A few more shots of the area

This is on the walk to the Post Office and Shops.  What a lovely sight and what lovely smells along the paths and hedgerows.  This looked particularly nice walking down the street.  The houses are lovely too, 1920 and 1930 style.  It's near the station hence the yellow no parking strips but they are only for one hour a day on either side - it's just to stop the commuters parking there.

That WAS fun

S is a very funny lady, very pretty a real head turner and very funny indeed.  She was on good form and cracks jokes and really enjoys herself whooping and yelling at her band :-)  P is a little more reserved but even so the girls enjoy a bit of a party.

It was funny because S was dressed to kill and as we parked up and walked up to the pub to see the band we ran in to a friend of mine.  His expression was absolutely priceless when he saw the two of us.  He knows my situation and then later on I came out of the pub with S & P together and ran into him again.  I expect that the floor of his car has a large dent where his jaw impacted it :-) 

The whole evening was great and I just love the way people were trying to work out how I could possibly be with two lovely ladies for the evening :-) 

On Sunday the sun shone brightly and I took myself down to the village to have a few beers.  the blossom is out, the birds were singing and it was just a lovely day out.  The pub wasn't busy and the beer was very nice.  They are preparing for the Beer Festival over the Easter weekend - Nice :-) 

This is the lane away from the Station towards the Village

 A Look back up the lane from where I'd come - the Blossom has gone over on these bushes

 Heading towards the Cemetery 

  The Cemetery

 The Cemetery

 The Cemetery

 The Pub Fireplace Circa 1560 which puts this around the time of the Tudors - if these walls could talk?

 The Tiny Bar Area - Mind your head "Duck or Grouse!"

Daisy the Pub Dog - A Zen Master - She Owns the Pub - or thinks she does 

Exciting Evening Ahead

Well I hope it is an exciting evening.  I am picking up S from around the corner, she is the lady who manages bands and one of them, that we saw a few weeks ago, is performing at a pub in Sevenoaks (a nearby town).  Also P will be there and I really like them, they are really nice people.  So I suggested that I will drive tonight as S drove last time.

The band were very good and I imagine it will be quite an evening.  I may take my chances and not wear a jacket - I don't like to take a jacket and then leave it on a chair unattended especially the nice suede one my dad bought for me.  I imagine it will also be quite warm in the pub - it's another 16th century pub with beams and low ceilings so could be quite interesting in terms of acoustics etc.

I hope that the girls might also come up with some more activities over the Easter period.  The Beer Festival is on down in the Village and that sounds positively great with some rather nice local fire water type Ciders and Beers available.   

Let's see how it goes.

Website ordered at last and nostalgia

I finally got around to ordering the website and it was funny that a number of people are surprised that I didn't do it myself having built plenty of websites myself.  Well I need the time.  An expert will take two or three weeks to get it to work and so I'd expect to take double that time and I want the thing in and working so that I can really commence business.  At the moment I need to concentrate on the sales and marketing of the business.

I am now doing some of the more difficult things with capturing video, cleaning it up and burning to DVD.  It seems to be working OK as I am capturing video, scanning and burning DVDs simultaneously. It seems to be working OK.  I am also onto the difficult negatives that have been folded up for years and have a nasty bow in them.  It is taking some time to get them processed but I am trying a few different settings to see if I can get them done quicker.

I still find myself choking up a bit looking at the family videos.  I suppose it was way back in happier days when the children were young.  The one on at the moment was where I set up my own business and was able to take the children to Lapland for Christmas - it was truly magical and when I see how they reacted it was great.  Thinking back I remember Mrs. F. wasn't impressed but then again, as I often say, it isn't about you all the time, for me it was about the kids having a magical time.  It's a bit like whatever you think about Disneyland and I am no fan of it, the wonder and excitement seeing it through a child's eyes is magical indeed.

It is amazing to come across photographs (from my parent's collection) that I've never seen before.  Hopefully we will all get some enjoyment out of these once I've finished.  I've actually completed all the ordinary negatives today and I'm now onto the rolls and rolls of film in another bag having to carefully unwrap and cut it to fit into the scanner.

