Good morning SHs

Thankyou all for the kind comments on the house. I don’t think the mobile phone do it justice, but they are all I have at the moment. They seem to change the scale of things, with rooms looking smaller than they actually are.

Cali, A trip to California to stage a house sounds like fun. I’d need to bring my niece too, I couldn’t have done this without her help and she’s much more pedantic than I am when it comes to perfect cleaning. I cannot get glass as clean and sparkling as she does no matter how careful I am.
I think the appliance cupboard looks smaller than it really is in the photo. It’s actually 1.4m (4.5 feet) wide.

Thin, I’m not on acreage. My block is just under 1/3 acre. Most of my neighbours are on 1/2 acre blocks, which is the norm for the streets near me. The trees in the distance in the garden photos are trees on my neighbours properties. The tradition here was for people to create privacy with trees and shrubs on their borders, rather than erecting solid fences. It creates a lovely feel with the landscape from one garden seeming to just blend into the next one and it gives nice distance views too. As more people, who’ve never lived in the hills before, move up here from the suburbs, we are getting more solid fences erected as that is what they are used to. I think it ruins the look of the landscape personally. Two years after I bought this place the house behind me was sold to people who were new to the hills. The fist thing they did was cut down all of the trees that provided a privacy barrier between our properties and then effected a colourbond fence instead. I hate it and have tried to soften the look with garden beds running along the fence line.

Cinque, I’m so glad your scan results were good.
How did you manage to lose 2 inches? I know we shrink with age because our spinal discs get a bit flatter but 2 inches sounds like a lot to me.

Sybs, good luck with the kimchi. I know it’s become very popular lately but fermented veg is a step too far for me. I’m happy with my kefir.

I have to do some grocery shopping and hunt for a birthday present this morning. Then it’s more gardening this afternoon. I also need to try and have a conversation with the neighbour who expressed interest in buying my house to see just how serious he is and how quickly he’s prepared to make an offer.

Hello everyone,

I haven’t been posting lately as there was no internet i could use, sadly that happens quite often in the bush. I have to admit I was pigging out over Easter , an you sweets or not so healthy options you can get under the sun I ate. Still have to say didn’t feel guilty I had such a lovely break off work with my hubby. Weight myself today and had 74.7 kg so that’s a loss of 1.3 kg before Easter I came down to 74 kg so gained a bit back. Still happy with weight loss as I really enjoyed the journey so far. And I guess I didn’t start that long ago with 5:2. Now back at work time to get serious again. Wish everyone a lovely weekend.

Welcome marry. Are you doing the 5:2 diet?

Teapot, good to see you back here and glad that you’re seeing a net loss, even after Easter.

Cinque, glad to hear that your scan was all clear. Too bad they couldn’t have just told you over the phone instead of all the waiting.
Most of my shoes have very small heels except for those boots that I bought a couple months ago with the 3 inch or so heels. They’re fairly comfortable. I do like the slimming look of heels but I like comfortable shoes as well. I rarely wear dresses these days. I do like the look of black tights with a dark skirt or dress that’s a little above the knees though, with small heels. But that’s a winter look. It’s hard to find age appropriate clothes these days that aren’t frumpy looking.

Tonight’s the end of my Thursday FD, an easy one this week. I was back at 60 kg this morning so need to be more mindful of my NFD eating. I would like to stay closer to 58.

Intesha, hope you’re having a good time visiting your daughter and her family. Sorry to hear about the awful time you had getting there. It’s a long flight as it is, without having all those delays. You must have been exhausted.

Hi Jil. go for it!

Cool thank you 😊

Good morning,
It is a beautiful Melbourne morning. Cool and sunny.

