Like or Don't Like?

 We are all so different and although I do try to be pleasant some days, I don't feel like being pleasant. Last week..for some unknown reason, I nearly screamed at someone. Where ever we are if she comes across us, she has to sit beside me. I've never asked her to join us and although she appears to be a very pleasant person, I just don't like her. I can't explain why, apart from leaning over me up close, she hasn't actually done anything to me, so what is it about her that I find to dislike? Some of her comments are barbed, and she must be either hard of hearing or plainly down right rude, because she starts to talk when you are still talking and answering her.   I've tried to analyse why I don't like her, but I don't know why.

When we first met some of my relatives in Australia, they were all very nice , but one, Coral the wife of Lance, who is a second cousin of my late mother (got it??) I didn't just like her, I loved her, right from the beginning, why? I couldn't tell you. We had written letters to each other, not emails, actually 'snail mail' letters. It all started when one cousin of my mother, wanted to write to someone from the 'old' country, Wales.. and as I was the one who wrote for my grandmother to her sister, my name was put forward.  We wrote for quite a while, I got to know him quite well and secretly sort of loved him. When I learnt he had been killed in a car accident; I was very upset and took a day off work. His sister asked if I'd like to write to her as evidently my letters were shared. When she died her daughter in law, saw my last letter with a Christmas card and wrote to tell me, and that's how we got to know each other. What was it about Coral that I loved? I don't know, we are still in contact, now via the internet.  She has a warm way about her that appealed to me from the first moment I met her, and I still love her!

So why do we  like some people and not others? 

Chrisxx

We did.....

 We took it and  there was only 2 very small slices left, which we had for lunch when we got home, so it was well received by the group members.

I made the full salad to go with it.

Shredded crisp lettuce

Pickled Cucumber

Baby tomatoes,

Salad onions,

Apple,

Green Olives,

Pine Nuts.

(I can make a salad although I struggled to chop up the apple with my duff arm!)

It was all delicious and I followed it with frozen raspberries and a Banana Custard for my pudding, that's my new favourite dessert!

A good start to our week , as Friday after weighing it can be tempting to have a treat|!|

And the meeting was good fun, the young woman who was the Greatest Loser had lost 6 stone 4 pounds, 88 pounds! It took her 2 years, so well done.

I lost a pound which was a super surprise, because although we've kept to the SW food plan, we ate a lot! So far since Christmas I've lost weight every week! (Hope I haven't jinked myself saying that!)

And yes Marcia, the 'cheese caught' meant it burnt. 

(Aussiebel you email link doesn't work.)

Chrisxx

Not quite right.,

 Our SW group meeting this week is a Celebration of the greatest 'loser' Its not me!! LOL.

So, we all  bring a food item that is SW. Dh makes something when we have these 'dive in and eat' mornings. There is always a selection of different food items. Some very delish, some not for me. I did once have to discretely get rid of a lump of ?? in a tissue and hope the member, who made it didn't see me.

I don't really like these taster meetings preferring my marmalade sandwich, which I take every week, its my breakfast.

Dh was in the kitchen for an hour plus, prepping the veg for this vegetarian crustless quiche, but he left it in the oven just those few too minutes too long, and the cheese 'caught.'  He doesn't want to take it, but we cut a slice, and inside it looks fine.. so do you think we should take it or leave it? 

Chrisxx

Frugal and Heathy?

 Dh and I often talk about meals we had as children, how they were filling, but low cost meals, no fancy meals but basic foods that were in season. A shopping trip was for a meal already planned not to browse. New products were rare and impulse buying was limited because simply there wasn't much to be tempted by.

Meals were planned around seasonal availability not cravings, so the basic ingredients, were root vegetables, cabbage and onions, and these from my Grand dad's allotment. Meat was made to last several meals, rather than fresh every day!

There was no such thing as snacking, because there weren't any, no yogurts, packet chocolate biscuits or fruit drinks. In my day a snack was an apple! Biscuits were for visitors or an after dinner treat, not to be eaten throughout the day.

And of course there was no waste, as left overs were  to be eaten not ignored. Where there was left overs they became the next meal or tomorrow's lunch.

