Thin, I can’t believe I didn’t share the good news….in my head I did but I didn’t. ALL CLEAR! All the surgery joins have healed beautifully, there are no polyps or any sign of disease. I burst into tears when the surgeon called me and thanked him blubberingly for saving his life

Must run, everyone is in the car waiting for the dog walk

Hello quiet friends,
I’ve had a very quiet week, too unwell to do anything. Getting better now!

Anzac, Woot! Hooray! Best news for Mr Anzac. What a lovely relief.

LJoyce I love the dalek. I wonder how long it will take silver cat to get used to it and start riding around on it.

Thin, the Thames ring sounds so interesting, it must be chock full of history, but I hope it has plenty of nature in it too.
Ooh those wonderful merino longjohns, I hope you can find another pair. I love how they can make pure merino wool so fine and light and not itchy these days.

I have discovered Gaviscon gives me chills and so much nausea I can hardly eat for three days. I took it two nights in a row and thought I must have caught a bug. After three days it had settled down and I was managing to eat something close to normal and I took another dose. Bad! Looked up side effects. Stopped taking it. Another three days to recover.

So a week of involuntary fasting, very glad to have that over. At least it gave my esophagus a rest. I’m still not hungry and I’ve been too unwell to go out. I need to start getting organised today.

Sending out good wishes to everyone,

Morning all

Weigh in today and no change in weight. I was kind of expecting it because I’ve eaten a bit of ice-cream after dinner over the last few days, and sugar tends to make me hold a bit more water, even though the calories are within my daily range. Hopefully next weigh in if I can cut that back out it will come off again.

Still pretty hectic at work so I’ll leave it there and I’ll catch up with you later.

Good evening everyone.

I felt like slinking off to bed as I’ve been on the go all day. But I haven’t posted for nearly a week, so I thought an update was in order.

Despite doing alternate day fasting, which this week meant 4 FDs and 3 NFDs, I gained 200g. A vast difference from last week’s loss. Some of this is the excesses on the NFDs, some is fluid retention from the increased carb intake on the meals out and some is also inflammation. My knees and shoulder joints have been like radiators in recent days, giving off heat – a sure sign of inflammation. I have more challenging meals out over the next 3 weeks, so I just need to do the best I can. I keep reminding myself that without all those FDs the damage on the scales would be huge. If I can get through this period without a gain I’ll be thrilled as I don’t want to have to lose several kilos when my life returns to normal.

Neil, it sounds like a few extras on the NFDs has had a similar effect on you. Hopefully we’ll have better results next week.

Cinque, I’m so sorry to hear you have been unwell. I agree with Anzac, another chat with the GP might be needed. There are prescription medication options and you shouldn’t need to put up with those symptoms. I had little success with over the counter antacids either.

Anzac, excellent news on Mr A’s results.
I hope Sylvia doesn’t manage to kill the dalek, I can’t afford to replace it. She still hates it and hasn’t quite figured out how to stay of its way, except to go onto the back verandah. If she just climbed onto my bed, rather than hiding under it she’d be fine.

Thin, the irobot actually does a better job than I manage with my Dyson barrel vacuum. I couldn’t get the dyson to clean right into the corners or along the edge close to the skirting board. I had to use a narrow attachment that was actually designed for cleaning slatted blinds to get those areas clean. The irobot has a little rotating brush which sticks out to the side and flicks debris along the skirting board egde back into the path of the suction. It works very well and there is just a tiny spot in the corner of each room that gets missed (about 1cm). On the hard floors I will just clean them with a dustpan before weekly mopping. In the bedroom I’m just visually checking to see if there is actually anything in the corners that I need to manually deal with.

Time for a quick decaf tea and then an early night as I have another busy day tomorrow. Take care everyone.

Hello from a very warm Sydney

LJ, thanks for the recipes, I will definitely check them out. We haven’t experimented enough yet. You are doing SO well with all the outings, well done

Sorry about the cold Thin, I am seeing so many pictures of deep snow all over England. It’s incredible. They have finally declared La Nina has finished over here, so 3 years of cool, rainy weather is gone. They are already saying there is a 50% chance of El Nino by August so I guess we will have bushfires and flood. Never a dull moment in Australia

Sorry about the weigh-in Neil. I still shake my head at your crazy scales but soldier on

My weight loss has plateaued so time to shake things up starting on the weekend. More exercise, less carbs

Hi to everyone else

A gorgeous photo Anzac. Is that your Sil?

Sorry I’ve been Mia. Though times chez L. Back later with the detail.

Hello,

Anzac, poor Maxx missing his friend, but what a lovely photos of them!

Cheers with being able to amp up your strategies. You have such lovely food you won’t miss the carbs.

Melbourne had a lovely day today, but it will be nasty hot and windy tomorrow.

Neil, those scales. Let’s hope this week gets them back in shape.

I bought icecream the other day, desperate to eat something with higher calories, but I forgot how disgusting commercial icecream is. I enjoyed a few bites but then was glad to throw the rest away.

Lindsay, best wishes to all at Chez Lindsay.

Thin, keep snug! Belated Happy Birthday wishes to Mr Thin.

LJoyce,
I hope you got a good sleep after your big day, and the inflammation has had the chance to lessen.
I am so glad the irobot is being so useful. Fingers crossed Sylvia does get used to it.

I thought of you with that news report about a link between gut microbes and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it leads to good treatment and even prevention.

I was a bit optimistic when I thought I was getting better a few days ago, but I am almost back to normal me today!

Still not 100% sure it was Gaviscon, maybe it was a nasty virus. But I am definitely off gaviscon for the foreseeable future.

