Making Christmas wreaths.

Last Sunday I did a mini course with Coralie (my daughter, for anyone who doesn't know me) We each made a needle felted Christmas wreath.

The course was held in Peterborough, in the basement of a lovely shop which I had never seen before, called Art in the Heart.  If you are ever in Peterborough, stop by as they have some fabulous goodies.  I could have spent a fortune but luckily for me, (or rather Simon), we arrived just as the course was starting and by the time it ended the shop was closing.

Despite the fact that Coralie claims she had told me it was needle felting, I was under the impression that we were making bog standard wreaths with foliage, pine cones and berries.  You know the kind of thing. You can pick them up in the supermarket for about £15.  Once I realised what we were actually doing  the cost made more sense.

To be honest I wasn't sure what to think as I have never tried needle felting.  It turned out to be a brilliant afternoon with my daughter and we both enjoyed it very much.  There were only 4 of us and the tutor, Eve Marshall, was excellent.  It tuns out that she lives a few villages away from me and she does lots of classes so I may have another go in the new year. 

Having never done any needle felting I was a little apprehensive as to how it would turn out and if I could actually get it done in time.  Well, I am actually thrilled with what I produced.  A bright, colourful wreath complete with a Robin (my favourite bird) and I made it all myself!  Here's a few photo's 

Here are the finished wreaths

The blue one above is Coralie's and the red and green one below is mine.  I have it hanging on my living room door.

The actual process of needle felting is fairly easy.  It is the artistic side of things that I would struggle with I think. It is very relaxing and you can do it whilst having a good old chat. Just don't lose concentration because it flipping hurts if you accidentally push the barbed needle into your finger!  Yes, I did do that several times.  I also broke a total of 4 needles!  Not to worry as Eve, says she factors broken needles into the cost of her beginner classes!!

So what do you think?  Have you tried needle felting before?  I purchased the materials to make a second Robin so I shall definitely be giving it another go.

Still shrinking

A quickie blog today before bedtime.  I doubt that I will be able to stick to daily blogging but at the moment I am trying my best to reignite the habit.

We have had a bit of a funny day today.  We were expecting to have our daughter here with her OH, our grandson and her mother in law and sister in law. To cut a long story very short, they didn't make it and are now aiming to come on Sunday.

I was quite disappointed as I was looking forward to seeing them and I had also put in quite a bit of effort to make sure that the house is looking good and everything in place to give a lovely welcome to her in-laws.  They are from Nigeria and we have only met them once.

When we finally knew that they weren't going to get here it was already gone lunch time.  It did mean that we had a free afternoon so we decided to head to Peterborough, a trip that we had been planning for Sunday.  I don't usually go anywhere near the shops at this time of year but I was down to only 2 bra's that fit me and I really didn't want to be waiting until after Christmas.

We didn't have to go into the city centre, which is just as well as I don't think I could have braved that!  There is a retail park as you come into the city and Marks and Spencers are there.  Best place for bra's in my humble opinion.   It was an easy trip in  (about 25 miles)  and we managed to park easily too.  In fact. it wasn't horrendously busy.

The purchasing of the bra's was a little traumatic as the ones that I chose to try on were all the wrong size!  It would seem that I have shrunk by a cup size.  Why can't you just lose weight from your hips and bottom?  Anyway, I managed to get three.  One white, one black and one pink.

While I was messing around getting very hot and bothered in the changing room, Simon had been mooching around the store. He had spotted a very cute, faux suede, skirt and jumper which he thought would appeal to me.  Being a good hubby and being very well aware that  I am now a size 12, he presented them to me to try on.

You are never going to believe this......... The size 12 was way too big!  It isn't that long ago when I was stunned to be wearing a size 12!    The sales lady went off to fetch me a size 10 with me shaking my head in disbelief.  No way will I get into a size 10.

I am still in shock.  The 10 not only fits perfectly but it looks pretty good too.  The jumper was also changed for a size 10.  I could actually get to like this shopping lark, now I can pretty much choose whatever I like and know I have a reasonable chance of looking half way decent in it.    These photos are not the best but I just have to show you.

 

So, a good afternoon in the end, followed by fish and chips for dinner and then a relaxing evening. Hopefully we will see our guests on Sunday.

Day 2 of the restart.

Well since I have decided to try and get back into blogging, I guess I need to do another one today! That will be 2 in 2 days! Pretty good considering prior to yesterday it is 8 months since I have been here.

