Award Winners!

Last Wednesday evening, some of Sheffield Freegle went to a posh hotel in town to the Sheffield Telegraph Environment Award ceremony.

We were up for "best recycling group" . It was all very posh. We had a speech from the editor of the newspaper, then another by a "Look North" weatherman who presented each award along with someone from various businesses that sponsored the award.

We were sat at large round tables, and served a meal before the awards were given out. I had a (weird) terrine of mixed peppers to start with, then for mains the menu said some kind of vegetable thing in pastry and mushroom sauce. I had already said no mushrooms please ( I don't like them at all!). The waiters came out saying "special diet" with two plates of the most insipid risotto Ive ever seen! My friend, and one of the group owners, Eliese, cannot have much dairy, but like me, when she saw this plate of stodge, she decided to have the strudel thing.

The strudel thing was weird but edible.. it was vegetable cous cous wrapped in pasty sitting on top of mashed potato with a few sad looking vegetables next to it. We had a very strange apple "jus" aka gravy with it.

Desert wasn't much better.. it was a dark chocolate and orange lump on a slightly soggy biscuit. Eliese had melon, a much nicer plateful!

The awards started.. our category, best recycler, was very near the bottom of the list.. it was quite nerve wracking waiting!

Our turn came.. they introduced Heely City Farm, then Sheffield Freegle.. we sat on the edge of our seats.. and the winner was......... SHEFFIELD FREEGLE!!! WOOOOT!

The three owners went up to get the award, then Adam got interviewed afterwards. I will try and find the clip and put a link to it in due course.

After the awards had been given out, there were still lots of people milling around the hall, so Eliese (on the left in the picture below) and I went round giving everyone our promotional bookmarks out, inviting them to join our group ;-) very cheeky but many people seemed genuinely pleased with the idea, and promised to join!

Anna xx

From the left.. Eliese Freegle Finegan, Adam Recycle Renison, Tracy Recycle Renison.. and me!

Desmond week 2

It all seems quite a long time ago now, but I attended the second session of the Desmond course, which was mainly about food choices.

The main bit I remember (and was useful to me) was a practical activity involving moving a lot of different foods into three categories.. good, not so good and naughty. As expected, most of the nice things were in the naughty section, but the course does not ban any food.. just says be aware of them, eat less of them, and do some extra phyiscal activity to compensate for them!

I did learn a few tips, such as if you are frying food, a vegetable oil is better than olive (Olive oil is better in salads) , and that marge is better for you than butter, and foods rich in Omega 3 as it helps combat the affects of cholestrol in the body.

Here are a few pictures from the course.



So... what next?

Im trying to eat smaller portions, Im eating less chocolate, and trying to do a bit more physical activity, and taking my diabetic pills much more regularly as I know how they help me, even if I cant feel any changes.

I didnt find the 2nd week any thing like so interesting as the first, but then I know what I should and shouldnt be eating, and what has fat in it etc.

Overall, I think its a great course, and I wish Id gone on it much earlier, and I wish my GP Practice encouraged people to go on that, instead of trying to flog them £300 worth of hypnotism from a private practioner!! (Yes, one of my practice nurses really did this)

More soon from a most interesting week!

Anna xxx

Desmond

Whats this? A new man in my life? (nooo one is enough lol) A new neighbour?

No!! you are all wrong! DESMOND stands for...

Diabetes
Education
Self
Management
Ongoing and
Newly Diagnosed

So.. on Saturday morning I went to the first half of a DESMOND course, because about a year ago I was diagnosed as having Type 2 Diabetes. When I was first diagnosed, I was very shocked, and very upset. The nurse dumped a handful of leaflets into my arms, and a prescription for some tablets, and that was that.

I read some of the leaflets, but as Douglas was already diagnosed with diabetes, I didnt really read further, and that was the limit of my education until someone mentioned that there was a course I could go on (the someone was definatley NOT my practice nurse or GP!!)

I didnt think I would get much out of the course, but I thought I'd go along anyway just in case.

There were about 10 of us in the group, lead by a specialist Diabetes nurse, and a practice nurse with a special interest in the subject.

After a chat about how the course was organised, and that it wasnt in a lecture format.. more working with knowledge we had as a group, putting it in order, and learning bits to add to it.

Each person said who they were, how long they had been diagnosed, what there symptoms were etc, which in itself was very interesting. We also put down any burning questions we had, so they can be dealt with during the two mornings the course spanned over.

Firstly we looked at what Type 2 diabetes was, and a very simple model, explaining that they key that unlocks the "door" allowing insulin to be used in our bloodstream does not work very well, and sometimes the "lock" itself is rusty as well.

If you look very carefully, you can see a key and a lock sitting on or close to the pancreas where insulin is produced. The parts were magnetic, so they were placed on as each one was discussed.

