Last post for today, I promise…

Cinque, I meant to also write that I personally haven’t found inulin to necessarily help me sleep. My current bout of sleeplessness is related to restless leg syndrome, so maybe inulin just doesn’t help with that type!? Anyway, hope you are getting some quality sleep!

I empathise Minka. Your neighbour is a wally. I didn’t know that calling the police wasn’t the done thing. My only hesitation for not calling them would be that there could be more serious issues at stake for them – but I don’t think you need worry about that as they will prioritise. Of course, this often means they don’t show up until the problem has passed. In California, my first home was near the Mexican border in a pretty dodgy neighbourhood. I saw a man drag his screaming girlfriend down several steps by her hair but the police wouldn’t come because I couldn’t see a weapon. I quickly learned to say that there was a weapon involved – once that weapon was a hamster cage.

I really feel for first responders like those in Stay’s immediate family. The first time I had occasion to visit an ER in Perth, I was shocked to see a life size poster of a nurse with a statement that healthcare workers have a right not to receive abuse from patients. In decades of working in hospitals, including a head trauma unit, I’d never once been abused or heard of anyone receiving abuse and was gobsmacked to think that people trying to offer assistance without judgment would receive anything but extreme gratitude.

Did the news of nine foreign backpackers rushed to various emergency hospitals across Perth last week make it nationwide? This happened in a neighbouring suburb. A package of prescription drugs apparently arrived at a known doss house and the transient occupants thought it would be a good idea to take it, substance unknown at the time. Luckily for them, another house mate found them. They were all delirious, combative and confused when taken to hospital. Extensive medical bills to be covered by taxpayers since travel insurance doesn’t cover illicit activity.

Anyway, well done on the self-control issues described in your previous post. I hope you catch up on your sleep tonight.

My niece and her husband have just left. I now have the blind installed in my bedroom and the curtain rod up in the spare bedroom. They also put up a wall bracket that holds 4 mops/brooms in the laundry and also the remote control bracket for my bathroom heater/exhaust fan – all jobs that require drilling into bricks that I’d been putting off. I keep wandering into rooms and jumping up and down because I’m happy that those little jobs are now done. My niece also gave me a bit of a talking to about asking for help sooner – I’m not good at that. I need to put up some trellising wires for climbing plants and they are going to come back and help me with that as I’m not confident about drilling through metal.

I must be the only lucky one when it comes to airbnb. My next door neighbour has one room that she lists (a financial necessity since she separated from her husband). But she only rents the room to single women or couples as she lives there too – she’s my age and not a partier. I never even know when she has guests as there is no noise.

The stories about the way first responders are treated also made me stop and think. It’s not something I see often – really only in emergency rooms when I used to be there with my father. I hadn’t realised just how dangerous it could be, I’d assumed that would be rare. They deserve so much respect for the job they do.

Minka I did just manage to get a box of turkish delight chocolates to walk out door – under the arm of my niece’s husband. My christmas stash is diminishing nicely without me being responsible for that.

Elic, I’m a bit the same about a mad rush to clean and tidy when I know someone’s coming, although I long ago gave up the idea that my home had to be as spotless and tidy as my mother’s home always was.

I have persevered with this mornings goal of working on the study. While my niece and her husband were drilling holes I was scraping back the the lumpy paint on the skirting boards in the study. It should only take a few days before I’m ready to paint this room. This is a small room and feels like a manageable place to start.

Time for a late lunch, a cup of tea then back to some more skirting boards scraping.

Thin, your call to the police likely prevented ‘death by hamster cage’.😲 A dangerous weapon indeed!

Calif your collecting tea hit a chord. I’ve lived in various parts of China, and now work with international students onshore and occasional consulting at Chinese universities offshore. Tea is their gift of choice when I finish a course or contract. I have enough Chinese tea to fill an entire shelf of my large pantry. My late mother had a saying ‘not for all the tea in China’ and I sometimes feel that’s close to what I have. And it is so so hard to finish a box. Glad I’m not the only one.

