Archives: Doodles

My Kind of People

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Crazy People

Hello friends

How are you all today, I hope it’s good.

I am fine, I had my first round of chemotherapy on Thursday, it took over 7 hours because I had a slight reaction to the antibody (that’s the bit that locks onto the cancer cells and flags them up as targets for the other drugs), so it could only be dripped in very slowly. When the antibody was finally in it took just over an hour to get all the other stuff in. Because of this reaction it means all the other treatments (another 5) will also take that long.  The plus side of this is that I’ll have plenty of time for doodling and that’s never a bad thing 🙂

So far I’m feeling OK and I went in to work on Friday. I am still taking meds that I bought home with me, they finish in a few days time and I’ve been told I might feel a bit unwell for a few days after that, then I’ll start feeling better, then I see the doctor for a check up, and then on November 20th we start round 2.

I have a feeling that the problem with my ‘none’ treatment on Wednesday was due to staff shortages and overwork in the NHS so I’m not going to complain.  I think someone just overlooked my paperwork because they had too much to do.  I know it’s shocking that it could happen, and fortunately for me the consequences were only upset and inconvenience, but I don’t want anyone being ‘hung out to dry’ for that. They know it’s happened and it is being investigated but I don’t need to add anger to the equation.

I’ve had a really good day today, the weather has been warm and sunny and early this morning I received a package from my FB friend Iain ‘Oli’ Oliver containing this wonderful limited edition print by artist Jamie Reid:

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

I took the photo under artificial light so the colours are not true in the photo, but it’s bold, bright and uplifting and I LOVE it, thank you ‘Oli’ ❤ It brought me JOY 🙂

I had a slow and lazy morning pottering about – making sure I took meds at the right time, doing some washing, making a batch of smoothie, having breakfast, taking more meds and getting showered and dressed.  Then I wandered in to town and did some shopping and when I got home there was another package waiting for me.

 

This time it was a the book Dizzy Spells by the artist David Shillinglaw:

Dizzy Spells

I ordered the book about a week ago I think and I was so happy to receive it today.  I love David’s art, especially his wall murals, they are so colourful and cheerful.  There’s lots of symbolism and repetition in his art that just speaks to me at a deep level.

I had made tentative enquiries about getting him to come to Ryde, the town where I live, to paint a wall for our local arts festival next year.  We have a perfect wall that is in desperate need of a piece of wonderful artwork but I have to be honest I’m not really sure how I would get permission from the owners to have it painted (maybe just ask?) or raise the funds to pay for the project, but I’m sure it would have been worth the effort.  Then I got hit with the cancer so now everything is on hold until I recover in that regard. Never mind I can still go on enjoying his artwork even if it’s not here in my town and Dizzy Spells is a little gem of a book, full of black an white illustrations from David’s journals.  He is very clever with his use of words too, it makes me smile.  Thank you David 🙂

And that brings us neatly to my little offering of art at the top of the page, it’s a page in my journal inspired by ‘Teesha Moore’s Amazing 16 Page Journal‘ and the quote says: ‘Life is about finding the people who are your kind of crazy’.  And I reckon that Teesha Moore and her husband Tracy (both of whom I’ve met), Iain ‘Oli’ Oliver and David Shillinglaw (who I haven’t met) are definitely my kind of crazy people. 🙂

Take good care of yourselves and I’ll see you soon.

Big Love

AJ 🙂

 

 

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

A Woman of Strength

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Woman of Strength

Hello friends

I hope all is good with you.  I am doing fine although today has been a bit of a challenge.

The image above is from my Warrior Women Journal and it is to remind me that whatever difficulties I face will only make me stronger. If you click on the image you can see it bigger.

