Fantastic Frank (Turner).....and 3lbs on

Hi all,

Let's get the '3lbs on' bit out of the way. Despite sticking rigidly to the 10,000 steps a day and 8 glasses of water routine it seems that the Poppy Picnic leftovers have taken their toll. When I stepped on the scales this morning I was not at all surprised to see that my weight has increased somewhat. To be honest it would have been miraculous if it hadn't. Licking out cake mix bowls, eating most of a packet of shortbread fingers and having toast with real butter really isn't conducive to keeping the weight at bay. The same applies to the pint of cider, pint of Pimms and the bag of candyfloss that I devoured at Meonfest in the sunshine yesterday.
However, I still feel much more energetic than I have in a long time, I am more motivated and I am definitely sleeping better so all is not lost. I'm keeping to the steps and water regimen because I know it is doing me good. I am not going to be eating candyfloss and licking out mixing bowls again for a while and a little of what you fancy does you good I do believe.

Moving onto more interesting things....

Yesterday hubby and I spent the afternoon and evening at a local event called Meonfest which was held in the grounds of Bereleigh House in East Meon and was a fundraiser for the local school. The grounds are 15 minutes drive from our house and we hadn't been there before.
I don't know East Meon well having only driven through it several times and once going to one of the pubs in the village on a sunny evening. However, I discovered via the medium of Twitter and the local paper that Frank Turner was going to be playing there as his Mum was one of the organisers and she basically booked him to play.
Hubby and I are huge fans of Mr. Turner and have seen him several times in various venues and the chance to see him so close to home was not to be missed so I purchased 2 tickets for £20 each (total bargain!) , packed a picnic and off we went.
The weather was perfect, the setting delightful, there was ample free parking and the atmosphere was wonderful as it was basically a family event. There were a few food vendors dotted about and activities for the children. There was loads of room for little ones to run about safely and it seemed the vast majority of them spent their time rolling down the hills and throwing straw at each other. Perfect!

We picked our spot to sit, spread out the blanket, got some drinks and we were settled for the day. It was pure relaxation as we layed in the sunshine and listened to the various acts who were on the bill. Some were fun and some were very good. All very pleasant.
We sat, quite unintentionally, to the side of the stage where the artists parked up and I was more than a little excited (ridiculous I know!) to see Frank and his driver pull up and exit their vehicle an hour or so before he was due on stage. It was also lovely to see him greet his Mum and family with big hugs.
Now, the man must have incredible reserves of energy because, before playing for and hour and a half at Meonfest, he had played two sets at Glastonbury earlier in the day - one solo and one with his band The Sleeping Souls I think. You would never have know that judging by his performance in the field at Bereleigh House.

Frank's arrival on stage was greeted by applause and  cheers from the relaxed and happy crowd and, despite the fact that he must have been knackered after his day, he gave his all with a solo performance that I will never forget. He sang almost all of my favourite songs of his and seemed genuinely happy to be 'home'. He referenced his family a lot, told personal stories and apologised often for swearing. He even apologised for the fact that he wouldn't be able to hang about after the show and chat in the bar like he often does because he was exhausted and wanted to spend some quality time with his family who he hasn't been with for a year or so. What a star!

We made our way back to the car with the sounds of fireworks ringing in our ears and passing weary but happy families who had had a terrific day. We got into the car, exited the car park and were home again in 15 mins. Result.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...for any of you festival lovers, music lovers, singer/songwriter lovers if you get the chance to see Frank Turner with or without The Sleeping Souls please do grab it with both hands. You will not be disappointed.
As for us, we are off to see him again at the end of July at The Cambridge Folk Festival and I can't wait.

Happy Sunday everyone. I'm off to listen to some Frank Turner and reminisce about last night.

xxxxx

Poppy Picnic 2015 (and 12st 13lbs!!!!)

Morning all.

It's the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. The sun is shining a bit but it's chilly. I walked Harvey at Hayling earlier this morning and was very glad that I was wearing my fleece.

