A Lovely Little Town.

There's a lovely little conservation town called Strathaven (Straven) about 40mins drive from where I live.
On Saturday we went for a drive there and wondered why it was so busy, it was their gala day so I didn't get as many photos as I wanted but here are a few.

The park is just off the main road and beautiful

Another park,right in town,picnic anyone?

I'm going back to have coffee here.

The main street.Waiting for the procession.

 I think England has lots of lovely towns like this but there are not many near Glasgow.The nearest really nice towns I can think of are in Aberdeen, where I love,Inverurie and Banchory. Unless someone disagrees with me. I'm happy for them to do so.






                         

Balloon sellers and crowds gathering.

What I call my arty photo.

There's a miniature railway and a boating pond.

Another tea room

The park getting ready for the crowning of the gala queen.

There are lots of independant shops here,a cute baby shop and gift shop,a butchers and home bakery,so much nicer than having to shop in a large supermarket.
I didn't take any photos of the lovely floats that passed us, it was too busy and my photos would have been full of heads,so I did what Jo was telling us to do on her blog and that was,just look,no need to always take photos,so I put the camera back in my bag and just enjoyed the rest of the day. Hope you're proud of me Jo.
With it being Gala Day the town had a holiday atmosphere,pubs and cafes were all busy so we didn't get a proper feel for the place but..we'll be back!

Mama Tina

I don't usually write about books on this blog but recently I have seen questions on twitter and facebook asking "What is your favourite book" or "Which book inspired you the most".
I never have an answer to those questions because I must have read hundreds of books over the years and loved lots of them. Last week I was reading the newspaper when I saw an article about a book I read back in 1995,before the days of kindle, the days when you read a book and passed it on to friends. Everyone was reading and talking about this book and when I started to read it I couldn't put it down.
The book was Bridge Across My Sorrows by Christina Noble.

Christina was born in The liberties in Dublin in 1944 and If you've ever read books by the likes of Frank McCourt you'll know what a poor place it was to live in.
Her mother died leaving Christina and her five brothers and sisters with their alcoholic father who, when he could no longer cope sent four of them to live with relatives where Christina was sexually abused. The children were then split and Christina was sent to an orphanage many miles away run by nuns who told informed her that her brothers and sisters had died.
She was so badly treated there that she ran away and lived rough on the streets of Dublin where she was raped by a group of men.
After more traumatic experiences she moved to England, married and had three children. Unfortunately that didn't work out as her husband too was abusive towards her.
During that unhappy time she dreamt about Vietnam and children running down a street towards her with open arms,she had no idea what her dream meant but it compelled her to one day visit Vietnam.
One of the parts of the book that sticks in my mind is of Christina sitting on a bus,she passes an advertising billboard, it has the words Vietnam on it as she looks at it the letters burst into flames,she blinks and the flames have gone but she saw it as a sign, she must go to Vietnam.
Christina waited until her children were grown and flew to Ho Chi Minh City,just for a visit.
When she sees the street children or "bui doi" as they are called which means, "the dust of life" she knows why she is there. She approaches a large oil company and gets some finance to open a medical and social centre for the children. Christina works tirelessly both in the centre and fund raising. She walks the streets 

encouraging children to come for a medical check up,a shower and some food and it's not always easy.
Twenty years on and the Christina Noble Children's Foundation has helped over 700,000 street children in Vietnam and since 1989 she has helped child prisoners in Mongolia.
She has been named as "Mother Theresa with Balls" as she fought governments and bureaucracy in order to help the children.
The first book is now available for kindle  Bridge Across My Sorrows 
it is mainly about her childhood in Dublin with a few chapters about Vietnam.
Mama Tina is more about her work in Vietnam.
It is so long since I read her books that I'm going to download them and read them again. I have no doubt that when the film is released the book will go to number one in the bestsellers as everyone will want to read it and it will obviously have a lot of publicity. I can't find out who is playing Christina but Brendon Coyle (Bates from Downton) is starring in it.
The books are not an easy read, but there is much more to the story than I have written here. They will shock you, make you angry, have you in tears but most of all they will show you what an inspirational woman Christina Noble is. At 68yrs, a breast cancer survivor and plagued with ill health over the years she is still fighting for the children and still saving children's lives.
Watch out for the film!

Sunbathed and Rested.