After my last post I received a letter from the hospital telling me I had an appointment at the chemo therapy unit for 11:00 am on Monday for an education session and then the first round of chemo today (Wednesday 29 October) starting at 09:30.  I was impressed that the appointment on Monday was half an hour after my appointment for the ECG so we’d only have to make one trip and cover two appointments.  We arrived at Cardiology in good time for the appointment (as we always do) and then sat and waited and waited (as we always do).  At 11:00 I still had not been called in for the scan so I sent T off to the Chemo unit to tell them I would be late. Eventually got called in and had the scan and then we made our way to Chemo where we met a lovely nurse who explained all about what was going to happen when the treatment started.  The first day was going to be a full day and I would be monitored constantly to make sure I was OK.  If the first day went OK then subsequent treatments should be quicker.  I was also shown the treatment room and introduced to the team.  I have to say that of all the (many) parts of the hospital I have now visited the people in the Chemo suite are the most friendly, professional and caring people I’ve met.  So although I am slightly anxious about the Chemo I am reassured that they will take good care of me.

Today my brother picked us up from home and dropped us off at the hospital for the 09:30 appointment.  We waited in the waiting room with other patients before being called in to the treatment room.  After a while I noticed that everyone else  was having their blood pressure and pulse taken and being prepared for, or already receiving, treatment, but I wasn’t.  This was strange because I knew I was going to be there all day and most of the other patients were there for shorter visits.  Eventually I was told that they were waiting for my paperwork to come through and as soon as it did they would start treatment.  Then at about 11:00 I was told that my consultant had forgotten to write the prescription for my Chemo, but it was being done right now and as soon as it was made up they would commence treatment.  Then at 11:30 I was told the consultant was not available to write the prescription as she was with another patient and therefore they would not be able to treat me today but could I come back tomorrow.  I think I said something that was fairly loud and had a few expletives in it when I was told this and T got really, really cross with them and had to leave very quickly. They were all very apologetic and the staff in the Chemo suite were as angry about it as we were.

The consultant who forgot to write my script is supposed to be in charge of my case but I am not feeling very inspired or confident now that something this important was not picked up. Surely my care cannot be down to just one person? I was told I was under a whole team of people so how come someone else didn’t check everything was in place for today? I am thinking of putting in an official complaint but no doubt there will be a lot of excuses and buck passing and we’ll never get to the bottom of it.  I’m really not happy with what happened today.  I was unable to contact my brother to get him to come back and collect us so we had to get a taxi home (and even that was a hassle and it took over an hour to arrive).

Sometimes I think my life story has been written by some surrealist comedy writer with a very warped sense humour!

OK that’s the rant over and now I’m going to be calm and start all over again tomorrow.  I need to stay positive because anger and anxiety won’t do me any good, it just saps my energy and puts me in a bad place.  What I really need now is calm and positive energy.

Stay healthy and happy everyone.

Big love

AJ xxx 🙂

 

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

Feeling loved and grateful :-)

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All is Good

Hello friends

I hope you are all keeping well, happy and enjoying life.

Ever since I got my cancer diagnosis on 17 September my husband, family and close friends have rallied around and given me masses of support and love.  Then when I decided to share the news here, on my Facebook page and in a couple of FB groups I belong to the messages of love, support and positive energy have been almost overwhelming.  I am so grateful to everyone who has taken the time to send me messages and I truly have been feeling the love.  THANK YOU ❤

Of course I am still in limbo as I don’t know what the results of all the tests will be and I am preparing myself for whatever the news is next week, but in the meantime I am feeling just great.  The horrible and disgusting mass in my mouth has (without any treatment) now shrunk and I have very little swelling under my teeth, I feel much more comfortable and I can now eat properly as long as the food is soft and does not require much chewing.  For the past two weeks I’ve been living on my superfood smoothies and soup, but today I get to eat a proper meal, yay!

Today has been a lovely day, sunny and warm and after a late start I spent an hour making up today’s batch of ‘slush’ which contains lots of fresh, organic vegetables and fruit, then I took a stroll down the town and looked in a few shops.  I even bought myself some comfy clothes that will be ideal for just hanging out at home.  I’m guessing there will be quite a lot of just hanging about at home if/when I start the chemo-therapy so why not have comfy clothes to do that in?  Then I popped in to see Mum and Dad, just to check they are doing OK.  I think Mum was the person hit hardest by my health news, but we are all trying to be positive and optimistic now.

