Frost Fair 2019

This past Saturday was a cold and blustery day. Something we've had many of. Thankfully it wasn't one of the wet ones we've also had a lot of lately though, since it was the day of this year's Frost Fair, which is the event that kicks off all the Christmas/Winter celebration stuff in our town.

It happens really close to us. In fact, the parade passes not far from us (for some reason they no longer just go along the seafront when they're doing parades for our local events, so we can't watch from the window so easily any more). But I didn't go to it, because the parade involves drums, and Lilie still gets a bit freaked out by those. She's not so bad if she's up in one of our arms. But it would have been tough for Kelly to use the camera while holding her, and tough for me to keep an excited Logan under control while holding her. So Kelly went alone to get me a few photos to share with you all, as well as a couple of videos we could all enjoy (me with headphones, because of Lilie). I could just about hear it over Logan's excited barking from home, while cuddling Lilie to comfort her, but only just. Thankfully, I got to hear it better with the clips Kelly got.

Anyway, here are the photos:

And here are those video clips:

Random Ramblings - July 30th 2019 Edition

I haven't actually done a proper Tuesday post in a couple of weeks, because I wanted to do that tag I found, and put up the A-Z challenge post too. So this is going to be a post to catch you up on the random goings on from the past few weeks, not necessarily in order.

This post is a relatively long one, so you might want to grab a drink, and maybe a snack too... If you don't already have those things on hand, that is. I'll wait. Just come back and continue reading from this point when you're ready. *wink*

***~~~***

Happiness is a warm puppy.
~Charles M. Schulz

I saw that quote on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. At the time, I had a puppy curled up against each foot, and the first thing I thought when I read that was, "Yeah... And I've got two of them, so that's twice as much happiness."

We won't talk about the times I can see why people say having dogs is like having toddlers, and I understand why some parents - especially those with two or more children - are always so glad when bed time comes. *wink*

We also won't talk about the nights when they really don't want to settle, and I find myself still awake at 2:00am trying everything in an attempt to get them to sleep, which naturally happens most on days when I need to be up early for some reason.

No. Those times don't happen a lot. But, as I said on Facebook recently, if you ever doubt the saying that having dogs is like having toddlers, you should try having mine for a while, especially during the last half an hour or so before bed time. Tired puppies and tired toddlers are both handfuls. I know it's true of toddlers from my times babysitting, and I'm sure you can guess how I know it's true of puppies. I don't mind though. Not really. I love my pups just the way they are. Even if there are times when I'm glad for the arrival of nap time, or when the only clear thought in my exhausted head is, "Please go to sleep, because then I can."

***~~~***

We took Logan to Oscars for his first ever outing. We wanted to show him to them, and thought combining his outing with lunch out would give him a positive association for his first walk, since he's extremely food motivated. I'm glad we did, because he definitely needed a positive association... Poor thing was so scared that he just sat down and cried every time I put him on the ground at first, and it took most of the time we were out to get him to even consider actually walking. We've taken him there since, as well as for other walks, and he's improving. He's still a bit unsure of how this walkies thing works, but he's getting there. At least he'll now walk some when he's put down on the ground, rather than just sitting on the spot I put him on and crying, and only whines a little from time to time (and that's mostly when he starts getting tired). He's even climbed a few of our stairs, though he's only tried going up so far, and hasn't attempted to get himself down them yet (he just waits at the top crying until I come rescue him). He sure tires quickly though... Quicker than Lilie and Kero did at his age... But I think it's the difference in the breed, since Westie's are a hardier breed. It's fine though. When I know he's getting tired, I just keep him in my arms, and he happily watches the world go by, and enjoys the feel of the ocean breeze in his fur.

Anyway, they loved getting to meet Logan at Oscars, as I knew they would. They adore Lilie too. We always have people wanting to come say hi to Lilie whenever we're out and about - which is just fine by her - and now we have two dogs everyone wants to greet. At one point I had someone come over and start petting them, and the person suddenly thought about the fact she hadn't asked if I minded her doing so, and said, "I'm sorry madam, but they're just so cute!" We get a lot of that.

***~~~***

We missed checking out Hastings Pirate Day this year. It was by choice though, and wasn't because of the weather.

