Suddenly we have summer. Shorts and T-shirt weather. Walks with the dogs along the canal, and then dinner sitting outside the pub with a nice, cool drink.
Suddenly the central heating is turned off again and the ceiling fans are back on. The windows are closed in the office and the air-conditioning is back on.
Suddenly salads are back on the menu and the stew-packs are back in the freezer.
Suddenly we are in the midst of an Indian summer - and have a few more days to come.
Thank you Global Warming!
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Caffeine - a no, no I cannot resist.
I am not supposed to have caffeine, on doctor's recommendations.
I have arthritis and caffeine is not recommended.
I have a history of fybromyalgia, although currently under control, and caffeine is not recommended.
I am a woman of a certain age, and caffeine is not recommended.
3 reasons to listen to the doctor and take heed.
However, I love my coffee and love the Tassimo Columbian coffee pods.
http://acoffeeandachat.blogspot.com/2010/11/i-bought-new-coffee-machine.html
So, in an effort to control my intake I limit myself to a maximum of 2 Columbian coffees each day, one at breakfast and one after dinner, as long as it isn't later then 7pm.
Or that was the case until now.
At work our Crawley office has moved to smaller premises and so we have inherited an amount of furniture, copiers and other office equipment that they either no longer use or want.
Among the items is a coffee maker, not the same as ours, but similar AND it takes the same Tassimo pods.
It was decided we would have it in the office for when the MD or General Manager have visitors, we can make them a really nice cuppa. The machine is in our office. It sits on the desk next to me.
As no-one else had tried the pods they were guided by me and so we now have a stock of Columbian pods at work - for guests.
Except I now have my boss, a constant tea-drinker at work, converted to the pods. She likes to have a frothy coffee at 3pm in the afternoon. And no-one could expect me to make coffees for my boss and my colleague......and not have one myself, now could they.
So, my caffeine intake is now up to 3 cups a day. I need to keep an eye on the effect on my sleep and my health but it would take more will power than I have to make frothy coffees for everyone else and then have a standard de-caff.
Lord, forgive me for being so weak!
I have arthritis and caffeine is not recommended.
I have a history of fybromyalgia, although currently under control, and caffeine is not recommended.
I am a woman of a certain age, and caffeine is not recommended.
3 reasons to listen to the doctor and take heed.
However, I love my coffee and love the Tassimo Columbian coffee pods.
http://acoffeeandachat.blogspot.com/2010/11/i-bought-new-coffee-machine.html
So, in an effort to control my intake I limit myself to a maximum of 2 Columbian coffees each day, one at breakfast and one after dinner, as long as it isn't later then 7pm.
Or that was the case until now.
At work our Crawley office has moved to smaller premises and so we have inherited an amount of furniture, copiers and other office equipment that they either no longer use or want.
Among the items is a coffee maker, not the same as ours, but similar AND it takes the same Tassimo pods.
It was decided we would have it in the office for when the MD or General Manager have visitors, we can make them a really nice cuppa. The machine is in our office. It sits on the desk next to me.
As no-one else had tried the pods they were guided by me and so we now have a stock of Columbian pods at work - for guests.
Except I now have my boss, a constant tea-drinker at work, converted to the pods. She likes to have a frothy coffee at 3pm in the afternoon. And no-one could expect me to make coffees for my boss and my colleague......and not have one myself, now could they.
So, my caffeine intake is now up to 3 cups a day. I need to keep an eye on the effect on my sleep and my health but it would take more will power than I have to make frothy coffees for everyone else and then have a standard de-caff.
Lord, forgive me for being so weak!
Out of Milk
When I lived on my own shopping was never a problem. Back then my memory worked and I didn't have anyone else in the house using things. Then 2 things hapened. Firstly, I married a man with 2 sons. All 3 have a tendency to use things from the fridge or pantry and not tell me. Secondly, I became ill with stress and although I have significantly recovered over the last few years, one thing that has not recovered is my memory.
And so lists have become important. We have a perpetual shopping list in the kitchen. I have trained hubby and the boys to leave the empty cartons on the side so I know what needs adding to the list. It also means that the empty containers get recycled correctly.
But for all the planning, list writing and organising the men folk to let me know what we need replacing, it all falls apart if I forget to pick the list up on the day I am going shopping.
And that happens more often than not.
So I was quite excited to find an app for my android phone called Out-of-Milk. It is a shopping list that you keep on your phone. I always have my phone with me so it means I'll always have my shopping list with me.
It has a barcode scanner which recognises most branded items. It struggles with own brand items but you teach it what things are and next time it remembers correctly. So, as we empty a box I scan the bar code and it's on my shopping list.
