Being polite has it's downsides.

Oh dear, I have eaten too much. I was presented with a massive cooked dinner on Sunday, someone had gone to a lot of trouble to lay on the feast, five of us sat round a table and scoffed. I am very appreciative of the kindness of others, so I had to be kind back and eat almost the whole plateful. It's rude not to eat what is put in front of you, and I hate wasting food, so I soldiered on. I did my best, didn't want to leave half of it, even though I was bursting at the seams. I had to stop short of clearing the whole lot, some cabbage and peas were left on the edge of the plate.

I do have big platefuls of food sometimes at home, but it is always vegetables or salad. If I can't manage all of it I put it in the fridge to be added to lunch the next day. The feeling of fullness never lasts long, because salad and veg passes through the body quite quickly. It's not a good idea to eat tons of heavy food which will linger a while longer. The stomach stretches to compensate for over indulgence, then you get the feeling that there is a blockage as some of it gets stuck half way down. Not good.

I was still full when I got to the hotel, the Holiday Inn, by the way, very nice hotel, so I was able to collapse on the bed and watch tele. I was still full the next morning when I went down for breakfast. I rationed myself to a bowl of cornflakes, and beans and scrambled egg on a slice of bread. I could have gone the whole hog and ordered a full veggie breakfast, but the though of it made me feel sick. I had to eat something though, not good to binge eat and later starve yourself.

I rang my Auntie to see if she was in for a visit. The first thing she said was, I haven't got anything vegetarian in. People always thing vegetarians have a completely different diet than everyone else. I never expect people to prepare special food for me, I will eat what they eat, except for the meat, fish, and gravy. I said, Auntie, I don't need to eat, I am still stuffed from last night, and I have just had breakfast. She is so kind. So I had a cup of coffee with her and a catch up natter.

Next onto sisters in the afternoon. Starting to feel like I ought to eat something so she made me a cheese sandwich, that was just right, will keep me going till I get home. I drove past Tesco, couldn't be bothered to call in, the thought of buying more food, yuk, can't face it. At 7pm I had a small bowl of soup.

This morning I had porridge with a few frozen fruits. I hope to get my stomach back to normal today, smaller portions to give it chance to shrink back to it's normal size. So sorry stomach, I have abused you, because I was too polite to leave food that someone had prepared specially for me.

Eating is seen as a social activity, go out for a meal with friends, getting a take away with friends, going to someone's house for a party. There's going to be a lot of this going on between now and Christmas. There's going to be a lot of stretched stomachs, over indulgence, and eating too much. I might get an invite to one more family do, it will be nice to see them, but I'm going to have to limit myself about what goes into my mouth. Feeling bloated and sick isn't my idea of enjoyment.

How will you cope, will you be partying, will you be stuffing your face, just because it's all laid out on a table?   ilona

Helloooooo ;o)

I am back and the computer is cranked up. I've had a couple of days away visiting family. Didn't take the computer, and didn't take any photo's, so nowt to show. I treated myself to an overnight at a hotel, very nice, relax in front of the tele, flicking around the channels with the remote. Watched some crap, I won't be following the jungle thingy, soooo booooring. The dancing thingy, booooring. Saw Cheryl strutting her stuff, not impressed. Watched breakfast tele this morning, that Morgan bloke hogs the conversation, keeps butting in. Too much Brexit, fed up of that now, just get on with it.

Done my three miles tonight, got caught in rain but was able to shelter so I didn't get too wet. So what's happening this week. Check up at the dentist on Wednesday, and car MOT on Thursday. Deliver stuff to the charity shop what Auntie gave me, she doesn't have a car to take them herself, and learn to play the guitar. What !!! Yes, I have a guitar. It was Uncle's, now I have it. Something to play with. Catch you later.  ilona

Computer says no.

Dr Rangan Chattergee says we should have one day off per week away from screens. I'm willing to give that a try. This screen is about to shut down, and I am going to engage with the real world.  Catch up later.  ilona

Another decorated stone.

Regular readers will know I decorated a stone with felt and embroidery, I have just finished another one. This is slightly bigger than the first one, and I have used more different colours rather than blending similar colours. There's some wrapped rings, ear rings, beads, sequins and lots of French knots. 

If anyone wants to have a go at this, first find your stone, then cut a piece of felt big enough to cover it. Thin felt is best, or you can use any fabric, it has to stretch to fit the curves of the stone. I start with four or five larger circles, put the fabric over the stone and position them where you want them. Then fill in the spaces left with smaller pieces, and finish off filling all the gaps with French knots. Then I trimmed off the excess fabric, so that the edges barely met at the back.

Next I used really strong cotton and did a running stitch around the edge and pulled it tight. I found that I hadn't trimmed enough off, it was too bulky on the bottom.

I trimmed more off, and cut 'v' shaped notches into the edge. Then re do the running stitch and pull it all in to the centre. Better this time. It needs some pulling about to adjust the gathers evenly.

Done, that's better.

This is the first one I did. I think I like this latest one best.

I cut an egg shaped piece of darker felt to hide the gathers on the bottom.

Think I'm going to keep them for a while because I like them.   ilona

A walk from Edale in Derbyshire.

I had a brilliant day out yesterday. It was a hellish drive through gridlocked Sheffield to get to the start. I almost gave up and went back home. Glad I didn't. 

I met up with a Walking Forum buddy at Edale in Derbyshire. He is an experience navigator and map reader, so I thought I might learn something from him. Although I can walk from one side of the country to the other using maps, I am not an expert at associating what I see on the ground to what is on the map. My walking is usually at a fast pace, with the intention of clocking up the miles. Yesterday it made a nice change to stop and study the map and have things pointed out to me. 

The church at Edale. 

Edale is the start of the Pennine Way, a long distance trail to Scotland. A good place to meet up with friends is the pub.

route2rock (user name) led the way. Down the steps, over the wooden bridge, and up the steps.

Then we took a track through fields alongside a wood, and started the climb up Grindsbrook Clough. Stop for a pic halfway up.

Doggy is enjoying the walk. Ruby is a recently adopted rescue dog. She is absolutely delightful.

Onward and upward, stunning views, but oh so windy.

Scrambling over rocks at this point as we neared the top. We came down the path on the right, scrambled over the water, and went off along the path on the left.

It was very rocky along this stretch.

 Amazing rock formations carved out by the wind and rain over the centuries.

Just look at that fabulous view, photo's don't do it justice. The wind was so strong it nearly blew me over.

The sun is going down over there.

I love to see the green fields mapped out below, with a sprinkling of golden brown trees that looked like feather dusters.

One last pic before we head off back.

Oh boy, did my legs work hard with all that elevation. Up and down rocky slopes, scrambling up a steep grassy bank to the top, but hey, what a great feeling at the end, and no aches this morning. Only six miles covered, but a walk to lift the spirit.

The traffic going home was just as bad. Sheffield not quite as gridlocked as earlier except for long queues on The Parkway. Then long queues on the M18 motorway. Just had to sit in it and crawl along.

Now I need to put the map reading skills I learnt into practice. Thanks to my buddy for showing me how to get more from a walk.  ilona