Lindsay, Thankyou for the compliment, and how nice to have had all the food cooked for you for a while, and such lovely family time… but also lovely to get back home and back to 5:2. Double happiness!

CharlotteRose, sorry that health things are stopping you from exercising, although a morning swim is just a wonderful thing to do. You are in the club with Merry and me, and a couple of others who are forced by ill health to be terribly sedentary, but still finding that 5:2 works brilliantly!

Thin, I do so hope you won’t have to keep complaining about the noise next door, even if it stays an airbnb. I guess all those bedrooms make it a party house but hopefully, now Christmas and New Year are done, the parties are over. And even more hopefully it will stop being an airbnb in a few days!

I have a feeling the spinach was added to chickpeas, but I can’t remember!
Aren’t spinach and legumes a wonderful combo.

I think I did hear about those backpackers, but only a quick mention. Weren’t they lucky to all survive. I know it is tempting to think they should get the Darwin Awards, but it is a relief our health care can get them through their stupid choices and go on to live productive lives.

Yes, I am an optimist. 🙂

Stay, cockatoos can be so loud! Plus, my littlest granddaughter has earned the name ‘little cockatoo’ because, presented with a plate of food, she will take one bite out of each thing and then leave it: just like a cocky in a fruit tree.
But even with these antisocial characteristics, I do love them so much (and my ‘little cockatoo’ too ofcourse) 😉
Isn’t it so fascinating how each grandchild is different. So glad Miss 2 is loving her dolly pusher.
And congratulations on that kombucha!

Cali, 1.8kg loss! Wowsers! That is a nice step!

Minka, good luck with those chocolates. Maybe it doesn’t make much difference whether you eat them all at once, or over a month or two. Infact, it is meant to be better for your teeth to eat them all in one shot. Is one way more enjoyable than the other?
The only problem, is that eating them all might encourage Mr Minka to buy you another box. They might need to be a once a year thing.

So glad you have managed to post, even though you are back at your busy work. May your lovely list of words keep manifesting!

Thanks for the inulin info. A pity it isn’t a wonderful sleep bullet for everyone! But I am not doing too badly with sleep at the moment. (Touch wood and whistle). I had heard that magnesium helps with restless leg syndrome, but then read that doesn’t (my mum used to have them badly). I hope you can find a solution.

LJoyce, hooray for your niece and her husband. Lovely family. Good luck with the painting, I hope the room gets done quickly and easily: another thing for you to smile at!

Arelkade, just as well you saw that optometrist! I hope you get a wonderful deal on the glasses. Somehow!

Well, I am back at my own post, and finished my coffee. I wonder if another pot would make me feel better or worse?

Best wishes to everyone.

Thank you Cinque, your posts saw me through my first A&C coffee of the day. Very enjoyable on both counts. I have been reflecting on how hard it would be to complete even simple tasks with a bale of hay strapped on. It reminds me of how easy it feels to run once you’ve removed the ankle weights you’ve been using for training. Most of us aren’t saddled with such a physical burden, rather it’s a mental obstacle to overcome in getting our spaces organised.

Yes, good to know that Eli doesn’t want to get rid of her OH just yet, especially as she’s virtually a newlywed I believe. I’m hanging on to mine for now too. Messy hoarder that he is, he does have a lot of very good qualities.

Stay, yesterday where I walked at the river, there were hundreds, maybe thousands, of white cockatoos going nuts as they flew en masse between trees. It was quite a spectacle and one I haven’t seen for some years as I suspect the local authorities do some culling due to complaints from residents down by the river. That kind of natural noise doesn’t offend me but I find humans can really be irritating!

Arel, enjoyed your post. Lenses cost a few cents to produce. The mark-up is daylight robbery. You might have read that we engage in dental tourism in Thailand. Sometimes we get our prescriptions for glasses filled overseas while we’re there. We get our prescription sunglasses sent from the USA where they’re less than half the price. But we’re loyal to a very good brand of aviators which are sky high in Australia.