We've had a lot of hot weather. This time last week, for example, it was in the high 20s... It got up to 28 degrees C last Tuesday late afternoon, and didn't cool down much that night. It was even hotter on Thursday, and actually reached temperatures above 30 degrees C (I'm told it got up to 34 degrees C here, though thankfully was sleeping during that part of the day). Bearing in mind, those temperatures are the temperatures outside, and our place usually runs a couple of degrees hotter. But, anyway, though we've had some hot days - too many of them, if you ask me - we've also had cooler days, and days somewhere in the middle. We've had some Summer rain showers, and storms of various strengths too.

The Sunday of Hastings Pirate Day was one of the days where it was warm and dry, but not hot. So it would have been a perfect day to be out there enjoying the pirate day events, both from our point of view, and the dogs'. I'm sure those who did go were glad the weather was so perfect.

But Hastings Pirate Day happened two days after Logan's first walk, and we thought it would be too much for him, given how quickly he gets tired, and how confusing the lead concept seems to be to him. Not to mention, the fact just a few people along the seafront on a Friday afternoon was enough to have him frightened, so the huge crowds we get for the pirate day events would be too much so soon. I mean, Hastings currently holds the world record for the most people dressed as pirates in one place, and the numbers listed for the record only include registered pirates, and not the people who come to the area for the events but don't dress up and register themselves. We stay on the edge of the crowds when possible, but even that can be a bit overwhealming at times. Logan is definitely not ready for that. So we skipped it for his sake this year. He should be able to face the crowds better by next year, so hopefully we can all go to at least some of the pirate events next year. It would be too much for even Lilie to do all of it, so we wouldn't even try. Actually, we never tried to go to more than part of the events, even when we were without dogs... There's too much going on to do it all without exhausting yourself. I do hope we can go to part of it next year though, like we've done most years since we moved down here.

We did all go out for a while that day, of course. But not to the pirate events. We just went to enjoy the part of the beach near home for a little while, and then headed back home. We waited until early evening though, so there weren't so many people out and about. We aren't right by where this year's pirate themed events were happening, but we're close enough that there were a lot of people out there during the afternoon. So we waited for the crowds to thin a little before taking the dogs out there.

***~~~***

I worry about the furkids when it get's really hot. Especially Mollie and the dogs, since Joshua handles heat better than the others. Mollie in particular suffers badly on hot days. I did what I could though, and everyone made it through.

One of the things we did was to try setting up some wet towels for the dogs to nap on. It was an idea Kelly had seen on social media, and we thought it was a good one,, so figured we'd try it out. Lilie agreed it was a great idea, and did nap with part of herself on her towel. Logan, however, was having none of it. He's not a fan of getting wet, and didn't think the cooling benifits were a good enough reason to get wet. So he found himself a different napping spot out of the sun... At least he was in a shady spot.

***~~~***

At the end of last week we had an awesome storm, which I think would be classed as a tropical storm. It's what I'm calling it anyhow. It showed up around dinner time on Thursday, and was still going on - though not so violently - through most of Friday and Saturday. There was a lot of rain, and a fair amount of thunder and lightning. Unfortunately, it didn't cool things down much. At least, not until Saturday evening, and even then it was only enough to put temperatures in the comfortable to me range (like 18 degrees C). That's why I think it would be considered a tropical storm: the heat and humidity.

Anyway, I was worried about how Logan would react to it, but either the heat had him too tired to care as much as usual, or Lilie and I are doing a great job of convincing him storms aren't scary. I'm not sure which. Either way, he got a bit agitated initially, but didn't require more than being able to stay close to me and Lilie throughout the night, which was easy enough to arrange, especially from my point of view. He wasn't even bothered about it any more by the time we were dealing with the milder storms of Friday and Saturday... Probably figured he was safe enough, since he survived Thursday night. It likely helped that they were more rain than anything, though there was some thunder and lightning thrown in across those two days (most of the thunder and lightning was Thursday night and early hours of Friday morning though).

***~~~***

Here are a couple of photos of Logan at 14 weeks old:

He's growing up so fast!

Sorry, I don't have new photos of Lilie today. We just snapped those of Logan to show how he's growing.

