Good morning and happy Monday all

Well the weekend at the Hunter was lovely but oh dear – the scales have jumped very very alarmingly. I don’t know how I could go 7 weeks on a big European/African holiday and only put on 4 kilos but 4 days of taking my eye off the ball could have a 2 kilo mega-jump. I do know the answer; (1) 5-7 hours of walking every day versus sitting on my backside doing nothing and (2) only having 2 meals per day mostly – and very few snacks. Gah! Back on the straight and narrow

LJ I am SO enjoying reading about your holiday. Canada and the the Rockies and bears and – wow! And then a catch-up with Cali which will be just so awesome. I’m sorry you missed out on the Grizzly tour but as you said, next time for sure

Barcelona sounds pretty amazing Thin. Friends of ours lived there for years and absolutely loved it.

You are really on top of things diet-wise Betsy – congratulations. I need some to take some inspiration from you as I am heading in the wrong direction very quickly. If I’m not careful I will be back in the 90’s and THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

Cinque, they said on the news this morning that Melbourne was going to be humid again today. It’s just awful isn’t it? It was very hot in the Hunter Valley but it is much easier to bear as it is a dry heat. We were glad to escape Sydney’s humidity for three days but coming back was draining. I chuckled at your fridge full of delirious portions…..I also get delirious over great food

Neil. Chips. Totally my nemesis also – hubby opened a bag at the concert and honestly I just fed them into my mouth as though I hadn’t eaten in 10 days. Gross but every so delirious….I mean delicious 🙂

Maxx had a great time a the kennel apaprently. His report card had words like ‘energetic’ and ‘playful’ and ‘loves to be the centre of attention’. It’s not hard to read between the lines. Oh dear. And when we picked him up yesterday the girl brought him into reception…..sorry I should say Maxx dragged the girl through the swing doors into reception and then she let him go. He streaked towards us like a yellow furry bolt of lightening, OH and I with our arms out to greet him when he did a sudden left hand turn and leapt with all four paws onto a young girl sitting on a couch waiting for her dog. My heart was in my mouth but she was fine. Then, thankfully, her dog came out and it was a chocolate labrador and he did exactly the same thing. What are we going to do with him? Most people ask ‘how old is he?’ and when you say ‘just over 2’ they nod sagely and say ‘ahhh….labradors are crazy until they are about 4’. I will have white hair by then.

Here he is sporting his new bandana from the kennel….
http://imgur.com/gallery/8zjxvFM

Must start work friends, so have a great day. Hi to everyone I missed

Hi Anzac, posts crossed!
Hi Maxx!

Great to catch up on all of your posts. Sorry I’ve been away but I’ve been painting our bathroom cabinets with chalk paint, which is a new experience for me. I only heard of it about 6 months ago when someone on our local Nextdoor.com posted pictures of her kitchen cabinets that she painted with it. Has anyone here used it? We have 8 cupboard doors to be painted on both sides and it’s taking 3 coats. Then there’s the cabinet itself. I haven’t even started the drawers. https://imgur.com/a/xZl3p8C So that’s what I’ve been busy with, that and procrastinating about getting started on it each day. But at least the countertops and faucets are all in. Next, I’ll paint DS’s cupboards. She has even more than we do.

LJ, I hope you’re planning to spend a lot of time with us. Cooper is anxious to meet his Auntie LJ. 😁 Between the dog, birds and cats you may feel like you’re staying in a zoo, but you are certainly welcome. We can make a list of things you’d like to see around here and also have some time to just hang out. You’ll probably enjoy some relaxing days after traveling around Canada. We use the Instant Pot pressure cooker a lot. You can see it when you’re here. Like Cinque said, it’s not really for vegetables because it cooks them too fast, except in stews or things like that. It’s easy to turn veggie to mush in just a few minutes. Artichokes are one exception. They are much quicker than the long time it takes to boil them in a pot. It’s great for meats, poultry, legumes and whole grains. OH loves to make hard boiled eggs in it. I don’t think it’s possible to have a pressure cooker that was made in the last 20 years blow up.

Thin, your trip sounds wonderful. Barcelona is a place I’d like to see some day. It must be nice to be relatively close to all of those places. We can get to Canada or Mexico pretty quickly, Europe is about 11 hours by plane from the west coast.

