“…when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life…” -Samuel Johnson

It’s been a very long time since I’ve posted on here so I thought I would document a very special day at the Tower Bridge Experience which I was taken to by my aunt and uncle, who you may recognize from my post about the Hampton Court flower show in 2018. This was part of my 21st birthday present. I had a fantastic day at Tower Bridge. It was quite windy on the day but it didn’t spoil it at all.

First treat—-we went on the clipper from Greenwich which I always enjoy.

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After which we stopped at a restaurant called Vicinity for a hot drink and some delicious garlic rubbed flat bread with dips. Yum.

On to Tower Bridge. There are over 30 bridges across the Thames in London including the famous London and Westminster Bridges, but I believe Tower Bridge is the most well-known and certainly the most spectacular. The bridge is used by something like 40,000 people every day, in vehicles, on bicycles and on foot. Of course, all this traffic has to be halted when the bridge is raised to allow tall ships to sail further along the river.

At each part of the experience there were boards and TV screens telling visitors about how the bridge worked in the past and what it is like in the present day. Seeing the engine room was very interesting although the mechanism is so complex that I can’t say that I really understood it. This bridge was built in Victorian times and I definitely have a great respect for the engineers of those times. Can you imagine there were the log books of the original Victorian workers. These log books were probably replicas but they certainly looked authentic. I also discovered that during WWII a third engine was installed as a precaution against the mass air raids that were devastating London and which came very close to Tower Bridge during the raids on London’s Docklands.

However, I found the most exciting part of the tour was being on the top walkway where a glass floor has been added. We were told that the glass floor was able to hold several elephants. Nevertheless it was an eerie yet hilarious experience standing and watching the city traffic crossing the bridge so far below us.

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The views of London from the enchanting walkway on the bridge are amazing.

For the final treat we went to The Coal Shed restaurant.

I had steak,chips, some delicious grilled cabbage and a mocktail to drink, followed by a special birthday sweet treat of chocolate sauce, marshmallow and chocolate coal (dark chocolate truffle). I shelved my healthy eating regime for a day and ate an extra helping of chocolate and cream. 😋😋😋😋 phew I’m stuffed- what a day!

I would recommend the Tower Bridge Experience to anybody. The staff are very friendly, imformative and helpful and there are, of course, facilities and accessabilities for the disabled.

Thank you Chris and Viv xx

 

“My heart says chocolate but my jeans say, for the love of God woman eat a salad.”  – pinterest.

As  I mentioned in two previous posts I am disabled and find walking very difficult but it was only when I fell over  a couple of times that I decided to take some action. I had fallen in love with yogurt coated peanuts and Ben and Jerry’s icecream  but the relationship just wasn’t working so I decided to dump them. This as you can imagine was a heartbreaking decision but if I had found walking a struggle at 7 stone imagine what several years of a delicious relationship with two old friends would lead me to. I was over 12stone!!

Enough was enough so off to Slimming World I went to meet some fellow slimmers. That was in  May 2018 and as I am writing this it’s the 50th year of the organisation, I decided to join Slimming World because I came to the realisation that I wasn’t eating properly and I was putting on more and more weight. I’d been mentally unwell for a long time before that which resulted in sitting down all day, eating excessively the wrong sort of food.  In fact so devoted was I to yogurt coated peanuts that  my starting weight at SW was 12stone 3 and 1/2 pounds. 

 For those who are unaware Slimming world is an organisation based in the UK that helps the local community members to lose weight through food optimising and education on healthy eating.

Each member has an individual number of syns (or treats) that they can have each day depending on their individual weight loss plan. Syns range from 5-15 per day. Each member is given a pack that contains all the information needed regarding weight loss, healthy eating, syns and their values and keeping fit.

Our group leader, Jo, is great. She  makes  each one of us feel as though we are the only one that matter in the moment when we discuss our problems, fears, accomplishments and views of our weight loss journey.

