Good morning, Fast Day again!
And a hot, humid, at home day plus I really need to cook (African) beef stew and futari, which might be harder to leave til tomorrow than bread is.
Oh well, it is just one day, and I can do anything for just one day.

And I have just watered the garden, so it is looking happy.

Yesterday was home help and I wasn’t in the mood for it, but didn’t want to cancel it. Done now. After that I went and invested in another set of pillow and mattress protectors so it is easier to change them regularly. They were on special 40% off, yay!

LJoyce, nearly back to 80kg after day 1. Woot! All power to you!

World pulse day is over and I did enjoy my last bowl of the mung bean soup last night, and I also have some white beans soaking to add to the beef stew. I think with hummus you can count yourself celebrated! (Unless you are in the habit of calling any dip hummus, not a chickpea in sight!)

I think urad is the most common base for poppadams, it is often counted as a lentil as people translate the Indian information. I thought it was a lentil for years, moong dal also.

So glad your heat patches are making a difference, although a little bit sad they aren’t a miracle treatment.

I loved those photos (especially the middle one with the beautiful sun and shade on the lovely grass and trees). It would be so cool to have a bottle of those grapevines’ wine.

Thin, yikes, I googled Turkish Get Up Exercise.

Pass.

I’ve also seen the lovely ad with Elton John and Michael Caine. Just gorgeous.
Wow I did figure your neighbours must be burning coal. Taking me back to our briquette heater of the 1970’s.
The media is settling down after that flurry of fear about the AZ vaccine.
Here is our roll out plan:
Phase 1a
Quarantine and border workers
Frontline health care worker sub-groups for prioritisation
Aged care and disability care staff
Aged care and disability care residents
Phase 1b
Elderly adults aged 80 years and over
Elderly adults aged 70-79 years
Other health care workers
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people > 55
Younger adults with an underlying medical condition, including those with a disability
Critical and high risk workers including defence, police, fire, emergency services and meat processing
Phase 2a
Adults aged 60-69 years
Adults aged 50-59 years
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 18-54
Other critical and high risk workers
Phase 2b
Balance of adult population
Catch up any unvaccinated Australians from previous phases
Phase 3
< 16 if recommended

You will love your heatwave (happily ours ends late tonight).

Hello Anzac,
Doesn’t mindfulness make a difference!
Haha, good scientific result on your scales. All power to you today too.

I started off thinking I wanted my own wonderful library, but then realised I only had a core of books I read and reread and mostly gave up collecting books. But I did get about 8 books from the library every week to devour.
I was the quickest one to learn to read in my family. Fifth out of seven, my mum didn’t manage to teach me, she said I just picked it up as if it was innate. I noticed later that it meant I was better at teaching maths, that I struggled to learn, because I had no strategies to pass on about reading. I learned ofcourse, and love how kids learn in so many different ways, and get their letters and spelling sorted as they go.

Neil, that is such interesting reading about cortisol. Seriously, it really resonates with CFS, even though our ‘too much’ is having a shower and making breakfast! Merry, are you reading, do you agree?

Enjoy some long leisurely rides.

Penguin https://assets.eflorist.com/site/50006000/About%20Us/m3560225-50006000-logo.png?1500746001315

Ok off for another fasty fast day. Cheers all.

Back for a quick second post for the day.

Thin I looked again at Dr M’s 800 book – his explanation for increasing the calories on FDs is that the first lot of science was done with animals, and since then there’ve been human trials which have proven that 800 is the magic number for weight loss and the health benefits which come with restricted calorie intake.

The tree loppers are back, and much as I’ve tried to sound sanguine about it, I’m close to tears. They’ve regrouped and brought out the big guns, and this time there’s a chap taking down a very old , huge grey gum. Such a feature of their back garden, and I have no idea what my neighbour is trying to achieve. I heard her say to the loppers that she wanted to get rid of the trees because that’s all she could see from her bedroom. Mmmmm. The neighbouring block on her bedroom side is native bush, so unless she’s sending her environmental vandals down to clear it, she’ll still continue to see trees. There are more big trees on the block (it’s a large one) so I guess they’ll be next. (and yea Thin for karma!)

Anzac I’m also impressed that you are running. I don’t know that I could do that at this stage, but have put my name on a weight list at the swim school down the road for water aerobics twice a week. The program’s just reopening later this month, after a covid suspension. I find I really lack flexibility – any suggestions, any one?

Sorry Klondi – it was your question about our bees. I’ve planted a lot of blue through to purple flowers which the bees are reputed to love, but so far it’s the native bees that I see flocking to them – particularly my old favourite, the blue banded bee. I also bought some aubergine and basil plants at the nursery, for the same reason, and I’m being rewarded with lovely produce.

John your Shark Bell group sound like a real community service, as well as a lot of fun. And so did your lunch with your grand-daughter …special times.

Neil, remind me. You lost buckets when you did the Fast800 for 12 weeks, I seem to remember. You are right – after the first few days, the patterns emerge and the hunger subsides.

Thin, I’m with you on books and electronic devices for kids. I feel sorry when I see little ones at restaurants being ‘entertained’ with videos as the parents sit and talk. My DD takes both kids to the library once a week, and they come home with all manner of reading matter….a quite eclectic mix. I’m not too proud to say that the little ones often surprise me with facts I didn’t know.

OK OH is ready to be taken for new super duper shoes which are going to help his feet, according to the highly recommended orthotist we saw a couple of days ago. I would love to see Mr L back running – our Rosy has been entered in her first show in a fortnight, and one of us is going to have to canter around the ring with her.

best wishes all

(Great news Thin that you and OH have had your first shots. Such a relief.)

