Still here. Reading the posts as they come.
This topic contains 27,908 replies, has 831 voices, and was last updated by LJoyce 11 hours, 15 minutes ago.
Morning Thin. No problems so far. It is done at a mobile unit about 5 miles away and I can drive myself to it. I then take pills every day. So far I have avoided any of the possible serious side effects. I have to watch my energy levels but exercise is prescribed, so I’m trying to keep fit. The exercise bike isn’t as easy as it was!
You still moving west?
Penguin, good to hear that it’s going well for you and with a convenient treatment location. Do others attend or is the mobile unit just for you?
Due to gusty winds, we’ve stayed put for a few days. Paradoxically, it’s wonderfully quiet on the towpath here but OH is suffering serious allergies possibly due to the sizeable dairy farms alongside the canal. We’re allowed to move for essentials and will push on to get a pump out/diesel over the next few days. Inching our way towards the LLangollen.
Did you see the Space Station pass last evening?
Thin, it is a truck sized mobile med centre with capacity for three patients. It goes to a different location every day as long as the hospital has enough staff and there are enough patients. Otherwise I drive 25 miles into town, which I will do for my Monday blood test because our surgery, where they are usually done, is closed for the public holiday.
My computer won’t let me leave this page to check without losing the post, but I seem to recall an impressive viaduct on your route?
That’s probably nice to develop some camaraderie amongst people going through the same thing.
Yes, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct:
https://www.pontcysyllte-aqueduct.co.uk/attraction/pontcysyllte-aqueduct/
Sunday Fast Day here in the Cinque home.
Cold and grey and damp outside so I’d really prefer comfort food. That’s bad. Well, luckily cups of tea and then a pot of coffee is comfort food for me. That’s good.
(Little soliloquy for those of you who did ‘That’s bad, that’s good’ stories at school)
Well, just quietly I’m glad there haven’t been too many posts over the last couple of days, it will give me a chance to catch up!
Ooh Thin, that tunnel. I hope the damage was just a scrape, and that it wasn’t a scrape on your new paintwork. I had heard of the old way of legging it through tunnels, but I didn’t realise the tunnels could be that long, and I had somehow imagined them with their feet reaching up to the roof, rather than the sides (which makes so much better sense, haha), so good to see the pic in your link Lindsay.
Betsy, it must be good to be on the next step of fixing the great drainage debacle, with a bit more clarity. I do so hope you have a nice process of good people to give you the best advice, and then to do the best work.
Cali, Doesn’t doing small normal things that enrich our lives hold a special pleasure at the moment.
Gday, congratulations on the job interview, I’ll have my fingers crossed for you. Sensible decision ditching the stupid application.
I’m with Mr Gday watching Masterchef this year! I did love the first couple of seasons but then got too irritated by the raa raa hype stuff, and have mostly watched only the first and last 10 minutes most of this season, now the numbers are smaller I am starting to really enjoy it.
Such good points you make about eating well at home when we are stuck there and bored. And especially hard if there is beautiful home made bread available all the time.
I think communities over the world are dealing with too much snacking and too much drinking.
Congratulations on that delicious sounding bone broth. I do love that meat jelly.
I made a delicious stew with my gravy beef. A Persian stew but basic (onions, tomato, cinnamon, paprika) and cooked in my wonderful pressure cooker, and that has set (in the various containers for fridge and freezer) into rich jelly too.
Off to make that comforting pot of coffee. To be continued!
Betsy Yay! https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e1/59/f4/e159f454b9411d0e92b6395b52258606.gif
You are under BMI 30! Settle in 🙂 May this be your new normal.
LJoyce, https://www.clipartmax.com/png/middle/193-1931590_free-download-of-bouquet-of-flowers-icon-yellow-flower-bunch-png.png
I am really behind with the flowers, catching up now!
So interesting to read the comments of people doing an eating audit and realising how things (calories, that would be) creep up. It is so true. I notice it with portion sizes (seeing how avidly I avoid counting calories). I’ve been extra careful lately and making my fast days fastier again, and it is showing. Hooray!
A bit of a yoyo up and down of a few kilo is a HUNDRED THOUSAND percent better that letting the weight pile on again, but ooh isn’t it lovely to get a bit of focus and some Thinatlast discipline and get that nice result of slimmer and healthier!
Gday, I am betting you will have a brilliant time getting back into the basics.
Anzac, that will be the last snack attack for a good while. Fingers crossed.
LJoyce, some gorgeous papery poppies. https://c1.peakpx.com/wallpaper/503/609/208/poppies-cheerful-happy-bright-wallpaper-preview.jpg
I am sure we will continue our zoomsisters catch up, they are just lovely.
Haha, yes I have wondered that about opshops too (whether they will be overloaded with donations once people have the chance to donate again). The big ‘Savers’ stores have remained open and I am just about ready to go and check out the closest one.
Thin, I am one of those people! (Shopping for food and opshopping are my only outings!) Lucky I get such pleasure from both those things.
Well to tell the truth I have also been able to walk around the block. Where I live there are quite a few different blocks to walk around, so it is quite exciting to choose which one. My version of Neil’s three hour bike ride, haha.
Neil, yes, re the gravy beef. I am still learning about meat, but my favourites are the pieces that need long cooking and get so unctuous and delicious and you don’t need that much to flavour a whole soup or stew.
You must have every muscle aching now with your workouts. I hope it is feeling great. Such an impressive run!
Hello Turnabout, so glad your dad is home again, and that you do have family near him. I have been like him, sitting out in the sun every chance I get. (Not today, so far though! Brrr).
Blenheim sounds wonderful.
Thin, sending good wishes that your broken tooth stays healthy until it is easy to get to the dentist. Ooh and good luck finding a chandlery! (I thought, what is a candlemaker doing stitching canvas? But I see they do!)
Wo! Are you going across on the acqueduct?
Ooh you have made me so hungry for fish and chips! A fine thing to be feeling BEFORE MIDDAY on a fast day! I had better go and make my broth to change my mindset.
Penguin, many good wishes, so glad you are not suffering too badly with your treatment, may it continue! https://static01.nyt.com/images/2006/12/28/arts/28happ.1.600.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale
LJoyce, one more bunch of flowers and we are caught up! I have some of these flowering now, such a lovely scent. https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/bouquet-violets-isolated-white-background-144751433.jpg
Best wishes to you all!
I suppose you are in bed again now Thin, sorry I dropped out of the only current conversation that was happening but had to drop camp and move on again this morning! Tend to get up a little earlier meaning going to bed a little earlier too! Didn’t seem to take too long though as OH had brekky, I skipped it. I can sympathize with you regarding being joined at the hip when shopping with your OH, same here, mine heads straight to the biscuits, usually filled with chunks of decadent dark chocolate and dried cranberries, they are quite scrummy, but I know I don’t need them! I secretly blame him for me eating them too, even though he isn’t forcing me! We have discussed several times over the recent lock down period how fortunate we were to get out of the business when we did, I would so not like to be there now! I see you have Spring Bank holiday tomorrow and some warmer weather back again, good luck with the aqueduct.
So good to hear you are doing OK Penguin, make sure you rest when you feel tired and exercise when you have the energy, I am sure you will soon get used to the rhythm. Oh, that was a surprise I didn’t know Watership Down was actually a place that existed, I had a chuckle with that one, and the RAF landrover, bet your name was mud for a while?