Eating out was not part of my childhood,  only if we had been asked to join with  friends or relatives for a special occasion.  Take Aways were unheard of, perhaps fish and chips on a Saturday, but that wasn't a regular thing. 

None of this was considered healthy eating or being frugal, this was simply how we lived. 

My grandmother's cawl ( soup) could last for days. I happily ate homemade jam with bread and butter for tea and I loved bread and dripping! I don't think I was hard done by, my gran made cake and that was a Sunday tea treat along with tinned peaches with Evaporated milk.

No wonder there were no over weight children, no high sugar food stuffs and we ran about all day long, even on rainy days. We were healthy by default and no one complained about not enough money for food. 

It was a way of life, we were healthy and slim!

Chrisxx

No Further Words needed.

 

Chrisxx

A Very Good Read

Oh dear I cried and cried through this book. 

An author I hadn't read before and I'll read another by her.

When Ellen  visits home for her father's birthday, her planned life path changes.  

Essentially this book is about how relationships change within a family, when one member becomes ill and is need of care. The novel's greatest strength is in its characterisation.  Ellen is a successful young New York journalist, so different from her homebound mother, the wife of small town English Literature Professor. 

She is called upon to take care of Kate, her mother, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. So, she is driven to abandon her chosen life path and confronted with caring for her mother, running a house and she sees first hand, the unequal partnership that is her parent's marriage and with mortality itself.

We learn right at the beginning of the book that Ellen is being questioned about her mother's death and is suspected of 'a mercy killing.'

With the inevitable death of her mother, Ellen comes to realise something she hadn't acknowledged previously in her life, and she changes into a person with a heart. The one true thing was 'love.'

I can't express how moved I was by this book, I was entranced from page one and raced through it. 

What I thought was a sadness for Ellen, was that her successful father wasn't the man she thought he was, and that her mother who was 'only a home bound wife,' was the strong one, the one, with whom she never really identified.

A touching portrayal of a mother and daughter's relationship which will not leave you unmoved. I loved it.

Chrisxx

4 Flowers!!

 We bought this from the store that took over Home Base in Bridgend.. its huge and  perfect for walking when its wet. Known for its cheaper priced items, B&M has become quite a favourite of ours when its wet.

We bought this just before Christmas and I planted it up after Christmas on Boxing day. The huge buds opened last week and aren't they beautiful, there are 4 flowers, white with the pink lines on them.

I'm very, very pleased with our buy.. did you get an Amaryllis this year?

Chrisxx

Would you be ready?

Wind up radio.  

               

Survival flint and steel to start a fire

 Portable solar battery.

Compass.

First Aid Kit, plus pain killer tabs and your own prescription tabs.

Bottled water +++

Tinned food plus several tin openers.

Dried food stuffs, like rice pasta and flour, yeast and packet foods, that have a heating element

Water proof clothing and extra warm clothing.

And?? Who knows??  And would we have these things to hand or should we be buying them now? 

Just a few people scaremongering on the internet, if there was to be WW3.

Personally I'd rather stay in my home and go out with a bang!

 Reading these has reminded me of the Nevil Shute book, 'On the Beach' When there had been a nuclear war and the last surviving people in Australia, were waiting for the fallout to reach there and die, altho they had been given pills to end their lives..Did that book shock me as to what might happen in my life time? Not at all, I had never even considered that it could happen, ever!

But the way that Trump talks, his unfiltered words, he could talk us into a war every time he opens his mouth. He seems to think he can talk Russia into peace, if only Ukraine will cede the land already occupied to Russia! And why should Ukraine give it up, its their land.. and if they don't Russia has implied that the Europeans including UK will be next. 

Would you be ready?

Chrisxx

Nail Bitting.

 Once again Dh and I have been gripped by the TV  programme 'The Traitors.'

How Rachel kept so cool in those last few episodes amazed me.  Several players started to suspect her and she was voted for by three 'Faithfuls' and was tied with James and then by chance got the saving Shield, How she kept looking so cool was amazing, how did she do it?

The final scene with Steven, Jack and Rachel was nail biting.  Jack had voted for her and then the hesitancy of Steven was agonising, would he stay faithful to her and vote for Jack too or vote for her, which would give him all of the prize money, close on £100,00?  Whew, he acted it well and kept her guessing too. I don't know who was more relieved when he turn his slate around with Jack's name on it, Rachel or myself!