So glad to hear that many of the fires are out or under control. Hopefully much of the danger is over for the season. The damage already caused is heartbreaking.

Good evening all. Great to read all your posts.

Getting excited for you, LJoyce, re your trip. Won’t it be nice to have time with CalifDreamer, and you can report back on how good all her bathroom renos look. By the way, I think it may just be Cymbidiums which get a “shock” when they’re re-potted. Some may still flower, but fewer than normal. On the other hand, I re-potted a couple of orchids which were different varieties in the 2018-2019 summer, and they both still flowered okay, so yours may be fine.

Thin, thanks for the imgur info. My mother had orchids from the late 1960s, so some are more than 50 years old. They keeping putting out fresh bulbs, and when the bulbs mature, you get a flower spike. I remember my mother being permitted to buy a “parent” orchid from an orchid grower in NSW around 1971 – the grower bred new orchids by cross-breeding from particular parent plants. Mum had to promise that she would never sell the plant (or any of its offspring) to any NSW growers. Fifty years on, I wonder if that orchid breeder is still in business, but I don’t remember any names. It was somewhere around Sutherland, I think – is that south of Sydney, or south of Woollongong?

Anzac65, join me with a new mojo for February and on into the year. We can do this!

Neilithicman, have a great bike ride! You’ll have to get your boys interested so you can ride more together.

Hi Quacka, good that you’re persevering. Hope the soup was yum!

Cinque, good that you’re feeling well enough again to be able to take on a few grandma duties. Yes, the smaller meals are controlling the reflux. Still have a mild sore throat most of the time; maybe it’s from coughing?

Time to close and spend time with my book before going to bed. Haven’t been using my CPAP machine now (for sleep apnoea) for about 4 weeks, and it’s been so nice to not be waking in the middle of the night with my whole head sweating. I feel that I’m sleeping well, too. Not sure my doctor will be happy about it when I tell him, but I have really tried.

Goodnight and sleep well.

LJ, so glad that you are planning a good amount of time here. I was afraid that by the time you arrived in Calif there wouldn’t be much time left. We have a big washer and dryer so you’ll have clean clothes. 😁 We can figure out a plan that includes some of the things you want to see as well as relaxing. It will be a good incentive for both of us to lose a few kg before then so we can take you to a few of the restaurants around here and not have to worry too much. I know it’s possible to have fun without eating a lot, but it’s also fun to try the local restaurants.

Betsy, I had no idea either that orchids were so long lived. I’ve never tried growing them, but maybe I will now. I need to get my mojo back on the fasting too. It hasn’t been going well. I seem to have as many over-the-top days as FD’s and the FD’s don’t offset the other. I need to get my brain back on track.

Neil, that rail trip sounds like so much fun. I hope you’ll take some pictures. I imagine the boys are excited.

Penguin, since you mentioned your house is on a hill, it sounds like it will be safe from flooding. Thin, good thing your UK home is a boat! There has been unprecedented flooding in some of the US southern states too. Mississippi and and Tennessee have been hard hit. The whole planet seems to be having extreme weather. It’s unsettling.

Quacka, lack of sleep seems to affect my eating too. I’ve developed a habit of falling asleep around 9 or 10 and then waking up around midnight and being awake til 2 or 3:00 am. Then back up at 6:00. It doesn’t feel like very good sleep when it’s only a few hours. I get away from added sugars for a while and then go right back again. I need to be more disciplined. I know you have a lot going on in your life now. That can make it hard to turn off your brain when it’s time to sleep.

Hope you are all having a good day. I need to get back to the painting.

Betsy, wow those are some seriously old orchids. I’m not sure if it’s warm enough here for orchids. Hopefully you’ll have good results in your February re-boot and it will roll into March.

Ljoyce, I’d love to do more with Turkey because it’s supposed to be one of the best meats, high protein and low fat. But you can’t really get it over here for a decent price. Occasionally we can get the wings or drumsticks, but they are always pretty tough and unappealing.

Calif, I’ll definitely take some pictures, but the boys aren’t coming, it’ll just be me riding it. I doubt they would cope with the distances you need to be able to ride each day. Maybe in a couple of years when they’re a bit bigger with better bikes.