Logan is now almost 15 and a half weeks old. Can you believe it?

He has another vet appointment this Thursday (August 1st 2019). Hopefully the source of his getting upset last time was frustration at Lilie being on the ground and him not, and he won't get so upset this time, especially now he's starting to accept the lead, and not cry so much when he's down on the ground.

***~~~***

I had asthma clinic on July 18th. I was up for my yearly review, so they wouldn't give me new inhalers if I didn't see the asthma nurse. So I went to see her. It's good for me to be checked from time to time anyhow, and I should have been having yearly reviews all along, so I don't mind. In fact, I was glad to see they were doing what they were meant to... Finally.

My appointment went smoothly. I knew it would. My asthma's been behaving itself since last year, when I got my inhalers back, and they gave me the spacer thingy to help me control my breathing properly when taking them. So, as far as I was concerned, this was merely a necessary formality, and a "just in case" checkup. It did feel good having the asthma nurse tell me she was pleased with how I was doing though, and compliment me on how well I pay attention to what's going on with my body. I didn't tell her I sometimes ignore what my body is telling me. I was too busy enjoying her compliments. Hey, it's not often I get approval from doctors and nurses, after all.

Anyway, I had them weigh me while I was there. My Mam said it looked in the photos taken when we took Logan for his first walk like I might have lost some weight. I had my doubts. I mean, I feel fitter and everything, and did wonder if maybe I'd lost a little. But I've never really had much luck in losing weight, so wasn't counting on it. I figured my asthma clinic appointment was a good time to get a weight update though, especially since I hadn't been weighed in more than six months. Plus, I was curious. So I asked them to weigh me. Turns out I've lost 3 kilos (that's about 6.6 lbs).

***~~~***

For those who like to know: my Makerly box for July contained a cross stitch kit for a bird. I forget which kind of bird it was, though it was something tropical, since that was the theme of the kit.

***~~~***

I wanted to do some baking last week, but it was WAY too hot. So I decided to try something I could do in the microwave.

I made a flapjack, which consisted of oats, coconut milk, maple syrrup, and raisins, so was not just vegetarian friendly, but also vegan friendly. I just threw them all in a bowl, cooked them up in the microwave, and then put most of the mixture in a cake tin to cool. Several hours later - when it was cool enough to do so - I put it in the fridge. After it had set, I removed it from the tin, and put it on a plate. It won't win prizes for anything, least of all presentation, but here's a photo anyhow:

I cut it in to slices - like you would a cake - after the photo was taken.

It was pretty good. Stickier than it should have been (I think I used too much coconut milk) but pretty good, like I said. Especially considering I was just experimenting, and didn't measure quantities or anything. Not to mention the fact it was a microwaved flapjack, rather than one done in the oven. I'd kept some aside for breakfast though - hence only putting most of the mixture in the cake tin - and ate it still slightly warm, and that way was delicious. So, awesome as a breakfast option, but could use some work to make it a good flapjack.

I had better success with the vegan friendly apple-berry cake and banana-peanut cookies I made on Sunday, after the rain had cooled things down here a little, so I could actually do the baking I wanted to do. I think they turned out pretty well. Here are photos, for anyone who wants to see them:

The cake and cookies were both very tasty, if I do say so myself. Since there was nothing in them they couldn't have, I offered Lilie and Logan a bit of each, and they seemed to approve too. I wasn't surprised with Logan, since he eats just about anything, but I took it as a compliment from Lilie, since she's a picky eater.

Brownies were baked on the weekend too. But those were for Kelly, and I didn't take photos.

No. The pups didn't get any of those, because they're chocolate, and dogs aren't allowed chocolate. Just mentioning that, for anyone who might have been concerned. They were disappointed - especially Logan - but soon got over it when they saw I was willing to share my snacks.

***~~~***

My Mam got me a new smoothie maker.

I kept meaning to get one, but not getting around to it. Anyway, she got me one, so now I don't need to. It arrived on Sunday, because she ordered it on Saturday and has Amazon Prime.

I tried it out yesterday (Monday) morning. I made a smoothie involving coconut water, a banana, some raspberries, some blueberries, and a bit of spinach. That last for extra vitamins. It was really tasty, and since the berries and spinach were frozen, lovely and cool.

