Tonsillitis update

Due to my timely use of antibiotics my tonsils this morning have begun to shrink back to their normal size. This is especially useful as the smell of Mim's cooking is pervading the whole house- she is baking cookies.

It is sunny again today, a very odd situation for Cardiff where a nice day is one where it hasn't rained for a few hours.

The dentists are currently out of the house as they are sitting their last written exam this morning. This should mean that the house returns to it's happy stress-free self and the neighbours are no longer disturbed by the odd noises that Lou has been making.

Mim and I have a seminar this afternoon on science fiction. I dislike science fiction, in fact I would rather stab myself in the eye with a fork than sit down to read or watch anything in the sci-fi genre (except Hitchhiker's Guide which is a parody) oh well, we'll see what happens this afternoon... maybe I'll just skive it.

I must go and get dressed.

Fran

House communication

We enjoyed house bond-age over your recent blog Hannah, thank you! And we love you!

We have together decided it is acceptable for Wittters to stay.

We have also probably/maybe found a new housemate. Not sure you're going to be included in the final decision! Her name is Sarah, hope this explains recent email-age.

Right well, back to the irrevision I say!

We love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Vixen, Louise-ige, Franny and stinker)

Here endeth house communication via blog

Smelliness

Well the joys of internet. I can't access my email account, therefore literally my only means of communication is this blog!! (genius idea)
Currently am at Whitney's house (american girl in Bucharest who i met on English camp last summer - who may be temporarily joining the heathfield house if anyone ever responds to the request and says ok!!)
We decided to give up on the hand-washing and have brought two rucksacks full of smelly clothes to Whitney's house to use her washing machine! This has the extra bonus of free dinner! Hurrah-yet another night i don't have to cook!
(Just to note that i logged on to blog just now to show zoezoe and whitney and the only two pictures that appeared were the two of me!! Bizarre!)

Zoezoe and I were most distressed this morning, we've moved wards this week (following our students "friends" on their rotation) and as we left with the students at 11am as per usual to our horror the doctor man said to zoezoe and i "come back in half an hour when i've had a chance to do some work" !!!!!!!!!!! Nightmare. Gone was our leisurely wander home and our meander round carrefour and any chance of afternoon nap-age! We didn't escape until 13h20!! And that was cos we ran away rather than because we were told to!!
Not sure what we'll do if this carries on! I'm a slacker I don't do placement!
The new doctor man stands way to close to us when he is talking...zoezoe and i were backing further and further away until we were trapped by the wall and the smelly doctor! Our brains were frazzled he spoke way to much about medicine type things!! Ugh!!

On a happier note i bought even more expensive new batteries and my camera appears to have come back to life!! Phew!!

We were also strong girls today and carried 20litres of water back from carrefour!!

OOOhhh and i had a letter today and zoezoe didn't!! Heeheee

Keep up the blogging you crazy chickens
Love you
Hannah
xx
(ps is it me or is the blog turning into the house msn/email/communication system? We could start blogging all house decisions and vote via the blog, our money and bills owed could be posted on here on a name and shame basis?? the possibilities are endless)

Sunday

Ah well, another Sunday nearly over. I sense in general the day has been fully appreciated by all in the Heathfeld house. The Lord understands our need for rest and relaxation!

imps

Impish activities seem to be occuring on this blog. Last night an important blog regarding the meadow was posted but today it is no where to be seen.

To keep everyone up to date:
The before shot of Vic and Lou playing in the grass








Stinker doing the hard work








The final result

Tonsillitis

Tonsillitis is defined in the Oxford concise medical dictionary as

"inflammation of the tonsils due to bacterial or viral infection, causing a sore throat, fever, and difficulty swallowing."

Yes, I have again aquired this wonderful illness. My tonsils are swollen and the crypts on them are full of pus, yum yum. Luckily I have a fairly substantial collection of prescription only meds squirrelled away including some erythromicin now being put to good use.

Since I went away on Friday the lawn has been cut and the garden looks remarkably different. Everyone appears to have survived the weekend, it was all quite calm when I returned this afternoon.

I would write something more interesting but I'm quite ill. I can't just lie in bed because it's too hot and I can't sleep, last night I think I was hallucinating most of the night due to the fever.

Fran

Dracula, Dorothea, Lunch and Thunderstorms

As this seems to be the new method of house communication i shall re-tell the story of our weekend adventures, though in a far less interesting manner than other posts (i will never be an english student, nor will i ever understand the words that frannie uses!) and also due to apparent death of my new camera (which even new batteries can't revive) there will be no photos (not that i'd be able to work out how to get photos on the page anyway!)

