Thanks for the explanation, simco. I won’t be doing it for weight loss but for whatever cell rejuvenation/replenishment benefits I might derive, therefore it sounds like I’m up for a 96 hour water fast. “All you have to do is water fast for 96 hours” you say! Can I ask, have you done it? It sounds daunting. I wonder if I should begin by replacing my current 350-400 cal FDs with a water fast and build up to four days? I hope all this is explained in the book.

LJ, I’m also having Cinque’s mung bean soup for dinner. We can still do the FMD, or modification thereof, together even if we’re consuming different things LJ. Cinque, what is your sister planning?

Ha ha Cinque, I have just seen your post on the previous page answering my question. Glad that Yam Daisy is getting new life breathed into it. All the best with it.

Thank you Cinque, I have submitted my objection, petition and supporting documents on-line and in person this morning. I was told it wouldn’t go before the council until late April at the earliest. I could have cried realising that the entire summer will have passed and the neighbour got away with it all these months. I appealed to them to shut it down pending a decision since it is operating illegally at our expense. Just before I saw your post, I got the email confirming that they have written to the operator to say they must now cease activity immediately pending the outcome. Now I could cry with joy. Last weekend was particularly awful.

Hi thin:

I have done several four plus day water fasts over the last three plus years. My longest has been 10 days. I finished a four day water fast just yesterday. I have posted several times in various threads how I recommend a person work their way into water fasting if they want to give it a try.

I suggest that you start as you said, with a one day, 36 hour water fast – from say 7 p.m. Sunday to 7 a.m. Tuesday. A standard ‘fast day’ for 5:2. After you become comfortable with that, string two days together – from 7 p.m. Sunday to 7 a.m. Wednesday. This comes out to about 60 hours. You will still be doing 5:2. When you get used to two days, go on to three, then four and as high as you want to go.

One and two day water fasts are not really very hard. You might get a bit hungry once in awhile, especially if you have been eating a lot of carbs just before you start, but that’s about it. But Newbie water fasters often run into problems during days three or four. That is when the body starts converting to ketone use rather than glucose/glycogen use. It goes into what is called ketosis. Newbie fasters ‘catch’ what is widely called the ‘keto flu’. You really don’t feel very good, may vomit and generally want to curl up in a corner and not be bothered by anyone. Once you get passed it, usually by day five, you feel great and really can go on from there with few problems. Experienced fasters rarely have the keto flu problem, and usually cruise right through the conversion to ketosis period.

With water fasting, the standard warnings revolve around low blood pressures. People can easily faint, especially if they get up quickly. They also can faint if they take long, hot showers or get into hot tubs. Fasting clinics often don’t allow patients to shower, and require that they walk slowly wherever they go. Obviously, they don’t allow exercise. Fasting ‘symptoms’ vary by person, so listing all of them is impossible, but except for falling and injuring yourself from the fall, they aren’t serious. These are all the same problems that occur with the FMD, and I believe we had one poster on this site a few weeks ago that complained she had purchased the FMD and along about day three got very sick. She felt the diet did not work, although it really was working perfectly.

Of particular concern are people with diabetes using blood glucose lowering drugs. Fasting will drop blood glucose to low levels quickly, and if the person continues to take glucose lowering drugs, they can literally die. So if you have diabetes and are taking those drugs, make sure to talk with your doctor before giving fasting a try! And if you are taking any drugs, you might check with your doctor to see if fasting might impact their effectiveness.

The only ‘problem’ I have with multi-day fasting is I get bored. After the body starts feeding on its own fat, you basically never get hungry. But, I miss not eating. You find you have quite a bit of extra time available when you don’t eat. As I like to cook, and eat, taking that away leaves a hole in my days that I find hard to fill. Of course I can fill the time, but I’d really rather eat!