As an added bonus, I actually drank a decent amount of liquid yesterday morning, because of having the smoothie, which is something I need to work on, since I generally don't drink enough.

***~~~***

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook - or both - you might already know this, but I've made a big lifestyle choice recently.

After more than a decade of being vegetarian, I've decided to take the next step, and have switched to a vegan diet.

Yeah, that's why I was doing the vegan friendly stuff when I was baking. I wanted to make snacks, rather than buying them. It's cheaper, and makes knowing exactly what's in my food easier. I'm not saying I won't buy the ready-made vegan friendly snacks sometimes. I just want to mostly make my own.

There are a few reasons for my decision to become vegan, including the ethical and environmental ones you'll hear from many people making such a switch. After all, animal product free doesn't always mean cruelty free, and a vegan diet reduces your carbon footprint. But I have other reasons too, like the fact I'm lactos intollerent, so really should have switched out my dairy products to either lactos free or plant based alternatives ages ago, and since cheese was the thing making me reluctant to make the switch to veganism, if I'm going to switch my cheese anyhow, there's nothing holding me back any more. I mean, I used to think the upset stomach I got from eating it was worth it. I no longer feel that way. Especially after I finally won the battle for a hysterectomy. I wanted that for a chance at a better future. How can I celebrate that when I'm also letting my body suffer needlessly just for something that will be gone in a few minutes? I don't want anyone to suffer for what I eat, and that includes myself.

No. This is not a spur of the moment decision. It's something I've been thinking about for some time. But I didn't mention to anyone that I was considering it, because I didn't want the comments and opinions of others influencing my decision.

Anyway, I usually post about things on my blog first, but this time I posted on Twitter and Facebook first, because my posting slots were filled until today, and I wanted to ask a few vegan friends I have for tips and recipes at once. I was completely blown away by the response. Everyone I tagged on Facebook, plus some I hadn't, was immediately there with tips, recipes, and resources. As for my Twitter post... Well, I've quite literally never had that many people interact with one of my posts. I had people I didn't know coming from all over the place with tips, websites and YouTube channels I could check out, etc. People were liking and retweeting my tweet like crazy too... I've never had that many likes on a post, ever. It was just amazing, and I'm incredibly grateful to all those people for all the support, tips, etc.

Of course, I know there might be vegans reading this who either didn't see my tweet or Facebook post, or aren't even on those social media platforms. If either of those is the case for you, feel free to share tips, recipes, and resources in the comments. I'm especially looking for ideas for quick and easy meals with minimum cooking, for busy or hot days. Thank you in advance.

A #Storm, Too Much Heat, Paperwork, Logan The #Cavapoo's First Bath, The #StLeonards Festival, And Day To Day Chaos

Late last Monday night, and in to the early hours of last Tuesday morning, it got very stormy again. Logan did a bit better this time. He was still obviously very scared, but didn't cry through it all, and even kept falling back asleep (until big crashes of thunder would wake him again). I think Lilie's lack of concern about storms is helping him. I hope that really is the case. We're meant to get more storms in the near future, so I guess I'll soon find out.

Speaking of last Tuesday: the three windows in our place that look out over the ocean give us sun most of the day, and the sun coming in like that makes it often end up a few degrees warmer in our place than it is outside. During cold but clear Winter days, this is a great thing. However, during days like we had last Tuesday, it really isn't. It got up to 23 degrees C outside, and was about 26 degrees C in our apartment. No, closing the curtains wouldn't have helped, despite the fact it would have stopped some of the direct sun, since we needed them open so what breeze there was coming in off the ocean could help with the heat. All of us were hot and miserable, and spent a lot of time hanging out in front of fans. Even with the fans and ocean breeze I felt like I was melting from the heat though. I really don't do well with heat. I felt sorry for the furkids in those furry coats - especially Mollie - and was glad we'd had Lilie in to the groomer when we did. We had shopping delivered, like we do most Tuesdays, and I felt sorry for Kelly bringing it upstairs. I had a hard enough time, and my job is just to put things away.