Healthwise - I feel good, I seem to be losing weight gradually, certainly an inch or two off my waist but of course a beer or two soon starts to put it back on again :-) My blood pressure is a little high but at least I know that and can monitor it.  It was fine a few weeks ago and now seems to be above normal.  Other than that all seems to be well still and I'm still happy and enjoying myself and whilst it has taken me a little longer to get into my business than I'd have liked it does at least give me the opportunity to really understand my business and my competition.  

It seems a long and short time we've been in the house.  It's 10 weeks already!  Now that Spring is here and slightly lighter evenings it really is quite a pleasant place to be - I love the village itself and it feels "just right" as Goldilocks would say :-) Finally I'm happy but I wish these sad feelings would move on - it's just the videos of the children when they were younger and seeing how it used to be - happy, with all our friends and family around us.  I don't think that anyone had a bad time - we all look happy and contended.  I think it is a regret in my head that it isn't like that now. 

That Was A Little Unexpected

Or was it?  I am practising capturing videos and have started on the archive which starts in 1990 when daughter A was born.  I hadn't expected to be quite as emotional as I suddenly feel.  I feel quite choked up about it.  We were happy back then and in many ways up to quite recently.  

That's the one thing that I hadn't banked on when transferring the tapes across.  How very strange it is - I guess it is regret and just upset that it isn't like it was then anymore.  Of course you can't turn the clock back and hey, I'd be some sort of magician if I could tell where it all started to go wrong, but I know it was a long time before I was ill that I started to realise it wasn't great.  

There are some great shots of my mum and dad and my brother and his family too.  Yes, we were happy and life was a little simpler then.  I was about to change my job in a year or so and that changed my life in other ways.  

I hate seeing and hearing myself on camera I've decided.... :-) I also hope that I'll get past this strange feeling of sadness - for what I am looking at isn't sad at all, it's happy days.  The mind is a strange thing sometimes.  I realise that all I am looking back on has happened, it's part of my history and it's there to remind me of happier not sadder days.  

The trick is to live in the moment.  You can't regret the past - it has happened and nothing you can do will change it.  The "Now" is the only reality.  Amazing, I've pulled myself out of the sadness where I started writing.  This happens a lot, I just need to work out what my mind is trying to do and then I can tackle it.  

Website Woes

I suppose I ought to consider myself lucky that I have a number of options to choose from and yet, somewhere along the way, it makes things so much harder to decide what to do.  I hate complexity for complexity's sake.  So the Indian solution jangles my nerves a bit but, of course, these days, websites are interactive things and most code has been written and is out there plying its trade day-by-day in the real world.  In fact you can just make it modular and bolt it together and away you go.

The website needs to be simple and convey information quickly to the customer.  I reckon that's the key and also not to make it difficult to buy although I'm not allowing a customer to press the button and buy without my providing them with an estimate before hand.  

Anyway - it is a good problem to have I think as it will force me down a route that I need to follow for a good few years as I don't want to change it for a long time. It will make me decide whether to have a simple straightforward site or to have one that adds complexity for me but simplicity for my customers.

Out tonight with my old school chums - this time I don't have to drive so can have a few beers :-) excellent - looking forward to that.

Why Is Nothing Easy

Back early from my normal Monday night soiree as there just aren't enough people to make it worthwhile and for some weeks now we have just given up and gone home.  It's a damn shame but whereas 30 years ago there were regularly 20 people on a Monday now we are down to 4 or 5 - it is alarming but we know it's been coming down the tracks - we aren't in a great position to do much about it either at the moment.  

The website is proving difficult for me as I was speaking to some developers in India earlier today and then appear to be able to deliver me a full bells and whistles website which I can use to upload customer's photos to.  That's impressive and I have unlimited hosting so it would work very nicely.  They can do quite a bit for me so I am impressed but I know these guys and they can dither and hang around a bit too. 

I'm pulled because I can probably get three times as much web site for half as much money and yet I trust my graphic designer to do a good job too.  

I have another quote coming at some time - I hope tomorrow so I will see what that will bring.  No one said it would be easy I guess.

I am looking forward to getting started but the web site is now the bottleneck to get things moving.  I think though I can at least work on the introductions and I have some more videos to transfer so I will probably get cracking on those whilst I am waiting as well as the thousands of negatives I was scanning last week. 

