The perfect holiday

The Perfect Holiday

What do you have to do to get the perfect holidays? It can be really exhausting to go away during your holidays, beforehand and afterwards.  Some people feel so exhausted after a trip abroad or even in the country, that they almost need to have a holiday after the holidays. If you are likely to feel like that, shorten your stay and get some days rest at home to recover from the excitement.  

Well, the first thing is that you plan well ahead, a bit at a time to make it relaxed and get the deal and location you want. But even if you stay at home, staying relaxed is the best thing.

When you are travelling with small children, start to pack early and let them help you to pack the things they like to take. Older children should pack their own bag but that can be a tricky one. It will teach them life skills but it might be advisable to check what they have taken. It is no good having a bag full of favourite jeans and sweaters when it is over 30℃ and vice versa, summer dresses should not be the only thing you pack when you are going to Switzerland because it can snow in July in the higher mountain regions. Check out what the weather might be.

Pack a good supply of what you might need, but unless you are going to a developing country for over 2 months you do not need to pack everything including the kitchen sink. So the most important thing you need is money and your passport. Start with that and then add bits and pieces. Don't forget to check out the rules and law in your host country to avoid being arrested for an offence you didn't mean to commit. 

It is important to keep in mind that this is your time to recover so do that. No exhausting sight seeing trips if you want some peace and quiet. Be mindful of the sun if you planning a beach holiday and don't stay out in the sun too long the first few days. I have known people ending up in the hospital for some days after they fell asleep at the beach on their first day! And don't go crazy with alcohol just because you are on holidays because you want to go home the same way as you came.

Apart from that I wish you wonderful holidays and I'm going to have a break as well, so see you back here in September!

Photograph by Roger Giraud-Saunders

Coping with the heat

Coping with the heat

The most important thing in this heat is: Take it easy. 

We all have to work even if the weather is like this but try and take it a bit easy. Your boss might not like that but I'm not suggesting that you sit in a deck chair in the coolest place.

Keep hydrated! Drink plenty of cool water, 2 litres would be good, particularly when you are sweating a lot. Don't forget to take a bit of extra salt.  Keep your alcohol consumption at a low level because the heat can do strange things to you and put extra pressure on your heart.

If you have to exercise then do it either early morning before it gets too hot or late in the evening when it is not too hot anymore. Exercising in the full heat of the day is very bad for you. Several people have died of heat exhaustion after exercising in the heat of the day. Don't forget to protect yourself sufficiently from the sun, particularly your head. A cap or sunhat does a good service and might protect your neck and eyes as well. It is not enough to wear sunglasses when you are out in the sun for a long time.

Wear loose clothes which don't cling to the body if possible to have a bit of airflow around your body. This helps cooling your skin and therefore keeps your body temperature down. Don't wrap up your baby but protect it from too much sun by an umbrella or big sunhat.

If you have the possibility do it like they do it in hot countries: Have a siesta at the hottest time of the day, between 12 and 2 pm, draw the curtains and have a nap. Please don't do this in the office, but when you have time at home. otherwise: Try and stay cool and wait till the sun goes down!

 

Spice up your day!

Spice up your day!

I assume that we all know that we should eat a healthy, well balanced diet. In the media there was a lot about the health benefits of spices recently. Well, people have known for centuries that foods have healing properties. Spices have been known to be good for your health for centuries as well. The Chinese medicine, not that I know very much about it, uses spices. We do not really need scientists to find evidence that spices are, indeed, good for you and that eating a chilly a day may boost your memory and aids losing brown fat in your body.

This can taste nice. People undergoing chemotherapy have told me that they can only eat their breakfast without being too nauseous after having a stem ginger cookie.

