A blog for heart matters and natters.
Having a restricted diet means that eating out can be very difficult. But fortunately many restaurants/cafes/pubs are well aware and cater extremely successfully for us.
But it is also great to see that they are fully able to alter their menus with minimum fuss.
Topped off with generous proportions means that eating out locally is a pleasure not a chore.
I do think that there is something rather satisfying about volunteering. It makes one feel part of a community and puts something back as well.
Some volunteering is done because the local council is simply spending too much money on diversity officers and training as well as gold plated pensions.
Often the volunteering relates to an interest and may help support a local club by drastically reducing any cost.
However someone volunteers, I genuinely believe that not only does it help mental wellbeing but also physically.
We have always fed the birds during winter when their food is scarce.
Loose seeds/suet etc. is not so good as it attracted wood pigeons, grey squirrels and probably other unwelcome vermin.
We tried a block of suet/seeds and grains in a special metal holder. That was okay but we think we have found the best and most popular idea - it is a half coconut packed with suet/fat/seeds/ etc.
Cheap to buy and it attracts the local blue tits, great tits and robins and because of its location on a bendy branch there is no chance for the larger birds to gobble it all, nor any possible rodents. I don't think that the grey squirrel has bothered either. So all in all a great success.
A month of wet, damp weather doesn't help get rid of viruses/colds etc but encourages them surely.
I read about the amount of viruses there are in the oceans. So it is no surprise that the evaporation. clouds and precipitation may contribute to the continual bombardment of viruses.
Viruses like computer viruses are destructive and simply replicate. Again I have read that viruses are not alive but are a halfway between inorganic and organic and that they can never make that transition to a life form.
Suffice to say that we have the lurgy, it is not Covid but a bad, very bad cold type virus.
What do people go on holidays for? Relaxation, cultural, discovery family etc?
Obviously different holidays satisfy different people but I have always thought that when abroad it is a big opportunity to go off the beaten track and see and sample the real way the local people live.
A great experience to be sitting in a remote small rural restaurant alongside local farmers on a dinnertime and eat superb simple locally cooked food. A choice of tow mains - meat, chipped potatoes and salad and bowls of olives or fish, chipped potatoes and salad and cowls of olives. Wonderful.
Question - What is better than a Christmas dinner?
Answer - A Christmas dinner cooked for you. So a great opportunity to play games/toys etc and simply sit down and enjoy a wonderful meal with all the extras.
It was a lovely service at church which started the whole day.
What is the special part for you? Surely family is the main focus.
One of the biggest joys of the whole Christmastime is to watch a school nativity play.
It is such a busy full term for those that had started school for the first time and after a breather of a half term holiday, the focus is on Christmas.
The excitement of the young children coupled with the seriousness they took their roles was a sheer joy.
Such unique unrepeatable times.
There is a lot of satisfaction to be gained from tidying up. Whether it is because you make an even worse mess which then gets neatly arranged or the surprise when you find a long lost item it is a job well done.
A bumper crop of apples this year and a bumper crop of medlars.
Not many people seem to have heard about medlars and fewer have tasted them.
They cannot be eaten until they are bletted.
It is an unusual fruit and a different taste, if you get an opportunity to try one it is well worth it.
The Clifton train station always seems to be a throwback to calmer times. The library nearby has very helpful staff, always much appreciated.
I don't mean to plug a particular company but the Everyman theatre is marvellous and to be able to watch a film in elegant comfort.
I decided to prepare, cook then sieve the last bowls of apples this year. There were rather more than I gauged and by the end of the day I don't want to see another apple again for a while!
With the nights starting earlier and dark overcast days we decided to get the fire going again, particularly as it is not worth or necessary to put the central heating on. It still fascinates me to watch how wood glows and seems to light up from within.
As the days get gloomier and the weather get worse, what a delightful counter to that is to watch the children in their Harvest Festival. There were some lovely songs and it always amazes me how confident some of the children are.
A lovely traditionn and one that I hope will carry on.
Modern cars are extremely complex but so much more reliable than of old and quite remarkable feats of engineering.
I am always astonished how well they cope with the British weather, especially those cars that aren't garaged. Years ago cars seemed to be held together by rust. Does anyone remember driving along whilst watching the road by peering through a hole on the floor?
So taking the car in for a service wasn't the trepidation it used to be. Coupled with a fantastic local garage meant a good fair bill for an honest thorough service.
Can you remember your first day at school?
Some children have a phased start at school and may do part days so it might be difficult for them to fix their first day.
I don't remember my first day at primary, junior or grammar school.
But how exciting it seems to be for the little ones today and so happy in their uniform.
The Works, and some other shops have plain wooden boxes, hearts and various shapes at very reasonable prices. These are quite nice in their unpainted or unvarnished form. But they can be painted in any design and can look very different and can be in a way a 3D painting.
My goodness another day, another day of watering around the garden. Some plants that are well established have to take pot luck but others need to be watered very frequently
I am surprised that our small fig tree keeps looking wilted and needs an almost daily supply of water. I had considered it an exotic plant so it would be used to drier conditions, but no.
It is amazing how popular marine lake in Clevedon has become.
A lot of work and effort along with money raised meant that the wall and structure was made more secure. But a real push came during lockdown when being an open air pool it wasn't subjected to the insane restrictions that were delivered by a ridiculous government.
Since then it has become increasingly popular as could be witnessed this sunny evening when lots of families sat around the perimeter with some even bathing.
It is such a shame that there are still people with dogs walking around despite polite signs and of course there are always the most entitled and arrogant bunch, cyclists. Why do they have to wear such ridiculous clothing covered in adverts? They are not in the tour de France despite their wild fantasies.
Can you remember your first day at school?
I don't think that they had induction sessions when I was a youngster. But I don't think this counts as a full first day.
The school day sounds very exciting - and tiring. I wonder if it is something that they will remember?
Out of the jobs around the home that I enjoy the most has to be decorating. Some people employ professional painters and decorators but I have always got a great deal of satisfaction out of wallpapering, painting emulsion or gloss.
It's harder work than most realise and a lot of time and effort is put into the preparation. But the sense of achievement when completed makes it worthwhile.
