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Izzy Wizzy Let’s Get Busy!

Since my post yesterday bemoaning my broken Sooty eggcup, it has come to my attention that some of my wordpress friends have not heard of Sooty (stands back in horror…!)  This seems astonishing to me, but then, he has been around in England since before I was born (blimey..I hear you say…), created by Harry Corbett in 1948.  His TV show has been aired since the early fifties.

Sooty is a glove puppet (don’t tell him.. he thinks he’s a teddy bear…) who attempts magic with his magic wand, and is an occasional xylophone player.  Together with his friend Sweep, and the goody-two-shoes panda, Soo, he gets into all sorts of mischief without saying a word – Sadly Sooty is mute. Sweep does squeak, and Soo speaks in an annoying school-marm voice (I never did like Soo). I’ve pinched the show’s catch-phrase for the title of this post – Izzy Wizzy Let’s Get Busy,which was always accompanied by a wave of Sooty’s wand of course.

When Harry Corbett retired in 1976, his son Matthew took over Sooty’s errmmm…glove, and on his retirement in 1998 he found a replacement in Richard Cadell who is still to be found on TV with his puppety friends.  These day’s Sooty is quite modern and even has his own website http://www.thesootyshow.com/

I’ve had fun browsing through some of the old shows to be found on youtube, but think this one pretty much optimises it as I remember it, though as a kid I watched it in black and white.   Simple times….enjoy!

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Broken :-(

Posted in response to the Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge – this week’s theme ‘Broken’

This is my Sooty eggcup.  It was an Easter present, complete with chocolate egg, that I received when I was seven or eight years old – that means that this little eggcup is now getting on for sixty. It got broken like this when we moved house some 22 years ago, and for some reason I didn’t have the heart to throw it away.

I don’t really know why I have kept it so long. It’s like a ghost of my childhood sitting in the kitchen drawer.  I can actually remember getting it, and being quite excited, after all there is nothing quite like a boiled egg and soldiers out of your own Sooty eggcup.  It’s also a reminder of how clumsy and lackadaisical I am –  originally I had the broken off piece and had intended to stick it back together, but of course that never happened and the piece has long since disappeared.

Perhaps, now I have taken photographic evidence of it I should throw the darn thing away. Lets face it,it’s junk and it takes up valuable space in my kitchen drawer.  Will I though??  I’m pretty sure you and I both know the answer….

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12 reasons I practice yoga…(ok, it’s a bit of ego…)

It strikes me that I haven’t written anything about my yoga practice lately.  This has been brought to my attention because I wanted to brag about my latest achievement. Yes folks, I’ve managed to achieve a headstand without the security of a wall behind me.

Now, this may seem very little to you, but it’s taken me bloomin’ months of effort.  I’d have a practice most days.  At first I’d heave my feet upwards and they’d bash against the wall, my shoulders would sink under the weight, and generally I’d topple sideways in an ungainly sack of potatoes way.  Slowly things improved until my toes would just touch lightly on the wall, I’d hold myself straight and drift my legs featherlike to the floor.  I’ve been at that stage for months.  But yesterday…yay… I took a deep breath, held on to my tummy muscles for grim death, and pulled my legs over my head.  It wasn’t easy peasy getting there, but the sense of achievement was stupidly immense.

A couple of weeks ago my yoga teacher gave a lesson in which she asked us to look at ‘letting go of the ego’.  Amongst other things, she asked us to question why we were pushing ourselves to achieve poses and positions that we found difficult.  Did we push ourselves harder than we should to impress?

I’ve mulled over this question quite a lot recently, and I’m not sure I know the definitive answer for me.  In truth, there are many reasons why I practice yoga regularly.  Here’s my top twelve (in no particular order):

