Hello Southern Hemispherites!!

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  • Remember Me….Haha. Hi everyone and welcome new posters. Have been lurking but not posted for a few months. As usual life is super busy.

    Have one week to complete my next unit of study then I only have one more unit to go so should achieve my Diploma by end of Feb – taken 2 1/2 years and I’m sooooo over it. It’s not that its difficult just a severe lack of interest on my part at the moment as I will be made redundant in April unfortunately. The department is re-locating my position to Adelaide, part of their bigger plan to close the regional offices and have everyone located in state offices only. I’ve been given the option to move but city life is not for this country girl. Plus financially it would ruin us to move. So between now and then it’s a ‘strategic game’ of waiting for them to offer me a voluntary redundancy package after 14 years of service. I’m in the union so have good advice to follow to ensure I get all my entitlements. Although it’s a shock I’m determined to turn this into an opportunity to re-evaluate and change to a more rewarding career. More on this later.

    MissD and I just spent a week in Melbourne for a mum and daughter week away. I took her to see her favourite boy band who were touring from America. Even though we averaged 20,000 to 30,000 steps each day I put on 4kg in 8 days….ouch !! My ultra low carb, keto, OMAD WOL definately went out the window. I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner and carbs with just about every meal. Thankfully I’ve lost 2.4kg in the 4 days days since we’ve been back and feel so much better being back in my normal eating routine again.

    I must dash for now. Chat soon. Hope everyone is travelling well x

    Remember Me…Haha. Hello everyone and welcome new posters. Have been lurking but not posted for a few months. Really annoyed as I just wrote a long post and it disappeared and shot to top of page same as Betsylee so submitting now to test before I write it all again

    Ok working now. Life still busy. I’m on my second to last unit of study then I finish my Diploma. Should be done by end Feb. I’m totally over it after 2 1/2 years and have a severe lack of interest but can’t give up now. Bad news is my department is re locating my position to Adelaide so in April I will be unemployed. I do have the option to go to Adelaide but city life is not for this country girl plus it would ruin us financially to move. So it’s a waiting game now as they will go through the various processes and then have to offer me a voluntary redundancy package. I’ve been there for nearly 15 years plus still have most of my LSL so at least I won’t walk away with nothing. I’m going to use this as an opportunity to explore options to change career and do something I love but more on that later.

    MissD and I have just returned from a week in Melbourne. I took her to see her fav boy band in concert who were touring from America so we made a mum and daughter week of it. Even though we did 25,000 to 30,000 steps each day I still put on 4kg over 8 days. I ate breakfast, lunch and dinner and every meal contained heaps of carbs. In the 4 days we’ve been back I’ve dropped 2.4kg since returning to my 4 hour eating window each day and extremely low carb intake.

    Still lots more to tell but I must dash now. Hope everyone is travelling well x

    Good morning, home help will be here any minute so I might post mid sentence and come back later.

    LJoyce, so glad you were able to keep your expert nurse, and hope the post infusion day wasn’t too bad. I hope the hospital appt went easily.

    Betsy, so sad to miss your longer post, but glad to see your short post. Hooray for accountability. Enjoy that card writing.

    Gday, we got you in triplicate. So good to see you here, but sorry the posting was such a hassle, and very sorry to hear that your workplace is moving away from you. I am so glad you have union support, and hope the redundancy comes through nicely.
    Cheers for persisting in the boring study and all good wishes for more fulfilling employment.

    GDSA, good to hear from you. I’m sorry to hear that your job will end in a few months time, but I do hope it leads to greener (and more rewarding) pastures for you.

    Cinque, glad to hear you were home for your home help and didn’t send everyone into a panic. Hope you are having some gentle days to recover from your extreme fatigue.

    I got a rude shock at the hospital yesterday. To work out the dose of medication I need for the infusion they have to weigh me. It was more than I expected – by several kilos. Of course that sent me into a self pitying binge eat last night, which did my weight no favours. I am back on the 800cal days today and am seriously considering sticking to that every day until christmas, with perhaps a day off if there’s a special occasion. If I do this I will need to moderate my carb intake as I find daily 800cals too difficult otherwise. I’ve thought about it overnight and it still feels like the right move.

    LJ, is all of this testing and scanning your regular yearly thing for the infusions or is this some new program? Did the scan give any insights as to cortisone injections? I’m sorry to hear about the weight unexpected weight again. With all those beautiful fresh veggies coming out of your garden, it should be a little easier to stick to an 800 plan. Vegetables provide a lot of bulk to keep you feeling full. I’ve put on a few kilos over the past couple months too, so I understand the feeling. Mine has been due mainly to stress I guess. It’s the NFD’s that are still my problem.
    LJ, Amazon.au is getting a lot more items now. Soon it might be like here where we can find almost everything and it’s often at a lower price. Love the KitchenAid and air fryer accessories.

    Betsy, you can get that book on Amazon in the Kindle version for Aus$11.99. You can download a free Kindle app for iOS or Android tablets or for a PC I think. I read Kindle books on my iPad. Much more reasonable than spending $50 or more on a paperback.
    https://www.amazon.com.au/Complete-Guide-Fasting-Intermittent-Alternate-Day-ebook/dp/B01MF8SC2X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+complete+guide+to+fasting&qid=1575531067&s=books&sr=1-1

    Cinque, so glad Miso is quickly improving. Giving antibiotics to a cat can be a real challenge. I’m glad you’re managing. We had a cat when I was a young teenager that had a big abscess behind his ear. He had long fur so we didn’t notice it until one morning it just kind of exploded, spewing gunky liquid everywhere. It was early in the morning before I was up. My mom was in the kitchen with the cat when it happened. She screamed and my dad and my sister and I all came running. She wrapped the cat in a towel and we took him to a vet. They lanced it and cleaned it out and then stitched it up. It was pretty big. We had to give him antibiotics too and he quickly recovered. I think cats are pretty susceptible to abscesses. I hope you are feeling better too and the fatigue isn’t as bad today.

    Gday, great to hear from you! I’m sorry to hear about your job. That sort of thing has become so common these days. I hope you find another position that you like even better. How are your temperatures there? It’s usually pretty hot by this time, right?

    I was telling my sister the other day about all the bathroom renovations in this group right now. She thought it was odd that so many people would be doing it in December with the holidays and all. But I reminded her that everyone here who’s renovating a bathroom is in the Southern Hemisphere where it’s the middle of summer, a perfectly normal time to be doing work on the house. Unlike us, having it done in the winter with all the rain and cold. They started doing the demo in our bathroom today. There’s a big plastic sheet with the zipper on it over the bathroom opening that’s keeping most of the dust out of the bedroom but we’re still sleeping in the other rooms tonight just in case of there’s dust that we don’t see. It should only be a couple of weeks, but disruptive nonetheless.
    We also have a leak in our roof over the laundry room which we’re having fixed tomorrow. Having the 2nd story rain gutters cleaned of leaves too. It’s always something!

