May is Coeliac Awareness Month

The month of May is Coeliac Awareness Month.

What is Coeliac Disease?

Coeliac Disease ('Celiac' in the USA and Canada) is a lifelong autoimmune condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. In Coeliac Disease the immune system mistakes substances found inside gluten as a threat to the body and attacks them. This can trigger a number of painful, horrible, stressful and uncomfortable symptoms.

In the UK it is estimated that 1 in 100 people have the condition.

Coeliac Awareness Month 2024

This year Coeliac UK - the charity for people with Coeliac Disease - is on a mission to find the 1 in 100 people in the UK with coeliac disease and help guide them on the road to recovery.

Visit the Coeliac UK website and Coeliac Awareness Month page for more information.

Living a gluten free life

Having suffered from a range of symptoms for around ten years I finally received a positive diagnosis of Coeliac Disease following some 'interesting' and in-depth tests and procedures in 2008! It came as a relief to finally have a name for the mysterious cause of my illnesses and ailments, but at the time I was only given a brief summary and told that I'd have to "cut down on bread and beer". It was only later when I met with a gastroenterologist and a dietitian that I found out that the only treatment for people with Coeliac Disease is a strict, life-long gluten free diet.

My life as a Coeliac in LEGO form

You can read more about my gluten free journey in this case study on the This Is MedTech website - "When eating gluten-free isn’t a choice".

My Coeliacversary

This year marks my 16th year as a Coeliac! Time flies eh.

How should I celebrate my Coeliacversary this year...?

Happy National Hot Dog Day

Today is National Hot Dog Day.

National Hot Dog Day (in the USA) is today!

In the UK National Hot Dog Day is on Friday 10th September.

July is National Hot Dog Month.

Find out more about hot dogs in general, National Hot Dog Month and National Hot Dog Day on the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council website.

National Hot Dog Month and National Hot Dog Day

July is National Hot Dog Month.

This year National Hot Dog Day (in the USA) is on Wednesday 21st July.

In the UK National Hot Dog Day is on Friday 10th September.

Some of the Hot Dog mascots we've seen on our travels

As someone with Coeliac Disease it can be tough to find gluten free hot dogs. Luckily we recently found Morliny Berlinki Classic and Cheese hot dogs are gluten free. And very tasty.

Find out more about hot dogs in general, National Hot Dog Month and National Hot Dog Day on the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council website.

Happy National Hot Dog Day

Today is National Hot Dog Day.

The whole of July is National Hot Dog Month.

Find out more about National Hot Dog Day and National Hot Dog Month on the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council website.

Happy National Hot Dog Month

July is National Hot Dog Month.

This year National Hot Dog Day is on Wednesday 22nd July.

Find out more about National Hot Dog Month and National Hot Dog Day on the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council website.

It's National Hot Dog Month!

July is THE month to celebrate Hot Dogs.

A tweet from Schar gluten-free alerted me to the fact that July is National Hot Dog Month - so I'd like to wish everyone a happy one.

With a Hot Dog Man at the Santa Fe Fun Park in Swanage, Dorset (site of our 600th Crazy Golf course visit)

Check out my other Hot Dog-related blog posts.

Links:
- #NationalHotDogMonth
- Schar Gluten-Free website
- National Hot Dog and Sausage Council website

Related blog posts:
- Hot Dog
- Sausages
- Gluten Free

May is National Golf Month

Organised by the British Golf Industry Association, National Golf Month will be taking place during May 2015.

My main sport is Minigolf, but I can often be found pitching & putting around the 9-hole Golf courses at Stockwood Park (pictured) and Tea Green in Luton

National Golf Month gives golf clubs the opportunity to promote offers through the National Golf Month website to reach both lapsed and new golfers.

The BGIA operates under the umbrella of the Federation of Sport and Play Associations (FSPA) and is the lead trade body representing UK manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors of golf products and services.

On our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour Emily and I have visited almost 600 miniature golf courses, some of which are located at 'regular' golf courses. Quite a few golf clubs and centres are building new Adventure Golf style layouts to encourage people to take up the BIG game.

