Lindsay, I hope it all gets sorted out soon, especially your OH’s dose. Judging by the recent mass slaughter of Liberal seats in WA, most people are happy. I’m sorry about your job loss and those of your colleagues. We have dear, long-term friends in Perth who own one of those businesses you mention. It’s a small engineering business that’s boomed under JobKeeper incentives. They’ve always been of the belief that the govt. ‘owes’ them something. We’ve never been aligned with their political leanings but, as I say, they are very close friends and we respect their right to express them ….. (OK, grudgingly).

I’m happy to say that I have smaller fish to fry. A fibreglass boat owner arrived last evening, plonking it right in front of our perfect sunset view when he could have gone to the other end of the floating pontoon. Totally illegal as only live aboards can be using their boats right now – he and his mate left for the night so, if they do live on it, they’ve broken another covid law as no overnight stays are permitted away from home.

Cinque, ha ha, we had to move a short way to get water yesterday and, when we returned, we moored in front of the mosquito. View restored and no harm done as they haven’t returned. Actually, I may have Merry’s email contact details. I hope Klond returns.

Good evening all

Thin, it sounds like you made the right decision when debating whether to winter in a marina or not. The experience of those other boaters sounds quite unpleasant. Well done on getting the upper hand on that fishing boat.

Cinque, I hope you have a had a lovely granddaughter day. Rest tomorrow.

Yet another lunch was slotted into my week today, but for once it’s a blessing as it’s instead of the brunch that had been planned for next Sunday. As I really needed to fast on that Sunday as I have my infusion the next day I’m glad about that change.

I had a very normal NFD today without any overeating, which has pleased me greatly. I did try a little of the trimmings from the red velvet cake I made for my great-nephew’s birthday today. Better than the previous versions, but I’m still not happy with the cake texture. I don’t seem to be able to cook light textured cakes in this oven, unless I make a traditional sponge. The recipes that worked in my previous house don’t turn out the same here. I might have to experiment a bit more with the temperature I think.

FD for me tomorrow and I will need to do a grocery shop in the morning as I want to have a spinach salad with toasted pine nuts for dinner and I have none of the required veg.

Good morning,
I had a lovely time with Ms 6 yesterday and got home and didn’t do anything, but greeted today with the lovely feeling of just being able to look after myself and any tidying up is a bonus (doing quite well so far), but I completely forgot it was my fast day! So I have had breakfast. I’ll be fasty for the rest of the day. Low carb veggies when I get really hungry and then miso soup in the evening. Yes! I bought some miso and bonito flakes from the Asian grocery. Yay.

Thin, that is an amazing tale from your fellow canallier.
So glad you have your view back. Nice move.

LJoyce, so glad you have your day-before-infusion-fast sorted okay.
That d-b-i-f needs to be sacred. I am sure if you are ever invited to brunch on that day, family and friends would be glad for you to abstain from eating, to save you pain and discomfort after your transfusion.

Good luck sorting out that oven temperature!

I’ve been trying to get my next brew of sweet potato fly started (last brew is very nice). I have been trying for days. Yoghurt whey is waiting 3 days in the fridge, salt and spice infusion (with pears and ginger) was made two days ago. So wish me luck getting the sweet potato grated today, and it all put together. I hope it works still.

But first I need to clean the bench. Off I go!

Best wishes everyone, I hope you are having an easy, mindful weekend and don’t accidentally eat meals you didn’t plan to eat!

Monday morning,

Oh dear, more rain forecast in the flood areas.
Adam Liaw’s tweet yeaterday:”After a tumultuous few years of ruinous drought, catastrophic fires and a global pandemic, it’s great that 2021 is only starting with a mouse plague and the most destructive floods in a century.”

Well, the rest of my fast day went fine thanks.
My reality metre mustn’t be set as high as yours, Thin. The fast day alarm didn’t go off.

But it was a good pottering around day. Humid and rainy, but just enough to properly water the garden. I didn’t get the ironing done the other day, but yesterday I rocked it. Lovely. So now I get to choose from the most enormous range of possible outfits to wear to meet my daughter at the service station and drive her home.