Weigh-in tomorrow, I had a good fast day of around 1000 calories yesterday and got 2 hours of cycling in. Today I’m having a control day, I had my home-made muesli for breakfast, leftover chilli beans and vegetables for lunch, then Lamb shanks casserole with lentils for dinner, then it’s weigh-in time tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can break the cycle of gain-loss-gain-loss-gain-loss that I’ve been doing recently. I’d love to see an 86 on the scales, but with the muscle I’m building with my cycling that’s getting less and less likely.

Have a great day everyone.

Quacka, just saw your post, hooray re the good fast day and better sleep. Breathing and visualisations are also things I find helpful with sleep (note to self, Use Them!).

Neil, great training and looking after that body, who cares what the scales say! Haha, but I hope they do say that magic number.

Going now!

I meant to mention that Maxx has recently become really keen to learn tricks at home. I think it’s a sign he is growing up (wishful thinking?). Not important things like recall or not jumping up – yet…

Here is a video of he and hubby doing somee training. I’m so proud…

There’s no sound

Maxx training https://imgur.com/gallery/0ojadUG

Good evening all

I’ve done a lot of unplanned walking today – I walked to the post office 3 times.
It started out with me trying to complete the online passport application. The system wouldn’t validate my drivers license details so after triple checking and trying everything I could think of, I gave up and walked to the P.O. to get a paper form. When I told them what had happened, they said that I could just keep clicking on validate and it would eventually let me proceed anyway – seriously? So I walked home again – with a paper form just in case. They were right I did manage to get past that screen and get the form completed. Then I followed the instructions (or so I thought) and printed the checklist screen and took that and my documents over to the P.O. again for everything to be varified. Only to be told I needed to print a different page. So home I trudged again to find the right page and print it. I was muttering and slamming doors by this point! After a break with a cup of tea to calm down, back I went with the right form. Finally it was third time lucky and my application has finally been submitted. I should have a new passport in 3-4 weeks.
Now I just have to hope there’s a tour with a vacancy for me in September.

Anzac, love the youtube video – what a clever boy. ABC news showed this clip on breakfast tv this morning and I immediately thought of Maxx – it even looks like him! https://www.time24.news/b/2020/02/dog-invades-soccer-match-steals-ball-and-needs-to-be-carried-off-the-field-watch-the-cute-moment.html

Quacka, Cali & Anzac, I am the same with sleep – the less I sleep the more I eat. I especially crave starchy carbs on those days.

Cinque, Ikea is a very long trek – you need to take a packed lunch with you! The only blessing is that there are plenty of chairs and beds along the way to have a rest on. In Adelaide it is possible to just go to the little grocery area, or to the restaurant, without doing laps of the warehouse showroom. Because of their cheap restaurant prices they are a regular meal out for some people here. They are also walking distance from our airport and there are often Japanese tourists there with their trolley bags buying lunch – always the salmon with an extra piece.

Neil, I found the turkey mince at Aldi, although I don’t regularly shop there. I just happened to look at their specials catalogue that week and noticed the mince. The other supermarkets either don’t sell it or they charge too much.

Time I organised some dinner. I didn’t feel hungry earlier so decided to delay a bit longer. I haven’t cooked the frekkah, so I’m having spelt couscous, chilli con carne, broccoli and homegrown green beans.

I’ll do another FD tomorrow.

Hope this works – https://imgur.com/a/BVjgVZC

Let me know if it leads you to an orchid photo. I also registered with imgur – is that what I was meant to do? This is all new to me.

Anzac, OMG, Maxx! Is that perfectly trained dog in that video really the wild child of several months back? I love the “high five”. What a beautifully obedient dog! I don’t believe that little angel would jump on anyone. 😁 Our dog sleeps in our bed between our pillows an has for over 5 years and we haven’t died of dog germs yet. I believe in strengthens the immune system, being exposed to different things. (I try to not to think about him licking his butt when he wants to give us a kiss 😁) Of course Cooper doesn’t shed so we don’t end up with fur in the bed.

Betsy, the picture shows up fine. That is probably the biggest orchid plant I’ve ever seen. It’s beautiful! We could only grow them in pots around here because it gets down to freezing in the winter and occasionally below for hours at night. I don’t think you get quite that cold in Melbourne.
It would be great if losing weight could eliminate the CPAP machine. But weight isn’t always the reason, is it? I seem to remember someone here mentioning a family member who was thin having to use one.

