Coooo the weather certainly went off on one over the weekend! I was celebrating my birthday in brilliant sunshine one day and then BOOM in came a cold snap just as well I had my Coler Cwtch from The Welsh Girl and a pair of gloves as that chill was beastly. Luckily I didn’t spend my morning on the sideline as I was invited to the opening of the new GO Outdoors store in Reading. As I arrived I saw a big long queue of people standing outside in the snow, they’re nails I thought as I zipped up and got out of the car! Of course there was a long queue of people waiting as Ross Kemp was opening the store. Now he really is nails!!
I had a really good look around the store, each department is laid out and signposted incredibly well and the staff are so knowledgeable and cheerful, of course I got chatting to a few of them! Martyn in the Angling department was telling me how he got into fishing and how he still enjoys it now, often staying overnight - no wonder have you seen the kit these days? Looks luxurious. Not being the most natural camper I was wowed by all the camping stuff and the tents with many rooms. My most recent camping holiday was in France, when it rained, the tent got flooded and my good mood dissolved in a corner with the soggy cornflakes. There’s not only camping and angling, there’s horseriding, an amazing selection of clothes and footwear, pet care, first aid and a cycling department that has a variety of bike servicing available. I might not be leaning towards camping but I’m certainly very tempted to get back on my bike.
How many twins do you know? I only ask as I celebrated my 49th birthday with a number of friends 4 of whom are from twin families, 2 are mothers of twins and 2 are identical twins. I hadn’t given it a moment’s thought! It was so bizarre! What was also bizarre was I introduced Fiona from Frilly Pickers (fabulous gardener) to Nicola of Relaxed Soles (amazing reflexologist) and Ally. Fiona is from Talybont, Ally is from Merthyr and Nicola is from Swansea and they’re all living in Wokingham. Anyway Nicola said “I’m from Swansea”, Fiona said “I went to uni there”, Ally said “so did I” and it transpired that Fiona and Ally were at Swansea Uni at the same time and both did Egyptology. See what I mean when I talk about a small world and in Wokingham you’re never far from a Welsh person!
One of my birthday presents was the DNA Ancestry kit which I have duly completed and sent off, I am now waiting patiently/impatiently to see the results. My Granny was really into the family tree and one of the ancestor branches goes back to an ancient relative who was killed on the steps of Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. I recently had a meeting with Heather at the library and she was telling me all about the Family History Group that meets at Wokingham Library. Volunteers from the Berkshire Family History Society run monthly family history advice sessions at Wokingham Library on the last Tuesday of each month (except December) from 2pm to 5pm. Sessions are run on a drop-in basis with no need to book. They are appropriate for all levels of experience.
I can’t believe we are heading to the clocks going forward, the last week of term, Easter and April. As I’ve said before “where does the time go?”. Slowing down and taking a moment to breathe is so important and I know I don’t do it enough, which is why Rus at Greenleaf Therapies and Nicola at Relaxed Soles are a blessing to have in my address book. I know it is often hard to find the time to take an hour out of the day but if I added up all the times I “just” pop here or “just” make a ‘quick’ phonecall, I am certain I would have more time in the day and it would be “just perfect”.