2018 Holidays - Part 1. The Balkans

Did you know that we are motorcyclists?  My husband loves motorbikes and rides every day to work.  I like to go on the back of his bike in the Summer when it is warm and hopefully dry!  Hence we mostly go on motorcycling holidays.  More recently we have joined organised guided tours and love them!  It is so nice to go with a group, and not have to worry about booking accommodation or choosing restaurants  for dinner.   In 2017 we joined a guided tour of Romania, and were keen to do more of Eastern Europe, specifcally the Balkans.  So last June we flew to Belgrade, Serbia to join a tour by 'Beyond Usual Motorcycles' .  The company is run by the fabulous 'Tosh.'  He couldn't have been more friendly and helpful!  It wasn't a big group, just us two and twin brothers from Canada, who interestingly had been born in Serbia and visited Belgrade frequently to meet relatives still there.  But they didn't know the rest of the country so had chosen the motorcycle tour.  Tosh provided the bikes and a back up van to carry our luggage (and for me to ride in if I needed to). 

 Here's Maurice on his bike:

And here are the group.  From left to right, Sam (One of the twins), Milan ( the van driver), Tosh (our guide and owner of the company), Mike ( the other twin) and Maurice ( my husband)

Here's the view from my seat on the back of the bike.  If you look carefully you can see my phone reflected in the wing mirror!

On our first day we rode along the mighty Danube all the way to the far East of Serbia to the town of Negotin where we spent the night.

The following morning our first stop was at a little village of wine cellars, called Rajacke Pimnice. Local wine was kept in these huge barrels in these old stone houses.  Sadly, they are falling into disrepair now, as the young people are leaving the village for the bigger towns.

The Serbian countryside was very green and picturesque.  The villages didn't look as poor as the Romanian villages we rode through in 2017.  Farming is more mechanised in Serbia -no horses and carts as in Romania, but the tractors were very old.

We crossed the border into Montenegro at Pjevlja.  It was cool to cross a border, and of course we had to take photos!  We carried on riding through the Durmitor National Park.

Lots of tunnels through the mountains!

We stopped for the night at Zlatar, and had a lovely walk around Black Lake.  So beautiful!

We came down to the coast of the Adriatic Sea above the Gulf of Kotor. Stunning view!

We descended and rode along this beautiful part of the coast until we arrived at the pretty old town of Kotor, where we had a couple of hours to look around, and have lunch.  It was really hot at this point, well into the 30s, which makes for very uncomfortable riding!

We stayed the night just along the coast in the town of Herceg-Novi, in a huge concrete hotel that definitely harked back to the Communist era!  The hot weather came to an end with a huge thunderstorm overnight that did a lot of damage to the town!  You can see the black clouds coming in in this picture:

And then we crossed another border into Bosnia-Herzegovina.  (Republika Srpska is one of two constitutional and legal entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

A popular meal is barbequed lamb.  We were very grateful of this yummy dinner after riding for miles in the rain!

 Our last night was spent in the lovely little village of Mokra Gora.  This is 'Drvengrad', a re-creation of an old village of this area by the film director Emir Kusturica.  It is set on the slopes of Mount Zlatibor, a most stunning setting.  All the little houses are wooden, and it has all the facilities a tourist could wish for: comfortable rooms, restaurants, swimming pool, cinema etc.

So that was it!  A week spent riding around the Balkans.  I am sure we will go back.  We didn't go to Sarajevo or Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina or Croatia.  

Tunic top - New Look 5430

I have made this top twice now.  It is a very popular pattern in my Tuesday morning sewing group, 3 of us have made it now! 

I  made the leopard print one just before Christmas, and in fact wore it at Christmas as it is so easy to put on and lounge about in!  No need for ironing as this gorgeous jersey fabric doesn't crease, and being animal print is bang on trend!  I made the purple and grey one with some  fabric I had in my stash.  I bought this at a show a few years ago.  Glad to make use of it!  It has a lovely velvety look to it, but it is lighter than the leopard print.  The only difference is that the leopard print has a V neck, and the purple/grey one has a round neck.

 I can see more of these in my wardrobe!  They are so easy to make, and so comfortable to wear.

Frosty Garden

One of my goals for 2019 is to use my camera more!  I use my phone camera an awful lot - it is so handy, and takes some quite good photos.  But I also have a Panasonic Lumix which I have had for a  couple of years.  Before that I had a Nikon DSLR, which was very big and heavy, but did take gorgeous photos.  I got the Panasonic mostly because of its small size and lightness, but also because I can change the aperture and speed settings.  But being lazy, I mostly use it on automatic!  In fact, it has an intelligent auto setting which is fantastic.

