Summer Solstice Sensation

MrsWoolfe

Morning everyone!

LL thanks for the welcome! and yes I admit the last few years have been pretty bleak but I think there have been some positives from it all too in a way.

Being ill sucks but it forced me to wake up and realise I needed to change things- I've spent most of my twenties either feeling rubbish about work or being ill-I intend to say goodbye to my twenties as fit and healthy as I can be.It also taught me who my friends are and I was really overwhelmed to find out how many people were there for me and love me...I'm really a very lucky girl:D

Also I was made redundant whilst I was ill (barstewards) which was awful BUT that led to me becoming a MSEer and taking control of our finances which is what made it possible for us to buy our first home:j(we moved in on NYE and I LOVE my little house on a hill) AND in hindsight it gave me the time to really think about what I wanted in a job so I took my time finding the right role, also as I wasn't working when Dad took ill I was able to be there with him- we live approx 60miles away from my folks- I got to spend a lot of time with him and be there to take care of my Mum and I will always be grateful for those precious days and moments.

on good days I can look at it all and realise that I have a lot of good things in my life..others I can get down and angry but I'll get there, I'm still grieving and I was a complete Daddy's Girl so at times loosing that support and love feels awful but I also can almost hear him telling me off and pushing me to get myself back on form. I wasn't brought up to give up and be miserable and be beaten down by life it's about time I started behaving like the girl I was brought up to be:)

So back on topic( gosh I do ramble on don't I:o) have been suffering with an awful chronic cough since last Oct- gets a little better for a while then comes back in force- we've tried all sorts and even an inhaler to no avail- now at the point where we think it's some sort of allergy- there are specific places where it seems to kick off- unfortunately one of those is my office! I work in a lovely old converted manor house...but it's not great for dust!

So after much research went out yesterday and bought a humidifier and air purifier- seemed to help last night:j so have brought it in to work to see if it helps- so far so good normally have had at least 3 choking fits within the first hour of being in so yay!

not so yay is the greek youhurt I brought in for my morning snack has some mould on it eeeeww!:( will have to have half of the seeded bagel instead I think...ah well best laid plans and all that! :rotfl:

Hope eveyone is having a good day- it's a glorious day here so I will go and sit out at the pond at the bottom of the garden at lunch with my book I think ( I love working out in "the sticks" lol! well until the snow sets in and I get stuck:rotfl:)


MrsWoolfe

maman

That sounds a really positive post today MrsW. I think knowing that your dad would be proud of you for getting on with your life is an excellent way forward and very well done on the MSEing. You're doing great!

It's a glorious day here today too and your workplace sounds a brilliant setting. Hope you enjoyed your lunch by the pond. Easy to find positives from today.:)

Glad to hear your decorating's looking good LL. We won't be doing any more this side of Easter but we have been thinking about plans. We bought paint ready at B&Q at the weekend when they had 15% off. I also got two lovely pots for my lavender and olive trees that I had as birthday presents last month. They look like this:
and I've bought those cube-shaped pots that are really some sort of resin but look like lead.

It's the 'study' we're doing next and I'm thinking about flooring. The existing computer chair has wheels but it's wrecking the carpet. The exisiting carpet doesn't really matter as it was recycled from the dining room but I wouldn't want to spoil a new one. DH says we should buy a chair that doesn't move. Other option would be a different sort of flooring???

Now who's rambling???:o Have a great day everyone.

MrsWoolfe

Well so far the humidifier seems to be working:j

such a huge difference and I feel so much better, lunch was lovely - we have a woodpecker back in the garden which is lovely. The building is the oldest redbrick in Berkshire and was a private family residence until 26ish yrs ago, it is in such a lovely setting but really comes into it's own in the summer with tennis courts we can use as well as a small pool if the weather is warm enough!

sounds like everyone is doing a bit of sprucing at the moment! we are still over-excited with our first home, having to try and pace ourselves a bit as it feels like we've been waiting to do this forever. This weekend's main project is the wardrobes- I found some cheapy scandinavian pine wardrobes in homebase that will fit just right into the alcoves either side of the chimney breast in the bedroom. we can fit two on each side ( yes I do have a clothes mountain at the mo lol) so we had them delivered last weekend and got some walnut woodstain, managed to get one stained on saturday so will be working on the remaining 3 this wkend! also found some gorgeous crystal doorknobs which I think will really make the wardrobes look amazing so am treating us to those....

