Early Retirement Rocks

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Easy fruit scones – Mary Berry Recipe

Easy Fruit Scones a blog [

I have been baking a lot during lockdown and after a few failures I searched for an easy fruit scone recipe and came across one from Mary Berry.

You may have read my earlier post about how I’ve been reducing food waste during lockdown and that I enjoy cooking my own meals from scratch.

My mum was a fabulous baker making delicious scones in minutes as well as fabulous steamed puddings. I envied how quickly she could throw ingredients together to make such delicious goodies. She taught me a lot about cooking and at school, (many moons ago), Domestic Science as it was called then was my favourite subject and one of my best!

I think I’m quite a good cook but whenever I make a batch of scones they never rise as much as I would like and just don’t taste as good as shop bought ones. Mr Fitz likes a scone and even better when they are freshly baked form the oven and still warm. Now he’s retired I decided I would search for a new recipe or technique which would improve the taste of my scones. I have many cook books but decided to Google for a recipe for easy fruit scones.

I found one from Mary Berry and I love it. It is a quick easy fruit scone recipe and I’ve used it several times now and each time they come out exactly how I want them to be. In fact  during a video chat amongst a group of friends the weekend before last, one of my friends who also has baked for many years commented that she too had been baking more but her scones were not as she would like.  I pointed her in the direction of the Mary Berry recipe and she too has rejoiced at how lovely they are.

Therefore I felt I wanted to share this recipe for easy fruit scones with my readers.

Mary Berry’s fruit scones

Cooking Time 10 minutes  Makes 10 scones

Ingredients

  • 75g (2 1⁄2 oz) butter, chilled and cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
  • 350g (12oz) self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 1⁄2 tsp baking powder
  • 30g (1oz) caster sugar
  • 75g (2 1⁄2oz) sultanas
  • About 150ml (5fl oz) milk
  • 2 large eggs, beaten

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C/425°F/Gas 7). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.

Put the flour and baking powder into a large chilled mixing bowl. Add the cubes of butter, keeping all the ingredients as cold as possible.

Rub in lightly and quickly with your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and sultanas.

Pour 100ml (31⁄2fl oz) of the milk and all but 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg into the flour mixture.

Mix together with a round-bladed knife to a soft, but not too sticky dough, adding a bit more milk if needed to mop up any dry bits of mixture in the bottom of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, lightly knead just a few times only until gathered together, then gently roll and pat out to form a rectangle about 2cm (3⁄4in) deep.

Cut out as many rounds as possible from the first rolling with a 6cm (21⁄2in) cutter (a plain cutter is easier to use than a fluted one) and lay them on the baking sheet, spaced slightly apart.

Gather the trimmings, then roll and cut out again. Repeat until you have 10 scones.

Brush the tops of the scones with the reserved egg. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until risen and golden.

Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Per serving

Calories: 238
Saturated fat: 5g
Unsaturated fat: 4g
Sodium: 275mg

Ingredients for fruit scones

 

Fruit scones on a baking tray before cooking

Brushed with egg before baking

 

They are delicious easy fruit scones in fact I have baked another batch this afternoon, and we enjoyed them sat in the garden still warm with butter that was melting. We had run out of jam and to be honest we usually just prefer them with butter alone.

scones fresh from the oven

Fresh from the oven

A fruit scone with butter on top

But before I go I must answer the age old question if we do serve with jam and cream which way do I prefer? I’m a jam first then cream kind of a gal….

Try this recipe and let me know what you think. Do you have a tried and tested recipe for anything that you love – let me know in the comments if you do. Also please take a look at what  I’ve been reading in lockdown

Keep staying safe.

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Ring Tyre Inflator – Car Gadgets Product Review

 

Image of a blue car with a blog post title

Disclaimer – The car gadget I am reviewing was gifted to me  – the Ring Tyre Inflator. However this has not influenced my review and opinion of the product. My review is completely impartial

Ring Tyre Inflator packaging

This product, The Ring Tyre Inflator,  was gifted to me for review prior to my brothers illness last year and this review has been delayed. The plus side to this though is that I have had quite a few opportunities to use it.

Owning a car is a great thing enabling travel in your own space, for convenience and  making shopping easier. However I don’t know if you are like me but there are 2 maintenance tasks that I try and avoid – they are

  1. Filling up with petrol
  2. Putting air in the tyres.

I ma educated to Masters Level but putting air in tyres is a skill that has passed me by, I leave it to Mr Fitz. I’m a little ashamed of this as I like to be fully independent. And secretly I did worry that in an emergency I would be a little lost.

Therefore when I was offered the kind opportunity to try the Ring Tyre Inflator, I jumped at the chance.

The company provided me with excellent supporting information about the product

You may or may not be aware that under or over-inflated tyres can reduce the maneuverability of a vehicle, causing your tyres to wear more quickly. This will reduce the fuel efficiency of the vehicle, increasing both fuel costs and CO 2 emissions.

