Ron and Karen: Our lives and the world of recovery

Recovery and all that jazz

2011-09-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

Its weeks since I wrote my last blog. I have been in semi hibernation up here on the croft. I kept thinking must write my blog then something else would be more important. Ron & I have enjoyed an extended rest period over Christmas. Ron in particular had worked non stop for weeks including his Australian trip, so was near

Ron is back in Australia

2009-11-14T00:34:00.001-08:00

Ron is back in Australia, he has been there a week now & has returned to Tasmania to help start up their hearing voices network & to train the staff across the island in working with voices. We will both returning there in April next year to run a further making recovery happen course & some management training. Tasmania’s

Bring inhome the importance of strong network

2009-10-20T03:02:00.000-07:00

One of the evidence- based sign that someone’s recovery journey is sustainable is having a good social network & strong family network. A few things in the last couple of weeks have brought this home to me. Firstly having a girlfriend I can occasionally travel with to explore mutual interests like New grange led to a very

A spiritual quest ....

2009-10-08T01:48:00.000-07:00

At last some leisure time, Seppi my friend from Lewis & I had a whole weekend to explore county Meath & County Louth in Ireland, before I worked in Ardee for 2 days last Monday & Tuesday. We had planned the visit as we had been told about New grange but to have a whole weekend of visiting sacred & historical sites with out kids was amazing, to take time, read all the signs, feel the silence was

Hertfordshire Recovery Conference and Maastricht

2009-09-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

The Hertfordshire conference on recovery went very well, the presentations were really interesting, It was good to catch up with Helen Glover whom we had not seen for a number of years, it was good to see her looking so well & her & Ron’s presentations really complemented each other. After the conference Ron & I made our way to the ferry at Harwich, a very strange place, it was very hard to find

Updating the Blog from the Lewis Sunday ferry ...

2009-09-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

We are on the ferry from Lewis. This is the first time we have taken the Sunday ferry since it started it has given us an extra day at home with the kids. The boat is quite full, so proves there was definite economic case for it. We are going to Hertfordshire for the recovery conference before driving to the ferry at Harwich crossing to Hook of Holland then making our way to Maastricht for the

Back from Australia

2009-09-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

Recovery weave presentation on Recovery Champions courseTasmaniaRain seemed to follow me around - wet in Perth & Tasmania, been back just over a week and its rained every day. Five weeks of over indulging , eating out most nights, no kids, very little exercise has left me ill prepared for my return to normality. Wading through mud up to the top of my wellingtons to feed the pigs, carrying around

September Newsletter

2009-09-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

Working to RecoverySEPTEMBER 2009 NEWSLETTER PLEASE E-MAIL ON TO OTHER COLLEAGUES WHO MAY BE INTERESTED, THIS IS OUR MAIN FORM OF ADVERTISING FOR OUR EVENTS and PUBLICATIONS Please click on links for further details of our courses and publications or visit our website here I Hope you have all had a good time this summer and are feeling reenergised and ready for the year ahead. Ron & I had a

Two weeks gone in a flash

2009-08-04T05:08:00.000-07:00

Two weeks gone in a flash. Two Recovery champions courses finished, two very different groups of participants, one outcome though, 42 people have gone away energised, reflective and enthusiastic about going back to work. I love this work, I love the power of the recovery process, and I love the way we can

Getting ready for Australia!!!

2009-08-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in an exhausted stupor at Glasgow airport waiting for my flight to Dubai. The last 4 days have been an absolute whirlwind as I prepared for leaving home for 5 weeks. Hoovering at midnight last night to make sure the house was reasonable for the nanny to take over, stupidly up at 6am this morning making a cheesecake for the kids tonight as it was promised a couple of nights ago.

Since Palestine time has just flown by

2009-06-29T23:47:00.000-07:00

Since Palestine time has just flown by, Ron had a really hard time coming out of Israel, which included an humiliating strip search, he was then ill with what turned out to be gastroenteritis, flew straight to Ireland, to take part in a conference in Cork, arrived back home looking grey & ill spent the next 3 days insisting he didn’t need a doctor & then ended up in hospital on iv antibiotics etc

They could stand up to any recovery team in the UK ...

