Frump to Fab - A Whole New World.

candygirl

helensbiggestfan said:

The shed of doom. 😱😱😱

That's tidy compared to mine 😂😂😂

maman

That's  a shame LL. Do Hippo bags come in different sizes? Ours was big enough to take the old bath and all the rest of the bathroom stuff. 🤔

I've had a really good pampering session today. On Tuesday we're having a dancing class. It'll be outside (like we do every August) and lots of the dances will have to be adapted so we don't hold hands but it'll be good to enjoy the music and catch up with people although socially distanced. We're able to do it because dancing comes under sport and recreation and it's been organised by our club so the regulations are like amateur football or similar. It's an absolute nightmare trying to navigate the government regulations to find the right parts. I know some people are doing a Dominic and deliberately ignoring/bending them but I think some might be genuinely confused. 

So I've had a defuzz and even put a little bit of fake tan on with my body lotion. I have got some colour on my arms and face from all of the walking we did during lockdown but I haven't been sunbathing as such so my legs are a bit pasty. I tidied up my eyebrows a bit too but I'd really like to have them done professionally. Looking forward to my podiatry treatment tomorrow. I'm trying a new, private practice that's opened locally. I generally go into the city centre to Shuropody but don't really need to go there if I'm happy with this new one. 

Another lovely day here but a manageable temperature. 🙂

helensbiggestfan

Hello Lovely ladies. 

Maman.....no idea about Hippo bag size but I do know they aren't as strong as skips. And I have decided I'm going to get rid of a lot of stones and hardcore too. A hippo bag just wouldn't be strong enough.  I have bitten the bullet and ordered a skip, just need to have the dates confirmed.  I'm going to stop messing about and just get it done.  Two hours trying to smash up fence panels with a lump hammer Was just lunacy. And for what.....to try and save £140. 😂. It's just not worth risking my shoulder and undoing all the good work from the chiropractor.   My mum used to lecture me about doing tricks like that.  😂🤣  Luckily I stopped in time and didn't do any further damage to my shoulder but I won't be that stupid again.  Lesson learned. I got away with it this time, might not be so lucky again. 

I have also booked a slot at the recycling centre.  I have a lot of Hazardous chemicals that need to be disposed of safely, unused paint,  solvents etc.  Hopefully between the skip and the recycling centre, plus charity shops and various selling sites, the auction house etc I will eventually get rid of all unwanted stuff.  I'll get there.  I'm not naturally patient though.....I just want it done.

How lovely that your dancing class has started up again. Such a nice thing to look forward too.  I am really looking forward to the day when I can go dancing and rejoin a choir.  One day.  When the world is sane. 

I haven't watched the news recently, I must have a catch up soon. You are right though There is so much conflicting advice and people are getting very confused.  My poor DIL is so stressed and anxious.  This week she saw two midwives and both gave her conflicting advice.  Of course that happens normally but you would think that when it comes to Covid medics would be "singing from the same hymn sheet" as it were.  I really am extremely concerned about DILs anxiety levels.  It's not good for a pregnant woman to be so stressed. 

Although it is to be deplored I can understand why some people give up and "do a Dominic". 

What I am seeing is utter bewilderment.  Both my hair dresser, a male cancer survivor in his 70s and my close girlfriend also 70 expressed the same dismay. He said "we never expected anything like this, we've never seen anything like it in our lifetimes". And she said "sometimes I feel like I'm living in George Orwell's 1984". I know what they mean, life just seems surreal and as for the news.....well who and what do you believe.  

My hairdresser really got me thinking with what he said..........

When I was a girl we were still battling serious childhood ailments such as measles and scarlet fever. There were outbreaks of polio, one of my friends died at the age of 7 from diphtheria, people still struggled  with TB. As recently as 1963 my sister nearly died from whooping cough when she was a baby.  We've conquered most of those but now what...........we are laid low by Covid.  As my friend so brutally put it,.........is this  Mother Nature fighting back.  Is it really a case of the survival of the fittest.  Have we brought this on ourselves by being too clever for our own good.  It does make you think doesn't it.  

Hubris......humankind's greatest weakness.   

Stay safe and well my friends.  Stay positive and happy.  Keeeeep fabbing.  

maman

It is worrying about your DIL LL. Maybe it's just the pregnancy at such a difficult time that's heightened her anxiety. They're fortunate that you've been able to take some of the pressure off. 🙂

The dance class is a one off at the moment. We always have a garden dance in August to keep in touch. It's likely to be a while before indoor classes resume partly because the school hall where we meet is closed to bookings. ☹️

I couldn't help a wry smile at the George Orwell reference. We are often told we're all in this together but I can't help feeling that 'some animals are more equal than others'. 😉🤣

Wednesday2000

My trip to the coast was so nice. It didn't even really feel that strange to be back on public transport after so many months. We looked around the areas we want to move to and one really stood out as the best so I have set up alerts for Rightmove. We ate at a vegan restaurant on Friday evening and they had hand sanitisers as we went in and the tables were spaced out. We went to three different beaches over the weekend and it did seem like people were social distancing. I couldn't say the same for the bars as people were all mingling together so we didn't go to any. We just got some wine and drank it in the hotel room. I did get a little burnt as it was boiling on Friday.

helensbiggestfan

Glad to see you back. Wednesday.  Safe and sound.  Sounds like a lovely trip.  

Yes, Maman - some animals are indeed more equal than others. 😉.  And the massaging of news and stats is exactly like 1984 and it's Newspeak.  

I watched Lucy Whatsherface last night, Can't remember the name of the programme, something about the myths and lies of the American Civil War.  I learned some very unpalatable stuff, stuff you dont get taught at school or at least not when I was at school.  No wonder there is some much hatred in the US.  

Anyway Lucy did get rigged up as a southern belle of course, as is her style. I know you find her parading around in period frocks irritating but I quite enjoy seeing how the clothes work, the kind of undergarments etc. (Part of my thesis on fashion was the role of clothes and The way they have both reflected and shaped society, especially women). Last night even she admitted that as much as she enjoyed playing dress up, she felt really uncomfortable (mentally) in her get up.......saying how it didn't sit well when such beautiful clothes hid such ugly truths.  

Speaking of clothes.....did another mini wardrobe purge yesterday. 😂. Will do another soon when it's time to switch to autumn/winter wear.  Just concentrating on the summer stuff for now,  

thepurplepixie

I watched that programme.  I loved Gone With the Wind but it is a fairy tale really isn't it, no connection with the reality.  Funnily enough I was talking to my daughter on Friday about my husband's family history and how she would like to go back to the plantation where his grandfather was born as a slave.  I think it was her great great great grandmother who had a baby fathered by the plantation owner, horrible when you think that was probably rape, it certainly wasn't anything loving as she remained a slave and so did their child.  Of course she knows much more about the plantation owner than she does about her g g g grandmother, she can trace his family for several generations but nothing about hers.  History can be very harsh.

helensbiggestfan

Thought this might be of interest. 

A friends daughter has just had a hip replacement in the US.  The bill so far - for just 3 nights in hospital - is 54,000 US dollars.  The fees for the surgeon, anaesthetists, etc and the bills for medicine and drugs haven't started rolling in yet.  

Then no doubt there will be physio and rehab.  

MrsPorridge

WOW to the price of the hip replacement.  We are so lucky here.  I had my hip replaced last June on the good old NHS - yes I did have to wait 6 months, but I am so lucky I wasn't on the list waiting this year!  A year on I am fully recovered and can say its the best decision I ever made.

chanie

I’m so thankful for the NHS.  I couldn’t even contemplate how worrying it must be knowing that you can’t afford treatment should you become unwell.