Not great.

But with a tyre inflator you can drive more safely on the roads and reduce costs, as better tyre care means fewer trips to the garage!

As you will see, the team here at Ring have worked hard on the new design of the RTC1000 to provide a large digital screen for easy reading; an LED light to make it simpler to inflate at night; a flat bottom to keep the product stable; dust cap valve holder to stop them rolling around while inflating and integrated storage for the cable and airline, to keep the product neat and tidy when not in use.

But, the inflator is about so much more than its appearance, it has top inflation speeds (0-35PSI in just 2 mins) to make tyre care easier and quicker; has a set auto stop to guarantee accurate inflation and the ability to store
the set pressure ready for next time you use it.

Powered from the in-car 12V socket, it has a long 3.5m cable to help reach tyres all around the vehicle, comes with storage case and three-piece adaptor kit, and includes spare valve caps and latex gloves.

So, with all that to take in, what do our experts say?

Lizzy Sebine, Tyre Care Product Manager at Ring, says: “As tyre care is a car maintenance essential for drivers, we want to make it as easy and quick as possible. Excellent inflation speeds are essential for a tyre inflator, but so is ease of use for the motorist. We’ve taken a fresh look at our design to make sure that it’s easy to see
results, illuminate the tyre and even to make sure dust caps don’t get lost during use.”
Carney continues: “Around 40% of traffic accidents in the UK that are caused by vehicle defects are tyre related. This shows that poor tyre maintenance is clearly leading to increased risk for drivers and their passengers. Plus, new MOT rules implemented in May 2018 state that a car can fail its MOT if the tyres are obviously underinflated. There has never been a better time for motorists to invest in tyre maintenance.”

So with this information to hand I went ahead and used the Ring Tyre Inflator at home on my car. It was so simple to use! Instructions were clear – you read the tyre pressure printed on your tyre and enter it into the machine and it then automatically inflates to the correct pressure. So, so easy.

The Ring Tyre Inflator is small, light and compact and now sits in the boot of my car.

back of box for ring tyre inflator

This was a godsend when a couple of months ago I had gone to visit a family member and when getting in my car I noticed I had what looked like a flat tyre. I was able to get the Ring Tyre Inflator out of the boot and reinflate it. I was then able to safely get to a garage and have the tyre checked – there was in fact a screw embedded in the tyre and I was able to get a replacement fitted. This helped keep me safe on the road.

I would highly recommend this – it is so easy and convenient and could avoid having to call out your car rescue service, which can often mean a wait to be seen.

I would really like to thank Lucy for giving me this opportunity.

What are your hates about driving or any other maintenance job? I’d love to read your comments

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An emotional day – How I celebrated VE Day 75 –

A photo of a VE Day party with a title caption

An emotional day is my reaction to the VE Day 75 years celebration. This is how I celebrated and spent the day.

What is VE Day

May 8th 1945 was the date the Allies celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler’s Reich, formally recognising the end of the Second World War in Europe. This became known as VE (Victory in Europe) Day.

It was an emotional day for me for several reasons

  • My parents were very proud of their part in the War, my father saw active service as a soldier in the Army and was deployed overseas as part of the British Liberation army.
  • My mother was a volunteer fire warden and was a machinist sewing garments for the military.
  • They married during the war.
  • My parents, especially my mother loved to talk about life during the war and her experiences. She said it was horrible but the spirit of the nation and how everyone helped each other was amazing
  • My parents have passed away in 1976 and 2007.
  • I had one brother who was also very interested and proud in our family’s involvement, we also had uncles who proudly served in all the forces. Sadly my brother passed away in January this year, which is why my blog had been dormant for some time.
  • This means it was such an emotional day because I have none of my birth family unit left to share memories with. I felt a little lost, even though my husband is very supportive.

A wedding photo of a wartime couple in Black and White

My parents Adeline and Norman

Throughout the day I would find myself weeping, many of the images and songs played reminded me of my family. My mother was a great singer and would often sing wartime songs.

 

How did I spend an emotional day in remembrance of VE Day 75

I had managed to obtain a string of Union Jack bunting from Amazon to string across the garage door and make a small display in our front bay window. Our avenue hadn’t planned any street celebrations and there was only our house and a couple of others that were decorated.

A window display for VE day 75

A garage door decorated with union jack bunting

Our garage door

In the morning I looked through old photographs of my parents taken during wartime, some I had not seen before after they had recently been passed to me from my late brothers possessions. I was amazed at the resemblance to my nephew and nieces.

A black and white photo of a Britih army soldier from WW2

My dad Norman

A soldier from WW2 in uniform in a garden

A black and white photo of a wartime woman

I dressed up in Red white and blue

A woman dressed in red white and blue holding a VE Day cupcake

We watched the 2 minute silence at 11 am and I sobbed throughout.