Minced turkey (or ground turkey as it’s called here) is commonly sold in grocery stores here and is fairly popular as people try to eat less red meat. It’s around $5.49 per pound (about .45kg) or often on sale for 2 pounds for $7.99. Alexa tells me US$1 is about Aus$1.49. So about $8.18 Aus for .45kg if my calculations are correct.

LJ, I hate having to get passports for just the same reason. I guess it’s good to know we aren’t the only country with the huge bureaucracy involved with the process. I dread getting an updated passport when I need one. I don’t have a lot of patience with all the nit picky paperwork involved. Glad you’re getting it done now so you’re not worrying about it at the last minute.

Today is a FD for me since I didn’t do one yesterday. I plan to work on the bathroom cabinet painting and waxing to stay occupied. I’ve run into a bit of a problem with too many visible brush strokes and have to do a bit of light sanding and maybe a little more paint. There is definitely a learning curve with chalk paint. Cinque, there are recipes for chalk paint on the Internet. https://salvagedinspirations.com/best-homemade-chalk-paint-recipes/ I wish I would have looked into these more before I spent a lot of money on the Annie Sloan brand of chalk paint. But the brand name one was the one people were talking about on Nextdoor.com, people in my area, and I just jumped it with the brand name paint. I love that chalk paint sticks to everything and that it hardly has any smell. You do have to seal it though and I haven’t found a wax or liquid sealer that doesn’t smell.

CalifD, it was my skinny OH using the CPAP machine. He didn’t get along with it. I didn’t like the noise either but it was probably better than listening to snoring. Glad you’re here because I thought about you when I read this article. You’ll remember I regularly have a bit of a rant about FB users being ‘the commodity’. See if you can read this and not be alarmed. You even mentioned Alexa in your post – I know a few on here use Alexa. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/CLQYZENMBI/amazon-data

Betsy, thanks for the photo. Good job on both counts.

Maxx video is great but surely that’s not a kiwi accent saying “sit” is it? What a lab won’t do for food, eh?

LJ, I have a FD recipe for ‘white’ chili con carne made with turkey. I love it. I think it’s posted on our recipe page.

Penguin, are you off to Portugal? We have one more week in Spain.

Cali. Most of our small regional airports were built for fighters during the last war. They are nearly all on the tops of hills for good drainage, so wind is more of a problem. We won’t run out of food. We get cut off by snow and other weather often enough to keep a good stock of canned and dried food. We can lose electricity but, like most blokes who walk the hills, I have portable gas stoves. To establish some SH credibility, there is also the barbie.

Thin. Portugal it is. I have just completed my evening on-line Portuguese lesson. I was watching those twin doctors on TV last night as they proved to their own satisfaction that learning a second language gives you another four years before Alzheimers gets you and also improves stroke recovery. I do a quick work out on four languages most nights so I should be bomb proof. I haven’t been to Barcelona for four years. I thought it was a great town. Having just seen some photographs of the National Park a few hours inland I have to go back!

Wow Penguin, 7 meters is a serious flood. My friends on the Labrador forum are mostly in the UK and are telling equally awful stories about the storms and all the damage. Enjoy Portugal – we did very much. Lisbon was such a great place to walk around. And of course there are the custard tarts…..

Cali, thanks for the encouragement re Maxx. About 60 seconds after I took that video the little scamp stole yet another tea-towel and ran into the room dancing and waiting to be chased. We have taught him ‘put it in my hand’ so anytime he has a toy (or a nicked tea-towel/shoe/tv remote/paper towels/t-shirt/etc) we can now say it and he brings whatever is in his mouth to us and gently places it in our hand. So we praise him but then are we also encouraging the nicking at the same time? Gah! But that said, I have to say he has improved so much over the past few months and especially since we came back from holidays. He definitely matured in the kennel and now only counter-surfs when he is looking for attention. This morning there was a tv remote in the middle of the floor. He somehow got the back of it off and had a chew on that but left the rest untouched. So we can put sticky tape around it to keep the batteries in. Thanks Maxx!