I agree with CalifD, Minka, if you don’t want the chocolates, you have to train your DH not to buy them. He seems a very supportive and understanding gent so I’m sure he’d understand if you explain that you appreciate the thought but you’d like to make such gifts a thing of the past.

I’m back to my fasty Sundays after three weeks of Saturdays. Sunday feels right. Off to walk before the rain gets here. Are you on for today, LJ?

P.S. GDSA, maybe you could eat before you go and just have a McCoffee if they have it? DD has been in McD’s twice in her life. Both were for children’s birthday parties.

Just a quick response to Arel’s post about glasses, and the cost to have them done here. We travel often to Vietnam and have our scripts filled by a terrific optometrist in Saigon, for a quarter of the price. When we were leaving her store last year I think it was, there was a man sitting in the pavement, with a great pile of glasses cases branded with the logo of a well-known high end glasses store in Australia. There he was, sitting cross-legged, clipping the glass to fit the frames, then popping them in the cases. He was probably paid around $1 a pair, but no doubt the customer in Australia, who’d probably had to wait a week or more, would have been charged what? $200? Almost worth the airfare to have them done o/s.

Lindsay that sounds a fantastic place and a wonderful spot to enjoy your family. It would be fun to have the little one climbing into your bed to impart their special brand of wisdom on a range of subjects. My OH is the opposite to yours; he’s not very creative but he can build or fix absolutely anything. Planes, cars, household appliances, if it comes apart, he knows how it works. When we extended our house, I designed everything and he built it so it has a lot of unique features. He always comes home from a trip to find a list of ‘honey do’s and the neighbours often have little (or large) jobs waiting for him too. So, he’s worth hanging on to.

Minka is a fan of those Rodney Clarke pants. I did have some Gordon Smith miracle pants and I suppose you would call them jeans so perhaps I do wear jeans after all. I passed through that size 14 stage so fast that I hardly got to wear them but they were very comfortable with that bit of stretch. Hard to find are white linen summer pants, size 10, full length without a pull cord tie. I want them to fit well at the waist and not be flying at half mast.

I agree with you and Arel that it is incumbent on any local council not to make zoning changes to accommodate one capitalist land owner at the expense of others’ amenity. Since our rates are based on rental potential, I fear the council will do what best fills their coffers and not worry about the changing face of our suburb. Four car loads left this morning, it took them about 90 minutes to get out the door. We have one peaceful night ahead and then the next lot arrive tomorrow.

LJ, I don’t consider the items you passed on to your niece to be clutter if she has a use for them. And anyway, it’s no longer your clutter, so job done! T2 had a rare sale last week so DD bought a few items for birthday gifts this year. The packaging is very attractive.

I thought we were getting rain but it feels quite oppressive at only 33C today. Maybe tonight if we’re lucky.

LJ and Eli, I think I will have konjac noodles in something for dinner as you both mentioned them. I have a block of the non-pond scum variety that needs using. I’m well within my happy weight range now (despite birthday cake in the mix last week) so hoping today’s FD will put me closer to CalifD and Minka’s weights.

Lindsay, that grunting koala at night! Such a noise! At least you know what it is. Extra scary if you don’t (memories of camping as a child).
Also, I think it might be impossible to be researching AND tidy!

LJoyce, it is no easy thing to ask for help. A family tendency not to is just the start. It is hard not to be independent. Then you want to ask people in a way that allows them to say no, if they want to, and that is very hard as most people feel obliged to say yes. And then, if you have bitten the bullet, and worked up the courage, and managed to ask for help, and they do say no, that leaves you exhausted and still needing help. It is no wonder that most of us will do anything to avoid asking for help!
I’m so glad they are going to do the drilling you need.

I think you are extremely productive too! And it sounds as if Thin is right and your relocated clutter has become nonclutter!

Thin, I bet your house is fabulous, what a great pair you and Mr Thin are! Enjoy your quiet night! With rain I hope.

