Ne’er cast a clout til May is out

An old English proverb, cited in 1732, advising us not to put away our winter woollies until the end of May. Or it could relate to the Hawthorn tree blossom.

I have, however, decided not to heed such advice and have swapped my winter and summer clothes over before the end of April, albeit retaining some thinner jumpers and cardis for layering when required.

I do seem to have quite a lot of clothes, even though there is a proportion that I don’t wear very often, or I forget about and end up rotating the same few items. About 18 months ago we bought some of those storage bags that you vacuum the air out of so I could put clothes in them and store them at the bottom of the wardrobe without them taking up too much room. Have to say, well worth the investment, particularly for putting away big winter jumpers which take up a tonne of space.

Every spring/autumn I swap over the contents of the bags and as I do so, check which items are no longer required and bag them up for the charity shop. The trouble is, I then also supplement it by ordering some new stuff.

I’m trying to introduce some colour and femininity and some sort of style. I’m trying to move away from black/blue jeans and #bellringing polo shirts. But I do like to be comfortable so cotton, bamboo, and roomy is essential. I’m not a girlie girl so don’t tend to wear skirts or dresses as I find then intensely impractical and uncomfortable for most of what I do. And of course, I’m a bit of a chubster so like things that cover up the bulges.

I’ve just bought some new tops from Joebrowns.co.uk having been introduced to this by my sister. I like some of the shabby Boho chic style and also the long tunic tops the cover my belly and butt. I’m now looking for a couple of pairs of coloured jeans. I have white ones but was thinking or coral, orange or red. Can’t seem to find any I like. They all appear to be cropped length not full length.

Recommendations gratefully received.

Looks can be deceiving

Back to work today after a week or so off. I was sat in my office minding my own business. The sun was streaming through the windows so I had to shut the blinds. It looked, for all intent and purpose, like a lovely summer day.

At about 2pm I decided to go for my usual lunchtime walk around the hospital site. Firstly, I was slightly annoyed that my wireless headphones had run out of power so I wouldn’t be able to listen to a podcast whilst I was out walking. Never mind, this would give me a better chance of taking in the surroundings and the sounds of nature around me.

There’s a certain bird call that seems to resonate memories for me. The call of the collard dove reminds me of the #bellringing course. Every year, I’d spend time around the main gathering location, and the sound of this particular bird would make itself known as I either hung around, or walked between the base and the local church for a practical ringing session. Whenever I hear this call it reminds me of that. Especially when the sun is shining.

Anyway, committed to walking without catching up on the 100s of outstanding queued podcasts I have waiting, I ventured outside.

Blimey. What a shocker. It was bitingly chilly outside. The sun was shining and the birds were singing, but my cheeks were stinging and my eyes watering within moments. How cruel and deceptive mother nature was being.

Some sciencey nerds (and I use that as a term of affection), who won a Nobel Prize for it, discovered that our brain analyses what the eye sees in steps. Each neuron is responsible for a different part of the retinal image, colour, form, motion, texture etc. and then tries to piece it all together to make it make sense. Our brain is always trying to make predictions of what will happen next, presumably so that we can use our flight or fight responses for survival, but can sometimes be fooled by illusion. https://science.howstuffworks.com/optical-illusions.htm#:~:text=One%20theory%20that%20researchers%20have,our%20ability%20to%20perceive%20it.

If our brain is telling us its nice and sunny outside, therefore it is likely to be warm, we decide that we won’t need that jumper or coat because we’ll get too hot and have to carry it around, and that’s just a pain. Luckily, my brain was switched on enough this morning to register that its still early April, and that we had a snow flurry yesterday, and therefore it is still likely to be on the chilly side, so long sleeved top and thick jacket required. And I’m glad that I was paying that much attention.

I got round my 1.15 mile route in almost record time. By the time I returned to the office, my cheeks were rosy and stingy. My eyes water at the slightest thing anyway, so I was well on the way to looking like I’d been crying for ages. Then of course, when my eyes water a lot, it makes my nose run. Sometimes, it can seem like I’ve got a stinking cold or am really upset about something but it’s just my eyes being pathetic.

My office thermometer is telling me its 24 degrees Celsius indoors, but I suspect its nearer 5 or 6 outside in the wind.

Skylarking around Dengie Deliveries

Annual Report delivery day #2 took us out to the Dengie Peninsula, a stretch of Essex coastline that is formed by the Rivers Crouch and Blackwater, both tidal, and the North Sea to the east. The boundary of the Dengie Hundred ran from North Fambridge to west of Maldon.

We drove out to via Purleigh to Bradwell on Sea, home of the power station (not The Power Station – Robert Palmer and escapee Duran Duran band members) and the Chapel, where St Cedd landed to teach us heathens about Christianity in 654 AD. We walked down to the Chapel, then instead of turning left, the usual route that walkers take along the coastline towards the power station, we decided to talk the right hand path that tracks along the saltmarshes towards Burnham on Crouch. We walked for a while then stopped for a packup lunch and watch a bit of nature.

I have one of those apps that helps you identify birds by their call, so when I set it off, it told me that the riotous squawking was coming from Skylarks. We couldn’t see any but they were making an almighty racket. Then there was a different sound, just in one particular spot, and the app told me that was a Redshank. Again, couldn’t see any but this one was rather vocal. We also spotted, but didn’t hear some gulls, mallards, a coote and a solitary egret type bird. There were some other sea birds a bit further out be we couldn’t make them out.

After our 4 mile round trip, we started our deliveries. Reports for Bradwell, only we went up and down the same stretch of road about 4 times trying to find a house name. Then the return journey via Southminster to Tillingham and then Burnham on Crouch.