An afternoon tea box with VE Day cupcakes and a loaf cake for Mr Fitz was delivered to the doorstep obeying social distancing rules. This was from a local cafe, my first order from them but certainly not my last as it was all delicious. The Lotus Biscoff Loaf cake was really indulgent!

A collage of an afternoon tea

My afternoon tea and Lotis Biscoff cake

Mr Fitz and myself sat in the garden with some beer and a bottle of Champagne and I enjoyed my afternoon tea.

A man sat in a garden poring champagne

Champagne to celebrate

Churchill’s speech declaring the end of the war in Europe was shown on TV in the afternoon at 3pm – following this someone in the immediate area then played wartime tunes on a trumpet. We couldn’t see him or her but both of us and our surrounding neighbours all clapped and cheered at the end of each song and naturally and predictably I shed a tear and sobbed.

A truly emotional day but one I was glad to be part of. During the day I thought about one of my cousins from my mothers side. He has none of his original family unit left either.

Spookily he telephoned me the following day to see how I was – we are not normally in regular contact as he was my brothers age, around 11 years older and my brother was his contact – they were very close. It appears we had both had the same thoughts about each other and we had a lovely chat and shared memories together. Very uplifting for both of us.

I had started to trace my family tree a couple of years ago using Ancestry.com but found the monthly fee an unnecessary outgoing. This weekend I have resumed my search using free sources – one being FamilySearch.org which is organised and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – it is a worldwide source.

I spent nearly 2 hours searching last night and am hooked. I will let you know my progress at a later date.

Thanks for popping by and reading my account of an emotional day.  How did you spend Bank Holiday Friday? Also let me know if you have traced your family tree – any hints or tips are gratefully appreciated.

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Reduce waste food – forming new habits during lockdown

 

 

A plate of food with a blog title over it

The aim to reduce waste food is something we all should be mindful of. I try to form good habits but during our UK lock down I feel staying home has made me make an extra effort. After all you cannot just pop to the shops for an ingredient or something you fancy to eat that you don’t have at home.

You may have read an earlier post where I described my current favourite vloggers to watch. One of them Kerry Whelpdale shows how she batch cooks and makes tomato sauces as bases for pasta and soups out of leftover veg.

Also I am reminded of a demonstration I attended hosted by Hotpoint and Jamie Oliver in London in 2018 about reducing food waste. This was a competition prize won by my friend who invited me to go along as her guest. During our prize Jamie cooked some dishes for us to eat where he used up waste food.

A woman having a photo taken with Jamie Oliver at a demo to reduce waste food

So with both of these experiences in mind I decided to see what I could do personally to reduce food waste in our household. Also it has the double purpose of reducing our household spend something many people are looking to do during these difficult times.

Reduce Food Waste

As I said watching Kerry Whelpdale on Youtube I decided to follow her example and use up leftovers to make a pasta sauce. I have to explain that I have always cooked from scratch, even when I worked shifts as a busy nurse. We eat very little convenience foods. I have always found it easy to prepare and cook from scratch, dishes like bolognese, lasagne, curries etc are easily put together, especially with the help of my invaluable trust slow cooker. The base of my sauces are usually passatta and tin tomatoes with added herbs and spices.

My new method following Kerrys example is to cook any left over vegetables such as carrots, peppers, celery – including the leafy tops etc then add my tomato and passatta then use my hand blender to make a smoothish sauce. This helps reduce food waste and bulks out the sauce. By doing this I was able to make my usual amount of passatta and tin tomatoes make 3 portions of sauce instead of 1.

One of my usual habits to reduce food waste is to use every part of a roast chicken.  I usually cook a roast chicken to eat as a traditional roast dinner, next day I use any leftover chicken meat to make a stir fry or a pasta and then use the carcass to make a stock for a soup.

So last week by using my new found method of making a pasta sauce and my habitual chicken habits this is what I created:

3 portions of Tomato sauce were turned into a chicken pasta meal, a base for a soup which I have frozen, and the base for my favourite meatball recipe which we ate yesterday.

A collage of chopped vegetables and tomatoes to make a pasta sauce to reduce waste food

Making the pasta sauce t

The chicken made us a roast, then I added leftover meat to the pasta sauce and with the carcass I made a delicious chicken and sweetcorn soup – no recipe I just added things instinctively!

A bowl of chicken and sweetcorn soup from leftovers to reduce waste food

Homemade chicken and sweetcorn soup

Next meal I made using leftovers and to reduce waste food was using some previously cooked leftover new potatoes and the uneaten surplus were frozen. I added half of these into my soup.

The remaining potatoes from the freezer were used to make a curry on Friday, we had a fresh uneaten cauliflower that needed to be ate. I made my own basic curry sauce and added the potatoes, chopped cauliflower and a tin of chick peas to the slow cooker. Using up store cupboard basics and leftovers it was delicious.