Wednesday was cooler, though not by much. It was about 20 degrees C outside, and about 22 degrees C inside. It was enough that I was just too hot, and not melting though, which was a good thing to be honest, since the melting human look wouldn't have been a nice thing for the tax guy to see. Yes, I had a tax man here on Wednesday. Don't worry... I invited him. I have someone come about this time each year to help me fill out my tax paperwork. It's got to be done after April, and before November, but one of the documents I need doesn't come until May. I don't like to leave it until the last minute, so I aim for some time in June. Anyway, it's all sorted for another year now.

Thursday was about 19 degrees C outside, and only about a degree hotter inside, so it was nice. I'd planned to make it a day to try and work on some of the revisions for the story I'm working on, but that didn't happen, because I had an audio book sample come in that needed my attention, and the Landlords needed to come for the rent, since they hadn't made it over when they'd planned to the week before (they didn't make it on the Thursday, and we were busy with other things on the Friday). We only remembered after they left that we hadn't given them the letter about the boiler. Oops!

Friday was about the same as Thursday weather wise, though more productive. I actually managed to get some writing time in during Lilie and Logan's afternoon nap. Plus, we gave Logan his first bath. Lilie complained at him being bathed and not her, but it was too close to when she had her flea stuff, so we couldn't do her too. Besides, she'd been to the groomer only a little more than a week before, so really didn't need one. As for Logan... I don't think he was too impressed, as you can see for yourself in this video Kelly did of me bathing him:






And this photo of him in my arms wrapped in a towel afterwards:

But look at how his fur curls when it's damp... It's so cute!

Anyway, Saturday was officially the hottest day of this year, and made Tuesday seem cool in comparison. It got up to 27 degrees C outside, and something like 30 degrees C inside. Yeah, that wasn't fun! Even the dogs didn't have the energy to do much that day, though Lilie was a bit disappointed at missing her walk. It was just too hot to have her walking on the hot pavements though. Anyway, thank goodness for fans, that's all I can say. Also, those of us who could have it (Kelly, Lilie, Logan, and I) were glad to be able to enjoy a nice cold bowl of ice-cream each. No. The dogs didn't have a lot, but I figured a little would help cool them down some. Joshua and Mollie aren't allowed ice-cream, so I gave them some frozen peas instead, which I'm sure they were very grateful for. Plenty of water was drunk by all too, as I'm sure you're pleased to hear.

A couple of local festivals and other events were on over the weekend, but we didn't go to any of them - not entirely because of the heat, though it would have made us stay home if we had planned to go, because of the pups. The parade from this year's St Leonards Festival went in front of our building though, so we got a video and some photos.

I was really proud of Lilie that day. She's hated drums since she was around the age Logan is now, but has gotten so much better about them with all the parades we've heard and seen go by since then. This time, she watched the parade without getting upset about all the drumming. I had both dogs - one in each arm - up at a different window to the one Kelly was taking the video and photos from, watching the parade. Both did so quite contentedly too. I gave them plenty of praise for doing so, especially Lilie, since I felt she deserved it for conquering her fear.

Sunday was thankfully much cooler than Saturday. It only got up to 20 degrees C outside, and it didn't even do that for very long - mostly it stayed between 17 degrees C and 19 degrees C - so didn't really get warmer than that inside either. I'd been awake since even before the dogs get up, so declared a DVD day, and spent the day watching DVDs while alternating between playing with, and curling up on the sofa with, one or both of the dogs (mostly both, though Lilie did go off for a nap with Kelly at one point, leaving me and Logan alone in the living room for an hour or so). It was a nice relaxing day. At least, until the channel I put on for Joshua and Mollie after I was done played a shark movie, which had him squealing in terror. At least, it seemed to be that upsetting him, since he clung to my fingers squealing when I went to check on him, and didn't stop until we changed the channel (which we did in an effort to try and figure out what had him so upset, since we know he has show preferences, so wondered if maybe that was his problem). Both dogs were agitated by him getting so upset, but their evening treat balls soon calmed them back down. Despite it being a quiet and reasonably relaxing day, I was very glad when bed time came, and was asleep very quickly after I was sure the pups had completely settled for the night.