Anyone with a spare 20 mins, this is an interesting interview about weight gain and genetics https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000rmp5

Best wishes for a good day.

FD complete with pleasing results back in the low 58s. Balti curry was excellent, thank you.

LJ, I’d completely forgotten about your having been adopted and what you’d said before about being the only member of the family with a weight problem. Have the rest of your family remained slim in later life?

We watched an interesting programme about DNA matching last night. DNA Family Secrets. One in 50 people grow up with a dad who’s not the biological father and don’t know it. One of the people featured was a 75 year old English man who knew his father had been a black American GI in the war. His white mother, now deceased, had never spoken of him. Through his DNA, they could trace his ancestry to parts of Africa associated with the slave trade in the 1700s and, from there, to N.C. and Virginia. With that, a half sibling was discovered (one eighth DNA match), now deceased. He was ultimately introduced to his black American cousins.

Tonight, I’m attending a Zoom high school reunion originally planned in person for last year with a sixties theme, ‘When I’m 64′ (the age we turned in 2020). It was a posh public girls’ school and a lot of them are toffee nosed. Most went to Oxford or Cambridge. I’ve seen them only once since leaving school at a reunion in 2004 when we boarders again formed a bond. My best friend was married to the Queen’s Pigger and we stayed at Windsor. We vowed never to attend another but curiosity got the better of us. Now they’ve introduced an assignment – to bring two inanimate objects representing your proudest achievements since leaving high school and give a two minute speech. Oh God! Terrified.

Hi all, a quick post as this is our last week before the project has technical go-live this weekend. To say it is busy is the understatement of the century

The rain is diabolical and I’ve never seen anything like it. It is tragic that so many are now enduring floods. LJ, parts of Western Sydney such as Penrith and Richmond are flooded as well as many small towns.

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 29 which is a bit hard to believe looking out there now

Next week will calm right down work-wise so I am planning to get back into everything healthy then

Take care all

Morning all.

Not much to report, except a slow and steady loss. I’m down now by 8.6 kilos, in week 8 of the Fast800. My loss has slowed to .6 of a kilo a week, so I’m boosting my protein (ie chicken and some red meat) and dropping the beans and chick peas to see if the lower carb can give it a move along.

After advising OH to hold off on the Astra Zeneka, our lovely GP phoned the very next day to say the clotting issue had been resolved, and we should rebook, which we have done. Unfortunately space and staff limitations mean my usual surgery isn’t taking part, and the surgery where we have booked will prioritise their usual patients (quite rightly, of course), so it’s a wait and see. Never mind – it will happen in good time.

One brother and SIL had their first vaccinations yesterday. It’s quite important they travel back to the UK. My SIL is responsible for her adult disabled nephew, and apart from last year, goes to the UK for 3 months each year. She’s beside herself because although he’s been booked a number of times for Covid shots, the clinic insists on dealing with him and not his support worker, who finds out too late to take him.

Cinque, you’ll be shocked to hear Rosy behaved very badly at the show (quell surprise?). After winning her Intermediate category, just before she went into the ring for the Best in Breed she spied some horses riding by quite close (country show) and went ballistic. She was still prancing when the judge tried to examine her. By the time she went back in for Intermediate in Group, she had calmed down, but too late. Never mind.

LJ, full marks for going to get chocolate at Haighs, and not being tempted. Nice feeling, isn’t it? Interesting comments about your Mum gaining weight post-menopause, because she hadn’t adjusted for a reduced TDEE. I’m reminded here of Jony’s doctor’s comment that she doesn’t talk to people about their being overweight. I have a sense that doctors don’t talk to their patients about such things, which is a shame because it could make such a difference to people’s health and wellbeing as they enter the latter stages of their lives. Surely it’s a doctor’s responsibility to raise all issues that affect health?

Same sister in law celebrated her 70th birthday at the weekend, and our scheduled park family lunch was relocated to an open pizza restaurant. I chose the best I could – a cos salad – which unfortunately turned up with a small breaded chicken breast, most of which I managed to give away. Then home for birthday cake – a chocolate mud cake, from a local French patisserie. Despite the Fast800, I chose to have a small slice. I did so mindfully, not feeling pressured by good manners to have some, but choosing to share the celebration. I compensated by having celery and hummus for dinner, and still don’t think I went over 1000 calories. But I guess my takeaway from it was that I was able to choose what to do, with no pressure, and no guilt.