Nice to think of everyone wearing miracle jeans!

I’ve had a gentle day. I think I will wait for Wednesday for my next fast. I have a family thing on Thursday (unless we cancel because of the heat). Lots of sensible eating in the meantime.

🙂

Thin, is your house in any danger from the fires? A couple years back there were fires not too far from here and I remember huge billowing clouds of smoke from about 15 to 20 miles away. I hope you’re safe where you are. I hope you get that rain.

LJoyce, you’re accomplishing so much this weekend! I’m impressed. Are you sure you’re going to want to move when you’re all finished? Your wall of black boxes from T2 Tea made me go look at their website. They ship all over the world and have a few tea shops in the US. There is a tea on their website called Dandylightful that caught my eye. I like dandelion tea but it’s hard to find good ones. This one has coconut and cacao and chicory root (inulin?) I was thinking of ordering some but want to add one or two more since it’s probably shipping from the east coast. Which ones can you recommend? I like pretty much everything.

Cinque, your 3 things plan inspired me enough today that I ended up doing at least 3 things in our exercise room which has some equipment covered and blocked by boxes of ‘stuff’. I put all the silk flower bouquets that I store under the small set of stairs in there into clear plastic bags and organized them, threw out some things that I’ll never use, and took an old receiver that was sitting in a box to the thrift store, along with a few other things that were ready to go but sitting in the garage. While I was there, I remembered that lovely dress you got at the op shop and went in to have a look. I ended up with a pair of Calvin Klein jeans that look almost new, plus another pair for $4 each. I also found a periwinkle blue windbreaker/rain jacket that I really liked and another fleecy type jacket. The whole thing came to $18.50. Such a deal! There were quite a few nice choices in the small sizes. So that was fun.

Lindsay, I lived with a cockatoo for 18-1/2 years. We used to have a saying, “When Gilligan ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” He could scream louder than I can. We had him in a room that was pretty much birdproofed so he was always out of his cage unless he wanted to sit in it. We had a lot of manzanita branches hung for them to sit on. Unfortunately, we lost him to cancer 10 years ago. So I have a very soft spot for cockatoos. He used to stomp his foot on his perch when he was mad. Do they do that in the wild? Head feathers raised, sometimes wings spread, screaming and stomping. It was funny to watch.

Gday, I know a lot of people who eat terrible diets and can’t understand why they are overweight. I agree with thin that there isn’t really a tactful way to give advice unless they ask. Leading by example is about the best you can hope for.

Thin, we watched episodes 2 and 3 of season 2 of Outlanders tonight. There were a couple episodes toward the end of the first season that were pretty graphically violent, almost to the point of being hard to watch. We’re still caught up in the story though.

Hello Everyone,
Thank you for your kind welcome. I am back at work now but try and dip into your rather fast moving thread from the Northern Hemisphere. With regard to clutter, I heard about Marie Kondo last year and proceeded to go through all of my clothes and fold them now using her method so that they are ‘on end’, so I can see exactly what is in each drawer when I open it. Her premise is also that if it does not give you joy, then get rid of it. That resulted in about 4 bags of clothes that no longer gave me any joy which I had been hanging onto. I have been working my way through the house and regularly either take stuff to the charity shops or put them on Freecycle. Last summer I cleared the contents of my cellar this way and it felt great that things I no longer used where valued by someone else, plus I had space and freedom from junk. There are Marie Kondo videas on youtube.
One of my sons has depression and had moved back home last summer with the contents of a flat that he had shared with his GF. She left, so I helped him pack and move it into my small home. I have managed to store much of it out of sight and then bought storage for him and helped him organise his space. Living in order certainly helps mental health, I am sure.

Thin, thanks for the advice on the roller – there is freezer space because I’ve been slowly working my way through the frozen meals. I’m using the same colour in most rooms so washing the roller between coats and between rooms seems like madness. Having this option also makes it more likely that I’ll take a break when I should rather than pushing on to finish so I can wash the roller.