I know the store layout well and I can put the items in the order I will pass them and I can tick them off as I find them.
Yesterday was the first day I did a full shop using my Out-of-Milk app - it was so easy.
And if I want Neil to do the shopping for me I can send him the list from my phone to his.
I'm gradually building a few apps that get regular use. This is definitely a good one.
http://www.outofmilkapp.com/
And so lists have become important. We have a perpetual shopping list in the kitchen. I have trained hubby and the boys to leave the empty cartons on the side so I know what needs adding to the list. It also means that the empty containers get recycled correctly.
But for all the planning, list writing and organising the men folk to let me know what we need replacing, it all falls apart if I forget to pick the list up on the day I am going shopping.
And that happens more often than not.
So I was quite excited to find an app for my android phone called Out-of-Milk. It is a shopping list that you keep on your phone. I always have my phone with me so it means I'll always have my shopping list with me.
It has a barcode scanner which recognises most branded items. It struggles with own brand items but you teach it what things are and next time it remembers correctly. So, as we empty a box I scan the bar code and it's on my shopping list.
I know the store layout well and I can put the items in the order I will pass them and I can tick them off as I find them.
Yesterday was the first day I did a full shop using my Out-of-Milk app - it was so easy.
And if I want Neil to do the shopping for me I can send him the list from my phone to his.
I'm gradually building a few apps that get regular use. This is definitely a good one.
http://www.outofmilkapp.com/
Monday, 26 September 2011
Red Hot Chilli Peppers at Dobbies
I don't like chillies, I don't like spicy food but my husband does. So, when we had put all the perspex into the greenhouse and installed the tomato plants, I decided to have a look at the local garden centre to see what we could do for a hot chillie plant.
About 20 minutes away is a Garden Centre called Dobbies. It's my kind of garden centre - clean. A huge selection of plants and paraphanalia to make gardening enjoyable and a great coffee bar as well. It's part of a chain and I'd never heard of them until a work colleague told me of our local one during a discussion about coffee.
It's almost as if they have taken over in the few years we lived in Spain.
So a few weeks ago we took a drive over to Dobbies to look at pre-grown pepper plants.
I have previously tried growing things from seed but I've always failed at the second hurdle - transplanting them into larger pots. They always seem to give up. We found several good-sized pepper plants but were dis-appointed to find they were bell-peppers rather than chillie peppers. It wasn't really what we wanted but decided we would chat about it over a cup of coffee.
This all happened on the weekend after Neil had pulled his back so, I left him in the coffee shop while I went for a 2nd look at the pepper plants. There, right in the middle of them I found a chillie pepper plant with a number of flowers on and several peppers already growing. It was reduced to half-price and so it wasn't a huge decision to buy it.
And so, over the last few weeks I have lovingly cared for it, along with the tomato plants of course, and finally the love & care have paid off. The peppers have started to ripen and turn a lovely orangey/red.
Yesterday, I decided one was big enough to pick. I brought it in for Neil's judgement on the flavour. And apparently, it passed.
It's a real, home grown red hot chillie pepper!
Success.
All we have to do now is wait and see whether the tomato plants are going to ripen as well. Otherwise, we'll be having a lot of green tomato chutney this winter!
http://www.dobbies.com/
About 20 minutes away is a Garden Centre called Dobbies. It's my kind of garden centre - clean. A huge selection of plants and paraphanalia to make gardening enjoyable and a great coffee bar as well. It's part of a chain and I'd never heard of them until a work colleague told me of our local one during a discussion about coffee.
It's almost as if they have taken over in the few years we lived in Spain.
So a few weeks ago we took a drive over to Dobbies to look at pre-grown pepper plants.
I have previously tried growing things from seed but I've always failed at the second hurdle - transplanting them into larger pots. They always seem to give up. We found several good-sized pepper plants but were dis-appointed to find they were bell-peppers rather than chillie peppers. It wasn't really what we wanted but decided we would chat about it over a cup of coffee.
This all happened on the weekend after Neil had pulled his back so, I left him in the coffee shop while I went for a 2nd look at the pepper plants. There, right in the middle of them I found a chillie pepper plant with a number of flowers on and several peppers already growing. It was reduced to half-price and so it wasn't a huge decision to buy it.
And so, over the last few weeks I have lovingly cared for it, along with the tomato plants of course, and finally the love & care have paid off. The peppers have started to ripen and turn a lovely orangey/red.
Yesterday, I decided one was big enough to pick. I brought it in for Neil's judgement on the flavour. And apparently, it passed.
It's a real, home grown red hot chillie pepper!
Success.
