Pink Ribbon 2 - Summer Gold

My Strong Family History, such a sinister* phrase (unless you are just left handed like me). It was a month before her twenty-fifth birthday. With a young husband caring for their toddler, and a baby (who would only feed from the healthy side). Over 40 years later, thanks to surgery and radiotherapy, her daughter can say to a sympathetic doctor – NO, No, my mom is fine! I celebrate the courage that printed the steps I follow in. Those two daughters. And her granddaughter.

Germiston Gold. My sister. Her two daughters. And her grand-daughter 

A second layer of strong family history, is my mother's mother. She was over 60, and each decade that passes increases your risk. Wear and tear on one hand, and an accumulation of environmental toxins on the other hand. They said, breast-feeding your children protects you from breast cancer. My fault - I had no children. But my sister got breast cancer, WHILE breast feeding. All those hormones washing around in pregnancy and breast feeding, presents a sinister layer of risk. Grateful that I was not called upon to fight that battle.

Take your doctor’s advice, but focus on all your female relatives who are WELL. And don’t use no family history as an excuse to avoid health care. Most breast cancer patients have no such family history. There is still so much we don’t know. Draw together 20 women, and ask each to name a vegetable – potato, cauliflower, cabbage, artichoke, carrot, spinach, asparagus, peas, parsnip, courgette, aubergine, broccoli, mushrooms, onion, sweetcorn, pumpkin, beetroot, leek, beans, sweet potatoes ... All different, all vegetables. Don’t focus on my friend had such and such treatment, your doctor will treat you (and Your Vegetable).

Chocolat. Typical cat, perched on top of a wall, head pillowed on the gatepost
and blissfully comfortable thank you! Soaking up the evening sunshine

In 2000 we knew that we needed Vitamin D for our bones. In the meantime we have learnt that we need Vitamin D to fight against breast cancer. Ten years ago, the osteoporosis specialist told me they had just compared Jo’burg and Cape Town. They get enough winter sun, but we in the Cape winter DON’T. 
BCRF-Vit-D-deficiency-linked-to-breast-cancer 
4-steps-to-take-now-to-lower-your-breast-cancer-risk
Melatonin, light-at-night, and-breast-cancer

Youngsurvival-young-women-and-bc-statistic

(*BTW You say that the dextrous are people who use the right hand. By which you mean the not left hand, the English language has no way to separate right=correct and right=not left. You say that people who use the left hand, the not right hand, are sinister, evil, devilish. But dextrous and sinister are simply the Latin words for right and left handed. Me, I am ambidextrous, so I can write legibly with the wrong hand. Which you call the right hand, and I call the wrong hand, the not left hand!) 
PS Last year it was THIS which drew most of your comments ;>)

Peace filled with Summer Gold

To my SFH for the 16th I wish you a happy birthday! 

If you were with me in October last year, this will be familiar. I am leaving the original posts up because I value your comments at 2009/10/october-pink-ribbon-2. Before this Summer Gold there was Winter-Chill, and the next is Autumn-Fire

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Summer Gold is the name I give to the second of four beds in my Paradise/Rose Garden. For some reason, aspect, sunshine, shelter - this is the happiest bed, filled with the most flowers. The planting plan, see In-a-Persian-garden. Week by week in October I will collect pictures of the four beds. Sorting and updating here to make a record of the Summer Gold roses at their flamboyant best in October 2010.

Summer gold rose bed, this morning before the rain rolled in
Dietes, wild iris with yellow splodged petals

Above Peace, open and full blown
Below Germiston Gold bud and Tropical sunset

Elizabeth of Glamis, salmon touched with gold

Courvoisier

Casanova. New house ... My favourite. Smells of apricots.

Germiston Gold

Tropical Sunset

Waiting for Peace, missed the bud to full blown sequence when I had it.

Our roses came from Ludwig'sRoses

Pictures and words by Diana of Elephant's Eye