Now I’m back home I’m waiting for T to serve up dinner.  It smells very appetizing. Mmmmmm 🙂

I am creating a new journal of warrior women – these are the troops I am rallying around me ready for the battle ahead.  Some will be fierce like the one I shared here and others will be more supportive and gentle, buy they are all going to help me get through this in the months ahead.  The image above is the second spread from this journal and is to remind me that whatever happens and no matter how hard things get everything is always as it should be.

Thank you again to everyone who has contacted me with lovely messages, it has really helped me get over the initial terror and shock of the cancer diagnosis and to ready myself for what lies ahead.

See you soon

Big love

AJ 🙂

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Learning the art of patience.

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Patience is not simply the ability to wait – it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.

Joyce Meyer

Cosmic mapsHello friends

I hope all is good with you.

Today didn’t go exactly as I had prepared for.  I had an appointment with a consultant at the hospital and I was expecting to be told the specifics of my cancer diagnosis and, more importantly for me, the treatment plan, but it didn’t work out like that.

The results of the CT scan I had on Friday were not available and the blood samples I had taken last week now have to be sent to another hospital for more rigorous testing. This means that my case will not be discussed at the Multi-Disciplinary team meeting tomorrow so no treatment plan will be drawn up this week.  IF everything can be sorted out by Friday of this week then I can be discussed as the MDT meeting next Tuesday so I now have an appointment to see the consultant again on Wednesday 7 October.

I have to be honest I felt a bit let down.  I do understand that the treatment has to be specific to the type and stage of my cancer and a few more days delay won’t affect the outcome, but I, of course, am anxious to get this show on the road and to start fighting…

Still there is good news – I am still feeling well and the tumour doesn’t feel quite so uncomfortable now.  On top of that over the past few days I have become an expert in making fruit and veg smoothies and in cooking up batches of soup.  This probably doesn’t sound a big deal to you but it’s a whole new world to me.

Anyway it’s all out of my hands so I am just going to have to be patient for a while longer.

The image above is from a little book I have been working on that I am calling The Little Book of Cosmic Maps.

See you soon

Big love

AJ 🙂

 

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Healing takes Courage

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Healing takes courage

 

Hello friends I hope you are all well and happy.

A few days ago my life got turned completely upside down when a very kind man with a concerned look on his face gently put a hand on my shoulder, looked into my eyes and said “I’m sorry but you have cancer”.   He said lots of other things too, he explained a lot and I understood every word he said but somehow I couldn’t take any of it in.  I just wasn’t expecting him to say that, after I heard the word  cancer my mind just went into freefall and I couldn’t even think what questions to ask.

Physically I feel fine apart from a problem in my mouth.  I thought I had an abscess under one of my teeth so I went to the dentist and was put on antibiotics. They didn’t work and the swelling got bigger.  All in all I took four lots of antibiotics and it just got bigger although strangely it just felt uncomfortable and not painful.  The antibiotics made me feel awful too.  Finally I was referred to the hospital and my first appointment was for last Wednesday, but I panicked a bit and by going to A&E and asking them to check it I managed to get the appointment brought forward by a week.  The doctor I saw was very reassuring he said “it looks quite alarming but I don’t think it’s cancer”.  He did take a biopsy, just to make sure, and told me to come back on Wednesday of this week when he hoped he would have the results.

So I had a relatively stress-free week, I thought I would need surgery to have the lump removed and I knew I would lose several teeth when that was done, but afterwards I’d be getting back to normal and eventually wearing dentures. I’d get used to that…

So this Wednesday when T and I went back to the hospital we were fairly upbeat and positive and I was hoping to find out when the surgery could be done.  Then this Exocet missile came out of no-where and everything changed.   I have large b cell lymphoma and that has caused the tumour in my mouth.  I had blood tests last Thursday and I am having a CT Scan next Friday because it’s likely I have the cancer in other parts of my body too and they need to know the full extent before deciding on the course of treatment. On the following Monday I am seeing someone in the haematology department who will tell me the score.  And so my journey begins…

We are both trying to be positive and to prepare ourselves for whatever happens next, but our emotions are all over the place at the moment.