As you can see from the post title, quite amazingly I now weigh under 13 st and I have no explanation for it apart from the 10,000 steps that I make sure that I do every day and the 8 glasses of water that I force down both of which I have been doing religiously since May 31st when I was horrified to discover that I weighed in at 13st 6lbs. This new weight is even more strange as I have spent the last few days baking and eating cakes for the Poppy Picnic. Sometimes there is no logic to these things is there?

On Friday I spent what felt like all day in my little kitchen baking cakes and bits for The Poppy Picnic which I held for the 2nd year in succession at my beach hut. I made elderflower and blackberry cakes, butterfly cakes, a gluten free chocolate cake, poppy seed and lemon muffins, some apple and spice sponge bread, some flapjack and some buttermilk chicken. Quite how it took me all day I'm not sure but I did have to walk the dog in the midst of it all and also had to shop for the ingredients so that may explain it. All I know is that by the time it was time for bed I was exhausted and slept deeply for 5 hours which was an unexpected bonus from my endeavours.

Come Saturday morning and I was up with the larks - or at least with whatever noisy birds were twittering away sunrise - and grabbed a cup of tea and a slice of toast before boxing all of my goodies into containers, loading the car with the same and some extra chairs and lots of blankets, and set of for the hut via the train station where I picked up my daughter who came prepared with some scrummy cakes that she had purchased from the local bakery en route.

We arrived at the hut and set it up in preparation for whatever visitors would arrive. Balloons and posters were put up, food and drink put out on the tables and the kettle was put on and seemed to be on all day from that point.
The weather forecast wasn't promising but I was determined to make the best of it hence the extra blankets. Fortunately, although there was a brisk chilly wind, the predicted rain showers didn't appear.
I'm delighted to say that we had a lovely amount of people who came along and stayed for ages despite the chill in the air. Some people brought their own picnics and some made the most of the homebaked goodies. My lovely stepdad did what he always does and brought loads of amazing food with him - chicken, prawns, fish fingers, chicken nuggets, new potatoes and amazing asparagus wrapped in bacon which was divine. One of my daughters made some brilliant pulled pork and I ended up with more food than I knew what to do with. Most people left with a goody bag of cakes to take home and my freezer is know stocked with lemon drizzle cake and scones.

We had a lovely mix of people - friends, family and neighbours of all ages came along and I was delighted to see them all.
I did spend most of my time in the hut boiling the kettle and making hot drinks to keep my visitors warm. I made lots of trips to refill my water bottles and I ran out of sugar!

I didn't take many photos due to my 'hot drinks maker' role so I have borrowed a few. The photo directly above shows how grey the sky was for most of the day but it didn't stop people paddling, kite flying and looking for treasure! My nephews left their mark after their first visit to the hut and their name stones are added to my growing collection of stones that line the shelves of the hut these days.

At about 7pm it was time to pack up and go home. I spent 10  mins or so sitting on my own thinking about the day and feeling pretty proud of myself and feeling grateful that so many people had made the effort to come along on what was not the nicest of days to sit out on a beach.

I am delighted to say that the day raised £108.50 for The Royal British Legion and a cheque for that amount will be winging its way to their head office tomorrow morning.

Have a good day everyone and ,to those able to celebrate Father's Day, let your Dads know how special they are and how much you love them. They will appreciate it more than you know.

xxxx

Paris, Hayling, Oxford - And Another Pound Off

Hi all,

Firstly, a quick update - I have continued with my 8 glasses of water a day and I have managed to get in a minimum of 10,000 steps each day too which is excellent. I am definitely sleeping better and I am not waking in the night covered in sweat and feeling rubbish. My skin is softer and I feel good. I most definitely have not curtailed my eating, in fact, quite the opposite over this last week so you can imagine my surprise when I stood on the scales the morning to find that I have lost another pound. Yep, the scales now tell me that I weigh 13 st 3lbs.
I know that I still weigh too much but I think it's proof that keeping active...walking is the only exercise I am doing at the moment... and keeping hydrated has many positives and I have yet to find a negative. I shall be continuing with the challenge and I'll keep you posted.

