ANTICIPATING THE SNOWDROP FESTIVAL!

So much for good intentions!  Belinda, Jenny and I have found that colds, work and life commitments have got in the way of the three of us going for a walk!  However, yesterday the sun shone and we managed to get together to have a look around Shepton and follow some public footpaths around the outskirts.

The walk, for me, starts by walking to Jenny's beauty salon, Skin and Tonic - see above right pic.   We had a look at the new lifestyle shop in Town Street - Cedar House and checked out what was happening in the High Street...

As Shepton is quite hilly, you get some interesting views, looking down into people's houses and gardens - see above. 

The town is starting to buzz in anticipation to the Shepton Snowdop Festival which takes place this coming weekend.  At the One Craft Gallery, I had a hand in the window dressing (see above).  My painting, 'Dancing Snowdrops' can be seen in the bottom right photograph. 

Above is the fabulous snowdrop window done by Anna for her shop, Anna's Attic. She won the best window design last year and it looks as though she is set to win again!

WE COLLECT BRANCHES FOR WINDOW DRESSING!

Early this cold and misty morning, Jenny and I went in search of branches to transform into free Christmas decorations!  Jenny has her hair and beauty salon - Skin and Tonic, and I have the One Craft Gallery to decorate.  We have some ideas for window dressing which may or not work...

We went up a bridleway which has an abundance of trees on both sides, and plenty of broken branches on the ground, so we were spoilt for choice!  Jenny liked the more intricate and curly branches, while I went for simpler curvy shapes.  The ones I brought back are now drying off in my conservatory before being painted...

WILDFLOWER FRIDAY!

We set off under an overcast sky to West Shepton, as last year we had really admired the cow parsley, on one particular bridleway and wanted to see what it was like.  By the time we got there it was raining, but we weren't disappointed as besides the white billowing clouds of cow parsley, it was a day for spotting wild flowers - buttercups, dandelions, vetch, daises, lady's smock, red campion etc. As a child I used to press and name them, so I tend to be more familiar with them than flowers in the garden!

My skin felt great this morning and I felt quite buff, as yesterday I had a restful afternoon having a facial and pedicure at Skin and Tonic!  Jenny gave my skin quite an MOT, including eyelashes and brows trimmed and darkened.  The microblading on my eyebrows she did earlier in the year is still looking good!  And I now have some lovely red toes to peek out of summer sandals...

I would rather spend money on grooming - I went for hair highlights this afternoon - than expensive clothes.  After all, style and looking good is all about how you wear things - they can come from the charity shop!  If you feel your hair and make-up are the best they can be, it gives you confidence, which shows!  And clothes and make-up look so much better over a healthy and looked after face and body!

  
By the time we had finished our circular walk, the sun was shining and all the dog walkers looked happy!  Jenny made friends with a lonely and sad looking horse, which was quite an achievement as he wasn't that friendly, and she is a bit scared of horses...

TALKING SKINCARE...

Not walking today - other commitments!  So I just thought I would take this opportunity to talk skin...  Change of seasons and weather can dull your skin.  The way to counteract this, and bring the freshness back, is to exfoliate.  The definition of exfoliation is to remove the oldest dead skin cells on the skin's outermost surface. Facials involve this process, as does microdermabrasion and the chemical peels that you can get at medical spas.  Or you can buy a product and do it yourself...

However, if you go down this route do find an exfoliator or scrub that is gentle.  In fact, 'gentle' is the watchword, as products that contain rough particles or granules can cause damage to the skin and lead to tears!  Get advice from a therapist, like me!  Or, somebody who knows what they are talking about at the store's beauty department.  With your chosen scrub, use your ring finger to work it in, with a small circular motion, covering each area only once...

One last tip - assess your skin on a daily basis.  Like the weather, it changes constantly, and instead of going into auto pilot, look, feel and assess what it needs - could be extra moisture or perhaps some exfoliation... That way you nip ageing in the bud!

PAULA GIVES US A BOOST!

What a beautiful day for an early morning walk - Spring is really here!  A surprise waited for me when I went to pick up Jenny - Paula, the holistic therapist at Skin and Tonic, was there to join us.  She had already been on a run!  She is always a bundle of energy and gives us a boost...

