TAX

 A new Prime Minister and new Chancellor of the Exchequer could mean a loss of income for people like me, an Old Age Pensioner.

Our pensions have a so called guarantee of the Triple Lock so that state pensions stay with or abreast of the cost of living. A new broom could mean we'd lose this, but even worse for me, if it is risen,  take my pension above the tax thresh hold. I already pay tax on one of my pensions, which I paid into voluntarily. 

It grieves me to think I thought ahead and prepared for my old age and yet  people, who made no provision get relief.. I'm not saying they shouldn't have anything, but I don't want to pay tax on my own paid into pension nor any more tax on money I have saved. 

Am I being mean or just protecting my own income. I have never claimed anything from the State.. even when my son was desperately ill, and his prescription costs were above my income. I did some private teaching to pay. So I suppose you could say I was earning without paying tax. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do!

The new PM has all sorts of ideas, but where is the money coming from? Yes the ordinary everyday people through tax!  Are you a tax payer, is it fair?

Chrisxx

10 Facts every woman should know.

 1.Everyone has rolls when they bend over.

2.When someone tells you you're beautiful, believe them, they ain't lying.

3.Sometimes we all wake up with breathe that could kill a goat.

4.Some women complain about their stretch marks, and there are others who wish they had them.

5.You should definitely have more confidence , and if you saw the way others see you, you would.

6. Don't look for a man to save you, be able to save yourself.

7. Its ok not to love every part of your body, but you should.

8.We all know that woman who appears to have it altogether, that woman with the seemingly perfect life. Well, you might be that woman to someone else.

9.You should be a priority, not an option, nor a last resort, or a backup plan.

10. You're a woman and that alone makes you pretty damn remarkable. 

Which of these facts do you agree with the most?

Chrisxx

All true

 

Chrisxx

Hot, hot, hot!

The curtains are closed, the windows are closed, it's like the black hole of Calcutta!  We haven't been out, even to the garden. Its just so hot, our Trail Cam registered 30C on our SW facing patio!

When we said we were moving here to Wales, our neighbours in Suffolk, said, 'it rains a lot there'.. but actually in SE Wales there is less rain. But this heat wave is bad, I am not liking it at all.  My son, who still lives in Suffolk says there has been a sprinkling of rain and its been cooler the last few days.

We are watering our pots, but by evening the plants are drooping, and our herbs are suffering too. The only plants liking it are the lavenders! And my little self seeded California poppy in the front garden, and where did it come from, as we had none in the front? 

We do a little bit of cleaning in short spurts. I set out today to sort out some drawers, filled a carrier bag for a charity shop, and that was it! I sat in my cane chair while I sorted out my sock drawer. My favourite chair, free from my son when he had his furniture shop. He used to take away a bed, when a customer bought a new one and he was asked would he take the chair as well.

It's a big joke between Dh and myself, as I always say its my favourite chair and the most comfortable, even more comfortable than my reclining one!

I can't wait for some rain, our shrubs are showing signs of lack of water, and the grass is like dry straw, but it will all green up as soon as we have rain. 

How are you faring?

Chrisxx

Nature wins!!

It has be the right soil, not too sandy, not too heavy, not stony, doesn't flood and drains well. Rich in organic matter to support a healthy root system. Fertilization may be necessary to supply essential nutrients.

It has to be the right position, not too shady, not too open or hot and not to exposed to wind. Some plants may require 6 hours of sunlight while shade loving plants thrive best away from direct sunlight.

The temperature has to be right, Antirrhinums like a cool temperature to germinate, while Zinnias, Petunias prefer a warmer temperature. Daily temperatures also affect growth. In spring time gardeners will protect certain plants at night if a dip in temperature is forecast.

Water is essential, and it has to be consistent and adequate, as it acts as a solvent for nutrients and supports photosynthesis. But over watering can cause root rot, while under watering stresses the plants and reduces flowering.

So if your gardening isn't flowering, you got it wrong!

