On a very hot Bank Holiday!

 

This odd not very good photograph, is of Dh on the coolest side of our bungalow cooking on the BBQ yesterday!

We don't really notice Bank Holidays being retired, but Dh always like to acknowledge them,  by having special food!!

But it was so hot outside on our patio, over 30C as it is SW facing.

He had bought a plancha grill plate, which we'd seen on Jaime Oliver's cooking programme. Dh does like his cooking tools.

Anyway the food was all delicious and altho he'd got our patio table ready under the umbrella, we ate inside, as it was just too hot.

Sorry no photo I ate mine without even thinking about a photo.

Prawns,  BBQ chicken, rice, that we call Jewel rice as its boiled rice with chopped red peppers, peas, chopped salad onions, and sweet corn.. as well as a Green Salad, Coleslaw, and our own pickled cucumber, with Dh's sauce of Chinese Rice wine and Soya sauce.. all so delicious.

Followed by strawberries and ice cream of course!

What did you have, anything special?

Chrisxx

This is me!!

12 Things older people just don't have the patience any more.

Keeping up with new trends

Complicated technology for its own sake

Uncomfortable shoes.

Overly noisy restaurants.

One sided relationships.

Clutter in the home.

Small talk without substance.

Wining every argument.

Digital clutter and constant pings.

Lack of punctuality.

Poor quality products.

Pretending to be someone else.

What about you?

Chrisxx

Walking.

I've done the virtual walk of the Jesus trail 62.744 km in 91 days (Just under 40 miles) It should have been 90 days, but I had a bad couple of days with my cold. Its done me good, got me walking albeit not miles and miles and also made me realise how little I actually walk!

Most days I didn't start till gone 11am, so I'm going to make a better effort next time, and I have signed up for Barcelona. I've never been there and so looking forward to the street views.

In case you go walking in Barcelona and you see walkers, this is my Bib!!

For anyone curious about these walks, its........

theconqueror.events

https://www.theconqueror.events › virtual › challenges

Of course you have to pay, but over all I thought worth it.

Chrisxx

Here I go!!

 I've been looking for a gentle exercise and balance class... criky you'd think there'd be one here in my own town, but no.

My friend in New Zealand goes to one, organised by Age Concern, so I thought, yea!! Why didn't I think of that, their purpose is to care for the elderly, so they must run classes for older people.   Well of course they don't, nor did the person who spoke to me on the phone know of any, but she said she'd make enquiries. 

There are groups, but they are all jig/ dance around groups, tai chi or yoga.. so not for me. So I asked on Basil-end's FB pages, loads of answers and very suitable for me. 

So I phoned one highly recommended, but of course the one she does in Laleston on Tuesday mornings is full, but I was welcome to go to the Friday group.. we could do it if we left SW slightly early, so I'm going to give it a go!

 Next week she suggested, I don't have any jogging bottoms and my trainers squeeze my bad toe, so I shall have to see how I get on! I want to do it, but I'm nervous.. so I've given myself a talking to, so I have to pull up my big girl pants and go for it!

Chrisxx

Hairdesser V Barbers

 It seems that there are now inquiries into all these new Barber shops, popping up around, which have been suspected of money laundering. When Dh heard this on the Jeremy Vine radio show, his answer to them is, they should all be shot at dawn!!

He has an aversion to barbers, as he is very proud of his full head of hair, albeit now white! His last visit to the barbers, he said was a very traumatic experience. He had found a barber in town that he liked, an older man who understood 'short back with long side burns,' but horror of horrors, he has left.. and now it is one of the Turkish barbers, who operate the 'number' versions of cuts. 

Asked what he wanted, Dh had said...number 8! So having persuaded the young man, that he only needed a light trim, he sat down nervously watching the barber in the mirror. All was going ok, when he was asked about his eyebrows and ears. Dh grows enough hair in those to stuff a cushion.. but whoops before he could say anything, the barber produced a smoking spill and proceeded to burn off Dh's ear hair, after which he asked Dh to lean forward to the basin and started to wash his hair. Dh sat up and explained, only he, himself and his Mum washed his hair!! LOL He is such a baby!!

I said it looked very nice, and it did..  I had the same thing, without the 'ear experience' and paid £44, Dh paid £14, so why is he making a fuss!!

I love having my hair washed and styled and have it done weekly.. what about you, do you like someone doing your hair?

Chrisxx

If you know, you know.

 

We've been  to Basil-end this morning, called Basil-end, because when we lived in Essex we used to pop to Basildon and here we pop to Bridgend. We couldn't get used to calling it Bridgend so hence Basil-end.