Cali, tea is such a personal thing so I’m nervous about making recommendations particularly as the example you’ve given is a tisane rather than a tea and I don’t use many tisanes. However here are my suggestions, they include flavoured black teas as that is what I know best and I have tried all of these:
– Lamington – has a black tea base plus shaved coconut and cacao nibs. You can taste both the chocolate and coconut in the final brew but the flavours are mild. I like lots of milk in this one.
– Hot Date Chai – the flavour is sticky date pudding in a cup of tea. It contains dates, cocoa nibs, black tea, sultanas, currants, cinnamon, cardamon, sunflower petals, chilli. The amount of chilli is small and you don’t notice it. Nice warming winter tea. This is a chai for people who think they don’t like chai.
– Creamy Choc Chai – this is a spiced chai green tea with a mellow chocolately background flavour. It contains green tea, cocoa husk, ginger, cardamon seed, white choc pieces and dark choc pieces. I didn’t used to like chai until I tried this one – I think the reason I like it is the absence of star anise.
– French Earl Grey. This is one of my absolutely favourite flavoured black teas and I have a pot every afternoon. This has less of the bergamot flavour than a traditional earl grey and more fruit flavour. It contains black tea, hibiscus, sunflower petals, rose petals, mallow flowers.
– New York Breakfast tea. This is a flavoured black tea and tastes of pancakes with maple syrup and a hint of cinnamon.
– Very Berry Fruitea tisane – this contains Hibiscus, rosehip, and freeze dried elderberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. I love this as an iced tea (I actually have a jug of it in the fridge at the moment – I make it very weak and without sugar).
– Gorgeous Geisha – this is a green tea, with freeze dried strawberries. It’s one of the few green teas I enjoy. The aroma is intensely strawberry, but as with all the teas, the flavour is mild.
All of the flavours are mild and reminiscent of food flavours rather than being exactly the same.
If these don’t appeal then you could try one of their mixed sampler packs. I’d suggest the more affordable packs of 10 of a specific type of tea. They have packs that contain 10 different green teas or 10 black teas or 10 herbal tisanes or 10 fruit tisanes. This helps you target the style you know you prefer. They also do samples of favourites (their best sellers). Sampler packs is an expensive way to buy tea but at least you don’t end up with a lot of one type of tea that you find you don’t like and it’s a useful way to find out what you like.
I hope you find some things you enjoy – might be some FD options in there.

I also ask myself ‘do I love it, do I need it?’ That usually gets rid of loads too!

Annette, you sound like A very loving mom. I bet having organized surroundings went a long way in helping your son to feel more positive. A half hour at a time is manageable. I do that sometimes and actually set a timer. It was an old flylady tip.

Thin, fires in the the hills seem to spread more quickly. I hope they get it under control soon. I’m glad it’s a good distance away from you. One nice thing about winter up here is that we usually don’t have to worry about fires because of all the rain. But it’s a concern all summer and fall.

LJoyce, thank you for your recommendations. I ordered the Hot Date Chai because I like spicy, sweet and cocoa, the Lamington because of the coconut and chocolate flavors, and the French Earl Grey because I had been looking at it before and now you mentioned that it’s your favorite. I ended up not ordering the dandelion tea because I see it’s a limited edition and may not be around if I decide I like it and want to order again. When I registered they sent a code for free shipping on the first order. (Did I just add to my tea collection? 😮 Well, we’ve used up a lot of the older ones.😉)

My DS just sent me this link from a San Francisco news station. See, we have friendly wild birds here too! http://www.ktvu.com/news/bird-photobombs-mark-tamayos-weather-forecast-on-ktvu

Did that story on the erroneous ballistic missile warning in Hawaii make it to your news? I can’t even imagine how horrified most people must have felt. But there was one lady who was there on holiday, who tweeted in reply to her dad’s anxious tweet that she had been at breakfast when it occurred and most people ran from the line at the buffet, so there was more stuff for her. 😂

Good morning SHs,

Annette, I really admire your attitude to your son’s depression. Actually knowing that you are there to support and not fix everything is a huge realisation. My father had mild depression (sometimes worse than others) and in his later years I had a caring role for him. I could never shake the sense that I should be able to solve this, even though logically I knew I couldn’t.