It’s been too many days since I’ve posted, but I have been reading everyone’s posts.
GDAY, I’m so sorry to hear of your loss. It’s so sad to lose someone. I’m glad your hand is recovering from that burn. That must be so painful.

LJ, I agree that it would be hard to sleep with a hot back patch on a warm summer night, but glad they are offering some relief for your back pain. They will be more comforting in the winter when it’s cold.
The photos you posted from your walk in the neighboring suburb are beautiful. Everything looks so lush and green for summer.

Cinque, I’ve been making lots of bean soups, mostly my own version of African recipes with the different spices. Yesterday’s started with the Nigerian red bean soup recipe with a few additions. The high fiber makes them very filling and because it’s winter here, they’re comforting. Tonight we have rain again and it’s about 9C. We’ve been getting up to about 13 or 14 during the day. Good soup weather.

Thin, so glad to hear that both you and OH got your first vaccines. Do you think OH was actually I’ll from it or just doing the “sick guy” thing? I’ve only heard of one other person here who had more than just a sore arm from the first jab. A few people have gotten the second one, here usually 3 or 4 weeks later and most have had fatigue, muscle aches and some had fevers and headaches for a couple days. We go next week for our first Pfizer jabs.
We did see that show you mentioned, “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix. Pretty disturbing stuff and I’m sure it’s driving a lot of the political unrest. I can’t recall if I mentioned “Fire Fly Lane” on Netflix but it’s a 10 episode series that had been good so far. But there is a LOT of jumping back and forth in time which can be confusing at first.

Lindsay, that’s so sad about your neighbor cutting down so many trees. I think looking at trees from the bedroom window is beautiful. What would she rather be looking at?

Anzac, we learned to read before we went to school because we had a lot of books in our home and both of my parents loved to read. Neither of them enjoyed the maths and neither did I. But I remember going to the school library and the local bookmobile and checking out stacks of books each week, even in the first grade. Our home now is filled with bookshelves, too many books really, and although we go through them every so often and donate books, I end up buying mostly Kindle books these days, partly because of the convenience and partly to avoid the clutter of more books.

Klondi, it’s so good to see you back here again. That elbow injury sounds really painful and it’s so easy to bump into things with it during the day. I hope it’s healing well.

Neil, you get so much exercise that I think you would have to really overeat to gain much weight these days. Are your knees completely recovered from the accident?

Penguin, hope your move is going well. I know you said there would be an interim move while the other house was going through some renovations. Those things can sometimes take longer than expected. I hope your health problems are under control. I miss your posts.

I’m going to head off to bed and try to get a good nights sleep. I somehow managed over 8 hours last night with only a few short wake ups during the night, and I felt so much better for it this morning.

Good evening all

I spent much of the day in Stirling, with a one hour hilly walk to Aldgate and back before our cafe lunch. I did order the green goddess chicken salad as planned. It was delicious, but I could tell by the flavour and texture, that the dressing was laden with oils and pureed nuts. Never mind, I have also eaten a light dinner too, which definitely takes me well over 1000cals, but certainly still under my TDEE – dinner’s a meal I find impossible to skip. I’m feeling a bit sanguine about having a higher calorie day today as I weighed this morning and found myself down to 79kg already – that’s 3.4kg for four days on 800cal. I’m actually pretty shocked at the weight loss. That used to happen when I was much heavier but not in more recent years. I must have really had a lot of extra fluid (and probably inflammation, if the state of my knees is an indication) on board. I’m back to strict Fast800 tomorrow for a couple more weeks to get me comfortably into my preferred range and to allow for the fact that when I go back to 5:2 some of the fluid and possibly some lost glycogen will come straight back.
After lunch today we spent an hour meandering through the Stirling shops to look for a few things we needed (locally grown peaches were high on my agenda). It’s not a very long main street but we managed to accumulate a surprising 4000 steps while shopping for fruit & veg and a valentines gift (my friend needed this for her husband). I came to the conclusion that shopping is good for your health. I’m not sure it will be good for my friend’s husband – he’s getting chocolates.

Cali, lovely to hear from you. I was going to ask if you’d had your first vaccine yet, but Thin beat me to it. Unlike Thin I had remembered it as mid-Feb – we were both wrong it was in between our guesses. I hope everything goes well for the vaccination.
Yes there is a lot more green around here than usual for this time of year. We’ve had a bit more rain and milder temperatures than is usual for summer here. Normally most of summer is in the 30s, but this year we’ve had more days in the 20s. That’s really rare and as someone who hates hot weather, it’s one of the few summers I’ve liked.

Thin, I loved life on Mars. Although there is a supernatural element to it, I found that I forgot that and just got involved in the story. I enjoyed the music soundtrack too. Although it got poor ratings, I also enjoyed the follow-up series Ashes to Ashes.

Cinque, I absolutely loved the penguin holding flowers picture – what a perfect image for Penguin.
I have to ask, what is futari? When I did a google search they said it was wagu beef – I didn’t think that’s what you meant.
Do you know whether you are part of the “underlying medical condition” vaccine group? I found one list to see if I was included, it said “certain inflammatory conditions” – not very helpful!

Lindsay, I must admit not liking the view of trees from your window sounds like madness to me. If you were on an elevated sight and some trees were were blocking a a fabulous long view then I’d understand.
I hadn’t realised you were planning to show Rosy. I can you doing a lot of trial runs so she behaves in the ring.

Betsy & Cinque, so sorry to see you are back in lockdown. Hopefully the short period will be enough. We only had a short one here after the November outbreak at it really gave the contact tracers time to find the thousands of primary and secondary contacts and get them tested and quarantined at home. I really makes a difference to community spread.

Take care all.

Good afternoon all.

