Friday 29 May 2009

Of Skinny Lib and Snipe


Since my teens I have weighed seven and a half stone and had a waist which was 28 inches . The latter increased to about 29 inches when I was in my late 20s. Lots of folk would love a figure like that but I warn you its no fun standing sideways at a bus stop and having them go past because the driver didn't see you. I was over five foot ten at the age of twenty but have now shrunk to five nine.

In my teens it was so difficult to buy clothes off the peg that I had to have my shirts, suits and trousers made to measure. While I was at college a bloke actually tried to found an organisation called Skinny Lib to campaign for clothes manufacturers to make things to fit the likes of me. And every time I sought life insurance I had to have medicals because I was underweight.

Every so often when my doctor has changed or added to my medication he has warned me that I might put weight on - Ho! Ho!


But now it has happened. Six months ago my tablets were changed again. And in the last few months I have put on two stone and two inches around my waist. I am now almost my correct weight for my height. The problem is that if I carry on shrinking and putting on weight at this rate I reckon by the end of 2010 I shall be a four foot round ball weighing 20 stone. Perhaps I'll be able to market myself as a giant Christmas pudding.


GB's weather recorder packed up a for a while this morning, I hadn't actually examined it until then. I tend to look out of the window and stick my head out of the door. When it started working again I took a look at it. It tells you the temperature, wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, humidity, and a host of other things.


I think I'll probably carry on looking out of the window and going in the garden to stick a wet finger in the air. I'm a bit slow to catch up with the 21st century.


At home in Pensby the occasional Blackbird song, Starling noises and mewing Buzzards accompany the twitter of the House Sparrow during the day. The highlight comes when a Dunnock sings or an Oystercatcher pipes its way past. Here at GB's the bird sounds are entirely different. It is lovely to hear the Skylarks singing and last night the Snipe could be heard drumming across the crofts. F W Headley, in a letter to the magazine Nature in 1904, described it as a " loud throbbing hum that startles one when it suddenly descends from an ethereal height, and the small bird is descried, hardly more than a speck to the naked eye, circling round in wild career, and now and then swooping headlong downwards and thrilling the air with his weird music". Last year one swooped within a couple of feet of me during daylight on the croft and gave me the fright of my life. Just one of many unforgettable experiences the Hebrides have given me.
 

9 comments:

  1. No sympathy whatsoever with a thinny skinny, lathe of a body!!!..snarl-snarl!
    Sad! I haven't got one now, but I can look at photo's and remember I was.
    Inactivity, mixed with pills for this and pills for that have expanded the girth, so Yes, you had better beware, one can end up the shape of a pill before too long.lol

    Keep relying on the licked finger for the weather test... never lets you down!

    Love Granny

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  2. I love your rambles. Do I say that a lot? Well, it's true!! I laughed out loud when you described your appearance by 2010 :o).

    You make me smile.

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  3. Don't feel so bad, Scriptor. My husband is 53 yrs old and his weight translates to about 10 and a half stones (I think!) His waist is 29 inches and I have a terrible time finding pants to fit him. I usually have to settle for buying a 30 waist and he has to crank his belt.
    On the other hand, I'd love to lose a few "stones".
    Enjoy the birds of the Hebrides!

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  4. Wonderful post, although being from the States, I am a little cofused as to the weight in stones! I will look it up on the web! I have always considered my age and curves and very well deserved after having been on the slight side all of my life too! No matter the size....you will be loved....even if you are rolled around in the late years!

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  5. That's why I love the blog world...listening to very different perspectives, S.S. And what is the actual "stone" measurement and where did that term originate? VERY interesting. I like that.

    Actually, I love that the female model in the one picture has some thighs!!! :^) I know there was a day when Rubenesque women were all the rage...not any more!

    And there truly is a bird called a "Snipe!"
    Such an education!
    Thank you!
    C :^)

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  6. A stone is 14 pounds. Don't know its origin off hand - definitely one to look up and blog about...

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  7. I remember a time as a young adult when I had to work at staying over 100 lbs. I drank meal supplements in a can in between meals to try to put on weight.

    These days, and 3 kids later, I'm still thin; lucky for me because I eat like a horse!

    However, I find it interesting that people don't think twice about making comments about how skinny I am, or "ooo, way to thin", or "Man you need to put on some weight". It's just another way to tell someone that they are not okay. I would never say anything to a person that was overweight. Why would they think that is okay in reverse?

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  8. I agree, Shabby Girl. Comments about being thin don't bother me now but they did when I was young. As you say, some people think it is OK to comment about people being underweight but wouldn't dream of doing the same to an overweight person.

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  9. Particularly as we get older people are usually envious of skinny people. It is a compliment generally speaking to be called thin. People are rarely envious of the obesely overweight. Mind you people still say I'm thin so it just goes to show you.

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