darkazana
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Posts posted by darkazana
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Still No Snow
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6 hours ago, FLY2 said:
Everywhere is forecast to get some degree of frost and fog today. So my sympathy goes out to those who have to drive, or to those who are intending flying, and are stuck in departure lounges.
Lets hope it improves by tomorrow !
Well we've certainly had "some degree of frost and fog" today, in fact its never lifted and the trees have been white over all day. The birds have been mobbing the feeders all day too. A pity its not still the RSPB bird count as I'm sure I've had more in today than the whole of last weekend!! I don't think improvement is on the cards for tomorrow, if the BBC is anything to go by it's going to get worse....not that we have had the snow they promised!
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That is spooky, Carni. Thank goodness Poppy survived.
I have only ever had spooky experiences actually in houses. I used to live in an old farm house, near Newark, which had creepy stairs, though not particularly frightening, but the hairs on the back of my neck often stood up. My brother also told me he felt uncomfortable on the stairs, and he is a very down to earth sort of person. There were sightings of an old lady in the house by my then husband and our daughters, I thought someone was outside the stables, but there was no one there. I heard footsteps over head when I was in bed, my daughters bedroom was directly above, where she and a friend has seen the old lady. I went up to check but she was fast asleep, and once I woke to see a face floating above me. Doors have opened and closed on their own and lights were seen to go on and off while we were away on holiday...in the same daughters bedroom. So lots going on, but it was never menacing. Curiously after I had sold it, the new owners took down the ceiling of the master bedroom and found a pipe and a man's jumper in the space between some beams which they exposed. Some of the house dated back to Tudor times, that particular part being about 1700's, so I dare say it has a fair bit of history to it.
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You mean there was left over trifle in the first place??????
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Home-made croissants
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Commo, just read about your sad loss and would like to add my condolences, I can think of nothing worse than losing a child. Thoughts are with you and your family. Blessings.
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Hi Carni,
Hope you are keeping well.
It's good to be back. Still trying to find my way around the probably not so new look site now.
I was about to have a look round the site, but spookily Paul Murtons Grand Tours of Scotland's Lochs was on and he visited Loch Naver which is where our campsite was last year, just after I had finished my post about it!!!
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Good Evening All,
Just been doing a little lurking and thought I'd pop in and say Hi Guys I'm back
Did you miss me? Oh well never mind. Couldn't check in last year as we had no wifi at Altnaharra, in fact we were lucky to have electricity 
Seriously we had a fantastic time. I'm sure Compo must have been there at some time and will know how lovely it is. It is also very remote, the nearest shop being 25 miles away, or 50 miles for a supermarket!!
As it was so remote I kept our campers supplied with all sorts of yummy goodies, Chocolate Brownies, Lemon Drizzle Cake, Carrot Cake and Cream Teas, with Flapjack being a hot favourite of all the cyclists who stopped off on their travels to and from John O'Groats.
Wildlife was abundant with Golden Eagles flying over most days, not to be confused with the buzzards, and one day I had 2 juvenile golden eagles just outside the office door. Red deer often seen roaming the hillside and we were entertained on a daily basis by the antics of the sheep and their lambs.
We loved it so much that we are going back to Scotland in March, and will be there until November, but not to Altnaharra. This season we will be at Brora, which is just south of Wick, and on the coast, with a golf course between our site and the beach, so we have high hopes of another fantastic season. Might have a bit more chance of calling in to check on you guys this year as we do have wifi on site and we shall also be home on a regular basis as we have day relief and so will get away for a week every month. Last year we had no other help, just ourselves, and so only got a day off when we could, not really long enough to make the 500 mile journey home, but it was no hardship when we had such wonderful scenery around us.
Well I hope you all had a good year in 2018, a great Christmas and wish you all good blessings for 2019.
I shall now carry on lurking and try to catch up with you.
TTFN
Deborah
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On 29/11/2017 at 1:32 AM, Oztalgian said:
Nowt wrong with the dinners where I went to school but please tell me darkazana how did the school cooks get the cabbage to be such a fluorescent green colour.
Not something that I ever mastered
but I do believe that in t'owd days they used to add bicarbonate of soda to greens to keep their colour which would otherwise be insipid looking with the amount of boiling they employed 
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Jill I was serving dinners at a primary school in West Bridgford and offered a child a banana....they asked me what a banana was!!!