Sorry for all the errors in my previous most – I just reread it!

Cinque, thankyou for the description of futari. I vaguely remember asking you about it last time too. It would be quite sweet and nearly dessert territory with those veggies and spices – although when looking at recipes I still found one that thought adding sugar was necessary – seriously? I suspect our recipe relies on the natural sugars in the veg. On this morning’s walk I meandered through a local community garden and found a patch of trombone with very long curly necks. They are still immature and green, so I’ll be interested to see just how large they are once ripe.

Thin, I know it’s worrying seeing negative media stories about the reduced effectiveness of the Oxford vaccine on the S.A. variant. However there is no way (with the internet) for these results to be suppressed or to stop all the questions. I think the best approach is to be very quick to address this issue publicly giving the facts and also being very clear as to how it can and importantly how it can’t be interpreted. I find I’m most reassured by the press conferences where there is the PM or Premier(s) accompanied by the chief health officer and any others with important contributions to make. It means that all the questions get answered by people who actually know what they are talking about and can give accurate and detailed responses. Being quick to do this is also important as I think it can reduce the amount of misinformation that gets widely circulated.
I did hear good news on Wednesday, that South Africa have decided to start using the Oxford vaccine again, but they are initially doing it as a trial with 100,000 people (hopefully they are sampling a range of age and risk groups). That should give much more useful data than we currently have. They are ideally placed to do this as they have most of the cases of this variant. It also means that if their results show effectiveness against serious disease they may choose to quickly resume their previous vaccination program.

After yesterday’s extra calories I have slipped happily back into an 800cal day.
I have taken a serve of bolognese from the freezer, added cooked soybeans, tomato pasta sauce and chilli sauce to it and then divided it between 2 bowls. I was inspired by Thin’s huevos rancheros a few days ago. Tonight I will add a poached egg to the top of one bowl for dinner. I’ll see what I feel like adding to the second serve tomorrow.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend.

Instalment two!

Jonykiwi, that was a great biking group hoto you posted, and what a lovely lunch you had with your grand-daughter.

Neilithicman, good that you hit your cycling goal, but it does sound as if you need to ease off a bit. Maybe include some rest days amongst the exercise?

CalifDreamer, it’s so good that you’ll get your first vaccine jab soon. You have been so confined for so long, it will be great when you can have a bit more freedom to do things you like, like a restaurant meal out.

Anzac65, I commiserate with you also re the carbs craving. Yes, let’s get back on the horse together (if we don’t kill the poor thing! 🙂 ).

Several people posted re their early learning/ reading. My parents didn’t have the money to send my brother and I to Kindergarten – in our day it was an option, rarely done by working-class families – so we learned to read at school. I don’t think not going the kindergarten held us back at all. I was an avid reader, plus I loved sums, unlike Anzac65. One of our favourite “things” as kids was climbing into bed with our father on Sunday morning while our mother made breakfast, and he would give us simple sums to do in our heads, my brother’s being a little harder than mine as he was a year older.

Now, like Cinque, I have heaps of books at home, not just in one room, but nearly everywhere – 13 bookcases worth. No, they’re not all read yet, as study does need to be done occasionally, but I’ve read well over half (two-thirds?) of the fiction books; the reference books are just that, for reference as needed. Most of the fiction books I’ve read have been read multiple times, because unless there’s something in them which appeals, I read them once and then give them to the op shop. In fact, these days, now I’m not working, I’ll often read a book in the library before deciding whether to buy it to add to my collection, so I don’t waste money on something I won’t be keeping. The unread third are waiting to be read, when I get around to it, and may end up being discarded.

Oops, that’s a long blurb on books, you may have guessed that I love reading. Reading on my Kindle only gets done when I go away from home, and many are duplicates of liked books I already have at home.

And de Minaur lost, Nadal won, as expected. Nadal will be playing Fognini, who beat de Minaur, in the next round. Should be a good match, so a good note on which to say “goodnight”.

Sunday fast day, a lovely Melbourne morning here. I hope it is as lovely where you are.

Hello LJoyce, I didn’t even notice any mistakes.
I did make my futari but I had no coconut milk (I ALWAYS have a couple of cans in the cupboard!) and couldn’t justify nicking out to buy some more in a lockdown. So used their substitute suggestion of peanut butter mixed with water. But it wasn’t as good, sigh. I’ll look forward to making it properly next time. Yes, all carbs, but a small serve on my plate is just wonderful.

Betsy, wonderful to see your posts and hear what is happening. I do love and miss research, including writing it up, BUT I also remember that dreadful stuckness when you are faced with it and stare in despair, and then go to the fridge.
Sending you best wishes and that you find a way through. My only tip is to write a list of what needs to be done, in smaller and smaller detail, until you eventually get to something so small and immediate that you can do it.

Writing down consumed items is a great reality check. I bet that works. Ooh and good luck getting the sinusitis cleared up too. Hasn’t the hot humid weather been hard. Hooray for as good a sleep as possible, and that tomorrow is always a new day.

Aren’t we a group of book lovers! But I don’t think I taught myself to read, I just learnt very easily, and being 5th of 7 children means there would have been lots of kids books etc around. The first word I remember reading myself was on the toilet like your DD, Thin. We had torn up squares of newspaper to use for toilet paper, and I found the word ‘the’. I would have been 4 I think.

Goodness, amazing to hear abut the ice. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to skate around the marina and along the canals!

Calling out to you, Intesha, if you are still reading. Are you in your new home? I do hope all has gone well.

Well, I gave myself a good talking to last night as I need to do cooking today (lots of zucchinis) and it is disappointing to do it on a day I won’t be eating them. But (as I said to myself) 5:2 is more important that a piece of zucchini slice, straight out of the oven! Or a serve of zucchini and meatballs in a spicy sauce.
Yes! I listened to myself. Low carb veggies today, and a fillet of fish poached in soup.

