Girl on a Train

Last night we downloaded Girl on a Train....for some reason I got it into my head that it would be a little like Agatha Christie's Miss Marple 4:50 from Paddington .  Not a bit like it!

Really enjoyed it but the story was very gritty and often violent. Excellent acting. It certainly kept us on the edge of our seats particularly in the second half of the film. My husband found it quite amusing that I volunteered for this as it is not the sort of thing which appeals to me ...... 😊
Recommend it!!

Mother's Day

Lovely start to Mother's Day as my children give me these beautiful flowers.  Looking forward to being pampered for the rest of the day 😍

Diary of a 60 Something......Thursday and Friday

Thursday  23rd March 

Today is very much an exercise day as I am joined by my husband.  We go relatively early and spend an hour there.  My husband does the treadmill and weights and me the cross trainer. 
We return home and I eat earlier than usual as I am going to my Pilates class at 1pm and need to digest! 

I have got back into the swing of Pilates again - I always felt the benefits but somehow going on holidays disrupts the pattern but now I am determined to be consistent and go to my twice weekly sessions.  Its surprising how much better my joints are now and my back is much stronger.








Feeling virtuous I return home and plan the evening meal.  Quiet evening tonight watching TV....bliss!

Friday 24th March

Put a load of washing on and catch up with the ironing. Quick session at the gym and then home. Hung out washing and then go to Lidl with my husband....when I tell my daughter what I have been up to in the day she usually mocks me by saying  "living the dream"😁

Back home have lunch and then I dedicate the afternoon to painting. One of my hobbies is painting

portraits.  Just recently my granddaughter asked me to paint her so she can put on her new bedroom wall.  She is delighted with it, however my grandson wants me to paint his portrait which is fine but I am struggling with his likeness.  Children have such perfect skin no blemishes no wrinkles and  its hard to identify distinguishing features.  Its much easier with craggier older faces!

Evening we have dinner with friends then home to bed....zzzz


So ends my week long diary.....as you can see quite unremarkable but very busy and we think very fulfilling.  

Now the weekend look forward to - the weather is going to be good so look like gardening will be on the agenda!

Diary of a Sixty Something......Wednesday..

Day starts like any other - I didn't think I would have such a good nights sleep given that we watched the last 2 episodes we had recorded of "Line of Duty". Excellent series really kept us on the edge of our seats! As usual when I watch these very tense and intriguing productions I keep wanting to make a cup of tea - my husband made me stay put and watch.  Superb acting and excellent outcome. Now looking forward to next series which begins at the weekend.

Major points of the day include  usual trip to the gym - much easier day today surprisingly some days work better than others...
Before I left for the gym I prepared lunch  ....chicken wrapped in parma ham leftovers

I heard a report on the news about food going up in price...well these people do not know where to shop...we now go to Lidl and have reduced our bill by at least a third. We have plenty of meat , fish and vegetables and have a variety of food which challenges some of the outlets!

Wednesday is PMQs this is sacrosanct in our house our interest in politics drives this day... starting at 11.30 with Daily Politics on BBC with Andrew Neil (only reason why we are so committed to analysis of day) . Watch the debate and then have our own analysis ....sad I know but we enjoy...😀

1pm Hairdressers  - appointment I don't relish  nothing to do with my wonderful hairdresser .....I am one of those rare females who  endure "beauty treatments" - I regard this as a necessary evil....so much time oh I wish I could leave my hair and come back later!   I only started going to hairdresser when I was 50 .....you recognise that the grey is winning and also skin tone is not what is was therefore a lighter colour may be the way forward!

At 3pm I emerge switch on the radio in the car and hear what is unfolding in Westminster.,,,,,,,absolutely shocked and desperate feeling as my children and their spouses work in the area.... go home and receive reassurances from my family but feel so awful for those whose day isn't so positively resolved.  

In the evening we go out for a Chinese meal...we are both subdued hard to remove yourselves from the events of the day.

All our thoughts go out to the victims and families and friends....

Diary of a Sixty Something .....Monday......Tuesday......

Monday 20th March

Day begins in the usual way.....

9am my husband and I go to the gym - he does weights and treadmill and I go on cross trainer and low level bike followed by weights...

Then home and I prepare lunch - pork steaks, broccoli, cauliflower and gravy......small portion of potatoes for my other half.

Noon we eat and after follow BBC2 Politics programme which we watch most days

Afternoon we both continue a clear out of old files and paperwork we have accrued.  I am still working on clothes and sorting out what I want to keep and those which have been hanging around for a long time.....

Uneventful day really but time was filled with worthwhile jobs which needed to be done!


Tuesday 21st March

Its my daughters birthday!!!  Cant believe how all these years have flown by.......

Start the day as usual ...
About to go to the gym when we heard the doorbell. Our delivery of a ton of top soil! We were expecting this but weren't sure when!!

When we came back from holiday just before Christmas we found that the

lawn had been affected by a snowy fungus and needed immediate attention and we have been treating it for the past three months. So now time to spread topsoil and reseed. So gym was shelved and we started work at 9am and we finished at 11.30!  We were quite pleased with ourselves.  Tired but not unduly so.  I am delighted that I had enough food prepared from day before to have for lunch today.












After lunch ...we may have had a little nap.......

On waking up my husband reminded me that he had run out of cake.... only has home made so I put a fruit cake in the oven and in the hour it would take to cook we nipped out to our garden centre for more lawn seed!  Back in time to take cake out......




Hang out the washing and prepare teatime snack looking forward to a night of TV.

