Becca Jane St Clair

Recently I was invited to join Crusher Convo to discuss the TNG Episode The Host!

Watch it below or at the following link: Crusher Convo – Symbiotic Love | The Next Generation’s “The Host” Review

You can see a list of other podcasts I’ve participated in here: https://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/appearances/

Special thanks to Crusher Convo for inviting me and I look forward to chatting with you again!

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

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If you receive blog updates via Email, I’m not sure why it just sent an email out for a blog post from 2008! I think it was because I was doing a bit of maintenance and somehow accidentally sent it out. Sorry. Obviously, not in Canada. Haven’t been there since 2008. Not flying to Philly. Haven’t been there since 2015!

On October 27, I participated in the AOK Quarter Marathon as part of the Dresden Marathon. I came in last place, but I don’t care because I did it.

Back in 2022, when I was in Dresden for Christmas with Tim and my friend Jen, we saw information about the Dresden Marathon. Jen is a runner and she was keen to sign up for it and I thought the shorter race (at the time, we thought it was 5K) would be fun, even though I had never ran before in my life other than a few feet here and there to catch busses and trains. Plus the opportunity to participate in my first run in my favourite city in the world was too good to pass up on. So I told Jen I would do it with her in 2024 and I downloaded the Couch25k app. In March of 2023, I ran Week 1, Run 1. It took me six weeks to be able to fully run all three Week 1 runs. I developed shin splints and calf cramps, but solved these issues with compression sleeves, and then knee high compression running socks when the weather became too warm for the sleeves.

I won’t bore you with all the details, but I soon became frustrated when trying to move from the Week 3 to Week 4. I just couldn’t seem to get my head around it, and then I sprained my knee that August and I felt like I needed to start all over again, so I started Week 1, Run 1. This time, it only took me the one week to do all of Week 1 runs and I was soon onto Week 2 and then Week 3…but again, struggled to move on to Week 4. I finally decided to try extending the initial walk time from 5 minutes to 10, thinking that perhaps I needed the additional warm-up walking time. It worked, and I even ran more than the original Week 4, Run 1 interval called for.

We also discovered that the shorter race wasn’t a 5k, it was in fact 10.55k, a quarter marathon. I studied the route carefully. I know Dresden fairly well and my route took me basically across one bridge, followed the path along the river to another bridge, across that bridge, and then along the river again. Perfect.

Then I discovered a method called “Jeffing”, which is basically interval running and honestly, this is where I shine. I downloaded an app that will ping at you when you should switch between walking and running and I started out with 30 seconds of running, 45 of walking. This wasn’t doing much for my pace, so I changed it up to 15/30 and even tried 10/15. 10/15, despite sounding crazy really works for me!

A few weeks before the race, one of the bridges across the Elbe collapsed. This was a bridge we were expected to run under along the riverfront. I panicked a little, but the organizers assured us the race would happen, they were researching alternate routing. About a week before the race, we received the alternate route. We would run across the Marienbrücke instead of the August, then go slightly away from the river before coming back to the river path, going across, then routing slightly through old town on the Marathon route to avoid the closed off area. This also added a little elevation, though I really didn’t pay much attention to that! I just kept training.

I was racking up the 5K runs in my village and getting my 5K time to around 48-52 minutes. I set my 10k goal for under 2 hours at this point.

The weather forecast was honestly all over the place in the weeks leading up to the race. At one point, we thought it was going to be 6 degrees (Celcius) and would need to run with long sleeves, thick socks, headbands, and gloves! Fortunately, the forecast changed a few days before we packed, and the forecast showed a high of 17, but it would be chilly in the morning. Jen suggested I pick up a cheap jacket or jumper that if I lost it I wouldn’t care about and so I grabbed one for £1 off Vinted. I was still wearing thicker compression socks, but I figured I’d be fine.

The day before the race, I made a big mistake. We walked all over Dresden, clocking in over 10KM of walking. My legs were absolutely killing me to the point that I bought muscle relaxing bath salts, a knee compression sleeve to sleep in, and new, thinner, compression socks from a stand at the running expo. My outfit was going to clash, but who cares? I carefully laid everything out. I was going to wear my contact lenses for the run, so I had a cheap pair of Primark sunglasses (in case I lost them) in my belt, along with a spare set of headphones in case my Shokz failed. I also packed my inhaler, paracetamol, some High 5 gels, a little bag of gummies, a cereal bar, and a small battery charger for my phone that plugged directly into my phone. I prepared a bag for Tim to put in his rucksack for after the race that included a change of socks and pants (in case I felt sweaty after), some body wipes, and deodorant. I might have shoved a clean T-shirt in there, too.

Morning arrived, and yeah, I was pretty nervous and terrified. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I had been collecting songs from my friends to add to a playlist for the run and I had arranged the list so that I had a half hour of motivational music before it started, and after around 50 minutes, an uplifting song from Tim, then another 50 minutes of good, upbeat music, and then I added in about 15 minutes of additional motivational songs. I ate a light breakfast and we got ready to go….

Jen was running in the half marathon, but my friend Connie was also running the quarter, so we lined up. My playlist wasn’t working because I forgot to download it, so I was stuck with music physically on my phone….BNL and Carbon Leaf. Which was fine as they are my favourite bands, but not all their songs are good for running. I should have stuck to my original plans of run/walking, but I started running at the start and did the first Kilometre entirely as a run. I then switched to walking and walked pretty much until I hit the halfway mark. There was a water stop for the marathon runners and I just happened to look over at it and the one volunteer yelled at me (in German) that it wasn’t for me. Which was a little annoying as I hadn’t been planning on getting a drink, I was just looking around!

I got to the Waldschlösschenbrücke and decided to start running my intervals again…and I found myself in the midst of the half marathon runners! I moved all the way to the side of the road part of the bridge. The pavement was lined with people cheering for the runners, and because my name was on my bib, I got lots of shouts that included my name! It honestly was a fantastic feeling as I crossed over that bridge, hearing all the cheers.

