Wednesday, 29 December 2010

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

Resolutions??? umm, never been keen on making these as it is so disappointing when you break them.

  • I stopped smoking over 2 years ago which I suppose would have been a good candidate but  no longer available. I added up my savings the other day – a whopping £3000+ which has funded some holidays and more enjoyable pastimes.
  • Lose weight! The proverbial battle which just seems to get harder each year. I remember when I could lose 7lbs in a week, no problem; would take me a month now. I’ve done the –

Grapefruit diet.

Egg diet

Low carb diet

High protein diet

Weightwatchers

Slimming World

Nutracheck online,

High fibre

Starvation.

All of which worked to one degree or another but eventually you slip up, revert to old habits and you find that you no longer even fit into those fat clothes which you very nearly threw away.

At 50 I thought I would no longer worry about my figure – I did.image

 

 

At 60 surely no longer caring what I looked like – I did.image

Now 66 do I care? wish I could say no but I do. Whether it is enough for me to climb onto that treadmill again only time will tell. There is the cruise in February to act as a catalyst as I will want to look my best but not a lot can be accomplished in 6 weeks. Is it worth it? I’ll let you know.

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  • Take more exercise. Ha Ha! All the exercise I enjoy is moving my fingers over the keyboard on my laptop. It does prove a point though – my fingers are slimmer than the rest of me. Wedding and engagement rings still fit after 45 years. Strange that. Here I am doing my daily exercise. JJ.
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Monday, 27 December 2010

WHITE CHRISTMAS

Very nearly. As most will know to get snow here in Torbay is very unusual but the week before Christmas it arrived – in bucket loads.

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The cold weather produced some brilliant sunsets

 

The snow turned the grey winter’s garden into one coated with icing sugar and giving off a bright glow – magical

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Our bird feeding station has been a hive of activity during these unprecedented cold temperatures. Day after day below zero and with hoar frosts so thick they look like snow.

This chaffinch has been nick-named “ bloater” she is so fat her belly touches the ground. Bless.

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This is a rare visitor – a pied wagtail. He knows where he is well off and is camping nearby as we now see him several times a day.

Today 27th December is the first day the temperature has risen above freezing and the remaining snow and ice in the sheltered parts of the garden have, at last thawed. Snow does of course remain on Dartmoor but I have no intention of photographing that!

Tuesday, 14 December 2010

Some of my Christmas Cards

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This one features our friends’ beautiful grand - children in Australia.

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A futuristic Christmas Tree

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Here are Phoebe, Toby & Olli in Victorian Dress.

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Art Nouveau – one of my favourite periods

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Sparkling Tree

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Mr & Mrs Robin & Family

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JJ

Saturday, 4 December 2010

Christmas Time

The poinsettia above was from a photo taken in California two years ago when we visited The Hotel Del Coronado near San Diego.

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Someone needed to water them!

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Here is the plaque telling us all about the hotel built in 1887. Reminds me of our Victorian Villa in Torquay which was built in 1881 but that’s another story for an other time.

Back to California -

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A very large Christmas Tree in the Foyer but not the most colourful.

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The ice rink was very busy – just off the beach!

To round off the photos here is one of the beautiful hotel

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