We have now arrived in Nelson and hope to get out and explore it tomorrow? Maybe with our raincoats on! We are currently sitting in the van whilst the rain pounds on the roof, going to be doing so for sometime apparently! Haven’t been here for about 15 or so years so really looking forward to it. I just hope some of this rain makes its way North for those who really need it.
Hope this is just a blip in your weather Cinque, enjoy your coffee, just about to go and make one myself, thank goodness there’s no biscuits to go with it, hahaha!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend all,
Turn.
We have a public holiday next Monday, Queens’ Birthday weekend, so I think there will be a lot of movement on the roads next weekend. We may wait until Tuesday to move on, which will give us a whole week here.
Good afternoon all. Thanks for the congrats, Cinque, gave me a boost, and to others, too. I was 70.9 kg yesterday morning, 71.5 kg today, but I ate something fairly salty so that’s not surprising. It will drop again tomorrow.
I didn’t have a good day yesterday, actually. It was at about my TDEE, I did calorie-count it, but I didn’t eat anything which could be reasonably called food. It was a bit of a controlled blowout after my plumber friend came and went. He recommends getting the bathroom shower re-tiled rather than just re-grouted (not sure what that will cost me), and a diagnostic camera through the storm water system to find out what the problems are (around $500, apparently).
He said to fix what is likely to be wrong, including removing the concrete down some of the driveway, and re-concreting, could be in the vicinity of $10,000+ (Not his line of plumbing, much bigger than he usually handles). When I responded that I’m an aged pensioner, he said even he would have to take out a loan to cover the cost, but he reckons it needs to be done as there’s water going under the house and if left untreated, I could end up with major problems down the track, including termites in damp wood. As a consequence, I comfort ate a packet of Cheezels (625 cals), some rocky road (625 cals) and 65 gms of chocolate-coated snakes (325 cals), keeping me at 1575 cals, but no food value. Sigh!
At least I showed restraint, and eventually de-stressed. Praying about what to do, but will probably get a tiler in for a quote this week, and phone the plumber with the camera to see if it’s better to come now or wait till the drains have less water in them. Have to quietly follow it through.
On a happier note, the measurements are noticeably reducing, which is very pleasing, but I do have a question, for advice: I still have a noticeable (smaller than it was, but still there) roll of fat between the bustline and waist, like a spare tyre – are there any exercises I can do to work on that area, or is it just a matter of waiting till the fat goes? I was told once some years ago by a dietician that once there’s fat there, it never goes completely. I’ve never lost enough weight to find out. Any comments, folk?
And enough about me!
Penguin, glad you’re coping with the chemo thus far.
Turnabout, good news re your dad being home again. Low iron can really knock the energy levels for six. Great that your new site is so beautifully positioned.
Thin, what a pain that you have to wait to get the re-stitching done. Any chance of coaxing Mr thin into letting you do the shopping while he has a wander around whichever village you visit?
Neilithicman, great to see the discipline coming back into the eating.
GDayfromSA, any news yet re the zoom job interview? How did it go?
LJoyce, great the infection seems to have cleared. Hope it stays away!
Cinque, how lovely that you could have Miss 3 at your place for a visit. Re Savers, I didn’t think they’d stayed open. It was only a day or so ago that I received an email, I thought to say that they were re-opening. I could have got it wrong, as I just registered a few words, then deleted the email.
Re clothes shopping online – I agree with everyone’s comments; definitely NOT for me. In my wardrobe I have items, trousers for example, all of which fit, ranging from size 10 to size 18 (that’s 6 to 14 in US sizes, Cali). Unless I can try something on, I don’t feel comfortable buying it.
Can’t remember the other posts. Good to read them all, but can’t scroll back to the last page.
Keep well everyone and stay safe!
Hello all, Sunday afternoon on a very windy and dreary day
Our lunch with our friends went splendidly yesterday. They oooh’d and ahhhh’d about the food (they love our cooking and are not good cooks themselves) and we had lots of laughs. It was so nice to do something so normal. Too much food and wine unfortunately and today utterly no self control again so once again the weekend has undone a good week. Gah!
Sorry to hear the plumbing might be a huge job Betsy and don’t worry about the blip with the junk food. I would have done the same.
Enjoy Nelson Turn, I went there once and it was lovely
More tomorrow as I need to go and start dinner prep. Have a great rest of the day
Good morning, I have read every word since my last post and enjoyed all three entries so much (well four if you count Cinque’s two posts).
Working backwards, Betsy, I am so sorry about those plumbing issues. And commiserations on the snack foods (but what were those items doing in your house when you don’t have an OH to blame?!). It sounds like it’s better to bite the bullet and get the problem dealt with and put it behind you. What a pain for you. Oh, so close to the 60s now. As for the roll of fat, I tend to think it will disappear as the kgs disappear. So, come on down and join us in the 60s. You’ll be so happy.
Great idea but unfortunately, OH would rather do the food shopping! While most passing boaters exchange info about the next place to get diesel or pump out, OH is always asking them about food shopping! He’s highly food motivated. I’m sure we have enough food on board to sink a battleship.
Turn, laughing about the biscuits. I remember Nelson as being the place where a lot of backpackers stopped to do fruit picking. It’s so pretty around there. Well, all of NZ is stunning, isn’t it? Do you always stay in designated caravan parks or can you go remote? I am so pleased that you’re back posting regularly here.
Cinque, you are so funny. I missed you yesterday. Don’t worry, the fish n chips, although tasty at the time left my stomach quite unsettled so you haven’t missed out. Hurray, that you can get out and walk around the various blocks. Thanks for your good wishes about the tooth. I definitely wouldn’t want to burden the NHS with it so, unless more of it breaks off, I will try to wait until dentists re-open. Bad timing, I had three small fillings and a cleaning done in Spain. I’m enjoying FD coffee too. I must be more careful with the added milk today as I want a nice big drop tomorrow. 6:1 FDs seem to come around very quickly. I’m making a big Hairy Bikers’ vegetable soup for dinner and will bulk up OH’s with rice or potatoes.
Yes, isn’t chandlery a funny name? I, too, didn’t know about the men lying on planks sideways through the tunnel. Most descriptions I’d read before Lindsay’s post had them ‘walking’ along the roof, not the sides. It depended on the tunnel and the boat. So many lives were lost that it became a sort of profession at one point – meaning that an assigned team of leggers was appointed to take your boat through. Yes, our next big adventure is that aqueduct. The boat travels in a 12″ trough with nothing between you and the 146ft drop to the ground below. Yikes.
I’m one that feels the strong urge to jump when I’m on a cliff edge or balcony. I know I won’t do it but the feeling is so strong that I have to move away quickly. I didn’t realise that it was a ‘thing’ until I heard it on the radio a few years ago. Don’t worry, I haven’t joined a support group, ha ha! But I may have to sit inside the boat when we traverse that aqueduct. I do hope not. On that weird note, I’ll leave you to enjoy the remainder of your fasty FD.
P.S. Anzac, hello! Posts crossed as I took so long. Your lucky friends. I’m moving to your street when we return to Oz.
A very quick post as I’m just heading to bed.
Thankyou for all those flowers Cinque. Especially for the violets, which always remind me of my mother. Violets used to grow along the edge of the irrigation channel and when they were flowering I’d frequently stop and pick a bunch for mum on my way home from school. I still have the tiny vase she always put them in. Special memories.