I had tried to make kimchi once before Sybs but my recipe didn’t have the bit about washing the napa after salting (or maybe it did and I didn’t read it properly). Anyway it was disgustingly salty and I chucked it. That was years ago.
I made a batch yesterday after more research, but this time I don’t think I salted it enough, and it didn’t collapse down completely 🙁 , so it made more jars full than expected and I am keeping a nervous eye on it incase it decides to explode. But I am a little bit hopeful that it will still work. I’ll try it tonight after 24 hours of sitting on the bench.
I’m afraid that even at this end of my life I am still someone who seems to have to try things 10 times, making just about every mistake possible, before I get it right.

LJoyce, you make a good point about my missing two inches. I looked it up and it is more than expected. Sigh. They (meaning google) say that it might be osteoporosis so I’ll mention it to my doctor when I see her next. I know part of it is that my spine is bending more and I am trying to do the right exercises and yoga stretches to counter that (she says, sitting at the keyboard again).
Hoping your neighbour comes through on Monday.

Thin, it is a pity you can’t find something to make your gorgeous dress wearable. I found a gorgeous one in the opshop that was too short for me and hoped to find some black summer trouser/leggings thing that came just below my knee and would look good under the dress, but I never found them and gave the dress back to the opshop. (I even looked in real shops!)

Hello Teapot, oh dear the internet is frustrating in the bush. I have a sister who lived north of Benalla and it was the bane of her life. They have moved into Benalla now and so she has been able to stop complaining 😉
I’m glad you enjoyed your indulgent Easter in the comfort of knowing that 5:2 was waiting here for you to pick it up again. Thinking of you enjoying your morning after fast day.

Cali, I found the wait for the specialist so exhausting as I became increasingly stressed that it might be like last time when I waited for 3 and 1/2 hours. (I did try to relax but got so stressed I decided I would leave after an hour, and they called me at 58 minutes). I had to spend the rest of the day recovering.

I am also finding it a journey to find my new clothing style, but while I grieve for lovely clothes I would have happily worn when I was young, I am rather enjoying finding the things that suit me now and look stylish and flattering in my idiosyncratic way. When I first got down to this weight I threw away everything that was flowing or loose in any way. I have backtracked a bit now, but I am still really enjoying looking at design and what suits my body shape…. and my age.
I found this inspiring: (warning f word) https://warningcurvesahead.com/2016/06/04/24-things-women-over-30-should-wear/

It is ‘day before fast day’ for me and I am having less cups of tea (getting into my ginseng tisane).

Hoping you have a lovely day. Cheers all.

Good morning SHs,

I’m off to view 3 houses shortly. This is my fist time viewing houses in this price bracket so I’m hoping that I’ll like these better than the cheaper properties I looked at a few weeks ago.

Cinque, I think what I learned about dressing as I got older, was to dress in styles and colours that actually suited me rather than trying to conform to fashion. I also like having one of two frivolous garments in my wardrobe that just make me smile to wear them. One of my current items is a leopard print patterned fluffy cardigan. I don’t care if it breaks rules, it makes me happy.
.
Well I must finish this cuppa and then head out. The first open inspection is at 10.

Great link Cinque. As part of my ongoing downsizing, I have just sold an antique 4 gallon stoneware crock from the USA. I was so happy that the young Japanese man who bought it told me that he will use it for fermenting foods like miso. He seemed to think $100 was a steal. My husband’s mother, to whom it belonged, would have been delighted that it will be used in this way (instead of living behind the shed collecting wet leaves). I thought all you fermenters, Sybs, CalifD, Cinque, etc might be interested.

Cinque, I love your link about what women over 30 should wear. And that Lee Lin Chin looks more stunning as the years go by. After a certain age with certain loose skin areas making more areas to be covered or camouflaged, we can more adventurous clothing styles. Maybe it’s time to have more fun with our clothing, especially after all the work of losing weight and being able to fit into smaller sizes. As they say, this isn’t a dress rehearsal!
Styles, especially when it comes to business attire or dressy clothes, have become so much more casual over the years. There isn’t a lot of opportunity to dress up anymore. Is it like that there too? I do miss dressing up sometimes, although it’s usually a relief not to have to. We make very few trips to the dry cleaners these days, and when we do, it’s mostly for coats and outerware.

