I find it helps to write about things – some people find it good to talk, I would rather put it down on paper.

The world of gestational diabetes is very new to me, well if I am quite honest, I don’t know an awful lot about diabetes full stop. There are two types, one will always need treatment and one can be helped but lifetsyle and diet changes – but I know little else.

Year Covid has been an interesting one all round, highs and lows for everybody. Thankfully we ended 2020 on a high when we found out I was pregnant.

Now because I am a lady(ish) of a certain age, and build, I have had ALOT of tests. Again, all new to me, I avoid the doctors and hospitals as much as possible! I am nearly 40, I will be 40 when baby is born – and my BMI is 30.1 – as I have said before I am built for strength not speed. This BMI is something I have always questioned – I remember having a check up and as part of it being weighed – the nurse said that I was half a stone too heavy for my height – this did not resonate with me – I was my target weight for the tug of war team, and training three times a week, eating very tidily – so I struggle with the BMI chart – a good guide but averages don’t work for me…I mean who aims to be average?

Because my BMI is over 30, one of the tests were for blood sugars, and it came back to show that it was likely I had gestational diabetes – I was rather shocked, but started reading more about it and had the appointment with the nutritionist and other nurses, got referred to consultant let care rather than midwife led – and I did as I should for a few weeks.

I received some new kit in the post to test my sugars four times a day – and started keeping a note of which foods I was eating when etc to try and understand the patterns better. As part of the information pack I received, was the eat well guide wheel that government have issued, where they show how much protein, carbs and veg you should eat to have a balanced diet. Now I pride myself on a balanced diet – but know where my faults lie – and that is portion size, cake, and wine. Wine has obviously been eradicated from my diet (but will be making a comeback before Christmas, I have two boxes I’d ordered for 2020 Christmas!), and cake has been reduced, if I need a snack now I have cheese and crackers or something. My point is that my general meal time diet is good – I eat three times a day, and have a balance of protein, carbs and veg or salad items – so I was genuinely disappointed with my body not being able to handle this as a good part of my pregnancy.

I have come across the eat well guide in the past, and again – it doesn’t resonate with me – if I ate that volume of carbs, I would be the size of a house (and my sugars would be very high) – the protein options are very limited, no red meat on there – although they mention mince but don’t state which species mince – and beans, lentils are up there higher on the scale. My diet consists of high quality protein, we are fortunate that lean red meat is something we have access to, very easily. I am disheartened that ‘processed and red meats’ are put into the same category. I can understand the processed part, as so many ingredients may have been added (this is why you will see me reading ingredients if you pass my in a shop) but red meat is good for you as part of a balanced diet. I eat a decent amount of red meat – partly because I am trying to support an industry I not only work in, but I believe in, and partly because it is so good for you!

One test result that came out to be good – much higher than average (this is what we should all aim for!) was my iron level, and the nurses are surprised as apparently most ladies need iron supplements – don’t worry – I told them it is all about the healthy red meat I eat!

There is a level of stubbornness to my personality – sometimes a good thing, sometimes not. Link this quality with principles I try hard to maintain and you can have a person who will be a challenge in some form – I like to think it is a passionate impression I give, but not always sure that comes across.

For a good few weeks I resisted any treatment for the GD, I believe nature is very clever and that your body reacts in ways that work for it – not against it. I believe how we eat impacts our health – so this is why I have been disappointed, I cannot control GD without treatment. I feel as though I am failing myself and the baby. One nurse suggested to me that it is likely I will be diabetic after I give birth – to me that was a concern she didn’t need to give me, and is only a possibility so why worry me now?

I now have to take metformin tablets to balance my sugars, which seems to be helping it all settle, but my body does not like bread – even homemade seeded brown bread has been sending the sugars up. lean meat is good, eggs are good but even takeaway chips and ice cream didn’t impact the sugars…..which I am sure aren’t a healthy choice!

What I have noticed I do now is work with the testing – so I know I test first thing in the morning (but these levels have been fine all along really) then after each meal – so I eat the right meal, for example scrambled eggs, get a low reading after breakfast, I then get hungry mid morning and eat a snack – which I have discovered can be anything as there is no sugar reading until after lunch. This is not a good approach really – nut I am rebelling (yes that streak is still there aged 39) and I can get away with it. I am not proud of this behaviour but I am keeping the hospital happy, and me. When I actually think about it though, this isn’t how I want to be eating for my baby, so I try to eat the porridge – which lasts me all morning, but spikes my sugar – and we eat rice more than mash but I am maintaining my meat content.

I enjoy food, I read about it, I consider what I consume and because I work in the food industry I have a level of understanding of food labelling and guidance. Over the past few months though I have been very confused by the information I have been given – it is not easy to understand.

As an agricultural industry we criticise people who don’t understand labelling – but now I feel that is unfair – it really is a minefield, and depending on what you read and what guidance or information you are given – if you don’t have previous knowledge, you are likely to believe that – I know I would! If you top this with budgeting then it really can be quite difficult.