Oh Anzac ….all that rain, and all that job pressure. Sunshine and light coming soon, I hope.

I hope anyone who’s impacted by this weather is managing okay, and without danger to life or property. The flooding is shocking, although some good rain has fallen in drought-affected areas. Silver lining, I guess.

The sun is shining here today, for the first time in a very long time…off I go to redo my wet smelly washing. I’m babysitting the 2 year old this afternoon as my son takes the little man back to hospital to have his cast reset. He fell off the monkey bars at school on Friday and fractured his elbow. Poor little chap – because they’re told not to interrupt teachers during their break, he sat quietly nursing his arm until he heard the bell that signalled the end of lunch.

Have a good day all.

Thursday morning,

Anzac, so good to hear from you. Sending best wishes for a great project launch this weekend, I do hope it goes well. Hooray for a calm week next week.

LJoyce, mixed nuts is pretty good, as succumbing goes. I am glad it kept to a fairly normal day. (I am regretting buying cashews… again, as succumbing goes on here too).

It does seem rare for people to keep their slim weight as they age. After being chubby or fat all my life it is weird to be slimmer than so many people my age. I do feel a bit of schadenfreude since when I was young and fat people were much crueller. Thanks 5:2.

I have a sister-in-law who was overweight from when she was a toddler and her young life consisted of doctor after doctor weighing her and telling her she was obese and no useful advice, only condemnation. I have heard so many similar stories.
Doctors need much better training and structures so they can give patients information and resources, and can allow patients to bring up the subject themselves in a safe and supportive relationship.

Lindsay, wow you are doing wonderfully well. It must be frustrating to be working just as hard, for a smaller weekly loss, but I think that once it is over you will look back with satisfaction.
I do hope the meaty protein does give you a lovely big loss this week though!

Nice work at the 70th birthday celebration!
Lovely choices, no pressure, no guilt. My new mantra!

Rosy, Rosy, Rosy. Of dear. Horses, What’s a girl to do?

Ooh no, that broken elbow. Ouch! And Oh dear, waiting so long. It is so hard to give children a good explanation of what counts as an emergency.

Thin, aha, I thought that might be it, but when I googled I couldn’t find anything useful, and thought it would be swineherd. Pigger is more work than just herding though!

I am so glad the zoom reunion was enjoyable. I hope you have some lovely catch ups and bridge games.

Interesting re dental. When I was young the perception was that you just went on with your teeth until they got so bad they were replaced with false teeth.

Ooh what a rude plastic surgeon friend, making it sound as if your nose isn’t acceptable.

I was feeling quite crook yesterday and still had to organise for homehelp (replacement worker who wore mask 😀 )so my fast day wasn’t particularly fasty but I am hoping my Sunday fast day will be.

I (touch wood and whistle) have unbroken days ahead where I can just care for myself and do what is good for me. Woohoo. Bliss.

Hoping your next days are easy and mindful and all power to 5:2.

Neil I hope your obstruction clears itself or your doctor’s appointment is very soon as a blockage can become an emergency. I hope you’ll post soon and let us know how you’re going. Wishing you the best in getting this resolved and back to normal.

Cinque, I Googled pigger also and couldn’t come up with what the Queen’s pigger would be other than someone who looks after the Queen’s pigs. Thin, exciting to have stayed on the farm that’s part of the Windsor castle grounds. Glad you had a nice time at the Zoom reunion and renewed some old friendships. It was about 4 years ago that I went back to my high school reunion and I had a wonderful time seeing what many of the people had been doing over the years and where they were in their lives.

LJ, you certainly have an active social life with all the brunches, teas and dinners lately. I can understand how it would cause some anxiety trying to fit restaurant or family meals into a weight loss plan. It’s been a while since you’ve been to Ikea. Where you having withdrawal symptoms? It’s such a fun store to walk around. I always find something interesting.