I had a good FD yesterday and the scales dipped nicely by 500g. It wasn’t easy and I was ready to chew off my own arm when I got home. Thankfully hubby had my stir fry ready to go and it was delirious (sorry Cinque, I shouldn’t tease you but it was such a cute typo). We are going away again this weekend so I want to have an excellent week as I know I will have some bad food and wine on the weekend. Hopefully counteracted by long walks on the beach. Maxx loves it down there as the beach is dog-friendly and he loves the surf

Your orchids are just beautiful Betsy. The history and your stories about your family are awesome.

L.J. we buy turkey mince at Aldi all the time. My FD dinners are mostly either stir fried veges with a bit of protein or turkey ‘bolognaise’ that I make with lots of veges and a tomato based sauce. We get 500g for 4.99 or often it’s on special for 3.99. That plus the veges makes at least 10 FD meals so it is very cost effective and much lower in fat than most other meat. I laughed and laughed at the puppy on the soccer field! It did remind me of Maxx, especially because of the way the dog on the video was enjoying being the centre of attention and looking for affection from the players.

Thin, I studied French for months before our trip. However every time I spoke in French, the listener would immediately answer in English. I presume it was because my French was so bad! But it felt great to try so I think you will enjoy learning and using a bit more Spanish. That post about how much is known about us through our use of digital technology made my skin crawl. I already knew some of it as I did some research when I realised I was getting ads popping up on my phone that stemmed from searches my husband was doing on our home computer. It links us via our texts to each other. Terrifying. Does my OH still have a kiwi accent? I’m not sure – I hear it sometimes but he has been here for 32 years and thankfully most of it has vanished to be replaced by the lovely Australian dulcet tones. Ha ha. And yes, there is almost nothing Maxx won’t do for food…..except greeting people. My good friend Sue is like a drug to him and he goes absolutely bonkers whenever she is around. Other dogs do the same around her. She has cystic fibrosis so we figure her laboured breathing must be the cause. Last time she came over I had warm sirloin steak in my hand and I was sitting with Maxx trying to keep him calm and stop him from running to her and jumping up. It didn’t work.

Quacka – yet another great FD and a good night’s sleep! You must have felt so much better. I hope your work calms down soon

Speaking of work, it is past 9.00am and I have to get stuck in. WFH tomorrow and taking Friday off to go down the coast. Yippeee!!

Hi Anzac, we crossed. I am looking forward to renewing my relationship with custard tarts. Fortunately there is a gym.

Hello it is the grouchy part of my fast day, but only one hour until miso soup time, and I am forcing myself to post even though I am not in the mood for writing, but I can sip my tea and watch half an hour go by, with any luck.

When I got up this morning my internet wasn’t working. By the time it came back on I had watched that TV show “Why do I put on weight?” that was on last night, and drafted an email to my sisters, and by then I was too exhausted to write. Well, to concentrate really.

But look at me concentrating my little heart out. 🙂

I did want to chat about the show, I really enjoyed it although I am not sure I learnt anything new. I was so busy being involved in the people’s stories I might need to go back to check out the science more closely. But after every break Dr Yeo said something like “It isn’t all your fault if you put on weight” and it was good to hear that again and again.

The participants were divided into the ones who thought about food all the time (they let them walk through a market with eye tracking glasses on to see how much, and which type, foods they looked at. This was connected to some genes and they were recommended intermittent fasting, because of only having two days for the hard focus of denying themselves food. They were given a max calorie intake for fast days of 750. They didn’t say how they chose that number, I might send Dr Yeo a tweet and ask him.

The next one was the guy who never felt full, and they connected that to hormone levels, and put him on a high fibre diet.

And the last two were identified as emotional eaters and given CBT. (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)

I am sure I would be in all three groups!
But my heart really went out the the emotional eaters who were most overweight, and so grateful to have their difficult emotional states understood and respected.

I think they tracked them for about 6 weeks. So it wasn’t very long but they did talk about sustainable changes etc so I think they did it well.

Also, just after we were talking about not sleeping well and overeating, I saw a new bit of research about it. https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/related-science-articles-people-might-be-interested-to-read/page/20/#post-306155 Because the initial research had been done on men, they wanted to check if it was the same for women. (Spoiler: it was)

Anzac, loved your awesome news, your scales dip(!) and your clever dog (watched on imgur and again on youtube).

LJoyce, haha Ikea is such a long trek I needed a rescue helicopter!