Cali, I’m glad you found teas that you like the sound of. The hot date started life as a special edition for valentines day, but it was so popular they made it part of their regular range. If you like vanilla teas I can discuss them with you some time too as I’ve tried them all and like most. In Australia T2 offer free postage with $75 of purchases. As I drink tea every day I order in bulk so that I get free postage. I also tend to stock up when they have good discounts. (After christmas they offered 3 for 2, so I bought several 250g bags of my favourites and saved 1/3 of the cost.) Here they sell the loose leaf teas in 100g boxes and 250g bags and they have a small range of their teas in tea bags. Once I know I like a tea and will drink it regularly I buy the large bag as it’s more economical. Thin is right that T2 is pricey, but I think of it as my only vice! I did actually work out what it was costing me not long ago. For the teas I buy in 250g bags and drink most often, it costs 35-42 cents per large cup depending on which tea I have. The specialty teas in the 100g boxes are more like 50-55cents per cup. It’s still costs me less than one cup of tea or coffee from a cafe per day.
Yes the missile debacle in Hawaii definitely made they news here, they even broadcast the news conference with the governor live. It would have been terrifying, especially as most people probably wouldn’t know where it was safe to shelter. If I’d been there on holiday I wouldn’t have had a clue where to go.

I was pleased to see that my tight jeans did up without me needing to breathe in this morning. It means the number of FDs I’ve been doing has been about right and have compensated for the extras I’ve been eating too often. This week I need to fast again on Thursday as I have my next infusion on Friday. This means 3 NFDs in a row. I need to behave myself and not eat the way I have been, or I’ll be squeezing in a 3rd FD Saturday. It’s not that I’m eating junk, just more than I know I need. Lately it’s been bread in particular that I find myself pulling out of the freezer often on NFDs.

I’d better get going. I need to get my lists and paint samples organised so that I can head to the hardware store after my doctor’s appointment this morning. I have Tues & Wens at home and I intend to get organised for painting both days – extra trips to the hardware store to pick up things I forgot to buy won’t help.

Good morning everyone,
Still a bit crook, I think I might have caught another virus from my grandkids, ho hum, maybe once the little one has got used to day care (they go to the most wonderful day care centre twice a week) they won’t keep giving me little virus gifts.

Hi Annette, I agree that a tidy room feels so much better when dealing with depression. Good luck to your son, it is a hard issue to cope with.
And hooray for small, incremental changes that gradually add up!
PS Sugar is my kryptonite too.

Cali, what a wonderful (at least) three things you did, and excellent op shop finds!
And what a laugh I got from that curious bird!
The Hawaii mis warning has made the news. A distressing mistake. I think it is going to make governments all over the world check their safeguards.

Thin, I gather the wind kindly turned to help with the fire and LJoyce’s namesake ex cyclone is bringing its rain now.

LJoyce, good luck with the rest of the painting and three days to get into the ease of sensible NFD eating. Your jeans doing up give you a great start! Hope it is a good appt.

Best wishes to everyone

Hi everyone,

Quck check-in after a weekend away:

Starting my first FD for the week at 64.6kgs which is just 0.2kgs up from the day after my last FD, so managed my NonFDs well even though I was eating differently.

Thank you for your encouragement. Life is still full on, but much of that is positive stuff rather than the other stuff. I’m also able to take the brace off my foot/ankle a bit now after 4months, which feels lovely.

Had a good laugh at all the guesses and ideas about my project.

Happy Fasting to all the Monday fasters,

Onwards and Downwards,
Merry

Thin, we can watch Fracture on Amazon for $3.99, but Netflix doesn’t have it here. You seem to have a much better Netflix selection, at least as far as things I want to watch. When we get through Outlander and a couple others we started watching, maybe Fracture will be free. It’s a 10 year old movie, they should release it!

