Silent Sunday - 16th August 2015

Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival

Yesterday was the annual day trip out to see the Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival. We've been going nearly every year since 2009 to see what wacky and wonderful creations the good people of Kettlewell have created.

The festival started back in 1994 as a fund raising event for the school and was so successful it has continued every year, being held for about 9 days in August and attracting thousands of visitors from all over.

The walk round Kettlewell usually only lasts about an hour or two depending on pace, pub stops, ice cream stops and tea break and my family likes to partake in all of these! It's a gentle wander around a small village and is quite suitable for push chair users.

There is a trail sheet available for adults (£1) or children (50p) and the idea is to follow the clues and look out for the letters which at the end will spell out a word relating to the trail sheet which this year was musicals and Roald Dahl stories. There is a daily prize for the winners of the adults and children's which is drawn at random.

Alongside the themed scarecrows are also a whole host of other scarecrows which are tucked away in hidden corners or made into giant landscaped scenes for all to see.

Here are a selection of my favourite photos from the day.

The Magic Roundabout

Let's go fly a kite

Please can I have my ball back?

Gru and The Minions

The old woman who lived in a shoe

Oh Dave!

Oh No Fashion Faux Pas!

So for the third time in my life, I turned up wearing the same clothes as someone else tonight. I suppose three times in thirty six years isn't too bad.

The first time was whilst I was working in Birmingham, I turned up to the office wearing the same blouse as my manager who was a good 30 years older than me, she thought it was great that a young lass was wearing the same as her and said she felt younger for wearing it, whereas I was embarrassed that someone 30 years older was wearing it, and felt like going into hiding. So I promptly put my cardigan on and sat covered up for the rest of the day, needless to say I never wore that blouse again!

The second time was at my cousin in laws wedding, I'd picked out the most beautiful dress and felt so lovely in it. I walked into the venue and spotted my dress on another girl. This time I thought it was funny and said we could pass ourselves off as bridesmaids but she was mortified at this, and if the wedding wasn't at a hotel in the middle of nowhere she would have gone home and got changed, but she couldn't. The poor girl then spent the rest of the day and evening avoiding me at all costs, and at one point whilst she was queuing at the bar saw me approaching and walked off. I don't know what her problem was - she looked much better in it than I did.



And so tonight, I walked into the pub and a friend walked past me, you guessed it, wearing the same top as me. However this time I was neither mortified nor embarrassed, because we both looked good in it. Thankfully we were there separately so didn't have to put up with any funny comments or odd looks from the people we were with.

I wonder what will happen the next time?

Dear Me, I'm sorry

I read this post that a fellow blogger Steph at Tub on the Run wrote last month apologising for not looking after herself properly and felt inspired to write my own after standing on the scales this morning and feeling my heart fall out of the bottom of feet with disappointment.

Dear Me,

I'm so sorry for what I have put you through these last few months. Last year we did really well, we cut down eating crap and started exercising. Every weekend we would go out jogging and even though it was hard in the beginning we were soon running 10 - 13 miles every Saturday and Sunday morning. We might have had a few scrapes, falls and pulled muscles but we did enjoy it.

We also cut down eating crap and within a few moths we'd lost 2 and a half stone and looked and felt fantastic. Yes I had taken up smoking but I was under a lot of stress with the separation.

Now nearly 12 months on and I haven't been kind to you. I no longer go running, the healthy eating has stopped and I'm still smoking. Thankfully I don't drink a lot of alcohol but I do have a nasty Coke habit -  ( Coca-Cola  the fizzy drink not the other type of coke!). The last few weeks for some reason I have found it perfectly acceptable to stuff all kinds of crap food into you despite you telling me that you don't want or can't have any more. You have been screaming at me to stop but I've been like some mad possessed woman hell bent on cramming in as much as I could. 

I stood on the scales this morning, I knew what the outcome was going to be due to the fact that most of my clothes don't fit me anymore, remember all those pretty things we bought last year?, the nice dresses, the smaller sized jeans and the cute tops? well they don't fit very well at the moment, so this is having a knock on effect on your mental state, my self indulgence is now making you feel down in the dumps, I am truly sorry for doing this to you.

Well today was the last straw, the shock of standing on the scales and the horror of not even fitting into my fat jeans has motivated me to do something about it.

So body, mind and soul be prepared for a few tough months as we kick things back into touch. It's going to be hard cutting down on the sugar and fat and takeaways but it needs to be done. So today is day one, the fitness apps will be reopened on my phone, the Vivofit will be dusted off and used to track my daily steps and we will be calorie counting again!

I promise that I will look after you this time, and once again I'm sorry.

Love me.

x

Psoriatic Arthritis

Well readers as you may have noticed my posts have been few and far between lately and it's all because of my poriasis playing up. You see not only do I have to contend with looking like a scaly dragon when it's bad but a few years ago I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and I've been in a heck of a lot of pain lately as it mainly affects my elbows, hands and fingers, hence it's very painful to type anything. In fact its very painful to do a lot of things I've taken for granted, like holding a pen and using cutlery.

My fingers are swollen at the moment which means I've had to take off my rings as I don't want to cut the circulation off, my elbows hurt so I struggled getting out of bed this morning, getting myself dressed was painful enough but then I also had to help Squiggle. Thank goodness there's not too many buttons on his school uniform, I don't know how I'd have fastened them up this morning.

I've never had it this bad before, even in the depths of a cold dark winter I've been able to cope but for some reason this year I'm suffering.

So what's the difference between Psoriatic Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Not much really so it can be quite hard to diagnose especially if there is no outbreak of psoriasis on the skin.
The main difference is that rheumatoid arthritis follows a symmetrical pattern meaning that both sides of the body are affected at the same time, whereas psoriatic arthritis is asymmetrical so joints on one side of the body can be affected and not the other side, but like arthritis it can affect any joint.

As usual my skin has flared up over the winter so I'm currently having to cover up - which is good because it's so blooming cold so I'm still rocking jumpers and jeans although I have worn a dress once in last few months because the sun did come out and I didn't want to miss my chance! Unfortunately my dermatology appointment has been put back another month so I won't be seeing the consultant till July now and I need to see him to get referred to the pain clinic. Might have to make a few phone calls and see if I can get in sooner.

Well I've probably done enough typing as my fingers are hurting again, so I'm off to find some Ibuprofen, take care everyone.