Betsy, woohoo, you did a wonderful imgur picture. Such a beautiful orchid!
And I loved the explanation too, I didn’t previously understand the new bulb thing at all.

Penguin, so true about being busy and no time to eat. Enjoy!
Stories about the twin doctors always make me smile.

Oh dear, we are really riling precious mother nature. Some day soon the politicians will get the message, but so much waste and pain that could have been avoided if they had started when the science first came in.

Cali the paints are fascinating. Haha learning curves, they never end, but nearly as good as learning a language to keep mental decline away, I’d say.

Eep Thin, when my friends were here they were talling me how much they loved ‘Outlander’ and when I turned on the TV it was up first in these pictures of suggestion for me. Hope my TV isn’t that smart.

Neil, sorry you missed a cooked breakfast, it would have been yummy.

Quacka I hope today wasn’t undermined by a Mr Quacka with a food bag.

Hooray for fast days nearly being over. Ooh I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Only half an hour til miso soup. Cheers all.

Hi all, just checking in. Lots of interesting posts. Didn’t manage a FD today – just felt I needed more, but kept it to a TDEE.

Penguin, good to hear from you, and that you’re safe from the floods. Let’s hope the rivers are not as high again for another several hundred years.

Interesting discussion about languages. The problem for Australia, unless someone is from an non-English-speaking ethnic background, is that we can travel for more than 2000-3000 kms and still be in Australia. Travel the same distance in Europe and I think you would not only go through several countries, but also find you’re somewhere in Asia. It makes such a difference to language learning; there is considerable extra effort involved in learning something that might only be used if you travel.

Just a side note: it was very difficult for me to be able to practise my Chinese in China, as just about everyone I met wanted to practise their English, and as I was there as an English teacher, I felt obliged to help them by using English. Except with the taxi drivers, who rarely spoke English.

Cinque, sounds an interesting TV program, nicely balanced. And yes, orchids can just keep on keeping on. They can also die on you, for no discernible reason. I wouldn’t know anything much about them except that I learned some things form my mother.

Thin, I agree with you so much re doing the things that are important to you while you can and not putting them off. We could ask ourselves “what would I regret not doing if I knew I only had 2 weeks to live?”, and then think about how those things could be done, now.

Quakka, a FD800 is better than a NFD; you’re on the ball now, so keep that momentum going.

Anzac65, yay for a good fast day and some weight off; it will all go in no time. Good tip about the turkey mince. I tend to avoid turkey meat, as it’s generally been a bit dry when I’ve been given it, but as a mince? I’ll have to look for it in Aldi.

CalifDreamer, sounds like you are going for perfection with your painting. I’m sure it will look great when finished. You’ll have to send us some pictures.

Neilithicman, hope you see that 86 on the scales when you get back form your bike trip away.

Time to close. Good night all.

Betsy, it’s so true, it’s further from Sydney to Perth, where you can barely discern a different accent, than it is from London to Moscow. Imagine how many languages, let alone dialects and accents there are in the latter.

Penguin, I just looked up when the continental countries adopted the euro and was surprised that it was as recent as 1999. Did Britain have a referendum to decide to stick with Sterling?

Op shoppers! LJ, Cinque, CalifD, you’d be proud of me. As mentioned, we’re staying in an upmarket barrio of Barcelona so I thought I’d check out their op shop, Humana. They were having a “Tot 5 Euro” sale which was close enough to the Spanish “Todo” for me to make the connection. No op shop ‘smell’ either. I bought some fancy pants for the Vivaldi concert tomorrow night. We’ll still be the scruffiest couple in the concert hall but the ticket lady did say ‘casual’ when we enquired.

Anzac, you can eliminate that jumping behaviour in two days with the Dazer. It’s a perfect application for the device because, chances are, you are always with Max when it occurs (i.e. he knows what he’s getting taught). The only two instances where the Dazer won’t work are when a dog is a) totally deaf or b) totally stupid. Maxx is neither. It’s a lot easier to keep the Dazer by the front door than a warm sirloin steak. Just sayin’. 😂

Good Morning everyone

Well after two good FD’s and a ‘sourdoughy’ CD in between, the scales are showing my lowest weight this year. I am happy about that. I had a very restless sleep last night after two not so bad nights and so I am hoping I go ok today. I have the last of my veggie soup for lunch so I am prepared. It’s a NFD but not an EFS day so preparation works for me 😉

