Baby Quilt

 This has been a real labour of love and a lot of tears of frustration, with my useless right arm. I could not get my arm up onto the machine plate to guide the stitching and did this mostly one handed.

But with tears and screams I've done it. They are the best corners on the binding I've ever done. I watched a 'you tube' quilter about 20 times, I was so determined to get them perfectly mitred. I've hand stitched around the figures and 'machined in the ditch' the seams.

It has not been easy and although I've cut enough squares to do another one for charity, I think I'll give it a rest for a few weeks.

But I did it,..... ta----da!

Chrisxx

Happy News

 We had very broken nights sleep Saturday night as Dh's daughter was in hospital expecting her first baby.. She had gone in, because it is an IVF baby and was being treated with kid gloves.. 

She didn't go to the maternity ward till late on the Saturday night so we were on tender hooks.. but nothing was happening.. we waited all day and had the phone call late yesterday ....a baby girl, 7lbs 3oz by caesarian section.. such happy news and a relief.. we both slept soundly last night!

Chrisxx

A Medicine?

 Things that go through my mind when I can't sleep. The other night one of my thoughts were...when did they start drinking tea in Britain? I remember studying about the spice trades and the journeys from the Asian continent and I remembered it was 1650's when it arrived in England.

When I looked it up I found that it is suggested that tea is the most popular beverage in the world after water. It's a simple preparation of pouring water over cured leaves of the Camellia Sinesis plant, and was first recorded in the 3rd Century AD

But then I thought I only drink de-caff these days, so what about that tea? I lie there awake.. then I want a cuppa, when it gets to about 6 to 7- ish, I whisper to Dh to check if he's awake,  'Do you want a cuppa?'  And the love he is, he gets up and makes the tea.  That first morning cuppa is like nectar! Each time I was in hospital having surgery on my arm, he used to bring me a de-caff from the Costa shop.

And of course it has to be a china cup!

When you really think about it, tea is like a medicine.

Feeling cold, cup of tea.

Feeling hot, cup of tea,

Feeling Sad, cup of tea.

Bad news, cup of tea.

Celebration, cup of tea.

Visitors, cup of  tea.

Feeling weary, cup of tea.

Its suggested that tea boosts the immune system

Fights inflammation,

Supports heart health,

Prevents certain cancers,

Provides antioxidants.

Wow! I knew there was a reason to be drinking tea all day!!

Do you?

Chrisxx

What a surprise on our Sunday Afternoon!

 Photos of the American and Hot Rod meet Sunday afternoon, the sun shone and the promenade was crowded. We were there walking and enjoying the sun, the sea air and an ice cream.  And then vroom. vroom they arrived, one with a police siren and horns about 50 in total.

The whole event was planned for the folks with cars to enjoy the cruise and get together. It was great, that there were so many people there to enjoy it, as its the first event of this type. It looked as though it was a great success, so its suggested the guys with the inspiration may organise more and find a way to let people know, so that they'll come to see them all.

It was very impressive and the atmosphere was electric, the noise, the colours, the sunshine and all the people visiting!  My sons, who are car mad would have loved it! 

And at the end of the afternoon, the sea was calm and all the visitors went home..

It was a lovely day for us and I walked a just over a mile! I loved the ice cream best, uncase you asked!

Chrisxx

(Photos curtesy of Johnnie Hughes)

The Wilderness.

 My town has an area of urban green space near to the town centre, known as The Wilderness,  Its cared for by volunteers who visit there every morning to feed the swans.

The lake was enlarged about 20 years ago and supports a variety of fish and now is about 3 acres.

It's a beautiful area and valued by the town's people.. there was an item on the town's face book page the other week, about a cygnet found floundering on the duel carriage way, which used to be the railway and runs parallel to the Wilderness; it was supposed that it was a failed first flight and guided back to the lake! It's visited each year by Canada Geese, which we often see flying over our home, both night and morning.

The hen, named Angel has a deformed wing, but is perfectly alright and has had several broods in the three years she has been there

It is teaming with wild life, birds, trees and small creatures and in 2020 a group of volunteers planted 2000 bluebells and 2000 daffodils.

Why am I telling you all this is because, when I was little I played there with school friends and it was just a scrubby area with a thin trickle of a stream. I often went home with wet muddy knicks where I had slipped over.. there wasn't any visible wild life, just a lot of screaming children. It was a heavenly place to play altho' not approved by my grandmother, but then who would have told her where I had been? I certainly didn't and there was a neighbour often around to clean me up before I ventured home!

I was amazed when I moved back here 3 years ago, how different it was.. thankfully it will always be looked after by groups of volunteers. 

A truly beautiful place well worth looking after.

Chrisxx

You're worthy!

I love these sayings and when I read similar for the first time, I realised I was a person in my own right and worthy!

A harsh childhood with a Victorian grandmother, who didn't spare the rod. And then a bad choice of husband, who thought I was the lowest of the low. Thank God I came to a place in my life that gave me the courage to leave him and start a new life!

Chrisxx

Just one.......

 Dull wintery days has had me snuggled down at home, avoiding the call to walk from my inner reluctant self.  Its meant a gain of a pound this week,  but I can cope with that. A while ago I'd be remonstrating with myself and vowing I'd cut out even more of the foods I love, and be walking on the treadmill till my little legs are aching.. but now I think its only a pound and only this one week!