    Anzac, glad to hear you’ve arrived in Portugal and are enjoying the weather and sights. Flying luxury first class must have been fun.

    Quacka, don’t feel too bad about your husband missing your birthday. About 15 or 20 years ago not only did my husband forget my birthday I forgot it too until the following day!

    I need to get some sleep. I’ll catch up with everyone else soon!

    Good morning everyone

    Cali, the exam and blood tests on Wednesday were part of the usual cycle for my current medication. The CT scan was on my lower back and the results of that will determine whether I’m a suitable candidate for cortisone injections into the facet joints in the lower spine. As my lower back problems have been ongoing for about a year I would be glad to know there’s something that can be done. I see my GP next week and he’ll let me know the outcome.
    The only thing I couldn’t figure out on Amazon.au is whether things would be posted from Australia or o/s. I was expecting to receive everything this month but after I’d placed the order one item gave me a January delivery date which was several weeks later than the estimated date quoted on Amazon. They are promoting Amazon Prime heavily, but I would need to be buying a lot more things than I usually do to justify it – although I think it gives me cheaper ebooks too and I do buy those regularly.

    I’m heading back to the city this morning. I have a dental appointment.

    Yesterday’s 800cal day went to plan thankfully.

    Have a nice day.

    Afternoon all, There was a health expert on the breakfast show this morning talking about the benefits of time restricted eating. He was saying how people that practice it have the lowest chances of developing diabetes and heart disease. I’ve been doing it for a year now but it’s nice to know that I’m on the right track and that the word is starting to spread.

    The carpet is all installed in our living room now, and I’ve got the plumber booked in for next Wednesday to come and install the log burner, so there is a good chance that we will have all our renovations completed and signed off before we go to Fiji. Then when we get back we can look into getting our new furniture, television and aerial and then our living room will be done.

    Good morning,
    It is a lovely morning here, but thinking of the fire effected places.

    It is fast day for me and HOORAY I went down to Friends of the Earth yesterday and have enough beautiful genmai miso to last me for months. I have wood fungus and shiitake soaking with kombu knots so I can make a lovely dashi in a few hours. The thought of it will help me get through the hungry hours.

    It was lovely to have home help, and I don’t think I could ever forget it again!

    LJoyce, the hospital scales were a shock to me too. I wonder if they put them a kilo or so higher to give everyone a shock (and comfort to underweight people)? Or maybe our shoes weigh 2 kilos 😉
    Although I do know my little round tummy needs to go, so likely they were right after all.

    Congratulations on a proper 800 day Thursday. I hope 800 and dentist went well yesterday, and that today is a nice, in your own zone, day for you too.

    Cali, you are right about veggies providing bulk. I am feeling well enough to manage shopping better (touch wood and whistle) so I will do a big veggie shop tomorrow (since my garden does not measure up to LJoyces). My garden will contribute to my miso soup though, I have discovered the deliciousness of pumpkin seedlings, which I have coming up everywhere through my garden. I have nipped them off and have them ready to add to my soup.

    Miso the cat is going very well. I was amazed at how easy it was to give her the antibiotic tablets…. but then she got her mojo back and the last couple of days were a big struggle. Finished now. She has her silky coat back too.

    I recognise I am in the worst CFS relapse I’ve had since I last moved house, but it is certainly easier to recover without having just moved house with an 11 year old. No idea whether it will be weeks or months, but I am doing all the good things.

    Cali, I hope you got the leak fixed nicely, and the bathroom stuff is all going well.
    Haha forgetting your own birthday! I hope you had a lovely celebration the day after!

    Neil, good to hear someone nicely up to date, on the radio, supporting your life choices. (I do aim TRE but do a shadow of it so far, except on fast days.)
    Good to hear everything is rolling into place re home and holiday.

    Anzac, you must be too busy having a wonderful time to catch up. but sending good wishes in case you are managing to read.

    Quacka, how are you going I hope it is a lovely weekend. And for you too Klondi, Betsy, Intesha, Gday and all.

    Good morning

    I’ve been blocked by the site’s spam filters! – in again now though.

    My 800cal regime is working, I’m already down 1.6kg since Thursday morning. Proving that there was a lot of water weight involved in that loss.
    On reflection I’ve decided to aim for 6 x 800cal days and one TDEE day but will be limiting sugars and starch on all days.

    Cinque, very glad to hear that Miso is well now. I’m sorry to hear that your flare up has been so bad. Christmas is not a time where it’s easy to do little and rest, but I hope you can find the right balance.

    I will be christening my new griddle plate this evening with lots of veg that I’m about to head off to the shops to buy. It’s very hot here today so I decided griddled veg (capsicum, zucchini, mushrooms, broccolini, asparagus) with chicken breast would be nice for dinner. I’ll have the same veg with haloumi tomorrow night.

    I managed to go walking with a friend yesterday and I did 75 minutes. The longest walk I’ve managed in weeks. Given the high heat today I’m confining myself to walking around the shopping centre.

    Have a nice day.

    Hello, I wanted to share a snack option for those of you who love salted nuts and chips but are trying to avoid them. These are also a viable option for those trying to control their carbohydrate intake.
    I’ve known about these for ages but haven’t been able to find them before:
    https://imgur.com/LSero7i

    The nutritional profile per 100g:
    1402 kj (334 calories)
    4.7g fat
    45.5g protein
    14.4g effective carbohydrate (including 3.3g sugar)
    28.9g fibre
    296mg sodium

    I measured out 20g, which doesn’t sound like much but they are very light so it was enough. I was also very happy with the high fibre count. Even on an 800cal day I can have a 20g serve of these as a snack (67 calories).
    I think the fact that the fat and salt content are much less than chips, means it’s easier to eat a controlled portion size rather than the whole bag. Although they don’t contain sesame, it is what the flavour reminds me of.

    There is a store at my local shopping centre now that sells Japanese snacks and that’s where I came across these.
    Just a word of caution for anyone monitoring carbs – they had pasted an Australia nutrition panel over the original that was in the U.S. format and the Australian one was incorrect. The panel stated total carbs whereas the Australian standard requires effective carbs (total carbs minus fibre).