With Dr. Longo’s research on how the body can heal itself if it is given a chance via periodic four or five day fasts, learning to water fast may allow people to gain the ‘other health benefits’ many of them come to 5:2 to obtain. While Dr. Longo works to keep the price down, at this point the FMD is really quite expensive for the average person. Perhaps the price will come down with widespread usage. But fasting is free, and yields the identical results.

I believe in using fasting for preventive and curative reasons, and feel that anyone that can teach themselves to do it can benefit. Unfortunately, most people can’t imagine not eating for days. Some even think it is dangerous, and surveys show many think they will die if they don’t eat for 10 days (as an aside, the longest documented, medically supervised water fast lasted for 54 weeks and three days). But if they can get over their fear of fasting, I believe they have much they can gain. And with Dr. Longo’s research, what they can gain can be spectacular.

Thanks very much for the detailed response, simco. I’m a fit, healthy 61 y/o with no medical issues and take no medication. I’ve never had the slightest difficulty with 5:2 style fasting (maybe 375 FDs now) and don’t mind the feeling of hunger; I quite like it actually. I’ve done a few 24 hour water fasts prior to or during long haul air travel. I’ve never done a true B2B fast but have made a slightly modified effort. Water fasting appeals to me as a much easier option than planning ahead for ‘fast’ meals, especially while in unfamiliar places. I think it makes sense to build up to it nevertheless as you say. I was thinking it would be good to try when my OFMs were not here but perhaps with all those symptoms people report, maybe having someone around would be more sensible. I don’t think I’d get bored or hungry but I could imagine just ‘wanting to eat’. I’ll start psyching myself up while awaiting the book. I’m already slightly worried about the morning coffee.

Snap CalifD! Posted together. Thank you for your kind comments. Yes my other neighbours are relieved too. I feel drained today. Just about to get in the hammock and read my book for half an hour. Relaxing in the garden has been a rare treat this summer. I know you’ve read the LD book already. I have a lot of catching up to do. Macadamia nuts and guacamole doesn’t sound like any punishment at all! Funny about the laundry.

Thin, I almost cried too when I read your post about the petition etc. Late April? That is more than 2 months away, I would probably commit a murder in that time.

So glad that they had the sense to understand and act immediately, even if it was at your suggestion. I am sure if it was happening next to them it would happen quickly. Anyhow I am interested to see how it all works out and if something really does happen that quickly.

Simco, I was interested in the post where you explained a bit about Ketosis. I have heard of this but have never been able to find anyone who could explain it or help me try this with my own body. All I knew was that when your body goes into a ketosis state, you loose weight. People have also mentioned mesuring ketosis or ketones? by using some testing method. Not too sure though.
I dont think I could do a full water fast though.

CalifD, I will check my verandah in the morning!! BEFORE Ipick OH up from the airport!!

Good morning,
Great work Thin. I hope you do get your peace from now on. You deserve some hammock time.

It is such a pleasure LJoyce that you and Thin share my love for that mung bean stew/soup (and the Nigerian stew).

Enjoying my day after fast day. It is my brother in laws b’day and I offered to cook a meal for him. His choice: pancakes. And I would ruin his birthday if I served up chickpea or mung bean or even Greek semolina pancakes, so I am making him the fluffy American style, but with no added sugar so I can have a couple. (He’ll have plenty of maple syrup for sweetness). Hope my gut brain doesn’t think I am feeding it sugar anyway. Oh well, it is a scientific experiment and another fast day on Sunday!

Hope you caught the flying underpants JJulie. Have a good walk with Sybs today!

Best wishes all.

Good morning SHs,
An early start for me as I woke up just before 5am for some unfathomable reason. I got up, had a cup of tea and then went back to bed to watch the foreign news broadcasts that are on SBS in the wee small hours. But I am now up and have even eaten breakfast – a small bowl of bircher muesli that I soaked overnight with some thawed frozen raspberries. After 3 days of just an evening meal it was very enjoyable. I get to spend the whole day at home working today – no appointments.
For those who asked – I got 19 plants potted up before I ran out of potting mix yesterday. I still have 9 more to do.