I’ll try and catch up properly tomorrow.
Morning all,
The viaduct looks really cool Thin, I went over a couple when I rode the rail trail.
Penguin, great your treatment went well. How many more sessions do you need to do?
Cinque that stew sounds good, I use a fair amount of smoked paprika when I’m doing slow cooking, especially with beef.
Turn, enjoy Nelson. The Tasman region is one of our favourites and we spent many family holidays on my parent’s friend’s farm by the Motueka river mouth.
Betsy, I don’t think any exercise will target burning fat in specific areas, you can tone the muscle underneath with crunches, but when it comes to the fat, your body just takes it from where it needs it.
Anzac, it’s good you had s catch-up with your friends, I’m always pleased when I get compliments on my cooking, but the best compliments I get are empty plates from my two boys 😉
Well moving into Monday fast day now so I’ll try to make sure it’s a real fast day.
Have a good one all.
Thin. The food fixation seems to go with being afloat. A very skinny me got on the ship home from Hong Kong. 33 days later when we docked in London I was no longer skinny. Not that I watch Eastenders, but if I ever catch the opening I am reminded of that journey – we sailed up the Thames and docked next to Albert Square.
Turn. Queen’s Birthday Parade, AKA Trooping the Colour, is also my birthday. Not often I keep that kind of company.
Cinque. With you on MasterChef. I used to enjoy it but putting a few amateurs into a top end kitchen or one of HM Ships is not what I want. I would like to see something I could possibly try myself.
Neil, there is some really interesting country the way Thin is travelling. I am envious. I don’t know how long the chemo will continue. There was a Plan A but because I am handling it well there may be a plan B. I’ll know more next week.
There are times I feel guilty on this site. My current diet instructions are to eat often and consume lots of calories. I am doing that.
Good morning 5:2ers,
Still freezing here. Miso the cat thought twice about going out. I’m going veggie shopping today. Psarakos opens at 9 so I will write a post and then get going. Great excitement.
News about an earthquake in NZ has just come through, glad to gather it is not a disaster. What a start to the day. I hope there isn’t too much damage.
Enjoy Nelson, Turn.
Mr Turn and Mr Thin must be soul brothers.
They are disgusting biscuits by the way. Don’t eat them!
Betsy, if anything was going to set off a comfort eating binge, that plumbing news was. Well done on limiting it, and I hope you can have a nutrient rich day today with no wasted calories.
It is a sobering assessment. Even though the plumber was a friend, might it be wise to get another couple of quotes? Sometimes different eyes and different experience can give a different solution.
How lovely to see your measurements reducing. Aren’t those stubborn fat stacks annoying. We seem to each have our own place (or places) where the fat lingers. The first place fat goes on, and the last place it comes off. And it seems that the older we are and the fatter we have been, the more noticeable they are.
But don’t let that send you off searching for another bag of cheezels, It will go!
And even though no exercise can target that particular fat stack, it will tone you wonderfully and help remove it eventually!
Anzac, what a lovely lunch with your friends, and doesn’t it feel good to feed appreciative people and to know your food is good.
Was it exhaustion that made the next day so hard?
I hope today is a wonderful one. How are you going with the ES? What is happening to your Work From Home with restrictions easing?
Thin, the very next ‘History of The English Language’ podcast I listened to mentioned a corn chandler (grain merchant). Aha re leggers walking the roof sometimes.
I hope that you are so busy taking photos for your blog, when you cross the aqueduct, you won’t have a chance to think of jumping off.
LJoyce, violets remind me of my mum too, and her tiny vase just for them. Hoping today is a good one for you. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3f/37/62/3f37622fc011c89864b41c8493fcd8c4.gif
Neil best wishes for an excellent fast day, a good work day, and aren’t you right about the best compliment.
Penguin, re Masterchef: exactly!
Ooh might plan B involve stepping it up until your do feel really crook? I hope not. Although I guess the end result is the issue, so if they must they must. In the meantime enjoy that chance to eat what you fancy!
Oo, time to head to the veggie shop. Best wishes Cali, Quacka, and everyone else reading. Cheers all.
I’m here. Did my 2 FD’s last week and am at least holding the line since my NFD’s aren’t always great. I’ve been slowly but surely getting some things organized around the house, although With all the time SIP I should be doing a lot more. Things are opening up around the whole country in spite of the numbers still being high. They are leveling off or decreasing in many states but increasing in some others. Instead of following social distancing and wearing masks, many around here are just going back to normal, eating in restaurants with no distancing, etc. I hope the numbers continue to decrease, but I fear another spike. Will have to just wait and see.
Penguin, I’m glad you’re doing well and the treatments aren’t causing you too much trouble.
Thin, I used to have that urge to jump from high places. I was always glad for the glass in the window of the tall building I used to work in whenever I went to look out in San Francisco. It seems that in my old age I’ve become more cautious and no longer have that urge.
CalifD, good to hear from you. I’m pleased that you no longer have that urge but also glad to know that you can empathise. The lack of social distancing annoys me too, it’s like having a pee’ing section in a swimming pool. Completely negates our effort at 11 weeks of self-isolation.
Penguin, OK, I’ll cut OH some slack because he’s floating.
Neil, handing over the FD baton…. hope you do better than I, I’m only down 500g. Pretty sure that’s because of the milk and endless cups of tea and coffee I consumed.
Cinque, how was your FD? You have a wonderful way of writing and always make me smile. I’ve never seen MC but, when it first started, we used to watch MKR. We loved it in the beginning. Then, partway through the first series, they changed the rules and started bringing in additional teams of competitors and it dragged on for months. By then, we were hooked and saw it through to the bitter end but never, ever again. The drama with the camera zooming in on that Pete guy’s acid looks when he took a bite of food and then … cut to ads for five minutes of pain. It was the first and last time I ever watched commercial TV.
Good evening all
A FD800 for me and it even included an afternoon tea with scones and shortbread at the neighbour’s house. I got though that challenge by not having the light lunch I usually would on an 800day and planning a bowl of soup for dinner. Then I chose one scone and applied the tiniest smear of jam and made it last. The shortbread looked nice but I know exactly how much butter that contains so I refused that. Well within my calorie limits today thankfully. A good thing too as I have my infusion tomorrow.
Thankfully the lung infection hasn’t returned and I’m hoping the infusion doesn’t trigger it again – always a risk.
Thin, I find the endless add and false drama of reality tv enough to make me scream. I don’t watch much of it, but what little I do I record first on the HDD recorder so I can fast forward through all the nonsense – and in my opinion it’s mostly nonsense.
That aqueduct looked amazing. I saw the photos on your blog of the damage to the boat. I imagine every light will be on before you head into any more tunnels.
Cali, I’m so glad you are back into the swing of your FD. It’s funny about the amount of tasks in the house you think you should be doing. I’ve had the same problem and concluded it was because I felt I had so much time on my hands that it could wait until tomorrow or next week because I’d still be stuck home then too.
Penguin, I think their advice about eating is sensible, especially given the weight you lost while in hospital. Glad that the chemo is going well so far.
Turn, I was only in Nelson very briefly but I hope you find some lovely areas to explore – hopefully without the raincoat.