    Hi all. Sunday arvo putting feet up for a couple of hours after a busy weekend. The back verandah of our house and the verandah area of the new shed are being repaved next week so have been busy removing the old pavers ( over 1000 of them) and closing in the area between the bottom of the house and the ground. We have a transportable and the back of the house sits quite high off the ground so there was a lot of work involved. Bit annoyed with the paving contactor as I asked him to give me at least 2 weeks notice of when he was starting to give us adequate time to prepare the sites. I happened to ring him last Thurs to see how far off he thought he might be and he said yeah I’m starting next week. I’ve got some ironing to do today but that will be my only chore for the rest of the day besides making something easy for tea. My arms and legs are aching like crazy.

    Our new vegie patch is coming along really well. So happy to have a large patch again after being restricted to growing in pots the last few years due to renos. Still have to erect the overhead framework for the shade cover and put the watering system in so hoping for a few cooler weekends before Xmas to get that done. 46 deg here today…yuk.

    We’ve planted pumpkin, watermelon, chilli, tomato, capsicum, celariac ( my new fav veg), corn, zucchini, lettuce, spinach, silverbeet, kale, corn, spring onion, radish plus a wide variety of herbs. I’ve used the companion planting method to promote good growth and reduce pests and disease so have also planted specific flowers such as marigolds and nastersiums in the bed amongst the vegies and herbs.

    Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend

    Morning all, well my boys faced the worst crisis of their short lives….an evening and morning without internet. The bad weather that has closed off roads through the South Island also knocked out the internet for large areas including ours. It was tough but they managed to survive from 8pm Saturday to 11am Sunday, I don’t know how they managed it.

    Gday, the garden sounds good, veg from your own garden can’t be beaten, we’ve currently got broccoli, silverbeet and spinach coming our ears so I’m coming up with ideas to use it. I made a spinach, and feta cornbread for dinner last night, which turned out ok.

    Cinque, great that Miso is on the mend.

    LJ, well done on the big walk, did you walk somewhere nice?

    I’m going to need my fast day today. We had our first BBQ of the year and I had too much bread and potato chips, I enjoyed eating it on Saturday night but I was paying for it on Sunday morning.

    Good Morning everyone

    Just a quick check in to let you all know I’m still alive! Everything is fine here, just that I’ve been so busy with work and renos. I’m hoping for some free time soon so I can catch up with you all properly.

    It’s FD for me today and I’m feeling positive about it. Half the battle is won 🙂

    Have a lovely day all xx

    Hello,
    A hot day here today, but only one, so I won’t complain (and not as hot as SA has had).

    LJoyce, I hope you had a great walk in the airconditioning yesterday. How did the veggie griddle go? And don’t those edamame look munchy. A labelling disgrace though! Can you report it to someone?

    I had a good fast day on Saturday, and woke up on Sunday feeling I could have another one, but I had put a bit of bread dough aside to bake for breakfast and couldn’t resist it, and then the day descended into a garbage guts day. Luckily I only had good food in the house, but I made the worst of it. So I am happily having another fast day today, with you Quacka and Neil! And see if I can listen to myself a bit better tomorrow morning.

    Gday, your garden sounds amazing, and the paving too, once it stops being exhausting. You won’t know yourselves once the renos are all done and you can live the good life.

    Neil, haha, I went spare when I was without the internet for a couple of days too. Much sympathy to the boys. And you.
    I’m enjoying my fast day today for a similar reason to yours. Hooray for fast days.

    Quacka, so glad you managed to fit a post it. Best wishes for a (comparatively) easy day today.

    Thanks for your kind thoughts LJoyce. I am just going to ignore Christmas apart from my grandchildren. So much easier than when my daughter was little and expecting Christmas to be the best day of the year, and it was up to me to try and provide it.

    Best wishes to everyone

    Good morning.

    I’m having a very slow start to the day. Feeling a bit grumpy because the lung infection has returned! At least the hot weather has calmed down and it’s only going to be 29C today.

    Neil, as long as you had electricity, being without the internet is survivable. Although I expect for the kids it didn’t feel like that!
    On Saturday we walked along the path that’s surrounded by trees and gardens that follows the Sturt River – very nice.

    GDay, the veggie patch sounds great, mine is a bit patchy because we haven’t had normal spring weather here. I also love celeriac (the taste of celery without all the strings), but I’ve never tried growing it. I did try growing celery when I lived in the hills but it didn’t do well. I imagine it requires a lot of vigilance to keep everything watered in that heat.
    I hope that paving contractor turns up and does a good job this week.

    Quacka, hello. Hope those renos are going well and that you’ve found a beautiful tile to replace that gorgeous green one that you couldn’t use.

    Cinque, it’s funny how a day which starts out well intentioned can end up as an overeating day – even if the food is healthy. I have too many of those myself.
    I actually did about 6000 steps at the shopping centre yesterday morning. I had to go to 2 different supermarkets and the green grocer and I returned back to the car after each shop to add more steps. I always go up and down every isle whether I need them or not.
    The griddle plate worked well, although I had so much veg I still needed to do 2 batches. But I have lots of leftovers for meals this week: https://imgur.com/a/OvVvFkr It’s a lot like cooking on a BBQ grill, but a lot more convenient when I’m just cooking for me. It’s “Lodge” brand which is American.

    Cali, I’m sure your house is fully decorated for christmas. I’m afraid I do little in the way of decorating. I have a tiny christmas tree that I normally put into onto the entertainment centre but it’s getting a bit tatty, so I stole this idea from my neighbour: https://imgur.com/M3ZUTmi

    Hope everyone else is well. Anzac, hope your travels are exciting.

    Have a nice day.

    I just spent a couple of hours doing some much needed weeding, fertilising and mulching the veggie patch. The neighbour’s dog was very interested in what was happening. https://imgur.com/k0vvGEY If the gap under that fence was any bigger I think I would have had a helper.

    Thinking of the people who died, were injured, and are still missing on White Island after the eruption yesterday 😞

    Neil, much sympathy and horror at what New Zealand, and all the families and friends of people who were on the island, are going through at the moment. And so much admiration of those first responders.

    It is a quiet morning here, a lovely relief after a hot windy day yesterday, but thinking of NSW bracing for another scary day.

    It is morning after fast day for me and I am nicely tuned into myself and am going to choose a veggie filled menu today! I haven’t managed to do that veggie shop yet, but today had better be the day. I have some delicious recipes worked out in advance (lentil soup, mixed veg curry, bharta baingan, tom kha gai and salads)

    LJoyce, how nasty of that lung infection. I do hope you can kick it for good this time. If good wishes coming from afar have any effect, you’ll have it beaten fast.
    The griddle will be excellent! I have one half the size and I can only make enough for one meal, or maybe one side dish, on it (but I do love it).
    You said it so well, how a well intentioned day can go downhill. But I am confident this one won’t! 🙂
    Lovely pic of your gardening admirer!