Lindsay, I’m glad OH is now cleared for the vaccine and you’re both now booked. I hope it isn’t too long before they call you for the appointment. We’ve been hearing all the news about the AZ vaccine here too. The clotting thing turned out to not even be an issue. It sounds as if someone jumped the gun on that one without having real evidence. It’s a shame because it probably makes people feel more cautious and hesitant about getting vaccinated. How many weeks between doses?
Rosy will settle down soon. She’s just young and excitable. Such a beautiful and regal looking dog!

Today we are “fully vaccinated” meaning we’re 2 weeks beyond our 2nd jabs and our immune systems should be at the highest level possible with the Pfizer vaccines. It’s a great relief, but still have concerns about a couple variants that are in the state. Nobody seems to know exactly how much the vaccine protects against those, but supposedly a good amount. The race here, like everywhere, is to get as many people vaccinated as possible to avoid the spreading and mutants. It will be nice to be able to get together indoors without masks with other vaccinated people. It will also be less worrisome to go into stores although we’ll still wear masks. We’ve been locked down for over a year and it seems like the world has changed so much.

Intesha and anyone near the flooded areas, I hope you and your homes are safe. Nice to have rain to negate the fire danger, but enough is enough!
Anzac, glad your home is safe. I hope work calms down soon.

I bought the Fast800 book and have been reading that. I’ve started with the 5:2 plan wit 800 calories instead of 500. Much easier to do, but will have to see if weight loss will be quick enough and will definitely have to be more careful on NFD’s. I have my records from my initial loss a few years ago to compare. It should be interesting.

Morning everyone. Beautifully sunny day in Brisbane.

We took Rosy (and OH) to handler training last night and got home too late to eat dinner (me, not him), so this morning I’ve had a very satisfying .5 drop, to make it 9.1 kilos altogether, in week 8 of Fast800.

Calif, I hope you do well on the 800. It is certainly easier than just 500, and according to the good doctor, the benefits for weight loss and health should be the same. I wish he would update his website though to reflect his new research and plan.

Great Calif, that you are now fully vaccinated. We have been so free here, with minimal restrictions really, that I can only imagine how difficult living with isolation for 12 months must have been.

Glad you enjoyed your reunion Thin – I understand your anxiety about meeting up with people you’d not seen for decades.

Cinque, yes, false teeth were the norm a generation or so ago. Here’s a funny story (sort of). My friend worked in the public dental hospital system, and needed a patient who’d be given free dentures in return for participating in student training. My friend found an older chap, who had just one tooth in his head. But when offered the free dentures, he refused, vehemently, because he didn’t want his one remaining tooth to be extracted, because, ‘it’s me steak tooth.’

LJ my dear little grandson’s follow up appointment shows he’s broken the ball (?) in his elbow and it’s not mending as it should, so the doctors are evaluating whether surgery is necessary. It sure made me well up, thinking of the little chap sitting patiently with his broken elbow, waiting for the school bell to ring so he could tell someone. It seems the teacher on playground duty that day was absent and there wasn’t a cover teacher. My DIL (also a teacher) certainly had some things to say about that during her teacher interview on Monday. Quite rightly too – very poor on behalf of the school, to leave Grade one children unsupervised.

Gosh Neil your condition sounds very unpleasant. Hope it can be resolved quickly. YOu must feel very uncomfortable.

Family and genes …mmmm. My mother’s side of the family had the plump gene although only one was fat …an aunt who was always chided by my dad’s brother for being overweight (the paternal side were lean, lean, lean). But ….she lived to 95, whereas my parents, and my uncle and aunt, all heavy smokers til late middle-aged, died far too young of smoking related heart disease.

On that rather sad note, I’m off to start my day.

Enjoy your weekend, all.

Good evening all.
My unexpected good news is that I have an appointment for 20th May for my first covid vaccine (AZ). I just happened to be in Outlook when the email arrived from the GP about the bookings from mid-May being opened, so I jumped online to see if any of my few suitable dates were available and got lucky. Given that there are only 2 dates each month which were going to be ok for me it seemed rather miraculous. (It’s so restrictive because I have to have the vaccine approx 28 days after an infusion with my RA treatment drug and my GP is only running two half day vaccine clinics each week.) I feel very lucky, as when they opened the first 8 weeks of bookings I didn’t see the email until an hour after it had been released and by then all 800 appointments were gone.