It’s very disturbing that they’re killing cockatoos. I know that they can be very loud, destructive and love to chew on things with extremely powerful beaks. As someone who did everything possible to save one, I’m afraid my opinion isn’t very objective.

Cinque, I hope you don’t have a virus. Little kids with immature immune systems seem to pick up all sorts of things from each other and then pass them on to parents and grandparents. I hope you’ll feel better as the day goes on.

Cinque, I hope you feel better soon. I should have listened to you this morning when you announced that it was raining here. We got a pretty good soaking but it felt very good actually. I’m surprised that the smell of smoke is still so strong when it’s raining as hard and for as long as I can remember in ages.

I had to smirk just a little when I read the review on the last guests next door. Left the place filthy, water running all over the floor, failed to clean up even their basic personal mess and checked out later than agreed causing inconvenience to their cleaner. The next lot are already screaming in the pool to rival any cockatoo and, with this weather, I’m guessing they’re either Canadian or Tasmanian. Today’s happy weight is keeping me in surprisingly good spirits although thoughts of moving away are looming quite large these days so I follow your activities LJ as you prepare your home for sale. I love that minute when all the cutting in is complete and it’s time for the roller – instant gratification.

Good job with the test results LJ – which fish oil do you take? I use Melrose deep sea fish oil and have a tsp of plain yoghurt at the ready to chase it down as it doesn’t taste good. Some local orthopaedic surgeons swear by it and claim that the capsules are useless substitutes. This is borne out by the many holidays where I’ve taken capsules along (as the oil is messy). Within two weeks, I would start to get the symptoms. Within two weeks of arriving home, those symptoms would clear. It’s supposed to help prevent dementia as well but I can’t comment on that.

CalifD, yes it’s an old movie so I’d hoped there’d be a sequel but sometimes they have completely different names. Interesting that you have a different set of shows to watch. I’m totally hooked on Netflix and rarely watch TV now. How many episodes/series of Outlander can you access?

JJulie, I hope you’re coming back. Have you been to Borneo yet?

Merry that’s an excellent result too after a weekend away. Hoping I can behave as well on my two NFDs. So far, so good.

Good afternoon,

Here I am, just been really busy and hot and tired!!!

Temperatures up here are up and down with extremely hot days, then rain which cools us down, then back to hot again like today and they are forecasting that we will it the 40’s this week as well as the humidity. Even with the airconditioner on I am sweating while working.

It must be a time of tidying and getting rid of junk. On Sunday OH and i tidied the office and I sorted out all the old paperwork that is no longer needed and shredded it. I have made 17 bags of shredded paper so far. A neighbour has taken 12 bags to put in his chook pens and I had promised him there is more to come.

Next I will work out what is in there that is no longer needed and either it will go to the dump or put on facebook site for things for free.

Today I also bought a new vaccum cleaner after the other one died over the weekend and I am then going to clean out the spare bedroom where I have heaps of things I have stored and left. It is time to downsize!!!

Today is a FD for me. OH has flown out and I am on my own until Thursday so I am going to try 3 fast days in a row. Last week I only did Monday as a FD then the week was just mad and I could not get myself in the right timeframe. I have been good with no alcohol though and drinking lots of soda water with fresh lime from my tree in the backyard.

Saturday we fly out to Borneo and are away a week. I was only thinking today what I could eat that was not too bad for me as I always seem to struggle with fast days while away and would prefer to try just eating well rather than trying to explain that I can not eat anything and just want soup (especially when I may not know what is in the soup in the first place and could be unhealthy itself)

Any ideas of good Malaysian foods that I could look out for on a menu?

Have to go now but am getting emails to tell me what you are saying and will respond again before I leave.

Happy fasting everyone

Hi Everyone
Hope you all had a good weekend.
Good luck with 3 FDs in a row JJ. I think its best to spread them out but when you have a time frame you need to do what works for you. Let us know how you go. I love Malaysian food but it usually involves rice- I really love rice! Have a wonderful time away.