But ............ this California Poppy, arrived while the daffodils were dying down and despite the fact, it hasn't  been watered, is in a scrappy bit of soil at the edge of the grass, faces south, so in the heat of the day in these searing temperatures, it has survived and not only continued to flower, but the blooms have increased from 4 originally to these, 20 plus!.

I guess nature will always win! Isn't it extraordinary?

Chrisxx

Lazy days...

 I have posted about this rose before, but Tony in radio programme The Archers,' was proudly saying in an episode this last week that he was planting a 'Trotting by Gently'  rose. And ours is looking glorious, in spite of the heat. And its been 38C on our SW facing patio! 

Dh has been watering the pots each evening, but even with that some plants are drooping. 

But our cucumber plant we had from the Garden Group swap, is producing abundantly and they taste really good.

We've not done a lot, its been so hot, while it was early Saturday and a bit cooler,  we had a quick clean through, I did my share in my nightie and then showered, when we had finished.. then we put on the TV and watched the tennis. We've loved Arthur Fery, and was thrilled that he got through to the semis. Next to Sverev he looked tiny, but he really played well. We're looking forward to seeing more of him in years to come.

I 've started a crochet throw, to keep me occupied and not think of food!

How are you faring in this heat? However this morning there is a cool breeze!

Chrisxx

A hot sunny day

In a seaside town.

Chrisxx

A great life

 

There is probably many people who disagreed with Ann Widdecombe, but she was a great orator and wasn't slow in voicing her opinions.

I greatly admired her and like the way she spoke out and was not afraid to..

I was very sad to learn she had died, but then to learn she was murdered I was horrified. 

What a shock, I hope the police find the person responsible.

I feel so sad.

Chrisxx

Ups and Downs of Life.

 Another hot day, but we have sat outside underneath our big umbrella and with the gentle drift of a cool breeze it was very pleasant.

Having written about the loss of a friend in my previous post, the comments were so sad to read, all about lost friendships. It actually made me feel better, to know I'm not the only one, but sad as well, because I know how you all feel let down, hurt and betrayed.  Would you take that person back as a friend if they came to you? 

But then for reasons only known to my own hormones, that didn't give me knowledge of why!!! I was in such a rotten mood this morning!! I had to shrug it off and just get on with things and pull up my socks as it were!

Evidently that saying it originated from early 19 century, when athletes were advised to make sure their socks were snug and tight, so they were ready for action to make a better effort!  

Anyway all turned out ok in my day. I've had my hair cut and it is nearly like I wanted it, and in two or three weeks time it will be perfect! 

I've tried really hard this week with the food plan, and for the first time ever, when  I've been tempted I've stopped and thought, do I really want this or do I want to lose weight?? But the hot weather returning was saying..... ice cream! But none has passed my lips, even though I really, really wanted some!

For all our ups and downs in life and women seem to get it harder, at least we haven't just been stung with the hefty cost of a lost court case and no where in a Palace to lay our weary heads.

Poor little rich Prince Harry. 

What say you?

Chrisxx

Friendship gone, just like that!

The tennis had brought back some memories of a friend, who like me watched and cheered and yelled, especially when it was Andy Murray. We lived apart but emailed every day, more than once a day sometimes, for 20 years. And in Wimbledon we emailed 'yells' back and fro. But just before last Christmas she stopped communicating with me.

Something was said and I gave her an explanation, that implied she had the wrong end of the stick. And just like that she stopped, no explanation, just gave a message to someone else for me. There's no need to tell you, it caused me a lot of heart ache.

Why? I wanted an explanation, as to why, I wanted to know; I was chasing an explanation as though knowing why,  would lesson the pain I was feeling. If I could get her to explain herself, perhaps I'd feel better about it. But the truth is knowing why, wouldn't make it go away.

My lovely husband said at the time, let it go, there was no reason why she reacted as she did to me in particular, and it could have been anyone, and not me! It wasn't because I deserved it, not really because I caused it, not because I could have stopped it happening, once it had, that was it! Lesson learnt, when people step out of line, they don't want to be reminded that they have.. 

I've missed the daily banter especially now its tennis, but I've accepted now, that friendship has gone. But was it a true friendship, I think not, now that I've written about it. 