Turn & Neil, they showed a clip of your prime minister proceeding with a tv interview while the earth shook in Wellington. They were describing her as unflappable here.
Betsy, I have a similar roll of fat in the same place. For me it largely depends what I weigh and exercise has minimal impact. I also think natural body shape also has an impact.
When my weight is 78-82 (where it’s been yoyoing lately unfortunately), it’s always there but reduces noticeably when I get to the 75. Then it’s not pinchable when I’m standing, but is when I’m sitting. To be free of it completely I need to be about 71kg or less. I find that while exercises can tone muscles, those muscles can still be hidden by a layer of fat. I find I don’t look very toned, regardless of my exercise routine, unless I also have most of the excess weight off – so the muscles are actually visible beneath the skin. The only exception for me seems to be my obliques – the sides of my torso. I seem to lose weight their earlier than other areas and they are the first place I look toned – I suspect that’s just a feature of the hourglass or pear body shape. (I always envy the toned limbs of those still losing weight with an apple shape.)
Anzac, lovely that a sociable couple who like to cook finally got to do that again. Hope you have some more nice weekends planned.
Cinque, how interesting that we have similar memories around violets and also have our mother’s violets vase. My mum’s is only about 6cm tall and actually has violets as the decoration: https://imgur.com/kib0fKW
Hello to everyone else, hope you have all had a good day.
Take care all.
Good morning friends,
Cali,
Congratulations on getting out of that unhealthy eating. Step by step the longest march can be won!
Are Californians being a bit more mindful of Covid19 restrictions than other states? It is sad to see the confused messages and early easing of restrictions in the USA since I think it will mean a much longer time in the serious stage. It is exhausting even to think about it. But you have power in your own little realm and it is great that you are using it well.
It is an exciting day for my 5yo granddaughter as she is back to school.
Thin, sigh, I won’t make you smile today as my fast day was even worse than yours. I was feeling fainty so I had some soup, and a muffin with it, and then I still didn’t feel better a couple of hours later so had a piece of eggplant bake. Then I had my miso soup in the evening.
I am feeling a bit ‘grasshopper through the windscreen’ today too, but I know that is because I overdid it yesterday. I need to be busy today (because of all those veggies I bought yesterday that I need to start using) but I am still hoping for a fasty fast day tomorrow.
So yesterday I went shopping and I was quick and efficient (comparatively) and not only bought beetroot to make kvass, I bought chinese cabbage to make kimchi. And I have a big fruit bowl piled up with eggplant, capsicum, tomatoes and other bits and pieces including a quince. At least it will wait several days for me to use it, and will scent the kitchen at the same time.
But then, as I came home thinking how I must rest before looking after Miss 5 in the afternoon, I drove past the nearby Salvos op shop and it was open! I tried not to go, but couldn’t resist. It was SUCH a pleasure and I found a black silk light coat (green tag half price) a lovely blue shawl (also half price) a lovely fine china little cup… maybe mug, with violets on it. Perfect for the morning black tea I am treating myself to before I get up. AND a stand for my ipad so I can zoom sisters handfree!
Then I had a big afternoon with my granddaughter, first go at teaching her to play draughts (checkers, Cali). A lovely time, but I am feeling it today. And I need to start kimchi, kvass, plan to use the rest of my veggies in a delicious way, and without waste. A pleasure, but a pressure too.
I’ll make some good soup that I can have through the day tomorrow to keep it as fasty as I can.
LJoyce, you did magnificently to have a fast day that included afternoon tea!
Your mum’s violet vase is just so lovely. My mum’s one was glass.
Well, a few more bunches of flowers to make sure that infection is gone! Here is today’s one: https://cdn.atwilltech.com/flowerdatabase/e/elegance-of-winter-flower-arrangement-VA043318.425.jpg
Today is planning day with my sister. She will be here soon. Luckily she won’t mind me being in pyjamas (with one of my magnificent dressing gowns over it 😉 ) but I’d really like to vacuum before she arrives (in 15 minutes). Eep. Miso the cat won’t be pleased, but she did vomit in her food bowl this morning so my heart is hard.
Someone warned last week about the little something my sister and I might have with our tea (Anzac I think?) but I am glad to report that we are fine with cuppas and no accompaniments. Ooh it will be good to get the planning done. First on list: check the kimchi recipe.
Must go and pull out the vacuum, everything else will look better if the carpet isn’t crudsty! (new word)
Best wishes all
Good afternoon all
Still windy with rain periods here in Sydney. Not pleasant at all but Maxx doesn’t mind and in fact likes to prance around the side deck in the wind. Very cute
Another week of 800-1000 calories Mon-Fri is going well so far and I hope to undo the damage from the weekend
I do like the word crudsty Cinque – it aptly describes what my floor looks like often, due to having a fur-shedder in residence. I hope you are enjoying your planning day with your sister and how nice was it to do something so ‘normal’ like Op shopping? Also, I hope you don’t tire yourself too much today. Take care of yourself please!
Great news that your lung infection is better LJ. I hope the infusion goes well today.
We love MasterChef but prefer it with amateurs rather than returning people who all now have experience in the food industry. Still enjoying it though. We used to love MKR but when it was more about fighting than food we turned it off.
Cali, I too should have moved on with chores such as decluttering given how much extra time I have at home; but I tend to do things like cooking or reading as I enjoy them so much more
Hi Thin, you OH sounds naughty but think how much stronger it has made you 🙂
Must go as I have a meeting to dial into so take care all
Cinque, everything sounds almost ‘normal’ where you are. It feels strange to read about it. What a great op shop day you had. Yep, you’re right, you didn’t make me smile; I could have done without the cat vomit image thanks very much. Your next FD will be better. The joy of having plenty of fruit and veg and the worry about how to consume them all in time without waste!
Anzac, it’s good that you’ve found a way to control your weekend indulgences.
LJ, glad the lung infection is behind you. Nice to have that special memory of your mum that you can enjoy every day.
There’s talk here of opening non-essential shops in June. It would be like the supermarkets with spacing and a one-way system, requests not to touch anything you’re not buying, and with parents being asked to ‘control’ their children. I badly need tennis shoes as mine have holes in the toes but that doesn’t like sound like anything I’d want to engage in as I disliked shopping even before all this. We’ll continue floating along in our steel quarantine box.
Just finished my infusion – all went well.
As I have been spoiled with daily bunches of flowers (thankyou Cinque), I thought I’d return the favour. I often think flowers are a spring/summer treat, but my garden proved me wrong this morning. My fuchsia, cyclamen and camellias all greeted me with flowers this morning. https://imgur.com/a/qkex6dY
Evening all
I just finished watching an old (2011) documentary on Netflix called “forks over knives”. It’s quite interesting, it’s following the research of two doctors investigating the benefits of a whole food plant based diet. There was one guy that went off-point by bringing up animal rights, but most of it was just touting the physical benefits of the diet. You guys have probably all seen it, but if not it’s worth a watch.
I had a better fast day yesterday, I kept my calories to around 1000, I had about 1800 today and spent a good 45 minutes on the treadmill so I’m ready for my weigh-in tomorrow, the first one since I’ve started tracking my food and started back at the gym, so hopefully I’m moving in the right direction.
I’m really pleased with my progress on the treadmill. I’ve only had three sessions, first one I managed 6.5 kilometres in the 45 minutes, the second was 7 kilometres in 45 minutes, today was 7.3 kilometres. My legs are not as sore after today’s session too.