And then the garden....not sure what previous owner did exactly but the lawn is full of stones, plants in random places, fence needs repairing...and it's fairly big at nearly 75ft in length...I was talking to our MD about it the other day (cause sometimes he like to have "friendly" chats with you- which incidently terrify me:eek: think cross between Alan Sugar and Simon Cowel and you get the idea) and he just laughed and said well you can make it your "Green Gym" get outdoors, get plently of exercise from it and make it your own...so guess the Big Boss Man has a point!

Right am off go drool over the pretty things @ Bombay Duck:D

Hope you all are doing well!

MrsW

lessonlearned

Hi Everyone

A glorious day here today, warm and sunny, my kind of weather.

What a lovely positive attitude you've shown Mrs W, it takes great courage to tackle your problems head on like that. I think you are spot on to deliberately look for the good rather than dwelling on the bad. As the old saying goes - "When life hands you lemons, buy some sugar and make lemonade". I'm sure your dad will be watching over you with pride.

I had a "pretend Aunt", not related at all but who in many ways was like a second mother to me. She taught me to sew, cook, to do diy and in her words "make a penny do the work of two". She died a few years ago and I still think of her nearly every day. She is still my guiding spirit - I often think now what would Aunt S do in this situation.

Love your olive trees Maman, I nearly bought one last year but worried about keeping it over winter. Will you keep it outside - we don't have a conservatory. I think I might try one this year - I thought I could wrap it in fleece if necessary and try wintering it in the summerhouse we are getting soon. Do you have any lemon or orange trees. I fancy one each of those. My garden is tiny but so many of these trees can be grown in pots now. I can see that summerhouse being pretty crowded in the winter months:rotfl:.

My pretty little Japanese acer in the front garden has died because of the harsh frosts. I have a baby one in a pot which seems to have survived. I thought I might replace the acer with a Magnolia - they are so lovely when in bloom.

We got rid of all of our carpets about 15 years ago. DS1 had (has) asthma. We have wooden floors downstairs and laminates upstairs. Getting rid of carpets helped DS1's asthma, and now that we've got wheelchairs etc to contend with it really works for us. The hall floor is getting rather scratched but, because it is a solid wood floor rather than a thin veneer on top of composite material, when it gets really bad I can just have it sanded down and refinished. We have rugs for warmth and colour - when they get manky or I get fed up with them they much cheaper than carpets to replace.

I do have a very nice real Turkish rug which is filthy (rolled up in the garage at the moment). It needs specialist cleaning but I am thinking of hiring one of those Rug Doctor machines - am a bit nervous though - it is a nice rug, don't want to spoil it. Have been reading about them on the OS thread (the machines) and they seem ok.

Yesterday I booked the plumber in to sort out our kitchen. He is fully booked until September so I thought I'd pin him down and get him in the diary. I would love a new kitchen but that's out of the question so it will be a cheap and cheerful makeover, worktops, taps, resite a couple of cupboards etc - sort of Shaker meets shabby chic I think. Anyway lots of time to plan and start buying bits and bobs as and when.

Had a good day shopping wise. Helped DS2 choose a new car - a little runaround VW Golf, I haggled a bit for him - he's still too nervous to try yet, bless him. Also picked up a lovely summer blue and white embroidered maxi skirt from a charity shop - £3 - still got the labels on - didn't haggle of course, not quite the done thing in charity shops - although we do get people trying in Scope. One chap tries it on every time but so far I've managed to get him to pay full price. (I bit he thinks I'm a right misery).

G'night everyone, WW weigh in tomorrow - don't feel very confident.

MrsWoolfe

Morning all!

Well looks like it's going to be another lovely day, fingers crossed for the weekend, be so much easier to stain the wood outside, also have a good friend's birthday on the Saturday.

One thing I love about our house is that we now have 4 friends within 10mins walking distace, feels like being in student accom again (ish) being able to pop in and see people all the time. The friend who's birthday it is, is actually at the bottom of our road so more like 2mins walk lol! looking forward to it...although there has been some mention of vodka jelly babies making an appearance....:o could be dangerous!

Maman with your study if you didn't want to go for hard flooring (although I do think it makes life easier being easy to give a quick sweep now and then) you could maybe get one of those small plastic matts? we have them in the office(new carpet). We are doing the 2nd/spare bedroom as a study/mini library I've decided on a narrower chair with no wheels to make the most of the space the chair we have at the mo just takes over the room. I'm going to put a sofa-bed in there for guests and wall to wall bookcase to house my ever growing collection ( it grows by itself honest!) luckily my little bro picked up a load of almost new solid wood bookcases when the sweet shop next to his work closed- they had them as display units and were throwing them out...now just need to hire a van and go get them from Canterbury.....

