Thursday 24th to Sunday 27th October

The Organ Donor Register has reached its 25th anniversary this month! More than 20,000 lives have potentially been saved or transformed thanks to its introduction.

And I am one of those people 💗💙

The Organ Donor Register was set up in 1994, after a five year campaign by the amazing Cox family in memory of Peter, who died from a brain tumour in 1989 aged 24 and became a donor.

Read The Cox family story

Join today and help save more lives – Register your decision

Have a look at this fascinating video. Their moving in a straight line?! 😱

Well done to England in the Rugby World Cup 🏉 I’m looking forward to the final on Saturday 🤞

Wednesday 9th to Wednesday 23rd October

It’s not much fun when your boiler breaks down and you have no heating or hot water for the week. Grumpy girls, Leah having to use the ‘not very nice’ showers up at the gym when she’s finished her workout and Robyn actually getting under the freezing cold one at home 🚿🥶 She is absolutely crazy that girl!

Heaven when we eventually got it fixed.

We certainly take these simple things for granted nowadays don’t we.

Have a watch of this video. ‘making the decision’ to donate a loved one’s organs when dealing with their loss can be tough for families. This is how doctors and nurses help them through.

This makes me think even more of my two donor families who had to go through this absolutely dreadful time 😰

Thank you 💗💙

Please have that important chat with your family and friends so that they know your own wishes, it makes a difficult time much easier, and then many more donor organs will become available to save other people’s lives 🙂

And just to end on a slightly lighter note, this is definitely me, everything hurts 😖

Monday 7th to Tuesday 8th October

I went to Bath 😃

We packed a lot in to our one night/two day stay. We didn’t stop! We walked 11 miles over the two days 👣

It’s a lovely place to visit.

Even the shopping centre was pretty.

We watched the busker (and the lady who decided to join him) 🤣

We went out for a really yummy evening meal

and messed around making some funny videos!

We walked up to see The Royal Crescent.

“The Royal Crescent, one of Bath’s most iconic landmarks, was built between 1767 and 1775 and designed by John Wood the Younger.

This impressive landmark is arranged around a perfect lawn overlooking Royal Victoria Park and forms a sweeping crescent of 30 Grade I Listed terrace houses. It is without doubt one of the greatest examples of Georgian architecture anywhere in the UK.

The 500-foot-long crescent has an impressive ha-ha (sunken fence) which was designed to keep grazing animals out of the more formal areas of the garden. Many notable people have either lived or stayed in the Royal Crescent since it was built, and some are commemorated on special plaques attached to the relevant buildings.

Today, The Royal Crescent is home to the five-star hotel The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa, a luxurious haven of elegance and tranquility, a museum of Georgian life at No. 1 Royal Crescent, and private housing.

It is also a popular location for films and period dramas. Jane Austen’s Persuasion included many scenes shot at the Royal Crescent, and it also featured in the 2008 film The Duchess starring Keira Knightley.

Perhaps the most controversial moment in the Crescent’s history, however, occurred during the 1970s, when the resident of No. 22, Miss Annabel Wellesley-Colley, painted her front door yellow instead of the traditional white.

Miss Wellesley-Colley had to fight two enforcement orders from Bath City Council and defend herself at a public enquiry, before it was finally declared that the door could remain yellow, which is just how you will see it today!”

We went to the Thermae Bath Spa, where you can enjoy Britain’s only natural thermal waters as the Celts and Romans did over 2000 years ago.

We spent quite a lot of our time there in the open-air rooftop pool with views over the city.

It was quite weird being in there during the heavy rain showers, but when the warm sun came back out it was just the best ☀️

There was just time for me to try and be artistic in the early evening sunshine with my photograph of Bath Abbey 📸

And then we had to come home ☹️

And I’ve been wearing yellow today ‘to show young people that they’re not alone when struggling with their mental health’

Tuesday 1st to Sunday 6th October

So it’s only the beginning of October and already I just want to hibernate.

It’s so cold in the shop where I work, Raynaud’s time! (Have you tried picking up coins when your fingertips are completely numb …)

My body is just tense all day long where it’s trying to keep me warm! Not much good at all for my already hurting back 😖

Can you find the camel in the picture below?

There was a claim going around that if you can’t find the camel you may be at risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s in the future. I think this has now been proved to be a hoax.

But I just really like the clever way the animals have all been put together to create the illusion of the human face.

Tuesday 24th to Monday 30th September

Seems like it’s time for yet another virus for me to deal with ☹️🤒

On Facebook I belong to a group called Share Your Wishes, a group of transplant recipients, parents of children who have had transplants, live donors and donor families.

On Thursday evening Sarah from Share Your Wishes was live on Seahaven FM (96.3 and online at seahavenfm.com which attracts listeners from all around the world) for the 7th Share Your Wishes show.

During the show the music that was played was all chosen by people touched by organ donation.

And they played my song! 😍

You can have a listen to the show here Seahaven FM

My song was on first. Be a little patient, it comes on after the news and weather etc!

It was a great radio show to listen to, very emotional. Such lovely songs had been chosen by everyone.

So you can also listen to the second half of the show here Seahaven FM

I hope you enjoy 🎶

Monday 23rd September

What happens on Robyn’s day off

versus what happens on my day off

🙄

Still trying to get all those big weeds out before Winter comes!

Monday 16th to Sunday 22nd September

What some very warm and sunny days we’ve still been having ☀️

I spent some time in the park after volunteering, just look at that amazing blue sky.

I found the following article on Kidney Research UK’s Facebook page –

As September is PKD Awareness Month, we’re excited to share some research which could bring hope to 12 million people living with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) around the world.

Scientists from The University of Sheffield and the USA are developing a new class of drug to treat ADPKD, a hereditary disease and a major cause of kidney failure. We’ve funded around £70,000 to help the Sheffield team gain the skills and knowledge to contribute to the project, testing a new compound in the lab to treat ADPKD.

ADPKD is caused by a genetic fault that stops kidney cells developing normally and causes cysts to form inside the kidneys. These fluid-like blisters grow and eventually destroy normal kidney tissue and the kidneys stop working properly.

Click on research to find out more.

This is the disease that my two girls have inherited from their father 😏 So let’s hope that this new treatment becomes a great success 🤞

Thursday 12th to Sunday 15th September

I walked 7.78 miles in total on Thursday! If you have a muddled head and just can’t concentrate on anything my advice is – go out for a walk 👣

A bit of my Sunday afternoon was spent by the river in Bourton on the Water.

Bit of a waste really as I only ate half of them 😏

It was nice to sit out in the warm September sun for a little bit though.

Back in May I showed you this – My Ecobricks video 📹

As promised, below is a picture of the finished turkey shed which is located at our local attraction Fairytale Farm (a sensory and learning wonderland for all the family) that was made using lots of the donated Ecobricks that was part of a scheme set up by Midcounties Co-operative earlier in the year.

It’s now a lovely home for these five baby turkeys!

Tuesday 10th to Wednesday 11th September

I couldn’t help but say to one of my customer’s at work while he was unloading his trolley onto the conveyor belt, today you match your shopping!

Two lettuces, three avocados, two bags of frozen peas …

(By the way, pic above is not my actual customer!)

Good job he was one of my regulars!

It made me laugh anyway 🤣