Mind you I nearly gave up yesterday. Blogger was bugging me big time. First of all, every time I visit a new page it pops up with a message telling me it uses cookies. Yeah, I know that, you and every other website. There are 2 options to get rid of it. “Learn more” and “got it”. Every single time I click on “got it”. Problem is that it does not seem to realise that I have “got it” and still keeps telling me the same thing. I KNOW YOU USE COOKIES! I am fine with that.

Anyone know how to kill it?

The second issue is with commenting and I have had this before. As yesterdays blog was a challenge type thingy, I wanted to visit some other peoples pages to see what they had got to say. I did that and I read some interesting answers and also found a few people who seem interesting that I might want to connect with. So, I wanted to make some comments. Blogger says NO.

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to its refusal. I could get my head around it a little better if it refused point blank to let me comment on anything but it doesn't do that. It picks and chooses where I can comment. E.G. I can comment just fine on my cousin Wendy’s blog. I get the normal box come up and it shows my Google ID and everything is fine. I usually have to do one of those pictorial verification things. Then my comment appears. I did find one other person where it worked just like normal.

On everyone else's page the comment box didn't have any reference to my ID. It lets me do my comment and it appears to be publishing it and then poof it is gone. Does anyone have any idea how to sort this out because if I can't comment there is little point in taking part. I also cannot reply to comments as a pop up window opens and closes before I can do anything.

This has all made me pretty fed up. I think if I am going to make a go of restarting my blogging habit then I need some interaction with others. I no longer have the time to sit here and chat to myself.

Well, this has gone well. Two days in and I am whinging and whining! To make this seem a little more worth while I am going to give you a doggie photo.

This is the wonderful Digby who Simon and I were privileged to take to his new home today. He is a year old Labrador / Husky cross. Isn't he handsome? I will do some more doggie posts soon. Good luck Digby.

JILLY

Wednesday Hodgepodge 16/12/15

OK, so this is the first time I have been here at my blog in an absolute age. I have been inspired to restart the blogging habit by my cousin Wendy who has been doing really well after quite a break. I was talking to her recently and she suggested that a good way to get back into it is to take part in some memes or challenges. As I always read her Wednesday HodgePodge, I thought this would be as good a one as any to start with.

So here goes, I'm taking the plunge.

Wednesday's Hodgepodge is brought to us courtesy of Joyce at 

 From this side of the pond

 Thank you Joyce.

Pop over there to see other posts and if you want to join in add the link to your Hodgepodge blog post to the Linky List at the end of Joyce's post and don’t forget to visit at least your neighbours on the list.

Have fun!

1. What's your biggest 'first world' problem? Hmm, I think we have a fair few problems in the “first world”. Probably my biggest bugbear is the sheer pace of life. It seems that everything is done at break neck speed. Nobody it seems wants to slow down or to take a break. We are all so frantically busy. But are we really? I would like to go back in time to when things were slower, to an age where we all had time for each other. Time to care. Time to stop and smell the roses.

 2.  Each year Time Magazine names a 'Person of the Year', someone who has 'for better or worse...done the most to influence the events of the year.' It was recently announced they've named Angela Merkel Person of the Year for 2015. You can read more about this year's selection here. Your thoughts? If you were in charge, who would you declare Person of the Year? 

Well, I guess I can see the logic of why she was chosen. I don't really know if she is right or wrong regarding the migrants, but there are certainly many who will be thankful to her for the rest of their lives. For me, I would probably choose a person who is not in the public eye. A person who works tirelessly with little recognition. There are a great many of them out there.

3. Do you have a nativity set in your home? If so share its history and how you display the pieces.
We used to have one when our children were little but it wasn't very nice. It was made of horrid, hard plastic and we threw it out when we moved house 4 years ago. We haven't replaced it as we are not religious.

4.  Do you make an extra effort to give back in some way during the holiday season? How do you encourage those who need encouragement this time of year?

To be honest, I don’t think I make any extra effort. Over the last 5 or 6 years I have realised more and more just how lucky and privileged I am. That has led me to be much more conscious of others. I try very hard, every single day, to “give back” in what ever way I can. It is a bit like new years resolutions for me; why do you have to wait until new year to change something? Why not start now. Same principle, I don't need it to be Christmas to “give back”.