Lindsay, excellent news on the continuing weight loss.
How is Rosy doing with the training – does she enjoy it?
I’m glad your DIL took the school to task over her son’s broken elbow and the lack of supervision for such little ones.

Cinque, pumpkin and mung bean sounds rather nice actually – I like that idea even better than potato – more flavour than potato.
After making your Nigerian bean stew I was alerted to the joys of using peanut butter as the basis for the sauce in casseroles and stews. I noticed today that the BBC site has a whole page of recipes containing peanut butter – I’m itching to try their Indonesian peanut butter chicken and also the Thai dal with peanut paste & coconut milk. https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/perfect_peanut_butter_recipes

Further to the pj day debate, during the initial lockdown last year I went for my daily walk at about 3pm and saw one chap wander down his driveway in flannelette pjs to bring in the empty rubbish bin. I’d seen people putting out bins in their pjs at 7am, but not bringing them in in the afternoon.
I have what I call lounging outfits – very soft clothing that is made a bit like winter pjs and is just as comfortable but is day clothing and is a little bit heavier and warmer. They are for those cold days when I want to curl up on the couch with book.

I had lunch out in Mount Barker today at the venue with the menu I was worried about (lots of deep fried fare). Thankfully there was one salad on the menu – portuguese chicken salad – and it was excellent. In an effort to turn victory into defeat, I then proceeded to eat 3 slices of fruit and walnut sourdough with a pot of tea when I got home. Not the end of the world, but all too typical of my NFDs I’m afraid.
Trying to do FD800 on alternate days is proving quite difficult. I’m struggling to stay under 1000cals when I do FDs that frequently. Odd that I can do fast800 where every day is 800cals but when I try to alternate them it doesn’t work. I think the erratic nature of it just doesn’t suit my temperament.

Hello to everyone else who is reading and not posting.

Good morning,

Day before fast day for me.

I had one of those days, yesterday, when I thought I was getting wonderfully organised, and then everything collapsed at the end, and I have awoken to a day that needs me to organise twice as much. However, I am on it!

LJoyce, I am a bit like you on NFD’s, but at least our ‘blow outs’ are quite nutritious and sensible these days! Hooray that you found a lovely option at the deep fried cafe.

Great news that you have an appointment for your vaccine. Especially since it was tricky to time it.

You are right that pumpkin would look good with the mung bean curry, especially because the recipe has some coconut milk in it. I think I will make that a permanent swap. However, the poor pumpkin I used was a result of my cutting off a branch of the vine, and accidentally cutting the branch that had the pumpkin growing. I was so annoyed with myself! It wasn’t anywhere near full grown, and although its skin coloured up on my windowsill, when I cut it open it was very pale and the texture of zucchini. So it hasn’t added much colour or flavour to the stew, but it worked out very yummy anyway.

Those peanut butter recipes look good! I want dan dan noodles!

Hmm, I think I might wear lounging outfits as pyjamas. They are all soft, loose long pants and tops (it might be the lack of underwear that makes them pyjamas 😉 ). But I presume the kimonos and other dressing gowns make it clear to my neighbours that I’m not dressed up to go out.

Thinking of you today Anzac. I hope all goes well.

Okay, off to clear up yesterdays mess! Best wishes all.

Good morning from the high seas. The wind is blowing in gusty 35 knots and there are white caps on the River Trent. We are securely moored awaiting turning south onto the River Soar. Next week we have a forecast temperature of 21C. Looking forward to that.

FD for me and I’ve started it off at 58.2kg so I could be in the 57s tomorrow. The increased boat activity helps. We also walked for four hours to and around the Attenborough Reserve.

CalifD, have you watched, “Godless” on Netflix? I watched Ep 1 last night and really liked it. It’s a western but excellent photography and story line.

Good evening all.

I have just had 1/2 a largish zucchini stuffed with quinoa, mince, veg and taco spices, served with a wide range of roasted, airfried and boiled veg. An excellent and filling FD dinner. I did a lot veggie roasting last night so that I can have an easier week and just have to add meat, legumes or eggs to a plate of veg to have a healthy dinner.