Wow - Zonking Coffee

A few posts back Steve gave me a recipe for coffee as I was rattling on about blood pressure and coffee.  Here is the recipe.  Well I can't get quite the same but here is my own take on it.  I use a teaspoon of Coconut Oil (brilliant stuff for cooking and all sorts of reasons see here) I then take some butter I'd estimate this as 2 teaspoons full - I just cut off a 5mm slither and throw it in with the coconut oil.  I then use something like a Colombian or Kenyan Voluptuoso stirring all the time to dissolve the butter and coconut oil.  I then top this off with double cream and stir.  It's stunning and completely decadent :-) 

I have no idea whether it is doing me any good at the moment but wow what a nice start to the morning it made - it wasn't at all oily but then I'm using good unsalted butter and pure coconut oil and it just seems to make the whole thing like a really creamy / milky rich coffee - MMmmmm.

I've lost a good inch off my waist if not a bit more in the last week or so which I am dead chuffed about.  I've really gone into the LCHF diet or should I say lifestyle and just concentrated on thumping into plenty of protein and very very few carbohydrates apart from Saturday where I was out but I didn't touch potatoes but did have a few beers - as long as I don't do that everyday I should maintain weight loss.  Of course I don't have any scales so can't tell how I'm doing it will all be guess work! 

Getting Out Of The House

I had not figured on it but this weekend I am on my own again and so it was interesting that last night I decided I'd take myself off to the pub for a beer.  The locals were a bit rowdy so I had a few beers in one and then a beer in another pub before heading off home through the graveyard - torch in hand - spooky :-)  It is the quickest way home and quite a nice walk really.

I sat and watched the Grand Prix qualifying and watched some background stuff before taking myself off home.  I found out what was wrong with my PC - I should have guessed that I'd filled up the storage doing all this work and that was causing it to behave badly.  i've cleared down  a lot of space now and it is a lot better.  More house keeping to do though to make it run better.

I went out today - just went shopping - I seized a break in the rain to go and recycle all our glass and do some shopping.  It was quite busy which surprised me.  But hey ho....  It was nice to get out and do a little shopping for vegetables and eggs which I've done without for most of this week.  It has had the desired effect as I am losing weight and the trousers and belt I bought last week are an inch too big already.  Mind you I just need to watch out for the beer consumption which will throw weight back onto your middle in a blink.

It was nice to get out and I don't get all het up like I used to when waiting to be served or that people in the queue take a long time to pack.  It's all part of the way it is.  I can't change it so I might as well enjoy it and talk to whoever is on the tills.  A couple of nice smiles and pleasantries is all it takes.  Whilst it is a pain to go shopping it needs to be done so I just enjoy it.  It sure is nice to see my fridge full up with vegetables :-) 

I'm happy but do find living here on my own sometimes a bit quiet and a bit lonely but that isn't going to last for long (I hope) and I can entertain myself and do pretty much what I want so it is just a matter of getting used to it, making up the rules as you go along and enjoying it.

The Weekend Arrives

I'm in two minds about weekends - I ought to get out more but somehow I am trying to avoid the gravitation towards the pub.   I feel I've lost 3 or 4 pounds in a week and most of that is by a serious protein fest, no carbs or very few and I can feel that my trousers, snug last Friday are actually loose now.  I will try on my suit tomorrow as we are off to a Masonic meeting and the last time I went about three weeks ago it was "snug" to say the least.  I have a feeling that I've lost enough to make it comfortable. We will see.

I have turned off both work PCs leaving just this one on.  It is playing up as I've added a second screen to it and also Chrome is misbehaving itself again.  Damn technology!

Well I'd better go get to bed and get ready for tomorrow - looking forward to being an honoured guest once more and getting a nice lunch and a beer or three as I've been a reasonably good boy all week.

OUCH - How Much? Good Grief!

My web site is double what I was expecting to pay for it and I can hardly believe the costs but I've been assured that the reason is that I need to make it work across all platforms and tablets and smartphones are prevalent these days.

Sheeesh.  It is a bit more than I bargained for but I suppose I'll have to go with it.  I have a few days to think about it and then I need to bite the bullet and do it.  I have two others quoting but I know the guy who will do my site and he did all my logos etc.  I've known him a long time and trust him so there's a bit of that in my decision process too.

