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My wide brim hat, long sleve shirt and high neck T Shirt and slack or long skirt, is my sun smart, outdoor outfit. I sometimes add a scarf and many seniors add cotton gloves to this lot. I do have sun exposure, before 10 am and after 4pm to get some Vit D. It is a balancing act, enough but not too much sunshine.
Reg and I will be making our annual visit to the Casey Solar Skin Cancer Clinic for checkups, in a couple of day’s time.  They have been looking after us, taking photos or to be more precise, using the SolarScan® technology to keep a record of our skin spots and occasionally removing suspect skin lesions, not an uncommon, occurrence for people in their young senior years in Australia.

I usually need to have something removed from my face or neck, and Reg has had a lesion removed from his hand. Last year they removed a non cancerous lump, from my back it probably would have responded to something as simple as back acne treatment but it was driving me ‘nuts’ as it was under my bra strap and it was easier for me to have a quick cut and a couple of stitches and finally be free of the irritation. It was all bulk billed. J, no expence.

I would not ever miss my annual solar Skin Cancer Clinic, it is reassuring knowing experts help watch our skin for changes. J..

SolarScan® is a device, which takes high-resolution images of lesions and stores and compares them to existing images of malignant and non-malignant skin lesions. The computer will also compare images taken of a patient’s mole or lesion with future images to identify any changes

Diagnostic and treatment centres, operating out of several Allied Medical Group clinics in Australia. Doctors provide accurate diagnosis of skin cancer lesions with the assistance of latest SolarScan® technology.

This comparison is one of the main features of the system in monitoring lesions that are not clearly determined to be problematic. The aim of this device is to assist in early and accurate detection of Melanoma. For all enquiries relating to Solar Skin Cancer Clinics Website: www.solarskincancerclinics.com.au

 
 
 
My husband Reg is getting fitter every day. He is working out using the Wii, mostly at the balance games and some on the spot jogging. He has his Wii age down from 75, (which came as a shock as his actual age is 69,) to 59 or -10, his actual age.  We were both so pleased with that result and how much more freely he is moving.  I was thinking if he could now jog on the spot for 20 minutes it was time I bought him his first pair of good running shoes, since he was a teenager and ran marathons. 

My man tends to buy $20. Chain store special shoes and having once had a spinal injury, and having a curvature of the spine and arthritis, I believe the difference it will make to his health and movement to be fitted professionally for a good pair of well cushioned and supporting shoes, will be worth far more than the cost factor.

These are what I bought him.

 
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Trance™9
From the pr blurb on the Brooks Running Shoes, web site:- Quote:- 'You’ve come to expect big things from this shoe. The Trance™ 8 introduced BioMoGo to the world, and the Trance™ 9 unveiled our improved Progressive Diagonal Rollbar (PDRB®), delivering unsurpassed cushioning and effortless but supportive heel-to-toe transitions. Jam-packed with premium plushness (say that ten times fast), the Trance™ 9 remains worthy of your highest expectations. Width DSupport Category This category represents the shoes best suited for the majority of the running population.'

Now for unique gifts for her in this day of retail therapy, I have been watching one of my favourite dress stores, a little country town boutique, I drive past regularly and noticing the20% off Sale, on the window, ever since Christmas, but I have held out and waited until today, the 50% off sign was finally up.  I pulled over and out of four dresses I tried on three looked fabulous on me. Oh it is so nice to be out of the big girls clothing department and able to shop in boutiquesJ. It is three years since I was a size 22 to 24 and I LOVE the healthier fitter, me, even more than I love the being able to walk into any regular sizes dress boutique and find clothes that fit me.  

I selected the most practical dress for me, the one I will get the most use from, a day dress, sun frock. This dress is ideal for the coastal tour we will be enjoying this year.  This is what I love, buying, well-made, non mass-produced quality, when it is at chain store price.

But.Drum rolls........... The very BEST gift, I got was this morning when I did the fitness test in the Wii fit plus and it said my Wii age was down from my start of 62 years which was minus one year, from my actual 63 years of age, to ..........drum roll again J.  35 years Wii fit age. J  I am pleased with myself.  I feel it tooJ, I’ve never felt fitter or healthier in my life.  In this last three years of gradually increasing fitness activity, I am certain I have added over thirty years to my life.  What better gift could you give yourself?

 
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A close up of a soft pastel art work, showing the fine particals of pigment impregnated fine dust, talc, a hazard for artist's who breath this fine dust as they work..
Soft pastels have always carried the risk of inhalation of the fine dust.

Modern brands made in Europe, US and Australia claim their products are currently asbestos, free. They take this information from the companies supplying the talc used in the production of the soft pastel.

Tests by the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration found asbestos in all four, supposedly asbestos free, talc samples that it tested in 2000. Asbestos was found, in Artist’s Pastels and Children’s crayons as recently as year 2000.

It is a case of ‘Artist’s Beware’, when you work with soft pastels, as you are working with fine dust that when inhaled is harmful.  Whether it contains asbestos or not, we do not need a mesothelioma lawyer,  to help us understand that the inhaling of fine partial talc and pigments is a serious health hazard. 