 5. Who is your favourite person to shop for? Why?  I am not much of a shopper and I really dislike the shops at this time of year because they are so crowded and noisy. I find Christmas shopping a chore as I never know what to buy for people. That said, I have recently rediscovered the joys of shopping for clothes for myself. I have lost a lot of weight this year and that makes it all so much easier. I look halfway decent in things now and I have even tried new things that I wouldn’t previously have even glanced at.

 6. What's the last delicious thing you ate?   

We are lucky as most of our food is pretty good. We did have a fabulous rib eye steak on Saturday served with a king prawn sauce and all cooked by my husband. Bonus!

 7. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is to drink a few glasses of the red stuff and keep smiling!

 8. Insert your own random thought here. Last year was the first Christmas without my Dad. It was still lovely but a little sad. This year I am looking forward to it much more. I do really enjoy seeing all of our family although it does get somewhat loud and chaotic!   

Catching up on A-Z.

Oh dear, I knew it was too good to last! I am 4 days behind with the A-Z challenge. I do however have a very good excuse. We have had no internet access for 3 days. Apparently according to BT's status help line there has been a major problem in our area. This seems to mean our village! No idea what happened but it is now back. I can't tell you how annoying it was. How the world has changed, that being without internet access is so frustrating.

Anyway, I have missed M, N, O and P. I am not going to have the time to do them justice so I think I will just make this a quick catch up for all 4.

M is for Morton. I live in the village of Morton. It is in the county of Lincolnshire and on the edge of the Fens. I love it here. This photo shows the village church. It is at the very far end of the village from me but I can see the clock from my garden.

N is for nothing! After nearly an hour of pondering, I simply have not been able to think of anything, so it is NOTHING!

O is for Osmonds, specifically Donny Osmond! In the mid seventies I was a teeny bopper and Donny Osmond was my hero. I was going to marry him! Somehow that never worked out! This was the only period in my life when I was really into music. I still like Donny Osmond and still think he has a lovely voice but it is years since I have played any of his stuff. I never play or listen to any music really. I never have the radio on. I prefer peace and quiet.

This is a young Donny Osmond.  The one from my teens.

P is for positivity. I touched on this in an earlier blog. I am a realist so I can sometimes find it hard to remain positive but it is an area that I am currently trying to work hard on. I am currently positive that I am going to find it very hard to do tomorrows challenge with the letter Q! Sorry! Couldn't resist that.

As you can see I am now really struggling with this whole challenge thing.

I just checked out the official list and I haven't been struck off yet! I am currently number 1586. I have read some blogs but with over 1600 there is little chance of me getting through all of them! How lovely it would be to have that much time.

I am looking forward to seeing what people come up with tomorrow for the letter Q. In particular my cousin who is working on a theme of friends and family.

Thinking of themes, maybe that is where I have gone wrong in doing random blogs. Perhaps a theme would have been easier. I don't know. I'll try and struggle on.

Jilly

A – Z Challenge. L is for Loulou

Loulou was our Dalmatian. We lost her on the 18^th of January. She was 14 years, 9 months old and it was her time. She was tired and she was done.

This is our last photo of her, a week before she died.

She was born on the 27^th of March 2000 along with her brother Alfie. 

 

She lived with her Mum, her brother and little Sandy. They had the best life and were all very much loved. 

All 4 of them liked to play in the Bluebell Woods but this shows Alfie and Loulou.  We are waiting for the blubells to come out as we are going here to scatter the ashes of all 4 of them.

Loulou full of life

As is the way of things, one by one they all became old and one after the other we lost them. Loulou was the last. She died very peacefully at home with us right there with her. We have been lucky as all 4 of them have died at home.

I still miss each and every one of them so much. It never gets any easier. People who have never had a dog as a part of their family will never understand that.

K is for Knitting

A – Z challenge for today is “K”

Hmm this has been another hard one for me. I have come up with knitting.

My Mum was a very good knitter. A very prolific knitter too. She always had something on the go and knitted all our jumpers and cardigans when we were small.

She also got much joy out of knitting for her Grandchildren too. It was very sad when she finally stopped. It was some while before the Alzheimers really set in but I think in part it was because she found it harder to follow a pattern and that may well have been because of the disease.

My sister is also an extremely good knitter. She has produced some beautiful things. She is currently knitting for her new Grandson. I don't actually remember, but I assume that it was Mum who taught her.