When we arrived at Burnham we decided to have another little walk along the river edge. And stop for the obligatory ice cream. What a palaver that turned out to be. There are two ice cream outlets opposite each other. One seemed to have a long queue, the other didn’t, so we joined the one with the shorter queue. Then we noticed that they had a sign telling you that basically they’d run out of all flavours of ice cream except two. So we turned around and joined the other queue. It took FOREVER to get served. There seemed to be four staff, one on ice creams and the other three taking it in turns serving chips and hot food, or standing around chatting. The young lady serving the ice cream seemed to have the memory of a goldfish. If you gave her too many options, she just couldn’t remember it. And from the time of taking your order, and your money, to actually starting your order, she had everything jumbled up. It must have taken at least 20 minutes to get our order. We did wonder whether it was worth it, but when you so close to the front of the queue, you kind of have to stay with it.

Anyway, eventually with ice cream in hand, we continued our walk passed some houseboats and the playing field to as far as we could get along the harbour, where the marina is. We clocked up another 1.7 miles.

A leisurely drive back home through the countryside and back into the city, on a beautifully day. Tomorrow’s adventure takes us north!

In the nick of time… and other idioms

Idioms are words used to describe something figuratively rather than literally. Today they just kept popping into my head.

C and I popped into town briefly at lunchtime to pick up the Association newsletters from the printers and get a couple of bits from the shops. When we went out, the sun was shining. It was a little bit breezy, but not particularly cold. So far so good.

We had been home for about 10 minutes and the heavens opened.

We got home just in the nick of time when out of the blue it started raining cats and dogs. If we hadn’t we’d have been in a hot mess. We’re not spring chickens so we wouldn’t have been able to leg it home without getting soaked. All things considered, we were on the same page when we agreed to go out earlier in the day.

That did put pay to doing anything outdoorsy for several hours. Luckily, we have enough to do so that we’re not just twiddling our thumbs.

I had a meeting in the afternoon and read through some emails so that I could hit the ground running when we got the ball rolling. We were chewing the fat over some ideas that were out of the box and could possibly be the best thing since sliced bread.

When it was time to call it a day, I settled in to being a coach potato for the rest of the afternoon until it was time to stuff my face.

Natural Wellbeing

I’m reading an article in the most recent Psychologies Magazine about how regular time in nature contributes to wellbeing of mind, body and soul, and it suggests that even spending 5 or 10 minutes outdoors with nature can be beneficial in reducing anxiety and can make us feel happier.

I know that I don’t get to spend nearly enough time outside. I do try to go for a walk at lunchtime, but quite often, due to location, that around a housing estate or hospital grounds. We are fortunate that there are open fields behind the hospital and I get a move on I might just have time to go that way. I guess even in a housing estate, nature has its place in well-manicured (or even overgrown) gardens and hedgerow. You just need to look hard enough.

When we were kids we used to holiday most years in the wilds or North Wales. A beautiful spot with mountains to climb, trails to walk and forests to play in. In adult years, when we’ve been away, we’ve always had what we’ve called “long walk day”. A day put aside (hopefully with good weather) to go on a 5-10 mile trek. No distractions but the views around us. Taking in the sights and sounds of nature doing its thing.

Having to work most days means that going out for long walks or further afield is not easily achievable. However we are lucky that we have some nice park spaces quite nearby.

According to the 10 question quiz that always accompanies these articles the thing that I should find most benefit from time outdoors is grounding.

“If you crave calm or wish you feel more grounded and connect to what matters, upgrading the quality of the time you spend in nature ma provide the shift you need. It’s easy to spend time outdoors on autopilot, or use it as a way to being with others – but you’ll benefit most from spending at least some time in nature on your own, so you can tune into the stillness and connect with your inner calm. If your tendency is to live in your head, time in nature can be a much-needed way of paying attention to your physical self. Finding the ground beneath your feet may even be the first step to finding a new direction in life.

You’ll get the most benefit by focussing on the here and now as you walk. Don’t give yourself a hard time if you can’ leave your emotional baggage behind but, when you become aware that you’re caught up in thinking, direct your focus outwards by noticing the colours, textures, sounds, smells and sensations. We can all benefit from a daily grounding ritual but, for chronic over thinkers, it can be life-changing”

Like most people, I haven’t had a proper holiday for nearly a year and a half now (since summer 2019), so when we are able to, I will relish the chance to get out and have some time to wander around new places and spaces to take in the sensations.

Oh, innit mild!

The age-old cry when its unseasonably warm.

Who’d have thought that by mid-February we’d be seeing temperatures in the mid-teens and we could go out without a coat on? Well, that’s exactly what happened today.

We decided to go out for a walk as it seemed to be nice and sunny. I had a jumper on and put on what I call my Spring/Autumn jacket i.e. one that isn’t too thick. We decided to rerun a route that we’d done in the first lockdown when our daughter R was staying with us. We’d gone up the main roads and across the fields. Last time we had to rescue a baby fox that was out in the blazing sun on its own, mewing and looking feeble. No such fun today.

However, there were sheep and the twittering of Great Tits and other birdages. Snowdrops and crocuses were out in abundance too. By about half way round the route, I was very warm indeed, and would have taken my jacket off, but for the fact that I’d have to carry it anyway so may as well carry it on my back.

We did have a bit of a sticky patch as we were walking parallel to the railway lines. It seems a small brook had over flowed and the pathway was a bit of a quagmire. We had to cling on to the trees to heave ourselves across as the path was so mucky we’d have lost our boots.

By the time we made it to the bridge over the railway, I was really warm. There was a nice breeze as you got to the top of the steps so I allowed myself a bit of cool air to circulate, before we continued.

The round trip was about 4.6 miles and took us just under 2 hours. We weren’t rushing, we were enjoying the walk and the sunshine.

Given that its still technically winter, it was a beautiful day. I’m glad I was on annual leave and able to make the most of it.