I am definitely starting to enjoy painting and wanted to try something else for my next work. How about Abstract? Like I know what I am doing!

I need to be honest. I mention acceptance quite a lot, but am I good at it? No, I am pretty crap actually. People tell me it is resilience but it is not. It is stubborn pig-headedness. It can be silly, stupid. Until there is no choice but to accept as otherwise the world starts to close off. A case in point?

The next in a set of occasional posts in a series ‘For the Love Of…’ Basically I will just write about something I like a lot. Nothing more than that! This one will cover films. Or movies. Whatever you want. The first trip to the cinema was... just... magical! I still remember it. Six years old, Yeovil Cinema. A Disney film although, back then, a Disney film meant a cartoon for kids and not the fifteenth spin-off from Star Wars. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. From 1937. I have not seen that film since.

I quite enjoy this blogging thing! It is good to put what I do into words and communicate the excitement of the new whilst conveying the challenges of daily life with MS. There is a problem, though. Nothing major, just something to deal with. It hit me when going back through the posts on the blog, especially when I looked back at posts from 2019.

I actually wrote this a few weeks ago and left it. I then found it whilst on holiday which is certainly not a period of darkness! But rereading it reminded me of where all this came from and also how difficult it can be. So will share it. Something that many people with (and without) chronic illness need to deal with.

If only a picture could smell. The last day of holiday. Normandy. Standing outside between rain showers in a fleeting moment of sunshine. The smell hits you and it is just so perfect, redolent of the summer that has gone. Lavender. The last blossoms, almost drying on the stem. Perhaps that drying accentuates the smell? I doubt it but it would be nice to think so. The last smell of holiday as September ushers in the start of autumn. The Picture This was just taken from the position of a small bench that we have sat on when the sun has been shining although it was too wet this time due to the recent shower.

Familiarity can be comforting, gives you peace of mind. So this year we are back in Normandy, a place we have been to twice before in the same house. I have written of it before, fearing it would be overrun by tourists. Well, where we are staying near Saint-Clément-Rancoudray is reassuringly quiet. Of course, I reflect on what has changed in those three visits over seven years and that can be confrontational.

Life can feel like it is passing by but sometimes it is nice to just capture a moment and reflect on it. A moment in the kitchen, for example. The Kitchen: My Retreat It feels like a lifetime ago when I started this blog. It was planned to centre on food and wine. That changed, of course, but is part of the reason for the strange title of the homepage. Still, cooking for me is very important. Like so many things it has been changed a little by, you guessed it, MS!

I have been writing about that big day. August 23rd, 2013. The day that I got the preliminary diagnosis for Multiple Sclerosis. Not an easy day. I found myself reflecting on it at various points over the last couple of days which is natural, even in the wake of some truly amazing news. A day that sticks in the memory. Foreboding I remember feeling bad that morning. Anxious. There had been two weeks of tests following an urgent referral from my doctor. It turned out that he had been worried I had had a stroke but let's leave that.

I was not going to say anything more about today, 23rd August 2025. The twelfth anniversary of my (initial) diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis. But it really has turned out to be a Celebration Day! I will explain why, hopefully showing why standing still can be positive progress. Results Day I had mentioned in my previous post that I was due an MRI to review the status of lesions and understand where…

August 23rd 2013. A date that sticks in the mind. The date that the results of various tests came in and led to an initial diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. It took another year to confirm the form. All of this has been covered before, though. What is important now, after twelve years, is to look at where I am and where I want to be.

It is a real joy to write a post that is just about riding a bike. Yes, there were challenges that were caused by my condition. Shall I tell you about them? No, not this time. This is just a really happy post by someone who forgot just how much he loved pure cycling. A little bit of help, a little e-doping.

The physical challenges of Multiple Sclerosis are noticeable enough but the cognitive issues are difficult to deal with and explain because they are invisible. Everyone can see a limp or a tremble but no one can see that your brain scrambled and thoughts fragmented. Writing these posts takes far longer than it used to. I still enjoy it, though, and it is a good exercise to keep the mind agile. Like so many things in MS, stress makes it worse. Cue the remark 'just avoid stress'. Well, yes, but avoid normal life?

I used to spend a lot of time in galleries. It was nothing exceptional to go and spend a full day just wandering around a gallery and taking in the images, interpreting them in my own way. When I first moved to the Netherlands, back in 1998, I had a museumjaarkaart. Now digital but back then attached to my discount card from Dutch Railways.

The first of a set of occasional posts in a series 'For the Love Of...' Basically I will just write about something I like a lot. Nothing more than that! This one will cover cycling. Today. Nine years ago today. That's when my real love of cycling began. June tenth, 2016. Mont Ventoux from Bedoin. Not the longest cycle ride I have done but the second highest and the first time I had climbed a mountain by bike. A sponsored ride, part of Klimmen tegen MS. Climb Against MS.

May 30th was World MS Day. While not exactly a cause for celebration, it's a meaningful day for raising awareness. To be honest, though, most of the coverage I've seen has been on websites and blogs for people who already have Multiple Sclerosis and they're pretty aware of MS, I think! With so many awareness days for various illnesses, conditions and interest groups it's not surprising that for many World MS Day passes unnoticed.

I mention Ocrevus quite a lot in this blog. That's understandable. It's the first treatment I have ever received for Multiple Sclerosis and, if it does what it should and slow lesion growth, that will be something! A real win! Something to celebrate! What of the process itself though? Well, actually, it is a little slow. For lack of a better term.

I wrote this on a day when I could not do much. A day of nothing. The kind of days that are part of conditions such as MS but seldom get mentioned much because they are not inspirational. Or interesting for that matter. Actually, that particular day was not quite as bad as they have been. The limbs were tired but my mind felt very clear so I could write a little around how I felt that day, the fears, the frustration, sometimes even the acceptance.

It has been difficult to write recently. There are actually some pretty nice reasons for that although one is not that nice. Dealing with the constant change through Multiple Sclerosis. Changes in my mind, my body, my nervous system. Well, I have talked enough about accepting this. Now I finally am. And with acceptance comes openness to old, much loved pastimes as well as new hobbies and new ways with familiar pastimes.

Walking has always been a favourite pastime. Before I took up cycling it helped me loose a little weight and attain a fairly good level of condition. More importantly I enjoyed it, a relaxing way clear the mind and set life in perspective whilst taking a long, steady walk. The highlight was back in 2011, hiking through the Glaskogen reserve in Sweden for a week with a close friend, a large backpack and two half bottles of whisky to aid sleeping in outdoor shelters.

I wrote this, oddly enough, for a social site at work. The request was to write about somewhere very important to me and I chose Paradiso, a music venue in Amsterdam, a converted church and a special place for me. Strangely enough, when I wrote this piece, I was doubting if I would ever go again even as I wrote about Paradiso being a constant in my life.

I am a member of various Multiple Sclerosis associations, some of which have on-line forums where people with MS post about their experiences. It certainly brings you back to earth. As a new member of one of these forums I get contacted by others, interested in background and perspective. I am also interested to hear theirs and how they deal with various symptoms.

I used to read voraciously. From the age of twelve or so there was always a book on the go. Always a slow reader but consistent. Kept going. The reward of this was a wider perspective, making the world a slightly larger place. Then, in my thirties, I started reading less novels. Not sure why. It is time to pick it up again.

The other day, I stumbled across some photographs of myself taken in my teenage years. Think I was around sixteen, seventeen or so? These visual relics brought back some vivid memories of a time when the mind and body are going through huge changes, something everyone experiences. It struck me, though. Writing about my journey with Multiple Sclerosis and its impact now.