I estimate that for around £10-£12 we ate 5 delicious meals. Added to that I made my own bread to eat with the soup using my bread maker, the following evening we used the leftover bread for toast and ate cheesy beans! A super fast supper.

A photo of a homemade loaf

My homemade loaf

As Mr Fitz has taken early retirement I’m looking to carry on these good habits to save money and to reduce food waste.

What do you do to reduce waste and save money? I’d love to hear from you and learn some new ideas and recipes

Stay home stay safe and keep washing your hands

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Who are the best Vloggers? My 5 to watch in Spring 2020

Text Asking a question Who are the best vloggers

Best Vloggers Spring 2020

Who are the best Vloggers? I love youtube and subscribe to many Vloggers – I change my favourites around here are my 4 to watch in Spring 2020

So Who are the best vloggers in my opinion at the moment

Clutterbug

This is owned by Cassandra Aarnssen a canadian mother. Her niche is organisation and decluttering. She can also show how to revamp areas all on a budget.

She describes people as having 4 different organisational styles, Ladybugs, Crickets, Butterflies and Bees. I tend to be a Ladybug – everywhere looks tidy but inside cupboards and drawers things are untidy and I hoard things. Her personality is so bubbly and motivating. Her posts are humorous with great easy to follow practical tips.

She also has a blog to read if this is your preference.

The Minimal Mom

Dawn is also Canadian  and her blog whilst also about hints and tips to be more organised and how to declutter. Her whole reason to do this is to live with less. Living with less means there is less to worry about and take care of.  This is something I subscribe to – after all I know myself and my friends love nothing more than a good declutter and trip to the tip. Although Local Authority Refuse waste depots are currently closed at the moment, I cannot wait fro them to reopen. I have been clearing cupboards etc during my time at home. Again Dawn has a lovely bubbly personality and the big plus for me personally is that she has a daughter called Adeline – which was my mother and grandmothers name! A name I never hear in the UK.

In fact I have been watching them both and then found that they have produced content in collaboration with each other!

Lucy Wyndham Read

Lucy is a fitness vlogger and as we are all trying to keep moving whilst in lockdown I like her site. If you read my post about Life in Lockdown and what I’d been up to you will have seen her videos mentioned. For many of us it’s a bit of an effort so to find this lovely young lady producing short sharp sessions that are around 7 minutes long providing a good all over body hit! She demonstrates 2 levels of each movement depending on fitness. I’m rather ashamed to say that over the past 12 months whilst caring for my late brother my previous fitness regime had got lost by the wayside so I’m definitely trying the easier option but don’t be fooled you still get a good workout.

 

Kerry Whelpdale

Whilst staying home I’ve been cooking more, using up leftovers, being creative with the contents of the cupboards and baking. I found Kerry whilst looking for inspiration. We love our slow cooker, or crockpot if you are overseas.

Kerry is a lovely English mum with 2 boys and a husband and she shows you how she meal plans or meal preps, often batch cooking.  Again she has a sunny personality and produces some simple no nonsense nutritious meals.

Rosie Henshaw

Rosie is a delightful bubbly mother from the South of England. She has the most fabulous home and decorates and accessorises it on a budget. She has some fabulous crafty and no fuss DIY ideas to keep you home on trend and looking its’s best. As I say she’s really bubbly and often just records at her dining table, she admits that her editing skills are minimal so videos are just produced on the go. Rosie also shows fashion hauls and is proud to be described as curvy, she has no hangups and is body confident. I always finish her videos smiling as she is so friendly and chatty.

So there we have it my current 5 favourites, the best vloggers for my needs at the moment,  although they are not the only ones, I have posted previously about favourites,  I can go down the rabbit hole of youtube daily. I often watch whilst I’m cooking, finding new vloggers to watch by following recommendations from YouTube itself.

Let me know who you are watching I always love finding new vloggers to watch. Comment below with suggestions of your best vloggers to watch or what you think of my recommendations

Stay safe, stay home and keep washing those hands

 

 

 

 

Life in lockdown of an over 50’s couple – Diary Update #1

A smiling couple in lockdown

 

Life in lockdown of an over 50’s couple

Life in Lockdown has been with us a month now. I’ve been reading many blog posts whilst staying home. Some of them have contained diary posts. I’ve been interested to see how other people have been passing their time whilst in lockdown due to the current Coronavirus Pandemic.

I thought I would share with you what myself and Mr Fitz have been doing.

I may make this a weekly update but as we’re now approaching our first month I thought I’d make this first one a monthly round up.

 Mr Fitz life in lockdown for an NHS worker

The lovely Mr Fitz is a key worker and works as a Hospital Porter. His role is mostly in the grounds he is part of a team recycling and moving rubbish, recycling packaging from essential supplies deliveries. Some of the waste is infected clinical waste and linen. A truly unglamorous role but a vital one and someone has to do it. As I’m very fearful and respectful of the virus and being a retired nurse with a good knowledge of Infection Prevention methods the poor man has to undergo a strict decontamination regimen when he returns home from work. The downside of life in lockdown.