2009-06-04T00:58:00.000-07:00

I have almost come to the end of my stay here in Palestine.It has been a wonderful trip, for the last 4 days we have stayed in Bethlehem, this has been good for several reasons, firstly we have avoided the traffic in Jerusalem every morning, secondly we have not had the awful Israeli checkpoints to go through. Thirdly the hotel is luxurious & would normally be with out our finances, but because

From planting to Bethlehem

2009-05-31T08:20:00.000-07:00

I am at the airport again. Ron & I are flying to Tel Aviv to work in Bethlehem for the next week. We are really looking forward to this trip to catch up with old friends and see how recovery is developing in the hospital. John Jenkins who is in charge of the programme & Ron have known each other for years & share the same birthday which happens to fall on this trip after I have returned, so no

How do I cope? Well the island helps ...

2009-05-18T01:01:00.000-07:00

It’s a while since I wrote my last blog, but I have been extremely busy. The weather apart from the odd day has been glorious up here. So all my spare time has been spent in the garden. We have managed to get Ron’s poly-tunnel completed as we finally had a day with hardly any wind. John, Ian with Seppi & myself managed to get the cover on stretched and dug into place. Now I am busy filling it

Three weeks fly by

2009-04-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

Another 3 weeks gone by in a flash. Another recovery champions course, a week in Cornwall & all the travel back to the island. We ran the course at Drumoig in Fife again, 10 participants this time from across the UK. There was a strong spiritual dimension to this course, it was a powerful week, with people developing & changing & recovering. As usual the staff at Drumoig were friendly and

Seems a long time since I wrote my last blog ....

2009-03-16T02:37:00.000-07:00

Seems a long time since I wrote my last blog, Francesca has spilt red wine all over the keyboard of my Mac completely ruining it, luckily I’m insured, but it doesn’t seem right, writing this blog on a different computer.The evenings are already drawing out here, nearly 7 pm before its dark, we have even seen a little bit of sunshine this week, but the rain is still tumbling down most of the time.

Talking of Dreams ....

2009-02-12T07:40:00.000-08:00

I am sitting in yet another airport, this time Newcastle; I think I have flown in and out of most of the UK’s airports now. This time there is 3 inches of snow on the ground having had a steady morning of snow. The runway is currently closed whilst the snow ploughs work their magic I hope! I am flying to Cardiff to work in Port Talbot tomorrow.We have been called to the boarding gate, but it’s

Pinky, Percy and Spotty ....

2009-02-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

We now have 3 little pigs called Pinky Percy & Spotty named by Francesca, they are settling in well, being particularly noisy at feed times. The kittens are out of sorts as they were spayed last week & Scooby our runaway pup has been castrated , hoping it will calm him down a bit so a very expensive week at the vets.I ran 2 workshops in Glasgow last week although there was only a small group

The winds ....

2009-01-22T01:35:00.000-08:00

The winds have dominated our lives over the last few weeks, but Saturdays wind was the strongest so far, with gusts up to 109miles an hour. We lost a pig arc which landed 6 crofts away. It was extremely heavy –Ron & I couldn’t lift it on our own. Walking down the croft the next day the spray & waves coming of the sea was really powerful. There were lots of boats hugging the coastline, weather is

Snuggling with a howling gale around us ...

2009-01-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

We are having a long lie in snuggled under the duvet as a howling gale surrounds us with expected winds of 70 miles an hour. Ron & I did some work on the house to reduce some of the drafts yesterday, brought in loads of coal and peat so we don’t need to go out much. Unfortunately Francesca has a birthday party this afternoon so I will have to venture out in the van I hope there is a lull in the

A crazy world ...

2009-01-08T04:34:00.000-08:00

Back home in Lewis, concentrating on getting every thing sorted for Christmas. Finn had the flu like virus whilst in Denmark & I think I might be next. I have had an on going problem with my thumbs, you don’t realize how important they are until they are painful to use, so we have decided the pigs will have to go and we will get new weaners in the spring. I had become very attached to the pigs

Croft life is certainly not romantic

2008-12-14T09:27:00.000-08:00

Croft life is certainly not romantic; it is pure hard grind. The weather has been mostly wet and our garden & fields are waterlogged. Every time the dogs go out they come back covered in mud. The pigs have been escaping. Charlotte in particular is a very intelligent nosey pig; we keep wavering about keeping them for breeding or saying bye bye to them for dinner. I keep looking at Charlotte and

We arrived home to utter chaos

2008-12-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

We arrived home to utter chaos; I have now learnt never to rely on an adolescent teenager. The house was unliveable in for 3 days so luckily Seppi let us use her holiday cottage.Although we had bad weather in Australia, particularly in Melbourne I don’t think we were quite prepared with how cold & wet it would be. We have all acclimatised now. I must admit that now the cottage is sorted, the

