A Beautiful Day #2

Before I begin, I do not use affiliate links in my posts. (There, that’s got that out the way 🙂

I took the featured photograph today as I went for a walk in my local park. The weather in the UK at the moment is freezing, I think it’s something like minus 2 or thereabouts. It was a nice walk though, because the fog came down and made the trees and surrounding areas really pretty. I was fortunate enough to bump into a friend on there who I’d not seen for about 4 years. She lives in the area, and our boys were at the same primary school, so we had a nice socially distanced walk around the park having a chat for a good hour. It was really nice.

During this time of Covid it’s little things like this that I miss so much. Just talking to someone. We are all social beings and need each other. Well that’s what I think anyway, and reflecting on the last lockdown, it’s been nearly 10 months since the first one. I’m lucky because I work in Education and my job is secure, even though it’s a temporary contract. She, on the other hand, has lost her business. She had a successful florists, and a marquee hire for weddings. But as weddings at the moment are practically non-existent, there has been no call for her work, hence her and her husband’s business has folded up. They both have other jobs, doing stuff completely different, but she says that they’re both ticking over, which is admirable.

This is happening all over the world now isn’t it, and it’s a shame that people’s finances and the ability to live is becoming increasingly tough. But then she mentioned that we have to be grateful for our health. Her uncle died over christmas by contracting Covid and he was only 62! It truly is heartbreaking, because in all of this, living is the most important thing, and we have to do our bit and protect our fellow human beings.

Due to the roll-out of the vaccine in the coming months, there is at least a glimmer of hope to look forward too!!

And on that note, I’d like to share with you some photographs and stuff I’ve come across over the web in the last few weeks. Oh, and some good music too 🙂

My son asked me for a record player at Christmas, which I felt was an excellent choice for a present. I had to do quite a bit of shopping around for one though, because unbeknown to me, there’s a vinyl revival going in certain areas of the globe, UK included, and it was pretty tough getting my hands on one. HMV (UK record store), was like an Aladdin’s cave of vinyl goodies, and I was ‘oooohing and aaahhhing’ at all the nostalgia on offer. There were hundreds of records for sale, not cheap I may add, but a revelation knowing that it’s all making a comeback.

Here’s the one I bought for him. You can add speakers if you wish and it has a radio, a tape deck and is Bluetooth enabled. There’s something definitely therapeutic about listening to your favourite music and watching the record go around and around. So much better than CDs.

If you’re feeling a little bored being at home, have a look at the free courses on offer at https://alison.com/

Also the Open University has some too; free ones! https://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/free-courses

A great app here. Whatever food stuffs you have in your cupboard; put them into the search box and loads of recipes will come up for you to try. It even gives suggestions if you only have 2, and that’s pretty good https://www.supercook.com/

A blogger friend of mine contacted me a few days ago, and we have not spoken for a good year I recall. When I first began blogging, we became friends through a comment we made on each others writing and thereafter supported each other a little. Head over to her blog if you fancy. She’s got some really good articles to read https://www.waywardsparkles.com/

I heard this on the radio in my car about 3 days ago. I love classical music and I remember listening and loving this one a few years ago, but you know how it is, by the time the music finishes, you’re either getting out of your car, one of your passengers starts talking to you or (which is usually the case for me), I haven’t got my Shazam app turned on, hence I miss it. Didn’t this time though!

I’m reading a book at the moment called ‘Bad Science’ by Ben Goldacre. A doctor who picks apart, in the nicest way possible, the way the media and treatments fool the public. The chapters are incredibly interesting, and he explains how trials for medicines should be conducted, and how they’re not. It’s a real eye-opener, and he explains how treatments can mislead us into thinking they work for us, when in fact it’s all bad science. As he constantly says, all we need to be healthy is a good diet with fruit and vegetables, exercise, adequate sleep, no smoking and limiting alcohol. And you can’t do better than that, it’s quite simple.