I can remember Mum trying to teach me. She wasn't that patient with me! Thinking about it, I guess I get my lack of patience from her. Anyway, it didn't go that well. I did manage to knit a small red teddy bear in plain garter stitch to get my Brownie badge.

Over my late teenage years I did also knit a much larger teddy who I still have and when I first knew Simon I knitted him a jumper and a cardigan. If I remember the jumper turned out very large and he only ever wore it a couple of times. The cardigan was a belted affair and I think it came out OK but it wasn’t really him. He wore it about twice!

I had another go when I was expecting Sam and knitted some bootees. Then when I was expecting Saskia (my 4^th) I knitted a couple of matinee jackets and some bonnets that were fairly successful.

Then it came to a stop. Until around a year back when I decided that I wanted to try a different craft each month. I decided to try knitting first as I would so much like to be able to master this.

Over the year I have knitted a few things. I started out with simple garter stitch squares which have since been sewn up to make a blanket which Beanie now has. It isn't very good but he likes it! Sewing up is even harder than the knitting!

Then I made a garter stitch, cross over, 50's style, neck scarf. It was OK, but would have been way better if I had used the correct wool. I was just using up oddments that I had from somewhere.

Then I appealed to some Etsy friends for easy starter patterns. My friend Spinning kindly sent me a kit so that I could test it for her. It was for fingerless gloves.

My friend Liz has a brilliant pattern for beginners, one which you can find here: Mad Mum Knits  I purchased it from her and I made myself the whole set which I was very pleased with. Excuse me with my eyes closed!

I have also made Simon 2 cowls and the gloves and I made all the girls gloves for their Snowman present at Christmas. Please note, two of them have them on the wrong hands so you can see the seams!!  Silly girls. Doesn't matter much though as I know one of them will never have worn them anyway!

I am quite good at this pattern now!

Unfortunately that is as far as I have progressed. I like using the chunky wool as it grows quite quickly. I need to find an easy pattern for something that isn't a scarf or gloves as I think we have enough now!

Do you knit? Who taught you? What is the best thing you have done?

Jilly

A - Z Challenge "J" is for ME!

A – Z challenge for today is “J”

Easy peasey. “J” is for Jill and Jilly.

“J” is not for Gillian.

Names are funny things aren't they? I am fascinated by names both first names and surnames. I love to learn the origins of surnames and also the reasons behind why people are given certain names.

I am sure most of us know the origins of common surnames such as Baker and Smith etc. but it is not always so obvious where first names have come from.

Of course often it is family tradition. EG. Our first born is called Samuel James after 2 of his Great Grandparents.

Many of us will know the story of how Brooklyn Beckham got his name! Quite where Gwyneth Paltrow came up with Apple for her daughter is anyone’s guess.

The best name I have found in my family history research is Happy. I love that! She was a little girl born in 1846 if I remember correctly and the 13^th child so I wonder how happy her mother really was? Perhaps they hoped if they gave her that name then she would always be happy. Who knows​?

Anyway, Back to me. My given name was Gillian. I don't know why my parents chose that name. No one else in the family has it. I assume they just liked it. In that case why was I never actually called it? They always called me Jill. My Mum also called me Louby Lou and Dolly Day Dream I was called Jill at school.

Oddly, I have always spelt Jill with a “J” and yet as I am a Gillian you would have perhaps expected me to spell Jill as Gill. I wonder why that is. Who first spelt it as Jill?

Then I met Simon who has always called me Jilly and through my adult years most of my friends have called me Jilly. I am still called Jill by some very old friends and some family members.

It is just as well as I don’t like Gillian. Strangely though if I have to sign my name or initials I will sign Gillian or GGS. Odd isn't it.

I am also intrigued as to why people change their names. I know quite a few people who call themselves by their second names. I don’t have a second name but for me I would find it some how disrespectful to my parents to not use the name they chose for me. I know I would feel quite miffed if any of my children chose to change their names.

Sometimes it seems to me a bit pretentious too. In Simon’s family 2 of his siblings have chosen different names for themselves. His brother Andrew morphed into Felix some years ago and even longer ago before I knew them, his sister Claire changed into Francessca.

Is your name your real name? Do you have a nickname? I'd love to know.

Jilly

"I" is for "I".

Here we are again, happy as can be, tra la la la la! I think insanity is setting in. The A-Z challenge is really hard. Today it is “I”.