I always have been known to try everything new in the food sector as soon as it was available, be it quinoa, hemp- or chia-seeds or turmeric. There is a warning that goes with it. If your system is not used to the substance you want to use for health benefits it might trigger sensitivities. I once had a colleague and she was almost addicted to amaranth. She had to tear the package open and eat it as soon as she got into the house. At the same time she had a horribly itchy rash on her thighs. It was so bad that she couldn't sleep at night. Only after she showed it to me and I told her that I had exactly the same itchy rash after eating amaranth she told me that she is almost addicted to it. As soon as she stopped eating it, the rash disappeared.  The other thing is that you have to watch when you are eating spices for health benefits. The sprinkle of cinnamon on your porridge might be tasty and levels your blood sugar out but should you really do it for breakfast when your blood sugar level is low anyway after the night?

So before you jump on the spice band wagon do a bit of research and find out what is best for you and fits your needs and likings. I don't like quinoa when it is cooked for half an hour because I find it too mushy. The same for chia seeds. Soaked they are too mushy for me but they give me constipation when I eat them unsoaked. A little bit of advice at the end: Don't eat things just for the health benefits if you really don't like them. Been there, done that. It doesn't work. What you don't like is not good for you but try it first!

At the weekend

At the weekend

I was doing something really interesting at the weekend. I was always interested in organic gardening and for that reason I recently joint the gardening group of "Sustainable Devizes". There were lots of talks about Permaculture and I was intrigued. I'm a keen but not very successful gardener and I'm always looking for ways to improve. So I signed up when an introduction day for Permaculture was announced. 

I had a good weekend. Apart from sitting in a lovely garden I learned a lot. I have come to realise that Permaculture is not only about gardening but that there are a lot of principles behind the scheme. It is amazing and very important because it is about our future as individuals, as people and as the whole world. There are 12 principles in Permaculture, a nice round number like in the 12 months or a dozen.

It is important how we see the world and how we react and interact. The 12 principles are:

• Observe and interact
• Catch and store energy
• Obtain a yield
• Produce NO waste
• Design from pattern to detail
• Use and value renewables, resources and services
• Use small and slow solutions
• Integrate rather than segregate
• Use edges and value the marginal
• Apple self regulation and accept feedback
• Creatively use and respond to change

I came to realise that you can apply these principles not only to gardening but to your life as well, or even t almost everything. This was only an introduction and my whole view has changed already. Sure that I want to know more about it and it definitely made me think.

I took away some gardening tips as well. The soil doesn't feed the plant, it is the other way round: The plant feeds the soil and I, as a gardener should feed the soil as well because there are all sorts of tiny things living in it, which are really important.

I attach a little video I found on the Internet which explains a bit more about the principles of Permaculture.

As lively as a fish in the water?

As lively as a fish in the water?

When I was a child eating fish was cheap and healthy. I can remember the endless supplies of cod liver in oil in tins I had to eat (and the raw minced liver of various animals, which I hated) because I was anaemic. My mother thought that I should eat fish for the same reason. Anyway she liked fish and therefore you would find herring in her potato salad. I couldn't eat that so she would feed me and would try to hide a piece of herring behind a piece of potato before she would try to shove it into my mouth. No chance, I was on alert. Don't get me wrong, I like fish, just not on my plate or in MY MOUTH. 

We all know that fish is not a dish for the poor anymore and that the oceans are empty. I don't want to put you off fish but is it really a healthy choice anymore, particularly if you think about the pollution of the sea? While I was doing some research on the Internet about water, my husband who gave me a hand came across this little video. I think it was published in 2017 but I cannot make out when it was actually filmed. It exceeds the playtime of the videos I normally post but if you have a spare hour I urge you to watch it. It was a real eyeopener for me. Never thought that the Baltic sea is so polluted. And think twice before you reach for the fish for dinner tonight.

It is still about water

It is still about water

I was always fascinated by water. Not so much that I like to get wet even though I can remember when I was a child I found it very exiting to go swimming with my friends in summer. I was a later swimmer which was probably the result of my mother being a non-swimmer. She was very protective of me so I wasn't allowed into the pool for the swimmers and I always had my little floaters around my arms. Guess what: I got fed up one day of being in a different pool from my friends with all the BABIES and my little floaters that I just ditched them and jumped into the big pool. I swallowed a bit of water when I went down and it was a bit of a shock but when I surfaced again I started to swim and that was it. That was a bit foolish but I was only young. Well actually, it was very foolish and that is what I want to warn you about.

