Family Quiz Time

We have a once a fortnight family Skype during which J usually has a list of questions for everyone so we get to hear everyone’s news and updates. Once a month we’ve taken to having a bit of a quiz.

Now, I’m not a fan of quizzes on account of the fact that I don’t know much stuff. I hate office quizzes and charity quizzes. I once went to one of C’s works quizzes and I only knew the answer to one question the whole night. It was awful. That and being with a whole bunch of people I didn’t know.

Our family quizzes started with big bruv doing a picture quiz based on biscuits. Then T did one based on Blankety Blank, J&A did one based on the Generation Game. I did one on zoomed in photos of everyday objects.

This week our daughter R raised the game with an epic 6 category, 31 questions with a total possible 43 points. It covered History, Science, TV & Film, music, current affairs and people and places. There was audio, video, pictures and powerpoint wizardry. It was a tough quiz though. I think the highest score was only 12. I scored a 9 which wasn’t the worst. Having said that 5 of those points were scored during the first 2 questions (which had multiple answers). Her and her flatmate had done some serious homework and there was a good mix of new and older stuff in each category.

These are a bit of fun, no prizes, just the kudos of seeing how clever we are (or are not). Its been rather good that we’ve all come up with different ideas and themes. I still hate “formal” quizzes though.

The gauntlet now returns to big bruv to devise the next one for some time in March.

A million thank yous

So I’m now 50. The Big five oh. So far so good.

Our original thoughts were to have been having a nice holiday, Italy, Venice were mentioned but of course we couldn’t do that. However my epically wonderful hublet and most favouritest other person daughter R made it really special, as did everyone else who contributed cards, messages and gifts.

I have enough flowers to open my own floristry shop. Fortunately the last lot to be delivered came in their own vase, we’d run out by then.

Then there were chocolates, wine, prosecco,. Even biscuits from my favourite little mate who calls me “biscuit”. Book tokens, West End theatre evoucher, chocolate tasting experience, gift voucher for a cake class with my favourite cake teacher.

Beautiful earrings, necklaces, candles, books on things to do now I’m 50, and a mahoosive lunch/ afternoon tea that was too much food for one sitting. One necklace rom R was of all our birthstones, aquamarine (February), amethyst (March) and Ruby (July).

Balloons that were sneakily made up in the garage, and a chocolate cake to die for delivered having been approved of by R.

Lots of messages, lots of cards and a video chat with my big bruv in the morning and a lovely video chat with R later on in the day.

I feel thoroughly spoilt and am extremely grateful for everyone’s participation.

We’ll go travelling next year when there’s even more to celebrate, our 25th wedding anniversary and R’s 25th birthday.

Might need to take about 3 months off work for that. 😄

Every day’s a school day

It seems like it at the moment anyway. Between doing my online mindfulness course, which has really challenged some thoughts and feelings, and learning methods for virtual #bellringing in Ringing Room sessions, of which I had 4 this week.

The first #bellringing session was a district practice which I didn’t need to learn anything new for but the session that I run on Thursdays we’re consolidating methods that we’ve been learning for February. Some of those methods are repeated at a Friday morning session but sometimes something different. Then every other Friday there’s another session that changes methods every time. This week I needed to learn Newcastle and Alnwick Surprise Minor. And in 2 weeks’ time, we’re aiming for London and Wells Surprise Minor, and I set new methods for our Thursday session at the beginning of the month.

Some of these methods I’ve never even looked at, always thinking they are beyond my capability but with the advent of Ringing Room, have been able to ring things that I wouldn’t normally get to ring in any of the towers that I would normally frequent.

Learning to ring takes time, even just the basics of handling a bell on your own, then you need to join in with others and make a meaningful sound. Then you can move on to the more complicated stuff, but that tends to depend on others a bit more, as you can only ring to the standard of the most novice ringer in the band. However, learning skills that require longer term commitment can be rewarding and stimulating for the brain.

A quick internet search shows that there are a multitude of sites that promote learning something new, from new skills, to new languages, to cooking and baking, knitting and creating videos. I’ve always found learning something new to be rewarding. It doesn’t necessarily make me an expert in it but it gives me better understanding, better skills, better adjustment and a wider range of things to do.

Having just completed the 6 week mindfulness course, I’m now looking around the site to find the next thing to dive into.

Sitting with adversity

I’ve just completed a free, online 6 week course in Demystifying Mindfulness course via Future Learn (www.furturelearn.com). The course covered the “science of mindfulness, how it works and why from a political, psychological and philosophical perspective”. Throughout the course were a series of Mindfulness Labs, opportunities to practice a meditation technique. Something not so long ago I would have said was nonsense. One of the ones that resonated with me most was the one on Sitting with Adversity.

Usually throughout a meditation the participant is encouraged to let go of thoughts and feelings and concentrate on breath or sounds. In this particular one though we were actively encouraged to invite a difficult situation, thought or feeling and to acknowledge its existence, to sit alongside it, before considering “each in breath a new beginning and each out breath a letting go”.

