Wishes studio chat

Macrobiotics for strong bones

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:49:12 GMT

According to Maria Serrano, Chairperson of the Macrobiotics Association of Great Britain, osteopenia is a condition where the human bone becomes lacking in important minerals and bone mass, it is not an illness but it is a wake-up call. Lifestyle modifications are the most important part of the prevention and treatment of osteopenia and osteoporosis. The life style changes necessary to right this condition include a diet that is rich in calcium, Vitamin D and minerals; avoid food that consumes minerals like alcohol, sugar, caffeine and smoking.

Snow snow snow

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:40:01 GMT

We await with anticipation the snow that has been threatening to come for the last few days. The temperature has been slowly dropping and it was minus 3 degrees according to my car’s temperature gauge this morning only rising to minus 1 degree by the time we reached the local shops. It was so cold and still this morning, that walking around our local market place was like strolling around inside a huge refrigerator store.

Pacemaker

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:31:06 GMT

During the latter half of last year 2011, it became necessary for my husband Alan to undergo day surgery to insert a pacemaker. During the last couple of years, he had found it increasingly difficult to walk very far before becoming short of breath. Having always been very active, he was very frustrated and upset to think that after having always led a very healthy life style his health was gradually declining leading to what?

The Year of the Water Dragon

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:33:57 GMT

Jan – 23^rd Chinese New Year is predicted to be an auspicious year. The year 4710 is the Year of the Dragon.

Money Money Money

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:41:30 GMT

Oh – dear it looks as though it is going to be another year of doom and gloom from a financial point of view. We can't pick up a newspaper, turn on the telly news or read the Google computer news without someone telling us that we are all going to be poorer during the next year. Of course if you have seriously blown your budget on your credit card over the festive holiday then I am afraid that you may suffer unnecessarily from a shortfall of those precious ‘readies’, and looking back at what you bought was it all worth breaking the bank for? All I can suggest is that whatever debt you find yourself in, it is best to clear it up as soon as possible which will help you to avoid having to pay lots of unnecessary interest. Does your bank or Credit Card Company love you or hate you? – If you are like me – I never go overdrawn and never take out loans, so fortunately I never have to waste even more of my money paying out interest. However, if you are prone to using money that doesn’t belong to you then unfortunately you are paying for the pleasure of borrowing and blowing someone else’s cash, however, the money-lending companies will love, even adore you.

Boom or bust a bit longer

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 18:42:08 GMT

Here’s a bit of a different slant on the question of added body fat gained after the Christmas-time feasting. Not everyone of course, but the majority of us have to put our hands up to overeating during the Christmas and New Year period. It’s not always just the over indulgence in food, but added to that are the celebrations and parties that almost all of us attend at this time of the year, the extra drink, not necessarily alcohol, but juices, party pops etc., and of course the fact that we seem to take less exercise than usual. Even those of us who went for a walk after Christmas dinner tended to take a leisurely stroll as opposed to a power walk or the type of walking stride we adopt when we have an appointment slotted in-between a busy scheduled day. However, I have always found that once back to our everyday normal eating and exercise pattern, the excess pounds just tend to melt away within a few weeks, so my advice is, rather than give the left-over chocolates, cakes, crisps and biscuits away to someone else to get fat on, just gradually eat them up over the next few weeks and enjoy. When finished, DO NOT buy any more and just go back to your normal eating and exercise regime and lo and behold by the time the buds of spring start to swell, you will be your old self again (but don’t tell anyone I told you - eh?)

Those yearly resolutions

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:05:21 GMT

Well, it’s another New Year and another chance to set up those New Year resolutions that hardly any of us keep – Or do we?

Christmas Cheers

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:32:28 GMT

Whatever your faith or if no faith at all, you are almost bound to celebrate Christmas in some way or another, so make the most of it…

Wellbeing Energy

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:01:12 GMT

As Christmas is swiftly approaching now is the perfect time for sending wellbeing energy to anyone you might know who needs it.

West Ham win for EastEnders

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 17:32:19 GMT

Two of the biggest West Ham fans I know are my son David and my grandson Callis. Only just gone off to live in the USA, I am sure they will both be delighted to know that their favourite football team, West Ham won 3-1 against Derby on Saturday 26 of Nov. I have to be honest here and say that although I didn't join Nolan, Cole or Noble by kicking a ball into Derby’s net, I did enhance the ‘Children’s’ area of the Ba Gua chart in the room that used to be the boys bedroom, so I can't tell you how delighted I was to hear Alan proudly announce that West Ham had won after a late kick off.