So the two Traitors walked away with £47,875 each, and it was well deserved. They fooled the others in the game and kept faithful to each other, right up to the end.

Its been a fantastic programme again, with some unbelievable tasks for the players to do. The last one where they had to climb up a reservoir wall on a rope ladder and then run down it, wow that took some strength. I wonder if they have to take some tests before they are accepted as players in the game?

Overall in my opinion this 2026 Traitors is the best!

Did you watch it?

Chrisxx

So pretty and something to do on wet afternoons.

It seems there are more people in the younger age bracket these days, that watch you tube rather than live television. Dh and I are license payers and watch BBC and value it. We've recently notice that often after a BBC programme, there is an announcement saying, ' this has come to you and paid by you.'  

But I watch you tube videos that demonstrate how to do something mostly, and quilting is one of my favourites.

I love watching these quilting videos and I have made things from watching them, but not this one...but I'd like to.

Perhaps my next project!

Its very pretty!

Chrisxx

Happy Day

 This should be my mantra when I open the curtains and see rain. I just hate getting wet, and damp. So I have to think happy thoughts and believe the words on this........

Chrisxx

UFOs

 Have you heard of or read of 'analogue' bags? Its the opposite of digital. Some thing ready for you to do instead of being on line? It could be a book or an unfinished item or something new to sew or knit. I have 3 unfinished  knitting projects all stopped by my broken arm. All my cross stitch unfinished items went to a charity shop last year. It wasn't easy to let them go and I tried a few times to stitch, but my arm just wouldn't do it.

So it was time to let them go and perhaps I could do the same with the knitting, free myself of the guilt of not completing them and free up some cupboard space..so before the end of January that's what I intend to do!

Chrisxx

Snowdrops and Snow!

 This is a snowdrop walk  open to the public in Gloucester .

A friend and I went on one like it a few years ago. We made a weekend trip away, going on the Saturday and staying over night.  It was so pretty and I hadn't seen so many snowdrops and there was a scent as we walked along. Then we had a lovely Saturday afternoon going round some shops in the little town, we even treated ourselves to a Cream Tea. 

Our B&B was very comfortable , and I was pleased we had booked it, but we were very surprised when the lady running it asked if we wanted to stay on the Sunday night, because we had only booked it for the one night,  as we had work on the Monday.  She thought it might snow, but there was no sign to us that it might.

 But Sunday morning, when we looked out, it was white everywhere, it had snowed heavily in the night and the little road in the town was blocked and it was still snowing! 

Locals said it would be difficult driving and we were advised not to drive and wait to see if it would stop. It didn't and gradually got worse. Mid afternoon we both phoned our schools to explain the problem and that we wouldn't be there Monday morning. 

I arrived in school by Monday afternoon, and was astonished to see that there was no snow in Essex...but I had photographs to show I had indeed been snowed in, it was very deep and crisp and even!

Chrisxx

I'm so proud!

 These are from our front garden picked 15th January, would you believe it, still January!!

Quite a few years ago, when I was still working as a  teacher, I always wore a daffodil on March 1st, St David's Day.

The one year none of the shops in Billericay had any, and none in my garden either, not even a leaf. So I wore a silk one.

The following year, round about the middle of February I dug up a daffodil bulb, that had just a crown of leaves breaking through the soil. 

I balanced it on a slim jam jar with water in it, so that just the roots were in the water and kept it in the kitchen in the warm.

I had a sort of bloom by March, although I had to forcibly open the bud, but I did have a daffodil and of course that year every supermarket in town had bunches galore!!

What flowers have you flowering early, snowdrops?

Chrisxx

Precious or tutt??

 There are so many suggestions on decluttering these days, but it isn't easy. When we moved here four and a half years ago, we brought a lot of stuff we didn't need or indeed want, but it was still lock down and charity shops were closed. So once lock down was over, I tried to pack up at least one bag of 'stuff' a week. And I did,  and gradually Dh and I got rid of a lot of stuff. But then we got into getting the garden straight and time spent clearing stuff went and then it stopped!