Well I’ll check back in tomorrow with my weigh-in. Have a great night everyone.
Good evening all, or I should really say “good morning”, as it’s already nearly 2 a.m., not something I’ve done for a while, being up so late on the computer.
Thanks for the comments re fat shifting. It’s been frustrating, as when younger all my fat was on my hips and thighs – think gourd shaped. I’m still gourd shaped, with a waist, just have this roll above it which gradually formed over my middle-aged years. Oh well, I will hope that weight loss will eventually shift it.
Glad the infusion went well, LJoyce, and hope the lung infection doesn’t recur as a consequence.
Thin, drat, OH seems a bit food-fixated. It would be so much easier if he’d let you do the shopping. Maybe he’s afraid you’ll restrict his “treats”?
Re the aqueduct -scary. I’m another who doesn’t feel comfortable at heights, though no impulse to jump, just a dizzy, sick feeling so I hastily move back from the edge.
Re the plumbing, I’m going to contact the person my plumber friend recommended, plus another guy I know, and then make some decisions. I’m thinking it may be better to wait until the weather warms again, so the drains are dry and whoever looks can see clearly. Another friend knows a tiler, so I’ll contact him about the tiling in the shower. Nothing is critically urgent, so I’ll take my time and make sensible decisions re the course of action to follow.
Weight result after my weekend blowout, followed by a FD yesterday – same as I was on Friday, so it’s all down from here! 🙂
Cinque, I’ve been loving the flowers you post for LJoyce, and I have a violets story, too. My mother loved violets, and occasionally on the way home from school or uni. I’d buy her a small bunch of violets as a special “I love you” treat. It was years after my mother died before I could look at the flower-sellers’ stalls and not feel a wistful sadness.
Lovely that you could have a successful Salvos shopping time, and also enjoy time with your Miss 5. Have a lovely time with your sister!
Anzac65, you’re doing so well keeping to the lower calories during the week – the scales should reward you!
Neilithicman, hope the scales reward you, too, now you’ve brought mindfulness back into your weight journey.
Penguin, good that things are going well so far. Hope that continues.
CalifDreamer, good that you are continuing to be sensible, despite the restrictions relaxations happening in various states. Some of the Memorial Day weekend holiday photos on the media were concerning, though.
Better head to bed. Goodnight all.
Morning all, well it’s not what I was hoping but it’s in the right direction. I’m down 600 grams to sit slap bang on 90 kilos. I’m going to do an experiment tonight and get my wife to take a picture of me shirtless so I can compare it to the one I took in October last year when I first dipped under 90 kilos. I have a feeling that I’m thinner than I was then even though I’m the same weight, but it’s hard to tell unless I can compare the photos side by side.
Well have a great day everyone.
Good morning from freezing Melbourne. Purring cat on my knee who expects me to type with one hand and scratch her head with the other.
Wednesday fast day. Still not feeling very well, but I am on course with soup. I have had a nourishing bowl for breakfast and if I can’t function well enough, I am just going to go back to bed. This is a sensible decision (just a bit frustrating).
LJoyce, those flowers are absolutely gorgeous! And those fuchsia ballerinas are dancing so prettily! Don’t tell the other camellias, but pale pink is my favourite.
I was thinking of frangipani this morning, so here is your ‘keep well’ posy today https://www.koch.com.au/image/x-lg/47941CR__1.jpg
Anzac, well done. The memories of your weekend will sustain you. Cheers for your 800 – 1000 calories today. Haha yes re the carpet. That ‘d’ snuck into my typing and I decided to keep it. Glad to say I did vacuum and have a lovely clear carpet now.
Thin, we are seeming a lot more normal now. Such a relief. Schools in Victoria are going back in a staggered way and with shorter days so they can also stagger drop off and pick ups. It just happens that Miss 5 was among the first back.
They think Australia will rumble along at around ten new cases a day, but if we can keep social distancing, handwashing, etc and they identify them quickly with lots of testing, we may avoid a second wave. (Fears for a third wave next year if we get complacent though).
Let’s hope there aren’t too many idiots.
I need new shoes too. Good ones that are easy to wear around the house. Had a painful case of plantar fasciitis from wearing my old crocs all day. Any advice welcome!
A lot more shops are open here now.
Neil, so interesting to hear about that documentary. I hadn’t heard of it (and I am a food/cooking show junkie). I’ll watch out for it.
All your sore muscles need extra water retained to help the heal (into muscle!) so that might explain why you haven’t lost even more weight this week. Not to mention those weighty muscles, since Penguin already did! Definitely do the photo! It will be a great record.
Betsy, I do hope you are having a lovely sleep in now. It was special to hear of your little violet posies for your mum.
Turn, best wishes for a great shop at the farmers market.
I’m on track with my veggie use (touch wood and whistle). This is a picture of my fruit bowl after my shop https://imgur.com/a/KIx5CBK It is starting to subside now.
I did manage to make kimchi yesterday (but forgot to rinse the leaves so it is going to be super salty. Oops). And I got my kvass jar full of brewing beetroot. Today I am hoping to make ramekins lined with brown rice and layered with grilled eggplant and chickpea and vegetable stew (Middle Eastern flavours) that can be stored in fridge and freezer for easy meals later on. Plus a lentil and mushroom dish, and a big pot of soup (first to make stock with all the chicken bones I have been saving up). So lets hope I can manage at least some of that!
Time to head off. Soup stock first on the list.
Best wishes everyone. Have a lovely fasty (if fasting), mindful, pleasurable day.
Hello all. A quick post as I have to head of the hospital shortly for my biannual RA treatment drug review. I’d appreciate any good karma you can send my way, I always worry before these sessions that I’m going to fail one of the critical measures and lose access to my treatment drug. It doesn’t help that my GP is away so I have no advance warning of my blood test results.
Cinque, I am so pleased to see some fruit in your fruit bowl. It doesn’t seem that long ago that you were too concerned about the effect of fructose on you that you avoided all fruit. I’m so glad that you’ve found a way to incorporate small quantities into your diet. I’m sure it makes the 7 a day easier.
Is that a quince? I haven’t seen them in the green grocer here – you have to know someone with a backyard tree.
I love pale pink camellias too. I have a pair of them in very large pots on my verandah. They were in the garden at my previous house, but I dug them up and put them in pots before I put the house on the market so I could take them with me. Oddly enough they seem to be doing better here in pots that they did in the garden bed in the hills. Normally they love hills conditions, but they had a lot of competition from the roots of the neighbours trees which I think slowed down their growth.
Betsy, how lovely that violets have those special memories for you too.
Thin, was anyone you know in WA impacted by that big storm that hit the coastline? It sounded like it was going to impact further south than they usually do.
Turn, have fun at the farmers market. I haven’t been to one of those in a while, just very quick trips to the green grocer.
Neil, if you feel smaller but weight more I’m with Penguin – it’s muscle.
Penguin, is it Wednesday treatment day for you again? Hope it goes well.
Well I must go. Take care everyone.
The treatment drug review went all. I passed all the requirements to maintain access for another 6 month.
Also had the wonderful treat of a walk in the hills with my best friend this afternoon.We used to walk every week but this is our first walk since things shut down. Nice to do some normal things again.