I turned off away from the half marathon runners…and I was on my own! I didn’t pay attention to my pace, I just kept going. at KM 6.5, we had a water stop and I wound up pouring half on top of my head to cool off. I had a water bottle on me that I had been taking sips of, but it had a bite valve so couldn’t be poured. I also at some point took off my headband and tied it to my water bottle holder.

The end was near! I was passing the 9km mark when I felt pain in my calf. It felt like someone had punched me in the calf or like I had been hit with a tennis ball, but it was quick and I kept going for another KM until I had so much pain I screamed and had to limp over to a barrier to hold onto while pain absolutely ripped through my calf. It was quite nice of the race photographers to capture the exact moment!

A few people who had already finished the 10.55K stopped to see if I needed any help and I didn’t know how to say “Calf Cramp” in German, but we managed to work it out with their bit of English and me pointing at my calf. The one woman told me I was 500m from the finish line and offered to walk with me for support if I needed it. Two of the medics came over to ask if I needed help and I chatted with them for a few minutes while I massaged and flexed my leg. They gave me a little sugar boost, and I was back on my way, slightly limping.

I limped across the finish line in under 2 hours like I planned on. I was second to last place over all and last in my age group, but I don’t care. I FUCKING DID IT.

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Offical race photos provided by Marathon Photos Live

A strange thing happened to me after I voted. Someone decided to challenge my right to vote, along with many other overseas voters in NINE counties across Pennsylvania. A hearing was set for Friday (I was informed on Wednesday!). I found out the person who was challenging my vote was a prominent member of the Lancaster County Republican Committee who I had never heard of, but after locating their Facebook page, it was clear who they supported. I also verified with Lancaster County that I was registered to vote.

I posted on our facebook group for Pennsylvania Ex-pats, and a half dozen people who voted in Lancaster County replied that they had the same e-mail. One of the members passed me the email address for a lawyer within the PA branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The lawyer wrote to me and explained that they were contacting Lancaster County and informing them that if they did not withdraw the challenge, the ACLU would be stepping in and suing the county. Within an hour, I received the following:

Funny how the fear of a lawsuit made the person withdraw their challenge.

I’m glad there wasn’t a hearing because one of the questions they were poised to ask was about my ties to Lancaster…and I have none, other than some cousins and second cousins in other areas of the county. Would have been fun explaining. But, under federal law, overseas voters vote where they last held residency. For me, this is Manor Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Hopefully in four years, I don’t have any trouble.

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[This post was written in May, but I never pressed post. OOPS!]
Yes, I know. So did pretty much the entire population of the UK and most of the US, too. You’re probably sick of posts about the lights. But we saw them and it was just incredible.

On Friday, Tim and I were driving back from our friend Jen’s house in Teeside when I scrolled on Facebook and a friend down in Kent posted a picture of the Northern Lights. I started looking out the window while Tim was driving, but as we were on a main road there was a lot of light polution, but I managed to see a few faint streaks of green, so we decided to pull off the road and go down a dark country lane until we could no longer see any lights and we just observed. With the naked eye, we could definitely see green and blue streaks. Tim’s camera took better images than mine, so I’ll include his as well as mine. It was amazing. It was a once in a lifetime chance and something that Tim had never seen before in his life (I saw them when I was in a Northern part of Canada years ago).

To our surprise when we got home, we could see them from our driveway! More images were taken, and as it was already well past 1 in the morning, we stayed awake a little longer and I went outside around 3 and it was even brighter than it had been.

Seriously, what an incredible sight to see.

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Pennsylvania REAAAAALY doesn’t want you to vote absentee from abroad, let me tell you. Originally, I just though it was Lancaster County being awkward, but no. It’s the whole state.

As an American abroad, my vote gets counted in the last township I physically voted in before I moved. So in 2008 when I first voted from abroad, that was my mom’s address in Lancaster County. Despite the fact that no one in my family lives at that address or in that township, that’s still where my vote goes as it’s my last address on file in PA with DMV.

As a Pennsylvanian abroad, I am restricted to Federal and State elections only. I tend not to bother with the state elections and only vote in Federal elections and I have voted in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 by absentee….OR SO I THOUGHT.

I filled out the forms from Vote From Abroad back in September to request my absentee ballot. A friend of mine in PA said that PA had a delay in preparing the ballots, so I shoudn’t worry….but then my friends who live abroad who are from PA started getting their ballots….but nothing for me.

I contacted Democrats Abroad, who told me ot contact Vote from Abroad, who gave me the contact email for Lancaster County…

Yeah. I was apparently dropped from the roles for NOT VOTING….uhm. But I voted! So there was more back and forth with them where they asked me if I was SURE I voted in 2016 and 2020. Uhm. YES. So then I got told to re-register, except that the form I had filled out said it covered registration as well as an overseas ballot request. In my reply, I said “It really is beginning to sound as though you do not want overseas voters to vote in this election”…and what do you know? I was suddenly registered!

But then….then comes the CRAZY hoops you have to go through as a PA voter to get your online ballot…which still has to be mailed back, but at least I don’t have to wait for anything to arrive in the post here.

Step One….You get an email that contains a PASSWORD for your ballot PDF and instructions on how to access the “encrypted email”
Step Two….You click on the link in the second email that leads you to the encrypted email with PDF attached.
Step Three…You use the password provided in the first email to open the PDF. Only…my PDF is 4 pages long and only contains instructions…no ballot. WHAT THE HELL PA?

Fortunately, they are on the ball with replying to email, so I sent off an email and explained that my PDF contained 4 pages of instructions and a declaration form, but no ballot…..but here’s the HILARIOUS part. They wrote back and PUT MY BALLOT AS A FILE ATTACHMENT WITH NO PASSWORD.

Uhm.

Soooooo loads of emails and instructions and they can just email me the ballot. Nice.

Anyway, I voted.

Posted it on the 16th of October, so it had plenty of time to arrive and I received an email on the 24th stating my ballot has been received.

