By 
‘The Bits the Bomb Left Behind’ by Zoolon
I’m cursed with allergies to pollen and dust. I do all the right things, take Loratadine tablets, live in sunglasses 24/7, stuff Vaseline up my nose, encase all the bedding. Stuff like that. Nothing works. This time of the year when pollen levels are off the scale, I’m the bloke sneezing for England you all try to avoid. Lately I’ve even given up on the idea of driving my car because my eyes stream so bad. A bit like a tap someone forgot to turn off. So, you’ll get my drift when I say I’ll try almost anything to cure this problem. Note the ‘almost’.
The other day, a mate says that he knows how to cure the pollen allergy in less than a week. I told him to talk some more. He says, “Stinging nettles.” I say, “And?” He says, “You have to sting yourself everyday for a week and that’s you sorted.” I say, “How come you know all this?” He says, “I forgot, but it’s true. Honest.”
I had a good think, then asked him, “What part of me do I have to sting?” He says, “F**k knows.” Hardly helpful. Mission aborted before it even started.
Anyway. ‘Bombs’. The pic above is of a WW2 bombed out church – called St James’s Church, it’s in the middle of the town where I live. It had stood since Anglo-Saxon times until the bomb landed on it. After the war, the little plaque I found on the wall says that the town council wanted to knock the rest of the place down and build on it. The local’s protested. The local’s won, and now it’s a monument. I don’t do religion personally, but respect the beliefs of others – we share the same values, more or less – and believe we’d all agree that the local’s did the right thing. They froze time. Kept memories safe. Here’s another shot of the place.
‘The Path the Ghost Walks’
Another thing. I’d like to thank the anonymous person who wrote a great review for my book on Amazon UK. If it’s one of you kind people out there, then please know that I’m grateful. Here’s the link THE WORDS & THOUGHTS OF A DYSLEXIC MUSICIAN
A few words;
THE HERE & NOW
A little kid crying in a metal cage
Poor girl’s not even two years of age
Wrong, right side of centre ground morons in a rage
Heartless F Wit’s reading off the wrong page
The big man’s laughing his head off backstage
A new Hitler’s come of age?
Lastly, some music. A number I made from 2016 called, ‘Shout At Newsreels’. I guess you’d call it a protest song. Hope you like it;
Copyright © 2016 Zoolon Audio. All rights reserved. Unauthorised copying, reproduction, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting prohibited.
You must be having a rough time of it with hayfever and whatnot in this weather. I get hayfever in just my right eye – can you believe that? Just one eye streaming and swollen like I am half crying about something.
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Try an eye patch, like a pirate. You’d might find you look cool in a patch. A new trend?
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I am so into the pirate look. I have a pirate costume, I shall spend spend all summer wearing that. Great advice, dear chap!
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Neat.
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I’m a little bothered, but take daily antihistamines and am better than I’d be without them. Can’t take Loratadine though. Doesn’t help at all.
I passed a woman who was picking dock leaves today and wondered WHY? Maybe this is why! If you get nettles and try this theory out, get dock leaves too. Good luck x
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Thank you. I’m close to being ready to try just about anything. I hope the pollen comes to leave you alone one day soon. ~ Zoolon aka George
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Lord Zoo, I ma sorry I don’t know any cures. One of my girls has an awful time with hayfever and like that she’s tried so many things. But I do hear nettle wise you get nettle tea. It’s disgusting. I dunno if that would help. Good post thought and congrats on the review.
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I’ll try anything, Shey, Guess it’s Holland & Barrett for some nettle tea. I hate regular tea so this might be an interesting experiment.
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Ok. Lol, in another life I co wrote and alternative health book and I just looked it up. Nettle capsules are recommended. Also, inhaling ..you know the old hot water, towel and basin trick..with marsh mallow leaves and violets. Then there’s Vitamin B6 capsules. There you go.
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Such a great poem. I’m so angry every day now.
As to the allergies, I’m a kindred spirit. My chiropractor recommended a spoonful or two of locally produced honey every day, preferable from within 20 miles of where you live. Also, shower before bed so you don’t take the allergens into bed with you.
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Thanks, Leslie. I got told about local honey before and didn’t do it because the local stuff is so expensive. I think I’ll give a try this time though. Thanks for that. Maybe go from a morning shower to a nighttime one as well. I am so fed up with allergies.
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Allergies just make you feel crummy. Hope you can find some relief.
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Sorry to hear about the allergies. Loved what you wrote here though about a “new Hitler coming of age’.
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Thank you, Anne. The vid of the kid in the cage in the US is a thing I can’t get out of my head. What’s going on? So wrong.
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There are lots of other drugs that work against hayfever. If the one use doesnt work try one with a different acive ingredient. Beconase nasal spray is good with other tablets too when it is bad.
Did the nettles work? I thought getting stung by them cured arthritis !!
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Thanks, Cathy. I tried nasal sprays but they didn’t work for me. I’ve not yet tried the stinging nettles but am told you can get it in tablet form now. That sounds better to me. Basically I’m stuck with it. My dust-mite allergies, when bad is the worst of all. At least pollen goes away come the winter.
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All hay fever drugs work differently. Try them all beforeyou give up. It worked for me:)
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Thanks again, Cathy. I will keep trying, can’t live with it like this forever.
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Wonderful pictures of the old church. Moving poem about the child in the cage. Compassion and decency are in short supply in the U.S.
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Thank you. Compassion is in short supply everywhere now that the far right are gaining control in Europe and the US. I agree with you.
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Hope you’re on the mend. Kudos on the music! 🙂
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Your friend’s idea sounds odd, but it does remind me of the beekeeper’s training I read about–in order to build up an immunity to stings, a new keeper’s got to regularly sting him/herself multiple times over the course of several weeks. But I’m pretty sure pollen doesn’t work that way–Dad always reacted HORRIBLY to the pollen in warm months.
Lovely photos, by the way. We all need to remember these places for their history: what they remind us of from centuries past, and what they remind us of now. x
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A lot of people since have told me nettles do work. Instead of getting stung you can get it in tablet form – they cost a lot, but I might just give them a try. Pollen is my number one enemy, that’s for sure!
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A tablet would be chewing on them, I suppose. 🙂
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Hope not – I’d rather swallow them whole!
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GAH! No, that’s my fault for skipping a word…. “A tablet would be BETTER THAN chewing on them”…that’s what I get for writing on three different screens. Multi-tasker, I am not. 😦
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That’s a brilliant as one of my dyslexic mistakes. I do those all the time.
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I do this waaaay more often than I care to admit. Just flat-out skippin’ words. 🙂
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