Re the trees, I'd really love a lime tree, but we have no conservatory..and I'm still new to gardening might be a good idea to take it slowly.

Having said that I did pick up some small magnolia's in Aldi a couple of weeks back- now have two in the front and two in the back- bought three but when I unpotted them one actually had two plants in bonus! I've always loved magnolias such beautiful flowers! I'm such a geek, I go and check them before I even unlock the door - lots of little buds appearing yay! though it will be a few years before we get some flowers...

Pushed myself last night and managed to squeez out another mile on the bike which I was really happy with, the steps thing (equiv 10 flights) and some resistance work...

leading by example;) seems to be working and DH did his weights too, he's put on two pounds this week so I'm very pleased.With his weight it wasn't so much that it was fast- he's been gradually losing it, but he was always on the skinny side, normally has a very healthy appetite, which seems to have dipped recently, but because his job is very active if he doesn't eat enough each day he gets very thin:doh:

Oh well, he seems to be making the effort so fingers crossed things improve for him.

another long one again....sorry if I'm boring ppl!:o:o

hope you all have good days!

MrsW

lessonlearned

Hi Everyone

I'm so chuffed, went to WW weigh in - lost 2lbs. I know it's not much for week one - but better than I'd hoped for because although I started well, I did slip the last couple of days.

Carer poorly today so took the opportunity to give OH a manicure and pedi. Can't really expect carers to do all that. Gave myself a manicure and eyebrow tidy too.

Well done on the exercise front Mrs Wolfe - going to try my bike in a bit. I think I'm ok to start exercising again, slowly and gently to start with though.

I think the physio is working, shoulder seems easier. After a chat with the pharmacist I'm also trying Voltarol Emulgel, which contains diclofenic, instead of my usual Ibruprofen gel. When my GP prescribed diclofenic tabs they worked like a dream but made me feel very ill, even with Omeprazole to protect my stomach, so had to stop them. Anyway the gel is definitely helping. A bit pricey but hey if it works then it's worth every penny.:D

Had a call from SS asking for paperwork that I sent them weeks ago. You've guessed - they've lost it.:mad: Good job I'm a bit OCD when it comes to dealing with officialdom, I always diarise everything and photocopy every scrap of paper.

I saw those Magnolias in Aldi but they'd only got one left and it was damaged, pity. They were such a bargain, Aldi is great for plants. Don't know if it's everywhere but they have some offers on shrubs this week - £1-79. I think the offer starts today. Will take a ride over - I've a few gaps left in the borders, I'm sure I can squeeze something in:rotfl:

Tidied DS2's bedroom - found some Cosmos seeds. It's great having a son who works in a garden centre - he's always bringing bits and pieces home.

Popped into Dunhelm - such pretty things. Bought some tape to finish OH's last two bibs. Then I'll start some cushions for my new look living room. Turquoisey/greens/cream for the summer I think.

Hope you are all having a good day.

Carmen

Just a quickie to say I'm still on planet earth (some would disagree ) My sister and BiL have come to stay for a week so I have been busy blitzing the house the last few days...phew!
Welcome Mrs Woolfe, I have enjoyed reading your posts, ditto to what LL and maman have said to you:) I know Canterbury quite well, it's a small world!
LL, well done on your progress, you have achieved quite a bit since I last posted AND lost weight :j I hope you will soon be feeling better with the physio.
Maman :wave: Keep well.
I am going to give my sister some beauty treatments while she is here, she does not bother usually :eek: I did persuade her to have regular pedicures (she has difficuly bending) and I shall give her a facial, manicure etc, after she has pottered about in my garden, which she loves to do.
I really will try to 'get in' more often, makes it hard to catch up some times
I have one orange tree left, the cats somehow managed to use the the other two as a loo! The magnolia's are starting to bloom and look beautiful, my peri's (sp) are starting to turn that lovely red, the cherry blossom looks so preety,oh my everything in the garden is looking rosy:dance:
Have a nice Friday
Carmen xxx

MrsWoolfe

Morning ladies and lurkers!

Hello Carmen nice to "meet" you! Good on you for spreading the "fab" vibe, I've found that as I've started to feel better in myself I can help but want to encourage the people around me to feel good too- hence pushing DH but it is just so lovely to see him coming back bit by bit!