Hoebridge Golf Centre in Woking went all out on its new Adventure Golf course

In April 2012 we visited and played the world's first miniature golf course - The Himalayas - at the home of Golf, St Andrews.

Playing the world's first Miniature Golf course

Emily on hole 18 at The Himalayas

We've also played the world's first Pitch & Putt course, located in Southsea, Hampshire.

As a fan of minigolf here's my blog post about the three 'days' for the great game.

- Minigolf Tag in Austria takes place on Sonntag 3 Mai.

- National Miniature Golf Day is on Saturday 9 May.

- Miniature Golf Day is ALWAYS on 21 September - this year it'll be on a Monday.

Since 2007 we've competed on the British Minigolf Association Tour and have played for the Great Britain Team at European and World Minigolf Sport Federation tournaments.

Check out the links below for more information on National Golf Month.

Links:
- National Golf Month at Mipins
- National Golf Month at England Golf
- British Golf Industry Association (BGIA)
- National Golf Month on Twitter
- National Golf Month on Facebook

Related blog posts:
- Golf
- Mini Golf Days
- Crazy World of Minigolf Tour
- The Himalayas Putting Course at St Andrews, Scotland
- Two Miniature Golf Firsts
- Miniature Golf and the Olympic Games
- National Golf Day 2015
- Types and Variants of Miniature Golf visited
- Minigolf Clubs in the UK

What a Day, Week and Month!

Happy National Miniature Golf Day to all (and there's a bunch of other stuff to celebrate today)!

May the 11th, and indeed this week and next, plus the month of May is packed full of celebratory day's to mark everything from Minigolf to Doughnuts.

Check out the latest blog post from our friends over at Putterfingers about today's Day, plus yesterday's Windmill Day. The British Minigolf Association is also holding the annual BMGA British Championships tournament at Wroxham Barns, Norfolk this weekend (it teed-off this morning). Follow the live results here and if it takes your fancy you can join the BMGA for free here.

And if you're playing at a Miniature Golf (or Crazy Golf or Adventure Golf) course then send a review over to the team at The Putting Penguin and MiniatureGolfer.com! There's a lot of Minigolf history to read up on over at the Crazy Golf Museum too.

As well as being National Miniature Golf Day, it's also World Fair Trade Day today. I found this out while out for a wander in Stopsley, Luton this afternoon when I found the Fair Deal World Shop located in Stopsley Village. 

And don't forget, according to Punchbowl today is also Eat What You Want Day (mmmm, so far I've had a Choco-Knobbly Crispy Rice Bites Gluten Free bar, an Egg in a Bap, some scorchingly hot Awfully Posh Pork Cracklings and home-made Popcorn (with more grub to scoff later).  It's also Twilight Zone Day (great as I love the show and movie) and National Train Day (brilliant, while not a spotter I can tell a Class 316 DMU from an HST).

This week is National Pet Week (interesting as we're Dog Sitting) and May is National Hamburger Month (yum), National Strawberry Month (we bought some today) and National Bike Month (handy that as I'm selling a Mountain Bike at the moment, let me know if you're interested). 

I heard from The Dull Men's Club that it's also National Doughnut Week at the moment. 

From the 13th to the 19th of May is Gut Awareness Week, Coeliac UK's annual week of activity to raise awareness of Coeliac Disease (of which I am afflicted!). For more info and advice on getting a diagnosis check out the Gut Feeling Awareness Week 2013 website. 

I'm sure my friend and fan of "Day's" Oliver 'The Machine' Florence is having a field day with all the activity! He let me know it is National Mills Weekend this weekend too.

All the best for today, whatever you are celebrating. Have a good one.

Links:

- Putterfingers

- Punchbowl.com

- British Minigolf Association

- Coeliac UK

- The Dull Men's Club

- The Putting Penguin

- MiniatureGolfer.com

By the way, if anyone knows what 2013 is the year of then do let me know...