So Zoezoe and i went to Sighisoara - which is the birth place of Dracula (he lived there in a house for the first 3yrs of his life apparently) (if you type in sighisoara to google pictures you get some pretty pictures). On the train journey i was sat next to a Pastor guy from Sighisoara who knew some people who rented accomodation there - so that was our roof for the night sorted.
Pastor guy had his daughter with him. She told me a story:

"There was a man walking in the town and somebody stole his trousers. The man went to the policeman and the police man found the theif and got the trousers back. That was a story from the mind of Dorothea" Dorothea is six. We also made dog sounds and she ate my fingers (Romanian dogs go "ham ham")

Oooh we also had a cultured moment when we went to listen to an organ concert in the church!

OOOOOhhhhhhh very exciting we found a cafe in Sighisoara which served Tetley's tea!! (they still only had UHT milk so it wasn't quite perfect) Just for information's sake - we've already made our way through more than half out tea-bag supply! Tricky!

Saturday we went to Sibiu, which is cultural capital of Europe for 2007, but it currently resembles a building site! We spent a morning there which mostly involved eating chocolate pancakes and finding caffeine and jumping over builders!
On the train home the woman sat next to me informed me that she thought zoezoe and i looked like we were sixteen!!! I was grossly offended by this comment (we all know i aspire to be about 35!) Zoezoe however took this as a compliment!

One of the CU staff workers here (who i know from last years english camp) fed zoezoe and I lunch today! It was fully yummy, there was lots and lots of food (and meat - to further boost my iron levels - which i am now paranoid about following recent measures of certain housemates Haemoglobin levels!)

Currently we are on our third consecuitive day of thunderstorms, all exciting - i'm getting to wear jeans and jumpers for the first time in a while!!

More random facts from the world of vodaphone:
We spend 450days playing sport in our lives (this one i definitely will never surpass - nor do i have any desire to!)

Aiming to start our project this week! Hmm we'll see how that goes.

The Hannah Lady (who is missing the Heathfield girls lots)

Redemption

All week Victoria has been attempting to 'redeem The Beast' (the affectionate name given to her hair which is a being in itself). This has involved placing cheap hair products and a meticulous twisting technique. Everyday this has been sufficient for Victoria to 'keep up appearances'. However day by day it was getting more and more greasy.

Today the Beast showed its true colours and the pong was too much for Victoria to cope with. She realised it didn't need a 'make over' but a wash!

The Beast was in bondage- trapped in the grime, grease and cheap hair products and it needed to be set free to reach its full potential. Victoria needed to spend the time and money washing it. And you'll be pleased to know she did!

Redemption = paying the price to set a slave free

Today, this house has witnessed redemption on a small scale.

a reflective Lou

Oops

Doughnut count now up to 6.

Vix.

The Shrub

Due to impish activities which lead to the disappearance of The Shrub's (aka Vic's) photo collection she has taken to the act of theft to place offensive images of The Fobbit onto this blog. Apologies given.

The Shrub is an apt name for Miss Victoria Louise who enjoys spending most of her time in shrub like clothing (otherwise known as 'night wear'). Her beautiful pink poker dot baggy trouser-like apparel accompanied with green 'T shirt' enable her to blend in well with our meadow (exciting news of which will come later in the day).

Her art of irrevision seems to know no bounds and seems to be resulting in mass hysteria. A tricky situation for a Fobbit-like person to resolve. Another disaster struck this afternoon which involved the consumption of 5 doughnuts. Hannah Lady (aka Fatty) should be proud.

For those concerned, prayers for Stinker have so far been answered: she has escaped the house of bond-idge to spend time with 'friends' in the park.

(Lou)

The Fobbit

I think the challenge of living with a Fobbit can be appreciated!


Vix.

A word from stinker

Fearing further wrath from my housemates regarding my lack of contribution to the blog, I thought it was about time I wrote a word or two!

Well, today has been a very beautiful, sunny day. I am also being an honourary English student with Fran and feel I have adapted quite well to the life of such. This afternoon some of us had a picnic in bute park (we ate some awesome tuna, spring onion and lettuce-filled baguettes) before heading down to have a look round Cardiff Castle.

This evening I went to a CMF (Christian Medical Fellowship) event and was fed some yummy food. Unfortunately, unlike Beth I didn't talk to any fitties...
With Fran now gone for the weekend, and Hannah away, I have once more been left with the dental students. I fear for my sanity, and would ask for your prayers through this difficult time.

Mim

The Fobbit

The Fobbit momentarily appeared at half past eleven this morning in a fit of desperation. The Heathfield Girls were distressed at the presence especially the noises which resonanted throughout the house. Currently all has returned to normal. (Lou)

Life as an arts student

As the days grow ever longer the realisation of how different the lives of 'normal' students are from our own grows ever clearer. We had 6 hours of seminars this week (par for the course for some degrees) and got home to find that we still had enough energy to do something productive and didn't smell of the hospital (ill people, MRSA and stale wee). Being allowed to organise your own life and do work when you want has come as a bit of a shock.

