{"id":115095,"date":"2022-04-20T20:48:45","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T19:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/?p=115095"},"modified":"2022-04-20T20:48:45","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T19:48:45","slug":"family-celebrations-and-home-renovations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.qvcuk.com\/presenters\/alison-keenan\/family-celebrations-and-home-renovations\/","title":{"rendered":"Family celebrations and home renovations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello there!<\/p>\n

So sorry it\u2019s been a while since I\u2019ve been able to catch up with you.\u00a0 There seems to be so much going on at home and at work that, to be honest, I\u2019m feeling a little overwhelmed, so it\u2019s good to be able to look back over my last few blogs to remind myself that in March we were celebrating several birthdays and since then we have celebrated seven more!<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Possibly the most notable was Colin\u2019s mum Kathleen who was 101 years old on the 4th<\/sup> April! Quite incredible that she is still able to walk, was able to just about hear us and talk to us, read all her birthday cards out loud and enjoy her cake. She didn\u2019t truly know who we were individually but recognised us as people who loved her and thoroughly enjoyed herself.\u00a0 She moved from her sheltered accommodation to this lovely nursing home six months ago and the difference it has made to her life is remarkable. Here\u2019s to the next year. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Our youngest grandson Corey celebrated his first birthday on the 31st<\/sup> March and most of us managed to get together to celebrate with Joe, Hayley, Rhys and Corey.\u00a0 I thought you might like to see some of the photographs.\u00a0 Corey is such a joy, always smiling, happy and content and an absolute credit to Hayley and Joe.\u00a0 His brother Rhys is great with him too \u2013 amazing to think Kathleen is 100 years older than Corey, but wonderful to see the circle of life continuing within our family.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Spring has finally sprung<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hasn\u2019t it been lovely to see an improvement in the weather? I’ve managed to get quite a few walks in recently. I met up with Claire Sutton and we managed to do a 6K circuit in Hertfordshire with her lovely dog Gus. It was great to catch up and she’s doing so brilliantly in her work as a celebrant.\u00a0 I also had a lovely day with Kathy Tayler although the weather on that day couldn\u2019t have been worse! It was pretty great to start with but then it actually snowed. Thank heavens we were both well covered and warm. Not much snow in Corfu which is where she was headed the last time I spoke to her but we\u2019re hoping to meet up again at some point later in the summer.<\/p>\n

I managed to prise Colin away from the renovations here at home and we had a fabulous night away with our friends Roz and Chris in Poole, Dorset where we saw the tribute band Rumours of Fleetwood Mac who to be honest sounded as good as the real thing!\u00a0 We all love a bit of live music and thought the Lighthouse venue was magnificent. \u00a0Having stayed overnight we were then blessed with the most beautiful weather on Saturday so we spent the day at the coast. Me in my happy place. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\"\"\n

The house is coming along well and Colin put in all the underfloor heating himself and is starting work on the wiring and plumbing for upstairs next week.\u00a0 It\u2019s wonderful to see the progress but we\u2019re both finding it quite stressful living amongst all the dirt and dust, so walking and time away is perfect and I know we\u2019re lucky to be able to do both.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

I\u2019ve been trying to be more mindful and listen to my body, and having felt more tired than usual, I did speak to Roz who has a nursing background, and on her advice, I made a much overdue visit to see my oncologist to check out a few niggles, particularly in my back and my bones. Luckily the MRI scan showed no spread of cancer but I have got significant degeneration of the spine and several discs. I need to get on top of this otherwise I\u2019ll find in my mid-60s I\u2019m not able to do very much at all!\u00a0 I have osteoporosis too and am waiting for my DEXA scan \u2013 fingers crossed that it hasn\u2019t worsened over the last two years.<\/p>\n

Something else I\u2019m looking into is the possibility of taking HRT as my menopausal symptoms continue into their 11th<\/sup> year! I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve seen me on air at QVC fanning myself or suddenly looking the colour of beetroot! Because my breast cancer was hormone receptive, HRT is not something that\u2019s been available to me but there\u2019s been a breakthrough recently and I am hoping to become part of a trial to find out if it would be safe for me to use. That\u2019s thanks to Pipa Gordon who told me about Dr Louise Newson and her clinic and suggested I get in touch. I\u2019ll let you know how I get on.<\/p>\n

It seems we\u2019re all different in how menopause affects us, and I know some folk sail through it, but I am glad that it\u2019s no longer a taboo subject as the more we talk about it, the more we learn. \u00a0I chatted to my sister Jenny about it when we climbed once more to the top of Old Winchester Hill on Good Friday.\u00a0 The weather was sublime, and the view even better than the last time and we rewarded ourselves with a delicious pub lunch – it\u2019s always good to spend time together.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Let’s talk TV<\/strong><\/p>\n

I did want to tell you about a film I watched with Colin called \u201cI Got Life\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s a French film on BBC iPlayer, about a 50-year old divorced woman who is menopausal, struggling with her life and her job, has two adult daughters and suddenly bumps into her first love. I know it doesn\u2019t sound like a barrel of laughs, and I had to get my head around the subtitles initially, but we absolutely loved it. It was easy to watch, funny, sad, poignant but essentially happy and uplifting. I would highly recommend it. \u00a0Equally entertaining but in a completely different way is the spectacular BBC TV drama The Split. All I\u2019m going to say is if you haven\u2019t seen it you need to!\u00a0 This is series 3 so I\u2019d suggest you go back and watch the first two – you will not be disappointed.<\/p>\n

Let’s talk TSVs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Something else you won\u2019t be disappointed with is our TSV on the 23rd<\/sup> April.\u00a0 It\u2019s the Ninja Dual Zone Air Fryer Max. \u00a0An ingenious piece of kitchen equipment that allows you to cook two different foods in two different ways at the same time with the two drawers!\u00a0 You can use six different cooking methods including air frying, crisping, roasting, baking and warming and the time it will save you along with electricity is astounding.\u00a0 It is simple to use with a clear digital display and having never tried it before, I managed to cook roast lamb with roast potatoes in 22 minutes as it\u2019s up to 75% faster than most fan ovens.<\/p>\n

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Presenter Alison Keenan tests the Ninja Dual Zone Air Fryer Max<\/a><\/h4>\n

Alison tries out the upcoming Ninja Dual Zone Air Fryer Max 9.5L AF400UK Today’s Special Value offer<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n