The op shops are great places to shop for fashions that are sometimes more unique, without having to spend a lot of money just in case you decide you don’t like it after all.

LJoyce, thank you for posting the listing for that house you looked at. I love that oval tub! I also like the open floor plan in the kitchen, dining and living room area. When we bought our house, that was one of the main things we liked about it, that those same rooms were all combined into one great room. It’s especially nice on holidays and when you have guests because you’re never stuck alone in the kitchen preparing food. It also seems like guests always seem to like congregating in the kitchen, even if the kitchen is small. With an open floor plan, that’s less of a problem. The house looks pretty new and super clean. Lots of windows and light. It has a nice feel.
Are houses selling quickly there? I hate having to be under pressure to make a quick decision when it’s such an important one. It’s also nice when there aren’t a lot of other buyers and there’s room for negotiation. Are you looking fairly close to where you live now? I’m excited to hear how it goes.

Thin, it’s nice to hear that you sold that crock to someone who will use it for fermenting. I bought a stoneware crock for the sauerkraut fermenting a few years ago. I think it’s 2 gallons which is a good size for me. 4 gallons is huge! And probably heavy. What did you use it for?

Hope everyone is having a great day and nice weather. It’s raining here but not too cold. Spring blossoms on the trees are starting to bloom and everything is starting to look lush and green. (In a month or two, much of it will turn beige, except for the things that are irrigated.)

Good morning,
It is beautiful here now, but will get to 30. Summers last gasp (as I say week after week). My neighbour is throwing an impromptu flats bbq this evening for the guy who has moved into flat 7, so that will make my fast day interesting. I will fast and then enjoy the bbq.

Now I have cut out coffee and am cutting down on tea I am having so much less milk, so that makes my fast day fastier. I am not getting any sign that my breathlessness was responding to caffeine though, but at least that means I might get back to my lovely cuppas. I need to give it more of a go first though.

Thin, that crock sounds absolutely wonderful, I am so glad it found a good home.

Sybs, I tried my kimchi last night. It has collapsed down further and has a nice lot of juice, but it doesn’t taste very fermented yet so I am leaving it another day. I have made it very hot! I’m keen to see what it is like this evening.

LJoyce, that looks a lovely home! omg you will have to take up kick boxing*, as there will be no renovation there for years, once you get your appliance cupboard in! It is good to know there are places that suit you around.

Cali, a couple of years ago I was considering that problem of never having anywhere to get dressed up for. I spoke to my friend I have coffee with and then do food shopping each fortnight and she felt the same, so we dress up to meet. Yes going around the food market in a special dress can be enjoyable!
And I have another friend who is quite disabled after a car accident, her neck and shoulder mainly, and yes, she had the same problem, so we go out for coffee once a month and we really dress up. She loves to get the staff to take a photo of us. It is fun.

*Ok, maybe not kickboxing

Cheers to everyone

Thin, so women in the city there still dress up for work? That’s kind of nice, except for the stiletto heels. I think even in the cities around here, business attire would be what’s called “business casual”. Open neck shirts for the men and twill type pants. Women’s wear is always harder to define, but something similar. Some cities on the east coast might be more dressy. It used to be more dressy for work years ago, but has gotten more casual over the years. Silicon Valley certainly played a role in that.

I wondered what a “flat” is too. Here a flat would be a single house split into two self contained residences, one upstairs and one down.

LJ, I saw this article on Houzz and thought of you: https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/105730636?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u7761&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery14&newsletterId=7761 It’s about what to bring along while house hunting. Most are obvious, but the flashlight to look in dark corners or under eaves seems like it could be useful.

Thin, spotting dolphins on your walk sounds like paradise. You live in an amazing part of the world. 🐋

Hi everyone

Just a quick hello today. I’ve read most of your posts since my last one – very entertaining in many ways – thank you all. I’ve had a head cold – started Thursday night, much worse today, so unable to answer all your enjoyable posts. Feel like I’m ‘missing out’. Time to pull the covers over my head and stay in bed!
Congrats to all those on a downward trend – also to all those on a plateau, or up somewhat, for hanging in there!