    Sending good wishes to everyone, way too busy with the lead up to Christmas but still doing your best to 5:2 through and keep happy and healthy. All power to you.

    Thinking of the families of the dead and missing people in the New Zealand tragedy. What a horrible thing to happen 🙁
    You are all in my prayers.

    I had a good FD yesterday and good long jog this morning. I’m amazed that I can still jog even after four days of not doing it. Before I started this exercising I always thought that people who run do so everyday, religiously. Funny that I had no idea about it lol

    LJ, I hope you get that lung infection knocked on the head very soon. I also made a huge pile of char grilled veggies on Sunday night. I made a green goddess dressing to go with it and we just chose what we would like to eat and piled it onto our plate. I have leftovers for lunch and also some for tonight’s dinner. Mmmmm

    Sorry about your CFS relapse, Cinque. You are doing all the right things by looking after yourself so I hope you feel better soon.

    Hi Gday, Cali and Neil and anyone else lurking. Thinking of Anzac and hoping she is relaxing and enjoying her much awaited holiday.

    I best go do some work. I’m on a three day week this week and I have tonnes of work to do. Take care all xx

    https://imgur.com/a/vvPYlmm

    Here’s a pic of my char grilled veggies 🙂

    I got hit by the spam filter and banned from the site. I’m guessing it trips if you try to post in the same thread twice within a certain time.

    LJ, I’m sure if my boys were there they would be extending the hole so they could get the dog onto the property to play with. They already play with my parents’ neighbour’s dogs when we go to visit them

    I had a good fast day yesterday. Just tea, coffee and miso with mushrooms. probably only a couple of hundred calories. I had a good bike ride in the evening for half an hour because I missed my gym session at lunch time. I’m planning on having a control day today, just tea, coffee, miso and nuts during the day and then a decent sized dinner this evening and then my final weigh-in before we leave for Fiji. I won’t bother weighing while we’re away, so my next weigh-in after tomorrow will be Christmas morning when we’re back from our trip. I’m not expecting that one to go well. 🙁

    I was wondering if anyone has read “The Obesity Code” book and if so what you think of it. It’s supposed to have a similar theory to the 5:2 developed by Michael Mosley.

    I was doing some reading last night and I read that males benefit best from a 16:8 up to a 19:5 fasting window, but females don’t do as well on it and the recommendation is for a 14:10-15:9 fasting window for optimum results. Has anyone else heard anything like this?

    Have a great day everyone.

    Good morning

    My condolences and thoughts are also with those killed, injured and missing in the NZ volcano eruption.

    Quacka & Cinque
    Quacka, those veg look amazing. I’ve never done onions or cauliflower on the grill, I must try that.
    I’ve also have a grill that’s half the size for years and found it frustrating that I had to do so many batches to get all the veg done. I really like having lots of leftovers because they are nice in salads or sandwiches. I also find the leftover zucchini and eggplant can be used to make moussaka.

    Neil, are you going to be in Fiji over Christmas, or will you be back by then? I bet the boys are looking forward to it. Is your son’s plaster cast off – he won’t be happy about not getting it wet.
    I haven’t heard about the different eating windows for gender. Some sources suggest different patterns but the benefit they are promoting isn’t necessarily just good health, some are focused on body building.
    I haven’t read the Jason Fung book you mentioned but there is a lot of discussion about it on this forum. This site doesn’t have a search function but you can use google to do that. Copy and paste the following into the google search function (you need the whole thing from the beginning of the quotation marks):
    “the obesity code” site:https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums

    I have an appointment with the GP this afternoon to get my CT scan results. I’m hoping he has some treatment suggestions for my back.

    Hello to everyone else who’s reading.

    Neil kids without internet eh. I’m surprised my daughter survived 2 days and 2 nights without it a few weeks ago when we went away for the weekend in the caravan. Did i mention we purchased a caravan? Well 2 vans actually but that’s a story for next time. I have the Obesity Code on E reader and have read it quite a few times. Definitely a good read and very in depth compared to MMs books. I think you would find value in having a read Neil if you are interested in something more in depth. I can recommend a few others too so will have a look when I get home as I can’t recall the titles/authors at the moment

    My sympathies to everyone involved in the White Island volcano disaster. It must have been so horrifying for anyone who was there or had family or friends there.

    Neil, glad to hear your boy’s survived their internet being down. Sometimes it’s good for us all to have a short break from it I think.

    We’re still in the middle of our bathroom reno. But they’re finally finished carrying chunks of tile and drywall out, and carrying new stuff in to install. There’s still a lot of dust but I think I’ve gotten most of it vacuumed up. They started the floor tile today and the shower floor which is flattened pebbles. It looks good so far. The roof leak was repaired last week but not too much rain to test it out yet. They did seem to do a good job.

    LJ, we usually have 3 Christmas trees but we only are putting up 2 this year because of all the construction. I have the lights but few ornaments on the big one and the smaller table tree in the livingroom still has nothing on it. We’ll hopefully finish them before Christmas! I hope that lung infection goes away soon, LJ. Are you getting smoke from any of the fires? We see pictures on the news of all the smoke around Sydney. It looks awful. I know you’re far from there but hope there aren’t any near you.

    LJ, your griddle is a nice size for the veggies. Quacka, your roasted vegetables look beautiful, like something out of a cooking magazine. All veggies taste so much better from a grill. It really brings out the flavor.

    Gday, it sounds like you’re right in the middle of reno too. You’ve really done a lot with your house over the past year+. At least you should be able to see the end results of all that work soon. You’re really getting some hot weather there! I was in Phoenix, AZ once for several days for work when they had temperatures like that. Even at night it didn’t cool down that much so the air conditioner was always on. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a tube of lipstick completely melt! It was in my suitcase in the car.

    Anzac, hope you’re having a perfectly lovely time and are finally able to relax. You certainly deserve it. Take lots of pictures!
    Cinque,

    I deleted the last part of my post By mistake.

    Cinque, I’m sorry to hear about the CFS relapse. I hope it doesn’t go on for a long time. Are there things that you can do to help get past it besides resting? This is a tough time of the year with so many things going on. To cheer you… https://s1.card-images.com/products/get-well-flowers-card_CD6854_Z.jpg

    Cali, the first half of your post was still listed under “recent posts”
    That is a lot of christmas trees, but you do have a large house over 2 floors so I guess there’s room. I don’t think my living space would cope with even one normal sized christmas tree.
    I’m a very long way from Sydney, but I expect Intesha is impacted by the smoke, and Anzac would be too if she wasn’t in Europe. I think Lyndsay said the were having smoke issues from the Queensland fires too.