Ba Gua Chart

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:36:44 GMT

I am really excited about my new section dedicated to the ba gua chart. The ba gua, sometimes spelt bagua or pa kua is just about the most simplest of all feng shui tools to use, and it can be one of the most effective when you have a problem in your home or family.

Mystery Madam

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:56:40 GMT

During this time of the year everything slows down. The grass has been cut for the last time and the very last remnants of summer flowers have gone, already relegated to the compost bin. There is virtually no new growth on any of the shrubs, which give us a golden opportunity to cut back any dead wood and straggly bits and pieces that can sap energy from the plants that are gradually dozing off to sleep for the winter.

Red for Happiness

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:53:49 GMT

It seems strange to me that feng shui should promote red for happiness and love when we use the colour of red to represent the shedding of blood and great sadness. Nature is very strange for it is said that the year after so many soldiers died in the fields at Flanders the poppies that grew wild there were more abundant than they had ever been.

Silver Lining

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:09:15 GMT

A bit old I know, but way back in my memory I can recall hearing a song that went something like:-

Glorious Morning

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:55:34 GMT

I was sitting at my dining room table this morning eating my breakfast and from where sat I could see out through my patio doors… The sky in view looked extremely sinister as you can see, however, there was this strange glow on the trees so I went over to the doors and looked to the left only to see the sun beaming away as if to defy the threat of the rain that was about to come. Standing there, it occurred to me how beautiful and autumnal our trees looked at this time of the year regardless of the weather so I just had to put down my breakfast and go hunt for my camera. I took this picture then sat and enjoyed my breakfast as the rain fell in torrents. And yes! A huge rainbow did appear a few minutes later. Lovely…

Clever Dick - e Bird

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 08:40:42 GMT

Most of the grapes on our arbor are ripe and ready to either eat, or juice up to make a few bottles of Alan’s potent home-made wine. I offered the other day to do some grape gathering, so after attacking our grape vines and retrieving some of the small bunches of grapes I noticed a bird’s nest tucked away in one of the corners of the arbor. Knowing the birds must have been long gone, I thought I would take the nest down to show it to my granddaughter Sophie, who has a passion for all things hopping, swimming or flying.

Autumn

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:00:34 GMT

Autumn must be one of my favourite times of the year. I often drive down towards Chelmsford these days and as we get further out into more open countryside the visual sights that greet our eyes are nothing less than stunning. The colours of the trees and the wayside shrubs are so beautiful.

The Long and Winding Queue

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:21:13 GMT

We can hardly open a newspaper or watch a TV news programme without hearing something adverse about today’s youth! Okay, okay, I know we had a very disturbing set of riots during August, mainly showing youthful yobs bringing some of our major British cities into disrepute. Where were their parents? Where were the police? What have the politicians done? Why haven’t these yobs got a job?? Questions, questions, questions! My question is: Where were all the millions of young people who are not yobs and did not disgrace our country, eh? They were all probably at home as shocked as their parents were at the sights we saw on the streets. And work? Well, I was quite astonished a few days ago when I went into our local town centre to see one of the longest queues I had ever seen almost all young people, who were patiently waiting in this vast, long and winding queue. What were they queuing up for? I couldn’t wait to get nearer to the front of the line to see what the small advert was saying. ‘Want to be a pop-star?’ ‘Be a model?’ ‘Win a load of money?’ Nope! It was nothing more exciting than… ‘Get a Christmas job in Debenhams!’

A picture of Mischief

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 11:12:30 GMT

A picture of mischief

Try Something Scrummy

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 17:07:02 GMT

Today here in Essex, it has been really hot… Sun shining most of the day - Wow! To celebrate one of our rare, to-hot-to-handle days, I had a really scrumptious lunch. ‘Cos it was too sweaty to tackle a whopping sandwich, I had instead, a real sunshine salad… I had all the usual salad vegetables of course, plus a chopped up apple, straight off the tree, then added a larger than life orange, also chopped up. I threw on a small handful of currents and raisins, lovely!