So, if you could send some love and hugs and positive energy my way I’d be ever so grateful.

Big love AJ 🙂

 

PS the image above is from a new journal I have started.

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

The love you make

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The Love you Make

Hello friends

I hope all is well with you.

The Arts Festival is over now for another year and it was a great success, I really enjoyed it this year.  The artwork, created by a local artist and local youth groups was outstanding and the opening concert was very moving.  All week there was stuff going on.  A really great effort by the team.

Since then I finished a journal I started over a year ago and the image above is the back cover.  It started out it’s life as a child’s board book that I picked up in a charity shop for a few pence.  I peeled off the plastic covering from all the pages, gave them a coat of gesso, then coloured them, added collage and penwork.  The book had a pocket in the back cover but I sealed it up completely and just left the flap.

I’ve covered the outside of this journal with strips of clear packing tape so, hopefully, the collage elements won’t lift.  You can see where the tape overlaps and I realise that might bother a lot of people, but it doesn’t bother me, the tape gives the cover a high gloss finish that I like.

Here is what’s under the flap.

The secret under the flap

 

And here is the finished journal.  I started this journal over a year ago in Teesha Moore and Jane Davenport’s Mermaid Circus 1 online workshop, but I only did one page and the rest of it has been completed as part of Teesha’s Artstronauts Club.  There are only 12 pages in total including the front and back covers, but I usually have a number of different projects on the go at the same time so that’s why it takes so long to complete anything.  I always get a great sense of achievement when a journal is finished.

Finsiehd journal

Have a good week and I’ll see you soon (ish).

Big love

AJ 🙂

 

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Getting Away With It

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Getting Away With It

Hello friends

Thank you for your kind comments after my last post.  To be honest I am still feeling conflicted about the whole blog thing and I need to give it some thought.

In the meantime I have finished the front cover of my board book.  Just got the back cover to do now, but that could take a few weeks at current rate of progress.  I sealed the collage with clear packing tape, so it has a gloss finish.  You can see the lines where the tape overlaps, but I don’t mind that.

I hope you are keeping well and happy.  I’m really enjoying the sunshine and long hours of daylight at the moment.

See you soon

Big love

AJ 🙂

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Happy Birthday Blog!

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Mandala book coverHello friends!

It’s been a while so I hope all is good with you.

According to WordPress it’s 3 years ago today that I started this blog, so Happy Birthday Blog!  Unfortunately recently I’ve been neglecting things and here we are in the middle of June and this is my first post of the month.  What happened?  I used to post regularly, often 2 posts a week, but now there are long gaps.

Working on the kitchen refurb was the start of the upset of the routine and finding the time is always a problem, but it’s more than that.  I’ve been wondering what it’s all about? Why am I putting all this stuff out there? I always found time in the past so what’s the problem now? Also there is a bit of guilt, people come along here and leave lovely comments and I read them and have every intention of replying, visiting their blogs and being supportive – every intention but I’m not always successful with my intentions.  So does that make me a bad blogger? I’m not asking for or expecting anyone to give me any answers but these are just some of the thoughts I’ve been having and I’m still confused about it…

Anyway, I’ve still found time to be creative – I’ve been working on a couple of paintings, on several journals and I managed to finish my second Mandala book, the images above and below are the front and back cover of the book.

Take good care of yourselves, until the next time

Big love

AJ 🙂

Back cover

 

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

It’s finished!

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Global Psychedelic Soundsystem

 

Hello friends!

I hope you are all well and happy.

Here I am again after a long absence, I’ve just been busier then usual and had no time for blogging and little time for art in the past few weeks.