Now, we cross our fingers.

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Around Mid-August, I noticed my hair was getting dry and brittle. At first, I chalked it up to summer because my hair also had started going blonde since we had so many bright sunny days and when we were on holiday in Austria the temperature never got below 25 during the day. But even using my aloe bar shampoo and conditioner from Foamie with my 2-3 times per week Garnier Papaya Hair Mask and Aussie leave-in conditioner it was still really dry. I went off to Boots with the intention of perusing the hair care aisle to find a product that would help my dried out hair.

Charles Worthington is a brand that I have used in the past – mostly when travelling as their travel sized containers are more like foil packets that can squish as they get empty – so when I saw they had developed a line of products designed for peri- and menopausal hair, I decided to check out the shampoo, conditioner, and hair mask (no link for the mask! Sorry!).

They claim that their products reduce 90% of breakage that occurs during peri- and menopause as the products contain Hyaluronic Acid that will “deeply hydrate and condition hair with a lightweight, non-greasy formula to deliver stronger hair that looks and feels healthy.” So I gave it a go.

On the days that I only used the shampoo and conditioner, my hair definitely felt a little softer and less brittle. I noticed less hair coming out on the hair brush, which I thought was amazing since I have such thin hair to begin with! The mask…not so much. The mask left my hair feeling dryer than just using the conditioner and I also felt that I couldn’t go multiple days between washing my hair like I usually did.

The two bottles plus hair mask lasted 6 weeks, and cost £21 at Boots during a 3 for 2 sale.

Will I buy it again? I’m wavering between probably not and maybe. I think the shampoo and conditioner could be great products to use when my hair is feeling dryer than normal or if perimenopause makes my hair situation even worse. But I won’t buy the mask again, as I think I get better moisture out of the Garnier mask (and it certainly is better value).

I’m writing this in September and saving it for Blogvember content, so I’ll update this post with how my hair feels going back to my bar products!

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I have not received compensation from any companies mentioned in my post, however if you click on any of the Amazon links, I will receive a small commission.

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Welcome to Blogvember, where I plan on blogging at least every other day in an effort to get blogging again, since I haven’t really blogged since 2020 and WOW a lot has happened in four years!

This post has been pre-written, since at the time of publication, I’m on a train somewhere between Wuppertal and Brussels, on my way home from Dresden, where I participated in the Dresden Marathon (I ran the quarter). I’m sure there will be an entry about that at some point this month.

Anyway, if you’re still around….thanks!! I appreciate the support.

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

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It’s been a hot minute since I blogged anything at all, and for that I don’t really have any excuse other than I have been using facebook more and more to post updates over the years and hardly anyone actually reads this blog anyway, so part of me felt what was the point?

But anyway.

I was going to sign myself up for NaNoWriMo again this year. I will be away at the beginning of the month, but I was confident that I could catch myself up easily and make it to the end of the month. The last time I did a proper NaNo was in 2018, where I wrote my Star Trek TNG Picard/Crusher epic story, Milestones. I wrote Milestones as a 40-chapter epic (over 165k words!) to celebrate my 40th birthday in 2019. I wrote it during November 2018, and published chapter one in the last week of November, with a chapter per week going up until my 40th birthday with chapter 40. It was amazing. I had such great time participating, but I didn’t participate in future years because I completely lost my writing mojo during the pandemic and still haven’t entirely found it. I actually stopped writing TNG fanfic during the pandemic, leaving a few stories unfinished and even my switch to Harry Potter (Snupin) hasn’t been prolific. I have a few in-progress stories there that haven’t been updated in almost a year or more, too.

But I thought this year would be my year. I would commit to writing something. But….then the people who created NaNoWriMo have decided to issue a statement saying that they will allow people to use AI to create their novels and this doesn’t sit right with me or really, most of my author friends. You see, we work HARD for our writing. AI jumping in has really ruined people’s careers, especially for those who relied on writing articles (usually without credit but with PAYMENT) for websites, journals, and magazines. but now many places have either turned to AI or turned to asking for volunteers to do it for the exposure/experience. I don’t think AI has any place in novel writing, especially not in a “competition” Ok, NaNo isn’t really a competition, but you get my drift.

So I won’t be doing NaNo. I will pick a different month where I will sit down and commit myself to daily writing until I have something.

In previous years, I’ve also participated in NaBloPoMo, but even that leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. It’s also too late for me to organize myself for flufftober as I’m away at the end of the month. So…Blogvember. Maybe.

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I used to post a lot about my Slimming World journey. As some of you know, I did manage to lose a bit of weight through Slimming World, then gained some of it back and struggled quite a bit. Then, the pandemic hit and I felt that there wasn’t really much support out there and I decided not to return after the pandemic, and especially after they upped their prices! I know Slimming World struggled during the pandemic and they tried creating virtual meetings via Zoom and giving us half-price meetings if we already had purchased a countdown before they had to shut down groups, but I just didn’t feel as though there was support. We obviously were expected to weigh ourselves at home, too, and I don’t even own a scale because I would honestly step on it multiple times per day to check my weight if I did. And it’s very hard to receive personal attention over a Zoom call. There was nothing personal about it. I don’t even recall our consultant contacting us if we stopped attending the Zoom calls. I certainly felt as though the £45 I paid the week before we had to stop meetings was completely wasted!

But let’s get back to my struggling. When I first joined SW, my goal was to get my weight down to a weight that a doctor told me I needed to get down to for a procedure. I got down to the weight I was told, and they basically told me I hadn’t that I actually needed to lose more and get down to an amount that I wasn’t comfortable weighing. But I returned to Slimming World anyway and I struggled whenever we would get told to “remember why you walked through that door.” or “remember your goal”, because I no longer actually had a tangible goal.

I also struggled with “do you know why you gained weight?”/”Do you know why you didn’t lose anything this week?” because I felt like it was shaming people for the choices they made throughout the week. If it was my birthday, anniversary, or heck, just a bad day and I wanted to have a piece of cake…I was going to have the piece of cake.

