Vintage tea party

For the British Queen's 90th, communities are encouraged to hold street tea parties. Or in their homes. What a gret way to invite your elderly neighbours round? If lots of people pitch in, you could have a ball....

The Malnutrition Prevention Programme

A report in the New Day newspaper, the MGN group's new paper, caught my eye. The UK government help fund a scheme called the Malnutrition Prevention Programme. Apparently, in a report undertaken to find out why some elderly people were dying, they found the cause was cited as malnutrition. 1,794 it states. So the programme helps The Cosy Crow Community Cafe which uses food destined for landfill (perfectly edible) and turns them into meals which they serve to the elderly. What a brilliant idea! There is so much food waste going on in the UK as well as the terrible situation faced by some pensioners who are malnourished that this addresses both issues. Could we doing more of this? Or could we be finding ways to ask people to donate items which are then assessed in a community group to check if it's safe to eat and use it to make meals? This Malnutrition Prevention Programme sounds like a brilliant idea. http://www.malnutritiontaskforce.org.uk/ There is all sorts of advice on there as well as information about campaigns trying to keep Meals of Wheels going. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35628729 There is also Contact the Elderly which a friend volunteers for. This is a great way to make food or hold an afternoon tea for a group of older people so they can get out of their environment and meet other people. http://www.contact-the-elderly.org.uk/become-a-volunteer/how-it-works

Valentines day is coming and the chocolates are being stocked up!

Lots of different varieties. The beautiful packaging shouldn't detract from the quality of the chocolate. If you are giving a gift, always find out what the receiver likes... you don't want to give someone lemon creams or truffles when they have a disliking for the stuff. You can't always help it if it's in a selection but do check. The best in the supermarkets are: Charbonnel and Walker Marc De Champagne Chocolate truffles - I have seen them retailing in Waitrose for around £9.99 Marks and Spencer's do some wonderful truffles. Lindt Lindor red wrapped chocolates always appear to be popular. The liquid chocolate that oozes out of each chocolate tends to be a draw.

New year, new gym memberships and books about cutting out sugar

You might not wish to join a gym or buy one of the plethora of books on cutting out sugar, cutting out tasty food etc. But you might want to try thinking more positively. There are so many articles about January blues, people feeling so down that they book their summer holidays well in advance and so on. When you have a moment where you're standing on a crowded commuter train, or behind the wheel stuck in traffic, think about how wonderful it felt on Christmas Day. Or Thanksgiving. Or a special birthday or some special day when you laughed so much, your stomach hurt. Try to think about that for as long as you possibly can. And if you forget because you are back in a routine, go back to those good-feeling thoughts again and see if it helps. Even just a little bit.