Key worker hospital porter returning home via garage life in lockdown

John returning home via the garage

He has good hygiene and handwashing practices anyway outside of these circumstances but here are the additional steps:

  • He enters via the garage and undresses in there before coming into the house where I leave a bag for him to put his clothes in and a small bowl in which he empties the contents of his pockets I have all the doors open to the bathroom and he heads straight into the shower.
  • I then put his clothes in the washer and wash or wipe down the contents of his pockets.  His phone and car keys are wiped down but everything else including house keys and bank notes are washed in a bowl of soapy water.
  • I wipe and spray the garage door lock inside and out.
  • I wipe any surface he has touched before his shower – including shower door handle and shower tap.
  • After his shower I change his towels.
  • At the end of each working week I change the bed sheets.

This may seem like overkill but we would rather be safe. Initially he claimed I was treating him like a leper but as the disease and information has evolved he’s agreed my actions were the best!

I have to state that he is set to take early retirement at the end of April and this routine will not then be needed.

Exercise

Mr Fitz is in a normal routine and has a couple of walks at weekend. He would normally visit the gym and is currently setting up a fitness station in the garden, to help him stay fit after retirement. This will be good for me too. I have been taking part in some home fitness videos on You Tube – my favourites are from Lucy Wyndham-Read. Short and challenging. Also although I try to stay at home as much as possible I like a walk several times a week. I have a route close to home around the roads that is usually quiet and I walk early in the morning. Mr Fitz works 6am to 2pm so I wake early with him. You may have read in a previous post that I like to listen to Podcasts on my walk. I have worked out that twice round my route gets me to 10000 steps. On days I don’t walk I still wear my pedometer and aim for my 10000 steps whilst cleaning and working in the house.

Just prior to being asked to Stay Home we had a very long walk of 7 miles to a local fisheries that we have never visited it was beautiful, peaceful and tranquil. Once Mr Fitz has retired we hope to discover more nice settings close to home. Our locality is considered semi rural and fortunately there are many beautiful places to walk nearby. We hope to explore some more during life in lockdown.

 

A lake and bullrushes in sunshine

Staying Home – our life in lockdown

I have to say that I am enjoying staying home and having very few problems with it. I am a home bird especially since I retired from my Nursing career. My role as a nurse involved long unsocial hours away from home and as I got older when I was home I was too knackered to do much and my cleaning and housekeeping regimen was minimal.

Since retirement I love cleaning and keeping my home nice. We moved into this beautiful house when I retired and we love it.

As I’m used to having routine in my life I have maintained this during retirement. I always have the luxury of a brew in bed in the morning either reading, browsing social media or catching up on my favourite TV shows. After that though I am up dressed and start on chores or projects.

I am a great list maker and find that having a To Do List keeps me focused and stops boredom. I watch lots of vloggers on Youtube who share their knowledge and ideas. I think that will be a topic for a future post – who are my favourites to watch.

The main thing I’ve done is painted our 3rd bedroom which I use as a home office. I’ve promised myself a make over for about 2 years, however last year it got put off due to my brothers illness, so now I felt there was no excuse. I luckily had the forethought to purchase paint and supplies just prior to lockdown. I have completed most of it with the help of Amazon. I love my newly tidied organised space and will complete it once we can return to the shops.

A collage of a home office created during life in lockdown

My home office makeover

We have also spent a lot of time in the garden catching up with jobs. Mr Fitz has painted the fence – approximately 40 panels and I’ve painted our wrought iron gates, again I purchased what I needed in the week leading up to the request to Stay at Home.

Thankfully the weather has been kind and we have been able to spend plenty of time sitting in the garden. Today we have revamped our patio space with the finishing touch of an outdoor rug from Wayfair, which arrived today. Its a lovely space and one we hope to continue to enjoy.

A garden furniture set on a wayfair rug

New patio set up with Wayfair rug

The only problem is that we have a resident bat who returned from hibernation at Easter. He is the only blot on the landscape as I am petrified of him as he flies so close to the windows and patio doors. Another topic for a future post.

Also I have enjoyed cooking and baking. Being more creative than usual with the food we have. I’ve made cakes, fishcakes, curries, a fabulous lemon drizzle cake using a Jane Asher packet mix from Quality Save and tonight I am making homemade spicy burgers.

collage of home cooking

Some of my home cooking

Also we have joined in the weekly Clap for Carers – our whole Cul De Sac has joined in and I find the response so emotional, especially as many family members, ex colleagues, family and friends are still out there on the frontline in different capacities.

Family

Obvously missing direct contact with family is hard. My poor Sister in Law has lost my brother after 45 years of marriage and is coming to terms with living alone and now its enforced its particularly difficult for her. We all stay in contact via phone, social media and Wattsapp.