Thin, I think there might be a silver lining in the black cloud of having to wait until April-May for your matter to be heard. Because the owner is no longer able to rent out the property for at least 2-3 months, he/she’s going to have to cancel any bookings he/she’s taken. That is likely to get some very irate online reviews for the property. He/she also has to maintain the property with no income for those months. Hopefully this will make the whole operation less viable. If that’s unaffordable they may need to find a normal long term tenant or sell it. I really do hope you win this when it’s finally heard.

JJulie, I love harissa too, but have never heard of Nostomini. I make my own harissa – dry spice blend not fresh. There are lots of variations around but I’ve found the balance that I like best.
Why is it underpants that we always imagine flying off the line? It was the image of Thin’s OH trying to catch his wayward undies as they flew past that had me giggling.

Simcoe, the FMD packaged bars/soups (Prolon) has 725 calories per day and has more carbohydrate calories than any other macro nutrient – 47%. This is 89.4grams of carbohydrate. Most people would not go into ketosis with carbohydrate at that level. Doesn’t that mean that there are key differences between a water fast and an FMD using the Prolon package? Do you know whether this means that ketosis is irrelevant to the benefits of a 5 day fast? I noticed on the Longevity Diet forum thread that some people who did their own thing decided that the carbs weren’t necessary and substituted most of them with extra fat (eg the avocado & macadamia approach). That also had me wondering whether ketosis is somehow critical, which would mean that the Prolon program shouldn’t work.
When I worked out my own food plan (before the Longevity book came out) I based it exactly on the percentages in Prolon (9% protein, 44% fat, 47% carbs), with sugars under 20g and only from low glycemic sources and no animal products, other than a fish oil supplement (which is also part of the Prolon program). The critical adjustment I made was for my size and TDEE, which are below the population average. If I had a “normal” TDEE of 2000cals, then the program may mimic fasting. If I used Prolon, day 1 at 1090cal would be 79% of my TDEE and days 2-5 would be 53% of my TDEE. I have major doubts that this is fasting for me – mimicking or otherwise. It’s one of the main reasons I decided to work out my own path – cost was another.

Well, I’ve finished my pot of tea and had better do some work. Apart from potting a few plants I’ve done no work on the house since Tuesday.

Have a good day all.

Thin, I think a few of us had a giggle at the lost laundry – it’s just so easy to imagine a comical scene – although I do hope he didn’t lose any favourite clothing. I guess we all imagine hand washing means underclothes, but he may have lost his best business shirt.
If your recalcitrant neighbour continues to advertise, will you need to take photos over the fence as proof, or do the council monitor this? Given the poor performance of the council so far I’m guessing it’s all on your shoulders. Of course now I’m imagining you hiding behind the bushes trying to surreptitiously snap pictures.

I was rummaging around in the freezer looking for lunch and came across a slice of pizza I’d forgotten was there. Remember when I made that unusual high fibre pizza crust with legume flours and linseed? Reheated for 4 minutes in the airfryer it went from icicle to hot and delicious. My only complaint is that there was only one slice! But that’s OK, I can have some fruit for dessert and I’m actually not hungry, especially as I had muesli for breakfast. I’ve also taken out one of the lentil & pumpkin pot pies for dinner. Making a dent in the freezer stocks today instead of adding to it – that’s a win.

It’s warm and humid here today so I feel like I’m barely working at half pace. But I have made some calls and organised a plumber and a painter and I’ve sanded my plaster work around the kitchen window and patched any imperfections. Once those small patches are dry I can prime and paint. I’ve made a decision on what to pay the painter to do. I was always going to pay to have the barge boards, gutters and eaves done, but I was unsure about the ceilings and external window frames. I decided that I would do the window frames as they are fiddly and I don’t want them painted shut – easy to do with old sash windows unless you frequently move them while the paint is drying. I was also worried about how much damage I’d do to my neck trying to roller the ceilings, so I’ve decided that as long as the price isn’t outrageous the painter can do those too – he’ll probably do in a few hours what would take me days – I suspect it will save me some physio bills if I don’t do them.