I pondered this and pondered it yesterday and my mind was a total blank. Then just when I was about to give up I could hear my Dad calling out to my Mum...... “I”.

Her name was Iris but much of the time he called her “I”.

Now I feel guilty that I didn't immediately think of her but in my defence I didn’t call her I or Iris I called her Mum.

It is coming up very shortly to 3 years since we lost my Mum. It seems like much, much longer. I have so much guilt over my feelings.

She was a good Mum. We had our ups and downs through my teenage years like many do but we always got along. Many of you will know her story and that she had Alzheimers disease. It is the hardest thing that I have dealt with in my life. I still find it hard to the point where I can't talk about it.

Instead I shall post a photo so that you can see what “I” looks like.

This was taken on her last birthday and although it is not the best of photos I cherish it because it is the last one ever taken of the 4 of us.  

Jilly.

A- Z challenge - "H"

Well, here I am again for another day and I confess it seems to be getting harder.  Today is "H"  

I pondered this yesterday and couldn't think of anything.  Last night I saw something on TV, some statistics about how many hours a day children play outside compared with  a few generations back. I can't remember all the details but it was something like 4 hours 50 years ago and 1 hour now.  They also said that lots of children had never built a sandcastle or flown a kite.  Again I can't remember the numbers.

It made me think about my own childhood where we always played outside.  We had a green in front of our house and we would play there.  We used to cycle around it on our bikes.  Sometimes in the summer the Mums would sit out there and chat but much of the time we were unsupervised. 

My own children were allowed to play outside but only in the square in front of our house or on the hill at the back where I could see them.  They were not allowed beyond there and while they were quite young I would sit on the front doorstep to watch.   

My grandchildren are not allowed to play in the street although all of them play outside in their gardens. 

Where am I going with this?  Oh yes.....  I started to think about my childhood games and my favourite was Hopscotch.  Who remembers that?  

For anyone younger who might not, I will explain.  You used chalk (or a pebble) to draw a grid on the ground with numbers up to 10 and then you rolled a stone and had to hop and jump to that square.  It was great fun and cost no money.  Simple pleasures.   I wonder what today’s children would make of it.  I shall have to try it out with the grandchildren. 

A good explanation can be found here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopscotch

So “H” is for Hopscotch.

Jilly

G is for Grandchildren

Day 8 of the A-Z Challenge and it is "G" for Grandchildren.

Grandchildren are the best thing ever!  I can't begin to tell you of the excitment when you learn that one is on the way; or the joy when the little bundle finally arrives. 

We are lucky.  We have 6 Grandchildren so far and I am sure there will be more. We have 2 Granddaughters and 4 Grandsons.  They are all very differnt and all an absolute delight.  I could say so much but I would need to write a book so instead I shall just post some photos!  

 Ellie Grace

 Evan Reuben

 Flynn Spencer

 Jessica Madison

 Jackson George

 Shafiq Morra Usman

Dad with his 6 Great Grandchidren.  L- R Evan, Flynn, Jessica, Jackson, Annabelle and Ellie.

As you can see the first 5 photos are all taken with their Great Grandad Alf.  This is for 2 reasons, some of my children aren't too keen on putting photos of the children online, so I have gone for baby photo's and secondly, I wanted to show just how much these children meant to my Dad, their Great Grandad.  He adored them all and they him.  It is so lovely that my 4 eldest had very strong bonds with him and saw him regularly and have great memories. 

It is a great sadness that for little Jackson and Annabelle (my sisters grandaughter) they will not remember.  The biggest sadness of all was that he never got to meet little Morra who he was so excited about.   Of course he now has 2 more, Scarlett and Joshua who are my sisters grandchildren. 

The 6th photo shows Morra with his Grandad.

Jilly

Do you hang your washing out?

For once it is a bright sunny day and so I decided to put the washing on the line. I confess that I am guilty of mostly using the tumble drier to dry my washing. Only in the height of summer do I regularly use my washing line. Something that would have horrified my Mum.

When I was putting the stuff out today memories of my Mum came flooding back. The first thing that popped into my mind was how she would always take a damp cloth and wipe the line down first. I have never done that. I just peg the stuff out. Do you wipe your line first?

I remember how she pegged things out too. Usually she would peg from the shoulders of a garment whereas I always peg from the bottom. I wonder if there is a supposed right and wrong way?

