Shoe Repairs And Several Other Things When I Was 7

Shoe Repairs And Several Other Things When I Was 7
My Dad repaired most of our shoes believe it or not, I can hardly believe it myself now. With 7 pairs of shoes always needing repairs I think he was quite clever to learn how to “Keep us in shoe Leather” to coin a phrase!

He bought several different sizes of cast iron cobbler’s “lasts”. Last, the old English “Laest” meaning footprint. Lasts were holding devices shaped like a human foot. I have no idea where he would have bought the shoe leather. Only that it was a beautiful creamy, shiny colour and the smell was lovely.

But I do remember our shoes turned upside down on and fitted into these lasts, my Dad cutting the leather around the shape of the shoe, and then hammering nails, into the leather shape. Sometimes we’d feel one or 2 of those nails poking through the insides of our shoes, but our dad always fixed it.

Hiking and Swimming Galas
Dad was a very outdoorsy type, unlike my mother, who was probably too busy indoors. She also enjoyed the peace and quiet when he took us off for the day!

Anyway, he often took us hiking in the mountains where we’d have a picnic of sandwiches and flasks of tea. And more often than not we went by steam train.

We loved poking our heads out of the window until our eyes hurt like mad from a blast of soot blowing back from the engine. But sore, bloodshot eyes never dampened our enthusiasm.

Dad was an avid swimmer and water polo player, and he used to take us to swimming galas, as they were called back then. He often took part in these galas. And again we always travelled by steam train.

Rowing Over To Ireland’s Eye
That’s what we did back then, we had to go by rowboat, the only way to get to Ireland’s eye, which is 15 minutes from mainland Howth. From there we could see Malahide, Lambay Island and Howth Head of course. These days you can take a Round Trip Cruise on a small cruise ship!

But we thoroughly enjoyed rowing and once there we couldn’t wait to climb the rocks, and have a swim. We picnicked and watched the friendly seals doing their thing and showing off.

Not to mention all kinds of birdlife including the Puffin.The Martello Tower was also interesting but a bit dangerous to attempt entering. I’m getting lost in the past as I write, and have to drag myself back to the present.

Fun Outings with The camera Club
Dad was also a very keen amateur photographer, and was a member of a camera Club. There were many Sunday photography outings and along with us came other kids of the members of the club.

And we always had great fun while the adults busied themselves taking photos of everything and anything, it seemed to us. Dad was so serious about his photography that he set up a dark room where he developed and printed his photographs.

All black and white at the time. He and his camera club entered many of their favourites in exhibitions throughout Europe. I’m quite proud to say that many cups and medals were won by Dad. They have been shared amongst all his grandchildren which I find quite special.

He liked taking portraits of us kids too, mostly when we were in a state of untidiness, usually during play. Dad always preferred the natural look of messy hair and clothes in the photos of his children.

Herbal Skin Care – The Benefits of Using True Herbal Skin Care and Not “Natural” Synthetic Products