So many situations to choose from. I may well have to come back to this meditation several times to get through them all. However, at the end of the 15 minutes or so, I felt much calmer about the situation I had been thinking about. I chose to lessen its hold over me and consider what was within my personal means of being able to do about it. In the end, I chose to let it be what it will be.

Even coming to terms with that simple statement of letting something be what it will be and making a conscious decision to not let it affect me in the way it had been, was enough to lighten to load.

I have done several short courses via Future Learn and would thoroughly recommend it as a way of broadening horizons and dipping into something before deciding whether or not its something you want to pursue further.

Laugh out loud

Have you ever laughed so hard you can’t breathe or you’re in tears, or even pee your pants a little?

A TV channel is showing reruns of Who’s Line Is It Anyway? An improvisation show where the comedians are given scenarios to act out. I used to watch this when Clive Anderson used to host the UK version and I’ve seen some of the previous US series. This series is hosted by Aisha Tyler. I think having a female host has brought a whole new level to the shenanigans.

There are 3 usual contestants and a different guest each time. The 3 regulars are Ryan Styles, Colin Mochrie and Wayne Brady. They all seem to be really clever at improv and Wayne seems to be really good at lyrics when they have to do singing improv. At the end of the show they have to read the closing credits out in a style of the host’s choosing.

Laughter is the best medicine. Its an all round muscle work out and releases endorphins that help relieve stress. Twenty seconds of laughter has the same benefits for the lungs as three minutes on a rowing machine. I know which I’d rather do. And apparently it doesn’t matter if you fake it. There’s a whole business to be made from laughter therapy. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/06/healthandwellbeing4

TV comedy these days is often mildly amusing but doesn’t tend to make me really laugh. Watching these shows this week has really made me laugh out loud, to the point that I can hardly breathe, or I’m in tears. It’s very clever and very funny. I don’t know whether its because its not overly scripted or political or offensive. Its just good, honest funny stuff.

So can I count a good guffaw as my daily exercise?

Baking fails

I don’t very often fail completely when I’m baking but today’s BakedIn Brookies just didn’t work. There has been much comment on their social media page as to people having problems with the cookie and brownie elements somehow mixing and there not being such a definitive line, as per their picture.

I thought I’d try and be clever so decided I was going to part bake the cookie base before adding the brownie mixture neatly atop. Well, that was a stupid idea.

All that happened was the cookie dough was very soft because it was hot so the brownie mix, instead of spreading nicely on top, just plopped in the middle then sank to the bottom. I couldn’t spread it at all. So mine ended up with mostly cookie at the edges and mostly brownie in the centre and a slightly marbled effect where they met.

They tasted ok though so that’s the main thing, right?

Analysis Paralysis

I’m doing an online course in mindfulness and wellbeing at the moment and have been fortunate to spend all of the day going through the next module, which has been discussing, amongst other things, the merits of whether mindfulness teachers need to be qualified or regulated in some way, and whether attending an 8 week intensive mindfulness course is sufficient for someone to set themselves up as a mindfulness teacher. Don’t panic, I’m not going to be opening up a clinic any time soon.

Being scientifically objective about mindfulness is difficult in that it is difficult to measure one person’s experiences against another’s. We all come pre-programmed with inbuilt prejudices and life experiences that cause us to be open or judgemental about ideas. We all have unconscious biases that impact our opinion as to whether a therapy has been helpful or not.

Connection to a teacher is important. Without a rapport and mutual understanding student and teacher may not settle into a place of trust. People attend mindfulness based stress relief (MBSR) or mindfulness cognitive behavioural therapy (MCBT) for a multitude of reasons, but it is important to recognise that many of them do so because they have been referred as part of a treatment therapy for depression or stress/anxiety, trauma or PTSD. However, even those of us who are seemingly quite resilient and able to cope with most things could end up being triggered by regressing into something that we had long ago put away, dealt with, coped with or moved on from, as part of mindfulness practice.

Is someone who has been on an 8 week course sufficiently qualified and experienced enough to handle that?

If I were in the situation of needing support to such a level, I would be wanting to find out more about the person delivering the sessions. In a business environment we are taught to use the PESTLE analysis tool to investigate the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental aspect of a business before investing or setting up a new business. If I were looking for a teacher who was going to be helping me explore the deeper parts of my brain, and help me find ways to cope and recover I would want to know that the teacher had done those same sorts of analysis on the subject of mindfulness and not just got a certificate of attendance.

Lost Emails

I wondered whether it had all gone quiet, I was being ignored, or something was amiss. I usually get about 20 emails a day to my various “home” accounts, excluding spam. By that I mean my own email address, my Association emails addresses and my Central Council addresses. For the last few weeks I’ve had significantly fewer.

Needing to be on a Zoom meeting I was concerned that 24 hours before the meeting I hadn’t had the Agenda and supporting papers, nor the link to the Zoom meeting. A quick fire email to the right person and it seems that my name had dropped off of the email group so I hadn’t received what had been sent out.