We got told to “eat in moderation”, yet foods like pasta, rice, and potatoes were “unlimited”…talk about a carb overload! Speaking of carbs, I actually did lose 30lbs before I joined Slimming World by cutting out carbs entirely. Even now, I don’t eat pasta as often as I used to, and rarely rice, but I do like potatoes and bread. Other “unlimited”, sorry, “free” foods included yogurt brand Mueller Light and people were not discouraged from eating an entire 6 pack of yogurts in one day. Pickled onions were also considered “free”. I’m allergic to onion so I never ate them, but you would see people posting pictures of the weirdest plates with their little onion garnish.

Packet of lunchmeat? Fine. Eggs? Fine. Apples? Fine. Banana? Fine. But don’t you dare put that banana in a blender or press the juice out of the apple. Now it’s synned. A tin of chickpeas was fine, but if you roasted chick peas, you guessed it…synned.

Now I’m not saying that the plans don’t work. I’m sure they do for some people, and I know people who have had great success on the plans. In fact, I have an entire category on my blog dedicated to my experiences on Slimming World and recipe sharing. The problem is, you pretty much have to be on the plan for life. The “maintain” part of the plan involves you weighing in every week and if you fall above or below something like 3lbs off your original goal, you either get put back on the plans, or told to eat more.

And the plans just don’t work if you have other dietary restrictions. For example, people who require Gluten Free foods will struggle on the plans. As a diabetic, I struggled because a lot of the “free” foods still had quite a bit of sugar in them, including the yogurts. I’m allergic to onions (and garlic), so that made some of the recipes hard to follow as a lot of them rely on adding a ridiculous amount of either. I’m also allergic to maple syrup, so can’t use that as a sugar alternative. If you can’t drink cow milk, you can’t use almond milk as your dairy option. In fact, I don’t even know what someone would do if they were both gluten and lactose intolerant as one of the big daily requirements is a Healthy A (dairy) and a Healthy B (Bread/Wheat).

The plans also struggle to cope with any amount of exercise or training above just going on a walk. In fact, they claim you don’t need to do any exercise at all and you will still lose weight. I recently started running, and I know that if I was still at SW I would get reprimanded for a “gain”, when actually, I’ve lost inches on my waist and hips and the fat on my calves has all been converted back into muscle.

I also know some people who developed eating disorders because of Slimming World and the idea of “binging” on pasta or potatoes. or the idea that meeting night is also “cheat night” so you could stuff your face after the meeting and it wouldn’t matter because you’d get right back on the plan on the following morning. We were encouraged instead of using our 15 “syns” per day, that it was ok to save them up for one big meal during the week instead. My own view of food is pretty skewed and I barely make pasta anymore because I feel like I used to make too much pasta but I ate it anyway because it was “free”.

But no, I shouldn’t completely poo poo on Slimming World. I have made several really good friends through the group who I still talk to regularly. I gained confidence in cooking and creating recipes. And yes, I did lose some weight, even if I’ve put some of it back on.

But I won’t be returning to Slimming World, or Weight Watchers, or any of the other “weight loss plans” that claim they aren’t diets while being diets.

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DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Slimming World, I am not affiliated with Slimming World beyond being a paying customer/member, I get no personal benefit from writing this post other than the joy of sharing.

The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

I have not received compensation from any companies mentioned in my post.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

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Today should have been Aunt Janie’s 92nd birthday, so I thought I would share some words I wrote after her death a few weeks ago when I saw that the obituary provided by the funeral home wasn’t quite up to standards.

I was unable to attend any services for Aunt Janie since I only found out a few days before the burial, with no time to try to organize flights, accommodation, etc., but I’ve tried to make peace with it.

Catherine Mary Jane Sweitzer (Janie) passed peacefully on February 18th. She was 91. Janie was born and raised in York County and attended William Penn Senior High. She was a lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church, where she also worked as a secretary until her retirement in the 1990s. Janie enjoyed reading, puzzle books, and sewing. Her favourite books were historical Christian romances and her favourite colour was pink. She liked tigers, but wasn’t a fan of domestic cats. Roses were her favourite flower, and she always used rose scented soap. She enjoyed making clothing for both herself and her family, including prom dresses and wedding dresses. She enjoyed travelling with her brother, including once to the Rose Bowl where she sat and talked with people instead of watching the game. Janie also enjoyed baking, and a Christmas staple was her Red Velvet Cake!

Janie was predeceased by her parents, Emory Sr and Rozadie, sisters Marcella, Beatrice, Barbara, Patricia, and Jesselean, and brothers Emory Jr and William. She is survived by her sister, Linda, and many nieces and nephews spanning several generations.

Janie enjoyed hosting the annual Thanksgiving dinner for our extended family and organizing the post-meal bingo game. Her favourite flavour of ice cream was coffee, which she especially enjoyed with a slice of mince pie.

Janie was an avid walker, and would go on daily walks either to one of the local parks, or if it was raining, she would walk around the mall. She loved Doris Day and Sandi Patti. She also loved watching Oprah, and particularly enjoyed the giveaway shows.

Aunt Janie introduced me to some of my favourite books – Anne of Green Gables, CS Lewis, and Harry Potter. She made my senior prom dress over a weekend, and helped mom and I make my wedding dress in six weeks. Every Summer growing up, I always looked forward to my week long stay with Aunt Janie. She would take the week off from work and we would spend the week playing board games, visiting the ducks at Kiwanis Lake, or the miniature ponies.

On mowing day, she would make a container of lemonade to quench her thirst and every evening she could be seen snacking on pretzels and cheese and drinking a Dr Pepper. Aunt Janie made the best grilled cheese sandwich I have ever had.

Aunt Janie encouraged me in all of my endeavours. I don’t think she missed a single recital, concert, or theatrical production I was in unless it was mid-week. She always came to visit on the weekends I was singing in church and would ask for recordings of my singing.

