I have had the gastroscopy now and all went well apart from me trying to fight off the doctor as he approached me with the giant tube. After that I decided to go with the medication and I was fine. I have a hiatus hernia which is when your stomach gets poked up where it shouldn't be. Runs in the family. I am glad it wasn't anything more serious. I know all your good wishes and positive vibes helped. So thank you all! Hugs all around!

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The above is the haiku the friendly and enthusiastic wrote to go with my photo of the frog and goldfish. I like this one's scientific slant.

I AM: A soul currently resident in a body. A soul that loves and lives to create. That gets frustrated. Hates to be restrained. Takes things personally.

I HAVE: A husband and two children and four cats. Hope.

I SHOULD: Dwell less on the bad and more on the good. Avoid obsessing. Think before I speak, but at the same time stand up for myself more.

I WANT: To be there for my children. To be healthy. See peace in my time. See disease controlled and cancer overcome. Every one in the world to have a comfortable home and enough to eat.

I LIKE: Beautiful things and seeing beauty in all things. Enjoying all the senses. Sex. Music. Art. Literature. Nature.

I DISLIKE: Being patronised. Being ill or in pain. Fighting and shouting. Bad(selfish and dangerous) drivers. Smoking. Snide comments. Terrorism. Coconut.

I BELIEVE IN: Love.

I HAVE NEVER: Taken recreational drugs except for alcohol. Bungee jumped.

I AM NOT: perfect, a joiner, popular, good at geometry or understanding spatial concepts, Hungarian, quick at getting things.

This weeks feature from my contest is by
This is the haiku: [link]
I enjoyed this one very much because it was a fairy-tale in miniature. It was good to have the Frog-prince make an appearance.

I am sick. I have a sore throat and am continuously swallowing mucus and I have a headache and my eyes and nose are sore. Of course I don't know if it is just a regular nasty cold or a mild case of the H1N1. My symptoms are amongst those in the list of common symptoms as outlined in the official government guide which came in the mail, but I don't have any of the almost always symptom of sudden onset of fever and cough. However, to be on the safe side I am taking it easy and not going out.

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This week I am featuring 's haiku entry for my contest.
This was perhaps the most 'haiku' of the haiku entries in the sense of brevity and simplicity. It captures the stillness and contemplative soul of the scene in my photo. It was the very first entry I received. is a keen haiku poet and has written lovely pieces that I recommend you go check out. She has had some of her work published recently. She is also multi-talented and makes great sock creatures (one of which I am happy to own).

The apologies are for not responding to some comments/replies people have made. I find that when I am deleting comments that don't need a response I sometimes accidently delete the next comment too before I see who it is from and what it is about. If there is anything you have sent me which you felt needed a response and I haven't responded, please let me know.
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Also hurry and check out the above contest for which I am one of the judges. It is great fun and there haven't been many entries yet. One week left!

Frog sits
World-egg throne
Gold in the water.

The above is the haiku that wrote for my contest.
I love it because I think the word 'world-egg' is wonderful and a great way to see the stone that the frog is sitting on. Throne links with the word gold which beautifully suggests the goldfish without naming it. Also gold and egg go together: yolk is gold inside an egg. The idea of royalty that is suggested reminds me of the fairy tale of the Princess and the frog. The more I think about it the better I think this haiku is. If there had been a runner-up prize I would have given it to Nunheh.

On another note I went to see the film Bright Star yesterday about the romance between John Keats and Fanny Brawne. I highly recommend it. It was extremely moving. I can't stop thinking about it. If you go you had better take a lot of tissues with you.