She always used her washing line, in all weathers, except rain or really icy cold. That said I can remember occasions where it had obviously become cold and the washing would come off the line totally frozen stiff and would stand up on its own. I can't see the purpose of having put it out in that weather.

I also remember how if a sudden downpour arrived she would dash out into the garden and rush round madly un-pegging in order to get it in before it got soaked. Back in those days neighbours would also do the same for each other if they knew you were out. So it would not be unusual to come home and find all your washing with the woman next door. Today, if that happened you would assume it had been stolen.

Of course in those days they did not have the luxury of a machine that would get it all dry for you in under a couple of hours. The washing would come off the line and if it was still damp it would be draped over a clothes airer which was in the kitchen. My Mum's one was wooden and sometimes it would leave marks on the clothes. When I was first married, in the days before I had a tumble drier, I had a plastic clothes airer which went over the bath. However with 5 children it wasn’t too long before I had a tumbler.

If the clothes came off the line dry then they would be ironed and placed in the airing cupboard. A cupboard with slatted shelves above the boiler so it was warm. The clothes stayed in there for at least several days until they were “aired”

I have never really understood airing cupboards and the process of airing. What does that even mean? If clothes are damp then you dry them. If they are dry you put them away, don't you? I do anyway.

One legacy that my Mum has left me is ironing. She ironed most things. She certainly ironed all our clothes and the bed linen. This has rubbed off on me. I iron everything, and I do mean everything! Underpants and socks included! Do I like ironing? No! Somehow though I can't get myself out of the habit. Maybe I should work on that!

Very occasionally if I time it right with the tumble drier, I can get away with folding a few things or maybe just giving them a quick press. Trouble is I am usually too busy and forget to attend to the drier as soon as it finishes.

What are your washing habits? I think the British are more into their washing lines than my Merikan friends.

Jilly

A- Z Challeneg - E & F

Well here I am again, trying to keep up with this challenge.  Actually as you can see from the title I am cheating today by doing a 2  for 1 effort.  E & F  Together!

E is for empty and F is for full.  

Yes, you have guessed correct, it is a reference to the glass being half empty or the glass being half full.  So which are you, full or empty?

I confess that I am a glass half empty kind of person although I do occasionally have smatterings of half full glasses.  

Of course what we are actually talking about here is pessimism versus optimism isn't it?  Or is it?   Now that is where it gets me all wound up.  You see, although I am a half empty person, I am also a pretty optimistic person.   What I definitely am is a realistic person.  I am a person who deals in facts. 

So the fact is the glass in front of me is half empty.  I can see that.  Realistically, there will always be times when it is going to be half empty.  BUT.... I am ever optimistic that sooner or later it will be full.  

So when I say that I am a "glass half empty" kind of girl, don't judge me and mark me down as a miserable pessimist.   I am a realist.  

I am also extremely grateful that I have a glass. Always be grateful for your glass, whatever the content.  Your glass is a blessing. 

Jilly

Weight loss and pink Crimplene suits.

A follow on from yesterdays post on weight loss.

I am feeling very pleased with myself. First of all, this week I have lost 2 and a half pounds making me now 11st 4.5lbs. That is a total loss of 22.5lbs. Go me! I am halfway there. Hopefully it won't get harder and harder.

Second thing that has made me happy is that I went shopping. LOL, Shopping does not normally make me happy. I hadn't planned to but Simon had errands to do in Peterborough so I went along as well to have a look around. I usually hate shopping and very rarely ever go into the city.

For once this was a good experience. I tried on lots of things and made some purchases. 2 pairs of trousers, one black and one beige and 2 tunic style tops. That was good but the really brilliant thing that put a smile on my face was that they were all a size smaller than normal. Top and bottom, a size smaller. I was grinning like a Cheshire cat when I got in the car to come home.

Lots more hard work to go though so mustn’t get complacent.

Now to change the subject a little I have a question for all you trendy, in fashion, people out there.... What is the deal with all the Crimplene around at the moment?

I am calling it Crimplene because that is what it was called when I was a kid. The labels say polyester now but trust me it is Crimplene and it's still ugly.

Everywhere I went, every single shop, had dresses and skirts in this thick, stiff, textured fabric. Marks and Spencer’s even had a dress in a bright neon pink and white which reminded me exactly of a little Crimplene suit that I was “forced” into wearing to the wedding of one of my Mum's cousins when I was child.