I am making good progress on removing the lawn, it’s roughly 1/3 done now. I found the first row difficult, but it’s easier now that I can lift the next row of turf from the side. As I bought 20 salvias from a nursery on Wednesday I’m keep to get to the planting stage. I am being sensible and limiting myself to about 45 minute session. I find that I am not sore the next day if I’m disciplined about this. I won’t get to do any more digging for at least a week as we are having a whole week around 30C – too hot for me to be digging.

Thin, I haven’t seen the Walmart photos. Can I assume they contain people shopping in pjs?
I think staying moored while the high winds are gusting is wise – you don’t want to be the UK version of the tanker that’s currently blocking the Suez Canal.

Cinque, like you my overindulges on NFDs are mostly healthy foods. It’s not usually because I’m trying to good – it’s most often that I can’t rubbish because I don’t put it in my shopping trolley. I think that’s why I usually head for the bread or nuts as they always feel like a treat.

Cali, galangal is a type of ginger. If the recipe calls for fresh galangal just use fresh ginger, if you can buy it locally. If they want dried then use powdered ginger. We can get fresh galangal here, but it is quite hard to find and more likely to be at an Asian grocer or the Central produce market. I can never be bothered hunting it down so I’ve always substituted with fresh ginger as that is readily available. I believe the flavour is quite similar but galangal is a more fibrous texture. The ginger-galangal equivalence is similar to cinnamon and cassia – they can be used interchangeably too and the only way I can ever tell the difference is that cassia has a harder bark and I can’t crumble them as easily as I can a cinnamon stick.
I’m relieved to have vaccine booking too, even if it’s still 2 months away. I went walking with a friend and she was a bit pessimistic about how long she would need to wait for her vaccine as she is in the priority group after me. My GP’s website says that they will make my second vaccine appointment when I show up for the first jab.

I have my infusion tomorrow and it’s unfortunately scheduled for 8:30am – I hate early infusions as I feel really tired all day and struggle to avoid napping. I am doing my best to get as much water on board as possible today so that my veins are plump enough to cannulate tomorrow.

Have a good evening everyone.

Morning all

Relief! My blockage has finally resolved itself, it will be interesting to see how my next weigh-in pans out.

Ljoyce and Cali, I find that Galangal has a very different taste to ginger. It has more of a pine flavour and doesn’t have the spiciness of ginger. One recipe I used to make for a beef rendang curry calls for both ginger and galangal and it definitely lacks something if you just use ginger.

Lindsay, congratulations on the weight loss, 9.2kg is an awesome effort. Hopefully now my bowels have sorted themselves out I can get back on the weight loss train and get back to where I was before my cycling training. 85 kilos seems like a long way away and a long time ago now.

Thin, I enjoy those Walmart photos, you kind of wonder how many of them are real though, and how many of them are people that have dressed up because they want the attention of getting on the people of Walmart page.

I spent Saturday playing sport all day. I had my frisbee golf league in the morning and then tennis in the afternoon so I was knackered by the end of the day. Sunday I was hoping to do some work on building our new glasshouse. It looked like it was going to rain and I was putting it off and putting it off, a couple of hours later no rain arrived and it started to clear so I got out and got some of the construction work done, but it was so humid that I was sweating like a pig by the end of it.

Well, back on with work now. I’m looking to fast for the next couple of days, sticking to 800 calories of fruit and vegetables and then have my weigh in on Wednesday.

Have a great day everyone

Neil, I’m so glad to hear that your blockage resolved on its own. What LJ mentioned about not drinking enough water after riding and a lot of sweating makes perfect sense. You may have been dehydrated and that may have caused the problem, especially on a long ride where you might have avoided drinking too much water for the fear of having to stop too often. And fiber is always a good for keeping things normal.
Regarding galangal, I read some reviews on Amazon from people who said that while ginger is in the same family and could be used as a substitute for galangal, it wasn’t really the same and had a unique flavor. One person reviewing a bag of dried galangal root, to be sure to tightly close the bag after taking some out because it smelled up his whole pantry when he left the bag partially open. Several also said that its unique flavor was necessary in some Thai recipes to have them taste authentic. Maybe I’ll try some of the powdered version. I was hoping someone here might have used it and could recommend a brand. Spices can vary a lot in quality and flavor.

