Author: Dee

So….it’s porridge for me!

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Since finding out that my cholesterol level is 8, not a good number to be, I have been reading up on what to do about getting it lower.

I have found out that porridge oats are an excellent thing to eat if you have high cholesterol, as the soluble fibre and beta-glucans helps get rid of the nasty cholesterol stuff in your blood stream.

In the course of trawling the internet, I came across this amazing site that tells you all you ever need to know about oats, how much is grown, how long we have been eating them and why you should add them to your diet.

http://bit.ly/cUY9G9

So, I will now start each day with a bowl of porridge oats and see if they can help me get from a level of 8 to one of 5 which is much more healthy

How do I lower my cholesterol?

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I have had a blood test recently to try and find out why I feel so tired all the time and have no engery.  The tests didn’t find anything other than I my cholesterol level is too high.  It is 5 which is not good evidently.  So I have set about trying to find out what I should do to get the level down.  It seems that we make cholesterol in our bodies anyway but it is only when it is high that it becomes a bad thing.

I have read lots of stuff on the internet, some of which is quite confusing, but there is evidence that you can reduce the level by changes in diet and exercise. So out go prawns, eggs, red meat, cakes. biscuits, pastries

 and in come porridge oats, walnuts, olive oil, blueberries, chicken, oily fish, turkey….

     hmm doesn’t seem too bad!      

I will also have to start doing some exercising as I have been quite lax of late.  Do I have to hit the gym or would swimming be OK? Anyone got any other tips, they would be gratefully received

To tweet or not to tweet, that is the question……..

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Why would you want to send out little tweets to people you don’t know and probably never will know, is it in the hope that you will get lots of followers and so think you are a mini celebrity?  Or is it that you are so frustrated with your life, that you want to invent a new you, that could be anything you wanted it to be. Or is it that you have things to say that need saying and Twitter is the only place you can get your voice heard? Whatever the reason, there are millions of twitterers out there, sending millions of tweets every hour.

I started tweeting a few months ago to see what it was all about and found, to my surprise, that within a few days a lot of people were following me.  I had no idea how this came about and still don’t, but then I found that I too was following people and I haven’t a clue how that works either.  Some of these people are just blatantly selling themselves or their business and it all seemed to be about self promotion. Not many want to comment on what’s happening in the world, if they aren’t telling me about what they can do, they seem quite happy to retweet others’ comments or links to articles in the press. 

 Perhaps I am missing the point, or expecting too much. I do exchange regular tweets with some great people who are in the same time zone as me.  We send tweets on all sort of things, but the time difference means I miss a lot of what happens from my followers and followees on the other side of the world.  That said, I have found that even though I am not sure how it all happens, I do enjoy tweeting and probably that’s what it is all about, so I shall carry on and hopefully one day I will find out how it all works

Make sure the Haitian people get all the benefit

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After all the heartbreak, hurt, depravation and terror that the Haitian people have endured these last days, I hope that all the money donated in their name finds its way to them soon and that none of it gets swallowed up in expenses, fees and the like, as has happened so many times to donations made in the past.

The whole world has been moved by their plight and donated willingly to help them; they have nothing, they need everything we can give them, let’s make sure they get it.

Thinking about comfort food

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The winter has been unusually cold here, as a result I found I have been making more dishes that can only be described as comfort food.

Chilli con Carne – wonderfully warming

Bangers and mash – the best way to eat potatoes

Fish Pie – big chunks of tasty fish, creamy sauce and mashed potatoes again

Shepherd’s Pie – spicy tasty mince beef,  oh and mashed potatoes..

Macaroni Cheese – lovely pasta and tangy cheese

Lasagne – layers of creamy pasta and melted cheese

Sticky Toffee Pudding – my all time favourite pud especially with custard

My mouth is watering just writing about them

What are your favourites?

2010 – not trying to be superwoman!

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I am back in the office today after the holiday and, as usual after a break, after a couple of hours it feels as though I have never been away!  I tidied my desk before I left on Christmas Eve, no mean feat given the amount of paperwork that had landed on it during the previous few days, but I knew how good I would feel when I unlocked my door and saw the vast expanse of mellow, polished wood, bare except for my pc, filing trays, pen holders and telephone.  And I did! I also patted myself on the back for getting the Christmas present buying and wrapping all done and dusted with seven shopping days to spare! 

This is so unlike me.  I accepted years ago that I am one of those “last minuters”, one of the group of people who make organised folk hold up their hands in horror.  I could have a mountain of work to do or very little and either way, it will be finished with about five minutes to spare – there is always something else that needs doing, that seems more interesting.

I have been trying hard to understand why I changed, why my Christmas was more organised this year and why I was so determined to have a clear desk on my return to work.

I know I have driven my family mad on occasions, such as we are about to embark on a holiday and I have to go back because I have forgotten to pack something – toothbrushes usually.  Why was I not more organised? (Duet from husband and father here)  Of course I always resolved to change, but sadly it never happened. I always seemed to have so much to do though it all got done in the end.

My sister sent me a book recently, all about making more time for yourself. I read it and, as with most books of this type, thought how it would fit into my life.  I don’t come home from the office, after delegating goodness knows what, to goodness knows who, to find that the vegetables had been peeled and are waiting in water, or that a bath had been drawn and candles lit all around the sides!  But, the idea of more time for me, did stay with me longer than most.  Perhaps  my sub-conscious swung into action and, without realising why, I got the shopping out of the way, the house cleaned ready for guests and my office desk cleared for my return in the New Year.