She will be forever missed, and always loved.

I love you. So very much.

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I’ve been considering coming back to blogging after a long hiatus. Watch this space!

Two weeks ago, Tim and I kept our autumn travel plans and went to Dresden. We went for a few reasons – some I’m sure a lot of you can sympathise with. We had to cancel our big trip because there was no travel allowed at that point, and we had to cancel a rescheduled trip in August due to a family death. But we still had October booked – originally to go to Destination Star Trek in Dortmund and Stadtfest/Canaletto in Dresden. Both of those events were cancelled, but we thought as long as travel to/from Germany was still permitted with no quarantine that we would still go but for a shorter break. Ryanair flies direct to Dresden currently on Tuesdays and Saturdays (They used to also fly on a Thursday) from Stansted for the low base price of £12.99, but the flight is at 0630 in the morning, which for us requires an overnight down by the airport (The Premier Inn is around £40).

We kept an eye on then news out of Germany before we went, in addition to the COVID restrictions in the UK. The day before we left, Germany added Yorkshire/Humberside, Wales, and the NE and NW to their quarantine list..but not Lincolnshire, and not Essex (where Stanstead is) and fortunately, we changed trains at Peterborough and Ely. But we obviously would have cancelled the trip and taken the £500 hit (between flights and accommodation and pre-booked steam boat tickets) if it was deemed to be unsafe or if WE felt it wouldn’t be safe.

The trains were all fairly empty on the way down to Stansted. People followed the guidelines and everyone was wearing a mask, though wearing it correctly was another story. The shuttle over to the hotel was full but not overcrowded and we opted to walk over to the petrol station to pick up dinner in the M&S Simply Food instead of the attached restaurant.

Naturally, the airport at 0430 was fairly deserted….as was our flight! I was really surprised because I know Ryanair likes to take full flights, so I don’t know if a lot of people cancelled last minute or if they were just running planes at low capacity.

The flight home was slightly more populated, but still empty enough that Tim and I had a row to ourselves, and the last row that we hadn’t been able to book was actually empty (indicating to me that there were people who weren’t using their booked tickets).

Once we arrived in Dresden, our plane was the only plane there and passport control was easy (after their machine worked again) and we were soon in a mostly empty airport on our way to the S-Bahn. On the way to the escalator down to the platforms, I noticed a vending machine selling facemasks for a two euro coin with a notice that you needed to be masked on the trains (but not on the platforms – a lot of people we saw would remove their masks as soon as they exited the trains). The S-bahn was fairly empty, and I think we only had one train that was crowded – and that was the morning we left as we were leaving during peak commute time. The same with the trams. They were busier during peak commuting times, but mid day pretty empty.

We prepared for the trip to keep ourselves safe by packing facemasks (We each had 4 and since our accommodation had a washing machine, I washed them frequently. IF we didn’t have a washer, I’d have washed them by hand). We also had hand sanitizer (in our liquid bag, naturally), and I packed some Dettol wipes. We also carried a thermometer and checked our temperature the day we flew to Dresden, and each morning before we went out for the day. I also made sure I had some paracetamol packed just in case it was needed. We wound up spending the first and half of the last day hanging out in our accommodation because we felt unwell. Not with COVID symptoms, but we felt it was safer to stay out of the public even if it meant losing time in one of our favourite places to visit.

We also picked Dresden because it’s someplace we’ve been multiple times so we’re familiar with getting around the city, we know what we want to do, we know where the shops are, etc. I don’t think I would have gone to a city I wasn’t familiar with.

We self-catered (We always do) and this time didn’t eat out any days (other than grabbing a knockwurst or a croissant at a station). This way we also kept our contact with the public down. We visited both narrow gauge railways and on both we pretty much had the entire carriage to ourselves, but we kept our masks on per guidelines.

Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be getting to go in December for our usual market trip….but on the other hand, I’m not sure the markets are going to happen, either.

IF you’d like to see what I packed, you can check out my youtube video here:

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

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The lockdown has me reaching for easy and quick recipes since I haven’t been able to get a delivery slot in over 2 months and my husband’s been doing the shopping. I like to find recipes that don’t have a lot of specialist ingredients or that can use plenty of substitutes to make the shopping easier and this egg fried rice has so many possible ways to make it!

You will need:
bite sized meat or meat substitute of your choice, enough for 2. (I’ve used chicken, quorn chicken, and pork in the past)
1 packet of Bachelor’s Golden Vegetable Super Rice or generic version (or other flavour)
1 bag of mixed vegetables
3 eggs
soy sauce

Directions:
1. Stir-fry meat with soy sauce.
2. Check rice packet for instructions and add required amount of water and rice packet to the frying pan with chicken and bring to a boil.
3. Steam vegetables (unless you want a crunchy stir-fry, then skip this step)
4. Add steamed vegetables to the pan.
5. Whisk the eggs with a little soy sauce and once the rice has absorbed all the water, add the egg mixture and constantly stir until eggs are cooked.
6. Divide between two plates, use more soy sauce as needed.

If you are following Slimming World, the only syns are the syns in the packet of rice, which depending on brand range from 1/2 to 1.5 Syns per serving.

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DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Slimming World, I am not affiliated with Slimming World beyond being a paying customer/member, I get no personal benefit from writing this post other than the joy of sharing.

Please note: Syn values are based on my exact ingredients using the online calculator. Your Syn value may vary based on your ingredients and the size of your baking containers and portions, so use this number as a guide only. Syn values also frequently change, but these values are correct at the time of publication.

The contents of this post, including personal images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

I feel like the luckiest girl right now. Not only did I get to go down to London to watch the red carpet for the Star Trek Picard premiere, but I was handed tickets to the actual premiere!!!

So, let me backtrack. BTW, this post will contain NO SPOILERS for Episode 1, but will mention things like cast (which has been announced for ages). I won’t be offended if you click out and come back on Friday after you watch the first episode.