Yesterday evening Jeffers, Beth and I went to a 1920s party (just for your information, people with curves ie me don't look all that good in 1920s style things) and we didn't have to worry about being tired on placement or being up before the dawn chorus. For lunch today (on a weekday no less) Mim, Beth, Jonesy, Katie G, Bryoney and I are going to the park for a picnic and then to look round the castle. A trip round the castle has been something everyone has been meaning to do since 1st year but has never had time for.

For any arts students out there saying "yes we do have 6 hours contact time a week but we do have to do lots of reading so it's not all fun and games" er, it really is, a book can be read in the park, in the evening on the sofa, at a time that suits you. Consultants has this really bizarre habit of wanting you in on time for 8am ward rounds and then want you to see patients during the day.

I'm actually in quite a good mood this morning, I sat down to write about our planned outing and instead have written a diatribe against the world, the medical school and arts students. Sorry about that.

I'm going away all weekend again leaving Mim in the house with two very stressed dental students; will they survive? Will the imp return from his holidays with Vix's photos? Will someone be found to do my creche duty on Sunday? Will I find Amport House safely? Why is it exactly that it takes 2 years to return coursework marks yet intermediate MB exam results can be turned round in less than a week? The answers my friends are blowing in the wind, the answers are blowing in the wind.

Fran (in case you hadn't worked that out earlier)

'Irrevision'

What's 'irrevision' you may be asking yourselves. Well here I am again to 'educate' you. You see 'irrevision' is quite like 'revision', but only the oposite. 'Isn't that procrastination?' I hear you cry. And 'NO!' comes the reply right back at you. You see 'procrastination' has some level of usefulness or constructivness to it. An example of 'procrastination' may be to hoover ones bedroom (unlikely in my case), or to order ones photos (albeit prior to losing the whole lot). Even staring out of ones bedroom window and planning ones evening meal would be counted as 'procrastination' after all any level of planning would infact be rather constructive. 'Irrevision' however is entirely different as it has no level of functionality at all. The end point of all 'irrevision' is looking back to discover you have no idea at all what you've been doing, or more likely you realise you have been creating yet more work for yourself.

I will concede however, in light of the imp stealing the photo's, whether or not the previous ordering is considered irrevision is a debatable issue...

Victoria.

We love being fatties! Amen sisters?!

Lou.

Technological difficulties

As wise and brilliant as the house are, we are not what is known as "good with technology." The television broke a few days ago (the sky bit, which we have been using as a freeview box for the last year) and so we can only watch dvds and videos. The other three seemed to think that when I returned to the house following a brief sojourn at home I would be able to fix it but alas, it is beyond my mediocre skills. These skills do mainly consist of making sure all the plugs are turned on and giving it a bash.

This could easily turn into a naming-and-shaming session but it is unnecessary at present. We do aim to have photos on this blog but suffered a severe setback earlier. The imp living inside Vix's laptop decided to do a runner taking with him all her photos. The laptop is now the computor version of the Marie-Celeste.

I have decided to write my ssc essay on war, or writing done by soldiers and officers during or after which relates to it... Sassoon's poems, Biggles, Catch-22, Full Metal Jacket, possibly Smiley's People, Jarhead and recent articles on Telic. Do I have to get copyright things for some of these? Yes, I have metamorphosed into an english student.

Fran.

Romania-land

Ooooh how exciting a blog!!!
Thought I'd add my two-penneth from Romania-land.
Not sure i'm as gifted with the ability to express myself through the medium of words as some of my housemates (who appear to have transformed into another species (namely the english student) since i've left - nightmare! no offense to any english student who may read this)

Nothing much has happened in Romania-land today, zoezoe and i hung around on the ward for 2hrs and were ignored by pretty much everyone.
Zoezoe let me go to the big place called Carrefour today, comedy moment when i unloaded my basket full of mainly snack items (chocolate, nuts, more chocolate, croissants - what does zoezoe expect if she lets me loose alone!) - the lady infront of me, who was buying 10 slimming bars, celery, radishes, peppers, tomatoes etc, looked at my calorific pile of food in disgust!! I had to smile!!
Then we came home and napped for several hours and watched french open tennis!(Yay!) We are trying to store up energy for our big adventure to dracula land tommorrow! Also the mosquitos have kindly been adding to my bite collection - 11 more since yesterday!

Vodaphone's advertising campaign in Romania goes like this big posters everywhere saying:

You live for 26,680 days and spend only....
....735 days on holiday
....83 days in the park
....180 days kissing
Traisesti fiecare clipa (Live every moment)

Obviously i have mentioned this for the last "fact"on this list....
180days of kissing equals 180x24=4320hrsx60=259200minutes
I can't decide if thats a lot or not enough? whatever - i definitely haven't exceded this figure yet!!
Hmmm...trust me to bring this up!
How do you think they work these figures out anyways??
Tricky!
Though I reckon i've probably exceeded my holiday allowance already - doubly tricky!

