Middlefocus

I came across this little fold-up advice leaflet and thought that its 5 key points were worth sharing.  Produced by the Public Health Agency, the five steps to wellbeing that it recommends are: 1. Give 2. Be active 3. Take notice 4. Keep learning and 5. Connect. Each of the steps has an associated symbol and explanatory comment. And they make sense. Take 5 minutes and check out an online version of the leaflet and other mental health related material at the links below.  I'm glad I did as there is plenty of stuff to think about both for ones own health and for others. The next step is to build the 5 steps into daily habits so that they become second nature. This is where the discreet portability of the fold-up is useful. Slipped into a purse, wallet or pocket it can prompt us to action each time we notice it. Follow up Read online version of the 5 Steps leaflet here and see other health related advice at www.mindingyourhead.info

It only took a second to go back twenty years. There I was settling down with March 2016's Observer Food Monthly  and a little blurb on the cover of the magazine caught my eye.  It read, The Food Lover's Ultimate Book Shop (it also serves lunch) .   Could it be?  In that instant I knew what my ultimate food lover's bookshop would be but could it be the same one?  A quick scan to page 52 confirmed that it was indeed Books for Cooks a place that to my shame I had last visited in the mid-nineties when my professional life took me occasionally from Belfast to London and more exactly, Notting Hill Gate.  It was at a meeting that a colleague hearing of my interest in culinary matters suggested I visit this unique bookshop at Blenheim Crescent.  I had time; I did; and immediately fell in love with the place. That was twenty years ago! In my memory its shelves were (of course) packed with cookery books but what I remember was how special the place...