  1. To gain muscle tone
  2. To improve balance
  3. To improve flexibility
  4. Escape – there’s no room for other thoughts when you are trying to hold every bit of your body in the correct position whilst concentrating on your breath too.
  5. Getting to know my body – what are ‘normal’ aches and pains, where the tight bits are, which bits need a bit more work
  6. Mindfulness – being aware
  7. Age is no barrier (or size for that matter) – yoga is progressive whatever stage you are at in both your practice and in life
  8. Power – All that balancing, bending, stretching and breathing leaves me feeling like I could do anything. I am woman. I am powerful woman! (in contrast the gym leaves me feeling like I could keel over at any moment).
  9. Strength – Unlike many women in their 60’s I know I can hold my own weight on my hands without too much trouble. This is probably not something many women want to do, but hey, it makes me feel good to know it!  My core is getting stronger too – I’ve moved on from just being able to hold plank pose for a second or two, to hanging on in there for over a minute!
  10. Relaxation – Many people would think they don’t need to ‘learn’ how to relax, but having learnt a few techniques I am quite capable of relaxing my body and brain enough to drift into sleep whenever I want, or need to. Hell, if I work through my relaxation drill I can even manage to nod off in the discomfort of a plane seat!
  11. Exercise – contrary to common belief, yoga is dynamic. Every muscle should be engaged, and it’s not unusual to get hot and a bit puffy after maintaining a pose for a couple of minutes.  It is indeed proper exercise!
  12. Posture – sad to say I’ve always had dodgy posture, but since regular yoga practice I am constantly reminded to stand tall, shoulders back and down, tummy engaged….. I recognise when I’m slumped and slouchy and it’s become (becoming) instinctive to straighten up.

Add to that the friends I’ve made in class you will see that there are plenty of positives.  In fact I’m pretty sure I’ll think of even more as soon as I press ‘post’.  I can’t think of any negatives at all.

I’m aware that not everyone wants to push so hard in their practice, but basically I push myself because I like to and it feels like it’s good for me. I can see the progress. It’s only a little bit about boasting…honestly! 🙂

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It’s not my birthday

Seeing double_1It was my daughters’ birthday yesterday.  I always think it should be the parents who should celebrate birthdays, after all, it’s me who remembers it.  In fact I remember it in crisp and clear detail.

I remember being cheered and clapped by the nursing staff as I managed to waddle up the stairs to the operating theatre under my own steam.  I remember being told to curl up into a tight ball and not move as the epidural was given, although curling up into a tight ball and not moving was pretty unachievable given the size of my twin-filled tummy.  I remember the lights, the smell, the team behind the screen that had been put up to stop me seeing the caesarean incision, and my husband beside me, his anxious eyes peering over the top of his surgical mask.

I remember getting the collywobbles in my top half, due, I was told, to the effect of the drugs, and no doubt exacerbated by feeling so excited I could burst.

I remember the first babies cry, and the ‘baby one is a little girl’

‘Helen’ my husband said

Then just two minutes later the second baby’s prostestations ‘Another little girl’

‘Corinne’

I remember when they put them in my still wobbly arms, one at a time because I couldn’t really move what with all the lines attached, and I remember saying ‘Happy Birthday’ to each of them and kissing them on the forehead.

I remember that instant surge of overwhelming love.  I loved the whole world in that moment.  In fact, they were my whole world.

They had to go off to the Special Baby Unit for a couple of days as Corinne just teetered on the edge of acceptable weight (5lb) and they wanted to keep them together.  They were nestled in a single cot like a couple of sardines in a tin.  Tiny knitted bonnets on their tiny blonde heads.

Oh yes, I remember it.  And all the other birthdays and parties.  The naff magician when they were three, the bouncy castle, the bowling party, the big girls disco when they were ten, the marquee at eighteen with drunken boyfriends in attendance (boo drunken boyfriend…you know who you are…).

These days it is rare for us to be together for their birthday, in fact, this year Helen worked a 12 hour shift (although she tells me that one of her colleagues did make her a very nice cake!) and Corinne was at a wedding, so we only just about managed to have a very brief phone call with each of them.

Never mind, we’re planning to celebrate together in June, and maybe I’ll get all the baby pictures out and remind them that, although it’s their birthday, for me, it was the most exciting and wonderful day of my life!

P.S.  Reminiscing brought me to jot this down….

box hill Sepia

I remember two small girls
skipping along the hill
in the summer of their
cherry cheeked childhood

studying sticks and stones
amongst red-gold leaves
whilst clouds cast faint shadows
foretelling futures
of long-legged beauty.

Then, in the chill of evening sun
Tramping down the slope,
homeward
for warm-up tea and
chocolate cake comfort.

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All tucked up

Posted in response to the Daily Post weekly photo challenge – this weeks theme ‘Enveloped’

This is a bud of an Allium.  Sorry, I can’t remember the name of this particular type of Allium, but its little individual flowers will soon burst out of this wrapper and in no time at all look like a brilliant blue firework.

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