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I’ve got a ticket to Ryde….

Posted in around the UK, cities and towns of the UK, Fun Stuff, Health, It's my life, seaside towns of Britain, walks around the UK, tagged blogging, camino 2017 practice walks, map my walk, ryde on the idle of wight, Travel, visit the isle of wight, visiting islands of the uk, walking britain on January 11, 2017| 1 Comment »

I can’t tell you how delighted I was to get the call from my agency asking if I was interested in taking on a job on the Isle of Wight!!! Was I ever!! Yes, for sure. It’s on my list of plans for 2017; 2 islands to visit this year, so definitely. As well as which it’s one of the places I’ve always wanted to visit but never seemed to get this far….I’ve been to Portsmouth a number of times but never got to the ferry. So here I am, in Ryde! On the Isle of Wight.

the Isle of Wight

Just a 10 minute journey by ferry, catamaran or hovercraft from Portsmouth Harbour or Portsmouth Southsea and you’re here. Easy peasy 😉 I imagine the scenery crossing The Solent during the day would be marvellous.

After arrival at Ryde Pier Head, I set off at a brisk pace along the pier…keen to experience what is an early 19th century pier (built before Victoria came to the throne) and the world’s oldest seaside pleasure pier; opened 26 July 1814. Within 6 minutes I was in the town of Ryde……I’ve got a ticket to Ryde 😉 Surprised to find quite such a large town, to my relief the B&B where I was to stay was a short walk from the esplanade.

Ryde Pier

Welcomed at the Kasbah by Josh, I was shown up to my room. Hallelujah I had a beautiful double bed room off the main road. Very comfortable and cosy, the room was beautifully decorated with a small ensuite, a t.v. and a kettle with accessories. A cup of tea was immediately brewed 🙂

The Kasbah B&B in Ryde, Isle of Wight

I rested awhile having my tea and then, since it was still relatively early…just on 19:40 in fact, I decided to have a bit of an explore….despite that it was already pitch dark. I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!! LOL I meandered along to the esplanade and never one to be having a short walk….I ended up walking the length of the esplanade all the way to Appley Tower – 4.66 kms with 7250 steps there and back.

Ryde Esplanade and scenes at night

Hah! It was quite chilly, but not unpleasant, a few dog-walkers, evening strollers and joggers about and at no time did I feel unsafe. I passed the train station, the hover-craft platform, the tiny harbour and a row of shops and lovely old houses. All along the way I could see and hear the sea slapping up again the rocks…I love the sounds of the sea.

Appley Tower – built in 1875 by Sir William Hutt

The Appley Tower, a coastal folly built in 1875 by one, Sir William Hutt, is also referred to as the Watch Tower. It’s awesome. Thanks mate…we love your folly.

By now there was not a soul in sight, I was on my own. On my way back I passed by the pond in Appley Park and a swimming pool that looked so inviting. Wish I had my swim costume. Oh well, if I ever come back this way…

Appley Park pond and the swimming pool

Then it was back to the B&B for the night….work due to start on Monday.

I had a brilliant sleep, very comfortable bed and before the sun was even up I was out and onto the esplanade. A beautiful day for walking, again I saw a few people about, but by golly nothing at all like London where you can barely move for people.

I had a marvellous 45 minute walk all the way to the edge of Seaview where I caught the last of the sunrise. I had left it a tad late after all to get going. Then a brisk walk back to the B&B for breakfast.

visit the isle of wight, sunrise in ryde

sunrise in Ryde, Isle of Wight

On the way I stopped off at the hovercraft station to watch one of them come in to land. wow, fascinating and loud! I’m so going to take an opportunity one day while I’m here to cross The Solent to Portsmouth Southsea. The Isle of Wight Hovercraft is the last remaining commercial hovercraft service in the world.

Isle of Wight Hover Craft

I was well impressed with my ‘mileage’, and so enjoyed all the sights and sounds. Total 6.2kms and 9905 steps. At this rate I’m definitely achieving the desired 10,000 steps per day for good health 😉 and of course getting myself fitter for the Camino!

From what I’ve seen of Ryde so far; the esplanade and parks, it’s a really pretty place with fantastic views across The Solent towards Portsmouth in England – in fact I can see The Spinnaker in Portsmouth from the seafront and also from Seaview.