I do have a dresser with 'precious' things, gifts, things associated with memories, my 'blue collection,' a jug that was a wedding gift of my mother's and eight different cats. I used to collect cats, there are only the eight left. I originally had thirty plus! It's going to be really hard to thin out my dresser things, I love them, that's why they are displayed there.

But so much of what we think matters, doesn't last. Not in the way we imagine. When a life ends, what's left becomes someone else's sorting job; someone else's burden, someone else's decision. 

When my Aunties' died, 1994, their house was full, full, full, full!!

I had to hire a skip even though a lot of stuff went to charity shops. It took a week and a school friend came to help. We had fun, trying on hats, and wondering why there was 3 ironing boards, 3 vacuums, and so many tea sets and dinner plates. Under the stairs was full of toilet paper, a side board cupboard full of sugar.. war time habits had stayed with them!

I must start sorting out my things regularly again, I don't want to think they'd end up like this skip!

Are you a regular sorter, do you have things that are precious to you, but may be 'tutt' to anyone else? Difficult isn't it?

Chrisxx

Getting healthy!

 Dh and I have been walking , not on this beach but on the promenade above it.. There was a sea 'breeze' but as we were wrapped up well, we didn't feel cold, even though it was only 4°C. Dh was wearing his bobble hat and to be honest I wish I had too, because my ears got cold and my left one is a bit achy, hope it calms down.

Doesn't this couple look nice with their dog, mooching along the waters edge, although a bit bleak. 

I felt invigorated by the fresh sea air and the walking gave me a good feeling too.

Something I want to do as often as I can, I won't say everyday, because I don't go out in the rain!! But this a step to getting healthier. We watched a TV programme Tuesday evening called, 'What not to eat,' and I'm proud to say apart from bacon, we eat very healthily.. It was all about ultra processed foods. They showed how the cheap ham is produced and it looked disgusting. So we're thinking should we reduce our bacon, but we do like our scrambled eggs and bacon! Any ideas on what we could have instead?

Chrisxx

GOOD!

 
Most people are good, most people kiss their pets goodbye.

Most people read just one more bedtime story to their children.

Most people visit their grandparents even when they have no time and even stop to check on some quiet friends after a long day.

Most people return their shopping trolleys, despite being late and let another customer with only one or two items jump to the front of the queue. 

Most people give money, even when money is scarce and worry about people they don't know day in day out.

When the  world seems bad, remember, most people are good.

Written by Donna Ashworth.

Chrisxx

A Blue Monday

 We got up yesterday morning to a dreary cold wet day..A typical winter Monday that I really don't like. I had not slept well, and didn't not want to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for our on line Welsh lesson at 9:30.. so Dh and I emailed our regrets and skipped it. Well we are adults and can choose what we want to do, but I still felt like a naughty child!

We just got on with a clean up of our lounge, although it only needed us to tidy round.. we are inclined to leave things around. And a stack of books had grown on the coffee table, because we had started to check which books we had both read, so we could give them away, we only had 2 and so 12 were to be put away. That was a bit of a fail and the books are now on the shelf under the coffee table, rather than on top of the table!

We're back on the SW food plan, I was playing catch up for Friday's extra treats. I had a few extras, which snowballed into eating everything and anything in sight. It can happen as you might know, if you've ever tried to lose weight. My Friday weigh-in loss at the SW group was 1.5lbs, not bad. 

Dh made SW's Hunter's Chicken Pasta for our evening meal and it was absolutely delicious. I could have eaten it twice over, and then filled up with frozen Raspberries and a Banana Custard yogurt, which hits my sweet spot. 

A satisfying meal on a blue winter's day was just what I needed. What does it for you?

Chrisxx

New to me.....

 the author...Elly Griffiths. 

Quite a few bloggers recommend this author so as this book was offered for only 99p for kindles, I decided to give it a try.

I quite enjoyed it; it was the first in the Dr Ruth Galloway series, and I was pleasantly surprised as to how good the book was.

The story starts with the discovery of some small bones, and being an archeologist Dr Ruth Galloway is called in for her advice by DI Harry Nelson.