I suppose it just means I need to bring in more customers to cover the costs.  Anyway, the main thing is that it needs to be done and sooner rather than later. So it's a "bite the bullet" situation once again and hopefully that will be the end of the big spend.  I reckon that I should have taken my own advice and doubled my initial estimates for the investment required.

No More Jazz Nights :-(

Pretty sad state of affairs.  I've been going since 1988 to the Jazz Nights on the 1st Wednesday in the month.  That's 26 years.  It just wasn't getting the support anymore and I'm not surprised as there aren't many of the old timers left that used to frequent the place.

All good things come to an end of course and this is just one of those things and it fits in nicely as the person I usually go with doesn't know I've moved or that I've left Mrs. F. and so it is sort of useful.

It was nice to see my daughter A today for lunch it was OK a little uncomfortable but OK.  It must be difficult for her as it is for me getting used to the new order of things but she went with her mum to Lisbon so they appeared to have had a good time.  I am so pleased about that.  I really really want Mrs. F. to be a friend in the future. It's not as if we've rowed or thrown stuff at each other we just drifted apart and I'd hate for her to be sad - there's no reason to wish her ill  at all.

I've just sent off the web site stuff to my designer, hopefully he will come back with a half decent price for getting my web site off the ground.  Almost there - just need to now concentrate on getting some customers.

FInally A Coffee

A late afternoon coffee and it is day three so all is fine but for some reason my blood pressure is way up on last week's normal readings?  Not sure but I'm going to keep my eye on that it shouldn't be that high at all.  If it is stupid for a long time I will have to get myself checked out.  The coffee doesn't appear to have done much difference really, nominal.

I've spent the day sorting the words for my web site and all my service offerings out.  Almost there now I think just a few more tweaks, tidy the documents up and then send out to my man and a few other suppliers.

I hope it won't cost me too much - hopefully as the heavy work is done and I've written all the copy it should be a straightforward case of a design and then to inject the words and photos.  

That's the plan anyway.

My diet is beginning to kick in and I can taste the "Atkin's breath" as I've gone almost fully onto a protein only diet at the moment to kick start the process of losing some more weight. I feel that I've lost a few pounds in the last week as my belt that I bought last Friday isn't holding my trousers up :-) so I've gone from XXL to XL in a few days which is interesting.  Mind you I need to get back to losing weight regularly and as it is coming on to summer I will be able to eat lots more salads too.  

I'm very content with my lot at the moment.  My daughter A is coming over tomorrow so she can see the house and we can then go for a spot of lunch for her birthday.  I need to lose a spot of weight but I have new clothes, new outlook, a new business and I'm really looking forward to getting started now.

Two Days No Coffee

Interestingly a very small ache behind my eyes but otherwise no real cravings for caffeine as such.  I'm drinking a lot of water and having tea like Earl Grey and other herbal type infusions.  Why I hear you ask?  Well I want to see if there is any effect on my blood pressure.  It was find last week but on Saturday it was off the scale and the only thing I could put that down to was I'd drunk a lot of coffee - I'd only had one beer on Friday night and a glass of red wine but other than that - I hadn't really had much.

I've also decided that enough is enough and have dropped all carbs from my diet and also reduced my vegetables whilst lifting my fat and protein.  I can already taste/smell the Atkins breath so know that I'm in fat burning mode.  I want to get back to losing some weight and back towards where I was in November last year.  I feel I've lost a couple of pounds already.  My blood pressure is still higher than I'd like and I'm not sure why that should be but I will work on dropping my weight, experimenting with the coffee and also trying to remain away from booze altogether or having as little as possible.

I'm really into the company business at the moment and have spent all day on the documents for the website and for the service descriptions.  It's been a long hard grind as there are some silly little areas I need to tackle and I just haven't had time to do them justice until today.  I just needed a flat out day to do them.