At the start I passed on a walking tip, that I had gleaned from Nina Barough, the founder of Walk the Walk, a breast cancer charity raising money and awareness through power walks.  She suggests, "Imagine that you are holding on to a lottery ticket between your bottom cheeks!  It makes you more aware of your posture and of keeping your hips tilted slightly forward - and will give you a toned bottom." Well, we all tried it and set out with good intentions but, as soon the conversation got interesting, I know I forgot all about it!!

We took Paula on one of our favourite walks, which takes us over farmland, through footpaths, bridle ways and has the Charlton Viaduct as a dramatic backdrop.  We searched for some dandelion leaves to feed to Paula's rabbit - not so easy to find when they aren't  in flower!  She told us about her latest clients, the ones with four legs, who were racing at Cheltenham last week!  She loves treating horses and in many cases, she sees to the owners and riders too...  She says that if there is something out of balance in the rider's body this will transmit to the horse!

Another tip from Nina Barough - "if you have a walking buddy, do as the professional athletes do; take it in turns to be the pace setter, so that one of you is always pushing things forward."  Whenever we are with Paula, she is always the one in front...  As you can see, we tried a selfie but didn't get the camera down low enough to get the whole of Paula's head in!!

GREY SKIES!

This morning I had early clients booked in the salon - a regular occurrence lately - so we settled for a short and snappy turn around where we live, Tadley Acres. Although only a quick walk, we always remark that we are glad we make the effort...

We did some checking up on the Reservation Area at the edge of the estate - an area set aside for wildlife and trees - just to see if it was still a reservation!  It was fine, no signs of building, and the young trees that were planted a couple of years ago were coming on beautifully!  We struggled a little for photographic material today, as the light was not good - it was such a grey day!  We did however, manage to find some bright spots, in the form of Spring flowers, bright foliage and even some blossom!

The last of the new houses are almost completed, making for a huge number of dwellings on this development - out of interest I must find out how many!  It certainly feels huge when we deliver leaflets...

Another long day at work today, but enjoyable.  I am so lucky, I would say my job is rather like a girly day out!!  I love it...

SIGNS OF SPRING!

Today had a different feel all together, fresh and crisp, with hints of Spring everywhere, if you looked hard enough!  There were plenty of things to see in Collett Park (see above).  And yes, it is easier to get up at the crack of dawn, with these notably lighter mornings!

Another shortish, brisk walk today as I had a busy day ahead!  I needed to be back in time to sort out seating for 10 ladies in my small salon!  They were coming for a session at Skin and Tonic on 'health and wellbeing' with a make-up demo.

My group of ladies came for two hours.  As the time went on they became more relaxed and settled into the salon environment - the noise levels went up and they asked lots of questions!  It gave me the opportunity to talk about the new treatment that I am very excited about - Microblading!  This is the form of tattooing for eyebrows that I have just done on Helen, and she was writing about it in the previous post.  It is semi-permanent and lasts about 18 months to 2 years - a godsend for some ladies!

I took a lot of the photos today - got right up close to the ducks, the odd seagull and then there were these painted handprints on the pavement...

CHILLY AND BRIGHT!

Today was chilly, but not the heavy frost we had the day before.  We didn't have long for our walk as Jenny was expecting an early call from a plumber!  We went down to one of our favourite sights  on a Friday - the setting up of the Shepton Market.  The flower stall was beginning to look very Spring-like - a mass of colour and the artisan bread being piled up looked inviting...

Another wonderful sky worth photographing this morning - looked like another sunny day ahead.  Our walk took us down to the bottom of town, around the perimeter of the prison, past the allotments and back through the park.

You remember Jenny had recently completed a course on semi-permanent make-up for eyebrows - well, on Wednesday I went over to Skin and Tonic to have mine done!  Wow, what a difference!  She did a fantastic job and I love them!  It didn't hurt any more than plucking your eyebrows.  She didn't take away any of my natural eyebrows but filled them in and darkened them using a tiny blade, brown colour and natural-looking feathery incisions... 

