Half-Term

Carol has been on Half-Term this week. After the awful day we had last Saturday (not going to mention it any more. Just read the previous blog post.) it's as well we could go out to find something nice to take our mind of things. On Saturday we went to Stowe Landscape Garden to have something to eat in the restaurant. It was quite a pleasant day, so that made things better. We didn't walk to the actual gardens as it's quite a way. It seemed quite busy there, no doubt because it was the beginning of the holiday period. We had soup and some really nice crusty bread. It's good that we have our National Trust membership so we could get in without paying. You can always rely on there to be decent food in their restaurants and we haven't been in this restaurant since it opened a couple of years ago. A vast improvement on the temporary building which used to house the café when it was on the opposite side of the gardens. There's a new carpark and visitor centre at Stowe.  On Monday Morning we went swimming at Nuffield. The place wasn't busy which makes a change, no surprise I suppose as most other members would be at work. One of the advantages of being either on holiday or retired. On Tuesday we went to Whipsnade and our efforts were rewarded as we saw the red pandas which don't generally come out of hiding. Very rare to see them. Walked a long way so we did at least get some exercise. We visited the central shopping centre in Milton Keynes on Wednesday and I wanted to show Carol the DAB radio/CD player I wanted to buy her as a birthday present in John Lewis. Not sure whether to buy it, but on Friday we went to Kettering as Carol wanted to visit a shop which specialises in dolls houses. Not the sort of place you'd choose to visit. It's very run down with many empty shop units. Seems the fate of so many towns and cities currently. We drove back to Milton Keynes and went to Sainsbury's. We had a look at DAB radio/CD players in the electronics section of the store and found a rather nice Blaupunkt model which suited our purposes. Cost £100 which was cheaper than the Pure model we saw in John Lewis and decided to buy it and used up the Nectar points we've been saving for a long time. This model has more functions than the Pure model, and once we got it functioning in the bedroom found it to be more than adequate. Not only does it have DAB radio and FM stations and the CD function, but you can charge your mobile from it and it connects with other devices which have the added facility of Bluetooth so you can play music from your tablet device or smart phone which makes things even more flexible. Went to Nuffield again on Friday. Certainly getting our money's worth from our membership. I did over 20 lengths of the pool which is great. I have to say it's having a real benefit towards my health and well-being. It's a far deeper pool than D.W. as well as having a sauna as well as a steamroom  and spa.

Swimming and Trimming

When we went to Ilfracombe in August we stayed at a John Fowler holiday park. There was a swimming pool within the site and we could use it with no extra charge. I generally love swimming. In fact, it was one thing I did actually enjoy when I was at Rushmoor School. I learnt to swim there. We weren't allowed on my father's boats until we children could swim which seemed a good enough reason to learn. I believe that all children should be taught as you never know when you are likely to need to save yourself from drowning. I used to go swimming regularly at one time every Sunday morning at the Robinson Pool in Bedford. I hadn't swum since I had my heart attack in 2006 so when I went to the pool on holiday I was somewhat wary of actually getting in the water and what sort of stress it would put on my heart. I need not have worried. Although not a particularly strong swimmer I can do quite a few lengths of the pool without any sort of discomfort from angina. I find that if I take one of my isoborbide mononitrate tablets before I go it does prevent any sort of angina attacks. Since I was prescribed this medication I haven't really experienced a great deal of angina discomfort. 

When we came back from holiday both myself and Carol decided that we wanted to keep the swimming routine going and wanted to join a gym in Milton Keynes which has a swimming pool. After doing a certain amount of research we decided to visit a fairly recently opened gym, D.W. Fitness, which is located within the grounds of Milton Keynes football stadium. We had a tour of the premises and then had a free session. There is not only the usual gym factilities within the gym but a very well-appointed swimming pool which also has two spa-pools (Jacuzzis), hot room and even tanning rooms (which we don't intend using, but it's great to have all of this at no extra charge.) As I am over 60 I get quite a reasonable discount and Carol gets a discount being a member of N.A.S.U.W.T., the teaching union. We try to go for a swim at least twice a week, although we didn't go at all for around a month when we had really bad coughs and bronchitis.

On Saturday we went to D.W. Fitness as the gym opened at 8. a.m. It was very pleasant to have the place virtually to ourselves and then to just sit in the spa pool and chill out. We hadn't tried the hot room so we decided to give it ago on Saturday. We didn't spend too much time in there. It was very hot and steamy (!) but I think it would be a good place to go if you have a cold or even any sort of health problem as you would certainly sweat out any impurities. I have been building up my stamina and have managed around 15-20 lengths of the pool but having lost some time not swimming due to the coughs and bronchitis this has had to be built up gradually again from doing only about 10 lengths.

We are getting the benefit of this exercise and I'm sleeping better. In fact, on Saturday I slept on the bed for round an hour as I was so chilled out by 2 o'clock. Also, I feel more invigorated and have lost some of my tummy as a result. We want to buy two bicycles later in the year so we can add cycling to our exercise routine. As Milton Keynes has such an excellent network of cycle-ways (Redways) there is absolutely no excuse to not ride around the city on bicycles. You have no need to use any of the roads and you can pass under, or over, the grid roads instead of actually getting off your bicycle.