Here are some photos I took in the garden one frosty morning this week.

Expect more photos on my blog this year, especially of my garden!

2018 Year of Sewing

I love reading about other sewists hits and misses for the past year.  See Gillian's Top 5 Hits and Misses over on her blog Crafting a Rainbow.  I haven't got a top 5 of each,  as I only finished 8 garments:


 Denim jacket  Started in 2017, finished in January 2018
* fleece jacket (unblogged)
* Shirt for Maurice (unblogged)
* Shirt for myself (unblogged)
* leopard print tunic (unblogged)
* dressing gown
* 2 x Long sleeved t- shirts (unblogged)
* Summer 'cold-shoulder' top

Also 3 from fabric I already had in my stash:
* red shirtdress
* cape (unblogged)
* black top - unhemmed at present

I refashioned a  few items too:
* skirt into top
* trousers taken in
* too large top shortened and taken in

Other sewing I did includes:
* new curtains for my newly decorated bedroom (see photo in my previous blog post)
* finished my calendar quilt
* autumn table runner
* knitting bag
* made a bag that scrunches up into a small corner
* a cross stitch sampler - still to frame

I love sewing for Christmas!  Here are some items I made as decorations and gifts:
* felt Christmas decorations
* crayon rolls for great nieces and nephews
* cushion for Tash - for her vintage caravan that she is renovating
* t-cosy for Burnice
* Quilt for Nicholas - it is backed with the softest fleece fabric, so cosy.

I have been very lax in blogging for a few years, so many of these are not blogged.  I need to take some better photos and write more posts! 

It has been a very good sewing year for me!  I am hoping that 2019 proves to be just as good. 

I have plans to make at least 1 quilt from my stash (I have kits for about 4 quilts that I have had a long time)
Use up more of my dressmaking stash
Refashion more items
Challenge myself with dressmaking - maybe make a coat?

I am writing a review of other things I did in 2018, be sure to come back and have a look!

2018 in review - The Year of 'LIGHT'

In the spirit of writing more for this  blog, I have decided to start with a few posts reviewing my year of 2018.  I like to set a word for each year as a focus for my life, following Ali Edwards 'One Little Word'.  Last year I chose the word 'LIGHT', and I think it is the best word yet!  (Words I  have chosen in the past include: SIMPLIFY, CREATE, ACTION, GROW, DEVELOP, FLOURISH SLOW).

I thought that the word LIGHT would be a focus for all areas of my life, and decided to focus on these 3 areas:

LIGHT touch on the planet  
Letting my LIGHT shine 
LIGHT and airy home


LIGHT touch on the planet
I focused my efforts on recycling as much as possible.  We are lucky in that our local recycling centre is very good and takes most things that can be recycled.  I tried to reduce my consumption of single use plastics, and picked up at least 3 items of plastic rubbish on the beach every time I went down there.

I also cut down on buying new clothes, although I did have a little splurge in the summer with new summer tops!  I used up some of my fabric stash to make new clothes, and refashioned items bought from charity shops.  (More on sewing projects coming soon!)

Letting my LIGHT shine
I started meditating using a meditation app - which I really enjoyed, but I have not done so much lately.  I took better care of my skin, instigating a routine of a twice weekly scrub and facepack.  I started using jojoba oil on my face every morning and night.  I wanted to lose some weight, but have failed miserably in that regard!  
I tried out a 'capsule wardrobe' following Style Bee 10x10.  I made a much more concerted effort to wear smarter casual clothes and make up whenever I went out.

LIGHT and airy home
I persuaded OH to paint our bedroom, and our feature wall is now a calming green.  Along with new bedding and curtains, the room looks much lighter and brighter.

I did a lot of decluttering and had some success with selling unwanted items on eBay.  I decluttered my craft stash (again!), and gave some of it away using Freecycle.

It's been a great year for me, and I hope for you too!  I'll write more about sewing projects and our travels soon.

Diabetes Awareness Month

November is ‘diabetes awareness month’, so as a fairly recently diagnosed type 1 diabetic, I thought I’d give you some info about this disease.  I was diagnosed 4 years ago in my mid-50s.  Most people who have type 1 diabetes get the disease in their childhood or as a young adult.  It is rarer to get it when you are older. 

Blood sugar regulation
People with diabetes cannot control the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood.   We require glucose for energy, and a hormone called insulin allows the glucose to enter from the blood into the cells in our bodies.  Our bodies have some fantastic mechanisms, and one of them is blood sugar regulation.
We get glucose from the carbohydrates we eat.  In a non-diabetic, two hormones; insulin and glycogen work to stabilise the amount of glucose in the blood.  Normal values are between 5 and 7 mmol of glucose per litre of blood.