It feels too hot today to be outside painting. I think I might pack up the remaining contents from the lounge and kitchen this afternoon and start washing the walls in readiness for painting.

Thanks Simco,
I may have to consider a water fast then. I didn’t want to face up to that option. I’ll just need to choose the timing very carefully.
I had times in my teens where I refused to eat for days in an attempt to lose weight – I think the idea of water fasting reminds me too much of that unhealthy behaviour that oscillated between binge eating to starving myself. I’ve been trying to get as far away from those behaviours as possible.
I also probably need to talk to my GP about it as I do have an auto-immune disease and I don’t know how I’ll react to a water fast.
Thanks for the response.

LJ, not sure about what happens if the next scheduled guests still show up. On airbnb I’ve frequently seen reviews for properties that read, ‘this stay was cancelled by the host’. For now, we have friends coming for lunch tomorrow and we’re going to enjoy our amenity over the weekend and try and forget about it for a few days.

Maybe we could try a shorter water fast together sometime and see how that goes? According to amazon (who posted on my Silly Season Challenge), about half the people on this forum practice water fasting. That was quite a revelation to me.

Simco, as I’ve mentioned in a few threads, I arrived here not looking for weight loss but following research into treatments for breast cancer when my best friend was diagnosed. I’m with you, starving those cancer cells would definitely appeal to me as something worth trying, should I ever be confronted with it. Taking that a step further, if it’s possible to stave off future nasty diagnoses, I’m all for that too. The worst that can happen to me is that I fail to complete the four days.

So this 5 day, $299 boxed FMD diet is so secretive that “odds of duplicating the FMD in a home grown recipe are slim to none. Dr. Longo has clearly stated that even after giving a ‘recipe’, doctors and others were incapable of formulating it correctly and the results were a “disaster”. Trying to duplicate the recipe from the general contents listed on the ‘box’ is really a pure waste of time.”

Doesn’t anyone else find this a little astonishing? I presume the individual soups and bars and other items in this box have a nutritional label and the ingredients are clearly marked.

Hi all. Pouring rain here in the north, but the temps have gone down so no complaints from me. And I can hear all that lovely water running into my tanks.
Thin I so hope this works for you – you’ve had to put up with this for far too long, and noise has such a negative impact on our wellbeing. It’s impossible if you want to have friends over, not knowing what will be going on next door. We still have our noisy student neighbours – we’ve been woken in the early hours every Friday and Saturday night since they arrived, and it was Wednesday too this week. There doesn’t seem to be any regulation or bylaw that covers noise. Councils are pretty quick off the mark pocketing our rates, but don’t seem all that inclined to look after our amenity. Good luck for a long-term solution.
have a good weekend all

Hi Cali:

I have nothing to do with Dr. Longo or his FMD.

Let’s wait and see what happens!

CalifD, How do you get the Vegemite? I was under the impression it was banned in the US.

LJ, you’re a machine. Glad that you are hiring help for the really hard jobs. I hope you have a nice holiday planned.

CalifD, Lindsay, thank you! I totally empathise with you Lindsay. Do you have an Environmental Health Dept. in your Local Council? The trouble with these sorts of problems is that many of the inconveniences are not illegal and no reasonable person is going to bother the police because their neighbour is being ‘inconsiderate’.

Never heard of za’atar. Sounds great though.

P.S. Did you have to start up the vegemite discussion again? Didn’t you know, CalifD can buy ANYTHING on Amazon JJulie! I have refrained from whinging about the sale of Hot Cross Buns (which have been on display at the entrance to our local supermarket since 3 January) only because last year when I did that, there followed about 8 pages of posts from losers going on about their Hot Cross Bun recipes! I thought it would never end! I suppose you can get them on Amazon? 😆

Thin – I feel like a machine in need of oiling today! I seem to be moving really slowly. Because it felt so hot in my kitchen I decided to scrub cupboards, walls & windows. I figured splashing some water about would make me feel cooler. You don’t realise just how much oily grime there is on kitchen surfaces until you try to scrub it off – especially on top of the high cupboards. Ick!

