Slow down to a saunter

There’s always somewhere to be, something to do, someone to run around after.

As we head into a Bank Holiday weekend there’s opportunity for most of us to slow down, to read a book, cook a meal, go for a stroll. Slowing down, taking time to rest requires planning in our house, to create time for taking care of yourself, or space for creativity and inspiration. We have made some plans, some other things have taken over and imposed themselves on our time but there is a bit of time left for relaxation and recuperation.

Friday will be #bellringing based with both virtual (twice) and real ringing. Saturday I should be at a Central Council meeting but an opportunity arose to spend some time with R, and that trumps everything; we’re going to the Food & Drink Festival at Hampton Court Palace. That should be so much fun. Sunday is a return to all things ringing with the real thing in the morning and meetings in the afternoon/evening, with a bit of housework in between.

Bank Holiday Monday is the only day we don’t have anything specific planned. #bellringing practice has been cancelled as people generally like to have the freedom to go out or see family. I have designated this “go slow day”, the day put aside for reading, cooking and generally only doing things I want to do rather than have to do.

One way Tonya Leigh, my current indulgence podcast, suggests to help us slow down is to consider the following:

Write down all your obligations, cooking, cleaning, work, laundry, activities, everything
Go through each item on the list and ask if it is necessary. Would the world end if it didn’t happen today?
Imagine not doing each item on the list and notice how your body responds. Do you relax? Do you feel lighter?

Sometimes, I might feel more stressed at the thought of things building up. They’ve got to be done at some point and is it better to get it done and out of the way, freeing up time afterwards, or to put it off now, enjoy the free time now knowing that you’ll have to do it later anyway. Is is a false sense of security?

What do you do to help you slow down?

First proper road trip in a while

Its a bank holiday weekend in the UK and the start of half term school holidays. Its often the first real getaway opportunity but with some Covid restrictions in place, or at least limiting some activities, it was touch and go whether we’d be able to go anywhere.

We haven’t seen step daughter #1 since March 2020 for a fleeting meet up and the last time we came to stay with them would have been around Christmas 2019. Lots has happened since then.

It was lovely to be able to take a trip to see her and have a proper catch up. She had an exam on Friday afternoon so we we’re instructed not to arrive before 5pm. We got there about 5.30pm. The sun was shining and it was warm so it was great to be able to sit out in the back garden with a cuppa and have a good chat.

E is a great cook and baker too so no surprises that she’d made a lasagne and all she needed to do was shove it in the oven.

Before we knew it it was 11pm and she was clearly tired and getting uncomfortable so we all headed to bed.

It was lovely to be here and see her bump before due date in July. I’m glad she seems to be well throughout her pregnancy and everything is going as it should.

Looking forward to the rest of the weekend wandering around Hardwick Hall, curry night and good company for the rest of the weekend.

Whatever you’re doing I hope you have a great weekend.

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.

Historical inaccuracies

Being a bit of a history buff, particularly the Tudor period, I was interested to see Netflix advise me of a series available that is supposedly based on the life of Mary, Queen of Scots entitle Reign. I thought, great, I’ll have a watch of that. OMG, it drove me insane to the point of nearly switching off. There were so many inaccuracies throughout it from the costume, to the set designs to the story lines. For goodness sake, if you are going to base something on actual historical people, at least have some accuracy in what life was actually like at the time.

I’m ok with period dramas that are not based on actual historical characters, for example Bridgeton is not based on any person in history, it’s just set in a particular period of time, and at least the costume, sets and even the language was (mostly) of the right era.

Reign seems to have so much wrong with it it’s laughable. I say I nearly switched off because it was one of those things that it was so bad, that I wanted to watch just how bad it would get. I’ve watched two episodes so far and just about stuck it out.

I remember when the Other Boleyn Girl film came out at the cinema. I went to see it with my friend and before we got settled she said to me “I’m not sure I want to do this. You’re going to go off on one when they get it wrong aren’t you”? I’m sorry, I can’t help it.

I understand a bit of artistic licence with the storyline, but at least get the fundamental basics right. They did not have carpets in the 1500s. Nor did the women go around with out hoods, or wearing sleeveless, short dresses. I also get that they won’t necessarily have accents etc correct. Mary, Queen of Scots, by all accounts had a strong French accent, hardly surprising since she was brought up there from a very young age.