    I went to the GP today and got the results of my CT scan. The news isn’t great. While there is some inflammation it isn’t the main problem. There is degenerative wear and tear on the spine where 2 vertebrae are damaged and it’s squashing one of the disks. There is also a narrowed space for the spinal cord. The pain I’m feeling is being referred from that area. There is no treatment they can offer, just the need to remain moderately active and manage my weight. The only medical treatment is pain relief. As I don’t want to use any analgesics stronger than those I have access to now I will just continue to manage things as I have been, with occasional use of analgesics and anti-inflammatories. I tend to use them occasionally as a circuit breaker when the pain gets excessive, rather than as an every day treatment.
    It’s means that all those allergy tests with steroids were not useful for this problem, although there are likely to be future joint problems where I’ll be glad I did it. The situation means I have to keep my focus on doing 7000-11000 steps per day which is my sweet spot for pain management and get my weight back down in the low 70s and keep it there.

    On a positive note I christened my new stainless steel wok tonight with a veggie & egg stirfry. It was so much easier than using my usual large frying pan. Good investment.

    Hello my dear friends and greetings from Morrocco! Time and internet sparse but we are having the most awesome time.

    I think of you all a lot and wish I could read your posts to see what you are all up to and make sure you are all ok

    It’s my birthday today and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to spend it in such an amazing place

    Take care

    Hello my dear friends and greetings from Morrocco! Time and internet sparse but we are having the most awesome time.

    I think of you all a lot and wish I could read your posts to see what you are all up to and make sure you are all ok

    It’s my birthday today and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to spend it in such an amazing place

    Take care

    Morning all

    New all time low for me. I weighed in at 87.0 kilos. Down 800 grams from last week and 100 grams down from my previous low from 2 weeks ago. So my gain from last week must have been water weight that I had expected.

    LJ, is it not possible for the Doctors to fuse a couple of the vertebrae together? My mother had issues with a crushed disc, so the doctors fused two of her vertebrae together. She lost a bit of flexibility but doesn’t get the pain.

    Anzac, just saw your post. Happy birthday! Enjoy the Moroccan food….although I’m guessing over there they just call it “food” 😉

    Test post. Anyone else having issues with posts not posting?

    I got locked out by the spam filter yesterday but no problems since then Gday, your post came through fine

    Is this forum on Yahoo?.. got an email from yahoo saying their changing their group postings could be cause of problems if so

    Happy birthday Anzac

    Sometimes fusing doesn’t work neil didnt for me lol so be caretul LJ not taking any extras in painkillers is hard, but its doable narcotics is not the way to go cause nothing after them, your between a rock and a hard place LJ but your not alone… doing this type of lifestyle shows you have the willpower to get there LJ its not easy, and you will have real bad days but think your still mobile thats awesome

    Good morning everyone, cool and grey here. Wednesday morning.

    So glad yesterday wasn’t as scary for the fires as feared, but omg the smoke in Sydney. Are you okay Intesha? Excellent time to be in Morocco Anzac!

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANZAC! https://cache.lovethispic.com/uploaded_images/334628-Shimmery-Happy-Birthday-Bouquet-Animation.gif

    LJoyce, so sorry it wasn’t better news from your scan. Such big cheers to you for the weight you have lost and the activity you have maintained. It is a bit Pollyannaish, but wouldn’t you be in a mess if you hadn’t. And a great impetus to get down to the low 70’s again (although if you are sitting at home eating blocks of chocolate this morning, I quite understand). Knowing what you are dealing with is good, and you are so well set up to do the things you need.

    Welcome to your wok! I bought one when I started cooking for myself when I was 17! A very basic carbon steel one, that has given me so many decades of good service!

    Quacka, hooray for your good running muscles! And oh what delicious grilled veggies. I want that plate and a jug of romesco sauce. Thankyou so much for your kind thoughts. x

    Neil, 87 is a lovely number. Nice weight to head off to Fiji with! Enjoy that break!

    Cali what a mixture of chaos and celebration in your house. You will remember this Christmas! I dread to think there might be even more stress going on, but I know your work has been stressful, so hoping it isn’t too bad at the moment.

    Thankyou so much for your kind wishes and for the gorgeous eflowers!
    I am reminded of when I was first ill with CFS and didn’t know what was going on and it was very scary and lonely, as friends just fell away. There was no internet back then, and it makes such a difference to be able to keep up some sociability. This forum is very precious.

    I also appreciate the reminders we get here that bring us back to the basics. A couple of posts ago you said “Vegetables provide a lot of bulk to keep you feeling full.” And it put me back on track to be Ms 7 a day. Don’t things slip!

    Anyway I had 7 serves of veggies yesterday and I think I will do a bit of accountability here again for a while to keep me on track. It suits me so well to be eating that many vegetables (and correspondingly less of other things).

    Gday, what is this forum doing to you? I’ve just said ‘Abracadabra’ and flicked my fingers at the screen, so surely that will set it to rights and you can post here easily again.

    Hi Crazy, have you managed to get off that frustrating plateau yet? Fingers crossed you have.

    Lindsay, how are you going? Is it getting close to your next eye operation? Are you having lovely retirement times with antics from Rosy and happy bees? Or is it all stress at your place too?

    And Betsy I am sending good wishes your way. Did you finish that book?

    I’m suddenly not waking up starving, so it is excellent to wait until after 9 to get hungry and then make a breakfast that includes veggies. Today it is mushrooms and asparagus and zucchini flower fritters (yes my plants have started flowering). Two serves of veg!

    Cheers all.

    Just a quick post from me as I have to get my uncle to his first radiotherapy appointment today.

    Anzac, happy birthday. Enjoy Morocco.

    Neil, Happy travels, enjoy Fiji.

    Hope everyone else is traveling well. Will talk more later.

    Hi all. Reposting my post that never posted last night haha. For Neil, here’s a few books that I have reread many times. Very interesting reading.

    Keto Clarity – your definitive guide to the benefits of low carb and high fat by Eric Westman and Jimmy Moore

    The Complete Guide to Fasting by Jason Fung and Jimmy Moore

    Keto Reset by Mark Sisson

    Metabolic Autophagy- Practice Intermittent fasting and resistance training to build muscle and promote longevity by Slim Land

    I’ve also recently purchased a stack of books by Aussie Luke Hines which contain ots of yummy Keto recipies and fitness guides.