I must say I liked Ruth from the very beginning, age 40, socially inept, over weight and living on the wind swept Norfolk salt marshes, with her cats; she is not the usual picture of a main character in a book.  Set in such a wild place, this was a brilliant location for murder, tension and excitement.

Ruth had no idea what a profound effect this case would have on her life. The bones turned out to be centuries old, but DI Nelson initially thought the bones were of a child who had gone missing 10 years previously with no trace of her or her body. Then a new young girl goes missing and letters are sent to the police with quotes from the Bible and Shakespeare 

It is very well written with twists and turns, which will keep you guessing and the author ably captures and uses the atmosphere of the Norfolk marshes to add to the mystery. 

I did really enjoy it, enough to read the next book in the series, where things develop between Dr Ruth and DI Nelson. Although I won't write about that book here, 'The Janus Stone,' so you can find out for yourself what happens and like me you might be surprised!

Chrisxx

Weather on the TV

 

 This photograph of Porthcawl light house is often shown on the BBC weather report.

And it was this evening.

It is quite a famous light house when there are rough seas and local people all feature photographs of it on the town FB pages.

Quite a spectacular photo.. the whole base has all been reinforced and work on it was only finished last year.

Strange to think I used to play all along this pier when I was young and also played dodging under the waves!

Chrisxx

Lessons for Women.

 I keep coming across articles about how women should look after themselves. The way I was brought up has prompted me to be a 'people pleaser.' But reading these articles has forced me to realise, I must really be looking after myself, a lesson I should have learnt a long, long time ago.

I only have one body and it has to last me, so I should be looking after it better, more moving, nourishing it, building habits that will support it and build it to be strong to carry me through life. 

Self care is essential and non negotiable.

There must be boundaries, like a safety net surrounding your mental health and sometimes physical. Anyone who tries to  make you feel negative about your boundaries, isn't looking out for what's best for you. Learn to say 'no.'

Your worth is defined by you and not others. Don't live your life defined by others.

Forgiveness frees you, not them. Forgiveness isn't for the other person, but lets you move on and process the feelings. It might take time to find a way that feels good for you and that's ok. Forgiveness, that's all for you.

Life doesn't owe you fairness, its unfortunate but true. There isn't a fair deal, a fair chance or a fair anything, it doesn't owe you.

Nature heals, get out and enjoy it. Regardless of what's going on, spend time in nature, it heals!

You're allowed to love girlhood, regardless of age, you can love pink and butterflies, dance in your pyjamas, you don't have to grow up and let it all go. You're allowed to bring the sparkle and curiosity of girlhood into your womanhood. Do the things that bring you joy, bask in them.

Curiosity keeps your brain alive. Never stop questioning.

Every woman should realise all these, before life passes them/us by. Accepting that life isn't fair, to making time for nature a priority; all these will help you grow, heal and  evolve.

This is definitely for me, what about you?

Chrisxx

Winged visitors.

With this cold weather we've been keeping all the feeders well stocked up.

I wish I was better at photography because when the Long Tail Tits are all on the coconut together, it looks like the hands on a clock face! And a pair of Robins are delightful, they sit together on the fence waiting for their turn on the sunflower seeds.. Dh, who is a great bird watcher says they're probably from Norway, flown here for the winter?  We're very popular with eleven different types of birds. 

Recently a chaffinch has joined the tits, gold finches, sparrows and doves.. They are all amazing to watch and when I sit where I can see the one feeder, time slips by.. hopeless on a Monday morning,  as its our Welsh lesson and its hard to concentrate, when there's such activity just outside the window. There's been quite a few times when I've missed the tutor asking me a question! Oh, dyma twp!!

Have you birds to watch too?

Chrisxx

No coffee for me!

 

What could be better  on a cold winters afternoon, but a hot cup of tea with a crisp Digestive biscuit.

Chrisxx

Its on its way!

 Somebody had written in one of my gardening groups, that in 4 weeks time, dusk will be at 4:15 pm, a few minutes later than now. When we lived in Suffolk it was much later, but sunrise in the summer was 02:30! Being in the East it was the first area of Britain to have the sun.

I can't wait for the sun to rise here and the garden come to life. I'm not a winter person and look like a Michelin tyre advert, when I venture out! So every minute nearer to summer suits me!