Would you drop a faithful friend of 20 years with no explanation? And as Dh said, she was no friend to behave like that!

Chrisxx

Tears and laughter!

 

A beautiful  photo from FB and it's calmed my mind because I've had an upsetting day.

Although I go to a hairdresser I take my own shampoo, Kerastase.  I buy it on line as you can't buy it in a shop.

Today I logged on, it did what firms that you use regularly do and it greeted me with 'Hello and my name.' 

I ordered my shampoo and as I started to fill in my name and address, a Bristol address flashed up. I changed it 3 times and paid.. went to check in my gmail to check it had gone through and yes it had, but with the Bristol address.. Grrrr I got back to the firm and yes I was speaking via chat to AI!!! So frustrating, you go round and round in circles. Anyway I've left it with them.. its not the £30,  it means I won't have the shampoo!

Dh was lovely about it, but what I can't understand why did another address come up? My details with them is my present address.

My eldest son phoned and the combination of lack of sleep and the wrong address I was a bit weepy, he said all the right things just like my lovely husband did and ended our conversation with..

'Nothing will matter in a couple of weeks Mum, when Andy Burnham gets in, because every body knows he's the messiah!' 

And I couldn't stop laughing!

Chrisxx

Living the Good Life??

I was very sad to hear that Penelope Keith has died, my children and I loved 'The Good Life' programme, and watched it regularly.

And as a 'newby' gardener I decided I'd try and grow some veg. I was given seeds by some friends and some compost, I didn't have any pots, but saved any food containers I thought suitable. That first year I grew some tomatoes, lettuce and radish. All grown on a window sill and planted out in our small garden. They grew but they weren't all that successful, except for the radish which my children didn't like, and neither did I! 

But my then husband ate them, although quite critical of the tomatoes (they had bottom end rot) and the lettuce were very small. 

But I didn't give up and got some gardening books from the library and read what I should have done, and the need for regular watering and the need for a 'feed.'

My then husband, to encourage me bought me some wellies for Christmas! I should have been more grateful. because they were a very good pair, bought from the Chandlers that sold all the sailing gear. I wasn't impressed and never wore them!

But even worse was his decision to grow veg, because of course he could do it better than me!

I did write about it in this blog somewhere. 

I got home from town one day, to find he had hired a rotovator and dug up my garden.. I didn't speak to him for days and in the May school holidays, I took the children and we came here to my home.. my aunt had sent me the train fare. I left a note on the kitchen table.

The garden was back to lawn and flower beds a couple of years later. He'd lost interest and the weeds grew!  

Then three or four years later, his work wasn't going to well, and he was having problems sleeping. He joined us to watch the 'Good Life' and thought we should move to a Scottish Island and live off the land I said NO!! I wouldn't even talk about it and stopped trying to grow veg, I never had enough money anyway for seeds anyway!

Why do we women live in a shadow life, controlled by a man.

The day I decided to leave was like a new life was waiting for me.. and its been amazing ever since.

Chrisxx

What a cheek!

 When my step counting watch went phut, Dh bought me a new one. It's an all Bells n Whistles one and logs all sorts of things as well as steps. Would you believe yesterday it said..'It looks like you took a nap at 4:03 for 1 hr 43mins..' So my every move or non move is being recorded!! It keeps telling me my sleep score is poor, logging when I wake! I need more sleep it says.. I know that, no need to tell me, just tell my bladder that!

But when my steps don't achieve my target I can read its frustration in its score.. so I'm tired and don't move enough? Well if I slept better I'd  be more active,, my virtual walk, this time in Barcelona is, 16.4km  behind my planned pace!

All around me there are prompts to exercise, there are TV adverts, FB adverts, health warnings of being over weight and the need to keep active.. But, as yet I have never seen an news item or charity request for funds for research into over active bladders in aging people. I've yet to meet a female over 75 plus who didn't have to get up for the toilet more than once at night.

And it occurs in males too, so why isn't there a research project into why there is this frequent need to empty your bl***y bladder?  Any answers? 