Because I was using my laptop, not the main PC with the main email stuff in, I had to log into my Gmail account, but the email that had been sent with the meeting information wasn’t there. I was frantically trying to log into everything. Outlook, Gmail, Office 365. Depending on which of the aliases used, depends on where the email ends up. Ended up having to email it to myself from the home PC to the Gmail account. Eventually got in, but not without some angst.

Whilst I was logging into various emails boxes, I also came across a couple of other emails that seemed to have been sitting in a Spam folder for one account but were not showing in any of the other redirected accounts. They were quite important emails too. I thought that all the email redirects were supposed to find their way into at least one of the 3 main email address locations.

Apart from my work email address, of which I have 2, I have 6 other alias email addresses for various roles. The majority of them get redirected via our main location but with the recent addition of Office 365 for some ringing activity, that seems to have thrown a spanner in the works. Sometimes I get duplicates, sometimes I get none. Sometimes I get someone else’s reply before I get the original message. Sometimes it takes 2 days for them to come through.

I’m reasonably IT literate, but this gets so confusing.

Quick fire round

I’m not one for small talk. I find it difficult to think of what to say. Its probably something to do with my introversion. I find it frustrating when meetings start with lots of random conversations that have nothing to do with the meeting agenda. I understand the purpose. An ice breaker, or checking in on others wellbeing and so on. But then I get to the point of “can we get on with it now please”?

Just for funsies I was having a play with a random conversation starter generator to see if they were the sort of things you could talk about in a room full of strangers, or at the beginning of a meeting whilst everyone is getting settled. Try some out. Here are the first 10 questions the random conversation starter presented to me.

What is your biggest fear? Losing my child.

What is your dream job? Not sure really. Like making cakes but not sure if I’d want to do it for a living. Thought about opening a cafe once. I guess not needing to have a job might be a dream.

If you were asked to teach a class, what would you teach? Baking.

Do you prefer baths or showers? Bit personal that one. Showers.

If you could choose any era to live in what would it be? Toss up between Tudor, but only if I was at Court. Or early 1900s when so much exploration and new invention happening.

What is one thing that you would like to change about the world? I suppose I ought to go for something like ending poverty or hunger or climate crisis but a big thing that gets me riled is hypocrisy.

How would you know you were in love? If I couldn’t stop thinking about someone or wait to see them and my heart started beating faster.

What is the longest amount of time you’ve slept for? 2 days. I went home from work ill on a Monday and woke up on the Wednesday.

Do you recycle? Yes!!!!

Do you prefer cats or dogs? Neither but if pushed on the subject dogs. Cats are selfish and mean.

Hmmm. Some of them are hardly conversation starters as they have a one word response. I suppose the idea is to then ask follow up questions but for some conversation done. I’m not sure that some of them would be appropriate at the office either but hey, if the conversation stops, I’ll throw one in and see what happens. 🤣

What’s the weirdest question you’ve ever been asked when the conversation got stuck?

The holy trinity

Its by no coincidence that my blog site is called Bells, Bakes & Bettering Myself. Today I got to do all three. The holy trinity. The hatrick. Whatever you want to call it.

This morning was spent with friends and family in Ringing Room, the virtual #bellringing platform. A group of us from Essex, North Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire were able to ring together, have a good natter and make some progress in our learning. Bells part 1. Tick.

Early afternoon was taken up by decorating a cake for me and hublet for valentines day. Now, I need to fess up and admit that I didn’t actually make the cake, I only decorated it. A fantastic website called Sweet Success Cakes https://cccbr.org.uk/2021/02/10/the-survival-and-recovery-toolbox-issue-3/ can ship you ready make cakes in any size and different shapes and flavours you like. I’d already decided that I’m going to make myself a cake for my birthday next week and was looking at the site for some inspiration. They were offering 4 x 4 inch cakes, chocolate, red velvet, lemon and plain for £10. No brainer. Therefore, I decided that I would use one for valentines day, 2 for my birthday and have an extra tall cake and the other one for his birthday. I’ll have a rethink when it comes to our anniversary. All of these dates happen within a month of each other. The cakes can be frozen and defrosted when you need them so that’s handy. Cake done, although I suppose not technically baking but… Bakes. Tick.

Then came a meeting with some members of the Central Council and The Big Ideas Company, an organisation we’ve worked with before on major #bellringing projects. We were kicking around some new ideas for regenerating ringing when we can return post Covid. Bells part 2. Tick.

Then there was a little slot available until dinnertime to do a bit of research. I’m currently doing a free online course about mindfulness and wellbeing. See yesterday’s blog for how that went. The course does require you to do some independent learning so I was having a look about for scholarly articles on the science of mindfulness. Turns out there’s quite a few. I’ve pulled off a few that I think might be interesting. Bettering Myself. Tick.

Bells, Bakes and Bettering Myself. Does what it says on the tin.