Good morning friends

SO glad you are home safe and well Lindsay. Don’t worry about 2 kilos, holidays are for enjoying and you will knock them off in no time. I too am sad about the impact this must be having on the children

Quacka I am so sorry you are so unwell and a double whammy that you can’t go and see your parents. Get better soon

Neil I would send those scales back and say they are faulty. How can you possibly have a biological age of 52 when you are so incredibly fit? Ridiculous

How is your Mum going? It must be so hard for you to not see her

Sorry you had a horror shopping trip Cinque. Was it the crowds or the empty shelves that made it so terrible? Our Coles have closed half of the auto check outs to enable people to be a good distance apart so the queues are quite incredible. I am ok for everything except paper towels and dratted Maxx has now chewed two brand new roles! My fault for leaving them within grabbing distance but honestly….couldn’t he chew something less precious like some cash or my good jewellery? Ha ha. He is loving having me home but coming up with new and interesting ways to get my attention rather than tapping away on the computer. Sigh.

I am supposed to go into the City next week but I’m getting mixed messages. On our daily call yesterday my boss (who is the big boss) seemed clear that if you are on the black team (which I am) you go in next week. But then today I was on a different call and one of the senior PM’s said that 80% of the yellow team who were supposed to be in the city this week were WFH. Another bloke said ‘you must not come in as you are not essential services’. They are also recommending that we drive in or get dropped off and picked up but this not practical at all. Anyway hopefully I can get some clarity at our 5.00pm call today. I do NOT want to go into the city and especially do not want to get on a train. I hate driving so there is no way I would drive all that way and I can’t ask Steve to do four trips every day. My dear friend who has CF posted me some surgical masks so at least I have them.

Our remote access software is not coping with the number of people who are WFH so I guess that is why they need as many of us as possible to go into the City.

Cali, there are some really terrible figures and stories coming out of the USA. And the president wants to reopen everything as early as Easter. He is terminally crazy surely? I hope you – and everyone – are doing ok.

Really happy for your current success Betsy. I am maintaining – just – and as the weekend draws near I can feel myself pining for some really rubbishy food. I will resist though. And I’m loving being able to go on the long morning walks with the boys. We even do some jogging around the rugby field (or more like waddling for me!). I have been slowly building up Maxx’s recall with the gundog whistle and finally took the brave step of trying it out in the park with distractions. So far so good; he spins and runs to me every time. If he even ignores it once it can be ruined so phew – so far. We want to make this our emergency “GET BACK HERE NOW I MEAN IT” weapon against him ever running off to chase another dog and running towards the road or children.

What on earth did we do with our spare time before we got him?

How are you going LJ? I hope your transfusion went ok and I’m sorry your precious travel plans are now in chaos. Thank goodness you have only put down a small deposit

Lovely to hear from you Crazy and what an achievement! Size 26 to 18 (or less) in just one year. I think your success comes from never breaking a FD. I must keep this in mind

Ok, back to work. Please keep your fingers crossed that I can avoid going into the CBD next week

Good afternoon all.

Thanks for asking – the infusion went well this morning as did yesterday’s FD. Today has been filled with unplanned snacking unfortunately.
One highlight – My nurse brought me a scoby so that I can start my own kombucha – something to keep be busy for a little while.

To those of you who have commiserated over my delayed travel plans. With the health crisis that is bombarding our world, it puts things into clear perspective. I think delayed travel is unimportant by comparison and I’ll be grateful if there is still a functioning world left to visit once we get through this.

Anzac, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you can get to WFH next week.

Lindsay, glad you are home, safe and well. You know how much Rosy missed you if she refused to eat – clearly no labrador genes there.

Neil, I think those scales sound faulty. I though the only accurate way to measure body composition was in one of those expensive medical devices that look like a giant egg, that you climb inside of. I suspect that the home scale version uses mostly formulas based on averages. It sounds like the one you have can’t even get that right, given the BMI miscalculation.

Quacka, how are you? I hope you are feeling a bit better that you were last time you posted.

Cinque, I’m glad the kipper tacos were delicious, but you are right, it sound ghastly. But then I can’t cope with fish at the best of times.
I do hope you found the energy to make that spanikopita today. I’ve never had warrigal greens – do they taste anything like spinach?

Hello to Betsy, Crazy, Cali, Penz, Thin and anyone else who is reading.

I haven’t been for a walk yet today so I think it’s time I got that done.

Penguin & Thin, I hope your deputy PM is good in a crisis as he/she might be filling in for a couple of weeks. I just switched over to ABC news to see Boris Johnson announcing he’s tested positive to covid19.

Quick check-in (really!). Weighed-in this morning – yay! Nearly the 1 kg you thought I’d lost, Cinque – 900 gms down. That’s 3.5 kg so far this month. Unlikely to be more, as I’ll have a couple of TDEE days over the weekend. Still a long way to go, but pleased with progress so far.