Hannah.

Our first post

Well... here we are. Lou, Mim and I decided on the spur of the moment over dinner (lots and lots of homemade garlic bread in my case) that we should set up a blog so that people who we know (and might want to know) can see what we're doing even if they are in Romania or somewhere we can't pronounce.

I've been left to write something so that it is started, the others are at bible study (Vix, she doesn't know that this exists yet,) or home group (Lou) or on their way out to CU late as ever (Mim.) Our last housemate is far away in Romania - Bucharest http://www.virtourist.com/europe/bucharest/ is the capital and they have birdflu- well, neither Hannah our housemate or ZoeZoe who is with her have actually contracted it yet.

Seeing as Mim and I are currently on a dossy SSC where we talk about medicine and anything possibly related to literature albeit very tenuously I thought I should set the scene and describe the characters who will appear in this blog.

If one follows the conventional roman alphabet the first person to talk about is me (Fran) but I'll leave me 'til last... "the first shall be last and the last shall be first" and start with:

Victoria: For the last 3 years Vickie has been a dental student but having recently reached an epiphany she is graduating at the end of this acedemic year with a BSc. Next year she is going to work abroad before returning soon to do a masters in administration of preventative public health for developing countries ( I think there shoud be some capitals and punctuation in that sentence somewhere.) The second child of 5 Vix is the daughter of a minister called Philip, strangely enough I have an uncle called Philip who is also a minister. Her parents have recently moved churches and now live in Bristol instead of Weston; the ladies at their new church are amazing cooks and very hospitable- one gave us a cake. This year Vickie has successfully introduced (or reintroduced or encouraged) eating organic vegetables, composting, fairtrade products, recycling and eating lots of cake.

Miriam stinker: Mim is from mid Wales and is the oldest of 4 (a trend is slowly developing.) She currently studies medicine and has decided to write her ssc essay on embyros and stem cell stuff. She goes to Glenwood Church http://www.glenwoodchurch.org/ and drives a red volkswagon which was bashed by a nasty bus driver a while back. Moral of the story: you have to be mad, stupid or very brave to venture out into Cardiff either in a car or on a bike. Normally regarded as the quietest member of the house Mim has recently been amusing us all with her haemoglobin level (6.9 g/dl) for non-medics the normal is at least 12, anything under 8 and a blood transfusion is acceptable. Mim lives very close to her grandparents, her granny has very bad rheumatoid arthritis but enjoys (according to Mim) baking lots of lovely cakes for us and sending them down with anyone travelling this way.

Louise (the fobbit): Lou is another dental student working out her penance in the hospital of doom. The 4th child of 5...hmm...christians? she comes from London innit and is hopefully going to SE Asia at christmas. When not really stressed and cramming for exams she sorts out the garden and makes it beautiful. At the bottom end is the vegetable plot containing radishes, peas, tomatoes and strawberries, then we have what can only be described as a summer meadow or wildlife section, we need to borrow a lawnmower from Jeffers but haven't yet. At the end nearest the house we have a rockery and several flower beds, a pot of herbs and a patio for our BBQ.

Hannah: Hannah lady is currently in Romania on an Erasmus trip fending off all the men who seem to follow her around. She is a medical student and comes from what the rest of us lovingly descibe as half a family- she has one brother. Hannah likes cake and seeing her friends and dislikes going into hospital on placement. Her main activity this year has therefore been skiving, she has now perfected this to a fine art. This summer Hannah is going to Malawi when she gets back from Romania and so she'll be ridiculously tanned by the time she returns to the house. Hannah and Louise both go to Highfields church http://www.highfieldschurch.org.uk/ (the one that looks like a leisure centre as opposed to Woody which is a Spar.)

Fran (me): I'm not really sure what to write as I feel that I cannot be quite as objective about myself as I have been about other people. I am the third medical student of the house, forming the narrow majority (not that I'm particularly narrow) and the oldest of 4 bringing the sibling count up to a very respectable 15. My family live near Portsmouth though I was born in Bangor http://www.northwalesattractions.co.uk/Towns/Bangor/Bangor.html (North Wales, not Ireland) and I went horseriding on Monday and Salsa dancing yesterday. The two activities are not normal for me but they were quite fun. I normally help at Rainbows on Wednesday but it's halfterm so I'm alone in the house. Vickie and I go to WoodyBap (http://www.woodybap.org.uk/), currently the world record holder for longest service time but the interregnum should hopefully end soon.

There are other characters who may well appear, Jeffers already has (she owns a lawnmower) as has Zoezoe in Romania. I'll leave further descriptions to my esteemed housemates.

xx