Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there! Miss my Dad everyday so make the most of what you’ve got if you’re lucky enough to still have one, two or more!
Although we’ve been busy, we haven’t really been up to too much this week…
On Sunday (08 June), I ended up having a bit of a day of rest, catching up at home after our week away and not even going for a walk! One thing I did do was start my Slimming World regime again even though, despite eating lots of very nice but definitely not slimming things during our week away, I managed to lose 1/2 lb??? Still, that was my first step towards a bit of self-improvement this week!
On Monday (09 June), I went to see Mum and joined in with the chair exercise class, which is always good fun… Mum was in good spirits even if she found the exercises confusing and tiring! She is still a maverick, mostly doing her own thing, mostly in time with the music! Love her!
On Tuesday (10 June), I headed over to Cookridge (just outside Leeds) for my first proper session with the chiropractic – my 2nd step towards self-improvement! After a few “adjustments” (that’s the horrible bit where they push down on your bones and make them crack!) and a bit of massage, I’ll be honest, I felt a bit sore, so it wasn’t the instant pain relief I had maybe hoped for! That said, I have committed to this course of action now by signing up for 14 sessions which, although a bit cheaper, is pretty pricey but hey, I’m worth it! 😆 I am also determined to get my back and neck issues sorted out for good this time around! Hope it works…
After my chiropractic torture session, I decided to take a stroll around Golden Acre park (near Bramhope), somewhere I’ve not visited for many years but is on the way home. As the day was windy but mostly fine, it was lovely doing a couple of laps of the park.
Apparently, according to the internet, Golden Acre Park was once a privately owned amusement park which opened in 1932 and had a swimming pool, miniature railway, boating lake, zoo and music tower. The amusement park was only open for 6 years before closing due to the Second World War, and then was taken over by Leeds City Council in 1945 when half of the boating lake was filled in. The park’s swimming pool, the Blue Lagoon, was popular with families and remained open until the early 1960’s. I found an article about the park’s heyday in the 1960s in the Yorkshire Post where it suggests the park was a rival for Blackpool and based on Coney Island in New York! If you are interested, hopefully you can use this link to get to the article:
I think I prefer the park as it is now…
When I woke on Wednesday (11 June), my back was feeling a bit better (phew!) but my neck was still quite painful… it always seems to be more painful in the morning and, once I’m up and about, it sort of eases off… We spent some time on the allotment (see pics below!) catching up on all the weeding after our week off in Cumbria… To be honest, I think I probably over did it a bit which was a bit stupid as when I woke on Thursday, I was a little bit creaky again! Anyway, it was good to pick a few punnets of strawberries – half for me (that’s breakfast sorted 😊) and a few pound for Pete to make into jam…
Fortunately, Thursday (12 June), I had my 2nd session with the chiropractor and felt great afterwards! I am booked in for 2 sessions a week with the chiropractor for the first 3 weeks and then move to 1 session a week after that… so, two down so far.
After my session, I decided to have another walk around Golden acre. I remember visiting the park with Mum and Dad after they moved to Yorkshire… my Dad was using a walking rollator by then to help with his balance. At the time I was a bit sad that he couldn’t enjoy the walk very much as he found it very tiring – today, when I walked up the hill to the car park, I realised that I was probably expecting a bit much of him, him being in his late 80s by then and not particularly fit! I remembered having to sit and rest on the benches going up the hill and finding it a bit frustrating at the time… it’s funny how now, I’d give anything to be able to do that walk again with my Dad and enjoy just sitting with him!
Walking through the arboretum part (which I’ve not done before), there was so much birdsong, I thought I would record it on the Merlin app. I was surprised by what I could hear – Treecreepers, Blackcaps… it was lovely and made me think that they are right when they say a few minutes each day spent in nature can make you feel more positive – it definitely works for me!
Pete has been feeling a bit under the weather for a few days so, on Friday 13th June (😱😱😱), we filled out the online form you now have to complete before you are even considered for an appointment 😡 and submitted it… thinking we might have to wait in most of the day before getting a call back, we were surprised when the phone went about 20 minutes later and he was invited to an appointment an hour after that! He’s having some tests next week (usual bloods etc) and, fingers crossed, all will be well 🤞 We didn’t really do much for the rest of the day after that… Pete did a bit of gardening, we went shopping and then sat in the unexpected sunshine for a bit (it was roasting!)… although in our part of Yorkshire, despite it raining heavily later in the evening / during the night, we didn’t get the promised thunderstorms (boo – I love a good thunderstorm…)
Yesterday (Saturday 14 June) we made up for our non-walking day on Friday with a nice walk along canal. The weather threatened heavy rain and there were some very black clouds around (Mum would have loved them!), but we didn’t get wet until we got to the allotment after our walk… it chucked it down for a few minutes but, between showers, I managed to pick another half ton (bit of an exaggeration) of strawberries and Pete planted some pumpkins up… so, another week of breakfasts for me (the strawberries, not the pumpkin!) with enough left-over to give to the neighbours… although we are not sure whether these will have made it past Jack to the rest of the family judging by how happy he was to receive these when Pete took them around… Katy – hope there were some left for you!
Middle – Getting plenty of strawberries at the moment / Pete’s Plums 🤣🤣
So that’s all the news from us this week.
Today is Father’s Day so happy Father’s Day to all the Dads especially my brothers Andy, Chris & Steve plus our favourite son-in-law (well, might as well be!), Lee Finnegan… not forgetting our long-departed Dads – here’s to the original Reggie Wilson and John Collins Senior!
All the gubbins… 
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