Glad you got your cooking done, Cinque. Sympathise re the early rising knocking your health. I’m not an early riser by preference, and to get to the shops at 7 a.m. if there are things I really want is exhausting, and I don’ have your health challenges.

Reminder everyone: this current crisis will pass, but we have our weight for a lifetime, so don’t give up. We can do it!

A quick hello to say Woot Betsy!

Haha yes, why couldn’t they make the special shopping time 11am.

I made my ramekins and it was delicious having one for dinner last night. Such a relief to have all the vulnerable food cooked and stored.

Fast day today. Making soup. And doing a bit of henna hair too. Rain should come this afternoon so I pulled out zucchini plants that were going all powdery mildew. The biggest healthy one said “Look I’ve got a big fat boy flower and a big fat girl flower so let me stay while this one grows.” So I will.

Sending best wishes to you all.

Good afternoon everyone.

CalifDreamer, I’m never sure whether it’s better to watch the news so you know what’s happening, or to not watch it for more peace of mind. I’m the kind of person who likes to know, even bad news, so I can adjust to it, so I am watching more than usual. The thing that I ‘m making sure of is that I only watch reputable news sources. There’s also quite a lot of mis-information being transmitted at the moment, plus the scammers who are playing on people’s fears to bilk them of money. Just be wary, folk, of any so-called quick fix or touted cures.

Cinque, great that you could enjoy some of your cooking, as well as freezing it. That also encourages you to know when you thaw it, it will be delicious!

Hope everyone is enjoying a restful Sunday. Stay well and rest in place.

Hi all

Congrats Betsy, 3.5 kilos is a great loss for a month.

Good news, my mum got out of hospital a day after the lockdown, bad news is I can’t go and visit her. I’ve been keeping busy for the last few days, and since exercise is ok I’ve been out for a few bike rides. Cycling has to be the safest way to exercise. It’s solo, you’re on the road away from other people walking/running.

Well 4 days down, 3 and a half weeks to go.

Good morning everyone

Your positive thoughts worked because I have been given permission to WFH this week. They recommended everyone drive in and offered reduced parking fees but that isn’t really an option for me. I don’t like driving any more and would never drive that far and I can’t ask hubby to do four trips per day. It’s about 45 minutes each way.
Very glad to not have to get on a train

Glad your infusion went well LJ. Forget about Friday and remember you had a great FD yesterday so that will help. I’m not fasting at the moment, just trying to keep under my TDEE and get some exercise.

Quacka I hope you are feeling better

I remember how much CFS impacted my friend Cinque and I do truly sympathise. You are managing the tricky balance very well

Cali, there are some very scary numbers coming out of the US, stay safe. It seems our rate of infection is slowing and our leaders are cautiously optimistic but no-one can relax the rules around social isolation yet of course.

Betsy, 3.5 kilos is so awesome! I wish I had your willpower during this time. I’m still maintaining and managed to not eat bad food over the weekend; but my portion sizes of the healthy food were too large. we had a barbie last night with kangaroo with a berry jus and some chicken marinated in thai spices. I made a coleslaw and cooked some fried rice in the wok. I ate far too much because it was all so delicious. Must try harder this week.

I hope your Mum continues to improve Neil and I’m sad for you as you can’t go and see her. Keep in contact in other ways (which I am sure you are doing of course) and remember, this will pass.

Good evening all.

I hope the day has been kind to you.

Betsy, I have noticed quite a few shops insisting on paywave only due to the virus. I resisted internet banking too for a while, but gave in when I started managing my dad’s financial affairs. It saved me so much time that I was sold on the wisdom of it.

Cinque, if you are looking for something to make for your next NFD breakfast/lunch I came across a delightful recipe today: https://www.notquitenigella.com/2020/03/30/focaccia-pizza-bread/ It’s a foccacia that’s been decorated with vegetables – bread baking and an art class all in one. I just loved the look of this bread.

Anzac, excellent that you got to WFH. Frankly I can’t imagine coping with Sydney traffic. I only just manage Adelaide’s modest traffic and I still try to avoid peak hour because I’m a stressed mess by the time I get home.

Neil, glad to hear your mum was able to go home, even if visiting isn’t an option right now. During a pandemic home is safer than hospital, so good timing.

Cali, hope you are managing and not letting the news worry you too much. The safest place to be is at home, so very grateful that nome of your household are stil having to go out to work.

I have finally managed to get myself on the straight and narrow and done 2 FD in a row with a third planned for tomorrow (500cal yesterday and 800 today). It just suddenly felt possible to be controlled again. Funny how my brain just clicks into the right frame of mind and I’m never quite sure why.