We have finished off the ensuite with the exception of the mirror (that’s why I haven’t posted any photos yet). We had a round mirror with a stained glass border and gum (Eucalyptus) leaves on it that was in the old ensuite. There is a stain glass window in the ensuite and also two by the front doors. Our light shades in the lounge room are also stained glass and all of these are in Australiana theme. We have some in the kitchen as well. Anyway back to the mirror. OH was ready to put it up on the wall as the very last thing that we had to do so I thought I should give it a good clean. Well there was a scratch on the mirror right at the top so quite visible. We googled some home remedies (like toothpaste, doesn’t work) and then went and bought a buffing compound and pad that you put on the end of a cordless drill. OH spent a good couple hours on this mirror and was just about ready to change to the superfine compound which is more like a polish, when I heard a sharp intake of breath and then a few swear words….. Yep the mirror broke. Oh dear. That has to be the last of things to go wrong for that ensuite, seriously! Although……we haven’t tried putting up a new mirror yet LOL

I better go and do some work. Hope you all have a lovely weekend x

Cinque, regarding looking for tiny little numbers on boxes behind the TV, the computer, or on those devices themselves. I read a great solution once and have followed it since. Take pictures of the numbers with your phone, using the reverse, selfie setting. (You might need a flashlight back there.) Better yet, take photos of the model numbers on your devices when you first install them. Then save these photos in a file on your phone or computer, or print them out. It saves a lot of time and aggravation of crawling behind desks and computers or TV stands if you’re on the phone with tech support.

Thin, we are generally not great on having a referendum, I can only remember two. Not joining didn’t need a decision, so we just didn’t do it. We are going to the theatre this weekend. There doesn’t seem to be a dress code anymore. As long as it is clean it is acceptable, and an artistic touch makes anything acceptable. Carnival should be fun. We were in Portugal for it last year and it was a major event.

Talking to technology. On one occasion I got an unsatisfactory answer from my Apple and said “Oh b….r”. To which it replied “What did I do to deserve that”. I have very nearly cured myself of saying “Thank you” to it.

Quick check-in. Hi all. Great to read all your posts. Had a good FD800 today. If I can manage another one, I hope the scales will be kind to me on Saturday morning. After a lovely “whoosh” my first week back on the straight and narrow, and another kg down last week, I’ve been on a bit of a plateau this week. Hope it doesn’t last.

Woo-hoo LJoyce that Canada is a “go”. Great news for you.

Quacka, sad about the mirror. Do you think you can find another anything like it as an alternative?

Thin, hope you don’t freeze in the sleet after such lovely weather in Barcelona. Enjoy the festival (and the concert in your lovely new pants)!

CalifDreamer, great idea about the photo taking before setting items into their places on walls, etc. I’ve never done that, but maybe will from now on. Maybe :).

Cinque, I sympathise re the house cleaning. I always think I have better things to do than clean, but it does have to be done. I washed a heavy woollen blanket today, and plan to wash my doona and doona cover on Sunday, so they have 3 days of warm weather in which to dry (and it will be warm enough that I don’t need them on the bed). It’s one of those jobs I just put off doing, but really need to do when the weather is warmer.

Penguin, I was thinking of languages, but you’re right, before the Euro, currencies would be quite a challenge, too, travelling through Europe.

Okay, time to close. Goodnight eveyrone.

Thin. Barefoot hippy/boho style? It should be about 10 deg C in the evening in Barcelona.

LJ. For Canada I could be persuaded to break my four hour flight rule. I love canoes and aircraft with floats, for both of which Canada is the place to go. Beware home made Moose Milk – it looks like an innocent creamy drink but has enough alcohol to end the evening quickly.

The floodwater seems to be going down but some villages are still underwater and they have just pulled a very battered guy out of the river several miles downstream from where he went in. There have been a couple of deaths, but considering the area and depth of the floods it could have been worse. Travel is still restricted – I have the time to post more than I have recently because I just can’t get to where I should be.

Neil, only 73kms? You are a jock. Have a great time.

Penguin, I needn’t have worried. We weren’t the worst dressed by a long shot. The concert was incredible. It was of course enhanced by the spectacular surroundings but they were such talented, professional musicians. I was mesmerised. I’ve never seen violins played like that.