I'm back home again and another holiday has flown by so fast.I was only away for a week this time as this is an extra holiday we managed to squeeze in. Once again we visited Turkey,Icmeler this time around.
We have been to this resort five times now the first being in 2001 and we were there at the time of the 9/11 atrocity. It was a scary time for all of us there as we were in a Muslim country and we just didn't know what would happen.The resort that night was deadly quite as everyone tried to come to terms with what had just happened.The following morning most of the restaurants and bars had wreaths placed outside them to show respect for the victims.
A fighter jet plane flew over our heads very low in the sky and in nearby Marmaris the harbour area was blocked off and we could see a few warships docked there as if waiting for the word to go to war.
A few days later we flew home, the security at the airport had be heightened and we were not allowed to take any hand luggage on board the plane, not even a book,all we could take was our tickets,passport and money but we arrived home safely and that was all that mattered.We had a great holiday that year and although shocked and heartbroken at what had happened in New York it made everyone in the hotel talk to each other in fact it was all we talked about as we tried to find English speaking channels to listen to the latest news.

Fast forward twelve years and this was our fifth visit to Icmeler and I think it might be our last. Our hotel was lovely, it had recently been refurbished and the room had all new furniture and curtains. The resort was very quite which meant that so were the restaurants and bars and the roll on effect of that meant the Turkish waiters upped their game at trying to get you to eat in their establishment. I was so fed up with never being able to walk down a street at any time of day and night without being stopped to shouts of ,"Very nice couple,come and eat here" "We have good food just try it once" it went on and on.

Many of the shops wouldn't let you browse they wanted the hard sell,one of the reasons I never buy much in Turkey.We did find one clothes shop where the Turkish man had married a Scottish girl and we were free to look around his shop as long as we wanted and when we did need help he couldn't have been nicer, that was the shop we spent money in.
The food everywhere was mopre or less the same so it didn't really matter where you did end up eating.
We have a favourite restaurant called The Love Boat, the food there is lovely and presented beautifully on the plate but there was something which followed us around every eating place.
On every plate of food we had was this cucumber piece stuffed with lettuce.
I don't know if it was supposed to be eaten but we never did nor did we see anyone else eating one so
I suspect they were taken off one plate when returned to the kitchen and just put back on the next plate to be served,well waste not want not I suppose.
Icmeler has lovely views out to sea and at night a stroll along the front works off that big meal. It has always felt like a safe place to us we have never saw any kind of trouble but it's just a pity that the large All Inclusive hotels are taking trade away from the restaurants and I wonder how long they can keep holding on.

 Although we enjoyed our holiday we now feel we enjoying staying in more rural locations even better.
Maybe it's because we're getting older and more boring but I like real Turkish food when I go to Turkey I don't go there for burger and chips or lasagne. That's why we're going back in September to Kayakoy where we spent a week last year. We loved it there and had a car to explore the surrounding areas, if you missed my posts you can read them by clicking on Turkey Diaries at the top of this page.

Our hotel is on the right behind the statue.

Shopping and Sunshine.

I've been very busy this past week. After having my granddaughter staying with us for a few days I then had to get organised for a weeks visit to what I class as my second home,Turkey.
We're having a relaxing beach holiday for a week hoping that a good dose of vitamin D from the sun will keep me well for the rest of the year.
It's been so long since I have felt the heat of the sunshine on my face and there still doesn't seem much hope of us here in the UK having it for very long this summer.
This is to be an extra weeks holiday for us and as such I said I didn't need to buy any new clothes.
That didn't last very long as what girl wouldn't like a new top or swimsuit for going away?

What did annoy me was being asked in every shop if I needed a bag. I know the planet can't cope with any more plastic bags and this isn't a rant about not being given one it's just a question about what we do.

Going for our weekly shop we can take our bags for life,hessian bags,cotton bags or any other kind of bags we like to fill with shopping at the checkout and save the world from the dreaded plastic, but what happens when you're in a shopping centre or shopping on the high street?

TK Max.- Purchased  one pair of pyjamas
Asked,"Do you need a bag?
 H&M - Purchsed- A top and socks
Asked -Do you need a bag.
Boots- Purchased one lipstick, nail polish, nail polish remover wipes
Asked -"Do you need a bag?"
 Card shop- Purchased one card.
Asked "Do you need a bag?"
and so it goes on.
 I actually only had a small across the body bag when I bought all these things,you would have thought the assistant would have seen that.
Some shops just bagged things in plastic carrier bags without asking.
What I don't feel comfortable with is putting things like lipstick,wipes and other small things in my own bag.