On to more exciting things. Last Tuesday my youngest daughter and I met up at St Pancras station and boarded the Eurostar to Paris where we spent two days and one night in each others company and lived to tell the tale.
I had wanted to go on Eurostar for a long time. It seemed silly to me that I had never been on it so I asked my daughter if she would like to come with me as a birthday treat for her. It's actually her birthday today (June 14th) so it was an early present. I booked the tickets for the train in advance as the tickets are cheaper that way and I booked a nice looking but small hotel for the night and that was it. We just had to wait for the day to arrive.
As I mentioned, we met at the station, brought ourselves some treats for the trip and boarded the train. It was really a train trip like any other and we spent the 2 and a half hour trip chatting, eating the strawberries and sandwiches we had purchased and toasting our trip with Prosecco.

Very soon we arrived at Gard du Nord which is quite an experience. Within minutes off us getting off of the train we were approached by a woman with a sheet of paper in hand asking us to sign in 'to save children'. There was also a column to fill in your Euro donation!  Cheeky things. We learned to say no when people approached us with out feeling guilty about it very quickly after that.

The area around the station is quite daunting. There were a lot of groups of men hanging around and also quite a few people begging. However, we knew that out hotel was literally a stones throw from the station so we made our way there. Just outside the station there was a large noisy gathering of police and taxis and there appeared to be a stand off of some kind going on. Lots of intense discussions and many frustrated Parisiens whose journeys were being delayed because the taxis appeared to be blocking the roads. Apparently there had been the discovery of some illegal immigrants in the area and, for reasons unbeknown to us, the taxi drivers were involved in the situation. We never did get to the bottom of it but it didn't affect us anyway. We were just curious about what was happening.

We checked into our very nice hotel and had a room with a balcony on the 6th floor where we had a lovely view of the streets below. The room the clean, bright and airy and the shower was fabulous!
We settled in and then made our way to the restaurant that we had booked and which had very good reviews on Tripadvisor.
Enroute to our dinner reservation we found that Sacre Coeur was very close by and, as we were early, we decided to investigate. We climbed a lot of steps and found ourselves here....

The place was full of people and it was really lovely. The views of the city from there were wonderful. We then descended the steps again and stopped for a glass of wine before making our way to the Sacre Fleur restaurant which was just down the road.
Sacre Fleur did not disappoint. It was a small, intimate eatery which was fully booked. The staff were very friendly and the food was wonderful. I had the frogs legs and a 'blue' rump steak which was divine. We shared a bottle of 'champagne' too and neither of us could manage pudding or coffee!

We left feeling full to the brim but decided to pick up a bottle of wine on the way home (never a good idea!) and then drank it on our balcony while listening to music and generally having a great time. We had a fab evening.

The next day we set off for one of the open top hop on/hop off buses which gave us a tour of the city. We had about half an hour to walk from the hotel to the pick up point but we found it which was impressive for two females with no sense of direction!
The sun shone throughout the day which made the open top bus even more agreeable. We were driven past the Louvre, Notre Dam, Arch de Triomphe and along the Champs Elysee. We decided the only place we could get off and spend any time was at the Eiffel Tower and that's what we did.

Then it was lunch in the sun and back on the bus to get back to the hotel before we had to catch our train home.
We really had a wonderful couple of days and it was a pleasure to spend some quality time with my daughter. We should do that kind of thing more often.

The day after I got back from Paris I went to the hut with my son and his girlfriend. He had only been once before and she never had. It was another glorious day and a perfect day to introduce the hut.
Son cooked bacon sandwiches and I made cups of tea. Then we sat about in the sun, they collected shells, and I went and got an ice cream for us all.

We had a lovely day which ended with me working a night duty and then the following evening was spent in Oxford where we had been invited to dinner in the halls at New College and which is quite an experience...very Harry Potter!
We all sat at long tables and were we served with a three course meal with coffee. We took our own drinks and generally had a wonderful evening which ended at a very respectable time as I had to drive home as I had an early shift to do the next day.




It's been a very busy, very interesting week and it has been a lot of fun. There have been a few things to deal with as is the norm and I don't think that I've let anything stop me form enjoying myself which is good.