Chrisxx

Life goes on and too fast!

Our garden continues to produce in spite of this extraordinary heat and being SW facing it does get very hot.

The carrots are those little round Chantenay and we are eating rhubarb most weekends.

Our hedgehogs still visit every night, so do three different cats!

My antirrhinums do well every year although the seeds are slow to germinate, but they do eventually appear!

In these hot days we've taken the slow lane and not done an awful lot.  

Dh usually gets up before me and my first words to him even before 'Good morning' have been, 'Has it rained?'

But we haven't had these thunder storms with a down pouring of rain like some places... although our trail cam showed some spots the other night and amazingly you could see the patches of dry appearing when it stopped on the patio!

I love the summer but not this heat, we've not even sat out to eat any meals. 

And I hate that its nearly the end of June already, where did this month go to? The thought of wet and cold winter does not appeal to me at all!

Chrisxx

Bliss!

 The temperature has dropped to 22C today Friday, and it is bliss. We've had a walk around the garden and it has survived the blazing heat of the last couple of days. Our thermometer on our south west facing patio, registered 40C one afternoon. We are so glad we bought that portable AC unit three years ago, and it has been running full blast, plus fans. When I asked Dh was it using a lot of electricity, he said, 'We're using our heating allowance!'

I've just walked past our open bedroom door, and with the bed made up with fresh white bedding, it looks cool and inviting.. The nights have been hot and sticky even with a fan sweeping over us. I can't wait for bed time!! And I am starting a new Kristin Hannah book, bliss, bliss and double bliss!

The flower is a bare rooted plant I bought in the spring and I can't remember its name, but isn't it pretty.. such a delicate pink. 

Chrisxx

Very satisfying results.

 

What can be more satisfying to see, than those first few tomatoes grown from seed by yourself?

I sowed my seeds at the end of February, so we'd have the tomatoes early in June.. however  they were in one of our little plastic green houses outside and were drowned, when we had deluge of rain and we then discovered the plastic had disintegrated and the rain had poured in!

So I sowed more in early April and wow they grew into a good size plant in weeks.. and here they are forming fruits already!

Lesson learnt no point sowing seeds so early. I'm delighted,. And we have had our own carrots, potatoes, lettuce and we've had rhubarb every week.. so satisfying! Beans, cabbages and peas to come.. you don't need an allotment or even a large garden to grow your own, most of ours is grown in bags and pots..what do you grow?

Chrisxx

Hot and Sleepy.

Its a  hot quiet Sunday afternoon and because I was awake at 4 and couldn't get back to sleep, I went for a lie on the bed after dinner to read.. but my eyes kept closing, so I gave in and closed my eyes.  Actually they closed themselves and for two blissful hours I slept.

Amazingly, there's no drilling, banging, or even a dog barking, which is wonderful. We moved here to what we thought was a quiet cul-de-sac. five years ago this month.. and there has been building work on one house or another ever since!

But today silence reigns,.

This is the first rose I bought when we arrived here, 'Susan Daniels.'

We call it our 'Susan' rose and she has been doing us proud every year, Isn't she a beauty?

Chrisxx

To grunt or not to grunt???

The tennis season is right on us and we love watching it, we have to regulate how much we watch or we'd never get anything else done..We miss Andy Murray but now cheer some of the younger British players, who are working their way up to be the winning players.

Some people don't like the shouting or grunting noise a player makes as they hit the ball.. However there is a science behind the shouting during exertion, it seems that vocalization can enhance muscular force and performance for up to 9 to 12% ! This can be enough to add a meaningful amount of energy to a lift, or speed to a tennis serve, or power to a punch!

There has been lab tests measuring force with or without vocalization. In one classic experiment participants who shouted during an isometric arm flexion produced 12% more force than those who stayed silent.

A more recent study measuring striking force in martial  artists, found there was 9% more increase when participants grunted,  jumping from 22.g force to 22.2g force per strike.

In tennis the result is equally clear a study of players, with  both serve and forehand velocities were  significant higher when players grunted! The same was true for isometric force during those strokes. The statistical confidence was essentially perfect, meaning the result wasn't a fluke. 