Take care all.

Me again.

CalifD, I read that it’s a good idea to limit accessing the news to one time a day just like we used to as in sitting down to watch ‘the 6 o’clock news’. In today’s world, it’s a never-ending bombardment.

Currently, we’ve been having the opposite problem of not getting adequate phone signals to create a hotspot. This means we couldn’t follow the Canal And River Trust’s daily advice for boaters, which is based on govt. advice. Boaters are a fantastic community all helping each other but it’s good to get official advice firsthand.

Anyway, the advice to limit the news is based on avoiding information that increases your anxiety. I hope you’re doing OK.

Penguin, did you get out of Portugal?

Difficult to find advantages in the current situation, but in the two weeks we have been back I have lost 10 lbs or 4.5 kg.

Morning all,

Penguin, I would definitely go and get tested even for mild symptoms. New Zealand had its first death from the virus. It was a woman who was 74 but otherwise fit and healthy. She had mild cold like symptoms for a couple of days, then it felt like a flu so she went to the hospital and died 2 days later 😢

Cali, I’m glad Trump finally let in a little reality. I haven’t really been following US politics much, but I did see a couple of press conference highlights where he was really downplaying the crisis and insisting that things would be back to normal soon. I also heard of someone form the business leadership group saying that a couple of million lives would be a small price to pay to keep the economy up and running 😢

Thin, checking the news once a day is easy enough, however going on social media several times a day to chat with friends usually bombards you with enough information.

LJoyce, congrats on the b2b fast days. I’m fasting today ready for my weigh-in tomorrow. My first isolation weigh in. I’ve been eating ok for the last week and getting plenty of decent rides in so I’m hopeful.

Betsy, most places here won’t take cash, they don’t insist on payWave but you have to use debit cards. I saw one place that accepted cash and they had a separate till set up that took cash only and the checkout operator had mask, gloves, etc and there was hand sanitizer there for customers.

Anzac, hooray for WFH. I’m actually taking leave at the moment because I had leave booked for the Easter school holidays and since the schools over here have pushed the holidays forward to start this week, there wasn’t much point me taking leave at Easter time.

Cinque, yes it looks like there is more posting on the forum here so I think we can be supportive of each other in this time.

I think my mother is getting a bit desperate for company. She invited all the grandkids to join her bubble to have an Easter egg hunt, we had to explain that bubbles don’t work like that. My wife works in the hospital lab so she has a possibility of getting infected, which means the boys and I could be infected, which means she could get infected. The weather has been a bit crap the last couple of days, but it’s meant to clear this afternoon so I’m planning on making some hot cross buns and we can walk round to their place and have a chat over the hedge, keeping the appropriate distance away.

I have been impressed with how the lockdown has been handled over here. The council has allowed free parking through town for those that need essentials, and they’ve made busses free, the driver has a screen between him and the bus and opens the back doors to let passengers in who have to sanitise their hands and sit with a row in between them and anyone else. The supermarkets only allow a certain number of people in at a time and customers are restricted to 2 similar items to limit bulk buying.

Well, fast day today and then see how I get on with my weigh-in tomorrow. Have a great day everyone.

Good morning all. Sitting waiting for my Woolies delivery. Lord knows what I have ordered…I am not good at this, so the thrill of the unexpected awaits! Actually, trawling through the options on the website, I was shocked at how much ‘non-food’ (ie processed food) was there.

Thin, I was not surprised by your former neighbours. I think we all have horror stories. My SIL’s mother and my dear friend are both still going to work (same workplace) , and both over 70. Very cavalier. And my neighbours (he lives near Wuhan, and his wife and kids joined him for the Christmas holidays) came back into self-isolation. They told me they were isolated, just before they roared up the drive in their car, going who knows where. Mostly though, the neighbourhood is quiet. Hardly a car, no gatherings.

I am struggling with work – we are supposed to be delivering lectures etc online, but my internet transition to the NBN has been delayed because of our isolation, and the current service is intermittent and I am feeling sick about trying to deliver 3 hour workshops using my mobile phone as a hotspot. I am so very tempted to opt out for the rest of the trimester – it is making me feel very very stressed.

Anzac I laughed (ruefully) at your Maxx’s antics. I have now put a carpet square at my feet, and let Rosy into my office, because otherwise she just runs amok. She’s had no real exercise since we started our lockdown, so she’s doing pretty well….considering. Thank heavens your your employer rethought the ‘going in to work’ option.

Cinque how lovely to have fresh food to pick – I am sure your zucchini thanked you for leaving them to do what zucchini do! You manage your illness so well, but I guess in these unusual times, you have to do things even though you know they will have consequences. Hope you are getting your zing back.