LJ, it sounds like you’re making great progress on getting the front lawn removed. Please send some of that motivation over here! I feel like I’m stuck in a pool of molasses some days.

Thin, did you know that Asda stores in the UK were bought out by Walmart in 1999?

I had to end that last post rather abruptly since my iPad was just about out of battery power and I didn’t want to lose what I had written already. Thin, although Walmart owns Asda, it doesn’t seem like it has the same reputation over there as it does here. I’ve read that it’s going to be sold to some other investors soon. Here, Walmart has lots of huge stores and has a reputation for putting smaller stores out of business because their prices are generally a lot lower. They are especially feared in the grocery business because of their size and buying power. We have a couple stores about 15km from here. While they have a good selection of grocery items, they were usually too crowded and hectic for me. With that many shoppers there are bound to be some interesting characters, but like Neil said, I wonder how many of those photos are real?

Lindsay, what was the high ropes course in which your son and his wife participated? Tight rope walking? Swinging on a vine? I can see why you’d be relieved when that was over! So glad to hear you got your first jab. Which one was it? Also good to hear that they are stepping up the vaccination program. It seems that they are here too, Biden is intent on trying to stay ahead of a few variants before they take hold. It’s getting easier to find appointments now at multiple vaccine clinics and at several local pharmacies. On April 15 anyone over 16 in California will be able to get a vaccine, provided that the supply is there. I’m glad to see that with the number of cases still so high.

Cinque, trying to get things organized around here is one of my goals too. The amount of things to be organized is overwhelming sometimes. I like your 3 things approach. When I follow your example on that it works. Thank you for that.

Well, have a good rest of your day everyone.

Good morning (just) (nearly noon),

Trying to rest AND potter around. Yes, hooray for the rule of 3.

Thin, I am glad the wind has died down.

I’m having a sensible eating day, trying to decide whether tomorrow or Thursday will work best for my next fast day, and sending good wishes to you all.

Weigh in today and I’m down almost 2 kilos to 92.6 kilos, so I’m now moving in the right direction. Hopefully I can continue in the coming month and work my way back to where I was at the start of the year.

Have a good one everyone

Hello all
Neil, good to know that you are resolved…well done on the weight loss.

Nice, Thin, the lockdown is easing for you, and it’s warming up.

Just waiting to hear if the 3 day lockdown will be extended. Such a difficult call. I hope though that people can get away for Easter. No lockdown for the pool builders next door though. Sigh. I’ll be glad when all the work is finished. My house is a dust bowl.

The pool builders are Australian/New Zealand, but there are extensive retaining block walls being built by two Chinese workers – a man and a woman. They are doing an excellent but very slow job, mixing all the concrete to fill the blocks by hand. At lunchtime they light their little stove and squat on their haunches to eat the noodles and vegetables they mix in the pot. It’s a scene I’ve seen a million times in China. You too Betsy?

Calif the high ropes course involved three hours on ziplines through the tree tops. Both loved it although my DIL was terrified at first, she said.

Yes Cinque, Ms 4 survived the fall, with a nasty egg on her head. It’s her birthday on Saturday, and her little party on Friday, but I am not sure if that will go ahead. She missed last year’s party too for the same reason. I guess this generation will get used to plans changing at the last moment.

OH has had his first jab, with few side effects. A slight temperature and soreness at the jab site, but I am very relieved it’s gone so well.

OK I’ll drop back in later ….I, like others on this forum, am overwhelmed by how much ‘stuff’ I have, and how disorganised my house is. Lockdown is a perfect opportunity to focus on getting some semblance of order. I am devoting these 3 days to my office …yesterday I went through the files, getting rid of paperwork – warranties for things I no longer have, old power bills. I am also wrestling with getting rid of books and papers I had for my PhD research …. no point in hanging on to them, but I am reluctant to let them go. The lament of the hoarder.

taking the quickest of breaks from the office mayhem. I’ll cook dinner shortly. OH is watching The Drum, which sometimes I find interesting but often just talking.

