How much physical activity do you manage?

Way to go Greatnan!

Maalie mentioned balance, so I will make a confession. There is a 'fitness trail' in the woods near here, and I couldn't resist walking along the tree trunk which had been provided for balancing. A strip about 4" wide had been flattened on the top and it was about 2' off the floor. I did look round before I started, as I thought people find it odd to see a white-haired old lady doing a balancing act. I didn't bother tippling over the bars or swinging from the rings.

Maalie - well done for taking up a new career when most people are thinking of retirement.
It is probably more comfortable for your older clients to work with someone nearer their own age than some superfit 20-year old!

I retrained as a personal fitness trainer at the age of 60. I specialise in people over 50, although in reality most of the people I work with are over 60. I don't think you can over-estimate how important keeping active is. Exercise doesn't need to be going to the gym and pumpiing iron. I work with younger people who have done no exercise and older people who have always exercised. It becomes apparent immediately who has the better quality of life. I am going to keep active and try to encourage others to do so because I don't want anyone else to wipe my bottom as I get older, thank you very much. Falls and their complications are one of the major causes of death in the over 75s. Strength, flexibility and balance exercises can help prevent these. You also need activity which makes your heart beat slightly faster and makes you a bit breathless. The minimum recommendation is 30 minutes per day, but you can break this into 3 x 10 minute sessions, if 30 minutes all at once seems too much.

Humph! If all it takes is resetting the trip switches (we have them all in one place, by the way), you ain't got a problem! When we have electricity outages here they last for hours and occasionally for days!! We're hoping there will be fewer now as at least the local lines have been put underground. The last few very severe winter storms convinced the electricity board that it would be cost effective to try and prevent a few rather than forever patching up in the dark and cold and lashing rain and paying all the workers double for the inconvenient hours.

Yes, but the problem here is that it almost always takes out the electricity and you have to run round the property resetting the trip switches!

[zap emoticon!]

I love summer thunderstorms! Enjoy!

Thirty-one in deep shade here. It is very close and quite unpleasant now; don't think the storm is far away.

No, I think that should be fine, so long as where it is is always in shade and doesn't trap any reflected heat.

So 'phew!'-type hot then?

B - so I checked with J. and he says I was slack with the info.
The kitchen door faces west, but it is inset by about 2ft. giving a little wall to the left which faces due north, and is never in direct sunlight.
Is it still sited in an iffy place - being so close to the house?

Just mentioning this because of the fundamental importance, e.g. some of the thermometer readings used to calculate average global temperature (a phenomenally difficult thing to do anyway) have been shown to be invalid because the thermometers are sited too near things which will make a difference to readings, such as buildings and roads (urban heat island effect) or places in airports that are too near to where there is sometimes hot aeroplane exhaust.

Just sayin'

For scientific thermometer readings, they have to be in the shade all the time. Temperatures given on weather sites and programmes will always be shade and protected from wind temperatures. Too many unknown variables otherwise. My outdoor thermom faces north-west so in high summer the late afternoon readings don't count.

absent - I wouldn't dream of laughing at your endeavours!
It is very hot here today but I walked for the first hour beside a tumbling river in the shade of very tall pines, on a carpet of fallen leaves. After that, the path climbed very steeply towards a col (mountain pass) - it was very rocky with a lot of loose scree, which is about the hardest stuff to walk on as it is like walking on ball bearings. Luckily, I had my poles and dug them in as hard as I could. I was a bit tired when I got to the top - probably not many miles along the ground, but the rise in altitude was from 900 metres to over 1200 metres, say around 1,000 feet. At the ridge, I was at an altitude of nearly 4,000 feet, but I am now used to it and I don't have any breathing difficulties. I had a ten minute rest and drank half my bottle of water, then took a different route down.
When I got home, my bp was only 96/58 for a time, which is too low. It is now creeping up - 107/58 and it will be back to a normal reading by this evening. I think I will start taking a picnic instead of just water and having a longer rest at the top - otherwise my 'mum' (Granjura) will tell me off!

We did a house swap last year - worked really well. Have a great trip!
Yep, storms predicted here too, and after this heat, it'll be lively no doubt.
I've been thinking of getting a hammock - it would be perfect between our two walnut trees.

Well I did manage an hour in the hammock, under the trees with a book, this afternoon, just to prove I sometimes "live the dream"! We are off on Sunday to the UK to take the GDs to the seaside for a week and are doing a house swap, so we have been getting everything sorted.
Storms due tonight, I think.

mamie - and bonkers! . It's hotter down here - the reading outside the kitchen door which faces west and gets the sun hitting it just about now, reads 35 degrees, and the most exercise I have done today is to put the shutters " à point"!

I have got enough exercise just imagining all this! - that'll do for me!

I have cut the grass, weeded the borders, cleaned the windows, helped clear out the cellar, finished cleaning and preparing the cottage in the garden for visitors and now I am inside because it is 31 degrees.
Hot not angry!

Greatnan I often think about you and your mountain walks when I'm exercising on the treadmill – well, there's no countryside to look at to relieve the boredom. I always think you would have a good laugh if you saw my sweaty red face and expression of pride in the piddly numbers of kilometres walked and metres climbed.

Greatnan I love hearing about your adventures and walks, so don't stop, please. I don't do much exercise other than gardening, housework and walking the dog, then my knee lets me down. The thought of being able to hike through the mountains is wonderful. Keep telling us all about it

Thank you, folks, you are very kind. I am just watching The Wright Stuff then I am off for a really tough climb before it gets too hot. I am flying to Manchester next week and won't be able to do any walking for three weeks, so I have to make the most of this week!

greatnan carry on telling us about your walks I love to hear where you have been.

Yes, me too, greatnan. I'd come with you if I could.Mind you, I think you like the solitude quite often, don't you? As I would. Do carry on telling us about them.

Wish I could do more physical activity than I do. My muscles want to do more than my bones. It's a pain, literally!

Well actually greatnan I for one would hate you to stop mentioning your walks. I love to envisage you striding around in the Alps.