All we have to do now is wait and see whether the tomato plants are going to ripen as well. Otherwise, we'll be having a lot of green tomato chutney this winter!
http://www.dobbies.com/
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Celtic Manor Golf Resort
Several years ago, in what feels like another life, I once visited the Celtic Manor Resort in south Wales when I attended an annual conference. In my former life I was involved in Estate Agency. The company was part of a network which covered the whole of England and once a year there was a conference and awards dinner to attend.
As the network grew, the numbers that attended swelled and the venues changed to accomodate the ever increasing numbers.
Our conference was held a few years before the Ryder Cup was played there but it was already showing the top standards of facilities expected for somewhere hosting such a significant competition.
Unfortunately, although my visit was in the middle of my golf playing days, there was no time for me to play there.
Earlier this year I had a golf break deal email drop into my inbox and it was for 2 rounds of golf, an overnight stay and evening meal and breakfast, all for £123. That is a very good deal and I made the mistake of giving the details to Neil. Within the week he had a group of 6 all keen to take advantage of the offer and off they went in late July.
They had a brilliant time, the facilites were first rate and they talked avidly and openly about it in the golf club to enyone and everyone that would listen.
It wasn't long before some that hadn't been decided they really would like to go and a second trip was being planned.
Again, Neil made all the arrangements and got the same deal as before. On the day before they all travelled he reminded them all to take their swimming trunks so that they could make good use of the pool and spa area after golf.
Neil and I always contact each other when travelling just to let the other know we have arrived at our destination safely. Neil rang me from the on-site shop - after reminding the others to pack their swimming things he had prompty forgotten to pack his and was now buying some to ensure privacy was maintained.
On his return I, as always, listened to him enthuse about his 2 days of golf, the fabulous meal they had been served and how much they had all enjoyed their trip.
For no other reason but to show interest and make conversation, but with no real wish to know, I asked how much he'd spent. He made a show of counting through the notes in his wallet before announcing it was in the region of £100.
He'd only been gone 1 night. It's his money to spend as he wishes but it did seem rather a lot. So we did a little reckoning up.
His swimwear was £20.
I knew he'd had a few drinks, probably more than he realised, and definitely enough to mean he was incapable of sending me a 'Goodnight text' (for which he was adequately chastised the following morning) and reckoned about £40 would cover drinks, hotel prices being what they are.
But this still left £40 unaccounted for........
Or so I thought.
Neil sheepishly left the room and returned with his golf shoes. I couldn't work out why until he told me that, not only had he gone on a golfing holiday and forgotten his swimwear, he had also gone on a golfing holiday and forgotten to pack his golf shoes and the pair in his hand, which he had to buy in order to play, represented the missing £40!
So much for a good deal on the golf trip!
But for anyone interested here's the link
http://www.celtic-manor.com/golf.aspx
As the network grew, the numbers that attended swelled and the venues changed to accomodate the ever increasing numbers.
Our conference was held a few years before the Ryder Cup was played there but it was already showing the top standards of facilities expected for somewhere hosting such a significant competition.
Unfortunately, although my visit was in the middle of my golf playing days, there was no time for me to play there.
Earlier this year I had a golf break deal email drop into my inbox and it was for 2 rounds of golf, an overnight stay and evening meal and breakfast, all for £123. That is a very good deal and I made the mistake of giving the details to Neil. Within the week he had a group of 6 all keen to take advantage of the offer and off they went in late July.
They had a brilliant time, the facilites were first rate and they talked avidly and openly about it in the golf club to enyone and everyone that would listen.
It wasn't long before some that hadn't been decided they really would like to go and a second trip was being planned.
Again, Neil made all the arrangements and got the same deal as before. On the day before they all travelled he reminded them all to take their swimming trunks so that they could make good use of the pool and spa area after golf.
Neil and I always contact each other when travelling just to let the other know we have arrived at our destination safely. Neil rang me from the on-site shop - after reminding the others to pack their swimming things he had prompty forgotten to pack his and was now buying some to ensure privacy was maintained.
On his return I, as always, listened to him enthuse about his 2 days of golf, the fabulous meal they had been served and how much they had all enjoyed their trip.
For no other reason but to show interest and make conversation, but with no real wish to know, I asked how much he'd spent. He made a show of counting through the notes in his wallet before announcing it was in the region of £100.
He'd only been gone 1 night. It's his money to spend as he wishes but it did seem rather a lot. So we did a little reckoning up.
His swimwear was £20.
I knew he'd had a few drinks, probably more than he realised, and definitely enough to mean he was incapable of sending me a 'Goodnight text' (for which he was adequately chastised the following morning) and reckoned about £40 would cover drinks, hotel prices being what they are.
But this still left £40 unaccounted for........
Or so I thought.
