Help my friend Graeme raise funds for Alzheimer Scotland

Have a look at this video in which the Duchess of Hamilton tells of her husband's distressing experiences in hospital which have led her to spearhead a 3 year fundraising campaign to provide hospital staff with greater awareness of the needs of patients with dementia and to provide specialist nurses.  Like they say, often the things that are needed aren't rocket science, but if people don't understand the condition, basic needs of Dementia sufferers in hospital can be left unmet, or preventable medical intervention becomes necessary.

That's just one aspect of the work of Alzheimer Scotland. Dementia is really hard for both sufferers and those who care for them to live with. I don't have any direct experience myself, but a fair few of my friends have, and in fact two of them lost their dads last October to the condition.  Alzheimer Scotland can support people through the minefield of legal, emotional, financial and day to day care issues and their support is vital.

My friend Graeme Littlejohn, who works for George Lyon MEP, is one of those who lost their dads last October. Graeme is a brave, active, outdoors type who does things with a surfboard that I could only have nightmares about. He was one of the crazy souls who undertook the Team Hopeless-Ness venture in 2008  for Alzheimer Scotland. In three weeks' time he's doing a half marathon in Alloa and hopes to raise £500 - although with the generosity of people in the last 24 hours, which has almost seen him get half way to that, I hope that he'll be able to raise that target. In fact, I think it would be good if he could beat the £1200 the Team Hopeless-Ness caper netted. There is a little widget just on the right hand side of my page and if you can see your way to adding to his total, you can do with just one little click.

The Morning After...........and a New Year's Day Quiz.

I have accepted the fact that I'm not going to get back to sleep this morning, so have come downstairs and made the first of many cups of Earl Grey I shall drink in 2011. That's a prediction that's bound to come true.

I couldn't believe that I was awake at 8:17 when I didn't get to sleep till 4. It doesn't seem fair somehow. Mind you, I'm not going to complain too much because the Sinusitis I had yesterday responded to the drugs and seems to have shuffled off with its tail between its legs and because last night was absolutely brilliant.

We went round to our friends Martin and Susan's house. There were 17 of us in total, 9 kids and 8 adults. I did slightly feel as if I'd landed in some sort of surreal alternate universe, because it's not often you see our friend Stevie with a cup of tea at a party. Unfortunately, though, he's working today and as I sit in my nice warm kitchen typing, he'll be up a mobile phone mast somewhere in the cold and rain. So if you are using your mobile phone today, it might well be because of him that it works.

We had a real laugh, including a lengthy and very funny game of charades. We also discovered the joys of putting wild hibiscus flowers in our champagne (or Elderflower Fizz in my case). I felt very brave as it looked absolutely disgusting when it first went in - a bit like an evil looking insect. However, it gave a very pretty pink colour to the bubbly and was delicious to eat.

It was just a really, happy, relaxed time and I'm really grateful to Susan and Martin for having us, feeding us such delicious food and drink - and for all the clearing up they are doubtless going to have to do today.

One thing we didn't get round to doing was the Quiz. When we went to Pippa's earlier in the week, Susan had asked us to make up 10 questions each to have in a competitive quiz, but we never got round to using them. It's a shame to let that effort go to waste, though, so you can try it instead. You are absolutely not allowed to use the internet or anything else at all to research your answers. You have to guess the answers and put them in the comments. There is also no prize, but you might learn something you didn't know already - and which will be of absolutely no use to you in the future. The person who gets most answers right, or comes closest, will get an honourable mention though.

So, if you are wanting a little gentle mental exercise, here goes:

How many moons does Saturn have?

How many medals did Great Britain win at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010?

Name all the Von Trapp children in the film The Sound of Music

How many followers does Stephen Fry have on Twitter (as at 13:55 on 31st December 2010)

Coronation Street and EastEnders both had major anniversaries in 2010. On 2 January 2011, the Archers celebrates a major milestone.   Add together the number of years each programme has been going.  What number do you get?

According to the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List, how much is Simon Cowell worth?

What is the length of mainland Scotland’s coastline in miles according to the British Cartographic Society?

Where will the first F1 Grand Prix of 2011 be held?

What number, according to a famous science fiction book, represents the meaning of life?

How many balls were used at Wimbledon this year?

Have fun!

Icy Dangers - frozen lakes are not for walking on

As the temperatures plummet again, and it looks like we're in for another long spell of Arctic blasts, I thought it might be an idea to let you see a status update from a friend on Facebook which filled both her and I with absolute horror.

Her husband, very cute puppy dog, and youngest daughter went for a walk round the reservoir near our home during the last cold snap. A few nights of -14 had made sure that the reservoir had frozen over, but the temperature was starting to rise.  What they saw scared them as my friend wrote:

OMG!! (Husband) and (Gorgeous youngest daughter) just back from walking  (cutest and most spoiled puppy dog ever) around the frozen reservoir and can you believe there are kids footprints where they have walked across it and even made a snow angel......WTF!!!!!!!

Thankfully that didn't end in tragedy, but the thought of what could have happened, the ice breaking and the children drowning, made shivers run down my spine. I'm all for teaching children to cope with hazards, but they also have to know that there are some things you just don't do. They can't judge how thick the ice is, or whether it's likely to have become thinner as it thaws. It's not worth it just to make a snow angel.

Please, if your kids are likely to be playing near water which will have frozen over, please warn them within an inch of their lives not to walk on it. It's not just me saying that. Much as it pains me to link to a story that started off life in the Daily Fail twice in one week, look at what the British Waterways Board are saying:

 'We urge visitors to Scotland's canals, including the Caledonian Canal, not to walk on frozen water under any circumstances, no matter how tempting this may be.' 

And Nottinghamshire Police issued a warning after finding 3 people in the middle of a frozen lake:

“The recent freezing temperatures have covered numerous lakes, ponds and streams with a layer of ice.

“No matter how safe this appears, youngsters or adults should never venture out onto the ice, which can crack quickly and without warning. 

“If a child falls through into the cold water they can become trapped under the ice and unable to break through to the air.”

Please be careful - kids love to play in the snow, but there are limits.

The Liberal Democrat Voice transcription hell Roll of Honour

I am sure everyone would agree that the Liberal Democrat Voice team did a marvellous job of covering Conference. In just 5 days, their small but perfectly formed team popped out 44 posts on their Conference tag alone. It's a phenomenal amount of work when you consider that they were involved in organising 4 Fringe events as well. I keep telling people that it's Liberal Democrat Voice that should be their first port of call when they read a headline in the media that they don't like because that's where the truth tends to be.

In fact, it's the LDV team, as well as the wider blogosphere, that's playing an increasingly important role in getting the Liberal Democrat message out there.

Anyway, on Sunday afternoon, I got an e-mail from co-editor Alex Foster, who had just recorded Nick Clegg's Q & A session and was looking for volunteers to help transcribe it.  I was on a family break in Dundee with only an iPhone, having been banned from taking any other technology with me.  However, I was able to co-ordinate a wonderful band of volunteers who went at least to the fourth level of Hell in their efforts to make sense of a recording that was not of the best quality. It was real blood, sweat toil and tears stuff fand I am very grateful for their efforts.  As is Liberal Democrat Voice who have praised and published their work here.

The Roll of Honour in full, in no particular order, as they say on Strictly is:

Douglas McLellan

The Spiderplant

Stephen Glenn

Nikki Thomson

Katie Sutton

Chris Mills

James Shaddock

I am incredibly grateful to them for their hard work - and it's great that Nick's words will not now fade into obscurity as there is a full record to refer to and  hold him to account for the future.