Cheers all

Hi all, another week of 40 deg plus coming up here which I’m not looking forward too.

I forgot to mention awhile back that Mr Gday was diagnosed with 3 hernias and has been in pain for quite some time. Late last week he went in for the operation and he is not recovering very well at all, has been bed ridden for the last 4 days and doesn’t look like being up and about anytime soon, which means I’m doing everything around the house and to be honest I’m exhausted. Hence why I’m not looking forward to the hot weather as it means the entire garden needs to be watered everyday which can be quite time consuming, on top of all the other daily household chores.

To cap it off the paving contractor rang to say he will be here on Tuesday on pave some pathways in the back yard so I’ve been busy preparing the area for that. I’m a bit annoyed as we okayed the quote over 6 months ago and he rings yesterday to say he will start on Tuesday. Happy for the job to be done but a bit more notice would have been nice. And I also start back at the gym tomorrow (Monday) so feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment with everything going on and having to wait on Mr Gday non stop (not his fault of course, just bad timing).

We have also been inundated with produce from the garden so I have been busy over the last few weeks making tomato sauce (15 large bottles), 26 large oven trays of slow roasted tomatoes for the freezer, 9 large jars of preserved lemons as well as drying a variety of herbs and chillies. Chooks are laying at least a dozen eggs a day and the zucchini vine is producing like mad so have also been making a lot of zucchini quiche for the freezer.

Last seasons Queensland Blue pumpkins which have been in storage also needed to be used as the hot and cold alternating weather of late has caused some of them to turn to mush so I’ve been making soup for the freezer as well. There are still 3 remaining so I have put them in the house where the temperature is more moderate soi= they last for the next month or so. This seasons Butternut pumpkin vine has an abundance of baby pumpkins so looking forward to those after eating Queensland Blue for the last 12 months.

I’m thankful for the meals I have in the freezer as it’s certainly made evening meals easier by defrosting soup and making some bread in the breadmaker (ooops – carbs) or defrosting spaghetti bolognaise or lasagne (ooops – carbs) or pasties (pastry – ooops – carbs). Oh well, it has been a trying time of late with so much going on so I guess I’ll get back on track when (if) things settle down back to normality. At least we have been having salad with most meals as the vegie patch is producing beautiful capsicums, lettuce and apple cucumbers.

On the up side I’ve been sleeping like a log every night, averaging 8 solid hours (with my standard 2am pit stop) but have not managed to fit in much daily exercise.

Has anyone been watching Dr MM on SBS (Thursday nights ?). I have enjoyed both episodes so far, not sure if there is more coming up. Some of the skin treatments on the last episode made me cringe, I don’t know how anyone could put themselves through the pain and discomfort, given that many of the treatments need to be done regularly.

I had a find in the supermarket the other day – slendier konjak noodles and spaghetti. I recall discussions on the forum before about them. LJoyce am I correct that you use them? Was there something about quickly frying them after cooking and a fishy taste/smell? Any tips would be appreciated.

Apologies that my posts of late have been all about me. I have been reading posts and keeping up but given my posts are so infrequent lately I forget who said what. Must dash, it’s getting late (only 8pm…lol) and I’m sleepy.

Good morning.

As it’s exactly one week since I started Fast 800 I decided I should weigh. Again the scales shocked me – I had gained 600g from last Friday. As I stuck to 800 cals on the weekend I can only assume it’s inflammation. If my knees are any guide, it’s definitely inflammation. The final number for the week is still a loss of 2.8kg and more importantly I’m still under 80 which is what matters to me more.

Thin, I don’t get many of the giant zucchinis, except when they are very good at hiding – I’ve just had two this year. I do call them marrow when they are large enough to stuff. The first one I did stuff but the second, which I found yesterday morning became zucchini chips by dehydrating them in the airfryer.

GDSA, If you are running around after everyone else I assume that means your hand is good again.
With konjac noodles I empty the bag into a collander and rinse in hot water. Drain well then put into a non-stick frying pan (or stainless steel with oil spray). Move them around until they have released some water and it’s evaporated. They will have a squeaky sound as you move them around the pan when they are ready. Then I remove the noodles and use as planned. I often did a stirfy so I used the same pan to fry the veg and at the end I’d add the noodles back. If you don’t dry them our like this I found they would release unwanted water into my meal. I remember that happening to a bolognese sauce once – the added water ruined it.
Thin mentioned the spiraliser. I sometimes combine the two by spriralising some zucchini and dry frying these along with the konjac noodles – the zucchini will release water too but it’s harder to get it all out.

As GDSA mentioned we are having hot summer days for at least the next week. I am not looking forward to it either as I just don’t like being outside when it’s hot so it really limits my activities. Morning walks only this week.

I don’t have to cook tonight as I have the leftover huevos rancheros in the fridge. I’m debating about whether I want it with 2 poached eggs again (probably because I had an omelette last night). I was thinking some boiled new potatoes might soak up that tomato sauce better. I’ll see what I feel like tonight, but I’ll cook the potatoes this morning so they develop resistant starch.

Have a good day everyone.

Hi Cinque, I’m glad you are on top of the zucchini situation. Mine was helped by giving my friend a bag of my zucchini and runner beans yesterday. Now my supply is manageable again. I am going to have to do some bean blanching and freezing soon as I can’t keep up.

