[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Well done us! Made it to the end of January. I try not to whinge about anything if I can help it but I have to say I am always pleased to see the 1^st February. I know it’s my imagination but January always seems to be much longer than 31 days. Dark morning, dark evenings. Don’t know about you but my life style very often means that I have to set the alarm for an early morning start so I’m off out in the dark – takes me back to the days before I retired.

I’m a Taurean – an earth sign – so I always prefer those months of the year when I can get into the garden. I live in an area where the soil is more clay than anything else and my back garden is submerged at the moment. Still, my part of the world has escaped the flooding that has devastated so many. Hope you are managing where you are. This is the kind of weather where the exercise DVDs are particularly useful (especially thinking about all those mince pies and Christmas feasts!) when perhaps it’s not possible to get to the classes. On the subject of the DVDs, proving that age is no barrier to their use, my fourteen year old granddaughter Izzy (well – Isobel really) took up the challenge of working out with the resistance bands. As you can imagine, her approach was different shall we say but does it matter? She enjoyed it. Exercise rules – OK?

I’ve been busy re-stocking my freezer and food cupboards after the Christmas festivities. Think this must go back to pre-civilisation when it was a question of survival in bad weather to have something to eat in the cave. Funny really, I live in a village and we have a large village store five minutes from my home! It’s open from 7 am to 9pm and it has never shut since I’ve lived here – it even managed to keep going in all that bad weather we had last year so there’s always plenty at hand. Still, old habits die hard and I’m not likely change now.

On the subject of food, is it another old wife’s tale or does the appetite actually increase in cold weather? It makes sense – the body must need more fuel to keep it going. Soup is always a good idea together with a chunk of decent bread. My eating habits are a little out of the ordinary I know. I believe that, with age, it’s important to eat less. My first rule of thumb is not to eat anything cooked as a general rule; one reason being that heat destroys some of the vitamins and quality in the process. I also don’t eat meat or fish. However, I make sure that everything I eat is of high quality and value. For example, for lunch I might have a bowl of sunflower and pumpkin seeds, bran flakes and sugar free muesli. That, together with a yogurt, is ideal for me. I always get the best quality fruit and have my 5 a day. Obviously, vegetables, pasta and jacket potatoes have to be cooked. However, to be perfectly honest, my ideal diet would be cake and chocolate (in my dreams!!). If I’m eating out, I just blend in with whatever is on the menu – it’s not fair to preach or bang the table to my family and friends about my views and it’s interesting to see how most restaurants have really taken vegetarian ideas on board so there’s always something which will appeal to me.

There are so many ‘Awareness’ weeks and days now. I think it’s a really good way to involve as many people as possible in all the social and health problems in the world. 20^th to the 26^th January was Cancertalk Week. Like so many issues, it’s not always easy to discuss this illness with family or friends because of adding to their concerns so this Week concentrated on inviting people to ‘phone and talk about everything from finance to emotions with professionals. Sometimes it can help to talk freely to a comparative stranger, can’t it? It’s good to know that there’s always someone somewhere willing to lend an ear or a shoulder.

It seems that I’m always either in the process of keeping my car in good order or having a personal MoT of some sort. Off to get my eyes tested today and re-order my medication as well. It’s important to keep all the machinery in good working order even if it takes time to sort. I certainly need every bit of help and with the gardening season nearly here, I want to be ready to get outdoors a.s.a.p.

Hopefully next month I will be talking about the onset of spring. Here’s hoping that the sun shines on us during February.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][mk_padding_divider size=”40″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_tweetme type=”horizontal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][mk_icon_box title=”Read more of Ann’s monthly Ramblings” text_size=”16″ font_weight=”inherit” read_more_url=”https://www.moveitorloseit.co.uk/anns-blog-archive/” icon=”moon-book” style=”simple_minimal” icon_size=”small” rounded_circle=”false” icon_location=”left” circled=”false” icon_color=”#005cb9″ icon_circle_color=”#005cb9″ box_blur=”false” margin=”30″][/vc_column][/vc_row]