Its all to do with taking in oxygen and using the diaphram and deep abdominal muscles force out the air and add extra force to the punch, stroke or speed. 

During my post op physio on my arm, the one physio always used to say, take some deep breaths, fill your body with extra oxygen to help you.. It's something I do all the time now if I have to do something that is going to take a bit more effort!

So cheer on our British tennis players and be glad when they grunt, because it means that little bright yellow ball is going to be the winning stroke... Come on Cam Norrie, come on  Emma Raducanu, come on Arthur Fery!!

Do you love watching tennis too?

Chrisxx

Love

 

Saw this and loved it, so showing it to you.

Chrisxx

A Beautiful Family

 I do like to see the Royal Family, although I do realise what a privileged life they live. The Prince and Princess of Wales with their children, all looked beautiful in this year's Trooping of the Colour for the King's official birthday.

I don't think anyone can deny that Catherine has the statue of a future Queen. 

And its lovely to see that Princess Charlotte now 11, still looks like a little girl. I  remember in an interview Catherine, saying, that she wanted Charlotte to have a little girl's hair style and not some older style.

Prince George looking older and he is indeed quite tall and looks like William, his father, he'll be 13 in July.

  

And you couldn't forget Louis, age 8 and renown for his cheeky smile and antics on previous occasions, when the Royals have attended parades.. but the crowds love him all the more for his playfulness. 

They are a wonderful family, but they are not immune to the cruelties of life, as Princess Catherine's diagnoses of cancer in April 2024 showed.. and this was followed by a year of chemo, with her facing the world with video's of her talking about her illness and progress. So brave of her, with world looking on, to me she was still that beautiful young woman with her children around her fighting a disease, that has no respect for wealth or statue.

It was a great occasion and all the Guards in their red jackets on horseback made an amazing sight.

However when the carriage with the family passed some members of the watching crowd, there were boos. I think Catherine was seen to look sternly at the crowd and Louis and Charlotte looked confused.  Some people don't want a King, so let them live somewhere else I say, perhaps with a Dictator? I don't know what you reading this may think but.....

.......what ever you may think, you must acknowledge that they make a lovely family.

Chrisxx

Not 100%

I don't know how are when you're not feeling well, but I struggle to do anything. My tum has been upset, no sickness, but that horrible uncomfortable feeling.

So I did not go for my weekly hair appointment, I'll try to get an appointment on Saturday. 

When I went to get showered and dressed, I looked at my toothpaste and just couldn't be bothered to squeeze out the last little bit, altho we do have these.

It will squeeze out the very, very last bit of toothpaste, but it was too much of an effort, so I started my new tube. I could hear my Aunty's voice, 'waste not, want not!' Awful,  but I just thought, I can't be bothered. But it brought to mind the little tin with very short bits of string, I found after she had died, no doubt she had saved them incase they would be useful in the future, the tin lid had rusted!

I was awake at 5 and couldn't get back to sleep for a while, so I was tired as well.. Dh had to go to the post office in the afternoon, so I thought I'd have a lie on the bed with my book.. And felt my eyes closing, so snuggled down and was just dropping off and the land line started to ring. We have a phone in our bedroom, who phones in afternoons, advertising??  Grrrr!! I did not answer... I got up just as Dh returned. He checked the phone and we didn't know the number, so ?

As a PS. about the Opticians, they do have  another consulting room, where there aren't any steps, which was where I'd gone before.

Chrisxx

Red Frames!

 I have been having eye problems for a few months.  I can't see the print in some books, so buy the kindle version. I got some reading glasses two years ago, instead of varilux lenses and have been managing.. So yesterday, because the nose pad had broken on my reading glasses, I had to visit the opticians. 

Because I am boycotting shops with a step, there is only one optician I can visit. Repairing the nose pad was done there and then and they could test my eyes within 10 mins. 