    Ive kicknamed my side of the bed “the leaning towers of health and fitness books”. Lucky I have some on my EReader which saves a bit of space but there’s nothing like reading a book that tagged with bookmarks and sticky notes protruding from the pages.

    Happy Birthday, Anzac! https://img.teleflora.com/images/o_0/l_flowers:TBC05-1B,pg_6/w_368,h_460,cs_no_cmyk,c_pad/f_jpg,q_auto:eco,e_sharpen:200/flowers/TBC05-1B/Teleflora'sPartyStarterBouquetDX So glad to hear you’re having a wonderful time in Morocco. This will surely be a birthday to remember.

    LJ, I’m sorry to hear that the scan didn’t show results that could be corrected at this point with solutions other than pain killers. But they do have their place if used judiciously. Getting back to your preferred weight might make a difference too. I know that even a few kgs can make a difference in knee and lower back pain for me. Whatever we don’t have to carry around is a help. Your walking is probably very good too, and it sounds like you’re doing a lot of that. You have such beautiful areas that are within walking distance of where you live, that we saw in the pictures you posted.
    My house is just two floors with a lot of steps in-between. The tradesmen are definitely getting a good workout having to go up and down them so many times each day, carrying tiles. It’s getting to the point now where there is more tile down than torn up and I’m happy with the way it looks. It’s always hard to know when you select tile or other materials how they will actually look in your home.

    Neil, congrats on yet another new record! That’s only about 2kg from your final goal, right? And so nice to get there right before your trip.

    Cinque, you’re right about the internet helping people to not feel isolated during times of illness. It’s also so valuable for researching info on medical conditions. It’s easy to find in depth info on a lot of conditions and procedures. Sometimes I wonder how we got along without it.

    Intesha, I hope you are managing to avoid some of the smoke. It looks so dense in some areas on the news. I know when we’ve had fires even 100 km away it can affect our breathing for weeks if the wind is blowing smoke this way. It’s hard to escape it.

    Crazy, good to hear from you. Hope things are going well with your fasting.

    Gday, I occasionally have trouble with my posts not showing up right away, but they eventually appear. I do see a couple posts from you on this page.

    Hope everyone is going well and having good weather. It feels like winter here! Lots of warm layers required.

    Good morning all. FD today and still hovering between 67-68 but I’m happy with that slightly less than this time last year probably to do with the fact that I haven’t been socialising, no Xmas catch-ups this year although next week my Pilates class is having a Xmas lunch which I’m looking forward to.

    All 400 cookies are now decorated and packaged. Sent a big box off to my daughter in the UK, some to a friend and delivering an order to my Pilates teacher today.

    The fallout from the fires has been horrendous, the sky has been red on some days and quite frightening. The closest one to me is about 30klms away. Ash is everywhere, I have burnt leaves and bark on my lawn, the cars are covered in ash and I wash the kitchen floor every night and it’s black. I told my daughter if felt like Armageddon. Yesterday on the news they said it was going to get worse and it it would be lapping the edges of suburbia. Already over 700 homes have been lost and 6 lives. It must be absolutely devastating for those affected by it and the poor firies exhausted as there doesn’t seem to be an end to it.

    We are now on stricter water restrictions and can only use buckets or watering cans before 10am or after 4pm. I am pulling out all my flowers and struggling to keep my few veggies going.

    Anzac hope you had an absolutely fabulous birthday in Morocco, that is one place on my bucket list.

    Cinque and LJoyce sorry to hear you are both struggling with health issues and hope it’s not too long before you feel a little better. Neilithicman you are a powerhouse. You must be so proud of your achievement.

    Hi CalifDreamer, thank you for your concern. Hi Quacka, Gday and anybody else reading.

    Off to Pilates this morning, catch-up again soon.

    Morning all, we had to suffer through our last primary school Christmas concert last night. I’m not going to be missing those next year 😉

    I picked up all the tickets and travel documents for our trip yesterday, it’s getting real now, 4 more days and we’ll be in Fiji.

    I also booked my wife and I in for a movie (Knives Out) and a dinner on Saturday because it’s our 17th wedding anniversary. We were engaged for 2 years before we were married and dating for 2 years before we got engaged, so we have now been together longer than we have not been together(We started dating when we were 20 and have been together now for 21 years)

    Have a great day everyone and a nice easy fast day to you Intesha (I’m joining you on my regular Thursday FD)

    Good morning all.

    Crazy thankyou. I’m well aware I could be much worse off. The diagnosis is a strong incentive for to stay active, keep my weight down and do my best to live a healthy life.

    GDSA, I have most of my reference books on the kindle these days, but I do miss not being able to mark important pages and make pencil notes in the column.

    Cali, hope you are still coping with the reno dust.
    I agree that getting back to my usual weight will help. In fact ideally I should consider aiming for a weight that’s 10-15kg less than that. The reason I haven’t done that before is that it would reduce my TDEE to something like 1200cals per day and can’t see myself managing at that level.

    Intesha, 30km sounds rather close. I’m hoping it gets no nearer to your home.
    Well done getting your weight down to a point that compares favourably to last year.

    Neil, happy anniversary. I hope you enjoy that moving – I’m planning to see that too. It’s had excellent reviews.

    Well I’m heading to the shopping centre early to get the grocery shopping done before it gets busy.

    Good morning,

    LJoyce, I went to write a note on your lovely contribution to the SH Recipe thread https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/southern-hemispherites-fd-recipes/page/2/#post-301609 in fact I wrote it and then remembered it isn’t a thread for commenting, so I will comment here. I love that recipe! When I saw it I thought hag on, I got that recipe from Elizabeth David, but clicked and found Delia did too. I make it every summer with yellow and red bullhorn peppers, so mine look quite different to yours, but are just as yummy, I promise 🙂 I also don’t use anchovies, but they are still so tasty.

    I find what you say about your tiny TDEE if you lose more weight so interesting. It would be interesting to try and see what happens. I mean surely the gap between your real hunger and your longing for extra would stay the same, no matter what weight you were at?

    I’m going to think on it during the day. Because I avoid the measurement of me and my food so much I can’t really think how it relates to me, but I am going to try.

    Gday, hooray my magic worked 😉 Cali, snuggle up. Thin, you left a whole state behind suffering heat and fires. I am glad you are missing it. Klondi, missing you here, but I imagine family needs are even greater at this time of year.
    Intesha, congratulations on all those beautiful biscuits done, and sympathy re the smoke and fire fallout and the extreme water restrictions. I do hope you can keep the veggies alive. Enjoy pilates.