The page above is in my Amazing 16 page Journal. T asked me if I could make a flyer for his Global Psychedelic Soundsystem and here it is.  There will be another part to this page but it’s not finished yet.

However the kitchen is now finally finished – phew!  And as promised here are some before and photos:

Looking from dining room to end of kitchenBEFORE – Looking from dining room to end of kitchen – AFTER

Looking from back door to dining room - AFTER

BEFORE    –   Looking from back door to dining room    –    AFTER

It probably doesn’t look a lot different but there is more space to move about in now and much more work-surface and storage space.  The style is more in fitting with the age of the house AND, although T is quite scared of colour and always wants everything painted white, I did manage to get a teal coloured wall and multi-coloured tiles, so it looks much brighter now.

The pink sign above the arch to the dining room says ‘MIND YOUR HEAD’ as it is lower than normal door height.  It’s fine for T and Me as we are both short and can walk through without ducking, but we do have some taller friends and we don’t want anyone knocking themselves out when they visit.

This weekend has been busy Ryde Social Heritage Group hosted two Open Days at Ryde Cemetery, where we had exhibitions, guided walks and talks and a ‘Meet the Residents’ event.  It all looked fantastic and was a great success, fortunately the sun shone on both days and we had lots of visitors.  It took a lot of hard work by the team to get it all together – researching, writing up display sheets, collecting items to display and sorting out costumes, but it was definitely worthwhile.  Today is a bank holiday in the UK so I’ve just been having a quiet day resting, the weather has been wet and miserable today but that’s OK as I was still in my PJs up until 3pm.

That’s all for now folks, I have a stack of ironing to do before work tomorrow and various other bits to sort out.

Have a great week and hopefully I’ll be back soon.

Big love

AJ 🙂

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 

 

 

Universal Force

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Universal Force

Hello friends!

Another Sunday and that’s another week flown by!  Everything here is fine. T is recovering well but his doctor is insisting he takes another week off work, just to be on the safe side.

Tomorrow is a Bank Holiday anyway so we are both off work and we will probably try to get a bit more of the tiling done.  In a day it’s unlikely that we will finish it but it will be good to move it on even if it’s only a little bit.

I had a busy week, I had to go to a team meeting on Monday which took up all day and the rest of the week was spent catching up.

On Thursday I began to feel unwell at work and when I woke up on Friday I had a sore throat and aches all over my body.  I phoned in sick and spent the whole day in my PJs and most of the time in bed although I did get up several times for short periods.  I felt pretty rough all day though which was a bit worrying as on Saturday I had to make an early start and, with my friend, take our exhibition boards to a one day conference of the IW Family History Society.

Fortunately I did feel better when I woke up on Saturday and I dosed myself up with medicine before I left home at 07:30.  We had a good but tiring day.  Our exhibit was one of many local history displays and it was good to meet up with old friends and chat and meet new people.  Some people gave us information and others we were able to help. There were a number of talks throughout the day at the conference but sadly we didn’t get to hear them as we were ‘on duty’.  We were both really tired when we finally got home at about 7pm.

Today I’m feeling better again so I suppose I only had what is known as a ’24hr bug’, phew!

The page above is in my 16-page journal, I like this page, it’s zingy and fun!

A good friend of ours is currently in Nepal at Boudhanath Stupa, it’s a very wonderful and powerful place.  T and I went there way back in the 1970s. It’s pretty special to know that a good friend is there right now.

Boudhanath Stupa, Nepal

Public Domain Image of Boudhanath Stupa.

Our friend is doing 108 circuits of this magical place and performing a healing ceremony at a given time tomorrow.  All I have to do is be in a quiet place, relax and focus on my heart for 15 minutes.  I know, this could sound really crazy, but “There is force in the universe, which, if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results”, so said Mr Gandhi. 🙂

Have a great week.

Big love

AJ 🙂

 

© Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal, 2014 unless otherwise stated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Janette Gregson and ajsartjournal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.