Still waiting for the news on our lockdown being lifted.

In the meantime, my sweet Mr 5 has to have his broken elbow pinned tomorrow. He was seen at the Lady Cilento kids’ hospital today, and between the doctor coming back to share that he needed surgery, a kindly (!) person handed out easter eggs, so no immediate operation possible.

Oh Thin, zip lines. Brave you. Not for me, thanks. I get woozy when I have to climb on the second step of my little ladder to get a fresh bottle of gin down from the top shelf of the pantry.

Good work on making your own, btw. Sounds terrific. I love a ‘make your own’ of just about anything ….although I am still to try cheese making after the course DS took me too. It’s a calorie thing – I’ll wait til I’m off the Fast 800 until I venture down that path.

Nice to provide assistance to a stranded narrow-boater, and to keep in tandem for the day.

And on the subject of builders scaling tall buildings on bamboo platforms….we saw it a lot when we lived in China and Hong Kong. Well before we lived there, my eldest brother was the CFO for a large construction firm…despite having all the top earth moving machinery you’d expect of a company that was building mass rapid transit lines and stations, a lot of excvation work was done by labourers with hand tools, because the government didn’t want the social unrest it felt would come with high unemployment.

OK I can put it off no longer. I’ll lose a day tomorrow looking after Miss 2, so I’d best get on.

Have a good night all.

Hello! I am struggling with time. I think it is trying to swallow me. Off to see my grandkids and hoping I manage a proper post this arvo.

PS Yesterday’s fast day went wrong!

Sorry to run off so abruptly. OH and DS were ready to watch some movies.

Thin, great job on your mini Suez Canal maneuver. So nice of you to come to their rescue. Glad to hear that Spring is coming there. We’ve had some warmer days this week too. One day I’m wearing 3 layers of tops and today it was warm enough for a t-shirt. In a few days it will probably be cold again.

Lindsay, I hope things settle down there and your lockdown is lifted. Things are open at different levels in California and the numbers are going down, but they’re going up in other parts of the country and some states are completely open although cases are up. It’s up to the Governors of each state. I’m happy to hear that your husband got his vaccine. So now both of you have your first vaccine which should give you some piece of mind. Thin, it’s good to see the numbers in the UK going down, even with the variants. It looks like a good portion of the people are getting vaccinated.

LJ, I made the peanut butter chicken recipe last night and it turned out very well. I only gained 1 gram so I guess eating it in moderation on a NFD isn’t a bad thing. There are so many recipes that sound really good on that website.

Cinque, our posts crossed the other night. It sounds like your granddaughters are keeping you very busy these days. I hope it’s not making you feel too fatigued.
After watching 8 very long seasons of McLeod’s Daughters we have only 3 episodes left. My sister didn’t want to watch it tonight because she doesn’t want it to be over. We’ve also been watching, Call the Midwife and are on season 2. Have any of you watched that one? It took 2 episodes to get into it, but we really like it now.

Neil, it sounds like you’re feeling back to normal again. Congrats on the weight loss!

Well, have a good rest of your day everyone.

Thin, so far the 800 calories twice a week is going well and I’m losing, but I don’t know if that will continue as time goes on. With the 500 calories when I originally lost all that weight I ate quite a bit on most NFD’s. I suspect that for this to work, I will have to cut back more on NFD. I don’t like counting calories either so don’t want to have to do that other than on FD.
I see “Godless” on Netflix as a limited series of 7 shows from 2017. Is that the same one you watched? We’re also watching “My Mother and Other Strangers” on Prime. It’s only 5 episodes, but it’s off to a good start. Takes place in Ireland during WWII.

We’re doing only take away from restaurants although outdoor dining is open and limited seating indoor. I like the idea of a vaccine passport. Still too much non-compliance with masks and such around here. We’re seeing kids testing positive more often these days. Maybe it’s because some schools require tests where they didn’t before. Perhaps some of the people who think Covid is just the flu and don’t take precautions themselves will think twice about exposing their children. I just want this whole thing to be over.