I love working in artist’s pastels. If I did not already own a kit worth thousands of dollars, I would never begin to use them and I swear I will never buy another pastel. I am currently having a little play with them, trying to decide what to do with the kit I have.  My knowledge tells me I should not ever use them, the recent results of what can creatively be achieved in a quick pastel sketch, makes me want to cling to these hazardous art materials. My heart has me clinging still to something, intellect tells me I should relinquish. 

Do yourself a favour, if you already work with pastels, wear a dust mask, work with as little dust as possible, no tapping on the back of the work or blowing of the dust, indoors and damp dust after each use.  Use them as infrequently as possible and do not substitute this medium for anything else you could inhale, like volatile thinners.  

Do all spraying of fixatives out of doors. Discourage others from taking up any art medium where the risk of inhalation poisoning is unacceptably high. 

Yes, for sure the pastel manufacturers label these materials safe. The marketers are not the ones contracting cancers at a higher rate than the general population like professional artists do. 

Art is to be enjoyed;  you cannot enjoy life or art if you are chronically ill so chose your mediums with health as the high priority.

Work safely, free from the risks of inhalation, ingestion and absorption through the skin; pigments and binders. This means to minimise your contact with artist’s soft pastels.
 
 
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Reviewing my goals to becoming a better blogger.
Reviewing my action plans to share my creative skills though this blog.
Reviewing my action plan and ‘to do list’, to become a better blogger.

My work course on how to become a better blogger in 31 days has been met with some frustration as my server weebly was hit by a death ping attack and they were several days working around the clock bringing in experts and purchasing new servers, trying to overcome a denial of service attack.  Eventually they were forced to go to a great deal of expense providing a more powerful new server to counter this problem.  This threw me out of my late night work on the web routine and I began sitting inactively at the computer during what was previously, may be active afternoons.  Here i am today, mid afternoon and still at my computer.  How quickly do we slip back into non constructive bad habits?  What’s the point of trying to write a creative lifestyle blog, (this one), and two active lifestyle blogs, and becoming a sloth?

The work load to do my assignments in the 31 days to becoming a better blogger, has escalated and I find myself still striving to complete some of the preliminary work that is to get my own domain, for this blog pointing to the correct location and striving to get a google ranking for my new owned domain name artslim.org.   In the mean while I struggle to find time to exercise and keep up with my house work and I think it’s time to remind myself not to become obsessed in my creative work(in this instance, learning to have better blogs), to the extent where I fall back into a pattern of self physical neglect, and become sedentary again.    Keeping myself ‘in check’, staying motivated to self care as well as trying to help influence and motivate others not to make the same, becoming too inactive, mistakes I made in the past, due to a creative life, is why I started my http://www.artslim.org  blog.

So ‘I am here’, I’m just taking a step back from writing actual blog content while I learn more about how to improve how I do this and keep my time management principles  and slimming goals in mind.

A lot of the work I am doing at the moment is a once off effort that will be well rewarded in the future.  Like returning to studies, it’s worthwhile as long as I keep aware of maintaining a balanced lifestyle and make myself a definite, ‘clock on and off’ time.

I have completed 4 hours in studying how to be a better blogger so far today.  4 hours is the total time frame a day x 6 days a week,  I have set up in my action plan to have better blogs. As my set up phase, this initial 31 days is a 1/ priority of importance and urgency for me, I am prepared to double my allocated time now, and go back on line from 8pm till 12mn in the evening during the month of October, and this will then allow me two days a week off from writing for the remainder of the year which will bring me back to this job that I love, refreshed and eager to write.

Now having planned why I believe it will be OK to increase my computer study time and how I will credit myself with this extra time spent and made allowanced for how I will still fit in my physical activity and the bare bones of scaled back home maintenance, I’m happy with a new action plan with a definite upper cap, on how long a day I will allow myself to be sedentary, and a definite slotted in bed time.

Tips for creative people:-

*Make definite working hours, self employed creative work is never finished, you need to know in advance, when you intend to knock f, then ‘do it’.

*Decide in advance when you will go to bed and get up.  Self employed creative people can work around the clock on an adrenaline high, Bi Polar disorder is common amongst creative people and even can be mimicked in behaviour.  The highs associated with Bipolar can even be managed by pre setting obsessive tendency restraints in place.  If you don’t have ‘a boss’, when you are not ‘on a creative high’, set yourself restraints you believe will be in the interest of your own, physical and emotional health, while still allowing yourself to be highly creative.  Then when you are ‘on a creative high’, keep that action plan you have made, where you can see it, and ‘stick to it’.

Note:-  I come from a family of eccentric, highly creative people, believe me I know what I’m talking about here, obsessive creativity out of control, can be very self and family destructive, make reasonable limits and you will live longer, create more and enjoy the fruits of loving supporting relationships. It is worth curbing the extremes of our creative desires and your creations will not suffer, if you live a decade longer by caring for yourself, you will get more work completed than if you never clock off for proper meals, exercise, balanced lifestyle or sleep.

LOL, spoken by one who had a stroke at 32 because I thought I could live on 5 hours sleep a night, work late at night then hike up a mountain to look at the view, with a 7 year old child on my back.  Believe me; I know about excessive, creative, enthusiastic, self destructive behaviour.  Please LOVE YOURSELF MORE than your creations, and hold it in check with pre planning. J.