There was a question raised (I think by Thin) about which vaccine our 1a group would get. That was actually asked at a recent press conference and I was surprised to find out that even the first group of recipients will get both Pfizer and AZ when approved. On reflection it actually makes a lot of sense. As our first batch of Pfizer is only 80k doses I guess it’s not enough to cover everyone in 1a. Also anyone in that group who isn’t both mobile and in a major city probably can’t receive Pfizer as I understand Pfizer clinics will be established mostly in a few major public hospitals that can guarantee the cold chain. They also said that this year you won’t get to choose which vaccine you get but from next year you might. Although I would hope that people with a history of serious allergies are allowed some choice this year.

Anzac, good morning. What a carry on with the video arguing. But also, very funny that, with the press of a button, those people instantly get their oxygen cut off. I bet you are glad to be able to work peacefully at home without all that distraction.

Yes, believe me, bread is a disaster for me. A good reminder though. Successfully back on 5:2 for two weeks and it’s working its magic.

LJ, anyone stating they have allergies to penicillin prior to receiving AZ is asked to return for the pfizer vaccine the following week. You’re right, logistically, the latter isn’t suitable for being administered other than in larger hubs due to waste/inability to cold store it.

CalifD, many of our friends in California have now reported having had the vaccine. It’s sounds like it’s going well.

Cinque, I’m laughing at your poverty memory upgrade to phone books. Even more impressive to find a teeny printed ‘the’.

I started this ten hours ago, forgot about it, closed the page but luckily I must have copied it at some point so hey presto! no lost post. Have a great day all.

Good afternoon everyone.

I have gotten off to a very slow start today and did not get out for a morning walk. I will have to take a trip to the shopping centre later and so laps of that huge area in airconditioned comfort. I find this option works well for brisk walking as long as I go either shortly before most shops open or just as they are closing. The centre is open long hours due to supermarkets and cinemas, but they barricade off the other areas through the night so I need to get the timing right.

I had a difficult food day yesterday and did not stick to 800 calories. I ended up somewhere around 1500 I think. Under my TDEE as I did over 13000 steps, but not what I’d planned. I decided to do a restricted choice day today as it basically forces me to stick to 800cals. I’m doing eggs today and have had hard boiled eggs for lunch and there are several more left for dinner. I still allow milk for tea – otherwise I just don’t think I could stick to it. I’ll see how strong I feel tomorrow. If another limited choices day is needed I’ll do veg.

Anzac, your story of Maxx’s hair (and Cinque’s story of her sister’s dog) reminds me of a lady I used to work with. She bred field spaniels and I never saw her show up to work without dog hair somewhere on her clothing. I couldn’t stand it.
My niece has a dog and 8 rescue cats (all kept indoors) and uses so many of those pet hair roller refills that she keeps Ikea in business. Every day she does the lounge and bedding with the roller and vacuums daily too. It does work as her house never smells like pets, despite the large menagerie – it really is a menagerie because they have a turtle, rabbit, fish and budgies too. My niece just resist an animal in trouble that needs a home.

Thin, you AZ share value has been mildly bolstered by the approval today for it’s use in Australia. Although it’s only been approved for those over 18 and anyone who is elderly will be assessed on a “case by case” basis. (I didn’t really get a clear idea of what that involved from the press conference.) I hope it means that the individual and their doctor can make an appropriate decision. They did say that the advice they have is that 12 weeks is the most efficacious gap between doses 1 and 2 for AZ. Which does cause some planning headaches as the best gap for Pfizer is 3 weeks – I’m sure they’ll figure it out as only a limited number of venues will be dealing with both.

Cinque, the colder summer hasn’t been kind to my zucchini plants either. I raised 2 varieties from seed and ended up with 7 plants, 3 of which produced either nothing or just a few male flowers. I too have a growing problem with the mildew, despite doing absolutely no overhead watering this year. I was a bit cranky on Sunday when I had 5 female zucchini waiting for fertilization and no males showed up for the party. Thankfully I had 2 male flowers the next day and carefully prised open the female flowers and manually applied a bit of pollen using a cotton bud. So far it looks like it worked for some of them. I find if it’s 2 days later it no good, but I sometimes get away with a 24 hour delay.
I do have a crop of rhubarb at the moment but am not tempted by a salad of raw rhubarb and radish (not fond of radish). I might have to see if the neighbours would like some as I have enough stewed rhubarb in the freezer for now.

Anzac, I too am horrified by the behaviour you are having to put up with. As ready mention cutting people off and the mute button can be a blessing at times. I think your original contract was 6 months but I vaguely remember it being extended when you dangled another contract opportunity under their noses. When is it due to expire now?
If this weather is heading east I suspect your mild weather days are numbered.
I too have a weird running style as I have crooked knees (although one was mostly straightened when I had the knee replacement done). Not that I run unless it’s an emergency as it’s not good for my joints.

Well I’m off to have a cuppa and change the tv channel – Parliament Question time has started and I just can’t watch such an absolute waste of time and money.
I do remember however that my dad used to find it highly entertaining – he would happily spend an hour arguing with whichever politician was speaking – it really was hilarious to watch. I clearly remember him having a go at Peter Garrett and his final punch line was “Yea and you can’t dance either!” It used to keep me and the nursing home staff amused.

Morning all, Weigh day today and I’m about the same as last week. I’ve only got a week to go until my biking trip and I’m keeping up the training. I’m planning on a decent ride on Saturday and Sunday and then cut my rides right down to 10-20 minutes a day on Monday to Thursday to let my legs rest up for the big ride. I am kind of worried with our level 2 covid restrictions that if it gets any worse that I may miss out on my trip, but It looks pretty promising at the moment with no more positive tests outside the initial three in our latest outbreak.

Have a great day everyone.

WOOHOO!!

My new bike turned up 2 weeks early so not only will I have it for my big trip, I’ll also have some time to get used to it and break it in before I go.