Well I think that sums up our month. I hope you are all staying safe and staying home. What have you been doing and what have been your biggest challenges during life in lockdown? I’d love to hear what you are doing or what is worrying you. A problem shared is a problem halved.

Stay safe, stay home and keep washing your hands.

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Product Review – Serious Readers Alex Light is it worth it?

Title caption product review

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post and we received this lamp for free to review. This does not prejudice or affect my review. All opinions are honest and our own. 

I was approached by Serious Readers to trial one of their products. You may have read some of my earlier posts including ways to keep healthy over 50 and that I am always looking at ways to combat changes in normal function as my body increase in years and find ways to minimise the impact.

I am updating the original post to confirm that I have been using this lamp continually for over a year now and still find it to be fabulous. In the current climate of staying home and people are concentrating on original hobbies or taking up new ones, I still highly recommend this to optimise your lighting.

One change that I have noticed is in my eyesight. I have always worn contact lenses for astigmatism but in recent years I have noticed changes in my ability to see in poor quality light. This has caused me to be unable to wear them in low light and have been wearing varifocal glasses, which provide a much sharper image. However, I still note there is a difference in subdued lighting, and I love to have table lamps on in the evening instead of the full room light. I love the cosy ambiance these provide.

When reading or trying to complete a crossword I already struggle and either have to put the large room ceiling light on (The big light as Peter Kay calls it!) or use supplementary light from the torch on my mobile phone.

People don’t always realise that as they age, less and less light gets through to
the retina making it harder to see detail and read in comfort. This is why the people at Serious Readers, created a range of high performance reading lights using bespoke Daylight Wavelength Technology™ to allow people to see with amazing clarity and true
colour. They claim “We bring the natural light close to the daylight our eyes are built to use”

In my career as a neonatal nurse I have used similar lights to enable me to perform intricate procedures, such as venous cannulation on neonates, and I found them to be invaluable.

When I was approached by Serious Readers to trial one of their Alex lights I was more than happy to do so. 

Serious Readers Alex Floor standing lamp

About Serious Readers

The company’s literature states that recent research shows that poor quality light not only  causes eyestrain but can also damage eyes and interfere with your sleep. Too much short wave-length blue light poses a risk to the highly sensitive retina.

The absence of a harmful blue light spike in their technology eradicates the risk of damage to the retina and minimises disturbance to our body clocks. The Serious design, with a stay put flexible arm and rotating swivel joints mean the light can be set up just in the right position for you, so it takes the strain not you. Our sight dominates our sensory perception and we can’t help ourselves but subconsciously adjust our posture and strain to try and see clearly.

The Alex light is suitable for:

  • Reading books
  • Reading larger publications, (magazines, newspapers)
  • Hobbies involving colour (artwork, needlework)

Our opinion on the Serious Reader Alex Light

I say ‘our’ opinion because although the product was sent to me to review, my husband uses it the most and absolutely loves it! He’s hogging it daily for reading his newspaper, he has been constantly complaining that news print is getting smaller! 

The Serious Reader Alex Light comes as either a floor lamp or a table lamp, their is also a choice of colours. We chose a floor standing model in white. It looks neat and sleek, taking up little floor space.

The lamp arrived in a very large cardboard box, almost as tall as me! Once the box was opened I was delighted to find that it did not require any assembly – always a huge bonus.

Serious Readers Floor Lamp in packaging

Serious Readers Floor Lamp arrived ready assembled and well packaged

A feature I liked was a cord holder – a rubber case where excess flex can be wrapped round and secured to reduce any trip hazard and unsightly wires.

The head of the lamp is very small but hugely powerful. Our living room has 2 sofa’s and myself and Mr Fitz sit on one each most of the time. The lamp is so powerful that we can change the angle to suit whichever one of us wishes to use it without moving the lamp. 

Man reading newspaper from light of Serious Readers Alex Light

I have been able to complete crosswords easily without resorting to the torch from my mobile and Mr Fitz has been able to read comfortably without squinting and bringing the newspaper up to his face. I was going to relocate the lamp after this trial up to my home office but it is staying put in the living room as John is such a fan of it too. 

Evaluation

At around £299 the floor lamp appears expensive but if like us you are suffering with reduced vision in poor quality lighting, it is worth the price in our opinion. There was nothing we didn’t like about it. If you have an elderly relative who has given up hobbies due to the inability to see what they are doing, this would make an ideal gift, it could restore their enjoyment in leisure activities they once loved. In fact any family or friend over 60 who complains of “newsprint shrinking” or “lightbulbs not being what they were” please tell them about this fabulous product. 

If you wish to see the light in action please check out my video review on YouTube

 

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A busy October having fun in retirement

Life begins in retirement

I had a very busy October and I know I’m it’s already mid November and I’m late in posting, but hey better late than never. Time is flying so fast. This third age of my life is truly the best especially spending quality time with family and friends. When I was working full time as a nurse I was either too busy or too tired to really enjoy my social life.