Perhaps, also, I am my own worst enemy.  Maybe I have to accept that I can’t do everything,  that I am not Superwoman, but am instead a wife, mother and business woman who is just good enough!

Christmas Eve – one more sleep

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I went to a carol service last Monday and I’m ashamed to admit that I can’t remember the last one that I went to.  It was a beautiful evening, the church which is very old, was lit by hundreds of candles which made the occasion magical. The service was lovely and the singing just amazing.  All the carols I knew from childhood, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, “Silent Night”, O Little Town of Bethlehem” …. were sung with gusto by all the congregation.

As I walked home through the snow that had fallen earlier that day, I got to thinking about past Christmases and, as a child, how excited I used to get. Making paper decorations with my sister, going shopping with my mother, seeing all the lights in the windows, hearing people calling out “Merry Christmas” to strangers as they passed in the street.  It seemed everyone got caught up in the Christmas spirit.

I tried to give my children the same wonderful Christmases that I had and relived mine again through them.  Watching their excitement as the time drew nearer, counting the sleeps till Christmas Eve, when HE would come, hopefully with the sackful of  presents they had asked for. Hanging up the stockings, which somehow became sacks over the years and the frustration of trying to find small inexpensive things to fill them with –  a tangerine, a handful of nuts, a bag of chocolate coins, football socks, gloves, while still somehow manging to put a pile of presents under the tree for them

They are all grown up now, but still come back home with their partners for Christmas.  Their rooms are all ready, the shopping is done and I will be waiting to greet them when they arrive this evening. I will watch them as they put their presents alongside ours under the tree and wonder where all the years have gone.

After a late supper, when we have had time to catch up on everyone’s news we’ll got to bed for one more sleep………….and then it will be Christmas

Working mothers and maternity leave

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According to a new report, one in three new mothers thinks that taking lengthy maternity leave has harmed her work prospects. Some think that, when they return to work the relationship they had previously with their boss has deteriorated.The research, carried out by the National Childbirth Trust found nearly four in ten mothers found things were very difficult when they returned to work after spending time off on maternity leave.

At present the amount of paid maternity leave in the UK is 39 weeks and Harriet Harman the Equality Minister is aiming to get this extended to a year. Now, whereas this may sound wonderful to some ears, to small businesses it can sound anything but.  If you own a small business, employing a few people and want to be competitive in your field, you will obviously only employ the number of staff you need for the work you have. Should one of your team become pregnant and eventually take her maternity leave, what options are open to you?

Can her workload be taken on by other members of staff?  Can you find a suitable temp who will fill in while the mother-to-be is off work? Can you add it to your already heavy workload?

If you can share her job between the other staff members, that’s great – but for how long? If she is going to be off for 39 weeks, what happens when your other staff want to take their holiday leave, or fall sick, what do you do then?  What about the temp?  If you are very lucky you may know someone who, after a minimal amount of training can do the job and things go swimmingly! Or you may have to resort to advertising for a replacement and, as we all know advertising is not cheap. If all else fails, you may go to a recruitment agency and ask them to supply a temporary worker to cover maternity leave.  Here you come up against another set of costs all together. Apart from the initial fee, you will be paying in all probability, a much higher rate for your temporary worker than you did for your soon-to-be-mum.

Now, don’t start shouting, I am all in favour of rights for working women; I would love to see every woman paid the same as a man doing the same job, but I also own a family business and have spent many years building it up and can see all too clearly the other side of the coin. While the mum-to-be is off her holiday entitlement still accrues; you have to pay maternity pay and also a salary to her replacement and, after a set time, you have to give them paid holiday leave too. After the paid 39 weeks, in the UK the new mum can opt to take extra unpaid leave of another13 weeks, meaning she could be off for a year.  In the meantime you have to cope as best you can, hoping that she will come back and eventually things will get back to normal.

But what if when she comes back, on her existing contract of employment, she announces that she can’t work full time.  She has problems with childcare arrangments, she has to work because she needs the money, but actually quite likes having an extended weekend with hubby and child, so, please can she work part time?  What do you do?  Under the present legislation, an employee with a child under 16,  has the right to ask for flexible working and, as an employer you have a duty to consider it. You don’t have to approve the request, but there is always the possibility perhaps, of being taken to an employment tribunal if you refuse.  If you have done everything correctly, the case would be dismissed, but there is always the time and worry involved in preparing and defending it. Then when that is over, you have to hope that perhaps the temp, if you managed to find one,will stay, if not you start all over again.

So Ms Harman, on behalf of all businesses, both small and large, I would urge you to think very carefully before adding extra weeks to maternity leave, for it appears that it is not just the business owners who aren’t particularly enamoured with your ideology, the new mums don’t seem too happy either

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1231901/Maternity-leave-wrecking-womens-hopes-promotion.html

Health and Beauty tips – 2

/ Dee / Leave a comment

Honey

Honey is an all-rounder, it can boost the body’s supply of antioxidants and promote well-being. It has been used for years as a complementary remedy for coughs and colds because of its’ high antibacterial properties.

Help ease a sore throat with a gargle made up of two tablespoons of set honey, four tablespoons of cider vinegar and a small pinch of salt. 

Flush out your system each morning and give a boost to your day by mixing two spoonfuls of honey with the juice of half a lemon in a cup of hot water.  Drink this each morning before breakfast.