Normally, every morning I would have to put some colour on my brows, as over the years, plucking and wear had made them thin and pale, especially in some areas. Now I don't have to do anything and they looked shaped, groomed and even!  They give my face, especially the eyes, more definition, even without makeup!  For all the 'baby boomers' out there, it is something I would recommend in the fight to slow down the ageing process!!..

WHAT A BREEZE!

It was dark and pouring with rain when I woke this morning so I was prepared to get wet and not enjoy our walk.  However, once out, the rain had eased off and the temperature was mild, although it was soggy underfoot and very breezy.   But there is something very satisfying about being out in the elements, as long as you are warm and dry!  It is so easy to hibernate, not go out and miss out on the joys of being in the countryside.

In a few minutes from our homes we are in the countryside.  Which is just as well as, yes, we were short of time again today!  We are hoping to make up for it next week with some longer walks.  Even on our shorter walks, we go for an hour or so and the time passes so quick - all that talking!

There are some wonderful coloured leaves this Autumn.  I hadn't realised, until recently, that the leaves do not, in fact, change colour - they are that colour underneath a layer of green chlorophyll.  It is the fading of the green pigment that allows the reds, oranges, yellows and browns to shine through.  However, the wind is bringing them all down and some trees are now looking quite bare!  We did notice how noisy it was today - the wonderful rustling sound of the wind blowing through the dried out leaves and branches... 

The wind causes havoc on our estate with bins being blown over and when we got back to Skin and Tonic we noticed one of the banners had come adrift (above bottom left).  

I do love A.A. Milne poetry.  I have the complete 'When we were very young' and 'Now we are six' with illustrations by E.H. Shepard.  It is the one book I would never get rid of from my childhood.  The breeze this morning reminded me of this poem:

WIND ON THE HILL

No one can tell me,

Nobody knows,

Where the wind comes from,

Where the wind goes.

It's flying from somewhere

As fast as it can,

I couldn't keep up with it,

Not if I ran.

But if I stopped holding

The string of my kite,

It would blow with the wind

For a day and a night.

And then when I found it,

Wherever it blew,

I should know that the wind

Had been going there too.

So then I could tell them

Where the wind goes...

But where the wind comes from

Nobody knows.

PAULA BRINGS HER ENERGY!

Lots of fun and games this morning!!

Paula (Cuthbert) our holistic therapist at Skin & Tonic, was invited as a guest .. She brought her wonderful energy and zest with her!

Given that it was 7am, it seem to rub off on Helen and myself, as you can see!  The zip wire has recently been restored in Collett Park so we couldn't resist...

We headed up a steep lane from Bowlish that we have named 'cardiac hill', in the hope she would soon get out of breath, and hopefully quieten down - it didn't work!

She does amazing things from the Garden Room situated at the rear of the salon. Kinesiology being the huge success story, with a growing clientele.  It involves muscle testing for food intolerances, amongst other things.  I am very lucky to have her at the salon.  It's great to have a session regularly to see what I might be lacking in my nutrition and lifestyle!  She also does V.H.T.,  Reflexology and treats racehorses!

We revisited the old Windsor Hill railway tunnels today, finding a second one - not sure what Helen thought as I grasped her arm quite tight as we went through...

We showed Paula parts of Shepton she hadn't seen before and ended up in the Market Place as the market stalls were setting up. She was most impressed!  All in all a great start to our day...

START THE JOURNEY

Welcome to the first post on Jenny and Helen’s new blog - WALK the TALK.  Jenny is a blogging virgin, but I have had a mixed media blog for several years now and love the opportunity to share ideas and observations. To start our walks, I go down the road about 100 yards to Skin and Tonic.  This is Jenny’s business and home and our starting point.  We set out at 7 am, whatever the weather, and try not to miss, even if one of us has been on the wine the night before and doesn’t feel like getting up! We aim to walk three times a week and wear suitable walking clothes with walking boots and waterproofs, when necessary.  After each walk, one of us, will be posting thoughts and photographs so this blog will be, in effect, a diary of our adventures, reflecting the change of seasons and what is happening in and around our hometown of Shepton Mallet in Somerset.  We have no idea where this blog will lead us, but we want to have fun and hope that you will join us on our journey!