Last week in Australia

2008-11-24T06:44:00.000-08:00

Last week in Australia, weather is obviously acclimatising us ready for Lewis. We have had a wet, windy cool week.This week was a breakthrough for us in Australia with our first making recovery champion’s course specifically for clinicians of state services. We were based in Frankston on the peninsula. We had 24 fantastic people on the course 15 from Peninsula mental health services, 2 from

Sydney for 5 days without the kids- time to play! (although some work too)

2008-11-20T00:15:00.000-08:00

3 days with Marius & Sandra, Sydney has been a chance to recharge our batteries. It was wonderful to spend some quality time with Marius & Sandra (Romme), we have our outline plan now for the first world meeting on hearing voices which will take place in Maastricht next year-watch this space. We took them to our favourite bits of Sydney, down to the harbour, out to Watsons bay to Doyles for a

Buzzing after a successful Recovery confrerence and INTERVOICE meeting

2008-11-12T09:54:00.001-08:00

The third weekend was spent gathering together ready for the conference. Its home from home, with Marius Romme & Sandra Escher staying near us, we had them, Julie Downs, Paul Baker, Monica Hoffman, Trevor Eyles, Mike Smith & Marian Aslan for drinks t0 meet Joe Calleja the CEO of Richmond Fellowship. He has done a fantastic job at getting this conference organisedRecovery from Psychosis conference

Back to Australia

2008-11-12T09:50:00.000-08:00

We were really well looked after Friday night after the first course finished, invited to a BQ by social work students from Curtin University. They have developed a real fondness for Ron after receiving lectures from him last year.Week 2 in Perth, the weather has changed, its, grey, cloudy & intermittently wet, could be Scotland, oh well we are working so not so important. The 2nd course has gone

Jet lag and Recovery

2008-10-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

We are 4 days through the first making recovery course here in Perth WA, my brain feels in free fall, some where stuck between Dubai and here. Only 10 days ago we were leaving a very windy wet isle of Lewis arriving for a night in Glasgow, then heading to Dubai. Dubai was 3 days out of reality, a holiday booked before the credit crunch, at Atlantis an over the top fantasy resort, way out of our

A report from Rons visit to Italy, a long awaited marriage announcement, Phil and Poppy get Szasz Award ... and green tomato chutney

2008-10-12T23:16:00.000-07:00

Ron came back today from his Italian tour. The 2 weeks went extremely well, tried out new things, went to new places & familiar places, for about the 6th year running he spoke at Trento, he didn’t manage the speech in Italian as time was too short , but for a change they have a written version of what Ron said already translated into Italian by Angelo.Two dear friends of ours have finally decided

Rons Sponsored Head Shave on Youtube

2008-10-02T01:39:00.000-07:00

See Ron getting his hair shaved for charity on Youtube hereRon got his head completely shaved for charity! They auctioned his pony tail for 105 pounds and money was also raised by sponsorship and a lottery.It happened on the 24th September 2008 in Dundee, Scotland.with Music & Poetry with Kit Clark, Kevin McCabe & The Haven Music and Poetry GroupHeld at the Drouthy Neebors, 142 146 Perth Road,

Hair cuts ....

2008-09-29T01:24:00.000-07:00

Ron´s sponsored headshave: Ron checking where his pony tail used to be as Alex does the finishing touchesLast week Ron & I returned to Drumoig to run our recovery champions course again, it was a small group of 8 people but what a powerful week. Again it was the power of the stories that we heard over the week that drove the course, the question “who am I?” again leading to much reflection, soul

Stir crazy Ron and the joys of living on Lewis

2008-09-11T00:53:00.000-07:00

Started this weekend with another good meal at Sulair, with Ron & Seppi.Sunday Ron was going off island for 3 weeks, he has been absolutely stir crazy, he has been on island for 7 weeks, apart from his heart bypass, I think this is the longest he has stayed in one place since we have been together. He almost didn’t get away as 10 minutes before we needed to drive to the airport he couldn’t find

Fly me to Southampton....