Where Did I Go in October

The month of October was dominated by Mr Fitz’s 60th birthday, both preparation and celebrations. I had planned a surprise night away for him on the actual night of his Birthday. We are both foodies and Mr Fitz can watch hours of cooking programmes and demonstrations from Celebrity chefs, as well as dining out. With that in mind I had booked a night away at Northcote Manor a Michelin starred hotel and restaurant not too far away.  He hates surprises so closer to the date I did actually tell him where we were going.  We had a lovely stay and fabulous food, very expensive but a one off experience befitting the milestone in life. I will write a full review of this experience in a separate post.

A 60th Birthday Celebration at Northcote Manor in October

A selection of the food on offer at Northcote Manor

Michelin Star Food

We both enjoyed a weekend away in Blackpool with friends at the beginning of October, staying in their static caravan. A great time filled with lots of laughter and a trip to the Blackpool illuminations was enjoyed by us all. I reflected on the Illuminations as part of my Blogtober18 series, if you haven’t read it already you can take a look here.

Big wheel on the pier at Blackpool

Blackpool Illuminations

With the christening of Johns great niece Delilah Belle we got to spend some quality family time with Johns close and extended family. It was as few days before his birthday so they presented him with gifts and sang Happy Birthday to him. After years of missing out on many family celebrations due to the unsocial hours and shifts that are required as a nurse, in retirement I fully appreciate how precious days like this are.

Mr Fitz Receiving gifts for his 60th birthday

Family time

After football and blogging my other passion is for entering competitions. I have like minded friends and we all share our winning prizes and experiences amongst ourselves and our friends and families. My lovely friend Juliet won a trip to meet Jamie Oliver in London.  It was a promotion in collaboration with Hotpoint and Jamie Oliver to reduce foo wastage and to be creative with leftovers. There were 5 winners who had been judged to submit the best ideas for the use of leftovers. The winners and guests were invited to a pop up event in East London. A truly enjoyable day and an opportunity to see Jamie demonstrating his cooking skills at close contact.

Enjoying a celebrity chef experience with Jamie Oliver

Watching Jamie Oliver live

Another of my friends won a meal at Rain Bar in Manchester for 4. This is a gastro pub where the food was really tasty with great service and attention. It also gave myself and my friends the opportunity to get together and plan an upcoming trip to London in December

Rain Bar Manchester serves great food

Lunch at Rain Bar Manchester

What Did I Read in October

I’m ashamed to say I am still on the same book from the Village series that I was reading last month – I’ve barely picked my kindle up and I need to read more to help me unwind at the end of the day.

What I watched on TV in October

I completed watching the series on Sky Witness The Truth About the Harry Quebert Story, I mentioned this last month. It was quite a slow moving who dunnit but I enjoyed it, lots of twist and turns.

I’ve been catching up on an older TV series, A Place To Call Home and watching in snatches. I find this a really relaxing storyline and series. It’s set in Australia an tells the story of a family throughout the years.

Naturally there has been wall to wall football being watched here!

I didn’t get to watch any specific films apart from dipping into the many Christmas movies being continuously shown on Sky. By the time Christmas arrives I will have possibly seen snippets of them all. These are great movies to have on in the background while I work, particularly photographing and listing stock for my Ebay shop.

Home Improvements

If you have read earlier posts about our house purchase partially funded from my retirement funds, you may know that I so love this dream house and this is the most enjoyable part of my retirement. I love spending as much time as possible inside working from home. When we moved in it had been repainted throughout and re carpeted in neutral tones. Over the three years we have lived here we have gradually made changes and put our personal stamp on it. We had wooden flooring in our previous home and loved the look and clean feel of it. But as the carpet was newly fitted when we moved in changing it immediately seemed inappropriate. This month though we thought 3 years was a respectable length of time to change it and we had wooden flooring fitted through the lounge and dining room. Due to my menopausal brain fog I have become really indecisive and struggle to choose decor etc. Thankfully Mr Fitz is able to make good choices and where once I made the main decisions I am happy for him to take the lead. He chose a dark colour which I possibly wouldn’t have chosen myself, possibly because I make ‘safe’ choices and he is happy to be out there sometimes. I am happy with his choice and love the new look.

A change of flooring can transform a room

November goals

To continue at the gym and attend yoga classes hoping this results in weight loss.

I am going to aim to eat a low carb diet 90% of the time to reverse the state of insulin resistance that I appear to be in, caused by my lovely constant companion that is the menopause. I am watching a series of videos from a nutritionist in America Dr Becky Gillaspy,  as I have a Masters Degree in Health Studies, I know that what she talks about makes sense.

 

Procrastination

Oh and yes my accounts have still not been submitted – I need to pull my finger out!