Neil sheepishly left the room and returned with his golf shoes. I couldn't work out why until he told me that, not only had he gone on a golfing holiday and forgotten his swimwear, he had also gone on a golfing holiday and forgotten to pack his golf shoes and the pair in his hand, which he had to buy in order to play, represented the missing £40!
So much for a good deal on the golf trip!
But for anyone interested here's the link
http://www.celtic-manor.com/golf.aspx
Sunday, 18 September 2011
One week on and the back is just about sorted.
It's been a week of doing very little. By the end of a day at work my back was beginning to ache and so in the evenings I rested it, a gentle walk with the dogs, a soak in the hottub was about as energetic as I got. The Wii had stayed firmly stored away under the sideboard and I tried hard not to comfort eat even though I felt so in need of a variety of comfort food, especially with the massive change in the weather. Autumn came in with a bang this week with torrential downpours which had flash-flooding closing the main A57 road on Thursday. The week started with terrific winds courtesy of the hurricane hitting the American east coast.
By Thursday I felt I needed to start using the Wii again, as it's been a disappointing month since reaching my first target. After sticking to my eating plan for a few more weeks I didn't lose a pound. It fluctuated throughout the month but I reached my target date without making any indent on my target loss. At least I hadn't put anything on!
So, it was no surprise when I turned the Wii on and it matter of factly advised me that I'd not reached my target and needed to set a new target.
So, this next month I have been more cautious. 1lb per week.
By Thursday I felt I needed to start using the Wii again, as it's been a disappointing month since reaching my first target. After sticking to my eating plan for a few more weeks I didn't lose a pound. It fluctuated throughout the month but I reached my target date without making any indent on my target loss. At least I hadn't put anything on!
So, it was no surprise when I turned the Wii on and it matter of factly advised me that I'd not reached my target and needed to set a new target.
So, this next month I have been more cautious. 1lb per week.
My Sketchers trainers finally fell to bits this week and so I've treated myself to a new pair. They are ideal for dog walking across the fields and round the park, just so comfortable. I decided, with the winter months approaching, I would go for a darker colour rather than the usual white, so I've bought these in brown.
Neil also needed new trainers and we managed to save a total of £10 by picking up a voucher from the counter next to the cash till and handing that in with the 2 pairs of shoes. It makes it easier for me to accept the cost of a pair of Sketchers if I can save a bit somehow.
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Hand-crafted Traditional Rocking Horses
These beautiful, handcrafted rocking horses are made by
a very good friend of ours.
They are now on Ebay for sale.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-new-hand-carved-rocking-horse-/330611658741?pt=UK_Toys_Creative_Educational_RL&hash=item4cf9fd8ff5
Ouch, that hurt!
Hubby has a history of lower back problems and when he strains his back it takes him out of action for 3 days. This last episode has lasted 2 weeks and it's always the daftest thing that makes it go.
This time we were potting up the tomato plants into bigger containers and while lifting one of them up onto the table to transfer it - bang goes the back.
On day 2, while it was showing signs of improvement, he bent down to pick up one of the dogs bowls and bang, it went again. Since then we have nutured and protected him from doing anything that will aggrevate it.
Yesterday we finally had the door panel changed so that it now has a dog flap fitted.
It's actually fitted into the glass, which I didn't realise they could do - but it seems fine and Brinkley has already remembered how to use it
although Brandy is taking a bit more time to work it out.
It worked a treat and we stood back to admire our handwork while taking time for some hard earned refreshments.
Then, while Neil was mowing the lawn I decided I would sweep all the leaves at the front of the house - how hard can that be?
Well, it can be very hard when it means moving a large planter. which I decided to do on my own. Bad idea.
Hey ho!
This time we were potting up the tomato plants into bigger containers and while lifting one of them up onto the table to transfer it - bang goes the back.
On day 2, while it was showing signs of improvement, he bent down to pick up one of the dogs bowls and bang, it went again. Since then we have nutured and protected him from doing anything that will aggrevate it.
Yesterday we finally had the door panel changed so that it now has a dog flap fitted.
The only problem was the drop outside was bigger than the dogs could manage so we needed to make a step. We have a pile of paving stones and decided we could make a good step using 6 of them, so I lifted them onto the wheel barrow for Neil to walk round to the back door and then we both lifted them off together to lay them to make the step.
It worked a treat and we stood back to admire our handwork while taking time for some hard earned refreshments.
Then, while Neil was mowing the lawn I decided I would sweep all the leaves at the front of the house - how hard can that be?
Well, it can be very hard when it means moving a large planter. which I decided to do on my own. Bad idea.
Neil is now looking after me as I have strained my lower back and am currently sitting here in pain, ice pack on and trying to give it the 3 days rest needed to recover.
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