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Tag - health

New hippy, hip replacement

Health and Fitness • Wellbeing

Gill Paul’s hip replacement: me and my new hippy

Breast screening, the pros and cons

Health and Fitness • Wellbeing

Breast screening – why I opted out of a routine...

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This Grown Gal

I’m Avril – midlife graphic designer, writer, gardener, cook and bottle washer. I live and work in East London with my childhood sweetheart and our mini schnauzer Ricci.

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ageing ageing parent baking beauty careers care homes childless chocolate climate change crafts cruelty free customer service detox dogs empty nester environment exercise fashion feet foraging friendship gardening grey hair grief health healthy eating hobbies holidays home improvement interiors loneliness memory menopause mental health mindfulness recipes shoes single spring cleaning stress incontinence travel vegetarian work writer’s block writing

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This Grown Gal

I’m Avril – midlife graphic designer, writer, gardener, cook and bottle washer. I live and work in East London with my childhood sweetheart and our mini schnauzer Ricci.

growngals

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In light of #halloween and #dayofthedead I’ve written a piece for the blog about taking control of death. If you want to read about how I’m planning for a good death head over to Growngals.com.
#dead #death #dignity #assistedsuicide #thegooddeath #compassion #mercy #lettinggo #ageinggracefully #bestlife #nevergiveup

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Our black cat door stop from @themuseumofmodernart comes into its own today. #halloween #blackcat #schnauzersofinstagram

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The colours of #autumn #nofilter #docmartens

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A full tray of farmed mushrooms from Chapel Street market today - £3. It’s been the perfect growing season so they are plentiful but this is still an incredible bargain. Mushroom risotto for supper.
#wildmushrooms🍄
#girolles #chanterelles #kingoystermushroom #funghi

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Pumpkins everywhere. Taking our pumpkin carving inspiration from a 1000 pumpkins on display @dalstongarden. #easterncurvegarden #dalstonpumpkins

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#Saturday #Sunshine - a bright day is a happy day. How lucky I am to be at home.

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End of the season. Discovered a wonderful tomato sauce recipe with anchovy, garlic and lemon rind. On rainy days its all about bottling, #pickling and #preserving.
#homegrown #fruitandveg #homecooking #simplelife

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This #RainySunday is my autumn deep clean day. I’ve bottomed the lot - skirtings, cornices, washed floors, swept out the cobwebs but saved the spiders. All with natural cleaning products including my new favourite - citric acid ingredient. He on the other hand made this lovely #focaccia to go with my roast tomato soup.
#notsolazysunday #home #homebakedbread #baker #autumnclean #naturalcleaning #citricacid #ecofriendly #sustainability #thegoodlife #foccacia

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#yarnbombing in #whitstable. Beautiful work but I wish the installation was about the #climatecrisis instead. Take that beautifully knitted globe girls and use it in a more powerful message about protecting this place we call home.
#craftivism #whitstableyarnbombers #yarnbombing #knittersofinstagram

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This is what I’ve been doing since my mum died. Organising a community event which takes place tomorrow and the forecast is for a beautiful day. It’s been a focus, a challenge, a joy and a headache. Most of all it makes me realise how much like her I am. The making banners, painting plastic fish, baking, growing - even a bit of design. These posters are printed onto waterproof paper so don’t need laminating. This one has been up for a month through rain and sun.
#flowerandproduceshow #hackney #debeauvoirsquare #dogshow #bakeoff #flowers #organiser #preloved #greenerplanet #recycle #greener #allotment #fightingclimatechangetogether

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My man made bread. Delicious fougasse.
On the blog: why men are so good at bread.
#menwhobake #homemade #realbread #flatbread #mezzeplatter #practicemakesperfect

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The latest post on the blog comes courtesy of my mate Gill Paul. I’m not strong enough to write about the big stuff yet so here’s how to clean a scorched pan instead.
I’ve realised this late in the day that everything is connected. If we are mindful of the detail, the minutiae, we begin to see more. So we can choose to scrub clean, breaking nails and using abrasives that leave our hands raw. Or, we can soak, use natural ingredients and conjure some ancient wizardry to lift the burnt-on layers.

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I’ve decided that Ricci’s politics are on the far right. She likes fox hunting but hates hoodies, skateboards and children. She is greedy, a racist, a bully and a coward. Luckily she is a dog so she will never stand for #election.

#schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzer #dogsofinstagram

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I started making my own #granola in plastic free July and it’s a revelation. Toss any nuts, seeds and oats in honey and bake. Served here with my home grown raspberries and a spoonful of kefir yoghurt. Oats from scoop shop, local honey in a glass jar, nuts and seeds from scoop shop. Home made kefir using milk delivered in a glass bottle. No plastic. Na. None.
#plasticfree #breakfast #sustainableliving #growyourfood #homemade #storecupboard #homemadegranola #granolahomemade #allotment #kefir #lovethisplanet #onesmallstep

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This is my favourite pic of mum and dad. In almost every other picture they are laughing or smiling but this captures them wistful. Miss you both.
#memories #mumanddad #gonebutnotforgotten #grief

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Going through photos I found this sequence of pictures of Tabitha and Ricci. My mother bought a Siamese kitten to help her cope after dad died. These pics were taken when mum came to stay with me. It took a week of watching one another but finally dog and cat made friends. I was looking forward to seeing the relationship blossom but just a few weeks later my mum had the first of her strokes. Tabitha went to live with her sister at my aunt’s home and Ricci never saw her again. Tabitha never forgot me though. When I visited mum, every other weekend for 5 years I often stayed with my aunt and the cat would always curl up in my lap. I don’t know if she could smell mum or Ricci (or both).
#catsanddogs #grieving

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Jersey Tiger moth (Euplagia quadripunctaria) on a lily of the valley leaf this morning. I love this time of year as spiders start to weave their webs around the garden and insects feast. When we stop and notice the details it puts everything into perspective. #mindfulness. #moth #jerseytigermoth #wildlifegarden #insects #mothernaturesbeauty #savetheplanet #wildlife #inmygarden #londongarden

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My darling mum died in my arms early this morning. This is her water lily. I rescued it from her pond after her stroke four years ago. It flowered in my wildlife pond for the first time this weekend - against all the odds in water that is too shallow.
#mother #alwaysnforever #goodbye #rip #lilypond #mothernature #lifeanddeath #waterlily #wildlife #lifeforce #mothernaturesbeauty #peaceatlast

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Ricci and me. Atop Leith Hill on a walk with old chums on a glorious day.
#schnauzersofinstagram #summerwalks #friends

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1. Purslane 2. Sea Rocket 3. Both leaves in a goats cheese salad. Foraged foods from Pegwell Bay #Margate. I’m not vegan but Purslane leaves have more omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy vegetable plant making it great for a #vegan diet. #veganfoods #omega3 #wildfood #foragedfood #foraging #weededibles #edibleleaves #purslane #pigweed #searocket #wildflower #freefood #naturesbounty

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