2008-09-11T00:03:00.000-07:00

Spent Monday racing around preparing to leave Lewis for work in Southampton, in southern England. I just made it to airport just as they were closing the gate. First flight went well, then went to check-in for second part of flight from Glasgow to be told that this flight didn’t run any more and that they had e-mailed me to this effect, panic set in what am I going to do , referred to flybe desk,

Contrasts

2008-08-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

What a week of contrast’s.Friday evening and Saturday morning were spent frantically getting my peat’s in. With the help of Kyle & DS & his tractor we brought 6 loads of peat’s in of the moor. I had done it successfully stacked and dried my peat’s and got them in before the bad weather starts. We have enough peat’s now to keep our stove burning throughout the winter as well as being physically

Photo Gallery 2008

2008-08-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

Pets and Animals August 2008Ron in Italy, July 2008Recovery Champions 2008Australia and New Zealand 2008March 2008, PerthJanuary 2008: Making Recovery Happen, Ron speaking in Perth, West Australia

Rest and resilience in a challenging world

2008-08-22T07:30:00.000-07:00

School holidays finish today, frantically trying to get the children into bed and I’m losing.Francesca has given in and gone to sleep, it’s her first day at school tomorrow but Rory and Finn are finding 100 reasons why they cant get to sleep. Finn has been living with his dad for the last year and is trying out school here with a view to coming back to live with us. The choice is not about which

Karen stacks the peats and finds herself reflecting on the meaning of recovery

2008-08-14T01:57:00.000-07:00

Angelo was meant to be with us tomorrow but his mother is very seriously ill so has decided to cancel his trip. This is such a pity as i was looking forward to showing him and his girl friend our island.AngeloI stacked the last of my peats today, this is very late but I cross my fingers for 2 more weeks of sunshine so they will be thoroughly dry and I can bring them off the moor. Each time I have

Rons sponsored hair cut, 24th September 2008

2008-08-13T04:01:00.000-07:00

A REMINDER that Ron is doing a sponsored hair cut on 24th September in Dundee to raise money to send some Scottish and Palestinian people to the Intervoice conference in Australia.We need as many sponsors as possible , you can download a sponsorship form from here.Soon you will be able to sponsor directly by secure on-line payment …… more details soon ...

Welshpool, churches, the Italians .... and our homegrown vegetables.....

2008-08-13T03:45:00.000-07:00

Our lovely chickens, our son, Rory's job is too feed them caterpillars picked off the brassicas ...2nd AugustThe Italians have gone home, life has slowed down slightly. Marcelo Macario who was visiting us with his family is a fabulous Italian psychiatrist working near Savonna. He has been fundamental in helping us spread the recovery message across italy, helped by ther fact that he is seeing it

Implementing recovery and the important things in life

2008-07-09T00:41:00.000-07:00

Ron’s trip to Palestine is going well. For 2 days he worked with a small group of inpatient nurses in Bethlehem hospital. They have completely immersed themselves in recovery since we did the making recovery champions course there. Ron says it is wonderful to see such enthusiasm backed up already with early results. Each patient they are caring for now has a set of recovery notes, these include

Ron in Italy

2008-07-08T00:44:00.000-07:00

Amazing light, late night gardening and Ron leaves for Palestine

2008-06-26T23:51:00.000-07:00

The light here is amazing at this time of year, We turned the lights off to go to sleep last night at midnight and semi daylight streamed through the edges of the blinds, it truly doesn’t get dark.What is strange is how it affects you physically. The kids aren’t able to go to sleep until after 11pm, I often don’t feel tired until gone midnight, the other night I found myself gardening at 11.00pm.

Sexy Leonard Cohen .... a new piglet .... and the cold realities of being on the road

2008-06-17T01:34:00.000-07:00

What a weekend. Leonard Cohen was absolutely amazing. If I have that vigour, sex appeal and stage presence when I reach 73 I will be well happy. He played for nearly 3 hours, the crowd was wonderful, relaxed and friendly, and we ended up in the local pub with a few people we had been sat with.Ron loved it, sang along, shed a few tears and had a big grin on his face throughout the concert.Back to

Birthday Prezzie for Ron - Leonard Cohen in Dublin!

2008-06-13T00:43:00.000-07:00

Ron’s birthday went well, the weather stayed dry but breezy.One of his presents from me was 2 tickets to see Leonard Cohen in Dublin tomorrow Friday13th.Cohen has been one of his musical heroes, but even I was suprised how emotional Ron was when I told him. So first thing tomorrow we fly to Dublin for the weekend for the craic and the wonderful music and poetry of cohen.The break together will do

Recovery champions in Swansea .. haute cuisine on Lewis and a Birthday Boy ...

2008-06-08T23:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry this blog is late it has been a very busy few days. Ron and I were in Swansea until Thursday night. We were running a 4 day version of Making recovery happen course with 15 participants who wanted to become recovery champions for Swansea. What a group, Swansea is not going to know what has hit it. They were so motivated and passionate , If they are given the space to bloom then Swansea will

It’s been a quiet week for working to recovery....