Monday was a bit overcast, and hovered around 18 degrees C until lunch time, before rapidly climbing to 22 degrees C. It wasn't as bad as the other days when it got in to the 20s though, because the fact it was a bit overcast stopped it getting even hotter still indoors, and it actually felt cooler than it had on Sunday. Anyway, Lilie and Logan took advantage of the cooler morning to let off some steam, and ran wild from when they got up around 8:00am until they finally crashed a couple of hours later, causing as much chaos as two little pups can in an apartment. That's a lot of chaos, if you don't know. My living room ended up looking like the dog isles of a petstore had exploded in it, and the other rooms weren't much better. Officially I should have cleaned up when they crashed, but I didn't want to wake them, especially since I'd been up myself since 5:00am, so really needed some quiet time to sit down. I fiddled on the computer instead, trying to catch up with some of the blog post notifications, newsletters, and other things that were sitting in my inbox begging for my attention. I love their chaos, so I'm not complaining about it. But when I get that quiet time while they're napping, I'm not about to waste it. Besides, they're like toddlers, and cranky when they don't get decent naps, which is another reason not to wake them... Especially on days like yesterday, when I was tired myself.

Anyhow, other than those things, my week has been filled with the usual general day to day stuff, like doing the tasks required for properly caring for all of the furkids, sorting eMails as and when I can in hopes they won't pile up too much, attempting - often unsuccessfully - to make sure housework gets done in at least a semi-reasonable timeframe, etc.

So, that was my week. How was yours?

Hastings Bonfire Celebrations 2018 - Part 2

Here are the rest of our videos from the Hastings Bonfire Celebrations (October 13th 2018). You can find part 1 here, if you missed it last week.
















































There would have been more firework videos, because there were plenty more fireworks. But the camera's battery died.

Anyway, the last thing I have to show you for this event is a photo of the pin badge (button to some of you) that Kelly brought home for me, which he picked up at the event. So, here it is:

#Hastings Bonfire Celebrations 2018 - Part 1

October 14th is the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. Every year, on or around that date, there's a local bonfire celebration. It's sort of a joint celebration of the anniversary of the battle, and early bonfire night celebration. This year they seem to have been giving a shout-out to WWI too. Anyway, this year it happened on Saturday October 13th.

Lilie couldn't go, because dogs aren't allowed. Plus, with the drums, she would have totally freaked, since she really hates drums. So I stayed home with her, and Kelly went by himself. He got some photos and videos for me to share with you all though, so at least I got to hear the videos.

Before I start sharing the photos and videos with you, here's a photo of a neighbour's Westie Kelly took on the way to the event:

(Kelly said he just couldn't resist).

OK... Well, there are a lot of photos and videos, so I'm sharing some with you today, and the rest next week. Here you go... Enjoy!

Awareness Days And Weeks Connected With #Blindness, #SightLoss, #GuideDogs, And #Glaucoma

After reading the post about using awareness days to promote your book, which I posted about in this post from a few weeks ago, and thinking what an interesting marketing idea it was, I decided to go looking for some I could use to promote my own writing. In case you're curious - and because I can - I decided I'd even post about the ones connected with blindness, sight loss, Guide Dogs, and Glaucoma (the latter being the particular eye condition I have). I'm not promising this is a complete list. It's just what I found in my search. Anyway, here you go...

World Braille Day (January 4th)

World Braille Day is annually celebrated on January 4, the birthday of Braille inventor, Louis Braille. The day recognizes the contributions of Louis Braille in helping blind and visually impaired people to read and write.

WORLD GLAUCOMA WEEK (March; exact date varies)

World Glaucoma Awareness Week is held in March, and is an annual event by the International Glaucoma Association (IGA), to increase public understanding of Glaucoma in the UK and further afield. During the week, matters such as the need for eye checks and quick action on vision changes are raised with the general public, to help prevent and treat Glaucoma.

International Guide Dogs Day (last Wednesday in April)

Guide dogs are amongst the most phenomenal animals on the planet, and the difference they make to the lives of those without sight simply cannot be overstated. It is impossible to feel anything but pure love and awe when you witness just how dedicated these guys are to their owners, or, it seems, best friends, and how precious and adorable the relationship the two of them have is. To celebrate these dogs and the patient and talented people who train them, and pay tribute to the important role they each play in our society, people across the world come together to partake in International Guide Dogs Day. It isn’t just those who need Guide Dogs that celebrate this special day, either. The crucial work they do is recognised by everyone, and on International Guide Dogs Day, lots of people like to go out of their way to honour and express their gratitude to these dogs who have impacted the lives of so many.

