Good news mainly

I received a letter on Friday telling me I was entitled to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) - because I can't do anything alone really. It's good news for a number of reasons. First, I get additional financial help which is more than welcome, especially as I would like to eat more healthily. Second, DLA is a gateway benefit, which means I'm entitled to further help. I've looked into it and I should be able to get a railcard (with 1/3 off most fares), a taxicard for cheaper taxi rides and, best of all, a Freedom Pass, which should let me travel for free in London. I'm still waiting to hear on this one, but a quick chat with an adviser seemed to confirm my entitlement to it. It's wait and see I guess. So a special big thank you goes to Finn who, thanks to her previous jobs, was able to help me fill in my successful DLA claim, and to my Mum and Hazel, for suggesting available additional help. It should make a massive difference to my life.

I've also phoned the British Red Cross to hire a wheelchair. I'd only be entitled to it for three months maximum, but that ought to give me an idea as to how useful they are. I can then decide to hire another one and actually pay for it - the British Red Cross requires a deposit but is free otherwise, though donations are more than welcome. So that's looking good, too.

And since I was on a roll, I also contacted Pesticide Action Network for my volunteering. I have an appointment set up so with a little luck, I'll be up and running doing something for them very soon. Though I'm not 100% sure how ready I am for that. I guess time will tell. And if they are flexible, I'll be able to ease into it without any trouble.

Other than that, I finished my first painting in acrylic. It really is completely different to oil painting so I'm going to have to get used to it. I decided to stick what I've been doing more recently, but I'll be doing a couple of paintings as Christmas presents so I'll be moving back to landscapes for that. I don't mind either way. The only concern is that I can't paint too long because of the pain. Even typing is a problem as my fingers and wrists, and to some extent my arms, start to hurt after a while - one of the reasons it's taking me so long to e-mail people.

(Hazel, I'm not sure how to describe this painting. I drew a rectangle and used different tones of orange so that it goes from dark orange to light orange. The rest of the painting goes from light to dark orange. If someone finds a better way to describe it, please let me know).

Last bit for today. I decided to dye my hair using Henna dye, to cover greys and nourish my hair. So I bought myself some auburn dye and applied it on Saturday. My hair's now ginger and orange - it would appear that my hair's too fine and/or too light. But it has given it volume and it feels a lot better - it's not far from its first proper outing. I've not been out without a headscarf since October, it's quite exciting.

Be good.