I’m one happy chappie!

Joining you for a FD today, Cinque. Pleased to read that your lockdown is over almost before it began as is NZ’s.

LJ, it sounds like you’re well-informed on the vaccine. The idea that Australians could discuss the most appropriate one with their GP really highlights the difference in our populations.

It’s warmer (12C) but raining. While we have fresh water on tap, I’m hoping to turn the boat around and scrub the canvas cratch cover. I need a dry, sunny day. Unfortunately, many of the resident boaters feed seagulls causing them to leave their deposits all over the boats. I did gently hint to my neighbour that feeding bread to swans was harmful to them but she replied it’s OK because she only uses wholemeal bread. I’ve stepped up the pressure on the Canal & River Trust to do more to educate boaters and towpath users against feeding wildlife and my second letter has been referred to the ‘content team’. Their current stand is that it’s OK to feed wildlife but try not to use too much bread!

Neil, great news. Have fun with your new bike.

Morning all, my new bike is nice. It feels nice and smooth on the road, climbs well, and is about 25% faster than my mountain bike. I’ll just have to tinker to get the setup 100%.

Betsy, great the Melbourne lockdown is lifted, the one here in NZ has been lifted too

This, the local botanic gardens have banned feeding bread to the ducks 1. because it’s not good for them and 2. because it attracts sea gulls. They instead give out free bags of duck food that is a mixture of grains and seeds.

Ljoyce, I watched a programme last night by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall called “easy ways to live well” One section they looked at ways to reduce pain medication use. One group in the experiment sang together for 15 minutes a day and had a significant reduction in pain medication use, the other group had an even bigger reduction though, they were given placebos and told they were placebos. Apparently the science behind it is just the act of taking a pill triggers the body’s natural pain fighting response, even the patients are told it’s a placebo.

well have a great day everyone

Hello all, from rainy Brisbane. Yea for cool weather and the rain.

Just a quick report in before I hit the housework. With tree loppers on one side, and heavy earth moving equipment and construction on the other, there’s a layer of dust over everything, including me if I sit too long 🙂

My friend is coming in a couple of hours, and we are going to a nursery which has a beautiful restaurant attached (just coffee for us). She’s recently got the fresh food bug, and is growing greens and herbs on the terrace of her apartment, and they need refreshing. Lunch is your Nigerian Bean Stew Cinque, thank you. By cutting the olive oil to a tablespoon, I calculated it has 206 calories per serve – well within our 800 a day limit.

Talking of which….first fortnight was great for us both ..My friend lost 4.5 kilos and I lost 4. This third week has been troubling – it’s always the social events that do me in. We celebrated my niece’s birthday at a local bar on Sunday afternoon. I had a glass of red wine, and ordered the best of what was on the menu, but still my weight shot up by .5 which has taken me til today to move. So, as of today I’m .2 under my weekly weigh-in last Sunday and hope to turn that into half a kilo this week – disappointing but going in the right direction. My friend, on the other hand, is powering ahead and has shed another kilo already this week.

Neil, great your bike has arrived, and is just what you wanted. Safe riding.

Good to know too that your lockdown, and Melbourne’s, have been lifted. I saw on the news last night that the first vaccines start today for emergency workers in Queensland. I’m hopeful vaccination may see things start to return to closer to normal (ie, travel, and no border restrictions)

The tree loppers appear to have finished.. Oddly, they have only taken the top of the huge leopard tree – the chap told OH i would grow a new canopy. As OH replied, ‘yep…see you next year’. Fancy destroying native gums, but leaving an exotic. The lopper told me she wanted more sun on her solar panels. To which I replied, yes, more solar electricity so she can have her aircon on all day, because the house is too hot after she took out the shade.’ Grrrrr.

Gosh all the talk about newspaper loo paper takes me back. When we were kids we had the little room up the back, and it came with newspaper and sawdust. My parents voted for Clem Jones as Lord Mayor, after he sewered Brisbane. I think my parents only got their indoor toilet in the late sixties, maybe.

Betsy I must have missed your post where you talked about your studies, but I got the drift that you have postponed for a while?

I laughed Thin that your neighbour thinks bread is okay for swans, as long as it’s wholemeal. Remind me of a conversation I had with a friend about kids drinking fruit juice, which in our day we thought was healthy, but now know it’s not. She replied that her daughter still gives her little ones orange juice, ‘but only organic’. Mmmm, point missed, I think.

Funny Maxx story Anzac. You need that light in your life, with such toxic meetings. Wow, is all I can say.

LJ I’m like you – my spreadsheet is helping me record what I eat and when, and with what effect. I also stick with routine on this fat 800 – and it’s easier to just cut and paste when I repeat a recipe.

OK, the sun is out so time to get cracking. My friend lives alone and her apartment is always sparkling, but between the work around us, Rose and the rain, and of course the geriatric cat doing Lord knows what in the laundry, my home falls rather short of spotless. I’m sure she won’t care … but I do.

Have a great day everyone.

Good afternoon everyone.
I have been hunkered down here with the aircon going since yesterday. It’s too hot to contemplate leaving – although I do have babysitting this afternoon. Thankfully I also have an airconditioned car. I remember the awful days of cars without airconditioning. I only got my first airconditioned car 12 years ago and there will be no going back! I hated not being able to put my hands on the steering wheel because it was too hot to touch.
Thankfully we only have to put up with one more day of heat and then a cool change arrives on Saturday – I can’t wait.

I had considered doing another late afternoon shopping centre walk yesterday but it became unnecessary as I managed to do three 20 minute walks inside the house which got me to 10,000 steps for the day. I just need to take the physio’s advice and do the turn at the front door slowly to avoid knee or hip issues.