The Spinnaker in Portsmouth – across The Solent from Ryde, Isle of Wight

Watching all the shipping traffic is fascinating…..lends an exotic air to the place…ships from the far-flung corners of the earth….I think I quite like Ryde 🙂

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Weddings, walks and travelling!

Posted in around the UK, cities and towns of the UK, It's my life, seaside towns of Britain, walks around the UK, tagged blogging, from one isle to another, goals plans and resolutions, isle of thanet, not just a granny travels, sunrise in viking bay, Travel, travel in britain, visit the isle of wight, wedding planning on January 10, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Well yes, here I am 10 days into 2017 and already my plan to blog more frequently has fallen by the wayside. I do have a reason….of course there are always reasons……

For one thing I have been very involved with wedding planning with my daughter. 🙂 ❤ After the excitement of their engagement in December, of course wedding plans have to start being made. So we have spent ages looking at stuff on pinterest (where else?) and pinning ideas. We also went wedding dress shopping on Saturday last which was very emotional and quite frankly she looked stunning; just like a Princess. The very first dress she tried on was perfect in every way….even after trying on the other 8 dresses she had selected…the first one was THE DRESS!!!! 🙂 Much excitement abounded and I immediately put down a deposit and bought the tiara. After that we retired for a Cream Tea at the Walpole Bay Hotel (where else 😉 ) one of our favourite venues.

wedding dress shopping…so much fun

Other than that I have been walking a lot in preparation for my planned Camino walk. I suspect though that life is once again going to get in the way of this…but I’m not going to let that sneaky thought into my thoughts. LOL I’ll just keep focusing on actually doing the walk and then hold thumbs.

Talking of walking, I’ve managed quite a few delicious walks; from Broadstairs to Ramsgate and saw a few awesome sunsets.

Stunning sunsets and Camino practice walks on the Isle of Thanet

Of course my morning excursions to watch the sunrise are well and truly motivating. What a privilege to watch the sun rise. Most mornings I can see tiny little figures on the beach of other people also out to watch. Some days are just spectacular! Joy!

some of the stunning 2017 sunrises over Viking Bay, Isle of Thanet

I have a new job that started yesterday on the Isle of Wight, which in itself is on my list of things to achieve this year…so one island down…..one to go (for 2017). When you have a list of 100 islands to visit and you’ve only managed 30 or so, I’m guessing I’ll have to plan a few more each year….2 a year won’t cut it…I won’t live that long…but then again I might LOL.

Ryde and a visit to the isle of Wight….1 island down, 1 to go for 2017

However on the not so plus side apparently there is very little by way of internet signal in the area where I’ll be working so that may put a spanner in my blogging works. I’ll have to wait and to see how it goes…..(apparently there is wi-fi installed especially for the carers so hopefully……!!! hooray!)

I arrived on the Isle on Sunday….travelled by train to London, got there well early so took myself on a mini adventure from Waterloo Station to the Southbank to say hello to my favourite clock…..a dank dark day it was so the photo isn’t much good but at least I got to see our Ben before he gets covered over with cladding prior to repairs and restoration.

a mini-adventure to see the Thames and my favourite clock…..Big Ben…I see you!

Every time I go into London some building or other is gone and new buildings are rising in their place!!!

Then it was onto the train to Portsmouth Harbour. We were delayed by 11 minutes due to a trespasser on the track at the approach to Guildford, so when we arrived at Portsmouth it was lickety split and a quick dash for the ferry which I made with literally 2 minutes to spare. What fun to be travelling on a ferry from the mainland to the island….sounds quite exotic and fun! Unfortunately it was very dark by then so I couldn’t see anything.

But never no mind….tomorrow would bring it’s surprises and delights! Hello Ryde…Isle of Wight! Hooray 🙂

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Goals, Plans, Intentions and Resolutions

Posted in around the UK, family and relationships, Fun Stuff, It's my life, Personal Development, photography, Travel, walks around the UK, tagged blogging, Camino de Santiago, goals plans intentions and resolutions, Inspiration, making plans vs setting goals, New Years Resolutions, photography, Travel, walk from broadstairs to ramsgate, walks along the english coast, walks of britain, writing on January 1, 2017| Leave a Comment »

It’s normal at this time of the year to think about and consider what, if any, resolutions you may want to make. Hundreds of articles are written each year on the ‘how to’, ‘ the why’, ‘the when’ etc etc, only for many of them to fall by the wayside when real life takes over.