Various symptoms that the group had discussed were explained which was very interesting, then towards the end we played the "Sugar" game (oops wait.. did I say game? its an exercise! lol)

The nurses put items on the table, and we as a group had to put sugar lumps near each product to say how many lumps of sugar each one had in it. Again this was a very simplified exercise, but eye opening.. Things that say "low fat" often have a higher sugar content to make them taste nice!

Next Saturday, we will be talking a lot more abut diet, and physical activity (known to many of us as exercise!). We will be setting ourselves an individual target.. one thing to help us manage our diabetes better!

Lucozade is LOADED with sugar, as is the carton of concentrated orange juice!

So.. week one of DESMOND done.. It was very interesting, well paced, dealt with worries and anxieties and I really enjoyed it!

Please come back next week for the next exciting episode of .......

Anna goes Desmonding :-D

The Family Spirit

On Sunday Douglas and I were invited over to my parents for lunch. The menu was roast chicken with all the trimmings (roast potatoes, parsnips, and veg) so I made some mini nut roasts as my chicken replacement.

I looked at my parents photos of their recent trip to Germany and France.. there are some really beautiful ones! My father defiantly has an artistic eye for pictures.

We had a really good meal. My younger brother and his 3 kids were also there, so it was a busy table full of Cosshams (and the honorary Cossham, Douglas) lol. It all went well, even Carlo, aged 6 who first of all announced that he wasn't hungry, managed to polish off a large portion, and then several extra chipolata sausages, followed by blackberry and apple crumble and ice cream!!

After lunch, my mum suggested a game of Monopoly, which we used to play quite frequently as kids, although my memory of playing was that the game took forever, and normally ended up with one or more kid in tears because they hadn't won!

Mum, Thomas, Carlo (assisting) and Leo

My mother tells me that when I was small I didn't have a competitive bone in my body, and that I was always happy when someone else won. Ok back to the main story :-)


My dad, Carlo and Martha had fun building (then destroying) marble shoots made out of the wooden bricks that have kept generations of Cosshams happy, whilst the rest of us rolled our dice and counted our money.

Slowly, my husband, my mother and my nephew were all bankrupted by either me, or my angelic baby brother, and left the game.

Douglas and my mum still solvent at this stage




My cards.. doing pretty well.

So then there were two. After managing to land then buy several properties that were owned by the bank, I had a whole row of properties with houses and hotels on. My brothers fate was sealed, and soon enough, he landed on one of my hotels, and that was that.

I will gloss over the near tantrum he had when he realised that he had been crushed by his most beloved, generous, kind but now horribly competitive older sister and just say that I went home with a very evil grin on my face, which strangely has come back again just now :-D

Ok.. there was a bit of a discrepancy over what happens when a player mortgages all his properties.. does the player whose rent needs to be paid got them, or do they just go back to the bank, so he might have had a teensey weensy point in his frustration, but the grin remains!!

Sweet Victory! Notice correlation between hotels and my properties :-D

Badgers need your help

This is a quote directly from the RSPCA website. Please read and sign the petition.

The (UK) government has announced that it may undertake a badger cull in some areas of England as part of a package of measures to control the disease of bovine TB in cattle. Defra Minister, Jim Paice MP has announced that a consultation will be carried out in September.

Scientific evidence suggests that the culling of badgers may have a limited benefit on the disease within the culled area and in surrounding areas outside the cull it may, at least initially, increase the disease in cattle. We also have concerns on how culling might be carried out.

An injectable TB vaccine for badgers was licensed for use in March and we are dismayed that the Government has announced it is only going to vaccinate badgers against bovine TB in a limited area of Gloucestershire, rather than six areas in Staffordshire, Herefordshire/Worcestershire and Devon as was originally planned. It is currently not clear what alternative plans the government might have to utilize the vaccine.

We also want to see a continuation of improved cattle measures, including pre- and post-movement testing, husbandry and biosecurity.

Please sign our petition to let the government know you are against culling.

If you would like to write to your MP to express your views on this issue, please click here

Thank you for giving animals a voice.

Anna

A Freegle Ceilidh!

A few months ago, one of the women in my choir approached me to suggest that Sheffield Freegle team up with her folk band to organise a ceilidh (folk/barn dance). Her band (The Well Dressed Band)

The WDB are holding a series of Ceilidhs, each with a different community partner, to raise awareness of the different causes (great idea!!). The first in the series was Abundance, we were second and I dont know who is coming next, but I know they are booked!

Two of my fellow moderators were as keen as I was to do this, so on Sunday we arrived at the hall early to put up banners, spread chairs and a few tables around, and generally get organised.