I am quite the fan of BBC 1 Call the Midwife programme – so was interested to see series 10 episode 3 featuring what seems to be the initial discoveries of gestational diabetes – a lady was suspected to have it (and has a character as stubborn as me) and ended up with a 13 pound baby!

The risk of GD is a large baby that is difficult to deliver, so can cause problems for baby, and for Mam – which you want to avoid of course. I am becoming less stubborn (well, on this) because I am starting to understand that it isn’t my fault – and I am focusing on lean meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, rice and some pasta as my diet – and as due date draws closer, I realise it is a short time I have to make sure this is right.

The next measurement I have is a growth scan at the end of May, so I am interested to see what baby measurements are and growth is, and what impact the medication and the diet is having. In one of my earlier appointments I asked what the expected daily live weight gain was – apparently we don’t measure unborn babies in the same way we measure lambs, calves and piglets….wps!

Please understand that I am incredibly grateful for people who are caring for me in the NHS – because they are brilliant at what they do, I am more accepting of the GD diagnosis and am hoping it will go once baby arrives. I do question things though, I cannot help it, whether it is my nature, or training from work positions – I do it for many different things!

I don’t deny I am still learning, and trying to get my head round all this – but in reality you don’t have that long to do so – I am trying to eat well (but not necessarily as per the eat well guide) and trying to keep a note of how to budget these meals well too, and feed a husband who doesn’t have GD and enjoys his carbs with his meals.

If any of you have experience of GD, or guidance you would like to share – I am all ears – a few months to go and still trying to get it right!

It is over a year now since I started this blog. When I started writing my little snippits I didn’t know how it would go, or if it was worth it, or what on earth I would write about. My initial idea was that I would be able to use shoes to show people what I do, where I go, and to help show the positive side to the industry I work in.

I have always felt that I haven’t written much about shoes, I have loads about food, but not so much about shoes. This is the time for the shoe blog.

Writing this blog in particular has been an excuse for me to get all my shoes out of the cupboard and out from under the bed……it was all a bit of a shock for my husband, but it shouldn’t have been, he knows what he married, and I have a lot less pairs than I used to have. Granted, I have more expensive shoes than before (bargains obviously) but you only get one pair of feet, and buy cheap buy twice. I can say that with confidence, as I have bought a great many pair of shoes.

To me, shoes tell a story – the shoes you choose to wear for the day be able say where you are going, therefore by the end of the day they would have a story about where you have been. This may not be very interesting every day, but what about the evenings, the special occasions and the holidays?

I have a few pairs of shoes which are very dear to me (judge me, call me shallow, I am fine with that). The first pair that springs to mind are my Dan Post cowboy boots. These boots represent so much to me. I was awarded a travel scholarship by HCC in 2012 – travel to look at something within the red meat industry, and I chose to look at grading of lambs, in America. There are a couple of reasons these boots are special:

When I was awarded the scholarship, I went to tell my boyfriend – and realised that I really did like him because the thought of travelling to America for a couple of weeks without him, wasn’t something I wanted to do. He came with me and it was our first proper travel together, and it went well – two years later we got married!

On this trip, we met so many lovely people who gave up their time, one of these people was Randy Hammerstrom who worked for the USDA, was also a cowboy, and he took us out on farm and abattoir visits in Colorado and Wyoming. This was an awesome trip by the way! Randy was recently married and had a young son, and had a reasonable understanding of a woman’s love of shoes, or of the ‘happy wife happy life’ statement, so took me shoe shopping!

The boots I bought, are, to date to the most expensive shoes I have ever bought, they are made out of leather, sole and all, Dan Post boots – I have worn them less than a handful of times since returning but they still have a very special place in my heart. Maybe it isn’t the boots, but what they represent to me in memories, and a very special time in my life. I mean, shopping for cowboy boots, with a real life cowboy?!!

Following the superb trip we had to America, we have been fortunate enough to have a fair few good holidays together. What better souvenir than footwear?? I ‘collect’ Havaiana flip flops from different destinations, then when I wear them at home, I think ah – these were from California, or Hawaii where we spent some of our honeymoon. I just smile instantly as they all give such happy memories. I also find them very comfortable for a flip flop.

Speaking of honeymoon, my wedding shoes – also a pricey item but what is the point of getting all the details as you want them, and then not getting shoes you like. Loved my wedding shoes, and unlike the dress you can wear the shoes again – and I have done, which is why they aren’t as ivory as they were originally. I spent some time deciding on the shoes – quite possibly more time than I took choosing a dress (shoes always fit), and eventually decided upon a pair of silk and lace peep toes with additional flowers from Harriet Wilde. They are well worn now, and still have the dent of the lucky coin in the footbed. They were good shoes, they danced a lot that night (although didn’t improve my dance skills) and I kept them on all day – they were stylish and comfortable, so glad I had them for the most special day of my life.