Cali hope you are okay. My OH (an ex-journo) would have the news/talk on 24/7 if he could. But now he can’t. The news is fine to keep up to date, but it’s the constant commentary that triggers my anxiety. So we have a rule now that we listen to the 7.45 am news (main ABC radio bulletin), and then the 7pm TV news, and that’s that. He sneaks in the midday news too, if I’m not around. My daughter (also a journalist, as was I) phones me on her way home and we talk through her day, so that’s more than enough.

Betsy, wow. 3.5 kilos. Take a bow, friend.

Neil great your Mum is out of hospital. Tough, you can’t see her though. Does she have someone to care for her are home? Can I say too that we are very impressed with your PM, and her straight-talking.

Betsy I saw a note from Australia Post today, which said pharmacies are arranging free delivery through AP. Can your doctor just send a repeat script to your local pharmacy?

LJ well done for getting your brain to ‘click in’. I think I left mine in NZ. I just can’t get back on track. But I am cooking (and therefore eating) more, while confined. My 16:8 has gone to 14:10 and I’m eating breakfast again, mainly because of my OH. So we now have 3 meals a day. I am really trying to boost our nutrition, so it’s not all bad. I have got my sprouters on the go – mung beans (very fast to shoot) and adzuki beans (slower). I also had a mushroom box, bought over the Christmas holidays, which I’ve finally got started, though it’s yet to produce.

I am surprised what we get out of the garden to eat. My lettuce had bolted to seed, but a few volunteers are giving us leaves. Also parsley, basil, chives, lemon grass, other herbs….and our neighbour’s limes from over the fence. I also have some volunteer capsicum and tomatoes, yet to ripen. I am making great use of the diabetes plant, which I’ve cursed in the past because it grows so fast, but now I am using the leaves every day. My blood sugar is fine too, so maybe it’s working even though I’m eating far more carbs.

https://www.rareplants.net.au/shop/edible-plants/gynura-procumbens-diabetes-plants/

Good to hear from you Penguin, and know you are home safe, although not well. Hope it’s just a cold.

Here’s my Woolies driver …. stay well all.

Hi all, Just about time for the 9 p.m. news – yes, I do like to keep up with what’s going on. Good news from me – overall weight loss for the month was 3.8 kgs, yay!

Re banking, it was only that I had a largish amount to pay off on my credit card, which is at a different bank to my normal one. Oh, I found out today it was only that particular ANZ bank which is closed – a client came in, recently returned from overseas, and was then diagnosed with Covid-19. Which also makes me wonder; was he supposed to self-isolate for 14 days first? As a consequence, all the bank staff are self-isolating for 14 days, and the bank should re-open thereafter.

Anyway, paid off my credit card today, and I’ll avoid using it until this crisis is over. With Victoria’s stage 3 restrictions, I can only go out for essential errands so will not be tempted to over-spend. Virtually all my bills are direct debit, so I’ll use my debit card for any groceries, pharmacy or petrol, and avoid cash. I don’t mind using cash, but most places are now requesting for payment via card, so I’ll keep to that.

I know the pharmacy could use Australia Post to post my medications to me, but the eye drops are very heat-sensitive so I wouldn’t risk them in the mail. I only need to fill prescriptions once a month and have enough for a couple of months at the moment.

It was also to have the flu injection that I went to the doctor’s today, a necessary attendance. They had their patients call them from the carpark and wait in their cars till the doctor was ready for them, then the doctor phones and discusses concerns over the phone, then you only go inside for the essentials that have to be done in person (like getting the injection). Even the prescriptions were written while I waited outside, so I only physically saw the doctor for a couple of minutes. That was all I needed. They’re also doing tele-conferencing now for folk who can’t physically get to the surgery.

Penguin, great that you left Portugal before they locked down the country.

Thin, good to hear from you, but how frustrating to only have intermittent access to the internet.

LindsayL, likewise, how difficult for you to try to work/ teach online with a poor internet service.

Cinque, hope you can get your glasses fixed, and that there are no negative developments with your washing machine.

Neilithicman, hope you continue to manage some form of exercise while the self-isolation rules are in force. Over here, the news has shown an ultra-marathoner doing his running (for 7 hours!) in a loop around his house, and another completing a marathon. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

CalifDreamer, glad you’ve been able to hunker down and have some groceries being delivered, even if not all the items that you want. Here, one major supermarket is providing a basic “care” package delivered by Australia Post for $80. Maybe not what everyone would choose to eat, but enough for survival.

Onward and downwards everyone. We can do this!

Penguin, that was a lucky escape. I hope you and your London family are all feeling better. Let’s hope you’ve had it, recovered and developed antibodies. I’m hoping a T-shirt will be widely distributed worldwide, “Had it – survived – immune” and maybe “How can I help?” on the back.