I'm off to drink a glass of water now. Have a great week everyone and happy birthday to my little girl.

xxxxx

10,000 steps and 8 glasses of water per day....

.....equals 2lbs weight loss!


Hi everyone,


Yes, every day for the past week I have walked a minimum of 10,000 steps and drunk at least 8 glasses of water a day in an effort to try to get fit and shed some weight. I have not been dieting. I like my food too much for that! I have had chocolate and toast and butter and some really nice meals not to mention the 'occasional' g&t and I have still lost 2lbs. Goodness only knows what I would have lost if I had been dieting too.
In all seriousness, as I know many, many people are dieting at the moment with the summer looming and us all wanting to look our best, I am purely trying to get fitter and I do like a challenge. I am taking the challenge seriously but I am not on a diet.
I am always envious of those who are able to decide to diet and stick to it. I have only ever managed that twice in my life...once with Rosemary Conley back in the day and once with Weight Watchers. Both were successful but the weight didn't stay off because I went back to my old ways and didn't exercise enough and, more importantly, went back to my old ways of eating. So, I don't think diets and I are very compatible.


What I have found in the first week of doing this is that I have got heaps more energy and I think it must be the water. I know that it is recommended that we all drink 8 glasses of water a day and I most definitely don't drink even half of that amount on a good day usually. I have also got used to my weird tasting tap water. I turn on the tap, fill up my glass and drink. Easy!
I've just thought of another benefit...the dreaded night sweats that have been plaguing me for months and months don't seem to be anywhere near as bad and, as a consequence, I am sleeping better. All because of the water? Quite possibly.
I intend to keep up the walking and the water challenge until the end of the month at least and see how I get on. By then it may have become 'the norm'. Who knows?


On another note, today we scattered the ashes of my father in law on what would have been the 61st wedding anniversary of he and his wife. The family gathered at the cricket club where Grandma's ashes are scattered and where there is a bench with a plaque on it in her memory. It was a beautiful sunny morning and there was a youth match being played. The ashes were scattered around the bench by various family members and that was it. Job done. Grandma and Grandad are now reunited and together at one of the places that they loved to go to and where they spent many happy hours. They were both vice presidents at the club and it seemed to be the perfect final resting place for them.


I have a very busy week coming up and lots of things to look forward to including a trip to Paris and a posh dinner in Oxford so I will probably be going on about all that next week.


Enjoy yourselves folks. We only get one shot at this life.


xxxxx

13 stone 6lbs?!?!

That's it. My week off is over and I'm back to work tomorrow. To be honest I am happy that next week will see some kind of normality restored.

I have found this last week extremely frustrating. I didn't manage to get much done...the double whammy of the weather being dull and not having any money meant that I spent a lot of time doing not much. I put off putting petrol in my car so that curtailed my travelling about. I didn't go to the hut. I spent far too much time trying to debug and put right this laptop which, at the moment at least, appears to be working better/faster than it has for ages. I was also given a new mobile phone as my old  iPhone had seen better days and had recently only just survived being dropped down the toilet. The new phone is good but it's not an iPhone so I am having to get used to a new layout and all that. I'm afraid technology and I don't go very well together these days!!

Since we moved to our new house last November things have not gone quite as smoothly as we had hoped mainly due to the decreasing health of my father in law and all that that entailed. In fact one of my few trips out this week was to return to his flat and go through some more of his belongings. I have made many trips to charity shops with bits and pieces of his that he always thought would be worth money but which subsequently proved to be worthless...or certainly not worth auctioning. Our house is currently cluttered with ornaments and photographs that came from his flat and it's proving quite difficult to detach ourselves from the sentiment that these things were his and Grandma's and that we should keep them.
Hubby and I have started being ruthless with his Dad's photos which is easier for me than for him obviously and so I have to sit with him and go through each photo as he decides whether we should keep them or not. It's never easy. Goodness knows I've gathered enough memorabilia to fill several full sized suitcases over the years and just this week I have thrown away cards that were sent to me by various people when I had my babies....the youngest of whom is now 23! So I know how hard it is to be ruthless with personal stuff. However, hubby is much more realistic than me and he was happy to throw out a lot more than I thought he would. We also delivered some archive photos to his Aunt and now the decision rests with her as to whether she keeps them or throws them away.