Enjoy whatever you are getting up to and bye for now!

Hi LJoyce
Felt for you when reading above post.

I think I joined you today in your sugar fix. Supposed to be a FD BUT ended up eating 2 x granita biscuits, pears in raspberry jelly, custard, cadbury caramels x 2, very small cadbury Easter egg – all comfort food for me when not well (just as well I don’t get sick often!); as well as a Chinese BBQ chicken sanwich and an apple. I to will be joining you and fasting tomorrow!

Your current home looks absolutely delightful – loved the kitchen, and the floor boards are amazing – so is the other home you posted photos of. Enjoy the looking!

Have a good week everyone and bye for now!

Finishing up a FD and hoping the calorie count is correct for the lentil/goats’ cheese salad as I am feeling far more stuffed than is warranted on a FD. Cinque will have had her BBQ and Sybs her tapas. Who else has been fasting today?

Arel, sending good wishes your way for a speedy recovery (and hoping you’ll find some more nourishing foods to comfort you!).

Oh dear LJ, that was good confession at least. I’m pleased to say I either don’t like, or have never heard of, the foods you and Arel mentioned. Obviously, my downfall is something else – too much dairy I think. Did the guests bring that stuff over LJ or did you supply it? Maybe you can show them the way next time. Anyway, I hope you had fun at the time and sent all the leftovers home with them. You must have received a lot of oohs and aahs for the reno. And you’ll enjoy that FD tomorrow even more now. Rollerblading?

CalifD, judging by the shoes in the shops, my guess is that a lot of women must like trying to walk in very high heels. It is fun to see the dolphins especially mother/baby pairs or when they come close to the riverbank to herd fish. There are about 22 adults living in the two rivers comprising what they call ‘the riverpark’.

For me, the beauty of 5:2 is that we can eat higher calorie foods on NFD without having to feel guilty about it. That said, I totally screwed up yesterday. The 4 slices of large pizza (two of them was Greek pepperoni, the other two Tuscan chicken) were a fun indulgence and part of our Saturday movie and pizza night. (Don’t let me forget to tell you about the streaming movie.) But standing in line at the craft store and feeling hungry, on a whim, I bought a bag of sour gummy candy. Pure sugar and 530 calories for the whole bag. (I imagined my dentist giving me the thumbs up, so good for his practice.) By the end of the day I had finished them. Sugar begat more sugar. After I already ate too many, I might as well finish the bag, right? So I won’t be tempted by them tomorrow? Sheesh, that’s my brain on sugar.

Amazingly my weight was at 59.9. But it was 59.5 yesterday. I thought it would be over 60 for sure. I need to stop eating low quality snacks and foods that I don’t even like that much. Especially things that make me even more hungry once they start to wear off.

The movie that we streamed from Amazon Prime Video was called “East Side Sushi” and, oh my goodness, it was so good! https://www.amazon.com/East-Side-Sushi-Diana-Torres/dp/B01EZFIEBW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523207330&sr=8-1&keywords=east+side+sushi+instant+video All 3 of us loved it. It was a feel good movie with an unknown cast. It was a little predictable, but so well done.

LJoyce, thin’s suggestion of rollerblading for exercise in a home like the one you posted would truly make good use of all that open floor space. I guess pole dancing for exercise would be out of the question, even though you’d have the pole to hang onto for balance? 😮😁

Pole dancing and rollerblading – the suggestions getting worse! I was imagining myself on that recumbent bike – I’d end up sliding under a truck and scalping myself!