National Glaucoma Awareness Week (June; exact date varies)

The IGA runs its own national public awareness week in June: National Glaucoma Awareness Week. It highlights a topical and relevant issue based on the calls that we receive to our helpline.

National Eye Health Week (september; exact date varies)

Vision really matters. Sight is the sense people fear losing the most, yet many of us don’t know how to look after our eyes – National Eye Health Week aims to change all that!

Guide Dogs Week (October; exact date varies)
A week to raise awareness of Guide Dogs and those whose lives they've made a difference to. You can even, get involved to help raise money for the UK's Guide Dogs charity.

World Sight Day (2nd Thursday in October)

World Sight Day is a global event that focuses on bringing attention on blindness and vision impairment. It is observed on the second Thursday of October each year.

White Cane Safety Day (October 15th)

White Cane Safety Day celebrates blind and visually impaired people's achievements in the United States on October 15 every year. It also reminds people about how the white cane is an important tool in helping the blind and the visually impaired live with greater independence.

International Day for Persons with Disabilities (December 3rd)

The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimed in 1992, by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3. It aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

***~~~***

Above information taken from https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/, https://www.awarenessdays.com, https://www.daysoftheyear.com/, and https://businessdisabilityforum.org.uk/media-centre/disability-awareness-days/, where you can read more about the above hentioned awareness days and weeks, and find plenty more from around the world.

Of #HastingsPirateDay, And Last Sunday

It was Hastings Pirate Day 2018 on July 15th.

We didn't bother to dress up for it, but we did get Lilie a pirate bandana, and she loved the attention wearing it got her. Here are a couple of photos of her wearing it:

(We had to take them with me holding her on the bench, because it was the only way to keep her still long enough... All the people had her super excited, especially when they were commenting on how cute she was in her bandana).

Anyway, we decided to go to some of the events that were supposed to be happening on the peer for Pirate Day this year. Though it turned out hardly anything was happening on the peer. Most of the stuff was happening in the old town, but we'd decided not to go to those because we're still working on Lilie's drum issue, and they spacifically mentioned having drums involved in parades and things that would be going on. That was why we headed for the stuff on the peer instead. Like I said though, there wasn't much to see.

We did spot - and grab photos of - several pirates on the peer and seafront though:

We had walked all the way to the peer, so were disappointed not to find much more to see than that. So we decided to stop for ice-cream and lunch on the way home to make up for it.

We ended up eating lunch on the seafront - we had lunch from Oscars, if you're interested - while enjoying some free music.

I have a short video clip of the music for you. I'm not a fan of this kind of music, but we thought we'd grab a short clip for you anyway, so you could hear them. Like I said, it's not my kind of music. I have to admit though, although it's not my thing, they were really good, and you could feel the pure joy coming off them while they were performing. Plus, it was cheerful music to be listening to while we ate. Here's the clip:









There were kayaks out at sea that day, and other boats too.

The people on the kayaks were singing. I'm not sure if they were singing just for the pleasure of doing so, singing along with the music from the beach, singing to help keep the rhythm right for rowing, or what, since they were too far out for me to catch what they were singing properly, especially with the other music. But I enjoyed listening to them having a great time out there anyhow, since they sounded cheerful too. Kelly grabbed a couple of photos of them, so here they are:

It was one of those days that didn't turn out as planned, but was a wonderful day anyhow.

It was also one of those really hot days we've been having lately. Yeah, I know many of you have been having hotter weather, but I'm not great with heat (we're talking temperatures of 24 degrees C and higher, so temperatures of 80 degrees F and higher). Bearing in mind, we were out and about walking, and even if we'd been at home wouldn't have had air conditioning, since all we have here is fans. So... Yeah... I'm just glad we were along the seafront so we could benifit from the ocean breeze, and that we're smart enough to take drinks with us - especially for Lilie.