These special shoes follow on to another happy day of celebrating when I got be a bridesmaid for my little sister (who married younger than me despite me being nearly 6 years older, yes, she is much more grown up than me). What a fantastic day she has married a fabulous young man and they make a brilliant couple, they now have 2 sons and that wedding day was a real start to it all for them – such a happy day, so proud of my little sister.

Hen night shoes – yes, I have bought new shoes especially for hen nights – it is all about the detail! My little sisters hen do in Chester, theme spots and dots – so I bought spotty shoes to go with my spotty dress. Funny story from the hen weekend. I had been responsible for giving the directions – and I had a phone call from one car to ask if there was a key for the house. I was a little puzzled by this as we were staying in a hotel. Wps, I had sent the postcode for the activity we were doing the following day, which had taken the one car to a house, where they were in the garden with a couple of beers waiting for others to arrive. Fortunately the owners of the house were out, and didn’t return before the girls left – I can only apologise! From that weekend on I was known as the postcode Queen.

A friend had a hen do in Pembrokeshire, for which I shopped on the way in Carmarthen and bought a dress and two pairs of shoes – that was a panic shop but every item has been worth buying in the end had a fantastic VIP night out and got to meet alot of her friends too – loved it!

I like a heel – I am on the shorter end of the scale, and a little stocky so a heel really helps with clothes and outfits. I have a couple of Ted Baker peep toes as go to shoes for occasions, one black and one nude. I only recently acquired a nude pair as previously I felt it was a lack of effort to just wear a nude shoe, but I had to give in and not worry about it any longer.

I love my Tommy Hilfiger red wedges, we were off to Ibiza for 5 nights, flying from Manchester, and stopped at Cheshire Oaks outlet on the way, I had a weak moment buying these but wore them on two brilliant nights out. First night out was the BBC Radio Children of the 80’s opening party night and the second was to see David Guetta – very different to our usual holidays but brilliant fun! Really got down with the kids :-).

As I get older, I tolerate a day long wear of a heel less, even more so in the summer, so I invested in a pair of black galaxy Birkenstock, fantastic – they really are comfortable and that pair in particular have proven to be very hardy. They have had a couple of nights out in Builth during the Royal Welsh show week, and came up as good as new – that is impressive.

Brands – now I don’t consider myself somebody who insists on a brand, but at the same time I do associate some brands with quality, and Fairfax and Favour come into this category – I was hesitant at the beginning, but tried some on, so comfy – and leather. Leather is a sustainable material, it is brilliant for shoes (or handbags, or jackets) and if I can buy leather, then I do. I have a long pair (they do a sporting fit for strong calves like mine) and a chelsea boot. Smart, comfy, and easy to clean.

Shop local – I don’t know if it is a good thing or not that a local boutique (Duet and Lan Lloft, Lampeter) but it is very handy as they are a stockist for Tamaris – a go to brand for comfort, especially good for work footwear and supporting our local high streets is even more important than ever if we wish to keep them. They also had some fabulous trainers by Maruti this year – my lockdown daps! Since I started writing this post, I bought a new pair of shoes – you know, for lockdown. A lovely pair of Tamaris tan sandals from Lan Lloft all ready to go when we finally get the go ahead to go out out again!

Outdoor selection

Another go to shoe, throughout my life, has been the wellington boot. I grew up on a sheep farm, and I now work in the meat industry, although not on a farm, I still get to go to farms (currently at home hoping Covid-19 will clear so we can go again some time – I miss sheep and I miss farmers too).

I like the Dunlop, I see the Chameaus of the world, but to me they just don’t represent sheep farming in Wales, so I am brand loyal to Dunlop! I have branched out to some Redback boots which I really like, very comfy instead of wellies and cooler in the summer.

Trainers – I have had a few pairs over the years, I am not a runner or anything but I have challenged myself to some things like the Cardiff Half Marathon – which I did once, and it is an experience I do not wish to repeat. I myself find it hard to believe that trainers have been my shoe of choice over lockdown. I have worn them properly as well, you know, to exercise in! I have walked, cycled had a dip or two in the river and recently started with an online community called @cattlestrength which is home workouts, HIIT (high intensity interval training) sessions and my poor trainers are becoming well worn…who would have imagined that?!

I am sure there are people out there with a much better shoe collection than I have, I would love to see them! I enjoy shoes, looking at them as much as wearing them.

Thank you for reading my shoe blog, I hope you enjoyed it, that it allowed you to escape for a few minutes maybe. I hope you are keeping keeping safe and well during this strange time, and as my Dad would say….”Take care out there”.

PS – please share you shoe photos – I would love to meet your favourites!😘

This may sound very dramatic, but have you ever stepped back and thought about our high street? The shops, the businesses, the life that goes on right in the centre of our towns?