Had to see a different GP yesterday as my usual one is away for a couple of weeks...bad move a real waste of time, couldn't answer any of my questions- I wanted to go over why I am on statins- the reccomended levels are below 5 or below 4 if you have high blood pressure or diabetes. Mine was 3.51 when tested but they have still insisted that I should be on statins, so I asked her to explain my test results to me and she couldn't really, she went through each thing tested and went "well that's good and that's fine" but then couldn't explain why I needed statins instead writing out all the results if I wanted to look into it- she suggested that maybe when the calculation was done for overall risk I was "high"......so went off founf the calculator which GPs use and did the calcs on all of the different areas and adding in family history etc.....I'm low risk on every damn one of them:undecided that's great and has cheered me up but I'm no father to understanding why I'm on them!!!

My aim I have decided is to gradually reduce the number of pills that I have to take each day, by improving my fitness and overall well-being. It's going to be a long slog, but I am really hoping that I can reduce the Blood Pressure meds and the cholestorol meds too. I know that I'll probably have to take diabetes meds for the rest of my life but if I can improve some things myself then I think I'll feel better about it all...least that's the theory!

Looks like the weather is going to be good this weekend- so we'll be staining those wardrobes and ordering the knobs if anyone wants to see them they are here:

http://www.bombayduck.co.uk/knobs/glass-door-knobs/faceted-coloured-glass-knob-duck-egg-small-3.5cm?category=glass-door-knobs

so I think that will really start to make the room come together!

todays an exercise day but am not going to do a huge session I think - will be moving about lots over the weekend so don't need to worry too much about cardio- will just do a bit and then some weights I think.

I also think I might try and get back into the oil cleansing method- I have combination skin and I'm finding it gets oily through the day (cheeks and nose) wreaking havoc with any make-up I wear. I've tried the milk of magnesia thing under make up and it helps some but still find a lot of make-up melting off (it's really pretty:D)

Right, hope you all ahev lovely days!

MrsW

lessonlearned

Full of the joys

Such a lovely life enhancing day, sun shining, birds singing, blossoms blossoming, everything in the garden blooming lovely. Even OH seems a little better today. And - joy of joys - the Voltarol seems to be working a mini miracle.

Glad to hear from you Carmen, hope you have a lovely time with your sister. Those beauty treatments sound wonderful. Are you the "big" sister. I am the eldest, my baby sister is 11 years younger than me, although the gap is now meaningless, we are very close.

Had a quick look at Bombayduck - those knobs look so pretty, good price too. I'm tempted to send off for the catalogue

Had a nice morning at Scope - today's treasures - rather tacky "gold" Venetian style mirror - will look lovely in my bedroom when I've shabby chiced it A naff painting in a lovely frame and a large clip frame - both will come in useful for the new prints and posters I'm going to get, hopefully will order this weekend.

Lunch al fresco with OH, pasty for him, healthy scrambled eggs with smoked salmon for me. Trying very hard with WW, really determined this time.

Still not done any real exercise yet, don't feel quite ready - I've learnt the hard way in the past not to rush, otherwise pain-wise I'll be back to square one - so just a few simple stretches for now. Going to do a bit of gentle weeding in a minute, should be ok for about 30 mins or so.

Mrs W. I think your aim to come off some of the meds is very commendable. Work with your GP though - your favourite GP that is, the one who knows you and your family history. I think you'll find that as you lose weight and get fitter, things like cholesterol and blood pressure will improve anyway. I think your GP will be delighted that you are being so pro-active and will be pleased to help and advise you.

That's it for now - have a fab week-end everyone (fingers crossed for some more sunshine).

maman

To echo MrsW, hello ladies and lurkers!

I was only thinking what a lovely sister you are Carmen. I only have brothers but the idea of you being so kind and thoughtful to do a manicure etc. while she's staying over with you is really spreading fabness. Well done you!

I'm continuing with the fab to frump idea but not very frugally.:o I've been into the city today and had a proper chiropody treatment which I thought was needed. I also treated myself to some make up products, mainly tinted moisturiser and blusher to give myself some much needed colour.

I'm envying your OH his pasty LL. There are just a few things I've given up for SW that I really miss. One is cheese and the other is the occasional pasty or pie. Don't feel too sorry for me though as I've given them up for wine syns instead;)

Those knobs look really pretty (and very reasonably priced too) MrsW, do post pics of the wardrobes when they're done.

I'm loving this good weather and we have, at least, tomorrow to look forward to as well:T