2008-05-26T05:47:00.000-07:00

It’s been a quiet week for working to recovery, which has meant that Ron has had a whole week on the island, and I visited Fife for 24 hours.The architect came Monday so we shaped up the plans for our bunk house/training venue. It will have 20 beds, a large training /dining area, kitchen, an office ad editing suite, treatment room for visiting therapists, drying room for wet gear and wetsuits and

More photos from Australia 2008

2008-05-14T03:40:00.000-07:00

Gone Fishing!Ron Coleman - A fallen Angel?Speaking in Australia, Making Recovery Happen

Karens back from Stafford, England, Ron goes to Reggio Emilia, Italy - but what about the new garden?

2008-05-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

Last weeks training went well, it is always heartening when staff who are working in very challenging conditions are eager to embrace the recovery process and think of creative ways they can use it in their work.I left Stafford feeling very encouraged; then the long journey home. One of the negative aspects of moving to the island is an extra flight, but also the last flight is early evening so I

I am sitting at Stornoway airport waiting for my plane ...

2008-05-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

I am sitting at Stornoway airport waiting for my plane to Glasgow, then on to Birmingham. Its my first training alone off island since we moved and it is Ron’s turn to look after the kids. In fact it’s his first time he will be on island for a whole week.I am leaving the most glorious weather, blue skies little wind, its warm and beautiful.Over the weekend we acquired our first animals a cockerel

The joys of Gardening, Administration, Angus, Sunderland and most importantly Vicky

2008-04-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

Another week and Ron is away again. Monday and Tuesday he was engaged in consultancy work in Angus, helping people find a way forward with their day services, on the second day they did an organisational PATH which everybody enjoyed doing, Ron is no artist so one of the staff did all the drawingTomorrow he is in Sunderland for his annual lecture at the university for the Psychosocial –

2008-04-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

It has been a beautiful week on Lewis, blue skies, light winds and wonderful sunsets, I feel at home here already.The course went very well last week. The presentations were stimulating and creative, the last one a role-play based on the “mental health bus’ was particularly funny.I left Ron in Dundee to come back home as he was flying to Denmark. He has been working for the “Castle” near

Recovery course - but where is Ron?

2008-04-18T02:43:00.000-07:00

What a week! Left Lewis on Saturday not knowing where Ron was, he wasn’t answering his mobile and arrived on the mainland to find he had been admitted to hospital.Recovery course to start Monday - I´m in big trouble!His diabetes was way out of control and the doctor was telling me he wouldn’t be out by Monday.No choice but to start the recovery course on my own. The course participants were

2008-04-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

Ron has already spent most of the last 2 weeks off island.Last week he was down in Bristol running a workshop for Second Step Housing and speaking at a Rethink stake-holder event both were themed on taking recovery forward, there has been lots of talk of the theoretical aspects of recovery but much less on actually practically implementing it, something Ron & I love getting involved in. This is

Saturday: Off the island

2008-04-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

I got off island today with the kids to join RonWe are running our making recovery happen training at Drumoig in Fife next week.I love this weeks training, watching how people develop over the week and "recover" - they all leave with a very deep understanding of what recovery means to them, the "them and us" of worker – service user - disappears as everyone realises they are all human beings

Photos from our work visit to Austraila and New Zealand (when we took some time off)

2008-04-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

Some photos of our work visit to Austraila and New Zealand (including when we took some time off)The lads who attended our last Recovery course in Perth, Austraila showing off their bellies ... Sunset in Wellington taken from the house we rented over looking South island in the distanceAny idea where we are? Ron in discovery mode ... on a boat in Shark bay , near Monkey Mia Recovery Island ahoy!

From Perth Austalia to the Isle of Lewis

2008-04-07T04:58:00.000-07:00

Well, what a contrast.2 weeks ago we were swimming with dolphins at Monkey Mia in Australia (see previous post) with the temperature at 36C, today we wake up in Ness on the Isle of Lewis, its blowing a gale and yesterday it was snowing and 5C.Our move from Fife to Lewis went surprisingly smoothly, the ferry was on, the weather lovely , in fact the crossing was so smooth it was like a summers day

March 2008, Working in Australia and New Zealand

2008-04-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

Wow it is hard to believe that we have been out of the UK for 8 weeks now and what a fabulous trip we are having.We spent the first couple of days in Dubai before arriving in Perth, Australia on a Thursday I had got my dates completely mixed and started arguing with the hotel receptionist that it was Friday and they should have a room for us, luckily they had a spare room so the kids, Ron & I