Walk Tall

Although winter 2017 won't officially kick off for a few days, it certainly has kicked off at Chez Pout.  I sneakily give the house additional bursts of the central heating outside of it's normal programming.  We are lighting fires more and more frequently.  We sup warming soups frequently.

The long cashmere merino jumpers are coming out of their summer hibernation.

The furry mufflers have become a go-to on crisp chilly days.

The boots are opening themselves up to tucked in/jeans.

And a big roll-neck indoors isn't bringing me out in hot flushes (flashes).

One notices little things when making seasonal switches .  Either I have shrunk since last winter or this jumper has stretched downwards.  For I don't remember it being quite so long last winter.  I reckon I'm close to adding this one to my expanding sweater/dress collection!

I was able to cover the additional jumperage under my Uniqlo lightweight down coat but I really am going to have to address my shrinkage issue.

I am becoming more and more aware of my deportment, or lack of it, of late.  I find myself slouching.  I pass a shop window and spot an old lady shuffling along with her head hung forward in a stoop.  My dowager's hump is now the size of a small hillock.

I remember picking up a valuable tip a few years ago, from June Brown (Dot Cotton) of all people.  Her tip for feeling and looking young at 80 is to consciously hold yourself up from the diaphragm. Just that.  No miracle creams.  Just good posture from one simple body shift.

Try it.  You instantly stand and walk better, you look taller and I'm guessing you also look younger - just with one swift posture tweak.

The hidden bonus is that by standing correctly, the diaphragm is given optimum conditions to hold in place the surrounding vital organs which it supports.

All of this multitude of beneficial stuff from one simple tweak of the body.  What a gift!

So, by continuing my programme of good deportment I am hoping next time I wear my longline jumper it will be finishing somewhere around the top of my hips where I'm pretty sure it sat during Winter 2016.  Watch this space.

A space I won't be watching for some months from now on is where this rose bush is planted.  Winter's last flourish of flowering ended a week or two ago, shortly after I took this pic.  These are my last rose blooms of 2017.  But see how tall they stand, and how fresh and vibrant they look, even though winter is rapidly approaching and they are not in their prime.

Yes gals, Dot Cotton and these late bloomers are telling me that its not too late to make a difference ... Walk Tall. 

 

A la perchoine.