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Having been reading about Catfans scary diabetes episodes recently brought to mind my own blog, which has been woefully neglected recently.
I am so pleased that Catfan has come off the insulin and that his BG is back to where it was 2 years ago, and I whole heartedly hope it stays there, if not even improving more. I know how scary it can all be, but I am blessed that I have been able to control my diabetes by diet and exercise.
I went for my regular 6 monthly check up last week and have just learned that all is normal, "no further action necessary". Even though I work hard at this it is always a nerve wracking few days for me until I get the results I am hoping for. I never take it for granted that I will still be ok. I shall be on this path for the rest of my life, but if I can keep off the meds then its a price worth paying.
Whilst at work this last season our site Warden had type 2 diabetes and was on meds. Because of the meds he is happy to eat anything at all, which I find a worry as your body adjusts to the meds and then suddenly they don't work so well so you need more and so the cycle continues. The warden does not look particularly healthy (in fact coincidentally last years warden was exactly the same) and I wonder how he will manage over the years. Because I choose to control the diabetes they way I do on several occasions he wondered at my dislike of taking medication, and why I did not check my glucose levels regularly, and was not at all interested in the fact that I was doing ok. On the plus side the lady warden, Suz, who arrived to take over this winter season also has diabetes (Is it something to do with the job???) but is on a journey like mine and so we could discuss the subject quite intelligently. She is on meds but is determined to come off and we are going to keep in touch to support each other.
As to checking my glucose levels, I do not do this as I do not like sticking sharp objects into myself (though I believe there are ways to avoid this now). I simply track my diet and know how much of the good and bad stuff I'm putting in my body. However every time I go for a check up my nurse lets me know what my HbA1c was. Last week I was amazed to learn that last May it had dropped to 41mmol which is normal. A reading of 42 is classed as "at risk". This was amazing to me as last Christmas I had started to add treats to my diet but the reading had dropped from 43 (last Novembers reading) to 41. Suz and I had been discussing our glucose levels and I hadn't been sure what mine was when first diagnosed, so after my check up last week I rooted out my very first readings and was shocked to see that when I was diagnosed my HbA1c reading was 76mmol!!! way above that on which Suz had been put onto meds. So I am really pleased to have achieved 41. I won't know until next March what this last reading was, but shall continue to monitor my diet, which does not mean no cake ever again, I can be a little more relaxed, just not OTT.
And the point of all this is that if there is anyone out there reading this who is newly diagnosed or who wants to come off the meds, then you should know that it can be done. I am happy to share my plan with anyone, and at the moment am in the process of building a website aimed at helping others to reverse diabetes.
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So pleased to hear you're off the insulin Catfan. Hopefully you will stay off it. Well done
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I was school cook for Notts County Council up until 2010 and am disappointed to see children are finding school dinners disgusting as long before Jamie Oliver crusaded his way through NCC were pioneers in improving the meals. I can hand on heart say that whilst I was cooking in any school (I was a mobile cook supervisor for several years) the meals were home made and tasty, from meat pies, casseroles and pasta dishes to burgers (we made our own from scratch) and local venison sausages....always popular with caramel tart still being on the menu, but by far the favourite of my children was the Magic Chocolate Pudding. Fresh fruit, vegetarian options, salad and yogurt were always available with the veggie choice being popular with many regardless of their specified diet. I also produce meals for coeliacs, diabetics and lactose intolerant children.
Sadly a lot of children were pulled out of school meals by parents due to Jamie Oliver denigrating all school meals as a whole and we worked hard to build up the confidence again. The only reason some children didn't like the meals was because it wasn't sausage and chips all the time. So many of them had never had a home produced meal, just pizza or MacDonalds as the parents were too busy to bother with cooking. However the children from less well off families who were on free dinners would always queue up for seconds.
I used to love my school meals and always cleared my plate as a child, and even if I didn't particularly like something I would eat it due to my sea faring grandfather telling me about the real starvation that he saw, and being grateful for what I had.
Ok I'm off my soap box now and it is quite possible that school meals may have deteriorated again, I know they were struggling against rising costs at one time, but I am still of the opinion that there are a lot of faddy fussy eaters out there in the younger generation because parents simply make no time for proper meal times and home made meals.