However it was up a few steps, I said that's ok. But when I came to the steps, the hand rail was on the right side!  (my broken arm side.) I thought it would be ok, but it was difficult, they were very steep. I used both hands to hold the rail but honestly they were higher than usual steps, and then there was a step and no hand rail.. the optician let me hold his arm and I struggled to get up it!

Test was so, so, my eyes are very different from my last test, which I knew and my cataract in my right eye has grown.. not too bad as I was first told I had them in 2005. My Macular degeneration is no worse and he suggested, it would have been slowed down by the eye vitamins, MacuShield, that I take.. These were advised by an Ophthalmologist in 2014, so we were both pleased to hear that, because they're quite pricy! 

So I was ok about the test, I don't know why I kept putting it off, just couldn't fit it in with everything else I do.

But, then there were the steps to go down, I froze. Going down steps fill me with dread and I started to panic, the optician got Dh, I was a weepy and shaking. It was a slow process, the steps were very, very steep, I couldn't have got down without Dh's help! I'm not doing those again!!

I have an appointment to gage how bad the cataract is next week, with a view to getting it sorted. 

I may go privately as my cousin once said. there's no pockets in a shroud!

I've chosen red framed glasses!

Chrisxx

My Son.

 60 years yesterday my son Simon came into the world. It was a Monday afternoon about 5pm, when, with the help of the one Midwife on duty, I staggered to the delivery room.  Everyone else was on their break, I was the only one in labour.

She told me, as I lay there, she had just returned from a year delivering babies in S Africa.. And with her help he was born. No fuss, no doctors and the music being piped into the labour ward was the 'Mamas and the Papas,' singing, ' Monday Monday.' 

Compared to my daughter's delivery it was easy, and I think it was made easy by my friend driving me to the hospital in her old mini, bumping along on every bump! And an excellent experienced Midwife! His date of birth, 06/06/66

Here he is in Infant school, sitting in the middle of the first row in a navy cardi.

And now!

He is my entrepreneur son, photographer and has his ebay business selling cameras. Here he is togged up taking photos at a race course with one of his super duper cameras. Looking a bit cold, and he told me it was bitterly cold.  He's put on a bit of weight, but as he had Crohns in his twenties, that's no bad thing for him.

And this is the sort of photos he takes.

60 years, I can't believe it. And he is such a lovely fellow, always has a good thing to say to people, very good interpersonal skills and talented.

I'm very proud of him.

Chrisxx

Well would you ever??

 Have you ever stopped on a road side and bought something? I have, I've bought eggs, plants, and bunches of flowers as well as vegetables, cooking apples and a Christmas tree!

And I have put outside 'free' tomato plants, selection of mugs and some casserole dishes.. with a please help yourself note! All went..

But have you seen the latest thing?? 

Cake Sheds!

Bakers wanting to make money are resorting to selling cakes, and in some instances bread too, outside their houses.

Some have gone from selling eggs to adding flour, fat and sugar to make cakes and setting up a cake stall as it were. A cool box for the pastries and an honesty box and also a 'tap your phone here,' machine!

Good luck to them I say... what clever ideas some people have to make a living.

Wish there was one up one of the lanes here!!

Chrisxx

Getting Fit.

 So I did the Fitness Class.. altho the night before I decided I wouldn't go! Slept badly and woke up thinking I'll shower and dress and see how I feel.. my friend suggested I go and give it a try. So I did! But I had 4 worries...

First worry was over come, we were able to park, no not 'we' but Dh, was able to turn the car in the space, in front of the church on the other side , so we were facing the right way to park on the road. And we did, right outside the church hall!.

Next worry, would I stand out as a grey haired old lady, over weight,, No there were others the same, may be not so over weight

Would I stand out as the 'newbie' no there were 2 others joining then too. 

And would there be a disabled toilet... yes!!!

And the young woman, Karen, taking the class was lovely, so all I had to do was the exercises!

And I did and kept going for the hour! There were some my duff arm wouldn't do and there were 2 activities in the circuit that Karen adjusted for me. But over all I was able to do everything to the best of my ability and better than some.  I liked the chair exercises best! 