Disclaimer:This is not my Mulberry bag it's my daughters.

I feel like I'm stealing them if they are not in a bag branded from the shop they were bought from. I wait for the hand of the security guard on my shoulder and check and double check I have all my receipts.
I also don't want to put new clothes I have just bought in my own bag and then put all the other stuff on top of them, not very hygienic.
Why can't shops go back to using small paper bags for small purchases? I could them put them in my own re-recyclable bag. There's not many designer shops or high end shops use plastic bags, most of them are paper or cardboard.
I have been reading that it takes more energy to recycle paper than it does plastic and also paper comes from trees so it means using more trees,I don't know what the answer is I just don't like putting those kind of purchases that I've mentioned in my own bags.


Back to my busy week. I've packed the suitcase which then had to be unpacked because it was too heavy and as we are only going for a week I had to remove the kitchen sink.
The house is tidy,well as tidy as it's going to be because after I put on my false nails I will be doing no more housework. I'm charging my kindle, phone and camera and I've decided not to take my ipad, I may have withdrawal symptoms but I'm going cold turkey for a week.
The last thing we have to do is deliver the dog to my daughter's house and get to bed early to get up at silly o'clock for an early morning flight.
Hopefully for a week I'll see no more of this

and be doing more of this

or maybe this

Whatever I look like there's sure to be lots of this

Cheers! See you all too soon!

A Blog Award.

Before the A-Z Challenge I was given this award by Rosalind Adam is Writing in the Rain
Ros has become one of my close blogging and twitter friends,we even play on line scrabble with each other although I don't think I have won a game yet. Ros has a lovely blog,she'll have you laughing at her poems and educate you with her knowledge of history but most of all you'll just enjoy her company. Thanks for the award Ros. Now to earn it I have to answer some questions.

1.If you could change one thing what would it be?
I would change the minds of any man or woman who ever thought about abusing children either physically,mentally or sexually. There has been so much in the news recently regarding sexual abuse, imagine if even the very thought of it never entered anyone's head. Those three girls from Ohio would never have been kidnapped and held captive for ten long years. Every child and young person should be honoured and protected, it breaks my heart to think of anyone having to go through it. That is what I would change.

2. If you could repeat an age what would it be?
I would love to back for just a little while to when my two children were very small, maybe when my son was nearly five and my daughter was two, I would have been 29yrs, yes, I would like to relive that again.

Then again....maybe not!

3. What one thing really scares you?
That one day I may not be able to look after myself and be in an old people's home staring at four walls.It's not something I dwell on but it scares me to think about it.

4. If you could be someone else for a day who would it be?
I would be a fantastic singer and appear on the west end stage perhaps as Maria in West Side Story. I would bring the house down with my wonderful singing voice and brilliant acting and I would be ecstatically happy. 

I am passing the award on to .
Amanda's Brand new blog at Keeping Up Appearances  she's just started blogging and I'm loving her blog.

Michelle at Ardour of a Dreamer 
I came across Michelle's blog just before the A-Z challenge which she completed.Michelle is a young blogger from Michigan U.S.A and writes about her life and the things she loves.
  
Val, a writer from the Netherlands who blogs about her life on a barge and lots of other interesting stories you can find her at Watery Ways 
The first two blog I choose are quite new so please show them some blog love and give them all a visit.

Ladies please do not feel you have to accept the award and answer questions, know everyone is busy.

 
     

A- Z Challenge.Staying Fabulous and Fit after 50. Z is for Zaftig and Zest.

After my W for weight post there was only one word for Z and that is
 Zaftig- Having a full shapely figure, pleasantly plump.
Hmm... I don't mind the first part but not too happy with the pleasantly plump description.

I lied, there's more than one word for Z my next one is,
Zest- enthusiasm, vigorous enjoyment. Va va voom.

 We can exercise everyday, eat healthy, take care of our skin and posture, do all the other 101 things we have to do to be fabulous and fit after 50  but if we don't have that zest for life none of it will do us any good.
As every year passes I'm more and more grateful to be here.

I was born Cystic Fibrosis which is the most commonly inherited disease in the UK as 1 in 25 of us are a carrier of the gene. CF affects the lungs and they fill up with sticky mucus,a breeding ground for germs resulting in repeated chest infections and breathing problems. If I am in your company and you have a sore throat or a cold then nine times out of ten I will end up with a chest infection.
 The pancreas can also be affected by CF making it difficult to digest food and absorb nutrients resulting in slow growth and poor weight gain. I am extremely lucky in that my pancreas doesn't seem to be affected in this way.