It seems that this American “highly fictionalised” (no kidding) series was cancelled after four seasons as the ratings dropped. As far as I can tell the end of series four leaves Mary married to Darnley, so it doesn’t quite complete the story of a queen who was brought up abroad, married three times, estranged from her children and forced to flee, hoping for mercy from her English queen cousin, only to be beheaded for plotting to take the English throne.

However sad Mary’s story was, it doesn’t really deserve being hashed in this attempt of storytelling. I’ll probably stick it out watching the rest of the series, but I won’t be sorry that it didn’t conclude.

Travelling all over the Country

Today was an epic day of activity for me on Ringing Room. This time of year we would ordinarily be #bellringing with a group of friends that we meet up with twice a year. Without being able to meet up for real we decided to try holding a virtual tower grab through the wonders of Ringing Room. On Saturday we had five towers to log in and out of that virtually had us travelling from Oxfordshire to Essex and back again. There are more towers on Sunday from Essex, Portsmouth and Nottingham. We may also try some quarter peals on Sunday morning as well.

So having spent an hour and a half in and out of various towers ringing all sorts of random methods, I then had a Cast of 1000 session for an hour and a half, where I was one of the students practicing spliced Cambridge, Yorkshire and Superlative Surprise Major, and some Lessness and Bristol Surprise Major.

Bearing in mind I’m nursing a stinking cold now as well, my brain was well and truly fried by the end of it. There was very little time between my Cast of 1000 ringing and the evening social Zoom event as part of the ringing weekend, so we cheated and C grabbed a chinese takeaway whilst I was ringing. Just about had enough time to eat it before logging back in to Zoom again.

There were nearly 20 of us on a Zoom chat, catching up as we missed out on the summer tour. We had a short business meeting as well just to think about plans for the year ahead, although its still unlikely that we’ll be able to have the summer tour this year either.

Its quite marvellous how we are all able to continue to ring and meet up with with people, albeit virtually.

The importance of nothing

Life can be so full on sometimes. Even having a week off work doesn’t really give you the rest you sometimes need. I’ve written loads, researched loads, rung loads and had several meetings during my week off so I really haven’t felt any restorative benefit.

Today though, we had nowhere to be and nothing to do. C turned the alarm clock off so we woke up naturally and didn’t actually get out of bed until nearly 10am, which is unheard of. Some might say that that’s wasting so much of the day, but waking up naturally actually made me feel more awake and alert than being ripped from slumber by a screeching radio alarm.

Saturdays have seem to have got a new ritual of bacon butties for breakfast. C cooks them whilst I’m in the shower so its ready, with my coffee, when I’m dressed and ready to face the world. So grateful for that.

Both of us then just sat for a while, reading or catching up with social media. No need to rush.

We had no reason to go into town for anything and as we’d had a late breakfast didn’t feel the need for lunch.

I did do some food prep for breakfasts and lunches for the working week ahead as Sunday is full of ringing, family Skype and virtual meetings as well as the weekly ironing fun. But once that was all finished, I could get comfy on the sofa and read.

Haven’t spent so much time dedicated to just reading for ages. A cup of mint tea with the last slice of winter spice cake made it all a bit hygge. Both of us just sat on the sofa reading. For hours. No other distractions of TV or radio. Blissful.

Some might suggest that a day was wasted and we should have done some exercise or something more constructive with our day, but I actually feel more awake and positive having taken some time to just be.

It probably helped that the book I was reading, not one of the e-shorts I had intended to, was talking about quietening inner critics and self sabotage. It was helping me understand the ways to silence the inner brain chatter and believe that I’m good enough, when so much that has been going on lately has left me feeling totally inadequate.

Benefits of doing nothing include being mentally stronger and more compassionate by having opportunities to delve deeper into innermost feelings and convictions. It helps relieve stress and help you become more rested, happier, productive, creative and allows your brain to reboot by letting thoughts settle.

My step count for the day is hardly going to break the 1000 mark but it doesn’t matter for one day. Self healing and restoration was what was needed today and I’m glad to have given it space in my life.

Sunday rituals

Rituals are good for giving us the power to keep us grounded, stabilised and focused. They can provide a sense of confidence and security and can help alleviate grief and stress and can increase happiness. Doing things on a regular basis gives us a sense of familiarity in a world when there is so much going on around us.

Sundays in this house is very ritualistic. Fortunately for the two of us we can still go #bellringing on our own, so up and out first thing. When we get back home we split the chores. Something we agreed from the start is that I would either cook Sunday lunch or do the ironing but not both. He picked cooking so I get landed with the ironing.