My son and his GF went to do the 1000 steps yesterday – a popular thing near us for fitness buffs (Ive never even seen them personally haha) but half of Melbourne were there so they came home the scenic route thru the Dandenongs and went to a lovely tea shop in Sassafras. They bought a choc mint tea that I liked but OH hated. I think it will be good for FDs.

Oh Thin that would be sad if you felt you had to move because of the air bnb but I can imagine that its difficult to put up with 🙁 – glad they had bad reviews!!
Boy, LJoyce, you really put me to shame Ive done nothing the last few days.
CalifD, I love Outlander too and am now waiting for the next season. We are watching Scandal at the moment and thats not too bad.
Cinque I hope you are feeling better.

I didn’t put on too much weight after my last FD and over the weekend. Ill have a FD tomorrow- we have to go out and buy OH a suit and run some errands so that should make it easier to have a FD.
Its a bit hard this week as I have OH, my son and future SiLaw and my DD are all either on holidays or in DDs case working part-time atm

Have a good one!! x x

Stay, to put my current activities into perspective, until a week ago I’d sat around for weeks thinking about what I had to do and not actually doing any of it. I’m one of those people who puts things off then suddenly gets a burst of energy as the deadline looms. The deadline has loomed!

JJulie, the only healthy Malasian meal I can thing of is Gado Gado – raw veg, boiled eggs and peanut sauce – just don’t eat too much of the peanut sauce.
Something you could consider doing instead of a normal FD, just have some days where you eat one meal rather than three. The calories may not be exactly 500, but it’s easier to manage when on holiday.

Thin, enjoy your tea. I’ve just made a pot of French Earl Grey to enjoy while my risotto cooks. I’ve finished the cutting in the study (and the brush is now in the freezer). I’d forgotten how tedious cutting-in is and how bad I am at not getting paint on the cornice. I also managed to finish the sanding and sugar soap in the hallway and toilet, so I’m hoping to get all three areas painted over the next two days.
I also take Melrose liquid fish oil. I only take 5ml, but my rheumatologist would prefer I took 20ml. It’s the only non-drug where they have scientific evidence of an impact on joint inflammation – although the effect in the studies was mild. It’s not the taste that puts me off taking the oil (I still have to taste it for 5ml), it’s the calories I can’t cope with – it would be more than 10% of my daily TDEE and I find that unreasonable.

I’ve made another little dent in my freezer stocks. I’m making a risotto with pancetta, roasted pumpkin, peas and parmesan all from the freezer and pearl barley from the pantry. I usually make this risotto with broad beans but I didn’t have any so I substituted. It smells nice and I’m having difficulty not snacking while I wait as this is late for me for dinner.

The risotto was very nice, but I was reminded of how different barley is to rice in risotto. I struggled to eat what seemed a fairly modest portion, and each mouthful required lots of chewing even though the barley was properly cooked. I could feel the fibrous husks from around the barley in my mouth as I tried to chew it. I definitely used to eat larger portions when I made risottos with arborio rice. It’s a reminder of the difference in fibre content between grains and how the higher fibre whole grains can help you feel full quicker.
The amount I cooked was intended to be two dinner portions, but it will be 3-4.
Time to make a cup of decaf chai and head to bed I think.

Hi Cinque, good to hear you are feeling better today.
I don’t make risotto very often, but I don’t even have rice in the pantry any more so it forces me to use other grains when I do. I’ve tried quinoa, pearl barley and freekah. My favourite is definitely the barley, although it does take longer to cook compared to using rice and it requires more liquid (about 2 2/3 times the volume of barley). The texture is different to pearl barley in soup, it doesn’t swell as much. It also adds it’s own flavour to the risotto, unlike rice which is just a bland base to add flavours to.
I’m also looking at the forecast with trepidation – too many hot days in a row for my liking.

I’ve finished my tea and watched the foreign news and can’t use any more delaying tactics. Time to start painting.