Cinque, glad your guidelines are mandatory. I was suggesting adopting the more stringent mandates of other countries rather than waiting for the government to tell you. Maybe they are the same now. Here it’s social distancing of 6ft, all non-essential retail shops are now shut, everyone to stay home unless travelling for essential work that can’t be done at home, one form of outdoor exercise per day, no more than two people together outside and from the same household, shopping only for essential groceries and meds – only then on a limited basis. If that’s all going on in Australia, I’m wondering why I haven’t had a notice that that Perth shareholder meeting’s been cancelled/postponed? Perhaps it’s different in different states.

Lindsay, maybe that’s it. Cavalier attitude. Today, our dear friends sent us some pointless graph from the newspaper proving that WA was ‘well behind the other states’ – the implication being that they needn’t worry yet. Sigh. I totally agree about the array of alien items available when online shopping. I guess I must have avoided those aisles in the supermarket so I never knew. I found it interesting to see what suggestions they offered me before I completed my order. And who knew there were so many cleaning products?

Betsy, that’s good to hear about the GP surgery, not so good about the infected ANZ customer.

LJ, what’s brought on all this B2B fasting? Good job anyway.

Anzac, still WFH this week? How are you?

CalifD, hello.

Quacka, give us a sign.

Neil, that’s what I meant. Treat the social media as we would have the old 6pm news. Limit it. But that’s only if the news makes you anxious. There’s just no end to the statistics! As soon as I’m told, I forget them.

The thing that’s hard for me to read about is how our investments from the sale of our family home have plummeted by a third. It will get much worse. And, when this is all over, I know which sector of the community will be paying for all the massive handouts. Those of us who lived within our means, saved all our lives and put something away for someone else’s rainy day. Not bitter!

So, there’s my whinge. But hey, I have much to smile about too. The sun is shining, the forecast is for 18C this weekend! We have a phone signal. There are teeny lambs skipping and tumbling over each other in the green, rolling fields outside our portholes. The fiesty one is no. 6. A man just ‘ticked over’ past us playing a drum with two whippets and three ferrets on board. Another boat called, “Infectious” passed earlier. That made me laugh. I bet everyone keeps well away from him. Two kayakers and three white swans floated by. It’s peaceful and idyllic. A nearby marina has agreed to sell us diesel and pump-out our waste tank. And, if our four domestic batteries are all croaking as OH suspects, a nearby closed chandlery will ship us four more and the post office will deliver them to the canal with just a postcode and a bridge number. How cool is that!

Take care all.

Good morning from a beautiful sunny Brisbane.

My Woolies shopping was a success! I now have a bowl of fruit and a fridge of fresh veges. I also ordered OH a little dark Lindt bunny – oh, actually, one for me too. But a very healthy shop, nonetheless.
I’m not ordering meat on line. We had a full freezer before this started, and eat much less meat than we used to.

I am also finding little treasures in there each time I delve…..including a duck (out of ‘use by’ date, but I’ll cook it anyway at some point) and a Christmas pudding (it can stay there). It was our anniversary earlier in the week and I cooked an amazingly delicious little lamb roast ….not sure what the cut was, but it was only 250 grams, and absolutely no fat on or in it…and baked veges. My OH found a bottle of 2005 Old Vines Shiraz in the cupboard, and we reflected on what a blessed life we’ve had.

Thin, you paint such a lovely picture. I can close my eyes and see the scene. Perfect. I can also understand your concern about your investments. But as Neil says, the market will come back. It always has, so no reason to think it won’t this time. And the wild daily fluctuations show that the market isn’t behaving in a logical way. Hold tight, it will recover, as it did in 2008. Yes, we will end up with a huge bill after all the stimulus spending, but unusual times, unusual measures.

Cinque, I too see people working together, despite some random acts of bad behaviour. This is an interesting read, if you have time. (I say that with a smile – it’s one of the good things, how much time we now all have)
https://meanjin.com.au/blog/bastard-pandemic-v-bastards/

Betsy I think many of us are looking at new ways of exercising. And Cinque, you are right about routines. OH has dusted off my treadmill for me (although Rosy tries to come on board) and I very kindly had 3 cubic metres of mulch delivered on Day 2 of our isolation, so OH wouldn’t be stuck for something to do. He thanked me – sort of. 🙂 But….our garden is looking happy, and because he has time he’s not rushing things, and therefore being really thorough. Without an activity to drive him, he’d be prowling like a cat.
Win win.

Neil that all makes sense with your new machine. Delicate little things, scales, aren’t they?

Quacka, LJ, Cali, Crazy, Merry, Intesha, Anzac, all others I’ve not mentioned…..hope you are doing well.