Personally I stopped making resolutions decades ago (urgh, that word ‘decades’ ages me LOL). I seldom kept to them. I am a procrastinator, something I’ve recently named and shamed, and my philosophy in life has always been ‘if it can be done tomorrow….’ And so my resolutions usually fell by the wayside. I’m also fairly lazy…especially if my resolution doesn’t match my values. Ergo…..the “I want to lose weight” resolution simply doesn’t work well if you love food! And chocolate. And cake. And ice-cream. And Vogels bread with latherings of butter and Robertson’s Lime jelly…….and so on and so on; you get my drift. So I’ve pretty much given up on making any resolutions that have anything to do with dieting – besides being unhealthy for my psyche, as soon as I decide to cut something out…I start to crave it.

So no, resolutions don’t work for me. Goals….hmmm, there are so many goals I would like to set and I went through a stage of trying to learn how to set goals but I find it incredibly difficult to make a goal only for my circumstances to change and the goal disappears (my personal development journey that didn’t work too well for me…) and so we get down to plans and intentions.

Plans I can do!! I love lists. I love spreadsheets. So plans I can do. I find it a thrill to make plans to do something. It’s like Dr John Demartini says “find someone’s highest values and they will be more likely to succeed”.

quote# “Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising, which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.’’ Ralph Waldo Emerson – Poet and Essayist

So what are my plans and intentions for 2017?

To walk more – dead easy…I love walking. I would walk for miles every day if I could.
To travel more – I love travelling. The thrill of going somewhere new. Visiting a new place for me is like discovering a closed door….open the door and all manner of delights await.
I intend to spend more quality time with my daughter. Again this is just so easy!! I will be moving to new accommodation at the end of January, so we will be able to plan to get together 🙂
To start saving for my daughter’s 2018 June wedding – I intend to work a few extra days each month to achieve this.
To visit at least 2 islands I haven’t been to yet.
To visit at least 4 new cities in England – I can ask the agency to send me to different locations and while I’m there I can explore the area.
To visit my brother and his family in Budapest.
To improve my photographs and learn more about what makes a great photo. I love taking photos…in fact I take way too many, but I enjoy keeping a record of where I was when and photographing everything I see 😉
To explore healthier options in the food line. While I was working at my last job I discovered the joy of experimenting with recipes. This however could lead to a bit of a challenge…..if there’s more than 3 ingredients…I get bored. hahaha. Also many of my clients prefer plain simple English cooking….
To read more books. To that end I’ve listed a few books on my Amazon wish list that I plan to buy.
To reduce my debt. This is still a very sore point with me. Thanks to the personal development journey in 2007/2008, and the said guru’s advice on OPM I am still struggling to pay off my debt. But I’ve reduced it from £50k in 2008 to just over £15k in 2017. eish. 10 years on. Anyway that issue still irks me so best to leave it alone. Suffice to say, I am slowly getting there…paying the credit cards off while still having a life.
And the biggie for me this year…..to walk the Camino de Santiago. I had planned to walk the Portuguese route last year in September, but the UK Customs & Excise taxes on my SA shipment put paid to that. New Year = New Intention!!
To see more sunrises or sunsets…depending on where I am in the world. “The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” Eden Phillpots
To blog more often……hence this blog 😉
To walk the Worcestershire Way.
To book to watch the 2018 London fireworks….they are amazing.
Happy New Year 2017 – London

Where and when to start? Needless to say the easiest plan to start with is the walking. It is my intention to walk the Camino this year. To do that I must at least have achieved a certain level of fitness to make the walk pleasant….I do not want blisters and sore feet!