So I'll continue to go and hope as the weeks progress my legs will ache less the next day, because today they are 'red' hot!

I must admit I did feel good after it.

And any exercise must be good for me, what do you think?

Chrisxx

An unpleasant week.

 Hasn't it been blazing hot!! And my week was compounded by my covid booster jab and the RSV jab, which is for protection against chest infections. I was dreading going, but although getting into our very hot car, as on the drive it was facing the sun, once we were going the air conditioning kicked in and it was blissfully cool. The drive to Basil-end hospital takes about 15  to 20mins, all of 7 miles because of course here in Wales, the speed limit around towns is only 20 mph. Yes, very slow, but we're used to it now.

Amazingly we didn't have to wait and inside, it was cool. The needle didn't hurt, but as she dabbed the spot on my 'bad' arm I very much felt it and inadvertently gave out arggg sound. Its an automatic response, as it is very tender feeling.  I don't ever have injections in it and wish I'd asked for my thigh instead.

It was awful and Wednesday I felt ill, my arms ached and I had aching joints and a head ache. And my 'broken' arm was hell, I felt ill. I was even off my food. Dh made his version of SW zingy chicken.my favourite and I hardly ate any, although some ice cream slipped down!

So what with the heat and the reaction to the jabs I hardly slept. But by Thursday I was feeling a bit better, but didn't go out and missed the Mahjong group in the afternoon.

I was fine after a good sleep and Friday we went to the SW meeting and lost 1.5 pounds! 

So hopefully that's my jabs for a while. I know they are for my protection, but when I have a reaction, I'm not happy!!

Do you have a reaction to the covid jab?

Chrisxx

A small view of some plants in my garden,

 With this hot weather, flowers that were in bud have flowered, so my lupins are glorious..grown from seed two years ago and they are now multi-blooms.

 My latest rose.. 'Tottering by Gently,' a shrub rose with pale yellow single blooms. I absolutely love it. It's planted on the edge of the patio, I can see it up close when I sit out there.

And a moderately scented rose, 'Scarborough Fair,'  bought for the front garden in a corner, and it failed.. Or rather I flailed it and planted in the wrong place, so dug it up last Autumn and planted here and it really likes it!

Some 'Love in the Mist' seeds scattered here and they are gorgeous. I'll have them for ever now, as they self seed prolifically, well all over the place really whether you want them or not!

This rose name lost, is the Grand daughter of a rose given to me by my daughter for Mother's Day about 20 years ago.. Dh took 4 cuttings, which we grew in Suffolk, then cuttings from one of those for here. It has a lovely Turkish Delight scent. I watch it for green flies and any other bugs, its a very precious rose!

I love my garden.

Chrisxx

Would you have noticed?

 £400,000 embezzled from the SNP funds by Peter Murrell  to bankroll his lavish life style.. he bought.. 

£124,550  Motor Home

High end salt and pepper grinders £2,618.16 by French glass maker Lalique and £506.02 on salt and pepper mills from Peugeot Saveurs,

A variety of Game Consoles and video games despite having no children. Purchases included Grand Auto Theft, an Xbox console and nearly £400 on 3 Nintendo 3DS Consoles.

£3500 on a Silver wine coaster from luxury Scottish brand Hamilton and Inches.

Luxury pens, one costing £4225, a pencil sharpener too, as well as a roller ball for £2370

He bought himself a mans's Slouch Onesie !

Bottles of top Portuguese Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

3 Le Crueset Caseroles, crockpot as well as dozens of mugs.

A £3232 Jira's coffee machine, a £1866 one in 2017 and  a  £2195 one in 2018. He also bought a Smythson china  tea set in 2021 costing £2995 and lots more!

If your partner bought all this would you wonder where he got the money from to 'fund' it all.

Nicola Sturgeon denies all knowledge of it all. How could you not know, where did he put it all. 

All the china and Le Crueset  cooking casseroles, the Waterford glasses.. how would you not wonder where the money came from? 

It beggars belief that she did not know, but the former leader of the SNP leader denied all knowledge and it seems, she has been believed!

What do you think?

Chrisxx

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