Hello everyone

Overcast but still muggy here in Sydney. I even went for a swim yesterday as the solar heating had it up to 27 degrees. It was a bit cool getting out though so winter is slowly approaching

Hi Thin, yes thank goodness I am still WFH. Anyone who doesn’t feel safe can WFH even though it is putting a strain on our remote access software. Your lifestyle and stories are so incredibly interesting and I could just picture your surroundings with the lambs and the other boatees.

Wow LJ, three B2B FD’s! You must feel amazing. I am happy to maintain at the moment and I’m glad to say I’m managing that. A nice long walk every morning helps

So glad you are stocked up Lindsay. My Sister and BIL are also still self isolating and can’t leave the house and had a Woolies delivery this morning. They actually got a phone call apologising for having to substitute: champagne ham with leg ham, cheap quince paste with Maggie Beer and Abbotts bread instead of Woolies brand. And the good news is they were charged the lower prices! So they are very happy about that but really miss the grandkids of course. We had a family video chat yesterday morning as it was my nephew’s 35th birthday (I simply can’t believe he is 35) so he and his lovely girlfriend were at home in their teeny little flat in London with party hats and lots of decorations.

Glad your scales are behaving now Neil and awesome congrats Betsy on your loss last month.

Work is busy so I need to get back. Have a safe and happy day everyone

Quacka, so glad you are finally feeling better. The only thing I can suggest with your throat is to keep it lubricated. It won’t stop coughing but can ease it.

Anzac, how lovely that you managed an online birthday party.
Well done for keeping your weight stable, as I know you prefer to do FDs on days in the office.

I am doing another FD800 today. I feel like I’m in the groove at the moment so I don’t want to break a pattern that’s working.

Hi all, decided to check in before going outside to mow the lawn (not that I’m procrastinating at all 🙂 ). The sun is shining and the weather is lovely, but Melbourne is expecting rain tonight and showers for the next 5 days, so it’s today, or leave it for at least another week.

Neilithicman, glad you worked out what was happening with your scales. Your new results make more sense. Surprised, though, that the scales measure your height as you are standing on them. For mine, you manually enter your height and age, so then it doesn’t matter how you stand on them, the readings don’t alter with position, a good thing for me as I (like you did) lean over to read the measurements. When I realised I’d shrunk and inputted my new height, it did make a noticeable difference to my percentages (sniff, sniff, boo-hoo), which also change slightly as I increase the age each year. Well, a useful guideline, at least.

Thin, great that you’re in a position where the practical boating needs are being met. Your description of the life passing you by sounds idyllic. Re your investments, I echo Neil’s comments – they’ll go up again. I sincerely hope so, as many of us are in the same boat with super pensions relying heavily on the stock market. It’s certainly not a time to make changes, though.

LJoyce, appreciated your comments re banking. I did ask at the bank yesterday re what was possible, and they told me much the same thing, and I do have an online account, just never use it. Maybe I might make some changes there, too. I have to be honest about one thing – I have never understood how BPay works, but I do have bank details for any accounts I might want to transfer money into, so I could so that much.

LindsayL, I, too, am discovering new “treasures” in my freezer. As I’ve been finding places to put new items I’ve cooked up, it’s surprised me what I’ve found already in there that I’d forgotten about.

Anzac65, how lovely to enjoy a family video chat time! And good you can continue to work from home.

Quacka, glad to read that you;re feeling better and have been able to return to work.

Keep well, everyone!

It’s good to hear from you Thin and to know you are safe in your rural idyll. The numbers coming out of the UK are so worrying. And the USA too, Calif. And Thin no need to worry about being self absorbed. These are the things that bother us, particularly as we get older and the opportunity to replace what we had diminishes.

I am feeling happier, thank you Thin. My holiday certainly helped, and oddly, the isolation isn’t troubling me at all (apart from wanting to hug my kids and grandkids, as do most of us). I made the momentous decision yesterday to opt out of work for the trimester. We don’t have internet – NBN debacles too tedious to even write about – and I am trying to manage by pairing with my phone. Fine for some quick emails and banking, but not so good for delivering lectures and 3 hour workshops. And to make it worse, I hadn’t had the training because I was away, and it all was troubling me mightily. So I wrote the letter, and felt the weight lift. I am still working a little…..I agreed to edit a PhD dissertation for an international student who’d been with me for at least 3 years, so that will be my focus.
(Now it’s my turn to apologise for being self absorbed).

LJ what a pretty fruit bowl. And my favourites, nectarines. Good work on the steps. Your body must be very happy with so much regular exercise. BTW, my other freezer find? A cooked turkey breast, taken from a whole bird. Now we haven’t had the past two Christmases at our house, so I’m hoping it’s left over from last year’s Christmas in July. I don’t care for turkey, but I cooked some of it in a sauce over some pasta from the freezer, and Rosy is enjoying the rest.

