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…. Summer is over - Or is it! The weather is amazing and looks to be continuing for a few weeks yet, delaying the inevitable necessity of put the heating on and battening down the hatches for winter. So get out of the house, take a walk or just sit in the garden and enjoy the warm weather while it lasts! And as a bonus the vitamin D is good for us all!.
In Greek mythology, autumn began when Persephone was abducted by Hades to be the Queen of the Underworld. In distress Persephone’s mother, Demeter (the goddess of the harvest), caused all the crops on Earth to die until her daughter was allowed to return, marking spring.
We typically think of ‘fall’ as the North American version of the word ‘autumn’, but it was in fact in originally a shortening of the phrase fall
of the leaf, the phrase was common in England in the 17th century.
People born in Autumn live longer: A study in the Journal of Ageing Research found that babies born during the autumn months are more likely to live to 100 than those born during the rest of the year.
The advent of World War One disrupted the game somewhat, when, rather surprisingly, conkers were called upon to help with the war effort.
In 1917, when autumn came, children were offered money by theMinistry of Supply to collect as many conkers as they could, encouraged through posters in their schools and by the scoutmovement. They were not told why, to keep the idea secret from the Germans. The country was short of cordite, needed for artillery, which was normally imported from America. However, shipping blockades had prevented this. Lloyd George asked Professor Weizman (later the first President of Israel) to find a way of making acetone, needed for the production of cordite. The Professor devised a method using starch, from maize primarily and then
when that ran short, horse chestnuts, to produce the acetone required.
Unfortunately, there were problems transporting the vast amounts of conkers collected. They were sent by train to secret factories to be processed, but in the end, mounds of conkers were left to rot. The conkers were not a good source of starch and unfortunately the plan was not a success!
Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival of “Samhain” (a festival for the dead) and ‘Beltane’ (summer festival for the living) – it celebrates the end of summer and the harvest season and the beginning of Winter, the old new year.
The current use of pumpkins to mark Halloween is a relatively modern innovation imported from the United States, and we can also extend the same debt of gratitude to our friends in America for that ‘quaint’ “trick-or-treat” tradition!
Come along and join us for a chat and have a go in our raffle.
We’ll be there from the office and so will some members from our team to say hello and answer any questions you may have about our services.
We’re raising money for the Salvation Army who serve the local community out of their 650 churches and community centres. The work they do is varied, from helping victims of modern slavery, to nurseries, community choirs and food banks. Nannies 4 Grannies supports them wholeheartedly.
We have received amazing prize donations from local companies that you will recognise and also from some traders at the market who will be there on the day.
For more details goto our web site. The prize details can be seen here...
The term neurobics is used to describe the the science behind brain exercise.
Neurobic brain exercises are meant to decrease memory loss and increase the ease of taking in (and then using) new information. In order to work at its very best, the brain needs to practice and get better in a variety of skills.
Though you can’t expect to get all of the following benefits from any one activity, brain exercise is reported to help in all these areas: Less stress; Better memory; More positive mood; Increased focus and concentration; Boost in motivation and productivity; Enhanced fluid intelligence, creativity, and mental flexibility; Faster thinking and reaction time; Greater self-confidence and Sharper vision and hearing.
Here are some examples of the exercises..
1. Switch Hands
We would like to share some of our photos from our recent trip to ‘The Escape Rooms’ in St Albans, we had 3 teams all with different scenarios and the aim was to work out the clues, some of the teams were better at this than others but we had fun!
If you need your garden tidied up ready for the autumn give the office a call - we can help
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At Nannies 4 Grannies Ltd we offer Companion Care and Support for residents in St Albans, Harpenden and the surrounding areas. Contact the team on 01582 764305 to discuss the range of specifically tailored services we can provide for you or an elderly loved one. For full details go to our website Nannies 4 Grannies. Stay up to date with older issues by following us on Twitter or Facebook
We have invested in a training course with ‘Extend’ to be able to deliver chair based exercises to you individually or in a group environment. Our mission is to promote health, increase mobility and independence, improve strength, co-ordination and balance and to counteract loneliness and isolation.