Cinque, In addition to some share houses, I’ve also lived in plenty of flats and units in my first few years in the work force (and also after my marriage ended) – it was all my rental budget would stretch to without having to share. Small blocks of units are more common here than flats – probably because Adelaide has a smaller population than the eastern state cities so we just don’t need the higher density housing. In fact even blocks of flats here are usually just 6-8 flats over two floors and sit on a normal 1/4 acre block. While house hunting I’ve been trying to avoid those streets where there are several blocks of units or flats. Not that I object to renters, but it means a lot of people live on the street which adds to noise and parking issues.

Cali, I agree about 5:2 allowing for some indulgence on a NFD. For me there is a limit to just how much 1-2 FDs can balance out. A true binge usually requires more than 2 FDs to account for – probably because my 500cal FD is only a 900cal saving on my 1400 TDEE. It’s not so much the calories I ate yesterday that bothers me, it’s that I offered my body nothing nutritious and the high level of fat and sugar made me feel physically ill – I don’t like feeling like that and I know my body deserves better. While I gorged yesterday my gut bugs starved. Today they are getting lots of water and Cinque’s mung bean spinach soup, hopefully that will make them happy.

Thin, I had lots of nice comments about the house – although my rellies tend to be polite to the point that you never know what they truly think.

As expected I feel a bit seedy this morning – that’s my liver complaining about the fat I expected it to deal with yesterday. Today’s plan is a FD with some extra glasses of water.

Someone on another thread here was talking about red lentil and tomato soup which sounded like a nice combination. She hasn’t posted the recipe yet, but I found a few on the Internet and made one that is a combination of a few, but is closest to this: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/02/dinner-tonight-red-lentil-and-tomato-soup-recipe.html Unfortunately the cans of tomatoes I picked up without carefully reading the label., had jalapeño pepper in them and were a little more spicy than I had intended. So I added more chicken broth to tame it down a little. I also added a carrot and blended the whole thing with an immersion blender. It turned out pretty well. I’m thinkinking that a small amount of coconut milk might be good next time, to make it a little creamier.

2nd post
Hi Teapot: your post came up whilst I was writing mine. I agree with you re: overload of sugars and fats – our body does let us know it’s not happy the next day, so it’s really not worth the indulgence at all!
Enjoy your holiday and have fun out in your garden with the nice, sunny day – so relaxing!

Glad to hear that you’ve listed your house with an agent. Selling to a friend or neighbor can be tricky. It can be shown privately before Sunday? Are you going to look at other homes this week? Moving to a new place is exciting. Looking at homes for sale can be fun if there are enough available in the area you want so you don’t feel pressured.

Fasting today feels good after eating so much over the weekend. Teapot, I agree that eating lots of sugar can make you feel almost hung over the next morning. Before 5:2, I didn’t know how good it could feel to do a very low calorie FD. Like Cinque often says, the morning after a FD feels wonderful.

Good morning SHs.
It’s an unseasonable hot day here, meant to be 34C. I’m going to have to try and stay in the shade when I head out to the garden shortly. Unfortunately the weather is about to do a complete turnaround. The forecast for the weekend is 17-18C and rain. I’m just imagining what my floors are going to look like after people have traipsed mud through them at the open inspection.

The RE agent is send a photographer tomorrow to take the photos that will go online, on the sales brochure and on the For Sale billboard. So it’s a mad scramble today to get those last minute things done so that everything photographs well.

I fasted yesterday, originally planned as I was meant to have treatment today, but even when that got shifted I kept the FD due to the volume of poor food choices on Sunday. I can only assume that the hard work I did yesterday also helped with my weight as this morning I was 72.9kg – another new low. When I was more sedentary I would never have dealt with Sunday’s excesses with one FD, so that was a very pleasant surprise. It used to take 2-3 FDs to remove the weight gain from one binge day. It is possible that the volume of food that I now consider a binge is less than it used to be.

Teapot, I hope you get better internet access – how frustrating. (I grew up in a country town so I know there are some services you just have to get used to being worse than the city as they never seem to improve.) Enjoy your holiday time at home – when I worked I always liked holidays where I could stay home and enjoy the house and garden and just potter around – always felt like a luxury in a normally busy life.