Betsy I was pleased to read you are finding things in your freezer too, although I am sure you are a more organised cook and don’t find things (ie ducks) that are 5 years old!

Anzac I too think Woolies is doing really well, managing home deliveries and substitutes. They have left Coles at the post, that’s for sure. Coles still hasn’t organised its priority delivery service…..a slow response I think.

Quacka great to hear from you, although I am so sorry you’ve been so unwell. Do take care – we are much more vulnerable to other bugs, when we are recovering from a prolonged illness as you’ve had.

OH has finished moving his mulch. Just the back garden to go now. I offered to have another 3 cubic metres delivered, but he declined. What is wrong with that man?..haha.

Hi everyone, I’m online earlier than usual, but thought I’d post anyway.

Good to read everyone’s posts. Frustrating for you, thin, to have a long post fully written and then lose your internet service. I think, considering the length of your walk, there and back, a shared Snickers bar isn’t a fast-breaker!

LindsayL, glad you’re feeling better. Removing the stress of uncertainty re how to teach or lecture using an online format with unreliable internet has, I’m sure, aided that. Echoing Cinque, ha, ha re the mulch, and how are the bees? I guess you’ll leave them be as we approach winter and maybe consider robbing them again late spring? Sorry if “robbing” isn’t the correct term; it’s what my father always used, when he was removing some of the honey.
Oh, and by the way, maybe not old duck, but a couple of cooked meals stored since 2018 – have eaten one with no ill effects, so will polish off the others soon.

Cinque, yes, the lawn was mown, so that’s a good job out of the way for a while. What a surprise finding the set of tiny screwdrivers so you could repair your glasses yourself. Good news.

LJoyce, yes, a lovely photo of your fruit. More than I would eat, as I’m not a big fruit eater, but enjoy! 🙂

Keep well, everyone! Best wishes.

Good afternoon all

Very quiet here today! Another Friday rolls around in our strange new world. I hope everyone is feeling ok and safe….well as much as it is possible.

I am very sorry to hear that you have been so unwell Quacka. Sending healing thoughts and I hope you are 100% fit and healthy soon. I also hope you are ok job-wise but as always you find a silver lining in that you will have more time to exercise. Take care

Cinque, yes, I will hate going back into the City after this ends. I love my home so much and I am really enjoying my decluttering project. It is early days as I don’t get much time during the week but we just took delivery of some new sheets and towels and once they have been washed we will need some cupboard space. We are short on dog towels so the older towels are heading his way and I am going to be brutal with our old sheets and cut them up for rags or use them as dog dust covers for the couch.

I’ve just made a lasagne from scratch. Well so far I’ve done the meat sauce and the cheese sauce and hubby will make my lasagne sheets just before we assemble for the final cook. It also has a double layer of frozen spinach (just to make it healthy – ha ha). Very fattening with all that cheese but I’ll only have a small wedge with a nice big salad for dinner.

Lindsay, you always know when you have made the right decision if that burden immediately lifts. I think you have done the right thing as you would have been stressed and frustrated for the entire semester trying to deal with bad internet. And no-one should think they are being self-absorbed; that’s what we are here for 🙂 – Oh I just saw your new post, how exciting that your hubby is going to be on t.v! When the ad comes on we’ll all have to guess which one he is. Shame you didn’t get your video there in time.

It really is SO annoying when you lose a post Thin. And as I typed that I copied and pasted my post into a new email just in case. I am also worried about my superannuation and also house prices. But as the others said, it will come back eventually. We are thinking about buying some bank shares while they are low and sitting on them for a year or however long it takes for them to go back up again.

You really are in the groove LJ, awesome! April is going to be a big (or rather SMALL) month for you 🙂

Hi Cali, Betsy, Neil, Penguin – and anyone else who might be reading but not posting – hope you are all ok.

Oops Betsy, I meant son in law, not sister in law. So my son and son in law will do it. Google the blue banded bee. It will do your spirits good, to know such things exist. so pretty, so good for the planet. Anzac, Betsy, I wonder if you’ll see OH – it’s for the Qld Govt.

Good Morning all. I have returned from being MIA – have no idea how long I’ve been missing for but it does seem like quite a few months. Just read the last page of posts as a quick catch up as I haven’t been lurking either.

Today is a milestone – my first day of being unemployed in my 51 years of existence and it’s not a good feeling. Have applied for so many jobs over the last 6 weeks and only managed to gain one interview and wasn’t successful there. It’s depressing and fills me with a sense of being worthless when I know I am more than qualified for the positions. I’ve resorted to applying for jobs that I don’t want, cleaning, fruit picking etc – anything to get some $$. I did receive a voluntary redundancy but will be using that, along with some money from OH’s super to pay off the home loan so we can be debt free and at least in these uncertain times will only need to worry about paying utilities and putting food on the table. OH’s workplace has already laid off many staff and those that are left have had their hours reduced by half so not looking good there either.