In 4 weeks time we are going on holiday and we also have a very busy June which is exciting. However, what this means is that I have to be organised and I have to be fit and my fitness is not great at the moment. Really the only exercise I get is walking the dog and I have recently noticed that my knees and my left foot are not really as comfortable as they have previously been. There is not a great problem and nothing to go to the docs about but I am aware that things are not quite as they were. Due to this.... and the fact that the holiday is looming.... I think I need to up my fitness and exercise regime.
My diet is not good so that is a fairly straightforward thing to address..at least, it should be. I need to drink much more water. I begrudge buying bottled water but I have to say that the water from our tap isn't very nice. I'm sure it's fine to drink but it has a metallic taste to it which I don't like but that should not put me off drinking it but it does. However, whatever I do I must drink more water and I must be more active....how many times have I typed that over the last year?!?!

I'm just going to go and weigh myself and then I'm going to let you know how much. Maybe that will encourage me to be proactive in my choices. I'll be right back....

....well, there you are...13st 6lbs. That is not good but I'm not surprised. I'm 5ft 9" and I think I should be 12st 12lbs so I have more than a bit of work to do but I do love a challenge and that is certainly what that is.

Right, things are on the up. I have used this laptop to type this update and it has worked properly for the first time in about 6 months. Hooray! I am going to get to grips with this new phone of mine and I am going to update via this blog each week until my holiday at least with a reference to my weight and general health and fitness.

I'm off for a drink of water!!

Have a fab week and see you next time.

xxx

Ggrrrrr

Well..... today, and for the last few days to be honest, I am feeling ggrrrrrrr! I'm irritable and irritated, fed up and frustrated, have no motivation and generally feel gloomy. I am not depressed, I'm not anxious and I'm not stressed. I'm just....ggrrrrr! I'm not sure if anyone who reads this has the same kind of feelings from time to time?

I'm not really sure where this latest bout of 'ggrrrr' has come from. I'm healthy and well, I have no major worries or concerns and everyone around me and those who I love and care about are well. I think that I am hoping that, by the time I have finished this update, I will have got all of the 'ggrrr' off of my chest and will feel unburdened. However, I know that that will not make for a very interesting read!

I have the week off as it's half term and the school that I work at is closed for the holiday. This should mean that I have lots of time to do things and go places. We also had a long Bank Holiday weekend, I wasn't working and there was the perfect time to do things.
Well, the Sunday of the weekend was the day that my son had his first BBQ. It was to celebrate his birthday and he and his girlfriend had done a fabulous job of organising it all. Hubby and I knew that one of us would be driving and I agreed to do it. I really didn't mind but I do find being with a lot of people who are having a good time and not being able to have a drink quite difficult.
The next day, Bank Holiday Monday, I was awake very, very early and got up and walked the dog. Hubby got up and settled in for a day of watching the cricket on TV with the single break of going food shopping. That was that for my holiday weekend. I think, in the end, I went to bed feeling angry and also disappointed that yet another weekend had passed by with little to show for it, especially as I usually work every Saturday and Sunday.

Today I have to stay in as there is a parcel being delivered 'sometime between 7am and 9pm'. Yes, sometime within that 14 hour time slot the parcel should arrive.I have to stay here to sign for it. Surely the company could have at least given it an AM or PM delivery slot. It means that I can't even take the dog out for a walk in case I miss the delivery. But, on the positive side, the delivery could be here in the next hour and then I have all the rest of the day free. It's not like I even have places I need to go to. It's just the fact that I am stuck at home that I find so frustrating. It's the way that I am looking at it that should change. I should be making the most of being at home and get on with decluttering which is high on my list of things to do....especially as we now have a house that is becoming cluttered with my father in law's bits and pieces, things that we don't really want but that we don't want to give/throw away. And let's not go there with the photos.....!