Cali, I have used za’atar but haven’t blended it myself. I like it particularly for the sumac flavour – anything tasting of lemon is nice to me. When I make fatoush I use za’atar in the dressing. This is a salad of toasted pita bread that’s broken into small pieces and teamed with tomatoes, cucumber and parsley. (It’s meant to have onion too, but I don’t like raw onion so I leave it out). The dressing is just oil, lemon & za’atar, although I sometimes sneak in some garlic too. When I used to grow my own veg in summer I made this a lot as there was an endless supply of tomatoes & cucumber. Because it contains bread it’s a filling salad – a simple fresh lunch on a hot day.

Thin, I love hot cross buns, but do feel a sense of dismay at how early in the year the supermarkets sell them.

JJulie, vegemite was one of the discussions that brought Cali to the Southern Hemisphere forum. As she likes vegemite she’s an honorary Aussie in my book. No smart alec remarks about axel grease and the joys of marmite from you either Thin! 😀 Actually Cali’s use of it as a flavour concentrate for flavouring legumes is quite an old idea. Look back to some WW2 recipies and yeast pastes like vegemite or marmite were often used to give meatless meals a bit more flavour. I gather they used it in a similar way to our use of miso paste. I think the infamous “Lord Wolton Pie” had marmite or something similar in it.

Thin, no Hot Cross Buns on Amazon, but I bet they have them at Whole Foods that was recently bought out by Amazon. 😁

Julie, I bought the Vegemite on Amazon after a discussion here. I’ve since found it in my local grocery store. 😄 Great Aussie influence here. I think that old Men at Work song made it at least part of our vocabulary.

Cinque, lemon juice on pancakes sounds good! Never thought to do that. But I do like lemon juice on just about anything. 🍋

Hi everyone
So glad the weather has finally been a little lower of late – 45’C down to 29’C – autumn is just around the corner and hopefully the humidity will settle as well. Won’t be long and we’ll be throwing the doonas back on the bed!

OH had a visit with a Neurologist today – he took a history of events, looked at all the many test results undertaken, then told us what our GP had already said. Took 45 minutes of his time, learnt nothing new, and had to pay $270 for his time! Medicare will rebate some of it. I guessed this would happen before we went, so wasn’t a surprise. OH sees his Cardiologist next Thursday.

Hello to Gday and Stay: lovely to see you back here
Gday: enjoy your beachside family birthday holiday, sounds like lots of fun – happy birthday to your daughter

Stay and Cinque: enjoyed my FD with you both yesterday – think I’ll change back to Monday and Thursday as it seems to fit my life better

Cinque: the reset button has been set, and already seeing some results – now 77.3kg: down 5.2kg since November, feels good. I also enjoyed the story of the little boy and his tomato Easter eggs – just gorgeous

wwall: Your renovations sound like they are coming along nicely, enjoy

LJoyce: I think I’m addicted to reading all the posts, can’t go a day without doing same – they are all so interesting. They also help me stay on track as well, and do give me the mindset to continue the 2 FD’s. So happy that your treatment can continue – a very pleasing result. Enjoy your continuing renos and your gardening

Thin: enjoy reading your LD book when it arrives, and then in joining LJ and Cinque on your adventure when putting it into practice – hope it goes well for all of you. I’ve done two separate 36 hour water fasts which is enough at a time for me just yet! Another 60 hours (I think simco said 96 hours minimum) feels like a mountain I’m not yet ready to climb!
All the best with your petition, objection, and your appeal, to the neighbours opening their place to all and sundry; and hopefully you will get respite for the next couple of months, then beyond! How inconsiderate of any neighbours who think setting up an Airbnb, close to any neighbours, is ok, especially when they themselves are not living in the premises to experience what surrounding people have to endure. Take time to enjoy your hammock, and your garden, a whole lot more – you deserve it!

