Just Gilly

  So the first picture is my log of blood pressure measurements when I first started taking them at the beginning of May. Obviously red is bad -too high, green is spot on and then orange and yellow in between. As you can see I had a lot of reds and oranges but now it's massively improved - more yellows and even a green or two thrown in! I was ecstatic when I got a green! This is all down to walking. I walk home from work as much as I can and actively look forward to it! Who knew?? When I'm walking I tend to listen to podcasts and they are generally about health/weight loss/exercise etc. I found one that has different experts on and discuss why diets don't work. It's all about eating normally and not labelling food good or bad. It's about being healthy so things like not smoking, reducing alcohol, moving your body. And embracing the shape and size of the body you have. And it's not meaning eating normally as in stuff your face with chocolate and cakes, as let...

 Freudenfreude is the German word for taking joy in other people's highlights. So I'm going to be kind today and cheer you up by giving you all my good news! Yes, I'm that nice. Just delighted this week when I got an email from the insurance ombudsman to say my insurance company had decided to pay my claim in full, and to give me 8% extra as interest based on the fact that the funds were not paid months ago when I claimed! Bonus. This was for my dental treatment, my implant! It's a long story but it all went a bit pear shaped because my dental policy started 1 April 2020 but the dentist was then closed for COVID lockdown. Which delayed the start of my treatment by 4 months and therefore meant the treatment end was also delayed by 4 months, after the policy ended. Anyway it's all good now and I'm just so relieved. Also, my son has got a summer job! In a fish factory - yay.... Yuk. He's just delighted - the hours are good and the pay is good and he's not b...

  Well there you go. All the tiny nuances - my cold showers, manicured nails, smarter days off dressing, walking, home cooking (I've not discussed this one yet) all the little things that I somehow thought would make a difference, would make me better, obviously haven't made a blind bit of difference! I have no idea why or how having a cold shower would make me better? A better person? A better looking person? A more wholesome person? I'm exactly the same person I always was. I'm disappointed that I don't feel different. In my head I just wanted to be a certain kind of person - physically, mentally and morally better. I see myself getting up in the morning, doing some yoga (outside in the sunshine) then making a healthy green (grass?) smoothie. Dressing in an expensive silk blouse and tailored trousers after my cold shower. Nails hair and makeup all subtle but perfect! Good grief. I can't believe I'm actually telling you all this. I'm an idiot. I've ...

  1977. I was 8 years old. It was the Queen's Silver Jubilee. I remember waving to her when she visited the area. We had a street party and I wore a homemade crown. 1977 was also the year that I wrote my first diary and we got our family dog, a black Labrador called Gypsy. The start of my love for labradors. I'm very proud that our Queen has reached her platinum jubilee and it would be amazing if I was as fit as her at 96 years old! I'm showing my support with the bunting. I love a union flag bunting, makes me feel all patriotic. But it is a pretty flag though, don't you agree?  At the restaurant yesterday my colleague laughed and told me that I was always trying to help but.... But what I asked?, even though I knew where she was heading. Messy! She didn't mean to be mean, and I wasn't upset at what she said but I was a bit disappointed that it was true. I have developed into such a klutz. Now Mark will tell you I've always been messy/clumsy/ditsy since he...