The terms and conditions proved difficult as did the frequently asked questions but I think I've nailed them now.  The difficult part is how much to put on the web site.  I am trying to make it minimalist.  Customers don't actually need to be sold the service - why are they on your site if they haven't already thought about your product or service?  They need a few hooks to bring them in but other than that - it shouldn't be rocket science to work out what I'm doing.  Some of my competitors, to my relief, are so complex and need the customer to do all the work that it must put people off.  Mind you, having said that, they all seem to have work so perhaps it is despite of having a rubbish web site. :-)

I'm going to see how things go this week.  Having lost my trading address is a pain in the arse but I think I may have got a way around it - I just need to think it through and make sure that I'm covered.

I now need to finish off these and get them organised together with the specification and get them sent off to my web developer.  Hopefully he can get it produced for a reasonable amount of money and I can set too making a go of it.  It will be good when I get the paperwork done as I can then clear the decks and do the selling and the social media stuff too.

Sunday Clocks Forward Formula One And Here We Go

I need to start the business this week and start to make a move.  I've not been dithering but I am cautious as I want the business to be the best it can prior to starting it but I have to start somewhere and this week is probably as good as any to finish off the web site and get inviting people to start to use my services.  I need to work on a few more documents to finalise everything but I am close now as I have written most of them.  It is always difficult though to press the switch from "test" to "production".

I feel that I should have another lazy Sunday and have already sat down and watched the Formula 1 Grand Prix from Malaysia this morning.  There is Touring Car Racing on this afternoon and it is actually happening a few miles away from me at Brands Hatch - I could have gone I suppose but I had other ideas of what my weekend may have been like.  As it happens that didn't turn out like I expected but no worries there is time and there are other opportunities.  I don't know why I am in such an unholy rush to get into forming relationships and the like.  

So I think that this afternoon I shall sit down and watch the Touring Cars on TV and pour over some of my documents and prepare a short plan of attack for this coming week.  No recurrence of the spotting in my urine so that's good.  I have my urine tester strips so if I'm worried about it I can do the test and see if there is anything to worry about.  My Blood Pressure is a little high which surprises me so this week I am going to go full out on a no carbohydrate approach to my food and also drop caffeine to see if that will help.  I like my coffee so perhaps I shall just have it as a treat once a day rather than living off it like I do at the moment.

Oh A Little Blood Clot

I have to tell you that the one thing you just don't want to see ever is any more blood in your urine but I was told that there is a possibility from the scope a few weeks ago and sure enough there was a tiny little clot when I went a few minutes ago.  You tend to keep a very close eye on your urine stream and a small spot flew out and hit the porcelain.  When I checked it with a little toilet tissue it was indeed a very small clot of blood. 

Having had a flexible cystoscopy a few weeks ago it is a possible side effect but even so I'll be keeping my eye on things closely and if it persists I'll be straight back but as I said it is a known side effect.  Of course it puts you on edge as the whole episode comes flooding back and it reminds you of all that happened to you in the past.  Grim indeed.  Oh well - monitoring the situation for a few weeks is in order.

Well That Was A Good Night

I had a good time and ingratiated myself with young P and had a dance and a laugh and joke but as I managed to say to her, I've only yelled at you over the music so it would be nice to meet somewhere quiet and have a normal conversation :-)  

The only problem I did have was trying to get to talk to her alone it was a nightmare as she was closely accompanied by a few people one of whom was interestingly in a similar industry to myself and I couldn't shake him off :-) Oh well - there's time and opportunity ahead I hope and there will be some other concerts and bands playing I have no doubt.

Anyway, she's very nice and a little eccentric so right up my street in terms of those I hang out with.  S was also on great form - she is the promoter of these events and that reminds me I need to discuss this with someone I know as it may be an opportunity to bring some bands to a venue that I know.

But I had a lovely night the bands were great,  I drank water most of the night and so that was good was also pleasantly surprised as I asked for a Soda water (carbonated water) in a pub (I was early and driving) and there was no charge!  Not many things you can get for nothing these days.  

I wore my red and blue shirt which is great but surprisingly snug especially around the arms.  It appears that must be the way they make them these days for the other shirts are also quite grippy. Perhaps after the first wash it will loosen a little - it wasn't uncomfortable but I suppose I'm used to wearing baggy stuff most of the time.

I had a great day yesterday and today the sun is shining and all is OK with the world.  My new equipment mount has arrived form my scanner which I got at a bit of a bargain price and I'm just reading how to use it - it is for really difficult film especially if it is curled like a lot of the film I have is.  It allows me to scan even the most difficult stuff. 