Insulin is produced by the pancreas, and acts like a key, letting the glucose in the blood gain entry into cells to be used for energy.  When blood glucose rises, eg after eating carbohydrates, the pancreas produces more insulin and the excess glucose goes into the cells.  If the blood sugar drops, there is another hormone called glycogen, that causes the liver to release some of its stored glucose.

Types of Diabetes
In type 2 diabetes, the receptors on the cells do not work properly – they do not recognise the insulin, so glucose cannot enter the cells.  The pancreas works harder to create more insulin and eventually 'tires' and stops producing insulin all together.  Type 2 diabetes is associated with obesity, and lack of exercise.

In type 1 diabetes, the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin (beta cells) are attacked by the immune system, and there is no insulin produced. Type 1 diabetics always have to inject insulin.

There are over 3 million people with diabetes in the UK (29million in the USA).  By far the majority – 90% are type 2.

Insulin
I am a type 1 diabetic, so not producing insulin.  I have to inject insulin 4 or 5 times per day.

Insulin comes in 2 forms:

Basal insulin.  One injection per day of long acting insulin, a kind of background insulin that counteracts the liver’s own production of glucose.
Bolus Insulin.  Injected before each meal depending on amount of carbohydrate consumed.
I use this ‘Multiple Dose Insulin’ regime, but some people have a pump, permanently attached which drip feeds small amounts of insulin constantly, more like the pancreas in a normal person.

Hypos and hypers
There is always the possibility of the blood sugar going outside the ‘normal’ range, especially as other factors apart from food can affect the blood sugar too, such as activity levels, illness, stress and alcohol.

Hypoglycaemia.  When the blood sugar goes below 4mmol/l, it is called a ‘hypo’.  This can be caused by too much insulin on board, and/or exercise, etc.  Hypos can be a bit scary, as you can feel quite unwell, sweaty, dizzy, jittery, nauseous, confused.   You need to treat the hypo as soon as possible by consuming fast acting carbohydrate such as fizzy sugary drink, jelly babies, dextrose tablets etc.  If not treated, it can become a medical emergency as you can slip into a coma and die.

Hyperglycaemia.  When the blood sugar goes high, ie above 7mmol/l, it is a ‘hyper’.  This can be caused by not enough insulin on board to cover the carbs in the meal, stress or illness etc. If blood sugar is constantly high, the risk of complications such as blindness, heart attack, stroke, nerve damage leading to amputation and dementia increases.  There is also the risk of DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis), a nasty condition where the blood gets acidic and you can become very unwell very quickly and require hospital treatment.

Measurement of blood sugar
Consequently, I check my blood sugar at least 5 times per day.  I used to use a blood sugar meter like this, and have to by prick my finger and use a drop of blood on the test strip that goes in the meter.

Abbott Freestyle Libre


Nowadays I use a flash glucose system called the 'Libre'.  I have a sensor stuck to my skin (on my arm) and swipe a meter over it from time to time.  It gives me a reading of my blood glucose plus an arrow showing me which way it is going, up, down or stable, and a graph of how my blood sugar has been over the last few hours.  Here's a picture of my reading just now.  I try and keep the line within the blue band.   The Libre has helped type 1 diabetics get their blood sugar under much better control, and is beginning to be available on the NHS.  (At present I do not qualify for the libre, as my control is quite good, so I buy it myself.  It is quite expensive at £100 per month!) 













I always carry a blood sugar meter and hypo treatments, especially when walking the dog! 

Low Carbohydrate diets
Many diabetics are finding that a low-carbohydrate diet helps, and some type 2 diabetics have been able to reverse their disease with this diet plus exercise.  I have been trying to eat low-carb, but it is difficult!  I avoid starchy food such as potatoes, rice and pasta, and limit the amount of bread I eat.  No cake, sweets or biscuits as a general rule!

It has been an emotional rollercoaster.  From shock at first diagnosis that I have a life long medical condition, to fear about the future and the complications, to sheer desperation that I can’t seem to get my blood sugar levels right, and depression for the relentless slog of having to think about it all the time.

However, after 4 years I am getting used to the daily slog, and realise that there are worse diseases to have!  I can continue my life reasonably normally, I still exercise, I still drive, I can still do all my crafts.  I am grateful for that, and that Insulin was discovered and it keeps me alive. I am grateful too that I became diabetic in my 50s and haven’t had it all my life.  It must be really hard if you have a small child with type 1 diabetes.

Do please let me know in the comments if you have any questions and I’ll try to answer them.  I don’t claim to be an expert, but it’s amazing how much I do know about the disease now!