Ironing is not my favourite pastime so I need some distraction in order to get through it. Generally this comes in the form of a vat of coffee, using a huge mug I’ve had for years. Because I don’t have breakfasts on Sundays by the time we get home from ringing I’m hungry, so have a snack of some sort with my coffee.

Then I’ll put a film or Netflix series on so that I can watch that whilst I’m ironing but it can’t be anything that requires too much concentration otherwise I’d burn his shirts. He’s busy cooking a Sunday roast by this point.

Then, after lunch I prepare my breakfasts and lunches for the working week ahead. This week I’ve made Biscoff pancakes for breakfasts 😋 and I’ll have ham rolls for lunch.

Every other week we have a family Skype and catch up with everyone, and sometimes I have either a meeting or virtual #bellringing session in the early evening.

Then its time to settle down. Often we’ll have cheese and crackers for supper, sometimes accompanied by a glass of Baileys. There’s usually a dodgy old film or TV show on that we’ll settle in to before wrapping myself in my sofa blanket and having a nap.

The simple pleasures in life and the familiarity of ritual allows me to rest and recover ready for the week ahead. Once I’m under my sofa blanket, do not disturb!

Famalan Quiz Time

It was my turn to host the quiz on our fortnightly family catch up. We use Skype for our chats as but as I use Zoom for most things I decided to zoom in on some household objects and get people to guess what the item was. It seemed to go quite well. Some were easy but I deliberately threw in the odd hard one. There were some interesting answers.

We don’t do quizzes every time. Bruv did the first one a while back based on obscure descriptions of biscuits. J did one based on the conveyor belt, passing items across the screen and we had try try to remember as many as we could. Then T did one based on Blankety Blank, trying to guess how Mum and Dad would answer.

J always has a list of questions for each family member or group to make sure all the gossip and news is shared. Its quite useful as everyone gets to say what’s been going on in their world, and there’s some structure to the conversation rather than a free for all where the loud ones do all the talking and quiet ones wonder why they are there. Quite often nephew manages to join in but our daughter is currently working every weekend at the moment so can’t join in. Glad to here some other family members are making contact with her separately though.

The next catch up will be on Christmas day, once we’ve agreed an acceptable time for some of us to get home from #bellringing in the morning.

Yule be amazed at what I just made

Well, probably not. This weeks bake was a caramel yule log courtesy of BakedIn. This is the 2nd recipe I’ve made of theirs which requires the making of caramel. The trouble is, for some reason its something I’ve never been able to get right. The sugar and water never seems to go a brownish colour, then when I add the cream its just a slightly dirty looking yellow colour. If I wait for it to darken, it then sets rock hard. I can never getting at a pouring consistency. However, I have sprinkled said rock hard caramel instead of drizzled it. It’ll add some texture!

We’ve got proper christmassy today. Been into town for some last minute gifts and wrapped them up. Made said yule log. Then went for a wintery, night walk around our local RHS Hyde Hall to look at the Glow lights. It promised to bring the gardens to life after dark with festive food and drink and Christmas shopping. It didn’t disappoint.

The trees and shrubs were lit up in different colours, there was festive food and drink (although we didn’t partake) and everything was well set out and managed. And of course the obligatory stop in the shop.

Have had a thoroughly lovely day.

A weekend away

Due to Covid, like most other people we haven’t had a holiday, or even a night away from home.

When we came out of the first lockdown we booked a weekend away as something to look forward to. Then we went into Tiers and then into a second lockdown. We wondered whether this trip would have to be cancelled.

As we came out of the second lockdown, locally we were put into Tier 2. Fortunately so was the location we had booked into. This has meant that we could indeed still have our weekend away.

We arrived at our hotel and felt very safe with the precautions they’ve put in place. Masks to be worn throughout the hotel unless you’re eating. The Housekeeping staff deep cleaned the room before our arrival. And I used to manage the hospital’s domestic services team so I know what a deep clean should look like. The Housekeeping staff will now not enter our room again until after we’ve left. I’m sure we can cope without the bed being changed/made, or the towels changed for a few days (they’ve left more than plenty in the bathroom anyway).

We booked in to have our evening meals at the hotel too as we weren’t sure what was in the local area and whether it had to be booked in advance, so figured that this was the best solution.

We have booked tickets for a National Trust property and plan to have a good look around our location too, and hit some shops and a Christmas Market in the Corn Exchange.

Can’t express how good it is to get away for a couple of nights and spend some time together, chilling. The weather could be better but it is December after all. We’ve come prepared.