When I first heard about the premiere happening in London, I immediately checked trains and sighed. The first train of the day wouldn’t have arrived early enough for the 8AM wrist band distribution, and I couldn’t get anyone to pick one up for me, so I was pretty sure I was out of luck. Until I decided to go down the night before on Tuesday.

I arrived to the theatre around 0645 in the morning after a not so great night of sleep. My friend John had been there since 6, and there was about 6-8 people standing around. Weirdly, the majority were actually autograph hounders/dealers…and it had never crossed my mind to bring something to get signed!(oh well). John and I recieved our wristbands and I was #4!

We were told to come back around three to be let into the viewing pens, but John and I decided we didn’t want to stray too far. Of course, it was now just past eight in the morning, so we headed to a Costa for a coffee and wound up hanging around chatting for about an hour, maybe two. John was told they might be giving out tickets to the event, too, so we became hopeful.

After our coffee, we headed back towards the cinema and watched set up for a while until we decided we were getting cold and decided to have an early lunch.

After lunch, we headed back to the park and basically just hung around some more until around 2 in the afternoon, when John suggested we get another hot drink and utilize toilets (it wasn’t his first premiere!). Naturally, we drank Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. By this time, the wind had really picked up and where we were told to wait for our escort was basically in a wind tunnel. BRR. We hoped we would feel warmer once we were in the viewing pen with the others, but they had only given out about 60 out of the 400 wristbands so far.

They put us in the pen around three, with guests set to arrive around five, so we basically spent the two hours standing up against the fence watching set-up finish.

The evening finally got underway with a bit of entertainment for the crowd, and a giveaway of the new comm badge we see in Picard made by Fan Sets. As they were going down the line, I held up Mini Picard because, I mean, I had a Mini Picard on me. I got the Emcee’s attention and he came over and we had some interaction and he gave me a pin and asked me to take a picture with the minis and post it to instagram.

He then started doing an easy quiz to pick people to win tickets into the actual premiere. I wasn’t super hopeful that we would get in because he wasn’t over in our direction, but then there were two guys – one dressed in a TOS uniform and on in a TNG uniform who were duking it out for “best Trek series” and I was heckling the TOS Guy (“Why did you come to a Picard premiere then?” etc) and the Emcee came back to us because he forgot to give John a badge. And then….the best thing…he handed us tickets into the premiere! I hugged him.

Then, the red carpet got underway!

My only complaint about the red carpet walk was that they decided to bring the ticket holders through on the same side we were standing on, so we sometimes had to stretch and crane our heads to watch the arrivals. A better plan would have been to have the ticket holders go in on the other side, especially as it seemed that was where they were directing people to watch the red carpet arrivals. But oh well. So my pictures didn’t come out as great as I would have hoped, but I grabbed a few.

The first arrival was Michelle Hurd, who immediately came through on our side to do signings and selfies.

Jeri Ryan also arrived, and I got to tell her I thought her dress was gorgeous. A few more arrivals from the cast arrived (my photos turned out terrible) and then the man himself arrived!

I also was excited to see Sir Ian arrive to support his friend and I got to witness their reunion, but again, my photos turned out pretty bad. (but there are plenty online!)

…and then my phone battery completely died! Fortunately, I had my battery box along and I quickly plugged in and turned back on my phone.

I won’t go into the bad experience I had just after Patrick Stewart walked past me, that will be in a separate post. But shortly after, an obnoxious man started shouting “Jason, Jason, Jason” over and over at Jason Isaacs, who was in the middle of giving an interview. He walked over and said “WHAT?” to the man, followed by “I heard you shouting my name for ten minutes.” and then he promptly ignored the guy and I got to say hello to him and tell him that #TeamBasement (his unofficial fan club he knows about) said hello, and he told me to tell them hello back, and did I want a selfie to share with them?

…Uhm, YES.

The red carpet (Well, white and silver!) portion ended, and most of the people left, except for those of us who were given tickets to go inside. They let us in and John and I climbed…and climbed…and climbed. Row Q was at the very top of the balcony level…but it didn’t matter, we were IN!

Patrick Stewart and Alex Kurtzman took to the stage and welcomed us, and Patrick asked us not to spoil anything we saw that night, and Alex added that we could after Thursday (US release date), so I will not be adding any spoilers for the first episode other than to say that it was amazing and I’m really excited for the series. The show was dramatic and it had it’s funny moments and at one point we heard Ian loudly exclaiming in surprise!

After the episode, we go to have a Q&A with the cast who was present, although that did contain spoilers as well.

And then, the evening was over, and I found my friend Duncan, who said he wanted to talk to me for his podcast. You can hear me in The Line, available on Trek.fm!

I made a quick detour to check out Picardilly Circus before heading to King’s Cross and my train back home.

I managed to catch the Portal 47 folks briefly on our monthly Euro call to tell them about the evening, and then I napped the whole way home.

What a night!

***
The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

Tickets to the premiere of Star Trek Picard and the Fan Set’s delta badge provided by Amazon Prime UK.

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This year, I was presented with an interesting challenge for our Christmas celebration. My friend, Jen, is gluten free. After some quick consulting with her and reading through both of my previous pudding recipes and a few more online, I came up with a Gluten Free Pudding that honestly tasted no different from a pudding full of gluten.

Please note: This recipe contains dairy and eggs.