So with that in mind, and despite it being a perfectly vile day; wet and cold and windy….typical New Year’s Day weather in the UK, I set off on the first of my intentions; to walk more. Bundled up in my winter woollies and raincoat I set off along the coast and walked to just past Dumpton Gap and back – 1 hour; 5.1 kms; 7282 steps; yes!!!

goals, plans, intentions and resolutions

New Year’s Day – Camino practice walk

Happy New Year folks…..I’d love to hear what your Plans, Goals, Intentions and Resolutions might be….

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Hello!!! Universe…..

Posted in around the UK, family and relationships, Fun Stuff, Historical, Holidays, idiot category, It's my life, lifestyle, news from around the world, Travel, wealth and finance, tagged blogging, dream job, photography, travel around the world, tweeting, Universe, VW Campervan 1955 on September 23, 2010| 8 Comments »

a vintage model.....1955 VW Campervan

Ok, so a couple of days ago I posted a blog and therein made mention that currently I am working at my ‘day job’ not my ‘dream job’. So what is my dream job? This has been incredibly difficult to pin down….until I came to live in the UK…..

When I was just 17 years old (lordy but that does seem like such a long time ago)….I wanted to be a Nursery School Teacher (I loved little children and babies…still do)…. but my Mother said NO! you go get an office job, you will earn more money! (and what Mother said…you did). So I did, and she was right. But was I happy….NO! I hated working in an office, but as the years went by and I progressed from being a typist who could not type… (the guy gave me a job coz I burst into tears in his office and told him my Mother had said I should not come home till I had a job, and it was 4pm by then)…. to being a Credit Manager; managing a staff contingent of 10 for a group of 5 Companies…. this took the best part of 30 years by the way. In between there were many positions, not just a few companies, and a whole lot of crappy bosses 😦

However, along the way I learned to enjoy working in an office and to love what I did….phoning people and asking for money. Just a shame it wasn’t for myself 🙂

Anyways, when I arrived in the UK, which was by default; I came on holiday and never went back (well only briefly to get my Ancestral visa) and I have never looked back…..quite literally – no looking in the rear-view mirror. So when I first arrived in the UK, what was the job I applied for…..? Why of course…. I applied to be a Nanny :). However as fate would have it…. I did not have current experience DUH! and I did not have an NVQ in child management… double DUH!! So that idea was scotched and went out the window, and anyhow by all accounts being a Nanny in the UK is akin to being one up from a slave. Not to be deterred I continued to look for a ‘job’ and again by default managed to find a position as a Care Assistant for the Elderly….which I initially hated and then without warning I found that I actually enjoyed it and so I have and have been for the last 8.5 years (except for a 1 year stint in an offfice which nearly drove me to the brink of a nervous breakdown!).

So here I am….. working as a Carer…..but is this my dream job? Nope!

Since living in the UK I have developed a passion for travelling. This came as quite a surprise to me since I had never really thought about actually travelling around the world. Sure I had the odd dream about going to the Maldives (not got there yet) or visiting Venice (been there 🙂 ), going to Paris (been there 🙂 ) and New York (been there 🙂 ). But besides the odd daydream it was certainly never something I seriously considered I would actually get to do.

Till now! So UNIVERSE, here is what my DREAM JOB would be…… to travel first around the UK (coz it is so fantastically gorgeous) then round Europe and then the US of A, and then if I am still alive and able to….spread my wings further afield. (ooh that has a double meaning!) LOL. I would however like to spend at least 4 months a year in London!

So here is my message to the Universe….hello!!!! : My ‘DREAM JOB’ is to travel around the world in VW Campervan that has ‘NotJustaGranny’ with the funky logo emblazoned on the sides…. taking photos of everywhere I go, blogging about the places I am visiting and tweeting! and getting PAID to do it! I would quite enjoy writing a book too…if that’s ok with you.

So dear Universe, if perchance you are actually listening, as the Guru’s in the Personal Development world maintain that you do…. Hello!!!!

Oh, and just a little p.s. The Guru’s say that when you ‘state’ what it is you want, you have to be specific; so just that there is no confusion about this…..

the VW Campervan should be a 1955 model (nothing but vintage is good enough for me)… you know what I mean 😉

It should be yellow with white trimmings (yellow is my favourite colour)

It should have 2 beds at least….1 for me (of course, and one for my daughter to join me from time to time, or for a friend to come along occassionally…and also for when my grandchildren arrive…have to have enough space for them to travel with me)

It should be fully re-furbished and reliable; preferrably with modern accessories and equipment…like an up-to-date engine. 1955 is all very well but it is a bit long in the tooth!