Thin, good on you for tackling bridge, everyone I know who’s tried to learn has commented on how difficult it is. I suspect it will help those brain connections – socialisation is meant to help too, so being a group activity probably helps your brain even more.
Interesting about the portion sizes. Sometimes changes are like that they slowly creep in and it takes a while to notice. There’s nothing wrong with a small helping, knowing you can have seconds if you’ve underestimated and still feel hungry.

Cali, I won’t look at houses through the week as I have too much to do here and treatment on Thursday. But I will be looking over the weekend. I feel more positive about that search too now that my house is on the market.

Arel – chicken noodle soup (with veggies) was one of my mother’s staples too.
How’s that cold going, are you feeling better?

I noticed something unusual the last two days. By bedtime I’ve had swollen ankles. I never normally retain fluid like that these days and I wonder if it’s what I ate on Sunday – maybe the salt level in the food. Hopefully better food choices will get my body back to normal.

NFD today, but I do need to fast again tomorrow as my treatment is now going to be Thursday.

Well I better get moving. I have to paint a small section of concrete brick wall, then finish the mulching and try to repair a wooden fence.

LJoyce, ask people viewing your house to remove their shoes rather than track dirt and moisture across your floors. When we were looking for this house, several people did that. You could also provide those paper booties that fit over shoes, like these: https://www.amazon.com.au/100-Pack-Shoe-Covers-Construction/dp/B0791Z9DVK/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1523320443&sr=8-10&keywords=Shoe+covers

Thin, it sounds like the bridge will certainly open or preserve pathways in your brain if you have to think so much while playing. Is it fun yet? My weight has crept over 60kg a few times lately. I need to get my snacking under control. Meals aren’t a problem for me, it’s all the other snack type things. It’s interesting the FD don’t bother me, but on NFD my brain goes into a different mode. I need to reprogram it!

Cinque, your grandchildren are at such a cute age. It must be so much fun to visit with them now. It sounds like the little one didn’t want her Grandma to go home!

Good morning everyone,

I think Thin has been stuck in an absorbing game of bridge!

LJoyce your first post yesterday crossed mine, cheers for your new low! Better enjoy those jeans while they still fit! I hope you can put your feet up and that your poor swollen ankles settle down.
Do talk to your doctor if they don’t!
All the garden preparation sounds lovely, and I hope the weather complies with the lovely idea of having the stove going. This unseasonable heat is ridiculous.

Yes, grandkiddies are the best. I miss them every day I don’t see them.

I’ve been looking up recipes that include kimchi and have lots of ideas.
Just off to water my garden, it is so hot I need to prop up the sheet to protect the seedlings again. Oh well never mind, it means they are growing wonderfully.

Day before fast day for me. My rehydration program is working so well I am moved to encourage everyone to make sure they drink enough (no…. not alcohol you cheeky people!). Cheers all, best wishes for a great day.

Good afternoon all,

This is my first sit down and first cuppa for the day, I’ve going non-stop since 7am. I am now ready for the photographers who are here to take lovely (hopefully) photos of my house at 2pm.

The things you do when staging a house feel a bit bizarre. I bought a steel ring for storing firewood attractively and neatly. This morning I headed off to the wood yard to buy wood for it – not just any firewood, I was picking through the piles looking for nicely shaped round logs – most of their firewood is split redgum. I felt a bit silly looking for logs by decorative appeal. My specially chosen logs are now home and stacked in the ring – looks quite decorative too.

I have the house and garden in the state I want for open inspections, so apart from raking up more leaves and a bit of spot cleaning, I shouldn’t have to do much more between now and the first open.

Thin, I settled on buying a large and very coarse coir mat for the front porch – hopefully that will get the mud off everyone’s shoes before they go inside. I can feel it scratching against the bottom of my shoes just by walking over it.
That’s a very spartan plan for your birthday – but you can always have a belated meal out once your family is home again.