Our group is lively and supportive, we have a laugh and it’s a great atmosphere knowing that we are all doing the same thing which is losing weight, we support each other and encourage.

At first it was very hard as I missed my tasty pizza along with my icecream tub and yogurt peanuts. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, yeah it’s healthier but not as delicious as yogurt peanuts, pizza, hot chocolate, popcorn, ice-cream and milkybar buttons!!!!!!

To this day I do miss the odd takeaway pizza now and then but losing nearly  3  stone has made such a difference to my life because before my weight loss I could hardly walk. I needed to often sit down whenever I went shopping or anywhere really, now that  I think about it.  I can now walk around the town at my own pace.  I also don’t get so puffed out when walking upstairs in my home. I enjoy eating many different types of food including  vegetarian and vegan options, I  now like to eat quinoa, quorn,  Mediterranean vegetables and fish, I wasn’t overly keen on fish or quorn before joining Slimming World but I enjoy trying new foods and broadening my palette with different choices.

For each half a stone I lost I recieved an achievement certificate…. GREAT BETTER THAN YOGURT PEANUTS !!!

I reached my target of 10stone on 28th november 2018. and became a target member 

 Amazingly haha I have lost below my target and as of 6th february 2019 I weigh 9stone something and ……. I was voted Miss Slinky 2018 by my fellow  slimmers……. 😀😀😀😀

Then, can you believe, I received the Young Slimmer of the Year 2019 certificate !!!!! 

Ben and Jerry and I are defintely divorced. In fact I have taken out an injuction that they are not allowed within 10ft of me. I am now in love with  syn free spaghetti bolognese. TEE HEE 🤣🤣🤣

 

 

 

 

 

Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless.” – Sherry Anderson

In my first blog post I briefly mentioned where I work and a little bit about the work of the centre as a whole. I have been volunteering for almost 3 years but I started at the Healthy Diving Centre Dartford on January 10th 2017. At first I was working as a receptionist shadowing my colleague. I found it difficult when answering the phone and taking notes at the same time due to only having one arm that works, which must’ve made me look like a one-armed juggler!!!!

However, the staff at the centre soon realised that I had a talent for working with computers and I was asked to teach ICT to the Silver Surfers, including the Microsoft Office pack and the Learn My Way computer course which helps the students get started on their computing journey .

The classes are  on a Thursday and Friday with two breaks. This ensures that the students have a rest  from using the computer and allows the tutors and students to socialise.

There is another  computer class held on  Wednesday mornings which  specialises in beginners’ ICT and  Microsoft office , Windows 7,8 and 10 operating system training and general ICT.

ESOL classes are also available on Monday afternoons.

The centre doesn’t just offer ICT lessons or receptionist work. There are so many other opportunities to learn or get help, such as benefit or debt advice at SAfE (Smart Advice For Everyone).  On Wednesdays between 1-4pm  there is a Job Club which offers help with Job search and writing CVs and  covering letters, with one to one  support from volunteers and the RBLI (Royal British Legion Industries).

What has a designer handbag got to do with the HLCD? It’s because I am about to tell you of the delicious meals served in the community café.  These are cooked and served by the great teams of volunteers who man the kitchen from Wednesday to Friday each week. The above handbag is actually a cake made by an extremely talented volunteer as a raffle prize!!! Genius

As well as the mouth watering meals, sandwiches, toasties, jacket potatoes, cakes and pastries are also available. The produce required is mainly obtained from the supermarkets as surplus food. HLCD  also has  an allotment based at a local community centre. 

The café also caters for the 0ver 60s bingo club on Thursday afternoons.  It is such a friendly place that many of the customers come nearly every day for the company and friendship.

The bike scheme is an annual event in partnership with KCC Transport department. This allows people to get back into cycling or find out whether it’s suitable for them by giving them one of the 5 reconditioned bikes HLCD can provide on loan for 3 months. The package  includes a helmet, a set of lights and a florescent jacket for safety.  The scheme  aims to encourage the participants to travel short distances in a healthier and more  environmentally friendly way.