...don't think we will be in bed late tonight.....tired already.....

Diary of a Sixty Something..........Sunday

Sunday 19th March

The day starts like every other just like my post for Saturday so no need to repeat! I'm skipping the gym today as going out for lunch and have to leave earlier than usual. Instead I put on a load of washing and finish off some ironing which has been staring at me for a couple of days.

At around 10.30 we drive over to Chiswick to my daughter who has just moved house and we are excited to see what it looks like.  We are delighted with what we see and hope they will spend many happy years there.  The beautiful magnolia in their front garden was a wonderful welcoming sight.

We were joined by my son and we all went to lunch - this was a celebration for both my son and daughter - joint birthday meal. So siblings, partners, grandchildren and us made our way to The Smokehole which proved to be a welcome change from the usual formulaic pubs and restaurants.  Lots of meats on offer ...of course and ....smoked and also pulled if this was what you wanted.  The noise level must have gone up dramatically when we are all together.  We left around 4pm ....timing perfect as we got home in time to see Manchester City play.....

We ended our evening the same way as night before ...exhausted but happy a full day ....relaxed watching recordings of Line of Duty.......then zzzzzzzzz

Diary of a Sixty Something...... Saturday

My husband and I are really enjoying our retirement always busy and so much we want to do and achieve.  When I say this friends ask me "what exactly do you do?". When put on the spot it is hard to think of all the things which keep us so engaged.  So I am going to share my diary for 7 days to provide some insight but also to remind me of what I actually do with my time......

So starting with last

Saturday 18th March

We wake up roughly the same time every day at around 6am.  All the conditioning from years of working and getting up early are hard to shake off.  However we are morning people and tend to pack a lot of energy into the morning.
We tend to talk for about half an hour and then my husband brings up a cup of tea for both of us and toast for himself - I don't eat breakfast! I know people say you should and most important meal of the day but I really don't need it.
For the next hour and a half to 2 hours we read the newspapers on line, mainly Telegraph, Mail, Guardian, Independent and Express.  We have a keen interest in politics and so read many of the headlines and articles of dominating the press - we share our thoughts and opinions and basically put the world to rights....
At the same time we watch SkyNews. This is our preferred station but flick over to BBC occasionally.
I also check out twitter and Facebook.

At 9am I am down to our gym and workout on the cross trainer for an hour before returning to get changed as we are meeting my son's in laws for lunch
11am we drive to Edgeware and catch the tube to Angel where we go to a delightful Italian for lunch at 12.30. 
3pm we make our way the short distance to the KingsHead Theatre Pub to see an abridged version of Madame Butterfly.  The Opera was excellent.  There is so much talent in the world.  The experience was also very different with an intimate room which reminded us of the small theatre in Trafalgar Studios.Fascinating being so close to the singers.

Around 6pm we say our goodbyes and make the journey home arriving back around 7.30pm then time for relaxing watching TV and then bed around 10pm - exhausted!

Posture Perfection....at any age!!

Do you remember when you were small, your parents and teachers would often say put your shoulders back? From an early age we tend to go for the most comfortable position often to our detriment.

Over the years I have tried my best to be aware of my deportment for my bones and my appearance. Certainly as we enter the senior years its even more important to take note of posture there is nothing more ageing than the sight of rounded shoulders which become more and more pronounced.  This image is even displayed on danger road signs of older people crossing the roads!  Apparently the government is looking to improve on this image as it is regarded as an old fashioned stereotype....I certainly hope so!

Some years ago I saw Diana Moran at a magazine event.  (Remember she was the "Green Goddess" from  Breakfast TV years ago.) Certainly her fitness regime which she demonstrated to so many people had paid off for her - she looked amazing, she stood tall with perfect posture and looked so much younger than her years.

Then last week I saw an article showing her today at the age of 77 looking as if time had stood still.  The thrust of the article made me think about my parents generation where they were encouraged to "take it easy" as they got older and "not do too much"! Not that my parents followed their advice they were very active people and enjoyed their productive lives.

Its really worth a read and may give you food for thought about making small changes to your life which will make for a healthier way forward.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4304654/Feel-ten-years-younger-no-gyms-no-diets-no-fuss.html

42nd Street Drury Lane

Just booked 42nd Street,  Drury Lane for next month...musicals are not my cup of tea but have high hopes for this one.  The beautiful Sheena Easton should provide  for a great performance and a feeling of nostalgia for those of us who remember her beginnings!

Disrespecting free "NHS"

I realise that my entries on my blog are few and far between and I do have the best of intentions but somehow life gets in the way.
One of the cases in point ...Visiting outpatients at my local hospital last week with my husband......inevitably as we get older the need to be checked for one thing and another increases. We all sit patiently in the waiting room scrutinising every would be patient as they go through the process which you have just undergone. We observe what state of well being each person is displaying. To fill the time we start to make judgemental comments to ourselves as we observe the people and their current state of health and what they have done to contribute to their current state. Well what else is there to do?  The clock seems to slow down....appointment at 2.15 already at 2.50 so so bored and fidgety ....observe the work practices of nurses and auxiliaries and volunteers - all well meaning but can't help to think there is an awful lot of duplication of effort.... the limiting factor came down to 3 consultants on duty.

Our prolonged waiting time was at least broken by observing a larger than life Statistics board on a wall of the waiting room and one of the key entries for us related to 641 non show people for appointments in month of Jan and stated £150 per head cost to the NHS.

We were left with a feeling of something quite radical needs to happen to make the NHS work effectively and efficiently and also to stop people taking the service for granted.