I must be at a special age or something, but I am really worried about the businesses on our high streets, especially so in small local areas and old market towns. Don’t get me wrong, I shop everywhere, but I do try to get what I can locally. I put myself on an amazon ban because i was getting very lazy and just ordering things, without even thinking about going to town at lunch time to get it instead.

I have talked before about my principles, and it is hard work and sometimes more costly to keep them, but surely, long term, it is worth while? As consumers, we don’t need hard work, we need quick, easy, quality, price sensitive goods.

I wrote the top 3 paragraphs before Covid-19 breakout, and I did this as I was planning a trip to USA with my husband, and managing to buy everything I needed within the locality. Lampeter is an old market town and now, as other high streets, has charity shops etc but it also has lovely boutique ladies clothes shops (catering for different budgets and ages) and a lovely opticians too. I had bought some new daps (so comfy!) and prescription sunglasses and I was ready to go.

Covid-19 has now changed our lives. It will continue to do so for some time. Some changes may be irreversible and our priorities will most likely change. It is like having somebody force to press the re-set button. It is very sobering, emotional, worrying and something so big to get our heads around…if we can.

I haven’t gone panic buying mad, but I did get a little extra during shops and thought forward more about what we will be eating. I am lucky in that we have local butchers, we have a grocery store a farmers CO-OP and a SPAR in our local town so I have been able to shop easily – we also have a chemist so any medical supplies have been available too.

Many of our high street shops are now closed, the clothes shops, the furniture shops, the gift shops – as they are classed as non-essential – which I completely understand. Let’s just remember to go and see them again when all this is over.

In the meantime – it has never been easier to shop local, as many communities will have a delivery system in place too – we really must stick to the guidelines of only going out if we need to, think about the food you are buying – food waste reduction should be boosting the creative side of your mind too. How many meals can you get from different items you already have?

With everything happening, this is not the time for me to preach about my principles, let’s just value what we have, value our family and friends and have respect and admiration for those who are still working as key workers to keep us all in supplies and good health.

So to make you smile (or laugh😂) here is a painting I did on an online art class with Sam Morris.

Keep safe everybody.x

It doesn’t matter what walk of life you are on, we all hear about the environment. I remember my first active consideration towards recycling was watching Blue Peter and starting to collect aluminium drink cans. From there we were told about not wasting paper to save trees, and there was talk about the ozone layer and for some reason I remember that refrigeration was particularly bad for the ozone layer. Now, we hear about plastics, and carbon footprints, and what we should and shouldn’t do in order to protect our environment from more damage. Carbon targets are being set left right and centre, but what is it we can actually do as individuals that will have a positive impact?

I just don’t buy all this vegan nonsense about reducing red meat consumption to save the planet. Everything we do has a consequence, but I am not going to stop eating clean, healthy, nutrient dense products in exchange for over processed ‘food’. It makes no sense to me.

Think about what you CAN do,easy to think of reasons not to change our ways, and find excuses, so be positive and think about it properly, don’t be that person who just does it to tick the box.

I was encouraged to think about this in work recently. We were in the middle of our companies environmental week. It is easy to roll our eyes at this sort of thing but in reality it is our chance to think about something differently, and we should take that opportunity and challenge.

On Tuesday we were challenged to write our own environmental pledge. Now I take this seriously. I am the same with new year resolutions. I can’t pledge something I won’t keep, what is the point in that?

Our team on site had gone to the great effort of designing a tree, then we each had a leaf to attach to it with our pledge written on. I thought long and hard about what to put on here, it needed to be a bit stretching but also achievable.

You will have noticed from my previous posts and instagram account that I am a fan of food.Food waste is a big area to improve on so I have pledged to have a weekly menu plan which should mean I inly buy what I need. Now this seems easy but my job requires me to travel a lot and a plan can be in place but executing it can be quite different. I also suffer terribly from temptation when I am at the shops…food shops in particular. I don’t agree with delivery to the home, I am old fashioned like that, I want to see what I buy but I am going to have to be a lot more strict with myself.

A simple thing I could do in addition to shopping better, is remembering my bag for life,anybody else got a cupboard and boot full of these🙈??!

Before I moved in with my now husband, I bought my own house, when I got my first job. My first job was near as 100% commission based pay as you can get (they would never give me a mortgage these days) so budgeting was important. Part of budgeting was my food shop. I did a couple of things, firstly got my meat and fish on a daily basis from my favourite area in the supermarket…..the going out of date bin. As I lived on my own and I like variety, this really suited me and my pocket.

The second thing I did was walk to the shops and take my rucksack. If I couldn’t carry it home in the rucksack then I didn’t buy it. Now I go shopping, in my car,and have enough bags for life to supply a small nation. Isn’t it ridiculous that now I earn more I am more frivolous? I need to get a grip here, and aside from being less wasteful,just imagine what it could do to my waistline….like I said, everything we do has a consequence, and sometimes it can be a positive result!