Quick check-in as I’ve a zoom meeting in 10 minutes
Good to see progress, Neilithicman, and if it’s muscle, of course it’s a bit heavier.
Cinque, re plantar fasciitis, I’ve had it a couple of times, and a couple of things my physio told me:
Make sure I wear shoes with slight heels, not flat, even around home – think slippers that have a slight incline up.
Freeze a lemon, and use it at least once, hopefully more often, each day, rolling it under the affected foot, forward and back.
Hope those help.
Goodnight all
Well I’ve got my wife to take my pic so I can compare. Of course she rolled her eyes and told me I was obsessed. It certainly looks like I have more muscle and less fat. They’re taken at slightly different angles, but my face and neck seems thinner, my arms and chest bigger, and a bit more definition in the abs and chest muscles. I don’t feel too bad about the extra 2 kilos after lockdown now
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43493775@N06/49941212031/in/album-72157709225372313/
Evening everyone. Anzac I’m stealing your trick tonight by typing my post in a word document (to paste into the forum) so I can have both the forum and the document open at the same time. That way I can read posts and then type responses. Always too hard when I use my phone to scroll up and my memory for ‘who said what’ isn’t so good.
Thin I had a visit to the dentist last week and came out $440 lighter in my purse…ouch. The dreaded toothache that was slowly becoming more achy ended up being a broken filling. So out with the old filling and in with the new. Wow wish I could earn $440 for 35 minutes work. The dentist then advised that the 2 root canals I had done donkeys years ago would need capping at a cost starting from $1800 each. ‘Thanks I’ll keep that in mind’ I said as I ran out the door clutching my empty purse.
Betsylee so sorry to hear of your plumbing problems and the subsequent comfort eating which was understandable given the $$ quoted for repairs. I have an issue with heights as well, as soon as I’m near a ledge or edge I have this weird feeling come over me and can see myself tipping over, as if I’m top heavy and it will happen automatically. Last year when MissD and I went to Melbourne for a week we visited the Eureka Skydeck which is 285 metres above the ground. I struggled to even stand near the glass windows on the top deck. MissD insisted we go out onto the balcony (which is enclosed with a cage) and I thought my life was coming to an end. I went out but stood right next to the internal doorway, holding onto the door frame for dear life and didn’t venture out further than that. I actually felt physically ill and my heart was racing. Needless to say I motioned to MissD very quickly that it was time to get back inside. I couldn’t wait to get back to terra firma.
Cinque I suffered badly from plantar fasciitis for approx. 12 months a few years back. Took me half hour every morning when I got out of bed to be able to walk properly and during the day I would have excruciating pain in my foot arch. I had massage therapy which was painful but my home treatment was rolling a tennis ball under my foot arch throughout the day. I also varied my heal height of my shoes every day so I wasn’t walking at the same height – lucky I have a wardrobe full of different shoes to be able to do this…haha.
Penguin, great news that your treatment is coming along well and you are not suffering from any major side effects. Ljoyce good on you for getting a great result today.
Well my Zoom interview went well this morning and today I applied for another 2 jobs – but – also received another 2 ‘thanks but no thanks’ emails. Time to get some reading in before shut eye. Good night all.
Good morning,
12c outside. 18c inside. Win! Thankyou heater.
LJoyce, hooray for that six month check. Such a lot of stress to have twice a year. I remember the feeling of my disability pension checks every two years. Super anxiety. Fortunately they eventually stopped bothering (I promise, if I could go back to work I would!). I suppose they can’t stop checking yours. Well, a lovely 6 months ahead of you. Starting now.
What a treat the walk with your friend was. Hope you have another one soon.
Excellent, that your beautiful camellias are so happy in their pots.
Here is the second last bunch of flowers to keep that lung infection cleared up! Glorious, architectural waratahs today https://www.pearsonsflorist.com.au/media/magefan_blog/Waratah.jpg
Neil, that extra 2kg is definitely not fat! Great definition.
Gday, nice work with your new post writing protocol. A lovely newsy post, but big sympathy re the dentist. It is worth the money though, one of those stitch in time saves nine things. Hopefully you get a good job and then you can fly over to Thin’s dentist in Thailand.
Thankyou so much Betsy and Gday for feedback about my feet. Ooh Gday, that would have been a dreadful year. My bout lasted a month and let up when I threw away my crocs and massaged my feet well. I suffer so much from cold feet that the thought of ice on them made me shriek, but if I have further trouble I would try the frozen lemon, Betsy. The tip about a slight heel is SO helpful! And I am going to dig out a tennis ball and roll around on it (what a thought! Roll my foot around on it, I should say!), because even though the pain has subsided I am noticing I am sort of rolling over on my ankles when I stand and I had better put a stop to that. The ball might help.
I’ve just broken my fast with mushrooms on toast and a wonderful cup of tea. No, two wonderful cups of tea 🙂
Yesterday turned into and excellent day! I got into the cooking zone (watching Masterchef is paying off 😉 !) and made my stock, my ramekins and my lentils. Just pottered along with one step after the next and wasn’t hungry. Drank litres of water, which is good for me. The freezer is full to bursting with prepared food, the fridge is full of delicious things to take me to my next fast day. The fruit bowl is nearly empty!
I’m afraid fruit is still not good for me, I do test it now and then. But in the bowl was an apple Miss 5 ate on Monday, an orange Miss 3 will have today. A pear that was grated into the kimchi for the microbes to feast on, and a quince that will perfume the kitchen for a few more days, and then be made into a lamb stew, so I will eat it!
Hmm, the little one will be here soon, I had better start getting ready. (Code for, time to make coffee!)
Missing you Lindsay!
Good wishes to everyone.
PS Crazy, you are the best lurker! Popping in with a pertinent comment and then off again. Haha. I hope things are going well for you.
Hi all, checking in early today.
Neilithicman, definitely more muscle weighing more heavily, from your photo comparison. Even so, keeping a watchful eye on calorie intake will have to become a part of maintenance life, something I have yet to experience, but I’m already wary about it. I still have 18-19 kgs to go to reach my goal weight, but 12 kgs will bring me to a BMI of 25, so I may see where my doctor would like me to stop. Or where I feel most comfortable (depending on the wrinkles! 🙂 ).
GDayfromSA, good to hear from you, and great that your tooth filling was fixed, despite the ouch to the pocket. I’ve a small filling coming up in a couple of weeks. At least I know it’s only a small filling, as it was found at my general check-up a few months ago. It was meant to be filled early April, but Covid-19 interfered.
Ugh, Euraka Skydeck – I went up there once with my students. I’m okay if I look out, but not down, so enjoyed the panoramic view of Melbourne, but you couldn’t have paid me to step out onto the clear glass area! One hotel I stayed at in China had external glassed lifts (elevators, Cali) and I stood right at the back and refused to look at anything. Did not like them AT ALL.
Cinque, beautiful waratahs, and I know they’re for LJoyce, but I’ll take them as well. Hope you and the little one (Miss 3?) had a ball today.
Re the frozen lemon, a tennis ball works just as well to stretch out and massage the underneath of the foot, rolling the ball up and down for a couple or few minutes. The idea of the lemon is if the area is painful, the cold helps.
Hi Crazy Artist, good to know you’re hovering.
Penguin, hope all is going well. Any movement on the house front?