I HATED that suit. I can remember buying it. It came from East Ham market. Wendy, at the time, I remember Roger working there. Not on the children’s clothes stall though! Have I remembered that right? For some reason my memory says he worked on an electrical stall on the corner. Might just be dreaming it all of course, you’ll have to let me know.

Ooops, got a bit side tracked there!

I was supposed to be getting something nice to compensate for the fact that my sister was a bridesmaid and I wasn't. I got this revolting, white and pink Crimplene suit. A pleated skirt and jacket. I will have to try and find a photo of it but not now as I am writing this in bed and it is very late.

I cannot believe that such a horrid, ugly fabric is apparently back in fashion. If you ever see me wearing it, just shoot me.

Night, night.

Jilly

FAT.

How did we get so fat? How did I get so fat? Yeah, I'm using the “Fat” word. I don't like it much either but it is the no excuses, truth. Over the years I have heard people use all kinds of excuses. One of the best is “I’m not fat, I'm just big boned” Well actually I'm small boned so can't get away with that one. I know this because my wrists are little, my ankles are little, my pelvis is little, you would know that too if you could only see my pelvic bones! They are currently well hidden.

Actually, I have medical evidence that my pelvis is small as it was measured when I was expecting my first baby. They feared that he may get stuck. In the event it was a difficult birth but not because of a small pelvis. At least I don’t think so. I did go on to deliver my 4^th baby, a 9 pounder, quickly and easily at home, small pelvis not withstanding.

Anyway, I was thinking about this yesterday and wondering just how I got to be fat. You know a lot of jobs don't help. I worked for years in an office. Very sedentary, sitting on my bum. Then I had the children and that is pretty good, you do a fair bit of chasing around.

After the children, I did what a lot of women do and worked in a shop. Now you would think that might help, after all you are on your feet all day. However, you are mostly just standing. Standing upright without movement doesn't help. Not to mention there are tea breaks where you reward yourself for this crappy work with a chocolate bar or 3. At least I did.

Now, I am at home. I have been at home for quite some years now. I do the housework in the mornings and yeah, I guess it burns a few calories but not as many as you might think. Then I sit. I sew, read, do internet stuff, knit, family history research, run an Etsy shop, sew some more. Do you see a pattern? They are all things which you do sitting on that fat bum.

Back in the middle of January this year. I took a strange fit in my head to stand on my bathroom scales. Hadn’t done that in goodness knows how long. I had the shock of my life. I am totally embarrassed to tell you the needle pointed to 12st 13lbs. I wasn't aware that I was that heavy.

Don't misunderstand that last sentence. I know I am overweight, yes even fat, but I just didn’t know it was that bad. I'm not one of those women that looks in the mirror and hates myself. I don’t scrub up too bad (at least I don't think so) and whilst I may look bigger than I should, I have never thought I look huge. Maybe I am just wearing rose tinted glasses.

My knees play up from time to time and I am very well aware that my weight is an issue in that respect.

Going back to that day in January, to say I was shocked is an understatement. The heaviest I have ever known myself to be is about 11 and a half stone. 12st 13lbs was hard to even compute. Brain was saying “NOOOOOOOO”!

Once the shock had registered I knew that it was finally time to take myself in hand and get serious. I decided there and then that I would get this sorted and when I set my mind to something, I follow it through. Ask Simon!

Since then, 11 weeks ago to be precise, I have lost nearly 1 and a half stone. I now weigh 11st 7lbs. Still a long way to go but I am rather pleased with myself. So how did I do it? Well I don't have any big revelations for you. There is no secret here. I have always known how to do it and so do you. You eat less and move more. Simple.

So am I on a diet? No. I don't believe in diets. Certainly not fads. I am eating less which means, I am watching portion sizes and I am making much more careful choices about what goes in my mouth. Portion sizes are a biggy. (No pun intended). It is very easy to pile a plate high and to tuck in. Do you know what a portion should look like? It is way, way smaller, than you are currently eating. I guarantee it. I'm not going to educate you here, if you want to know, look it up. You'll be surprised.

So, I am eating (and drinking) what I want. Smaller portions yes, but nothing is restricted as it would be on a diet. I still have my glass of red stuff on a Friday evening and if we go out, I may have a couple of glasses of red stuff. A piece of cake at the grandsons birthday party? No problem. I am not missing out on that! The difference is that it is now a small slither of cake rather than a chunk. Enough to enjoy and savour without feeling bloated.