Where did I get that sensible head from?? Old age I think and maybe several years too late!

The beaches look wind swept and deserted, however there are always some brave souls walking their dogs and even the surfers suitably dressed in wet suits or are they dry suits?

There are three live webcams here in Porthcawl, which I look at some mornings, interesting to look at. At one time last year the RNLI cam had a spider and the little long legged creature made a lace covering over it.. 

Bleak and not even winter yet.. our heating has kept us warn, but I will have to tog myself up and brave the elements, if I want to keep that pound gain to just a pound and just one week!

Chrisxx

The answer.

 I seemed to have got this losing weight under my belt as it were, if that's the saying I want. But everywhere and I mean everywhere is out to get you, so called healthy and slim. Television adverts, on line, supermarkets all trying to prove that healthy means slim. (Although supermarkets are loaded with chocs, cakes and fatty foods, there are also aisles of so called healthy foods)

Each time I had any pre-operation check ups, I was asked had I had any unexplained drop in weight? My reply was..'I wish!' Until that is my sister in law was diagnosed with colon cancer. The last time we'd seen her before she was diagnosed, she looked very slim and was delighted that she had lost weight, saying she was wearing clothes she had kept, but thinking she'd never get in them again.. don't we all do that. I have a wardrobe full of them!

So I'm going down the route of  a small weight losses, basically I don't want rolls of skin, when I have lost the fat, but also it allows me to have the odd meal out and this for a pud now and then! Yes, why doesn't skin lose weight??

So I have found that happy medium. That last weekend, when we met up with Dh's sister he'd said he had never seen her looking so old.. I never saw again, lockdown arrived and she went into a care home. Dh went to her funeral only being close family allowed.

So losing regularly and slowly is suiting me at the moment. We eat a variety of foods, Dh likes cooking so SW books and PON books are on our coffee table all the time and we're enjoying what we're eating, and that's the main thing too, eating food you enjoy!

Chrisxx

Reading is good for you!

 I have a life long love of reading, so the library is very important to me.. So I was horrified to find when we moved here, the new library is not in the main high street of the town. And even worse, it was up steps with an 'S' shaped ramp if you can't manage the steps, and even worse the ramp is over hung with trees, so lots of drippy wet drops when it rains and also in high winds the ramp is closed incase a branch breaks and falls! We didn't get to the Book group last week, because it was raining too heavily and even with macs and an umbrella we'd have been soaked. I've read this week that libraries are closing down because of lack of use and 160 are now being manned by volunteers paid in some instances by the local charity of the town where it is sited. This in my view is awful as it has been proven and researched to show...

Reading is good for you!

It is a known fact that reading has benefits.. it boosts mental cognition. It seems that simply imagining about running while reading about it, can trigger the neurons related to the physical act of running, therefore enhancing connectivity in specific parts of the brain. Neuroscientists involved in the study said ' reading a griping novel makes changes in the way the brain connects the different circuits. This research may explain why readers often find it easier to make decisions, plan, prioritize, and access their creative side.  

It aids sleep, reading has a calming effect, and when it becomes a  nightly ritual, there is signaling to the brain that it is time to wind down and helps to regulate the body clock.

Reading is thought to reduce stress helping to lower the heart rate and ease tension in the muscles, even better it is suggested than walking or listening to music. 

It improves life satisfaction, on average readers are more happy than non readers.. Studies have shown that those, who read for pleasure have a higher level of self esteem than those who don't and cope with difficult situations more easily.

It may help you to live longer..simply picking up a book could mean living longer. According to research reading a chapter a day might actually keep the Dr away! A study of 3,635 people by Yale University found that book worms tend to live longer, maybe up to 2 years longer. Other research has shown that reading can significantly slow brain aging, this includes improvements in memory, visuospatial skills and attention.

If you want to find out more about this, you'll find it at https://ultimatelibrary.co.uk/

I knew there was a good reason to why I loved reading and so now I know!

Chrisxx

Saturday Night Entertainment.

     We love 'Strictly Come Dancing' on TV even though there has been some unpleasantness and suggestions of the Professionals being too harsh, it hasn't put us off watching it. 

We have our favourites who we vote for each week, we make our own comments on their dancing. 

(J B Gill and Amy Dowden) Their jive was wow, how did he keep kicking like that, we were out of breath watching him!

(Dr Punam Krishan and Gorka Marquez) She danced beautifully this week, but had very low marks from the judges, we thought she looked beautiful and danced gracefully. But we thought her Viennese Waltz was absolutely gorgeous.

(Wynne Evans and Katya Jones) Wynne was amazing and never kept still, we were clapping and shouting ... go Wynne go! A great Quickstep! We tune in to his Radio show in the mornings on Radio Wales, he's so funny and it is so the way of Welsh people.

When they perform really well we're full of complements. And get annoyed if the Judges mark our favourites poorly! We recognise some of the steps and clap if our celebrities dance well, we try to guess their scores and give them our own scores.. we'd give them all 10 s! 

In our view its a wonderful entertainment show, its not just the dancing, but the costumes, the make up, the music, the whole show, we love it all! A real Saturday night TV show.

Do you watch it and if you do, do you have favourites and vote for them?

Chrisxx