    Neil haha, primary school concerts. Big congratulations for your long happy marriage and the years before it. A precious relationship. These are for you and Mrs Neil for Saturday http://wishesbest.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/article-9.jpg

    My accountability: a generous 7 serves of veggies yesterday, plus a serve of legumes. Delicious too. I made the veg curry, the eggplant bharta and lentil soup, so I am very pleased with myself. Hoping I can make tom kai gha today. We’ll see.

    Best wishes everyone

    Morning everyone

    Cinque you have had such a rough spin- I hope you are gaining your energy back. Are you feeling you are getting better? (Good too to know Miso is recovering too).

    I know what you mean about Christmas. This will be the first for donkey’s years (apart from last year which we had overseas with DD, partner and two little ones) that we haven’t hosted. This Christmas Day DD and DS and families will come for a simple breakfast and gift giving for the children, and then we will relax until mid-afternoon when we’ll wander around to DD’s for the evening celebrations. Maybe there’ll be a swim in there somewhere. Aaah, the peace!

    Such a storm last night….Brisbane got 80 mm which has made everything a bit fresher this morning. More rain coming over the next few days. Hail up in the Brisbane Valley, so although the rain was welcome it was destructive unfortunately.

    LJ I am sorry to hear that you have ongoing issues with your back. You have such a very positive approach to managing both your condition, and the pain that comes from it. I don’t know if this will be of any use, but when I herniated a disc a few years ago, coupled with chronic bursitis, I was in a lot of pain too. I had cortisone injections and other treatments, but in the end the thing that worked for me was a myotherapist. Think physiotherapist, but much more intense. She looked at why I was getting the chronic bursitis, and how my alignment was putting pressure on my back. It took a few months of weekly treatments (coupled with losing 15 kilos) but I rarely have a back issue now. I do put a hot water bottle on my lower back every morning, and that seems to free me up. But the pain is virtually gone. I am only mentioning this, just in case it could help you.

    Cinque Rosy is hugely entertaining and there’s not a day goes by we aren’t happy that we decided at this time in our lives to get a pup. She is also quite high octane….OH walks and runs her for an hour in Mt Coot-tha each morning, and then we both walk her again in the afternoon. We have stopped taking her to dog parks til she’s older – too many big dogs which barrel her over. We walk at the local reservoir near Mt Coot-tha (disused now, but a lovely bush area and a good 15 minute walk to go around once) and it’s off leash. The dogs seem to play better – I think it’s because all the owners are walking not sitting around as they do in the dog parks. The reservoir was an old concrete monolith – given a new lease of life by very creative artists who illustrated all four sides with amazing wildlife images.

    https://imgur.com/a/lcbdAcy

    Anzac how wonderful to celebrate your birthday in Morocca. Very best wishes. After all the work stress, I am so happy that this trip is such a wonderful time for you.

    Intesha, those fires and the pollution. Unbelievable, that an Australian city could be the second most polluted place on the planet yesterday, according to one radio report. There’s been a haze hanging over Brisbane too, but nothing like NSW.

    Neil congratulations on your anniversary, and your latest achievements. How wonderful will Fiji be, at your new trim, slim weight?

    G’day nice to hear from you. That sounds like quite a weekend! Interesting, you feel better on the low carb routine. Some lucky ducks seem to be able to eat all they want (my OH is a case in point), but others (me!) balloon and feel lethargic once I introduce them into my diet. Bread is my downfall. Sigh.
    Sorry to hear about your work situation. Will having the qualification help with finding other employment? And thanks for the book recommendations.

    OK it’s Christmas Tree day here … the four little ones are coming at 2.30 to ‘help’ OH decorate it. 6, 5, 3 and 18 months. What could go wrong?

    Hello to all I’ve missed.

    Good afternoon.

    I’m baking mini pavlovas at the moment. My great-nephew turns 8 tomorrow so I will take these and his present (clothing and lego) to babysitting tonight. He’s having a minecraft themed pool party on Saturday but I wanted him to have something special for his actual birthday and he adores pavlova, especially if I fill them with passionfruit cream and top them with strawberries and raspberries.

    Cinque, thanks for your comments. I have the Delia Smith recipe book that has that particular recipe but I first came across it in one of her tv series. I think the reason I like it so much, apart from the lovely flavours, is that it’s so quick to put together and doesn’t require grains. Virtually every other stuffed capsicum recipe requires cooked grain and softened onions etc – so lots of prep. This one is so much simpler and I really like the idea of stuffing vegetables with more vegetables. The ones I made this week were from a cheap 1kg bag of red capsicum that were funny shapes. It meant I couldn’t easily create 2 halves to stuff so I just removed the wonkiest side and kept 3/4 of the capsicum for stuffing – the lids that I removed went into a stir fry or onto the griddle. I am rather partial to putting either haloumi or paneer into them as it means I can have them as my main meal without worrying about an absence of protein and without having to cook anything else.

    Lindsay, I hope that tree is well secured or it’s going to topple over onto one of the helpful decorators. I’m sure it will be lots of fun though. Is there likely to be a drama over who gets to put the angel/star on top?
    My neighbour tells a story of how her daughter always called the angel “Hark” when she was little – as in “Hark the herald angel”.
    That street art on the concrete walls is lovely. I think we need a lot more of it – I find public walls with art rarely get any graffiti and it makes it much more pleasant to walk in public spaces.
    Thanks for the advice on my back. I’d never heard of a myotherapist before and it might be useful as the only significant improvement I feel is after a physio treatment. I also use a hot wheat bag – I do this first thing too as I’m stiffest and in the most pain then.

    LJ Christmas tree day was chaos. Trying to keep the glass balls away from the 18 month old. Keeping Rosy on a lead so she didn’t take off with the decorations. But no argument about who put Hark on the top of the tree. My smart teacher DIL showed her little chap the July celebrations with him putting the angel on top, so he knew it was the 3 year old’s turn. But she had a ‘pwoblem’ (ie it wouldn’t sit on straight) so in the end OH did it. Phew – over for another year.

    OH’s birthday tomorrow and it’s a weekend of celebrations, starting with lunch today with my 3 brothers and SILs. One brother came from Europe just a couple of days ago. Then tomorrow night with DS and DD and kids and partners, followed by an extended family Christmas picnic on Sunday. Nice, and all manageable. I’ve given up trying to lose before Christmas. I’m in a holding pattern, so if I can maintain I’ll be happy.