I don't really care what I look like, as long as I'm warm. I'm a great believer in keeping my body warm to avoid colds! Whether that is true or not, I don't know but I'm not taking a chance.

Some beautiful photographs of yesterdays sunrise, creeping up beyond the Lighthouse. (Not mine)

And for all the talk that Porthcawl will die as a holiday town without the fair ground,  its not true... because it was crowded here Boxing Day and each days since. Car parks full and parking on road sides and every body walking on the Promenade.

We met someone who stopped to talk to tell us, he had just popped down to Porthcawl with his two little grand daughters to see the beach, the girls were very sandy, so they had enjoyed themselves. 

Who'd go abroad when we have all this beauty here? And Summer is on its way.

Chrisxx

Its Winter!

 A beautiful sunset after a very cold day, but no snow here, altho at 10 am when we went out to our car, it was completely frozen up. We couldn't even get the doors open with out a struggle. 

I had an appointment for my weekly hair.. And then we didn't go to town for a coffee, it was too cold. Here a photo from the Porthcawl FB page showing snow on the hills behind Porthcawl.

I don't remember snow here when I was a child, but there is a photograph of me, somewhere. where I'm sitting in a pram on a beach with snow around the wheels!

And some very brave ladies at 7:45 am taking a cold water dip at Rest Bay...brrrrrr!

Not for me, what about you?

Chrisxx

Visitors and changes!

 I'm loving this trail camera and have  had visitors every night, and day.. no foxes but apart from birds, we have 3 visiting cats!

And how cheeky they are! A white one,,

A tortoiseshell one.

And the cheekiest is a black and white one.. he/she peers right into the camera.

They all seem to be walking through, no 'messages' left!

I'm hoping we'll have hedgehogs again this year... we do have squirrels, but they usually skip along the fence, so we'll try angling the camera up to see them.

Yesterday was my first weigh in with SW.. I was pleased my gain was only 2 1/2 pounds so I can easily be back to my pre-Christmas weight in a week or two. But its been hard getting back on the 'plan', Its not chocolates, wine or cake, its cream to thicken soups and sauce and sausage rolls and pate! The cheesy potato with cold duck and pork on Boxing Day was melt in your mouth delicious! 

So now its back to the plan, which is new! Now we can have 3 healthy extras which are now not called healthy extras... but I'm so pleased. because if you want you can have 2 slices of whole meal bread, great a proper sandwich!

So I'm really going for it now, I'm too old for this, so this is going to be my last year.

Chrisxx

2025 Books

 These are some of the books I read in 2025, only 48 in total this past year. My average in other years has been 70 plus.. but some books this last year were 400 pages and more, and so took quite a while to read. Also there were 7,  that I started and gave up on, I can't read  a book I'm not enjoying. 

These pictured were listed in Good Reads. I really loved, 'Homecoming' by Kate Morton, and followed it with her 'Lake House,'

Authors whose books I like, I'll read a few of, eg I read 7 Freida McFadden's books. And when I need a 'comfy' read I read Elizabeth Berg's books and I read 4 of hers. New to me authors were,  Ruth Mancini, Andrea Mara and I read the latest book by Graham Norton, 'Frankie.' And the latest by Louise Doughty, 'A Bird in Winter.' I'd read everything else they'd written and wasn't disappointed.

I can't honestly say why I like some books and not others, sometimes its a book by an author, whose other books I've loved.  I absolutely love books by Kristin Hannah, but 'Night Road,' was ok, but I wouldn't have finished it , if it was written by some one else!

But saying that I've read a book, which was not a genre I like, but it was the only book available to read on an aeroplane (before Kindles), so I read it......an action and adventure book left by someone who had got off the plane!

I'm an avid reader, so I'll try anything, except fantasy, so no Harry Potter for me, no Horror, or overtly sexual, or anti- Christ. And I will read an auto-biography if I knew of the person, although it has to be of interest to be or it joins my DNF pile!

What about you, can you tempt me with a book you read this past year?

Chrisxx

w.

A Happy New Year

 

A very Happy New Year hoping it will be a Happy and Healthy one for everyone.

Thank you for all my followers and the comments.

Chrisxx