Anzac65, haven’t had any Maxx stories, or LindsayL, any Rosy stories, for a while. They always amuse!
Have a good day everyone.
Wow Neil, thanks for the photos. Muscle man. I’d love to see a ‘before’ and ‘after’ 5:2! Seeing those photos, I can’t imagine you ever being overweight. Do you have a photo of you at this weight but wearing your original trousers?
LJ, that reminds me, now that you’ve seen and read everything about me and OH including our inside leg measurements, I’m yet to receive that promised photo of you that you were going to dig out for me. 🙂 Our ex-neighbours had a few limbs down in the storm and our friends in the hills said it was a non-event. It made the news here though. We did have all the lights on when we entered the tunnel but one of us may have brushed past the panel housing the switches or maybe having so many lights on at once tripped the switch. Anyway, a shortish tunnel is coming up, and we’ll know better.
Penguin, I hope the treatment went well yesterday and that you met some interesting people in the mobile unit.
GDSA, I went in for a routine cleaning to a dentist in Spain and came out $300 poorer than expected after three small fillings were agreed to. As Cinque mentioned, if you do need extensive dental work, I can’t recommend BIDC in Thailand highly enough (obviously, this would have to be thoroughly re-assessed after covid). Interested to read your experiences with heights. I can be very high up as long as it’s not a balcony or a floor to ceiling window so I don’t think mine’s a thing with heights so much as ‘edges’.
Betsy, I wonder if elevators will be a thing of the past after all this! This is a bit rude but someone sent one of those covid jokes saying that they used to cough to cover up a f*rt, now they f*rt to cover up a cough!
Cinque, that was a good FD. I am glad life is returning to normal for you.
I felt sorry for OH and his desperation for ‘meat and potatoes’ and made goulash (on a warm summer-like day) from some very expensive beef we’d bought at a farm shop a couple of weeks back. What a happy man. And, I admit, it was delicious and tender. No potatoes for me. Fish pie for dinner tonight. I’m thoroughly enjoying reasonably priced fish and cheese after the extortionate prices we used to pay in WA.
Have a great day everyone.
Hi Thin, I posted some photos when I first hit my goal weight but I can post them again. This was me at Christmas 2018, I’m about my heaviest here at around 132 kilos, I started the fast800 about a month later
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43493775@N06/48978779676/in/album-72157709225372313/
This is me at about 88 kilos and wearing my fat man pants
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43493775@N06/48978960167/in/album-72157709225372313/
And this is my wife and I both fitting into the same pair of pants
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43493775@N06/48978776076/in/album-72157709225372313/
I guess it goes to show that you can’t always go solely by what the scales say.
Neil, thanks, I enjoyed those photos so much! Sorry I missed them the first time around. I used to have more time on my hands and could pay proper attention to absolutely everyone’s posts on this thread. That all changed last year when we were selling our house and subsequent big changes – and I regret missing so much of everyone’s lives on here. Your family look very proud of you. Who’s the artist in the family? Great photos of NZ too.
LJ, thanks for your photos too. Wow, I thought I knew you! I know that you are younger than I, yet I always pictured you being older for some reason. Probably because you always seem to know so much. And I do know that you colour your hair, yet I’d always pictured you with a grey bob. No idea why. I also imagined you to be much heavier than you are. With the weight off, you look 20 years younger in the second photo. That’s blown everything! Now I’m wondering who else doesn’t fit my mental image.
Good morning friends, how can it already be Friday? (But not complaining). Work has been very very busy
Cali, the news from the US is terrifying. I hope you are ok and keeping away from the protests.
Neil, I echo the others – definitely more muscle. Looking good! Love those photos
G’day, dentists are SO expensive and I’m sorry this happened when you least needed it. Fingers crossed that the zoom interview turns into a great job for you
I am also afraid of heights and get a sick and numbing sensation in the pit of my stomach if I am outside and up high. I’m ok if there is glass between me and the outside world but on a balcony or similar…nope. Imagine my pride when I managed to go up the Eiffel Tower on Christmas day last year and even walk around. I stuck to the far side wall and clung to OH like a limpet though.
Tracking to 800-1000 calories all week – yay! The scales are moving downwards albeit slowly. Must. Not. Stuff. It. All. Up. On. The. Weekend
Sorry to hear about your foot Cinque, I hope the elevated shoes and tennis ball rolling helps. Yay for your freezer full of awesome food and enjoy Miss 3.
LJ – so happy that you can continue to receive your medication and your walk with your friend must have been lovely
Betsy – Mr Maxx is still up to his tricks but it is impossible to stay mad at him. This morning he nicked a t-shirt from the washing basket (‘someone’ left the lid up) and stood in front of me with it in his mouth tail wagging madly and when I walked towards him he did his cute sideways leap out through the open back door and onto the deck with a big prancing run and his head shaking with pure joy. He is pretty good at giving his booty back once you catch him but often it is too late and he has managed to put a hole in it. I’ll try and get a picture because it looks like he has the biggest grin on his face when he has a mouthful of clothing or other stolen prize.
Hope you are still going ok Penguin. Thinking of you. Here is a very smiley Maxx sending his best drool and fur for your continued good progress
http://imgur.com/gallery/8hlgpC2
Your goulash sounds amazing Thin and glad that your hubby has a happy tummy full of his favourite food.
Must run and do some work. Take care all
Hello all, from a gloriously sunny 24 degree Brisbane. Not that I am seeing much of it … my glass door and louvres to the courtyard are open, and the sun is streaming in, and my Rosy is sitting at my feet …but I am head down, ploughing on with the thesis.
Thank you for the call-out Cinque – it made me remember I’ve been MIA for a little while as I’ve tried to focus on my work. Sorry about your foot – good advice from the others. OH suffered with it too – and then one day it was gone! He is now in a lot of pain with gout – always problematic for a man with less than one kidney who doesn’t like to drink water! He has finally booked a telecall ….well facetime call with his GP.
Neil, muscle definitely. Such definition. I went back to look at your ‘before’ pic. What a transformation.
Anzac, those pups! Rosy was running in the field during the week, and whipped past a little tot …maybe 18 months … who was holding a comforter. Zip, it was gone! She did victory laps for a few minutes, also grinning, until she came and dropped it at his feet. His sister (one of the little Chinese children) assured me Rosy wasn’t to blame. Not sure about that! Fortunately his parents were pretty sanguine about it too.
Penguin, hope your treatment’s gone well this week, and your house hunting is progressing without too much stress.
Good outcome for your medication LJ. But a shame you have to go through this every 6 months. Nice to have a lovely walk with your friend.
Thin, I didn’t realise other people had that thing about throwing themselves off balconies up high. I am terrified of heights too Anzac & G’day … good for you both for tackling towers. My worst was when I was travelling with my kids when they were maybe 6 and 8. We climbed to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa (it had no rails at that time) and as I was edging around, my terrors had a spat and started pushing each other.
Ooh Betsy that plumbing sounds expensive ….I like your approach, tackling it one step at a time.
Thin, things are slowly creeping back to a more ‘normal’. Kids back at school this week. Our premier is under fire because she’s keeping the borders closed still. Actually most of the other states are doing the same. Sad news here with a 30 year old dying of CV. Also some breath holding in Rockhampton, after a nurse who had travelled overseas went to work in an aged care facility. She was unwell and had been tested, but returned to work before she received her diagnosis. It’s the problem isn’t it – we can all be very cautious, but it just takes one lapse for someone to put others at risk. Our tourism industry is struggling, but who knows what is the right approach to take.
