A blog for heart matters and natters.
January is traditionally a time when people take up exercising.
It is not a bad time to start either, short daylight hours means there is a good opportunity to exercise indoors when gardening isn't too much of an option.
There are plenty of offers on equipment too. Though apart from some weights I have never thought most pieces of kit are worthwhile.
YouTube has some excellent exercise videos from the BHF and NHS which are aimed at all levels of fitness.
Some sales started before Christmas, which I have always thought is wrong. If someone has bought an item only to find that even before the gift is unwrapped on Christmas Day it has reduced in price it is very unfair.
Having never been someone who crushed themselves in Boxing Day sales anyway it was not until yesterday that I went to the shops for the first time since before Christmas.
Did anyone get any lights or decorations in the sales for next Christmas?
I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas time and will have a fantastic New Year.
It is nice to write this at half way between the two celebrations. Does anyone battle round the shops during the sales? Or nowadays is it done online?
We went to Bristol today, but not for the shops or sales. Our grandsons wanted to go the museum. Now I really like that in this technological time and despite the new toys to play with that they really wanted to go round a very traditional museum. It was further encouraging to see other families were doing the same. The dinosaurs were the big draw and we spent almost all day there. The only bizarre part of the day was that the cafe was closed between 1pm and 2pm. But we went out for something to eat and drink.
Have you all finished your turkey?
It is a freezing cold day. We have a plant tray which I clean and fill with water regularly and the birds use as a bath. When I looked this morning it had three quarters of an inch of solid ice all over.
I broke it out and filled it again with water and very soon birds were having a drink - and a bath.
I also put out bird feed but like me the local birds do not eat wheat. It seems to be in every bird feed but none of the birds we encourage, blackbirds, robins, sparrows, blue tits and great tits, goldfinches eat the wheat. Unfortunately the ubiquitous and greedy wood pigeons do and will eat everything they can. The only plus side is that the wood pigeons by eating everything left mean that we don't have any rodents scurrying around.
Does anyone buy traditional advent calendars?
Whilst the modern trend is for chocolate filled advent calendars and latterly all sorts of items, there is much to said about a beautifully illustrated advent calendar.
The build-up is far more real and reminds us of Christmas in its best meaning.
We used to have several banks in our town and gradually they have closed one by one. Now we only have... one.
It is odd as the last two that closed were always busy.
Not everyone banks online or ever wants to.
The shops are beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Does anyone else visit shops We do and find it more depressing each year that fewer shops and certainly independent shops exist.
Amazon is sheer crap and anyone who blindly uses it thinking they are getting a cheap deal is wrong. Often the prices are more than in a local shop.