There are so many ongoing and planned activities such as Crafty Tuesday arts and craft club and pre-loved book club, as well as the arranged table top sales and coffee mornings which make  it impossible to talk about everything in one blog post.

It is due to the HLCD that I studied the European Computer Driving License and  I am forever  grateful to them for the opportunities they have given me thus far. I’d like to finish by saying how proud I am to be one of the many  volunteers at the Healthy Living Centre Dartford.

“Paddington has a habit of bringing people closer together.” “Paddington goes to town” – Michael Bond

I have recently found a love for orchestral music. A lot of the music that I listen to is from the orchestral soundtrack of the films I watch including Disney and Pixar along with many more.

On Sunday 14th October 2018 I went to see Paddington in concert at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.  The music was performed by the Novello Orchestra, conducted by George Jackson. The film score was composed by Nick Urata, who flew over from LA especially for the performance.

I really enjoyed seeing the orchestra perform live as well as watching the film on a big screen and was in awe the whole time. I even met Paddington himself which was a lovely surprise……..

The Theatre has so much  history. I was very intrigued to see  the photo collages of all the famous plays, actors, actresses and entertainments that have taken place there from years past. However, Drury Lane will always be associated with  Charles II in my mind. it was he who allowed theatres to be reopened after being closed during the interregnum, when it was considered disgusting for people to enjoy themselves!!! It seems that Charles II, dubbed the “Merry Monarch”, had one aim in life and that was to enjoy himself!!😀😀 It was at Drury Lane that he met Nell Gwynn, his most famous mistress, who worked there.

Afterwards we walked  around  Covent Garden which I’ve never visited before. It was like another world. There was so much to see – shops, street performers and crowds and crowds of people considering it was such a dull and drizzly  evening .

We saw a  street performer attempt a not-so tightrope walk along 2 poles  which was very funny. He mostly talked and considering how pitiful the rope was he actually DID IT!!!!!

Charlie Chaplin performed later on and I got a picture taken with him beforehand  which he found quite surprising………

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                      We also saw a street performing opera singer which was amazing!!! I couldn’t believe that I was hearing such a strong and  beautiful voice coming from such a tiny, young person

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I’m sorry that the picture isn’t very  clear,  I couldn’t get any closer as there were too many steps to navigate.

All in all a lovely day which  ended with a  steak dinner 😃😃😃 PERFECT😍

 

 

 

“Where flowers bloom so does hope.” – Lady Bird Johnson.

I’d like to tell you about a really interesting day out I had visiting the Hampton Court Palace flower show.  I went on Friday 6th July 2018, with my grandma, aunt and uncle. The day was amazing  I had never experienced anything like it before, my uncle and aunt, however, are very keen gardeners and had been to the Chelsea Flower Show previously.  The majority of this post will be pictures………..

To get to the Flower Show we had to take a ferry from the car park, which was certainly a bit of fun to start the day.

The weather on the day was very hot, so hot that the flowers were stressed which meant that the scent of them wasn’t as strong as usual. Believe me, the flowers weren’t the only things to feel the heat!!!  Most of the displays were arranged in marquees and they were really stunning.

The first marquee we entered was the Festival of Roses.  There were thousands of beautifully scented roses everywhere we looked.  I really don’t know how the rose growers kept their displays looking so fresh and splendid in all the heat.

Here we are in one of the delightful arrangements with me holding the gold medal which had been awarded to the rose grower.

Below are some pictures of the amazing cacti we saw. I never realised that there are so many different types and so many were blooming with lovely flowers.  My pictures do not show how large and impressive these displays  actually were.

 

There was definitely something for everyone even a rock and roll band😁

 

I had a refreshing and tasty salted caramel ice-cream which  unfortunately a little while later made me sick. 🤢🤮 too much information 😯🙄

Although we spent the whole day at the Show we didn’t manage to see even half of what was on display.

Congratulations to all the clever exhibitors. I look forward to attending next year.

You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way. –

Walter Hagen