Finally I am planning to redecorate my 2nd bedroom, including a full declutter. I will post about this when the project is complete.

How is your November progressing? How you’re all moving forward, my favourite saying at the moment is from Emma Drew of Emma Drew info who is helping me with my blogging journey, and that is we should strive at all times for progress not perfection! So true. I am prone to getting lost in the minutiae of details to be perfect that I end up making no progress at all.

Let me know if you have any similar experiences to any of my recent ones? I love to hear from you and receive inspiration

Comment or email me 

Also I would love you to subscribe and share if you wish to hear more about my retirement life and having fun after 50.

Thanks for reading, it’s always appreciated

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Mulled wine – the perfect drinking glasses

If you enjoy a mulled wine these drinking glasses could be perfect for you

 

As someone who enjoys a glass of mulled wine or a hot toddy during the festive season I was kindly provided with glasses from Jeanine at Blessed Bee Group. They were the Ozeri Serafino Double Wall Thermo Glasses, a set of two 12 fl.oz. 0.35ml.

  • Set of 2 heat and shatter resistant borosilicate glasses that each hold 12 oz.
  • Stronger and more durable than common glass, each glass features a wraparound contour that provides a natural aesthetic grip.
  • Patent-pending double wall design that suspends drinks within an inner wall, creating an engaging optical effect.
  • Designed to keep your hands cool with hot drinks, and free of condensation with chilled beverages.
  • Completely dishwasher, microwave and freezer safe. Ships in an elegant 4 color printed box with a 1 Year Warranty. Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Easy to see packaging

Good packaging

The box is eye catching – simple shiny black with a clear picture on the front of the contents.

The glasses look attractive and are nice to hold due to the wraparound contour, even for someone like me who has small hands.

Looks good with hot drinks

Great for cold drinks no condensation or cold fingers

I have used them for hot and cold drinks and can confirm that the temperature of the contents is not transferred to the outer wall. In fact that is the only downside, when I took my first sip of the hot chocolate drink I nearly burnt my tongue as there was no indication of how hot the drink was inside!

In my opinion these are perfect for a hot toddy and mulled wine as well as enjoying a chilled cocktail in the garden in summer, as they are shatter resistant.

Disclaimer: If you purchase via my link I will receive a small commission.

If you like these please read my review of the Ozeri Bathroom scales also kindly provided by Jeanine.

Thank you for reading, please comment or email me if you like these and think they would be perfect for you or you would like me to review a product for you.

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Ozeri Precision Pro II Digital Bathroom Scale – Product Review

Looking for new bathroom scales read my review

To enable this product review I was kindly given the Ozeri digital bathroom scales by Jeanine at Blessed Bee Group.

Scales original packaging

I was very happy to review them as my current scales were becoming unreliable and needed replacing. If you have read some of my previous posts you can see that weight gain in the menopause is one of my struggles so these will be a useful tool in my weight loss journey.

The features that the Ozeri Precision Pro II Digital Bathroom Scale have are:

  • New Weight Change detection Technology displays your net change in weight in GREEN for weight loss and in RED for weight gain.
  • StepOn Activation captures the precise weight measurements upon contact (no tapping required).
  • Uses 4 high precision G sensors to weigh up to 200 kilograms or 440 pounds in 0.1 kg or 0.2 lbs increments.
  • Award-winning design features an oversized weighing platform with impact-resistant tempered glass.
  • Automatically turns off to conserve battery life, and runs on 2 AAA batteries with battery indicator (batteries included).

They retail for £24.99 on Amazon. The Ozeri Precision Pro II Digital Bathroom Scale arrived promptlyfor me to review and the first thing I noticed was the weight – they seemed much heavier and larger than the bathroom scales I already owned.

Once unboxed I instantly liked the sleek black and chrome appearance. There was an easy to follow instruction leaflet and batteries are included.

Sleek black and chrome appearance

Clear instruction leaflet

The footplate area is large making them easy to stand on. The digital display is exceptionally clear. The great added facility is that they remember and store your weight. Next time you step on and are weighed again you then get a second display that informs you whether you have gained or lost. If you have gained the amount flashes up in red and if you have lost the figures are green. It took me a couple of attempts to see this display to complete my review, I erroneously remained stood on the foot plate. The gain/loss display only appears once you have stepped off again.

Easy to read digital display

Green display indicating weight loss

Red display indicating weight gain

I really liked these Ozeri scales but in as part of my review in my opinion they have one disadvantage in that they only store one persons weight. Therefore the weight gain/loss function does not work when there are 2 people sharing the use. To reset this the batteries can be removed and reinserted but it is a bit of a faff and it still does not solve this issue.

These cost of these Ozeri Precision Pro II Digital Bathroom Scale was reimbursed in payment for this review. This did not influence my opinion.

Disclaimer – If you purchase these via my link I may receive a small fee.

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