We must each do what we can, but we must each consider what we do. I will waste less food, but I will still travel as it is part of my job. This week alone I have used a tank of diesel in the car, taken a train from Wales to London and back, and used a couple of cabs and ubers. Lets just be aware and start making changes that are real,bit by bit. Do what we can.

To close, a note of advice for people who try to influence me when I got to the shops (like the man in Lampeter this week). Please do not approach me unless you are genuinely ready for my response. He asked me if I care about climate change….now I do,of course I do,but I am in a hurry at this point in time and do not wish to engage with you. My response was no (to get away) to which he replied ‘you should think about your children’ which antagonised the beast within me. As I came out again, and had had time to think about the situation, I went back to question him. What does he do himself to protect our planet? He had no answers for me, but did invite me to a meeting. Now I love a meeting, so I will be there. I hope he is ready this time!

Thank you for listening to my rants, and I hope you realise from all this that I do care about the environment and the world we live in. I believe small, genuine changes will make the difference.

It is safe to say we can be indecisive, and that I can change my mind alot, but having considered Ibiza, Greek Islands, Dubai and Mauritius as our holiday destination we ended up going to……Chicago!!!

I thought I wanted a chill out beach holiday, where I could rest, relax and enjoy some warm weather. Good to have that break away from work and do very little, I thought. Last year we did the beach for 7 nights, and it was day 5 I managed to switch off from work properly. The city break of 4 nights to Chicago was so much better for us, we were so busy there switching off from work was almost instant. We have all heard the phrase “a change is as good as a rest” well this time for me, I think it was better.

I did the typical buying of the Chicago guide book, tripadvisor reports on where to eat(very important 😂) and Mam had a newspaper clipping for us with a snippit on what to do in the city over 48 hrs. It is essential to plan a bit before a short break, your time is limited and you don’t Want to miss out. We had the tourist to do list and I was really surprises how much we ticked off it!

Before I tell you more about Chicago, let me tell you this: it is my favourite city, the nicest city I have ever visited. I am sorry but it has beaten Cardiff (can’t believe i am saying this). Ive not visited very many but they include most of the main UK cities, Dublin, Paris, Brussels (that was an intense one with the ongoing saga of Brexit), Las Vegas, LA, Auckland…so a few to compare with.

Why did I like it so much?

It is the freshest city I have been to, the windy city, well there strong breezes while we were there but the air is so fresh, likely to be the case as it is sat on lake Michigan ( a beauty in itself).

It was also honest and forward thinking. One of the items on our tourist tick list was a boat tour to learn more about the architecture of the city. Quite fascinating with all the different skyscraper structures. The guide was local and had incredible passion for his home area (he also had an excellent sense of humour). He talked to us about the history of the city, about the buildings, and about the river we were cruising at the time.

After the fire in October 1871 (reason unknown but the spread decimated the city) the city comissioned an architect to design a city. The brief? To design buildings that would survive, to separate business and dwelling buildings, and have green space for recreation. They still work to this now, however lots of buildings are accommodation so may not be as separate as originally planned.

It is difficult to find much about the prohibition era, which I suspect may be on purpose.

The structure of the city fascinated me, the transport was incredible. In some prts there were three levels of roads running above eachother, and there is the infamous railtrack which runs above the road. Genius, although quite noisy.

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The architecture is a highlight for this city, skyscraper heaven! We ventured up the Sears (now Willis) tower, tallest building in the city. We went to floor 103 from -2 in a lift in 60 seconds! Great or terrifying, depending on whether you like heights or not!!

From here the views were superb, and my husband was brave enough to go out on the ledge….I thought I was brave just getting to floor 103!!

As always, food is a vitally important prt of any visit for me, and boy did Chicago exceed our expectations! It shouldn’t surprise you that as well as an activity list, I had a list of foods too!!

Starting with the Chicago deep dish pizza, moving to pancakes for breakfast, I love pancakes!! Omelettes were also popular there, more used to them being a Gavin and Stacey reference now, but my Napa Valley fig omelette was soooo good!!

We also had beef on the list, bit opted against the steak, due to the price, very high. We don’t appreciate the price we can buy food for in the UK. Many places I have been, food is expensive compared to what we have here at home. To make sure we still had beef, our last night I had a short rib bolognaise and my husband had the burger. More than happy with our options, first empty plates of the break 😂.

It strikes me that in general Americans are more connected to where their food is from. Menus have images of animals next to what the produce. At the zoo, the wolves were being fed white bunny rabbits, I just cannot imagine that at home.

On Sunday morning we had tickets for a Gospel brunch at the House of Blues. The singing was amazing and the brunch was an all you eat extravaganza with re-fillable mimosas for the 2 hours we were there too! I had seen chicken and waffles on some menus but never tried it, this was my chance!! There was so much choice, waffle station, omelette station, fish, meat, salads, vegetables, pasta dishes, pastries, peach cobbler and custard!! Didn’t try everything but I can report that chicken waffles, although very tasty, are not a breakfast meal for me. Mimosas however could become a Sunday morning tradition😂.