Herbal skin care – the benefits of using true herbal skin care and not “natural” synthetic productsDon’t you just hate it when the big pharmaceutical corporations loudly insist that their chemical products are safe in skin care creams?Even when they must know natural ingredients are safer, softer and superior!It happens all the time, of course. And herbal skin care products are an excellent example.Herbal treatment for the skin is ancient and effective. Egyptian elites 2000 years before Christ were successfully using sophisticated herbal skin care to maintain stunning, youthful complexions in the harsh heat of the Nile valley. You can clearly see this in hundreds of tomb painting, preserved in the dry desert.Yet, in modern times, the chemical industry scorns the wealth of information freely given away by herbal doctors and constantly puts out disinformation about the effectiveness of herbal products and disingenuously proclaims the ingredients in their pharmaceuticals are better, more targeted and (even) environmentally friendly. Plus they warn that herbal skin care ingredients can clash in your body’s systems with legitimate, tested and safe synthetic medicines.This is nonsense, of course. They should be warning us against their ingredients! And let me show you why.Just take three groups of ingredients found in most synthetic skin care products. It doesn’t take much investigation to find they are toxic and harmfully.Sulphates such as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate are commonly found as cleansers in many shampoos and shower gels. They’re cheap and strong. But they can irritate the skin. And Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is linked to cancer. They contain 1.4 dioxane, which is a known toxin and carcinogen that is easily absorbed through the skin. Members of the Ethoxylates, they are unstable and break down in direct sunlight, forming the skin-damaging free radicals.Chemical preservatives like formaldehyde, methylisothiazolinones and DMDM hydantonin are put into many synthetic skin care creams, even though it’s better to use natural alternatives such as Vitamin E, grapefruit seed extract, honey and sandalwood essential oil. True, these natural compounds last a shorter time than most chemical preservatives, but they adequately preserve herbal skin care products and give you the benefit of their own nourishing qualities.Propylene Glycol (PG) & Butylene Glycol are petroleum plastics widely used in car anti-freeze and skin care, despite the fact that they can penetrate your skin and weaken protein and cell structures. PG is so strong it dissolves stainless steel in 48 hours and can only be kept in plastic containers. The EPA insists it only be handled wearing protective gloves, clothing and goggles. But some skin care manufacturers use concentrations of up to 20 percent of it.I could make a very long list of widely used, dangerous chemicals, but I think you can see that there is a trend here. It’s this. The big chemical companies don’t mind putting dangerous toxic chemicals into your skin care products.And the reason is obvious — these are thick-skinned businesses (no pun intended) that exist simply to return profits to shareholders. Synthetic chemicals are cheaper than herbal ingredients. So the corporations chose to ride out any litigation from their small-fry customers, and keep producing synthetic skin care at the lowest possible price. Lower than good herbal skin care creams and lotions.Alarmingly, there is no legal definition of “natural”. So a corporation can make a 100 percent synthetic skin care product and yet call it “natural”. To someone who doesn’t know, it may seem like it is a herbal skin care item.Thankfully most of their ingredients have a molecular structure which makes it impossible for them to penetrate your skin, even when you pat on and rub in the creams and lotions. But these chemicals still sit on the surface of your face and arms, where they clog the entrances to your pores and trigger allergies and health problems. (Well, “problems” is a little mild, as some chemicals in skin care products, such as Sodium Laural sulfate has been shown to be fatal.)We’ve got to be very, very careful if we choose to use synthetic skin care products rather than herbal skin care.Actually, in conclusion, I would always recommend herbal treatment for the skin of anyone who asks me. There are excellent herbal skin care companies out there. They are usually small and efficient, and they can make healthy products at a reasonable price even though they are forced to compete with the giant pharmaceutical corporations which have the advantage of dirt cheap ingredients and economies of scale. I’ve written more about them at my web site, elegant-skincare.com and I invite you to visit and learn more about this unhappy situation.

US Markets in green on Friday; Dow 30 up over 345 points, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 up nearly 1%

US Markets were trading in the green on Friday with Dow 30 trading at 30,678.80, up by 1.14%. While S&P 500 was trading at 3,701.66, up by 0.98% and Nasdaq Composite 10,690.60 was also up by 0.71 per cent

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US Markets in green on Friday; Dow 30 up over 345 points, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 up nearly 1%
Earlier today, Indian stock markets ended the week on a winning note. It was the sixth straight gains for equity markets. Source: Reuters
US Markets were trading in the green on Friday with Dow 30 trading at 30,678.80, up by 345.25 points or1.14 per cent. While S&P 500 was trading at 3,701.66, up by 35.88 points or 0.98 per cent and Nasdaq Composite 10,690.60 was also up 75.75 points or 0.71 per cent. A Reuters report said that today’s strength was on the back of a report which said the Federal Reserve will likely debate on signaling plans for a smaller interest rate hike in December, reversing declines set off by social media firms after Snap Inc’s ad warning.

Source: Comex

Nasdaq Top Gainers and Losers

Source: Nasdaq

Earlier today, Indian stock markets ended the week on a winning note. It was the sixth straight gains for equity markets. The BSE Sensex ended at 59,307.15, up by 104.25 points or 0.18 per cent from the Thursday closing level. Meanwhile, the Nifty50 index closed at 17,590.00, higher by 26.05 points or 0.15 per cent. In the 30-share Sensex, 13 stocks gained while the remaining 17 ended on the losing side. In the 50-stock Nifty50, 21 stocks advanced while 29 declined.