So, frustration is the word for today or, at least, it's the word to describe my feelings at the moment. I'm not sure how to shake the feeling off and be more upbeat. I do know that I am going to back off from trying to arrange things that really should be arranged by someone else. It's not up to me to be the moving force in every decision that is made. I sometimes feel that if I don't get the ball rolling then nobody will but, in reality, things will get sorted out in the end. It's just that I like things to be done. If something needs organising then get on and organise it. Why keep putting things off?
Now, you see, perhaps that is the crux of my frustration?! Perhaps this 'ggrrr' post has lead  me to what the actual problem is. Maybe I need to take a good few steps back and leave people to get on with their lives and I get on with mine. Lets see shall we.

xxx

Forever Friends

Hi everyone.

Today's update is about friends, simple as that.

I am truly fortunate to have very good friends - fantastic friends - who I love dearly and who I would do anything for.

When I was young it seemed that everyone had more friends than me. I used be get so upset about it. I thought there was something wrong with me. I was the classic ugly duckling. I was so uncomfortable in my own skin. I was taller than most of the people, especially girls, my age. I had bigger feet and hands than most of them too. I was freckly, gangly and generally 'not normal'. Add to this the fact that I was incredibly, cripplingly shy and self conscious and you may have some idea of how I felt for a lot of my school life.
I didn't excel at anything at school. I enjoyed English and the written word but was actually terrified of maths. The very thought of a maths lesson was enough to make me break out into a sweat.

Ah...sweat! There's another thing that I found traumatising. Girls aren't supposed to sweat. I sweated a lot and the more embarrassed I got about it the worse it got. Antiperspirants didn't work. To be honest, I have never found one that does! Then, of course, came the red blotchiness that first started happening in my late teenage years when I was embarrassed or anxious and which still gives me problems to this day. A nice, demure rosy glow was never going to be for me. No, in times of anxiety or stress I develop burning red cheeks and then a hot red rash that starts around my neck and then spreads up to my face and down to my chest and my upper arms. This also happens when I drink alcohol which is a bit annoying.

Anyway, all of these things conspired to make me feeling isolated, abnormal and alone. I made friends with people but never really felt worthy of their friendship. I often felt that people would only talk to me because they felt sorry for me and not because they liked me.
All of this self doubt made life very difficult at times. I spent a lot of time trying to work out how to fit in. I was jealous of my sister who was gorgeous and popular and who had  lots of friends. I compared myself negatively to everyone.

I've just read that back and, although it sounds sad, that is exactly how I felt for a lot of the time.

Anyway, social anxiety started to creep in and basically took over my life. I was too scared to go anywhere where I might have to talk to people. I felt people were looking at me and feeling sorry for me or, even worse, laughing at me and how I looked. Sadly, I still get that feeling from time to time. I'm very much better than I used to be but I know it's always going to be a bit of a problem from time to time.

But....I do have friends and, despite my youth and my awkwardness, my closest friends are friends that I met when I was at school. Quite amazingly, I have known  my bestie since we were 5....that's 50 years! We were in the same year at primary school. I have another wonderful friend that I have known since we were 11.

These days, and as we all learn when we get older but which is hard to accept when you are young, I know that it's not the number of friends that you have but the quality of your friendships that is so important.
 I cannot imagine my life without my friends. We have been there for each other through so many life events.... our marriages,the births of our children, the marriages of our children, the births of our grandchildren and the deaths of parents. We have laughed together and cried together. My friends have been rock solid in their support for me and of me. When I have been so immersed in a stressful situation that I can't think clearly, my friends have listened to me go on and on and then offered a shoulder for me to cry on. They have also offered advice and help in more ways than I can list. I hope that they feel that I have been able to offer similar to them.

I wish I was able to go back and speak to that shy, awkward, excruciatingly self-conscious lanky girl that I used to be and just tell her not to worry, tell her that she's not 'abnormal', tell her that she is loved and that everything is going to be ok....but I don't think she would believe me!

So, to my wonderful friends...you know who you are if you read this....thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have done for me. I love you more than you know and my life is all the better for you being a part of it.

Until next time....

xxxxx