I have an App where I log my food and it counts the calories for me. This isn’t as arduous as it sounds as it has a database and with each item logged it gets easier and easier as regular foods are already there and just one click. The App syncs with my Fitbit so over the day it is constantly assessing the amount I have eaten and the amount I have burnt. More on that later.

Now to the second part of successfully loosing weight. Moving more. Yes, you do have to move. Properly move. Remember that simply standing upright, whilst it might burn a few calories, doesn't really count. I have never been a person who is into sports or exercise. Jumping around to some fast beat, modern music in a room full of lots of sweaty women is never going to be for me. I mean why, would you put yourself through that?

So, how do you get more exercise then? Well for me, it has been walking. Yes, simple as that. Walking. Every hour, I make sure that I take time out and I walk. I don't "go" for a walk, I just walk here at home. It's easy. Walk around the house and up and down the garden. I also do a You Tube, “walk at home” video once a day. Sometimes twice. In 15 minutes you can walk a mile in your own living room! It might not work for you but it does for me. **

I walk Beanie twice a day. This is something I haven't had for years as our poor old doggies were not able to walk. Loulou didn't even go more than half way up the garden by the end.

Something else that has worked for me is the purchase of my Fitbit Charge. It is one of those new fangled fitness watch thingys that you wear on your wrist. I LOVE it.

Yes they are expensive and yes I know you can get free Apps that do pretty much the same thing. But this works for me and what price on your health? The free Apps rely on you carrying your mobile (cell) on you at all times. Well I don't. The Fitbit is there because it is on my wrist like a watch. (It tells the time too). I like the convenience of just a quick glance at my wrist to see how I am doing. Don't have to faff around getting a phone out.

The Fitbit Charge, measures, steps, distance, calories burned, stairs climbed and sleep. I have found that it really motivates me. They say (Just who are they?) that for health alone we should all be walking 10,000 steps a day. When I got my Fitbit and wore it for the first day, I did nothing extra as I wanted to see what a normal day was for me. Another shocker......3,300. Not good.

I have built that up over the last few months and it is now very rare that I don't get my 10,000 steps. Mostly I am more than that. I think my daily average is around 12,000.

The thing that really helps me is what I touched on earlier, the way the Fitbit constantly monitors energy burned against energy intake. So, when you get your Fitbit, assuming you want to lose weight, you tell it what you weigh now, what your target weight is and what intensity you want to work at. So kind of how quickly you want to lose weight.

I am on the moderate intensity which assumes a weight loss of a maximum amount of 2lbs per week. The Fitbit has worked out that on the moderate intensity plan that means I need a deficit of around 500 calories per day. IE, I need to burn 500 more calories of energy per day than I am taking in.

Now for the bit that I like....... Over the day I log what I have eaten. (calories / energy in), the Fitbit is constantly measuring my energy burned. (calories used). It then readjusts throughout the day to try to keep me on track for that 500 difference. So in just a quick glance at my wrist I know if I need to move more or eat less!

Basically if you start the day with let's say 1200 calories and as the day progresses you are sitting around doing nothing you will see that calorie allowance drop. However, if by let's say lunch time, you have already walked the equivalent of 3 miles then that 1200 allowance will have increased. The Fitbit gets better at knowing how many calories to give you each day the more you use it; as it looks at previous days energy burned and energy in to predict the current day.

For me, this is a great help because I can see at a glance how I am doing. If I know we are going out in the evening and I know, that I will be eating more than normal, then I make sure that I get more walking done until I can see that I have enough calories left to cover it and yet still be within that magic 500 difference.

OK, I think I have gone on long enough. Just wanted to let you all know that I am pleased with the way things are going so far. I appreciate that we all have different ways of doing things and this is mine. It is working for me so far.

Remember if you need to lose weight there is no magic formula. You simply eat less and move more. Energy intake versus energy output.

Forgot to say that the Fitbit App also allows you to measure other exercise types such as swimming, yoga etc...

I definitely love the motivation that my Fitbit has given me. In answer to a question I was asked recently.....No, I do not have shares in the company. Kind of wish that I did.

** If you want to walk a mile at home try this. She also has lots of other videos and there are a gazillion more to be found on YouTube.

http://tinyurl.com/o4q94tm

Jilly