I highly recommend a visit to Chicago, fantastic and interesting, and currently investing in the recreation part with a new riverwalk and cycle paths built and being developed further.

We did so much, it is hard to summarise, so I will leave you with some highlights, including the pumpkin lights on Navy Pier, a visit to Lincoln Park Zoo, the skyline which never got boring, some more food and a paddle in Lake Michigan…way too cold for a swim!! I hope it inspires you to take a break, and maybe travel to see something new. It has certainly done us a world of good. Thank you for reading, x.

We often say at home, we have everything in Wales but the weather, if we had the weather we wouldn’t need to go anywhere else.

Well the last two weekends, we have had lovely weather so my husband and I have made the most of it and gone out to explore what is literally on our doorstep.

We are very lucky to live where we do, 20 miles from the coast, at the foot of the Cambrian mountains, a slightly longer trip for a good shopping centre but in a 2 hour drive you could be in Cardiff, Swansea or Shrewsbury, although there are some lovely independent local shops for clothing. Neither of us drive for more than 30 minutes to get to work and we have family close by too.

Having said all this, how true is it that we don’t value what we have, we don’t appreciate what is right in front of us, simply because we see it everyday?

Over the course of 5 days we visited Cenarth Falls, Snowdonia National Park, found two new wild swimming spots, went to the beach, a street food festival, trotting races and dined out in style. All with lovely weather, so much so it has felt like we were on holiday 😁.

First stop was Cenarth, went for a drive to see the falls and went to The Three Horseshoes for a pub lunch. Lovely meal, warm welcome, so warm we stayed there to watch Wales beat England in the rugby.

Next day we decided to head North for Barmouth. Lovely sunny day although a strong wind in the coast. The sea was surprisingly warm and the view from a paddle in the sea to look inland at Snowdonia national park was just incredible. A blue flag beach, plenty of independent cafes and eateries and donkeys on the beach ❤️.

From Barmouth we drove to Porthmadog for chips and an ice-cream, then headed back to Talyllyn. I had planned to have a swim here, but my word the lake was colder than the sea so I opted for coffee and cake instead….I will return, most likely armed with a wetsuit!

In my mind, when I started to do some swimming again, I thought that other people seeing me in a Swimming costume would motivate me to be a little slimmer….but no, not motivated me at all 🙈.

The following weekend is the August bank holiday, and can you believe it the weather was superb from Friday afternoon all through the weekend? I think God (or whoever you believe in) reckons that the UK have had enough of the politics and decided to, for once, give us good weather!!

We decided to stay local, out for a meal in Friday night to The Hungry Ram at Penuwch, lovely, no fuss food. Good ingredients, good service and a stunning view from the balcony.

Saturday, Llanddewi-Brefi hosted their local trotting races for the first time in 10 years and it was a great success. I’m not into betting, nor do I pretend to understand the races but it was a great local event, good weather, food done by The Teifi Toasties company and a few ciders had by all. Events like this are vital to local communities, and it looks good for future years.

Sunday we went to #FEAST in Aberaeron, a street food festival that is held regularly. What a choice of food, locally sourced, local businesses, meat, veg, fish, ice lolly and crepes…and more!

By Monday it is safe to say we were a little tired, but continued to be tourists at home and headed up the mountain road for a swim in the Abergwesyn National Park, the river Irfon. I couldn’t believe how many people were up there, it was great fun and the water was so refreshing. What a perfect way to end a long weekend in Wales.

As it was my husbands birthday, we finished Monday with some birthday cheesecake….yummy!

You here people say there is nothing to do in the countryside, how wrong can you be???

It is back to school week now, so I hope all teachers and pupils have had a chance to enjoy the summer break. I hope that you all think about what you can do with what is available on your own doorstep.

Thank you stopping by to read ❤️

Birthday gifts (any gifts) for difficult to buy for people, possibly me in particular, where do you start?? Everybody has everything now, so it is very difficult to give a treat. I really enjoy cooking however, so Mam bought me a cookery course at Brompton cookery school, brilliant idea. It is always good to learn something new. What made it even better is my sister came with me so we had a lovely day out together.

How old were you when you made your first scotch egg? I was 38!!

I have always wanted to have a go at making them, and to those who make them well, it is simple, and I now wander why I didn’t do it sooner. The potential mess (I can make a good mess in the kitchen whilst ‘creating’), and the smell from a fryer has put me off trying these in the past, so the opportunity to make a mess in somebody else’s kitchen was quite appealing 😂.

I cook quite a bit at home, I actually find it very therapeutic. Some people may be offended by being given a cookery course, but not me, its just something I enjoy.

My sister and I had a great day learning to cook pork tenderloin, veg, and the quail scotch egg, followed by a panna cotta with lavender. We spent a few hours cooking then got to eat it all washed down nicely with a glass of prosecco (two for me actually, little sister due at the end of the year and designated driver for the day).