You will need:
550-600g dried mixed fruit (I used a whole bag of mixed fruit, a small bag of dried cranberries, and chopped up dried apricots)
250ml alcohol (I used the last of my brandy and topped it up with gin, rum, and krauterlikor)*
75g butter
85g dark muscovado sugar (aka brown sugar)
100g Gluten Free Flour (I used Freee by Dove Farms)
3 eggs
2 1/2 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
110g Gluten Free bread crumbs (I bought seeded buns by Genius and used 2)
85g suet (I used veggie suet)
50 ml orange juice (this is in lieu of the peel ad juice of an orange that many recipes call for. I’m lazy.)
150ml Gluten Free IPA (Easy to locate in the GF section of Tesco)*
2 x 2 Pint Pudding basins

1. Soak the fruit in the alcohol. Overnight is best.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar, and eggs. Add the GF flour, spices, and breadcrumbs.
3. Using a spoon (I have one dedicated to GF cooking!), stir in the suet and soaked fruit adding in any leftover alcohol from soaking the fruit. Add in the orange juice and Gluten Free IPA.
4. Cover and sit overnight.
5. In the morning, check the mixture. If it looks dry, add more beer, booze, or juice.
6. Prepare the basins by cutting rounds of parchment paper for the bottoms and tops and butter the sides.
7. Spoon in the mixture and steam the puddings as usual. I use my crock pot and steam for 8-12 hours. I had enough mixture for 2 large puddings and one small tester pudding, which I cooked in the microwave for 2 minutes to test the flavour.
8. Serve flaming (if you’d like) with brandy sauce or cream.

*You can make this alcohol free. Soak the fruit in fruit juice and use strong tea instead of the IPA.

And it was a hit with both Gluten Free and non-Gluten Free folks!

***
The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

I have not received compensation from any companies mentioned in my post.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

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Two weeks ago, I got my first tattoo! There’s a story behind the design, but I’ll get to that a bit later as I really wanted to walk through my experience for anyone curious about getting a tattoo.

My first suggestion is to go with a tattoo artist your tattooed friends recommend, especially if you like their tattoos. I wound up getting my tattoo over 100 miles away in Middlesborough at Skins and Needles because my friend Jen had tattoos from there and she was going in to have colour added to hers and asked if I wanted to get mine at the same time. I also had recommendations for a place in Essex, but that was a little too far away. Plus, I see my friends in Middlesborough pretty regularly, so if I had any problems or it needed a touch up it would be easy to arrange.

We arrived for our appointment and the first thing the artist, Lotti, did was talk to me about my design. Placement, size, and even double checked with me that I knew my tattoo would look “upside down” to other people (but be right side up for me). She tweaked the design another friend had made and made sure I was ok with the new size, though she also explained her reason was so that the stars would stand out better. I Ok’ed the design, and she headed off to the printer and came back with the stencil – which was basically a rub-on version of my design. This was my last chance to change my mind on location and size.

I should also mention the sterilisation/cleanliness – The bed was completely sanitised and covered with plastic, the instruments were sanitised and covered in plastic, and she wore rubber gloves ever time she touched my arm. The entire shop was very clean, and I felt 100% comfortable.

She also shaved a bit of arm hair that might have been in the way of my tattoo and cleaned my arm with alcohol swabs before placing the pattern on.

Getting the actual ink took about 20-25 minutes because it was small and only one colour. It barely hurt – in fact, I could feel the heat of the needle more than any pain, except for the part right across my wrist tendons. That part was very tender and I said “Ouch!” a few times. Interesting, there was a man sitting at a chair across from me who seemed to be having more pain than me!

After she was finished, she wrapped me in clingfilm and gave me instructions to keep the plastic on for 2-3 hours (which I learned was VERY HOT since it was a hot day!), then it was fine to keep it uncovered. I also received a sheet of instructions on how to care for my new tattoo, and I have followed them to the letter.

I was told to use Palmer’s Cocoa Butter on it first, and once the shiny skin came through switch to E45. Because of the placement, I was advised not to submerge it in water for the first week or so, so rubber gloves were purchased. I also decided to cover it with plastic in the shower, but only because of the Hibiscrub that I need to use for my Hidradenitis. Once my tattoo is completely healed (which it almost is!) I won’t cover it in the shower.

It honestly has been a lot easier of a process than I thought – possibly because I got a small tattoo and a black tattoo. I don’t know what the recovery time for a coloured tattoo would be. It probably also helped that I am used to having blood drawn, and needles barely make an impact. I think if you were more sensitive to having blood drawn, getting a tattoo might hurt more.

So on to what my tattoo signifies, since it shocked a lot of my friends that it wasn’t Star Trek or Harry Potter related! I’ve wanted a tattoo for many years, probably since I was in my early 20s. I wanted to get something for my dad, who passed away when I was thirteen, and I knew I wanted it to incorporate the constellation Orion because when my dad died, Orion was the brightest star in the sky when my youth pastor took me outside to look at the stars. in Particular, Orion’s belt.

my facebook post about my tattoo.

I have LOADS of Orion images saved and even tattoo ideas. I thought about getting the stars as dots only on my arm, I thought about getting the constellation joined up, I had all sorts of ideas.

A friend on a cat page posted an elegant tattoo they got which was a cat’s body made to look like a treble clef. I really liked it and I was talking to my friend, Babs, about it and that I thought it would be neat to do and add Orion’s belt and maybe a leaf for the band, Carbon Leaf. To my great surprise, my friend sent me three drawings she did based on my idea and I sat on them for a further two more years before finally getting my tattoo!

I’m really glad I waited to make sure I really wanted a tattoo and this one in particular….but I’m already thinking about #2, and Babs is already drawing!

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

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I became inspired by a fellow Slimming World member who used a giant mushroom as a pizza base, so when I spotted big field mushrooms in Asda, I had to get them and this became Sunday Brunch.

Mushroom Benedict (SP)

You Will Need:
2 Large field mushrooms (look for mushrooms the size of muffins)
2 Thick tomato slices
2 Slices smoked salmon
2 eggs
(I added a handful of sliced gherkins because I like them, but they’re optional!)

1. Remove the stem from the mushrooms and put them under the grill for 10-15 minutes until tender.
2. While you’re grilling the mushrooms, put a pot of water on to boil.
3. Grill tomato slices for 5 minutes.
4. While you’re grilling the veggies, bring a pot of water to the boil. Once it reaches the boiling point, carefully crack in two eggs and poach for 3 minutes.
5. Layer each mushroom with a tomato slice and smoked salmon.
6. Top with a poached egg.