Anzac, I’d send you you some of this dry heat if I could – it would dry the clothes in no time.
I hope things improve on the work front soon and that you can stay strong when the stress increases your desire to eat.

Lindsay, I live alone and my house is never spotless – I don’t have even have a dog as an excuse. I have the same feeling of worry about what people will think of the state of the house. It’s not awful but nowhere near the clean and tidy house my mother kept, despite her otherwise busy life. Luckily my best friend is much more untidy than I am (she has a lot more family clutter to deal with) – it means both of us feel comfortable in each other’s houses regardless of the state of the place.

Thin, it takes people a while to undo bad habits – like feeding bread to birds. In the local wetlands that I walk through they have big signs up describing what types of food the water birds like – they suggest peas, corn, lettuce and grapes.

Cinque, I like your idea of upping water I need to work on that too. I am trying to dink a glass of water before I have a cup of tea as often the tea is in response to feeling thirsty.
Lovely daffodil and very appropriate as I’m sure Penguin (and Thin and Cali) are eagerly awaiting spring.

Betsy, very glad to see the restrictions lift. I hope you don’t have to wait very long for a vaccine. I feel like I jinxed Ash with my earlier comment on letting incidents upset their game – oh dear. Fabulous that Dylan won – a shame he didn’t have an audience for it (except on tv).

Neil, glad to hear the new bike is working out well so far.

Cali, hope you are ok. I know this is your vaccine week – have you had it yet?
On our news here we have seen the awful winter storms and power loss issues in Texas – I hope it’s not that bad up your way.

I thankfully have no memory of using newspaper as loo paper – I’m just imagining the black ink on everyone’s backside – I didn’t need that image. The only backyard dunny I remember using was at my Dad’s parent’s place. That was in Stirling (Adelaide Hills) – it must have been rough in the cold winters there – I suspect nana had a chamber pot stashed under the bed. We mostly stayed with them over christmas or easter so it wasn’t so bad – a bit of a novelty. I remember my Dad actually building a proper bathroom for them onto the house around 1970 which also gave them a shower for the first time (they only had a chip heater bath before that). When my parents bought their home in the early 50s it had a long drop toilet at the bottom of the yard and a separate wooden hut as a wash house (laundry and bathroom). One of the first things he did was add a bathroom, toilet, laundry and back porch to the tiny 4 room house. We didn’t need to wait for the sewer – there isn’t one in most rural areas unless you live in town, you just install a septic tank. Sometimes not having to wait for government to provide services is good thing.

My 800cal days still seem to be on stable ground – helped by the heat I’m sure.
Tonight I’m making a simple tomato, cucumber and fresh herb salad with grilled haloumi. I’ll have to do some careful planning for warming meals on the weekend so that the my increased appetite in the colder weather doesn’t derail me. I might actually get to use some of veg for soups.

Great to see all the new posts. I just spent the last 45 minutes catching up. Tomorrow is vaccine day for the 3 of us. We’re getting the Pfizer. Distribution isn’t the smoothest and we were a bit concerned about the 2nd dose being timely in our county because they send out emails instead of just giving a date when the first is received. And it’s harder to find Pfizer doses than the Moderna because of the colder temps for handling. Luckily, we email invitations this evening to sign up for the 2nd dose in 3 weeks. I’m happy to be getting the first one tomorrow. After 14 days we’ll have some immunity. California has now given at least first doses to 12% of the population. Most of our friends have gotten at least one jab.

LJ, I like using the dry coconut milk too, but also use some liquid and freeze what is left over. Cinque, was it you who mentioned that peanut butter could be a substitute in soups? Come to think of it, other nut butters would be fun to experiment with too.

Thin, we watched the American version of Life on Mars several years back and really enjoyed it. I’ll have to see if the British version is available to stream somewhere here. We watched a couple episodes of a series called Fortitude, which is a fictitious town somewhere up in the Arctic circle. Police/detective, possible strange diseases? It’s on Amazon Prime and possibly other channels. Seems good so far.

Anzac, your coworkers have found a way to create drama even on Zoom! I hope things calm down there soon. Seems there is never a dull moment. I had to laugh at the story of Maxx leaving that guy covered in dog hair.

Gday, I hope OH recovers soon and you get some relief from all the chores around there. You must be exhausted. And the heat wave doesn’t help matters any.

Neil, congrats on getting your new bike early. That must be keeping you busy.

It was 0 degrees C when I woke up this morning. Thankfully it warmed up when the sun came out but rather breezy. It feels like winter still.
It seems like Australia is getting more rain than usual, at least for most of you here. Good for helping with the fire danger in the summer.

Hi to Betsy, Lindsay, Penguin, Intesha, jony, and everyone else I’ve missed.

Well, hi to everyone

Quick post as it’s quite late. Hot here tonight, so I’ve done computer things rather than hit the sack.

Yes, the old dunny. Not sure how the newspaper went down the loo, but it sure did. And LJoyce reminded me of the chamberpots, so we didn’t have to go outside in the middle of the night. As kids, we called them “potties” 🙂

Jonykiwi, will it be NZ or Australia in the cricket? Time will tell. I’m more interested in the tennis, and oh dear, after starting so well, Nadal was beaten in 5 sets. The Joker won tonight, so he’s into the final. Osaka vs Brady on Saturday for the women’s final. Should be a good match.

CalifDreamer, so glad you’re in line to be fully vaccinated, what a relief. My older Arizona relatives have also had their first doses, whew!

Neilithicman, enjoy your new bike, but do be careful, too.

LindsayL, you’re going great guns with your weight loss, as is your friend. We all lose at different paces.

