One thing you recently discovered that has changed your life

[rosemole]

For the better, obviously.

Can be a thing, person, activity, place...anything really.

Mine is trig bagging. It's so much fun and gets you out there, to unexpected and unknown places.

What's yours?

It was around in the 70s. I did my nurse training including childrens and midwifery and the test was definitely in use - as was the use of a 'frog plaster' to treat it. I believe the treatment has moved on since then though

What wasn't around then was the use of MRI scans to confirm the diagnosis. Not all doctors were as adept at the required test as they could have been

I completely agree with coverless duvets.... I'm never going back to trying to wrestle duvets into covers.

Trig bagging is a great idea. We've done a couple of walks up to trig points with the kids so I'm going to start keeping a list of the ones we've done together, thanks OP.

We love geocaching and it really encourages DDs to come out on walks. I get quite excited when we find caches and it's shown us some interesting places we wouldn't have found otherwise.

Mine would be that after years of reading crime books and thrillers I've recently discovered the romantacy genre (Fantasy Romance) and am wondering why I haven't read some of these books sooner. I don't care that it's not high brow.... give me dragons, werewolves and some spicy sex scenes any day 🤣

Me too! 😂

These are easier & safer "Lever Action Jar Key Opener (Color Assorted)" from Amazon

Apparently, there's a joke about vegans along the lines of "how do you know someone is vegan? Don't worry, they will tell you"...

Well, at the risk of being that person, my life has recently been changed, and I think it is because I have gone vegan.

I have multiple autoimmune diseases affecting my guts, joints, skin, eyes... It's chronic and disabling.

Last year, I realised chicken seemed to be giving me the shits... and I didn't eat much red meat anyway.... I also have always thought milk was gross, and eggs generally gave me gas. That said, I have spent much of my life eating shit and being obese. With low mobility and all of the illness, it just felt like junk food was a tiny pleasure in amongst a lot of pain.

So I just stopped eating any animal products. And while I love animals, it's not even an especially ethical move, although I am really pleased to now be making a difference. I'm not going to judge anyone over bacon, though - I get it.

Now I eat as much as I want, and whatever I want, but it needs to be vegan, gluten free (coeliac), and I need to be able to understand the ingredients (some of the vegan supermarket dupe stuff just looks like a chemical shit storm). I make all kinds of stews and eat loads of beans, I've never eaten better. I'm super into fermented veg as well.

My inflammatory markers have all gone back to normal, my blood pressure is normal, I'm still fat, but I've lost weight and it is steadily dropping (slowly, but it's not my main goal).

I'm actually delaying my next infusions because I don't need them yet. My hands are usually chronically swollen, with a trigger finger on six joints, and all my rings are falling off.

I have just had a colonoscopy, and for the first time in 20 years, I have a totally healthy bowel. There's literally nothing to report. My last colonoscopy looked like a snapshot of Freddy Krueger's arsecheeks.

I can't quite believe the change, like did I just go into massive remission by chance? It seems too much of a coincidence. I wish I had done this a long time ago.

Also. Heated blanket. I live in an old draughty house, and it's arctic. My heated blanket is amazing.

Finally... I recently tried out an eye mask for sleeping after getting one in a crappy gift set at Christmas. Game changer! I can only assume that my previous frequent waking was because I open my eyes and catch a glimpse of something in the shades of the bedroom, and then I'm up. Since using the eye mask thingy, I sleep deeply, dream deeply, and I'm out, literally gone for a good nine hours a night.

So... if you want to change your life, my tips are , go vegan, get a heated blanket, and wear an eye mask to bed.

Speaking as a child of the 70s who was in a spika (frog plaster) on and off for several years, the test certainly was around in the 70s and is probably part of the reason I am not now in a wheelchair

We are thinking about getting single duvets on a double bed. So no gap.

I don't care what it looks like but just get a double duvet or blanket to put over it if your bedroom is a place you need to look perfect.

We are thinking about getting single duvets on a double bed. So no gap.

No, the gap is above us when we stay with the in laws. All fine when we are both under our individual single duvets, but as you reach across and cuddle in the middle of the bed, you're in the gap between the two singles.

What do you mean above you?

If you mean for a corner cupboard, you definitely can retrofit. this
Even better - though expensive, is a 'le mans' retrofitted THIS

More usable space with the 'le mans'

Are coverless duvets not a nightmare to dry though? You would have to wash the whole thing every time? We have a super king bed, so that would be a nightmare. I use a top sheet even now, but I'd still want the cover washed as well.

I stayed somewhere that had two single quilts on a double bed. it was surprisingly good. and we're cuddlers. I thought it wouldn't work great, but it was lovely.

Get a teaspoon and prise the lid a tiny bit underneath to release the vacuum.

What do you mean above you?

If you lie on each side of the double bed, under your single duvets, it's fine-you are covered.

When you both move into the middle of the bed to cuddle, the single duvets sort of fall away to the edges of the bed leaving a big gap in the middle!

Most of the stuff I have had has been suitable for purpose - or 'what do you expect at that price?' (always under £1).

The 2 things that were wrong - 1 broke on first use the second arrived broken. They refunded and told me to use or dispose of as I see fit with no need to return.

I got this one, because of this review mainly. I'm very happy with it. Annoyingly, it doesn't come with a cover any more (I think it used to), but I just throw a double bed sheet over the top of it and it seems to work very well like that.

https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/house-garden/household-appliances/easylife-xl-heated-airer-review-b2228053.html

WD 40 Specialist Silicone Lubricant is excellent for the rubber seals around car doors and stops them sticking with the ice.

I thought about microplastics seeping into the food ass you cook. Truthfully though the original cooker liner will leak microplastics anyway so false or misplaced anxiety on my part

I think a superking duvet would be a pain. Ours is a king size and a lower tog and washes and dries fine alongside the sheet and pillowcases but we've got a 9kg washing machine. I think a superking would struggle to be washed in a standard washing machine.

For whoever it was who discovered shein https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdrylgvr77jo

Temu 10 times worse,

@SleeplikeababyTonight coverless duvets are made of something that dries really quickly - god knows what. I switched for my DD who is still often wet at night and it's made a huge. Also makes changing the bed in general a v quick procedure.

Wooden toaster tongs from lakeland. I think they were £1.50

Heated airer from lakeland. Bought in the sale for £99. So useful

My newest purchase, my henry Quick Cordless hoover in the sale £200. I can now whizz around the rooms with ease and no pain (shoulder and arm issues)

Coverless duvets are great. Again, I got all mine in the sales, so a couple of them were only £25

They dry like magic. Its weird I dont understand how they do it tbh. I have queens and they go in a normal size washing machine, with the sheet. If its the summer or the heating is on they take 1 hour to dry (I know!!!), in winter with no heating on and just hung over the banister it takes a day.

Ive been using them a year and they look like new still. I use Nightlark ones, and have several. They are a bit exy but for me as so worth it.

I'd never buy anything from Shein and the like. In fact, even though it's difficult, I make every effort never to buy anything made in China because of their treatment of the Uighurs. I'd rather buy second hand than prop up the Chinese economy.