Peaceful times!

This is a picture taken when I went on a walk two Sunday's ago. As you can see it was a cold day, but we had a good time and ended up having hot chocolate and pastries at a Patisserie. I wrote about it previously, but just wanted to publish this picture. I am afraid none of us look very glamorous.

This week has been very quiet and peaceful and I managed to catch up with things, like emails, housework etc. Tomorrow I am making lunch for some of the family. I am looking forward to that.

Nice things that have happened this week! Some friends I met on a project (last year) have contacted me and we hope to meet up early April to see an exhibition.

A cousin from California has invited me to visit her in the Summer. We are going to a family wedding in August (in Toronto) and I will then go back to California with her. That is something really nice to look forward to. As I have said before this has been a miserable winter so it is good to have things to look forward to.

A friend of my Youth Club days has just re-appeared and we have met up a few times and this week we are trying to arrange some time to get together.

On Wednesday I will be going to a planning meeting for the U3A Sunday group. This group is for people who are on their own on Sundays and want to do something with other people. We usually go to exhibitions, visit National Trust houses or go for walks in London and has been running quite successfully for several years now. I really feel pleased to be involved.

One of the problems about getting old is that you are no longer involved with things as you did when working or bringing up families. So you have to be very motivated and find interesting and stimulating things to do.

So this has been one of my peaceful, uneventful weeks, Other than the bad weather there has been little to moan about.

Another week!

Another week has gone by and I have only now had time to write this. My weeks go by so fast, sometimes too fast. However, during the week I kept thinking of all the things I want to write - but of course I have forgotten what I wanted to say.

There are times when I get a bit low. Being on my own, I really have no-one to talk to about my feelings. On Friday I went to Kew Gardens by myself. I had been thinking about it for weeks and, as the weather looked good, I made up my mind to go. It was a super day and I really enjoyed it but I did miss a companion. Or at least someone I could have discussed it with when I got home. I am usually a very optimistic person but at times like this I feel a bit down.

I do have friends but not anyone I can just phone up and say "I had a super day today". Most of my friends seem not to listen to what I have to say about my feelings, they just come out with their own problems. I do understand their needs and I do listen to them sympathetically but I also need some one who will listen to me.

That is one of the reasons why I have started this blog so that I can get some of my pent up feeling out. And I don't mean just to moan about things but to share my enjoyment and happy moments too. The happy moments seem to go by so quickly that it is hard to capture them and this could be a good way to hold them.

Some of my happy moments are times when I am with my family I am so very proud of them. We had a lot of problems when they were young and they have all managed to move on from them and lead very active, useful and successful lives.

Just to note briefly my week-ends activities. On Friday I went to Kew Gardens. On Saturday morning I went on one of my Saturday morning walks, this week around the Ealing area and today went with my U3A group to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition. So I have been busy and quite satisfied.

My thoughts on today 14th February

I have been thinking about what I should put on this blog and decided to use it as a sort of diary of some of the good things I have been doing. I have suddenly realised that I am becoming a 'grumpy old woman' and want to stay positive. So I want to put positive things in.

I also want to record things so that in the future I will be able to see what I was able to do when I was 75 years old. I want to stay as young and healthy as possible. So I will be able to monitor how I am progressing (or deteriorating)!

Today I went on a lovely walk with a group from the U3A. It was only a 4 mile walk but just the right amount for me as I haven't been feeling too energetic lately. There were six of us and we ended up at a cafe drinking hot coffee or chocolate and pastries! Yummy!

Mathilde send me a photo that she took - as soon as I know how to put it on this blog I will do so.

This is all new to me - and it will take time for me to get used to this new technology!

First post

hi, this is my first time. More to follow.