 Even though I was classed as "failure to thrive" as a baby and despite lots of hospital stays and chest infections I slipped through the net and didn't get my diagnoses until I was 28yr. A child with CF in the fifties wasn't expected to suvive infant years so I suppose the older I became the less likey they suspected what was wrong with me.
Today life expectancy for someone with CF is 41yrs ( I screwed that number up for them!)  but young children and teenagers are still losing their lives or suffering a life full of medication, physiotherapy and hospital stays. We are so close to finding a cure it's only money for research that is preventing it.
When I was finally diagnosed the shock was unbelievable but I  then received the proper care and attention which had been lacking since my birth, doctors started believing me when I was unwell and that's the reason I'm still here folks, real good care from the CF team at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow and a lot of luck.

That is why I have a zest for life, I enjoy every minute of it even when I'm doing nothing very productive.
Sometimes life can be a bit of a struggle and after I have a particulary bad time and I think I'll never recover I have to pick myself up dust myself down and start all over again, with ZEST.


Zest is the secret of all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without zest.
Christian Dior
 

If you have zest and enthusiasm you attract zest and enthusiasm. Life does give back in kind.
Norman Vincent Peale

 I've did it! I've reached the end of The A-Z Challenge 2013. I couldn't have done it without the support and loyalty of my blog, facebook and twitter friends who have came back day after day to read my posts, thank you all so much, you all know who you are. I hope you have all taken my advice and are now Fabulous and Fit.
 As for new friends if you left a comment on my post and I haven't visited your blog it's because I couldn't find a link so if you're reading this please leave a link or your blog name in the comments, thanks. I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings .

 When I started this challenge I looked like

 Now after 26 posts I look like 

There's only one thing left for me to say....

That's all folks!

A-Z Challenge. Staying Fabulous and Fit after 50. Y is for Youth.

 Youth 

If youth but knew, if age but could.
           - Henri Estienne. 

How many times have you said to yourself , I wish I could go back and do it all again with the head I have on me now? We thought when we were young that we knew it all. We knew better than our parents and teachers, then when we are older we realise that we knew nothing and our parents and teachers were the ones with the wisdom.
How I wish I could go back to my secondary school days and  get my head down and study.

Why was I so desperate to leave school at sixteen? Up until then I was doing well, although a little push from my teachers and parents and I might have been persuaded to stay on at school. I could have been there another two years instead I went to college, yes, I studied and became a Nursery Nurse and I loved it but I secretly wanted to teach, I just didn't think I was clever enough. Looking back with maturity, I could have done it, I should have done it but my head was too full of boys, and going dancing and music. I was young. 

On a lighter note. I see the toys of today's youth and wish I as young enough to enjoy playing with them. All the things we didn't have as youngsters. I remember making furniture for my Sindy dolls from cardboard boxes and matchboxes. Look at the stuff girls have today for their dolls. Sindy has cars and caravans, scooters, large houses, the list is endless. Battery operated cars that children sit inside and press a button and it moves. I didn't even have a bike, I had a scooter. Trampolines, huge ones in everyones garden. I want a jump on one of those. I always wanted to work in  toy shop as a Saturday job while at school instead I ended up in a sweet shop and it wasn't as good as it sounds.

When I was seven or eight years old I had friends at school, twins, who lived in a fancy house with a huge garden, I lived in a tenement close so a garden was a luxery for me.
 In their garden they had a shed which had been converted into a playhouse for them. It had a tiny child sized table and chairs, lace curtains on the window and rugs on the floor.We sat at the table with a china tea set and had a party. Their mum brought us sandwiches and cake. It was like another world to me and even today I remember it vividly.
In our garden I will relive my youth through my granddaughter, we will have a shed and convert it into a playhouse and it will have a table and chairs and lace curtains. It has to be big enough for me to fit inside and when it's ready my granddaughter and I will have a tea party and I will have come full circle and be reliving my youth again. I can't wait.

What is youth except a man or a woman before it is ready or fit to be seen?

Evelyn Waugh (1903 - 1966)

Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.

Herbert Henry Asquith (1852 - 1928)

I am not young enough to know everything.

Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.

Dave Barry (1947 - )

 What would you like to relive from your youth?