AVOIDING SKIN CANCER - AWNING AND GARDEN ROOM

After a few bouts of (non-melanoma) skin cancer despite avoiding sun while living in the Caribbean several years ago, I do my best to avoid sun nowadays.  Nothing like skin cancer and bits being cut out and chopped off to make people think twice about sunbathing, don't you think?  Still, avoiding sun isn't easy when you are rather fond of the state of wellbeing that sunshine promotes.  With shade in mind I had an awning built onto the back of my West Yorkshire home a few years ago and in sun-scorching drought like we are having in this area right now, it has been invaluable; not just for me but also for my shade-loving plants: the hostas and the ferns.  Last year, at the top end of the garden, I had built a garden room and it is lovely and warm on those chilly days when the sun pops out just now and then, including in winter.  The sun through the glass warms the room but, and this is a big but, the glass is special and filters out harmful UV rays.  This means that not only am I protected, I hope, against the harmful sun rays but also the contents of the room do not readily fade.  For hot days, the blinds are also solar reflective.

Dry hot and sunny days playing havoc with my lawn

Be smart.  Shun the sun.  And take Vitamin D supplements.





Sun will turn unprotected skin into wrinkly brown parchment and look what it is doing to my lovely lawn.  Dammit.  The grass will grow back when the sunshines but damaged skin remains damaged and moisturisers are just temporary plumping measures.  You cannot undo what is done.





In the Caribbean I wore sun blocks, sat under the shade of trees, and even wore a sun-protective makeup on my face.  I worked all week in an office and so it wasn't a case of being a Brit on holiday abroad.  My British friends out there who used to soak up the sun, pouring oil on themselves to fry nicely to a tanned crisp, used to laugh at me sitting there, under the shade of trees, keeping right out of it.  But they didn't get the last laugh; every single one of them has had to have skin cancer removed from their faces.  The thing is, the sun only has to look at me for me to tan and I never did burn. It's commonly thought that you have to get sunburnt to get skin cancer, but you don't. 




World Health Organization on Skin Cancer (external link)

Feet up, under the shade of the awning.  It's hot out there!

Alfie, the resident Ragdoll cat, who was 9 years old last month, was dozing alongside me under the shade of the awning too.  Must be hot in that fur coat.

Alfie, the resident Ragdoll cat, sleeping in the shade.