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Blessed Samhain to all Nostalgians, tis the time of year when the veil between our world and t'other is at it's thinnest and spooky stuff can occur.
It also signifies the end of the harvest season when all is safely gathered in and we can start to prepare for the long winter months by preserving what we can in the form of chutneys, jams, jellies and cider (of course), meat would have been salted down and hung in the larder to see our forebears through the cold dark days, and little furry and prickly creatures will be settling down for their winter snooze, their own larders stocked to see them through.
Time to stoke up the fires and look forward to Yule.
Blessings
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No apples for me this year PeverilPeril, I've had to go scrumping for wild crabapples, the last of which I got today along with rosehips for my final foraging jelly of the year.
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Sorry to hear about the diabetes Catfan, as we know its a horrible insidious disease, hope the insulin helps and you will improve very soon. Stay strong.
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In my thoughts Catfan, hope they can sort the problem soon. Best wishes to you and Mrs CF.
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Sorry to hear you have been poorly for a while now Catfan. Hope you get well soon.
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I usually leave rowan until October, the berries are best when going a bit wrinkly, too bitter at the moment.
Got a few wild raspberries and a start on some blackberries. Hoping to make a Clumber Hedgerow Jelly this year using whatever I can get from the woods. Have to say the Elderflower was especially good so have high hopes for the Elderberries this year.
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I use a teaspoon to "pop" the lid, by easing the edge of the lid away from the rim. Usually opens easily after that.
All the talk of the packing things come in reminds me of Jack Dee (or it could have been Michael Mackintyre) and buying a pair of scissors to find you need the scissors to open the pack that they come in!!!!
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They grow so quickly.
We had a pied wagtail build a nest and lay 5 eggs near the fuel tank in the compound at Clumber a few weeks ago, and were looking forward to watching the eggs hatch, then suddenly one day all the eggs had disappeared and we had one very upset wagtail. Not sure if it was squirrel or magpie who had taken the eggs.
Not sure if it is the same wagtail, but last week I opened up a toilet cubicle which we had closed off and a wagtail had built a nest between the window and the flyscreen (the window had been left open when the cubicle was closed off) There are now 3 eggs in the nest and the cubicle is once again closed off and will remain so until the nest is abandoned. We are hoping this nest will be safe.
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This is an interesting piece about Beltane which is celebrated on May 1st, and mentions the connection with the maypole.
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Annual diabetes check up last week and am so pleased to report that I am still technically diabetes free. Official note from doctor on blood tests was "no further action needed"
I am now 18 months from being diagnosed type 2, and 12 months of being pronounce clear. I have also kept the weight off for a year now. I read the other day that apparently the longer you can keep your weight down after dieting, without the yo-yoing effect, the better chance that it will stay off in the long run.
Since the last check up I have added a few treats to my diet, a cake now and again, a pud when we go out for a meal, but try to keep things on an even keel, and continue to manage on smaller portions and snacking on nuts when I feel the need....most days
and of course keeping up my exercise now aiming for 8000 steps a day (not easy when ensconced in an office for 8 hours) instead of 6000 and catching up on my treadmill when we get home for our days off. Hopefully get some good walks around Clumber when the weather improves.-
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Missed all the excitement due to lack of wifi, but lovely to see our next generation safe and well
Speed awareness course
in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !
Posted
While I understand the frustrations caused by large groups of cyclists, I would like to stand up and be counted for the individual who just wants to get from A to B safely. The other week Hubby had to go on a course, necessitating the use of our one and only car. It coincided with my yoga class, and though I could have caught the bus, I thought it would be nice to cycle the 4 miles, along a country lane, getting in some exercise too. I used our work Hi Viz jacket for safety and most people gave me plenty of room, slowing down, and waiting if there was something coming in the opposite direction, and I always acknowledged their thoughtfulness, keeping as close to the edge as I could (The lanes are not particularly wide). And all went well, until the "gentleman" who came roaring up behind me and nearly took me out trying to get past me before the oncoming car reached us! There was no need but obviously he was making a point that I was in his way and he was very important...….probably the same very important t**t who races through the village (40mph limit) at about 80 - I recognised the unhealthy exhaust sound of his vehicle!
Anyway I'm off my soapbox now, and I will be cycling to yoga again in the warmer months.