There isn’t a great message to this snippit, just to say go and do something you have always wanted to do, even if it is as small as making a scotch egg.

Life is too busy, we find ourselves saying. We are all busy with work, then if you have children as well, by the time you have seen family and friends, it is time to get back to the work and start it all again.

Scotch eggs could be anything you have always wanted to do, but for some reason or other, you just haven’t done…..yet.

Tonight, tomorrow, this weekend or even this month, go have fun and make your scotch egg….you won’t regret it! Xxx

Be warned….the following images may make you hungry (well if you are anything like me with food they will😂🙈)!

After a phonecall during a drive home from Birmingham one evening, I hung up and thought back. Realisation kicked in…”yes I can take the afternoon off to help” were my words, but what had I committed to? I haven’t wrapped wool for well over ten years!

Shearing day has changed quite a bit since my younger days, and I haven’t really helped out in recent years because I work full time and I am not really needed as a rule. This almost felt like a treat!

A fair few things have changed about shearing day over 30 years, its hard to know where to start, so here are 8 things that have changed, since I was 8:

1. When I was 8 (1989) having the day off school for shearing day was perfectly acceptable, how things have changed…..

2. Staff. It was a big occasion and there used to be 2 or 3 shearing, 1 or 2 catching, a ‘pitch’ person, wool wrapper and general helper. There would also be Mam and Mamgu in the kitchen keeping the refreshments going from start to finish, and me helping by rolling in the wool sacks, playing with the dogs and having a go at learning to wrap the wool. It was an event then, whereas now it is getting a job done, before getting onto the silage before the weather changes again.

3. A major shift in culture is the addition of music, there was no Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga playing in the background 30 years ago, partly because they weren’t famous then, but there definitely wasnt a radio.

4. The food has changed, still an important part of the day though. We used to start with tea and cake, out to work, then all in for a roast dinner and pudding. Once the afternoon was underway some Cornish cream ice cream in cones would appear, and the day would finish with cake and a cuppa. Now meals are lighter, but thankfully we still get the homemade cakes from Mam.

5. As an industry we often hear how our costs have gone up but returns haven’t and wool is a prime example of this. Shearing day 1989 it cost 30p to shear each sheep, now it is about £1 a sheep. The wool is worth approxinately 95p/kg now but in 1989 it was reported at 96/kg. So wool isn’t worth anymore now than in 1989 and the shearing costs are higher. Somebody told me that they had £1.18p/kg in 1984, so prices had dropped before 89.

6. Numbers have changed, in 1989 we shore 335 at home and this year we were just under 150. We have bigger ewes now but this really is a sign of the times with many farms reducing stock numbers.

7. The breed of sheep we keep has changed, in 1989 we kept a Beulah Speckled face ewe, we now keep Lleyn ewes. The Lleyn is a maternal breed which basically means she is a good mother, producing good milk for her lambs and is more prolific so more likely to have twins. We still keep a Welsh ewe on the hill, but that is another shearing day.

8. As it is a #shoes blog, its important to note that footwear has changed, the shearers wear special shoes called moccasins. These are alot less slippery than wearing boots or trainers, as the lanolin from the fleeces can make the surface they work on very greasy.

Something that hasn’t changed is the weather. In 7th June 1989, Dad has written in his diary “rained all day”this year June was so wet it was 19th June we shore the ewes at home.

The farming community is a strong community, and although the day has changed, it is still a day where people cone to the farm,you see friends and have a chance to catch up with the local news.

So much talk and press articles about the impact sheep have or don’t have on the environment, and something that is overlooked is wool. Its a natural product, its good to keep you warm and you can make it last for years, that to me is so much better for the environment than buying the cheaper synthetic materials as we do.

I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon off work to help wrap wool. I was a little nervous because the shearers are really good and I am rusty to say the least. I didn’t however, do too badly. We had 3 shearing and Mam helped with the wool wrapping while Dad filled the boxes. Mr Pugh taught me to wrap a fleece 30 years ago, and it did come back, albeit a bit slowly! It would seem that I remember skills I learnt as a youngster better than the ones I learn now 🙈. Hopefully I did a good enough job to be invited back again next year!

It wasn’t just me who enjoyed the day, smiles all round, the dogs (Belle and Taff) love it too 😀

Below is a very quick clip of shearing

This is the last stage of the process when we close the wool sacks up with pegs, ready for the lorry then.

So that is all done for another year, thank you for stopping by to read my post. Feedback and questions welcomed as always. X

I had been looking forward to attending this conference since I booked it. Temple Grandin was the headline speaker and I am quite a fan of hers, a fascinating woman. As we neared the date of the event it was announced that HRH Princess Royal was going to attend as well, excited doesn’t really cover it!

So with 3 other colleagues I travelled to London on Monday, had a nice meal and a catch up, then early to bed ready for the main event.

It has been a bit of a ‘moment’ for me really Meat Business Women, an ongoing moment if there is such a thing. I have been to previous events of theirs, and I support it as it is a networking group that was desperately needed in the meat industry.