It is that time of year again when the weather is right to go to the beach and for a dip or a good swim. There are so many lovely beaches around the UK and my favourite is Bournemouth with the long sandy beach and the nice facilities. Last weeks weekend paper was full of suggestions where you can go for the nicest swim in the wild, be it river, lake or sea. There are lovely suggestions and I might try some, the river Frome at Lullington sounds nice. 

What I've lost is a note about the dangers of going swimming. On the website of the RNLI they say that approximately 190 people lose their lives at the British and Irish coast every year. They state that not everybody can be saved and show the dangers of open water and tell you to beware of it and how to behave. I was quite shocked about the loss of life in this time and age but then I remembered that with the sea we are dealing with a strong, ancient force which cannot be controlled. One of the dangers they are talking about is ALCOHOL. So be aware that your actions and your judgement are impaired when you are drinking near open water. Don't go swimming after you have had alcohol, save that for afterwards. Look out for each other when drinking near open water. Young lives have been cut short by falling unnoticed into a river after happy nights out.

Another risk is COLD WATER SHOCK. This happens when you jump into water which is colder than 15℃. Even in summer the water around the British and Irish coast is around 12℃. Rivers can even be colder. So don't jump into the water because it can take your breath away and leave you unresponsive for long enough to drown or it can even give you a heart attack, even when you are young and healthy.

By the way, you shouldn't jump into water you do not know to be deep enough anyway.

Other risks involve TIDES, CURRENTS and WAVES. So be aware of the risks and always check the tide table. If possible swim at a beach which is covered by the life guards and follow their advice. 

For more information you can go on the RNLI website:  https://www.respectthewater.com/

Stay safe and enjoy the summer.

Photograph by Roger Giraud-Saunders

Call it water

Call it water!

When I was writing about air last week the other thing which came immediately to mind was water. Thinking about water was always my thing because I think one day clean drinking water will be sparse on this planet. We need to save water but it is actually difficult to realise that when it is raining AGAIN! We had flash floods already and several homes have been flooded in the area. Clean drinking water is still an important issue. Sometimes I find it strange that we have to pay for water. It is almost feels like paying for air because water is another essential thing you need to be able to live. The human body is 75% water so water plays an important role. You can survive 40 or more days without food but 3 days without water or any fluid intake will kill you and it is not a peaceful death.

So think about water the next time your tap is dripping and have that tap fixed as soon as possible. Do you really need a baths every day or will a shower do? Running a baths will use a lot more water than having a shower. When you have a shower, don't indulge under the running hot water but make it as brief as possible. 4 minutes will do. Do you really need to wash your hair every day? Unless you are working on a building site, in a mill or other dusty environment it can be bad for your hair to wash it every day. There are other possibilities to save water like using a washing up bowl to do the dishes and turning the tap off when you clean your teeth. Wash your fruit and vegetable into a bowl or bucket and use the water for watering the garden. In the garden some water barrels to collect rain water for watering can make a huge difference to the water you use.

One thing which is important as well is that we keep the water we use as clean as possible. So don't pour any old cooking oil down the sink. There is a collection tank up at Hopton Indultrial Estate at the dump where you can put it and I don't want to mention the wet wipes. Do you really need them? What about using a wet flanel? If you do need wet wipes then put them in the bin and don't flush them down the toilet. The Wessex Water Magazine mentioned this week that you just should flush the 3 P's ( that is poo, pee and paper).

I hope I told you something new and you will think about it, if not, there might be water saving ideas you want to share with me but do remember: One day there will be wars over the access to clean drinking water.

Photograph by Roger Giraud-Saunders