Earlier this week I completed my last unit of my Diploma study and received word yesterday that I have passed so that’s one thing out of the way. Unfortunately now that I no longer work for government the Diploma is completely useless – 2 half years of study for nothing. I did manage to get my department to pay for 2 short TAFE courses as part of my redundancy so I have just commenced the first one and it is so much more enjoyable than the Diploma study which was quite boring stuff.

Health wise – well no improvement there unfortunately. My weight is still increasing by the day, so much that the fitbit scales think I am OH as I am now only a few kilos lighter than him. OH has easily been maintaining weight which is depressing me even further. The iron and vitamin B tablets I’ve been taking for the last 3 months haven’t improved my energy levels at all. I still feel so tired, aching etc. My sleep, which has always been good, is now patchy and often I wake at 2am unable to go back to sleep, leaving me feeling even more drained that I am have been. You may remember that blood tests earlier this year indicated many issues which 2 different Drs dismissed as being of no concern whereas the nutritionist I’ve been seeing did see them as a concern. I received a letter from my original Dr a few weeks back saying he needed to see me about the blood tests. Apparently the test clinic were concerned with one of the markers that they ran further tests which took a while to come back. I’m unable to get an appointment with the Dr at the moment to go over the results as he is only seeing the most urgent of patients. There is a severe Dr shortage here with 3 surgeries having one Dr and the other one has 2. So that’s 5 Drs for all the surgeries and the hospital to service a region of about 17,000 people.

I will be honest and say that I have been struggling to keep away from carb foods lately. I think it comes from feeling depressed and the pressures I’m feeling at the moment. A creamy pasta or risotto beats a green salad anyday for comfort food. I have been eating healthy but with the added carb hit every few days. Exercise is non existent too. I’m going to try really hard to make this weekend my last hooraah for bad food choices and being physically un-motivated. Start afresh on Monday – a morning walk, some HIT on the treadmill and light weight work – will build exercise up slowly so I don’t put more stresses on my body. Create a healthy meal plan for the week with minimum carbs. Spend time outdoors in the garden and get back into yoga, which I have missed so much. I really need to res-set my mind and my body and not worry about the things I can’t change. Now that I have no work or study pressures I need to concentrate on my health and wellbeing as I feel like I’ve been on such a very slippery slope that if I keep going this way much longer it will become near impossible to climb back up.

Still lots of chores to do a home to finish off our renovations and landscaping. A few weeks ago we purchased the rest of the materials for the main big jobs. If the retail shops end up closing down then at least we will have what we need to keep working. Last weekend we planted the vines and creepers that will cover the new structure in the back yard which OH and I built ourselves – quite proud we are too of our efforts. Today will plant 2 avocado trees and a pomegranate which I have had in a pot for a few months waiting to go in the ground. Have relocated some of our citrus trees so the orchard section of the garden in a bit more organised and is better placed to have permanent watering connections to the rainwater tanks. Were putting everything on watering systems to reduce work and it has worked a treat with the vegie patch – regular consistent watering is the key. Picked the last of the zucchini last weekend as well as all of the pumpkins – 28 in total so we won’t have to worry about buying pumpkins for quite awhile. The tomatoes are just about at the end of their growing season and I now have jars and jars of sundried tomatoes which is great. Today will also be spent rejuvenating the vegie patch soil and planting out the winter crop.

Looking forward to checking in daily from now on and getting up to speed with everyone’s lives once again. Hoping everyone is safe and well in these uncertain times. Take care x

Morning all, well almost afternoon here. The days sort of merge in to each other with this stay at home situation so since this is officially the weekend I’m going to try to make it different by not doing any work around the house. Last week I managed to stay on top of the regular chores of laundry dishes and cleaning and also get the outside work done. I’ve been getting out for regular rides and I’ve now ridden over 1700 kilometres this year. I should hit 2020 by the end of April. I’ve been taking the boys for walks every day and I’ve been round to see my parents a few times. They stand on their back porch and we stand on the other side of their hedge so we’ve got a good 5 meters of distance between us.

Gday, sorry to hear about your unemployment, although having your mortgage paid off will put you in a decent position. I’m the same with eating at the moment. Mine is through boredom mostly. It’s tough to keep away from sugary and starchy snacks when they’re sitting in the cupboards calling to you and you’re sitting in the house listening. Hopefully things pick up for you soon on both fronts.

I’m going to make up some cordials today with some of our frozen fruit. We still have some red currants, black currants and gooseberries in the freezer, and since our cranberries are almost ready we’ll need to make some room.

We’ll have a great weekend everyone and stay safe.