It should be modified to be eco-friendly….no fumes please.

I would appreciate it if there is enough space for my laptop and camera equipment (oh and I would need sockets for the chargers).

Don’t worry too much about wardrobe space….I don’t have much clothing… LOL

and it would be awesome if it had a lift-up roof-top for air circulation

oh, and a tent attachment would be brilliant for when I am stopped alongside a lake somewhere in the UK or Europe or the US of A, so that I can sit outside and enjoy the scenery and the night stars while I sip a sherry (or two).

If you need any further specifications….contact me via this blog and I will be happy to give you more details.

and just a final p.s.s. (sorry to be so picky, but…) when I talk about being paid to do this…I am happy to earn the money….. but please note that I would require at least £5,000 per month. For travel expenses and so on. ta

by the way….this is a 1955 model (the one on the right) please be sure to send a yellow one 🙂

1955 VW Campervan

and just in case you are wondering….. I put the picture twice so that you are clear on what it is I am looking for!

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Why you should Blog before you Twitter

Posted in Inspiration, It's my life, Personal Development, Uncategorized, tagged #ff, #followfriday, @chrisbrogan, @jeffbullas, @marismith, @mashable, @sethgodin, bit.ly, blogging, facebook vs blogging, hootsuite, http://jeffbullas.com/2009/10/22/20-reasons-why-you-should-blog-before-you-twitter/, hubspot, jeff bullas, social media, socialoomph, squidoo, the power of social media, tweetdeck, Twitter, wordpress on July 12, 2010| 4 Comments »

14. Everyone on Twitter is looking for the next big thing or most interesting piece of content to link to. Wouldn’t you rather be the big thing than merely another person pointing at it? – via @jeffbullas

I have enjoyed and toyed with Twitter since I first signed up in December 2008, not expecting the journey to be so much fun and so transformational.

For the first few months I sent the occasional tweet, connected with a few friends and watched the stream pass by, at the time I often said “I don’t know what to say”.

Then suddenly I started to really get into the swing of things, connecting with people from around the world, enjoying ‘chat’s, being as inventive as I could with my 140 character ‘tweets’. I learned about #ff aka #followfriday, #traveltuesday and about #trending topics.

I spent hours following links and reading about places and finding out things I never knew existed. In fact I have since become quite addicted….I could seriously live on twitter; all day! I often tell my daughter I was born to twitter! 🙂 and along the way I have ‘met’ some wonderful people, and consider them great online friends.

In March 2009 I started this blog inspired by the content, search engine optimisation, social media inspiration and evangelism provided by Hubspot. I already had a blog which I started in November 2008, where I wrote about my travels and things that inspired me, although since starting this blog I have been very slack about keeping it up to date.

I then waded in a bit deeper and started to use tools and apps like TweetDeck and Bit.ly, Social Oomph, Hootsuite and Ping.fm to integrate with Twitter. I started to follow the ‘experts’, reading as much as possible on what they call Social Media.

I have since become quite the ‘geek’ as my daughter puts it and have my favourites to follow eg @jeffbullas @chrisbrogan @mashable @marismith (facebook expert) and @sethgodin (squidoo & tribes) amongst others. I have learned so much that my brain bursts with info; info that pops out from time to time and amazes me that I know that stuff 🙂

One of my favourite tweeters/bloggers to follow is @jeffbullas and I have gained invaluable knowledge from reading his posts, some of which are incredibly funny. His blog posts are informative, useful and educational. I read voraciously. He also advocates the blog before twitter aspect of social media, so of course…I listened to the teacher….

…and have subsequently become quite the blogger. I now have 5 blogs, some more active than others, and 6 twitter accounts. I also run 3 facebook accounts! How bizarre! Consider this: 10 years ago it was all I could do to send an email, and now just over 18 months later……..

I guess I have learned my lessons well; today to my absolute delight, I was asked by an online community in Richmond if they could feature my latest blog on Twickenham!! Thanks to all my teachers.

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