Insomnia a Walk and the First Cut.

 The Insomnia

I'm sure that I've mentioned many times that I am a very poor sleeper, for me a good nights sleep is falling asleep almost immediately waking just once through the night to go to the loo, then falling straight back to sleep again and waking around 6 30am. I never sleep through the night, that would be amazing. 

More often than not the above is not the case, this past week I have slept on average just 3 - 4 hours a night, in fact one night I didn't sleep at all! I know I'm not alone there are many of you like me, but it makes you wonder why it happens, why can't we sleep? 

There is a vast amount of help available online and believe you me I have tried everything there is to be tried. It's like the sleep switch just doesn't work, I can be tired and yawning when I go to bed and then the next minute be wide awake. 

For the record.

I exercise every day. 

I go to bed every night at the same time.

I don't look at computer screens, or any other screens for at least an hour before bedtime.

My last meal is always a light one and is eaten a good four hours before bedtime.

My bedroom is an oasis of calm, no screens, no clutter, just a comfortable bed, drawers and wardrobes, there is no light pollution and it's at a perfect temperature.

My last caffeine intake is 3pm.

I listen to calming music in the evenings and have tried meditation.

I eat foods that are rich in magnesium which helps promote sleep you can see them here I have also drank herbal teas.

I have tried sleeping tablets very briefly in the past, if I take one now it doesn't work, I just feel hung over and groggy the next day. Sleeping pills are not the answer, so what is? is there an answer or do we just have to accept it and deal with it the best we can. 

How I'm Coping

If I lie awake for more than two hours, I will read for half an hour put my book down and then try again, if after another two hours I still haven't slept I will do something else for half an hour and then try again and so it goes on throughout the night, at least this way I feel my time isn't totally wasted like it when I am lying there tossing and turning all night.

Son number three has recommended I try Sleepio.com I have nothing to loose so I'm giving it a try, the first week is keeping a sleep diary, I'll let you know how I get on.

Let me know if you have sleep problems and how you cope with them, we may learn something from each other. 

Since writing this I have come across this website which gives out lots of useful information

Everything You Need To Know About Insomnia

A Walk

This week, my friend Baz, yes the one who got me lost in Hawthorne Dene 😂 suggested a walk nearer to home, in fact it's a walk he takes a couple of times a week, it's just a short one Linda he says, about three miles. Seaham is Baz's home town so he knows all the nooks and crannies and hidden pathways. The walk he suggested took us through a Park in Dalton-Le-Dale 

I had never visited this park before and it was practically deserted, it will be lovely when the weather warms up, it's huge and there were lots of lovely Spring flowers in bloom.

The park brings you out into the village of Dalton-Le-Dale which has quite a rich history, here you can see the ruins of Daldon Towers a fourteenth century structure, which I found really fascinating, I love to see old ruins and try to trace their history. I found some information from the Dalton Le Dale history society, you can read about Daldon Towers here.

This Fountain is just a little bit further along from the ruins you can read more about it here. 

I left a few painted rocks there for someone to find. 😊

This lovely old tree looked so pretty I was surprised to see it covered in cherry blossom already.

We continued through the village and decided to take a circular route back rather than turn back and retrace our steps. I was feeling quite tired as I had only slept for three hours the night before but as we stepped out from the dene which runs behind Dalton Le dale, it brought us out onto this road and I could see with the sea so far away in the distance we still had quite a way to go. 

How long did you say this walk was I asked, about three miles said he, I said you have got to be kidding! 

It was a lovely walk really, the weather was quite cool with a very cold wind blowing in our faces but what let it down mostly was the litter! I could have wept, the amount of litter along this road was unbelievable. Obviously people just throw their rubbish out of the car window as they speed along. Are they mad! what on earth are they thinking? We are doing so much damage to this poor planet of ours but how can we stop this, how can we teach people to act more responsibly surely it's common sense. 

By the time we got to the sea front I was pretty tired and yes once again just dying for a cup of lovely reviving coffee. 

and still trying and failing miserably to capture all the beautiful changing colours of the sea, in the photos they just look grey but in real life I saw deep turquoise, blues and greens.

I love to spot the tiny boats in the far distance. 

The walk ended favourably with a stop off at costa for a take-away cup of cappuccino and we sat facing our beloved statue Tommy  with the coffee cups warming our hands and the cold wind not bothering us at all.

From this point of course I still had quite a walk home, after collapsing in the chair when I got in I checked my Fitbit to discover that the three mile walk was actually over eight miles! we had walked 17,518 steps. You would think then that I would have slept soundly that night but that was the night I didn't sleep at all🤦‍♀️ strange isn't it?

My lawn has had it's first cut it's looking rather patchy here but I love it when it's smooth and neat.

I wait for this pot of hyacinths to bloom every Spring, this year I will repot them because they haven't done as well as they usually do but I love them just the same. 

I painted the bunny stone to cheer up son number three as he was quite ill in bed suffering from the side effects of his second vaccine, of course I could only send him a picture, he can have it when I see him again, I have no idea when that will be but I'm hoping to visit him in Qatar later in the year, fingers crossed. 🤞 The side effects only lasted a couple of days and he's fine now.😊

The crocheting and sewing is going on quite frantically in the background as I have to finish this for Daughter in law one for her birthday at the beginning of next month..

and this before the end of the month..

so that's what I will be doing this weekend, what will you be up to? whatever it is I hope that you have a good one. 

Take Care 😘😘