Anzac65, hang in there with the weight loss, and no bingeing, even if work stinks at the moment. It’s not for much longer, is it?

LJoyce, yes, great that Dylan won again. He’s such a good player. No-one seems to come anywhere near him.
Re heat, yes, I’ve been enjoying the air-con over the past few days. At least with the tennis on, I don’t mind being indoors.

Cinque, it wasn’t tigers I was scared of – the older kids always scared us with talk of the “boogey-man”, so I was very scared of the dark and who might be lurking there.

Goodnight all!

Morning from cool and rainy Brisbane – dreading the heat wave that’s coming on Monday (39 degrees – yuk) but it’ll only be for a few days.

I had a great day with my friend yesterday, which culminated in my going through my cupboards and trying on clothes that were either too tight, or just didn’t look right.

I weighed in this morning at .3 down which takes me to a loss of .5 for the week (not much, but after my bar fail, I’ll take it) and my friend has lost another 1.7 so far this week. Our weekly weigh-in is Sunday, but to date I’m 4.5 down and my friend 6.3. She really can’t believe it, and can’t also believe how well she’s feeling. I feel good too – it must be all those beans and greens.

Betsy your neighbour sounds a bit pushy, asking for you to take down trees so she can see the sky. Hoya is a beautiful thing – I didn’t realise bees loved them, but of course, logically they would, because they are so perfumed. My Mum had a lovely vine – in the morning you could see the little droplets of nectar on the flowers.

Thin, I loved both Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes…. the final episode was such a surprise …it stayed with me for ages.

OK I need to run – I hear DS’s car on the drive – I’m having the 2 year old today – she’s woken up sniffly.

Back later

Whoah, busy forum at the moment

John, enjoy your ride on Wednesday. I don’t know how many times I’ve ridden part of that ride recently, but my go-to lunchtime ride recently has been from the Civic Centre round to Macandrew Bay and back, although with my new bike a bit faster I can get a bit further round during the lunch hour so I managed to get past Company Bay and back yesterday.

Cinque, I’ve been eating plenty of nuts recently, although I’m mostly sticking to walnuts. I’ve decided not to worry about my weight this month while I’m training. I’ll have this as fitness February and then dial back on the exercise and eating and work on my weight next month. It should come back off once I’m not eating like a pig when I’m cycling.

Oh and I’ve developed a new recipe for a high protein/fat snack. Soak a cup of dates overnight then blitz them up with a cup and a half of roasted unsalted nuts (I used cashews) quarter cup of dark cocoa powder, 1-2 teaspoons of peppermint essence and half a jar of melted coconut oil. Set it in the fridge then roll into balls and roll in coconut. One of those little bad boys is enough to stave off chocolate cravings and hunger pangs for a while. Peppermint is supposed to be good for staving off hunger.

Congrats on the loss Lindsay. It may not feel like much to you, but any movement down is going in the right direction 😉

Thin, yes there has been an over prescription of medication for a long time. Have a look out for the TV series if you have it available over in the UK. It was only 3 episodes but it was really interesting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aeebcz_crOY

Cali, great you’re getting the vaccine, good luck for your jab

Anzac, we haven’t had rain for a while, we’re finally getting some summery weather now that summer is almost over. Hopefully it holds next week as well for my big ride, then it can rain as much as it wants to.

Ljoyce, great you hit 10,000 steps have you got a goal for the year for your steps?

Betsy, most of the tennis matches went the way I wanted. Loved seeing Thiem beat Nadal, loved seeing Osaka beating Williams, I was hoping Djokovic would go down to the qualifier Karatsev, but no such luck.

well have a great one everyone, and I hope you all have a good weekend.

Betsy, the boogey-man was alive and well here when I was growing up too. I guess we heard about him from the neighbor kids, then our parents spent the rest of our childhoods trying to convince us that he didn’t exist. Funny how such a thing was known around the world, even without the internet!

We got our first jabs today although our appointments spanned about 50 minutes, they took all of us together, so after a 15 minute wait in the car in the small parking lot (Sound the horn if you’re having any problem – they had someone watching outdoors) we drove back home. We had the Pfizer. OH had some soreness in his arm, DS had none, and more than 11 hours later I have only a slight ache that I probably wouldn’t even notice if I weren’t thinking about it. No other effects so far.

Lindsay, congrats on the continued weight loss. Every bit counts. Hope you can stay cool these next few days.

Neil, your new bike sounds like fun. Be careful with speeding! That dessert with the chocolate, nuts and coconut sounds delicious. It’s definitely for someone doing a lot of exercise to burn up all those calories!

Cinque, I love a spotless house too but it doesn’t often happen here either, and when it does, it doesn’t last for long.

Thin, we will continue being cautious on most things until herd immunity is reached. I’m reading now that there actually is a lot less danger after being fully vaccinated than we’re sometimes lead to believe by the media. But there are still a lot of unknowns such as how long the immunity will last. We’ll know that as time goes on, with so many people around the world being vaccinated. I always look at the U.K. figures since you started the vaccines there first. I’m not sure that herd immunity will be achieved any time soon in our area with so many anti-vaxers and people who believe Covid is ‘just the flu’. We’ll probably start going back for take away at Subway, that we’ve avoided because most of the food isn’t cooked. And sushi. We’ll continue wearing masks. We’re so used to wearing them in stores that it isn’t a big deal.
We received the jabs at the county health department which is a smallish place up here.

CalifD, thanks for the update. Too bad about the anti-vaccers. The problem is that it’s much less an individual choice than a collective duty. Humans are so whiny – just do it!

LJ, you’ve had a 10C cool change and we’ve had a 10C warm change. I’m surprised that February would see temperatures in the teens but that’s the forecast well into the first week of March.