This morning I was up early, emails etc done and even a 30 minute beachbody on demand yoga session completed, which was quite an achievement in. Premier Inn Hub room. Flat white in hand (get me, living the city life) and off we went to the conference.

I am still going through the day in my head, there was so much useful content I couldn’t do it justice just by social media posts. A day like today would have taken serious planning and negotiating effort by the MBW committee, and I am so grateful that they did it.

Today was full inspiration and information, and it has given a serious amount of food for thought.

Temple Grandin is a visual thinker and understands how animals see differently. Animals think in pictures and not words and this allows Temple to be a complete specialist in her work with animal behaviour and welfare. I was very fortunate to see a cattle handling system she had designed near Colorado a few years ago.

She was a strong advocate of not allowing bad to become normal, and of just getting things done. Now these seem like simple things to do but we are all guilty of letting others get away with things, it can be hard to stand up for what is right sometimes.

I really liked her point of just go and do it, too often we talk and plan, but to really find out we have to do it. Perhaps she should speak to our political representatives and get that point across.

A legend in my eyes and an honour to hear her speak.

We had many other speakers throughout the day, one other highlight for me was Teresa Exelby from Morrisons. I met Teresa very briefly the night before the talk and enjoyed our conversation, but when I heard her on stage, well wow! What a speaker, she was incredibly inspirational, because she was so real. Something I took from her talk was to be my best, don’t settle if I want to improve further, and to set my own targets, wise words in the crazy work worlds we are all in.

Nobody wants to read this for too long so although we had other excellent speakers covering international trade, the value of a mentor and veterinary talks, I simply can’t put everything in so have focussed on my personal highlights.

The day was closed by HRH Princess Anne. I had heard her speak at the Oxford Farming Conference in January so I knew she was a straight talker. One topic she covered was food waste, how we have too much choice. Which we maybe don’t realise because we are used to it, so we don’t value it or respect it. When we think about what humans really need in life, it can all seem a bit ridiculous.

HRH is known to be a supporter of agriculture and it was fantastic to have her speak to a room of women from the meat industry.

HRH had some wise words to share, a very down to earth talk and a lovely finish for the MBW team as she congratulated the room for coming so far and wished us all well as she was interested in what we can do in the future.

I attend a fair few conferences over the year and they vary, I mainly attend to gain information, Im not good at networking but do do it sometimes. This conference was full of useful information but I left with other take aways as well.

I have networked and not even realised, and although it is a good few weeks since I left room, I still feel inspired from the day, and excited about the future of our meat industry here in UK.

Well done to MBW team for this conference, one that will stay in the mind for some time 👍👌🏻👏👏

Since I have started this blog, and the instagram account to run with it, I have had some realisation. I have always thought I eat well, and what I mean by that is that I eat good food. I eat too much but I don’t eat lots of chocolate,crisps, processed food or junk food in general. I sound so self righteous saying that but it is true. I just eat too much of everything.

Looking back through my instagram posts, and hearing from friends about the food envy, I realise that I eat way way way too much! A horrid thing to realise but I feel as though I have pushed through the denial now and I hope I will get myself back into shape.

Exercise is key, I know, and the fittest and most toned I have even been was when I was doing tug of war. Id hoped to get back to it this year, but my work means I travel a lot so I cannot commit to a team as I will miss too much training. To resolve this I am now app happy! I have downloaded the beachbody app (I have high aspirations😂) from the insanity website. I have even done a few work outs and enjoyed them 👏💪.

Food, I need to eat less energy than I use. Easy?? It sounds it but I really do love food….as I may have mentioned before!

I am quite laid back, I need a motivating factor, and often struggle to have this in mind, so I am open to suggestions, cmon, send ideas my way! I don’t aim to look like anybody famous, and I am a true believer of the person on the inside being more important than the skin/bodies we are in- but I think this is part of the problem, I am too accepting. I know I am too fat for me now, but I know how much amazing food got me here, so I almost accept the weight gain because I had such an amazing time getting here!

So the challenge is set, I need an end goal to accompany it….I am 40 in two years (minus a couple of weeks) and a girls get away is on the cards so that is a long term goal. Short term I’m not sure of yet.

I have tried a good few weight loss programmes in the past, weight watchers (worked the first time round and then I got bored), slimming world (made me fatter), herbal life (worst thing I ever did, convinced it gave me a sugar addiction) and Joe Wicks. Joe Wicks worked for better fitness and shape but no weight loss at all, which I know isn’t everything but it is something and it counts to me.

Zoe Harcombe has written a couple of books about better eating, and I am going to just try that. It isn’t rocket science, in fact it is common sense so why don’t we do it? Temptations!!!

Wish me luck, I will let you know how it goes but am loathe to become a diet obsessed person (highly unlikely mind🙈😂).

Thanks for reading, catch up again soon xxx