Cinque, my ankles didn’t swell yesterday, despite the heat and humidity here so I’m pretty sure it was a reaction to all that high sugar/fat/salt food.
Something I was told by a doctor about rehydrating (after I’d had food poisoning), is that adding a few drops of lemon juice and a pinch of salt to a jug of plain water will make it easier for your body to absorb the water – something about the electrolyte balance. The amount of lemon and salt is so small you don’t taste it.
I admit that I have to be careful that I don’t replace too much water with cups of tea – not a risk in hot weather but definitely one in winter.

Well I’d better have one last wander through and make sure I haven’t missed anything.

FD for me and I’ve just had a plum with my cup of tea. I have one last bowl of mung bean and spinach soup left that will be dinner.
Have a good day everyone.

LJ, it’s going to be exciting seeing how quickly your house will sell. It’s in such pristine condition that someone will probably make an offer very quickly. Having a home that’s move in ready is always a big selling point. I did have to laugh, imagining you picking out decorative logs to stack near your fireplace in the fancy new log holder.

Thin, I think your idea about the eating window for NFDs is a good one. It’s better than counting calories on NFDs which I only will do as a last resort. And 2 – 8 sounds pretty good. I could change that to 12 – 8 on days that I have lunch plans. That’s still only 8 hours. Thank you for the idea. I hadn’t thought of that. Mindless snacking is the biggest problem after dinner, so the window eliminates that.

I usually take my shoes off when I enter the house. I just don’t like wearing shoes. 😄 I’m usually barefoot as soon as it’s warm and wear Bear Paws (similar to Uggs) in the winter when the floors are cold. They’re my slippers.

Good morning,
It is Thursday fast day for me. Already feeling hungry, but it is just a feeling!

Thin, I woke up to hear this on the news “Police investigate after decapitated rats are left outside the homes of councillors in Perth”. What have you been up to? I’m not sure which is worse, this or the trainsurfing!

My clever little granddaughter does seem to be a particularly good communicator, but I do forget what is normal and continually think they are extraordinary. 🙂

The heat keeps going. It got down to 15C at midnight and then it was up to 26 before dawn. Hot air down from the tropics. I think Sybs may be responsible, and JJulie if she is home. Well, all my seedlings have doubled in size, so if it would just rain I’d be happy enough.

Bridge does sound a wonderful game to get into, and makes a week on your own nicely inviting. I understand how you feel about your birthday and hopefully you will really enjoy your birthday fast day. Make sure you let us know which day it is so I can send a picture of a bunch of flowers 🙂

LJoyce, so glad your ankles have settled down. Best wishes to the photographer, and his wife and brand new baby. I hope it all goes well today.

Thanks for that info for rehydrating. I always liked a squeeze of lemon in my drink, but I looked up electrolytes a couple of days ago and, do you know, the whole sports drink industry started from some research that showed that a pinch of salt and an even smaller amount of sugar in water helped rehydration. From that the recommendation came to do exactly as your doctor said.

My sister talked about a lovely salty lime drink they found so refreshing in Thailand, and looking for recipes led me to a Vietnamese one made with salted lemon, exactly the same sort of salted lemon I have a jar of in my fridge that I had made for Moroccan recipes. I tried it, and it is excellent.

Also soups are perfect for making sure our bodies have their electrolytes (which are essential salts incase anyone was wondering). And I am really enjoying making sure I have soup on hand every day. I even thought about having miso soup for breakfast every day, but I so love it being my fast day meal that I will keep it to that at the moment.

After a day of concentrating on drinking lots, I suddenly got much more thirsty and I had a good 24 hours of drinking what would be excessive for most people, but it has done me great good. I think I might be properly hydrated now and I just need to make sure I don’t let myself get slightly dehydrated again. I feel really good.

Cali, if I have over-snacked one day, I have to make myself have no snacks the next day. ie have three meals and nothing inbetween. (except drinks 😉 )
(this happens most weeks 🙁 )

Off to soak shiitake and yuba for my miso soup. Best wishes for a good day everyone.