Clothes Maketh The Man

I met the lovely L in Bromley and she took me shopping and taught me where best to go.  I actually came back £147.50 lighter.  For that I got:

Three shirts, A shirt combo Tee Shirt, A Jacket, 5 Polo Shirts, A Brown Belt and Pair of Black Jeans... I'm rather pleased as these all move away from my usual style of clothing which is pretty plain and I really like the whole lot - I could have spent a lot more but these will do for now and I now have problems selecting what to wear.  I'm sure it will all fall into place as I will be wearing my blue soled brogues so it will all have to match in nicely :-)  

Shopping Tomorrow

This will be exciting my friend L is taking me out to get me some decent clothes :-) what fun!  Having disposed of my old, out of date, faded, hole ridden and unworn stuff earlier this week it is now time to replace those with a few decent outfits.  It will be good as I am going out tomorrow night to a gig and fancy making a bit of a statement whilst I'm about it :-)

So I'm off on the train to learn all about clothes shopping - I must remember to get her some flowers or some chocolates as a thank you.  I have already said I'm buying lunch.  So that will be good too.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow it should be a good day and I can have some clothes to go with my mood.  I saw some nice things early today when we popped into the local town and had a look at one of the Tailor shops closing down.  I managed to source a Bow Tie as my other one had disintegrated :-(

I should be working on the web site tomorrow but so what it will wait a little while longer and Flocky, bless him, is proof reading some of the words which is a great help.  ALmost there - almost there.  I have all the equipment and know what I'm doing now and soon I can just start selling it and making noise.  

However, there is one fly in the Ointment and that is that the guy who was giving me his address to use has had a stroke and is now thinking of getting rid of his business.  It's a bit of a nightmare for me logistically I have to go and start again with a trading address - it's a pain but not a lot I can do about it really.  I will have to see if someone else can give me a delivery address in the interim.  

DIet & Cancer

Steve over at Got Bladder Cancer? HERE asks an important question I feel:

"How many of you All Clear folks have made diet, exercise, and/or supplement changes to stave off the bladder cancer? Since there is no study being conducted, you readers are my only data source beyond myself."

Well it's interesting because I'm pretty much convinced now that the diet I am following is doing good things for me.  It's a part Paleo part Low Carbohydrate High Fat regime.  My only downfall has been since the move I have been out a lot and been drinkin beer which has swollen my waistline by an inch or so.  That's coming off and it has already started this week.

Why do I think this?  Well I am fit and healthy I haven't had a cold in years now and my teeth no longer need fixing by the Dentist since I've been on this diet.  The key things are that I feel great, I feel like I don't have to eat, I'm satiated.  I feel more alive than I've done for years and years and I'm in reasonable but not great shape.  I can easily now do push ups and go on my X-Trainer for 30 minutes.  My Blood Pressure has been dropping and the other day was a nice 120 over 80 which is fab.  I now need to work on keeping it that low all the time.  Slowly slowly I'll get there.

I no longer touch man made carbohydrates, sugar, rice, pasta, bread, marjorine etc.  I tend to cook my food fresh and not rely on any shop bought ready meals or preprepared food stuffs.

I had a few false starts about what I should and shouldn't be eating.  So far on this diet but it is actually a lifestyle, I've lost 3 and a half stone.  I feel I can lose another 1 or 2 stone this year too.  I feel and look healthier than I've done for years, I'm more active too.

Difficult to say whether it is keeping Cancer at bay but I'd probably say that it is doing good things as the diet is all about protein which the body needs to repair itself.  Dropping the carbs means I'm not putting on weight and certainly not spiking my Insulin which is another good thing.

Steve asks about exercise - well I used to do quite a bit.  With the move the exercise machines have come with me and I can almost reach them past the boxes now so I will go and get back into the habit soon.  I can't say I enjoyed that part of feeling fit but I find that it does help me and of course you can burn off those excess fatty bits that much quicker.

All in all, I changed my lifestyle almost straight away and whilst I made a few wild and dangerous detours earlier on I find this is the best diet I've ever followed and I find it easy to stick to, I don't feel hungry and I feel great most of the time.