Hope you are all enjoying whatever you are up to, and bye for now!

Excellent article Cinque. Outlines perfectly the issues and what’s at stake. Airbnb is now a far cry from its humble couch surfing beginnings and is no longer anything to do with space sharing.

A quick ‘hello’ during my Friday FD. I resorted to another week of 6:1 due to Mr. M’s birthday falling on my usual Tuesday FD. It’s back to 5:2 starting this coming week since I want to be sure that a dress I’m wearing to a wedding in April will fit comfortably. I’m hovering in upper reaches of my goal weight envelope and the dress fits much more comfortably when I’m down around the middle of my wiggle room. I’m much more able to wiggle and hopefully dance to some inspiring music while wearing the dress!

Good grief Penguin, how bizarre! Might it be down to the dish of greens you ate to break your fast?

Re pancakes, we grew up with a sprinkle of sugar and then a squeeze of lemon juice. The slight crunch of sugar and the tang of lemons, just fabulous.
I did miss the crunch a little yesterday, but as I said, the pancakes tasted amazingly sweet (white flour, milk, eggs and even some melted butter in them).
I had a similar experience to you LJoyce, with ‘The Pancake Parlour’.

Minka, hello! Happy Birthday to Mr Minka! I hope lots of happy wiggles are coming your way. Lots of fasty fast days!

Arelkade, I guess that expensive specialist at least shows you have an excellent G.P. Good luck to OH. I hope it is good news in the end.
Nice to have you on Thursday fasts!

It was 30 degrees overnight here, I am still rehydrating myself! A bit of a shock when it had seemed that summer was over. Rain due today, so my garden will be happy.

Lindsay. Promite. Yuk!
But on the other hand, this is the song Amanda Palmer wrote about vegemite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJhDV0MMPAs (includes a bit of swearing)
And Oh dear, those parties next door. So rude.

Off for another cup of tea. It is day before fast day for me.

All the best wishes.

Good morning SHs, welcome to the weekend.
As it rained through the night and is still overcast, the sun didn’t wake me early this morning. I didn’t wake until 8:30 – that means I slept for 9 hours straight – it’s a rare night when I manage that!
I just had a call from my aunt to tell me my uncle is in hospital again – another blood clot. As this is the second one in 2 months, we’re starting to wonder if it’s a side effect of his new heart meds. My aunt isn’t able to drive at the moment, so I’m taking her with me when I do the shopping tomorrow (so she can do her own too) and to her medical appointments Monday and we’ll go the hospital after those trips to see my uncle.

As the ground is so wet this morning, all of the birds that think worms are a tasty treat are out in force. My resident magpie pair were both patrolling the front lawn ready to grab any worm that sticks its head up. I also had a rare sight in the back garden with a kookaburra sitting on the bottom rail of the tank stand also looking for grubs to stick their heads above ground. Although I hear kookaburras often, I rarely catch sight of them. This one was looking a bit fluffy, which either means it’s young, or more likely its feathers have been fluffed up by the rain – needs anti-frizz conditioner!

I’m going to do a FD today as I think it will fit my schedule better than doing it Sunday or Monday. I still have a bowl of the mung bean soup in the fridge, so dinner is taken care of.

Arel – enjoy the morning tea and company. I’m a scone fan too, although for me it’s got to be raspberry jam.

Penguin – I have no answer to how minerals/vitamins that we can only get from our food could increase on a water fast. Makes no sense to me. I occasionally get blood test results that are very different to my normal range and I do wonder if the medical technologist made a mistake. I had one result where my GP almost said as much as he didn’t believe the results were correct either and did the test again – the second result was where we expected it to be.
Your Dexter pie & chips dinner sounds pretty good. I think the idea that a meat pie is both a diet staple and a treat transferred itself pretty well into the Australian culture too – the Cornish brought their pasties to Australia and made just as much impact. Every Australian bakery sells masses of pies, pasties and sausage rolls at lunch time – they were our fast food before we had the invasion of the American burger chains in the 80s. Even with the burger option, pies & pasties are still extremely popular.