If you follow Slimming World, this recipe is FREE and can be used on an SP day!

***

DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Slimming World, I am not affiliated with Slimming World beyond being a paying customer/member, I get no personal benefit from writing this post other than the joy of sharing.

Please note: Syn values are based on my exact ingredients using the online calculator. Your Syn value may vary based on your ingredients and the size of your baking containers and portions, so use this number as a guide only. Syn values also frequently change, but these values are correct at the time of publication.

The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blog.beccajanestclair
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The past year for our family has been…a bit of a rollercoaster. There have been some amazing things that happened, but underneath it all was a level of darkness. I don’t want to give out a lot of details because it’s not my place to decide what information is made public, and of course, out of privacy for people involved.

On Saturday, May 12, 2018, Tim’s younger brother was in a serious cycling accident. He was doing a charity ride up Great Dun Fell with some of his friends. They reached the summit, and then on the descent his bike skidded in some gravel, and came off his bike.

He was airlifted from Cumbria to Middlesborough to the neurological specialists at James Cook Hospital. He was in a coma when he arrived. I imagine they rushed him straight into surgery, but I didn’t arrive until around 10PM.

I had been in Nottingham for the day, planning on seeing Sunny Ozell perform. I was hanging out around the venue when I received a phone call from Tim’s mother that she needed to speak to Tim right away. I can’t remember why Tim hadn’t answered his phone – he might have been on nights and sleeping. I asked if everyone was ok, and only got told that there had been an accident….now, if you know me and know my history – those are words that strike fear in me. Those are the words spoken to my mom and I the day my father died. So….panic.

I texted Tim, PMed him on Facebook, and was nearly about ready to ask my friend with a key to our house to go over and let themselves in to wake him when he responded to me. He spoke with his mother and called me back to tell me he was driving his mom and sister up to Middlesborough and he asked if I could meet him there. So we looked up trains and I figured out a way there, grabbing whatever food I could from the food trolly on the train – I actually remember having a cup of coffee, a kit kat bar, and a bag of crisps. Highly nutritional, let me tell you! I also remember plugging my earphones into my tablet and watching three episodes of TNG on the train as I couldn’t concentrate on reading.

When I arrived at 10, we still had no information. Tim’s brother’s wife and her dad were there along with Tim, his mum, and sister. We finally were spoken to sometime after midnight by the surgeon, and it wasn’t a very pleasant conversation. We were let in to see him, and I think we all thought this was it. Of course, we would have many more moments like this over the course of the year.

We got to a hotel in Middlesborough around 230 in the morning with nothing but the clothes on our backs. The hotel (The Holiday Inn in Middlesborough) was amazing to us. They gave us free toiletries and water bottles, found us a phone charger to borrow, and even gave us a reduced rate. In the morning, we were told to take whatever we waned from the breakfast area, so we grabbed plenty of food for the rest of the family still over at the hospital. I spent about an hour on a Sunday morning wandering around an unfamiliar town centre looking for a Boots and a Primark – Tim needed shaving supplies, we both needed deodorant, and we needed clean clothes. Tim had thrown on the first clothing he could find at home that day, and it happened to be his gardening jeans. Fortunately, I found some inexpensive Cargo pants at Peacocks, and I picked up a clean shirt for myself.

We found out his brain was swollen. They removed part of his skull to allow for the swelling to calm down (he’d get a titanium plate later). He had fluid in his lungs, which turned into multiple lung infections. At one point, doctors asked us to think about “what he wants”. I can look back in the messages I sent to my best friend and read the despair in them.

And thus began our lives for the next six weeks – twice weekly trips to Middlesborough with the occasional overnight and one emergency overnight when the trains were cancelled stranding us in York. We got to the point that we kept a change of clothes in the car with toiletries for Tim in case he needed to go straight from work, and anytime I left the house, I threw in toiletries and clean underwear into my backpack just in case of an unexpected trip up north.

We hated when the phone rang, even more so if it was during “unsocialable” hours. Our lives came to a total standstill, not knowing from one day to the next what was going on or going to happen.
We were both totally drained. Like, barely functioning at this point. Each day when we came home from the hospital, we collapsed into bed for 8-12 hours and then were zombies the next day….only to do it all again a day or two later. Tim took a few days off from work here and there, but we tried to organize our trips up around his days off – which also meant we no longer had a social life. A small price to pay, I know. But being cut off from your friends isn’t very fun, especially when you need their support.

We shortened our Summer holiday. We originally had been planning a two-week trip to visit the Harz, but we shortened it to just one week with full knowledge that we might get called home if anything happened. We still managed to enjoy ourselves, but we also felt so guilty for going away.
A bed became available a little closer to home – Nottingham – and Tim and I were there the day they transported him down, taking with us some of his personal belongings so they wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle.
He stayed there for a few months in different units – at one point he was in his own private room due to the lung infections until he was finally moved to Lincoln.

Now, due to my own illness that seemed to never quit, I haven’t been to see him many times in Lincoln, but Tim tries to go twice per week as long as he’s not at work. Some days are good visits, others aren’t so good.
Parts of it aren’t my story to tell, and I still want to respect his privacy by not putting in too many details, but I did want to write something as we arrive at the one year mark from a life-changing event. Some lives (Tim’s brother, his brother’s wife, and their kids) are changed more than ours, but it’s still very life changing….and we’re only now beginning to come out of the black cloud that seemed to be following us around for months on end.

I’m also extremely grateful we have the NHS. Out of pocket, all the family has had to pay for so far in regards to his hospital stays has been parking at the hospitals, food/transportation/lodging to visit (We personally probably spent around £500 those first weeks), and that’s been it. All of Ben’s care – from the air ambulance to the surgeries to the medications to the hospital stay – have been covered. Seriously. I don’t understand why the US can’t wrap their heads around nationalised health being a good thing.

For those of you who knew about this this past year and have sent positive thoughts, vibes, prayers, smoke signals, etc, I thank you for your continued support.

***
The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

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