Sorry everyone – It was my intention to keep up with a daily post throughout our holidays, but due to a mixture of things, I have decided to step away from blogging in this final week and return next Monday (13 Jan).

Most of all this has been caused by health issues and allergies to food additives that landed on our table in the form of Christmas treats.

This is not a blog of illness and ailments, but I realize that some of you will want to know more of what and why, so a few details are included in the first paragraph of the next page, but there is more than that, so please do keep reading.

*

With some investigative work (comparing packet wrapping information from all items of the earlier attack with packet wrapping information from all items in this more recent attack – then looking up possible reactions to those matching additives in a food additives book), we’ve identified the exact food additives, E102 and E110 (sometimes listed without the ‘E’) and the items (in this case cream biscuits) – less than half a packet eaten four days ago has kept me ill ever since with breathing difficulties, coughing to the point of throwing up, large raised skin blotches everywhere on my body, including arms and legs (but fortunately, only one tiny one on my face), lack of energy and lack of sleep due to all of the above.

This cancelled our much awaited trip to the mountains, which we had hoped for yesterday. It has cancelled it again for today.

Although this morning I’m beginning to feel more energetic and the red splotched are now at least flat, I woke up to find that, on top of everything else, I have lost my voice.

While speaking in a squeak makes for some great jokes, the whole has been hugely disruptive to our holidays, especially as this is the last week. So I have decided to get off the computer and out of my office so we can spend the time together and make it as fun as we can.

We will be following quiet pursuits, such as sitting in the garden, watching movies, or playing board games or mouse computer games on the unit Greg sets up in the lounge room to show on the television.

However, I am still hopeful of a visit to the mountains.

For those of you who have followed this blog over the Christmas and New Year break, thank you so much. It was for you I wanted to post every day. I never intended to step aside. For those new or relatively new, I have been blogging for over a year now and there are over two hundred posts to dig through. My posts are largely supportive of writers, writing and of believing in yourself. I also post about some experiences of mine while taking aboard some first-hand research. So, dip in and have a look around – it’s only for a handful of days until I come back in.

Thank you all for your support, kindnesses and encouragement. Thank you for being with me this far. Have a great few days. I’ll soon be back in the swing of things, fully restored, fully rested and ready to get going.

I’ll also let you know if we make it to those mountains.

Cheers all, 😀

Allyson