We saw a young lady we knew and stopped to chat, she remarked that we probably knew her wife, as they live in Porthcawl.. I am someone brought up in a very strict chapel, by a Victorian grandmother, and always have been a church go-er, so same sex marriages are not in my beliefs. Hard for some people to understand I'm sure, but at 83 years of age I'm not able to change now.. but I don't dislike people and how they want to live, nor judge them, even though its not my way of thinking... so as we said goodbye I gave her my warmest, kindest smile, thinking to myself, WWJD.

Chrisxx

I need to believe this...

 Something I recently read....

5 ways  to let go of the past.

1.Stop replaying the painful memories every day. 

What the mind repeatedly revisits emotionally continues to stay alive.

2. Forgive yourself for who you were during those painful seasons.

You were learning, surviving and hurting all at the same time.

3.Accept that some people will never apologise or understand your pain.

Healing can not depend on someone else's awareness.

4 Focus your energy on the life happening now.

The present moment is where peace, growth and healing actually exist.

5 Allow yourself to move forward without guilt.

You are allowed to heal,

You are allowed to smile again.

And you are allowed to become free from what once hurt you deep.

Chrisxx

Feeling better.

 Gone are the days, when a rub on my chest with some Vick and hot drink of lemon juice and honey, with  a new packet of tissues and I was fine. This cold has really taken the stuffing out of me. I'm really tired and ready for bed most nights at 9. Thank you for your good wishes and commiserations, I  am beginning to feel better. 

And yesterday in the sunshine, I felt so much better. I walked round the garden and felt all my hard work growing the seeds has been worth it, everything is growing well. 

Our latest rose , called 'Tottering By Gently, '..  is in full bud and will shortly be looking like this photo. 

We have 6 roses now and 3 climbing roses, I love roses, the colour and the scent.

We (the Royal we) painted my Aunty's stork, altho Dh says its an Egret, but my Aunty thought it was a stork, and so the children and I have always referred to it as, Aunty Glad's stork. She bought it from 'the boutique'  as she called it, the Saturday afternoon Jumble Sale which she went to every week.

Its very white again! He stands under Dh's tree, it has come with us through 3 gardens as small snips, called a Creeping Olive tree, leaves like an olive and in spring, it has very tiny yellow flowers, and the scent is amazing, we trim it every year to keep it small. I have one in a pot and I'm going to try to cut the tap root to see if I can  keep it very small. I shall keep a record and see what happens.

How are your gardens looking?

Chrisxx

Niggles

 Altho' I haven't got a cold, I've been off colour all week..bit of a tum, which was upset enough to warrant a dose of Imodium and then that acted too well.. but I've discovered  a dose of Movicol, 2 Sennacot and 5 prunes is too much!! 

My stomach felt like I'd been kicked by a horse, all ok now,  but to add to my moaning, a new roll of toilet paper wouldn't tear off! There were the impressions of the tear off strip, but it wouldn't tear..   But if I didn't have that little niggle I'd think of something else!

And altho' my cold has gone, I've started coughing, as soon as I lie down in bed, I start coughing, such a pesk. I've a cough medicine, but its just one more thing.

And because of my cold I've had to defer our covid jabs, so now they're not till mid May.. just one more thing to sort.

I feel its all niggles and I'm miserable.. so be glad you don't live with me. 

Dh's cold came and went and he feels fine.. humph!!

Anyway why am I complaining, I could be on a cruise ship with the Hantavirus, isn't that terrible, poor people.

And our little draenog continues to come, its such a pleasure watching her (or is it him)

Chrisxx

Such a busy place!

 

Not our draenog, but you can see the same set up for the feeding station. 

We decided our draenog is female, because last night another one arrived and she started doing the huffing, and pushed him out of the way and he went off at top speed.

She usually arrives around 9:30pm but last night she was later and then ran off. They never just walk but run, their little legs going 'pell-mell' 

Then there were two eyes peeping between the flower pots and it was a little mouse, he scurried across to the food, looked into the food station and ran off, obviously not to his taste!

Between 12mn and 3:00 am 3 cats strolled across the patio! All looked in the feeding station but couldn't get to the food.

Draenog ? was back at 4:19, if it was our one, but could have been the rejected 'lover.' 

And so our night time patio was busy.. but the magpies have a go too. One arrived while the morning chorus was in full swing.. he jumped on to the tile lid, then peaked inside, and pecked the tile,  then hopped down and managed to get a stray bit of the kibble and flew off,

But at 8:50am a squirrel arrived, he wasn't a bit interested in the food, a quick look at the food station and he was gone.

This trail cam keeps me busy looking at all the visitors, I love it. We're still looking to see how to down load the videos.. watch this space. 

Chrisxx