    LJ just a little more on the myotherapist. She was recommended by my GP as a last resort before surgery. The technique is like physiotherapy…the difference is a myotherapist maintains pressure until the muscle ‘triggers’ or vibrates and releases the tissue (muscle, tendon, ligaments etc) that is causing the misalignment. She diagnosed that the bad back I’d had since my early twenties was caused by my pelvis being tipped forward and causing pressure on my back. Once she released the connective tissue my pelvis tipped back to its correct position, and my back problems and bursitis went were pretty much resolved. It was a relief, after years of chronic back pain. This is the website – could be worth reading the case studies, to see what myotherapy can do. http://fitnessfx.com.au/

    Hi everyone,

    Lindsay, thankyou, I am recovering much more quickly than I ever have before (experience with what works and few responsibilities, hooray!) although I have a way to go yet.

    Haha the Christmas decorating, hope you were videoing! Getting that angel to the top of the tree IS a pwoblem.

    So glad you have found a lovely and safe place for Rosy to run. What gorgeous murals.

    I have a myotherapy tale. When I was a student I hurt my foot (broke it but the doctor thought it was just a sprain) and was on crutches. When I tried to walk again I couldn’t and a friend took me in to see a myotherapist that was in Bendigo for one night giving a lecture. I went in on crutches and came out walking freely. It felt like a miracle. (Apparently tendons had got crossed and he pushed them back apart.) I’ll never forget it.

    LJoyce, happy birthday to your nephew, and to my son-in-law whose birthday is also today. 🙂 Happy birthday to Mr Lindsay tomorrow!

    I agree with you about stuffed capsicum, so delicious, but usually a lot of work. I do have another recipe I find easy (it is carb filled), with polenta, spring onions and corn kernels in, and topped with cheese and black olives then baked. Ooh they are yum, I must make them again. And it does make the carb component extra veggie-ish 🙂

    Enjoy your holding patterns, everyone who is accepting that they won’t manage normal eating over the next few weeks. It will be back to normal once January hits and if it is like most years we will be flooded by new people with new year resolutions.

    I had my 7 serves of veggies easily yesterday, and today is will be similar. No cooking, everything is ready 🙂 And I am planning on having a fast day tomorrow.

    Cheers all

    Good morning.

    I’m going to a birthday party for my great-nephew today. Tonight I’m going to a twilight bazzar with my neighbours that is being held only a couple of blocks from where we live.

    I can confirm that Fast800 is true to label – it’s fast! I started it 10 days ago and I’m down 2.7kg. It would have been better today if I hadn’t gotten into the choc chips last night – not my finest moment! I’d been very good up until then. This is encouraging me to stick with it until christmas so I can get closer to a weight I’m more comfortable with.

    Must rush. Hove a lovely day.

    Hello friends, the aggressive spam filter got me but then I had the brilliant idea to try OH’s phone and it worked!

    We are in beautiful Chefchaouen in the far north of Morocco and it is simply amazing. It is called the blue city as most of the buildings are painted blue.

    It is our last night here and we are off to London tomorrow. We are off to London tomorrow after a long drive back to Marrakech. Gosh we have loved this awesome country.

    5:2 will be my friend when we get home as we are eating too much and despite doing a lot of walking I can already feel heavier

    Hope everyone is ok. I hope to catch up soon

    Anzac, the trip is sounding wonderful already. Hope you are taking photos to share when you return. Safe travels.

    Hello everyone, Sunday morning rushing past.

    Anzac, lovely to see your post and to know you are having a hoot of a time. Keep rocking it!

    The aggressive spam filter got me on my ipad but I filled the form and got a lovely message back from JJ, and it is all fixed mow.

    LJoyce, just great the ‘800 a day’ is working so fast, it does give impetus to continuing (apart from the occasional chocolate chip feast). All power to you.

    I am in a funny space, I have to really concentrate on tuning into my needs and energy levels to deal with my chronic illness at the moment, and it is leaching over into my eating and messing up 5:2. But it is fine because I am doing a good job of eating well, easily having my 7 serves of veg a day, and not overeating (touch wood and whistle) which is, ofcourse, helping my recovery too.

    I must be the only person in Australia completely untouched by Christmas busyness and stress, able to be a quiet little hermit just being, not doing. (Which does drive me up the wall at times, I am a doer by nature).

    I need to wait until I feel ready for my next fast day, like in that old Arlo Guthrie song, I need to wait until it comes around on the guitar. But won’t I enjoy it then!

    Thinking of Neil in Fiji, and Lindsay talking to the bees, and Klondi having a run, and Intesha doing pilates, and Quacka looking at waves on the beach, and Gday paving, Thin finally falling into the river, Betsy transcribing, Penguin and Crazy painting, Cali vacuuming up more renovator’s dust, and let me know what else is going on. I’m off to look at my solitary zucchini flower, a girl, so I hope a laden bee finds it. Cheers all.

    Morning all.

    Such a lovely forum to read over my earlier than usual ‘breakfast’. We had a very early dinner last night (5 pm with the children at a local Indian ….the 18 month old turns feral if she’s not in bed by 7.00) so I have had a 4 hour break..almost (I am turning a blind eye to the glass of wine I had at 7.30 when we got home).

    Cinque what a terrific myotherapist story! They truly are miracle workers. My brother’s SIL went to mine, after foot surgery that was a last resort but didn’t fix the problem.. Apparently when she hobbled into the practice, the myotherapists all commented how much pain she looked to be in. After a series of treatments (flying down from Central Qld each time) she now walks freely for the first time in years. (And has been known to send late night texts to our myotherapist, telling her how much she loves her).

    Anzac good to hear about your awesome trip … what are your plans for London?

    LJ we are still laughing at the neighbour’s child calling the Christmas fairy Hark. Such a sweet tale.

    Cinque, just coming back to the murals and the reservoir. I showed the pics to my brother from Europe over lunch the other day. He reminded me that as kids (we only lived a few streets away from where we live now) that part of Mt Coot-tha was called Mango Hill, and we used to walk up through the bush and run around the top of the reservoir (which given it is at least two storeys high, shows how free and easy it was back in the day) Mum and Dad had only had two rules,….be kind and be home before dark. How we ever survived childhood is beyond me.

    OK vegie quiche made for today’s extended family pre-Christmas in the park. Just about to make marmalade (OH finished the last pot yesterday), and have put honey collecting put off til another day. I’ll need to do it before Christmas – I plan to make up some baskets of honey, marmalade and Chinese tea for my SIL’s family. I don’t know them well, but want a small gift to give them on Christmas Day. I may have to rethink if (a) the marmalade isn’t a success and (b) the hive has reduced production. You have inspired me to do home made, Intesha, after reading about your beautiful cookies.

    Good day all.

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