Douglas came too of course, so that made 4 of us. Before the event, I was unsure if just the four of us could cope (having never organised this sort of thing before) , so I asked my older brother if he could possibly come down from York and join us, which he did.

The evening went very well, the hall filled up with people and the dancing began. The band were very good, and the caller, Pete Coe who started with nice easy dances (to lull the beginners into a false sense of security ? haha!) then as the evening wore on, he introduced a few more difficult dances, but by then the dancers could cope with that :-) Not only is he a good caller, but hes quite a funny man, so it was enjoyable both dancing and listening to his jokes.

At 8.30, half way through the dance, we had a break. I had to get up on the stage and explain what Freegle was all about, and to encourage people to join Sheffield Freegle. That was a bit scary, but aparantley I did ok.

We had advertised that we would like people to bring a home made dish of food to share with everyone else, so by the time everyone had arrived, we had a wonderful feast laid out. There were salads, home made breads, pies, toasted seeds and all sorts, not forgetting some lovely cakes for afters! (Sairahs chocolate and beetroot cake was really nice, and that surprised me since I have a hate hate relationship with the evil red veg!)

The dancing went on until 10.30, by which time Eliese, Sairah and I had finished most of the washing up from the feast. Douglas and John stayed in the hall for the 2nd half of the dance, acting as security against any stray curious youths that fancied coming in to see what they could pinch - its a rather rough area!

John left at about 10pm to catch a train home to York, and the rest of us tidied up the hall, put things away, packed our car, took Eliese home, and got back to ours by about 11.30pm which is a very late night for us!

Everyone had a good evening, we handed out quite a lot of leaflets, so hopefully we will get some more people joining as a result!

Needless to say that Douglas and I were very tired the next day!!!! zzzzzzzzzzz

Laurieston Hall. Sunday 5th September (last day)

********* Please start on Thursdays post if you have not read the rest yet **********

Breakfast duty this morning, so I started early by sweeping the floor in the hall area.. After last nights bonfire and people tracking grass through, so it looked much better when I had done!

Ali Burns came to do the second workshop with us and took us through a newish song of hers that has quite a difficult alto part! Her songs are lovely - she tries her best to give each part a nice tune to sing whilst putting them all together to create a lovely overall sound.

Ali Burns in action

After lunch, I would have liked to go see the red kites being fed, but no one who had transport wanted to go. Instead, I and a German/Irish girl spent the afternoon with one of the residents, a lady called Marion who taught us how to 'drop spin' that's spinning wool using a spindle that you suspend from the wool you slowly tease out and spin into thread then wind a little round the spindle and keep going. I had a great time and managed to spin a yard or so of rather bumpy length!

My first attempt at drop spinning!




Basket with wool and a drop spindle in

Tea was at 6.30 as usual. The tables had been re-arranged into a u shape so we could have a 'banquet' for our last evening. We all dressed up. Some from the dressing up collection in the sunny room, some like me in their own stuff. I wore my lovely mediaeval blue dress, my new green cape and my new 'green goddess' mask I purchased earlier in the summer. Everyone looked marvellous.. Some very funny!

Who could it be?

Some strange costumes!

For tea we had baked potato wedges, some kind of bake with tomatoes on the top, green beans, a mushroom sauce (yuk) and some odd thing with ?hot beetroot in it (double yuk!!) oh, we also had roast peppers that were nice.

I finished off my bottle of wine (It's taken me all three nights to drink it.. Not too bad!)
Dessert was some lovely chocolate biscuits and ice cream.
After a gap, final night festivities began in the billard room. We all sat round on sofas and chairs and played pass the parcel. When the music stopped, the forfit was for someone to think of a song that fitted the theme on the note. We sang all sorts.. Themes ranged from travel, to political all the way to mythological, the latter being a part rendition of Puff the Magic Dragon! The prize in the middle was a bar of soap!!

Voca Loca, our sister choir from Belfast (not Dublin, sorry Curlybap, whoever you are, who pointed this out to me) sang two lovely songs, then Body of sound sang two of theirs.

Next came a drama! We had a very creative rendition of The Quangle Wangles Hat!



The final organised event of the night was a team game. Three teams were each given a song to sing, and given a style in which to sing it. I formed part of the audience/judging panel!

The first team had to sing nursery rhymes in the style of the winning volley ball team .. It got worse and funnier as the teams went on!!!

By the time prizes had been awarded ( one to each team, of course) it was 11.15pm so I decided to finish packing, shower then sleep. I'm sure that singing went on well into the night but I was tired.

It was a wonderful weekend.

It took us about 5 hours to get back home.. we left at about midday after a rather tearful parting from our friends and the beautiful hall.

I was sad to leave, but very happy to be back home with my lovely Douglas and my lovely puddies.