My daughter and Miss 4 came this morning for a sit in the courtyard and a cuppa, which was delightful. ‘But I can’t come into your house marmar, because you have germs’. Mmmmm……
I am struggling with weight loss. After a great start, I’ve propped. I am sticking with it, and making good choices. My body just doesn’t seem to want to move.
Hope you are all doing well – Cali, Turn, Crazy and all others I’ve missed
A quick PS for Thin – I loved reading ‘when we come back to Oz’. I’d wondered if you’d relocated permanently.
Hello everyone.
I’ve just put a cake in the oven for my best friend’s birthday. I’ll deliver it later in the day after she’s finished work.
He favorite cake is really old fashioned – a cherry madeira cake. It’s such an old recipe that it predates the invention of baking powder as is risen by very well beaten eggs. Although the baked cake still has a very dense texture – reminds me of a friand. It gets its name from how it was originally consumed – with a glass of medeira. I find the history of baking really interesting and love getting the opportunity to bake such old recipes. It’s hard to imagine that there was a time when the only way to get a cake to rise was to use either yeast or lots of eggs.
Neil, I think the biggest change in your two photos is the muscle definition on your torso – so clearly evident in the second photo.
Cali, I just saw the news of the riots happening in the US. I’m very glad you are tucked away in a relatively quiet county, I hope that means that you are removed from the troubles – other than the virus of course.
Anzac, thank you for the smiling Maxx. I’m also impressed by those very clean floors with a dog in the house.
Betsy & Anzac, I’m another who gets vertigo. I’m fine if I look out into the distance at the view but not straight down, then I start to sway and feel like I’m going to faint.
Thin, very glad you both enjoyed the goulash. It is delicious, I made some a few weeks ago and still have a couple of serves in the freezer.
As to the photos I emailed. I would have been 51 in the first photo and 57 in the second. As to the hair colour – I am totally grey as I started getting grey hairs when I was just 17. I started colouring my hair in my early 20s (initially with streaks) to hide the grey and by my late 20s I was using all over colour. I had originally planned to stop colouring it when I retired – but that was 5 years ago and I haven’t stopped yet. Maybe another decade.
(Sorry to everyone else, I’m not comfortable posting photos that include my face online yet. I do worry about the traces I leave on the internet.)
BY the way Thin, I think you’ve done rather well to keep your face off of your blog – the photos are always a back view of you on the barge – either holding a rope or paintbrush.
Cinque, I hope those suggested remedies help your foot. I haven’t had the issue you described but have just managed to get rid of my corn from the sole of one foot. I just hope this doesn’t become a repeating pattern.
I was a bit sad to hear that you weren’t able to eat most of that fruit. Given that you seem to do OK with veggies that contain reasonable amount of sugar, it makes me wonder if it’s specifically frustose rather than sugars generally that are the problem.
Thanks for the lovely red waratahs. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them as a large bunch before – banksias yes, but not waratahs.
GDSA, commiserations for the dental bill. They are always an enormous shock when major dental work is required.
Good to hear that your interview went well though, I really hope that job lands in your lap soon.
CrazyA, hello, hope you are doing well.
Turn, where are you now – still in Nelson?
As usual it’s taken me so long to finish writing this that I’ve just pulled that cake out of the oven. https://imgur.com/LUfjNKl
To me it looks like a plain tea cake and nothing like a decorated birthday cake, but it’s what the birthday girl wants. I must admit I personally hate glace cherries and this is the only time I ever buy them.
My weekend is looking rather normal – probably because many of the restrictions end here in South Australia today (although there are still strict venue number limits). I’m going out to dinner tomorrow night and then heading down to my nephew’s place for the day on Sunday to help my great niece make a quilt for her 2 year old cousin.
Some more good news that I forgot to mention. The rheumatologist I saw on Wednesday said it was now safe for me to start using anti-inflammatories again, now that there was no community transmission of covid in Adelaide. There were early signs back in March of a correlation between anti-inflammatories and the infection so I haven’t been able to take them for 3 months. Although I don’t use them every day I do need them a couple of times a week and their absence has been very noticeable. I have taken them for the last 2 days and my back pain is greatly reduced. So much better!
Take care everyone. Hope you have nice plans for the weekend.
Afternoon came around quickly. It was zoom sisters this morning, and a bit of nice pottering around.
Betsy, so glad you enjoyed the flowers too!
I’m having a nice time eating well today (lull day). 5 serves of veggies between breakfast (2) and lunch (3). Now for a good break until dinnertime.
Feet update: I did some internet research to find good slippers (so important for my cold feet and now needing them to support my feet too). I found an excellent pair, beautifully designed and made of sheepskin, slight elevated heel and lots of arch support. Made for men, not in my size, not shipped to Australia and costing over $200. Haha. Ended up buying a pair of ugboots and will buy an arch support insert.
Yes, that frozen lemon is the perfect combination of ice and a tennisball. I did a few minutes with a tennis ball this morning and felt it was very therapeutic. On my list of about 14 little things I have to try to do each day to help the various parts of me that are failing. Good grief, getting old is a hassle! But, okay, I am very grateful for the things I can do to help my health.
I did have a lovely time with Miss 3. Lots of puzzles and we were even able to go to the playground, they have just reopened. We washed our hands when we got home!
Thin, the goulash sounds wonderful, and I bet you have breezed through the tunnels. Haha, it is a rare person who fits my mental picture of them. In fact I don’t think it has ever happened! Life is so full of surprises.
Anzac, lovely to see your post. TGIF! Well done with those restricted eating days, and all power to you for a really good weekend. Hope you can do so much running with Maxx, the days are done before you can overeat.
Maxx is looking adorable.
LJoyce, I looked for a sweet little bunch of snowdrops and violets for you, but google couldn’t deliver, so I have chosen this pretty, delicate, one. https://media02.living4media.com/previews/MTMzNzc1NjA0/11147967-Spring-posy-of-snowdrops-grape-hyacinths-anemones-and-glory-of-the-snow.jpg
Let me know if that naughty infection tries to return!
Bye now, sending best wishes and all good things.
Ha ha LJ, if only you could see my floors right now. Dog hair everywhere and the kitchen needs mopping badly. I will finish work at 4.00pm and get stuck into them.
Your cake looks very nice but I’m with you on glace fruit. Ick. I don’t enjoy many cakes but I do like carrot and banana (not together). So glad you can get back on the anti-inflammatories. I take Ibuprofen quite regularly for my various aches and pains but I do try not to overdo it.
Lindsay, take comfort in the fact that Rosy was a good girl and brought the comforter back. Maxx would take off and then chew it to bits, spit it out and trot back.
You will be very glad when that thesis is done. It sounds very complex and you must need to concentrate very hard.
Beautiful flowers Cinque and Maxx said “aw shucks” and “fanks” for your lovely compliment.
I missed you saying ‘When we come back to Oz” Thin. Yippeee! Oh and I heard another funny covid joke. It used to be that when you are embarrassed about the loud crash of bottles as your recycling bin gets collected you would say “I’m not an alcoholic, I just had a party”. Now you say “I’m just an alcoholic, I didn’t have a party!”
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