Minka, good luck getting comfortably into that dress – you don’t want a dancy wiggle to split a seam! Thankfully April is far enough away to get a kilo or two off.

Thin, I hope you get a quiet weekend for a change.

Cinque, glad your garden got a good water too. It’s always nice to get a respite from the daily watering regime. I always think that nature does a better deep watering with a proper rain than I can ever manage with the hose.

Hope you all have nice weekend plans. Good luck to all those fasting.

Good morning,
It is cool this morning, and lovely after yesterday’s rain.

Sunday Fast Day for me.

Arelkade, I forgot to write it, but I was delighted to hear you are so nicely into the 70’s now (kgs). I hope you were psychic and picked up my thoughts! You deserve some fireworks too. https://media.giphy.com/media/vY4pH7pKJwTXa/giphy.gif

LJoyce, what a wonderful sleep. May you have more like that!
Sorry to hear about your uncle. I hope fixing his medication fixes that problem.
But lovely to hear about the happy birds having a post rain feed. Especially the kookaburra. They are in decline here and I hardly ever even hear one.

Hi Cali, glad you enjoyed The Vegemite Song. I love how the vegemite loving audience thought it was so funny.

Cheers all

Hi everyone
We’ve had a mixed bag with weather today – 35’C till just after lunch, then had a small amount of lovely rain – all gone now and feels cooler: 29’C.

LJoyce: Here’s hoping your Uncle gets better soon and his medication can be sorted to suit him. Your Aunt must be so happy and appreciative that you can be there for them both, but please look after yourself as well!

CalifD: thank you for your best wishes for my OH. In the last couple of years he’s developed atrial fibrillation, with sick sinus syndrome in the electrical system in his heart – will eventually need a pacemaker; and silent migraines, which he’s never had before, but ‘knocks the wind’ out of him for a couple of days after. Hopefully, the specialists can help make all more bearable. He’s always been strong and able to do anything so it’s frustrating for him.

Cinque: enjoy your fast day – mine’s tomorrow

Hope all SH’s are having a wonderful Sunday. Enjoy whatever you are getting up to and bye for now!

I decided to spend the afternoon cleaning out the pantry. Everything came off the shelves then it took much scrubbing to get the dirty oily residue from bottles of oil, sauces, tins etc off all the shelves. It looked immaculate by the time I was done, which surprised me as I thought there would be stains I couldn’t shift. Although I store a lot of things in space efficient plastic containers, I’ve gotten a bit slack lately. I am now putting lots of opened packets into containers so I can stack them neatly. It definitely hold more when I use containers. I am trying to make it look like it holds a huge amount so that people won’t doubt that there’s sufficient storage. I’ve done 4 shelves and have the last 3 to do. Just having a fortifying pot of tea before I tackle the remaining shelves.

The problem with working in the pantry all afternoon, is food is right in front of my eyes the whole time. I have eaten 7 biscuits this afternoon (chocolate chip and anzacs). I’ll be glad when I no longer feel the need to provide morning tea to contractors and family who come to help, as I won’t need to keep biscuits in the house any more. They are proving to be something I can’t be trusted to exert any moderation with. This is proving to be a very overindulgent NFD.

Thin, I’m glad you had a quiet Saturday for a change. Does that mean the air bnb is really closed for a while or are the current guests just a quiet mob?

Arel, I’m sorry to hear your husband is experiencing so many health issues at the moment. Slowing down is never an easy thing for a person who’s always taken their stamina for granted. I hope the pacemaker resolves some of the heart issues. My neighbour’s son had one fitted and his health improved quite a bit and he was able to be more active, so it might also make your husband’s life better.

Well I better get back to those pantry shelves and get the last few restacked.