I’m not taking any medication for reflux at the moment. I wanted to try lifestyle things and exercises for a week before I take the new ppi scrip, but I have been too ill to do anything for about 10 days. My symptoms have been very light though since I was hardly eating. Today I am back to my new diet of small meals and doing all the exercises that I can manage. Hopefully in a week I can decide what the best management will be for me.

Best wishes to everyone

Thin, I would not hesitate to take a doggie bag from an Asian restaurant but anywhere else I would baulk a bit I think. It would totally depend on the restaurant and what food was left over. I don’t actually have a lot of experience because Mr A is obsessed with not wasting money or food so generally he will finish whatever is on my plate as well as his own. Asian is different as you normally just have a bit of each dish and then the rest are for leftovers the next day(s)

I am so glad you are almost back to normal Cinque, I hope things continue to improve

We are just back from a lovely dog walk where the funniest thing happened. We were in the park and Maxx’s good friend Teddy the golden retriever came tip tapping down the lane. The two dogs were greeting each other nose-to-nose through the fence and we were having a great chat to Teddy’s mum. We took our eyes off the dogs and before we knew it Teddy had dug a huge hole under the fence and was half way through coming into the park! Not that it was a problem but you should have seen the state of him…dirt, grass and bits of twig all through his beautiful coat. Teddy has been getting special training to stop him digging…..oops

Another lovely warm day, but the house is a tip so housework calls. Sigh. Take care everyone

Sunday morning in Melbourne and the hot windy day has gone, lovely cool grey weather here. They are still putting out fires though.
I hope everyone is comfortable where you are. Thin I am glad it is getting a little warmer.

I come from a family of eating out doggy baggers. My youngest sister is fanatical, she and her partner are farmers and can’t stand waste and have plenty of animals at home if the food isn’t fit for human consumption. They often bring their own containers.
Because eating out is always exhausting for me, often it is one more thing and I don’t bother. But I do hate waste and am all for food being used.

For years before I gave up sugar, I only ate homemade icecream. I just had a simple ‘bowl in the freezer then churn on the bench’ ones, but oh my I made delicious icecream.

Lindsay, worrying!
Flow of good wishes continues.

I get a little bit closer to back-to-normal every second day. Then I have a day when I am weak and nauseas again. Yesterday was bad, today is better!

Good posture everyone!

Have some great rides Neil!

Omg Lindsay, I have tears in my eyes and I can’t bear to think how close Mr Lindsay was to losing his life over a stupid mistake. Unbelievable when they usually ask every question every time.
I hope you have good lawyers!

Dear Lindsay, my heart was in my mouth for your entire post and now I am shocked and angry on your behalf. The complete neglect, from start to finish, takes my breath away. I hope with everything that poor Mr L recovers fully from this. Sending mega hugs and positive, healing thoughts xxx

Morning all

Lindsay, that’s awful, I know the health services are pretty stretched for resources at the moment, but there isn’t any excuses for that.

I had a rough few days. I did get out for a decent 50km ride on Saturday, then my wife had her birthday celebration on Saturday night so we didn’t get to bed until almost midnight, then our delightful neighbours decided they would start playing loud music at 4am until at least 5am. I had to get up early the next morning to lead our church service, so I was living on coffee and adrenaline. I hadn’t recovered on Monday so I spent most of the day in the kitchen, cooking lunch from eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes and spinach, all from our garden, doing some baking for the kids lunch boxes, preserving some pears, then cooking dinner. Then yesterday we had some wild weather, our trampoline, which was secured to the ground with 1 foot long hoops of concrete re-bar, got ripped out of the ground and thrown against the side of our house and garage. It crushed the brand new guttering on our garage and damaged the outside unit of our heat pump. I called our insurance company, but they said it would be ages before they could process our claim, because all their claims officers are busy with the fallout from cyclone Gabrielle.

On top of all that, I didn’t bother weighing myself this morning for my weekly weigh-in, because I’ve been a bit backed up for the last few days and I know that my weihgt will be up a few kilos, and I don’t want to depress myself. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, try to get myself unstopped, and then weigh myself next week.

Well I hope everyone else is doing well, have a great day everyone.

Hi all. Thanks for your kind thoughts OH is still in hospital and has the second bout of stents done today.

Neil it wasn’t a case of medical faciltiies being under the pump. It was sheer carelessness on behalf of the anaethetist (he said to my husband that he didn’t know where his mind was when he prescribed it) and then an absolute failure of protocols in the hospital. OH saw the chemist before the procedure and reminded her of the penicillin allergy, so it should never got past the pharmacy. Then the nurse didn’t follow normal procedures. This is in a private hospital – we had to go there because it’s where OH’s ENT has his rooms. He was transferred to the sister hospital, the Wesley, last Thursday night – the care has been superb. There is such a difference in the management. For example, the first hospital’s corridors were cluttered with trolleys etc. This one (admittedly it’s a cardiac ward) has nothing laying around. The rooms have a small medical station insetfrom the corridor – so the medical staff can observe the patient as they are writing up notes, instead of gathering for a good chat in the nurses’ station, as they did in the other hospital. OH is not well still, but hopefully this procedure will put him back on track.

When we first got there and saw the cardiologist, he leaned over OH and said, ‘don’t worry. you’re in our care now. You’re safe.’ Such a kind, reassuring statement.

As an aside, the food he gets in hospital is superb. He isn’t eating much but a full meal comes (ordered from the menu at a time to suit him) and I often share his leftovers which means I don’t have to cook when I get home. For example, last night he had clear chicken, ginger, and lemon soup, followed by salmon with mashed potato and vegetables, some fresh fruit salad and a panna cotta. The fish was beautifully cooked – he only ate a quarter….it was a very large serving, and I enjoyed the rest.

So, Thin, I guess that answers your questions about doggy bags! Yes, always, we take food. I hate waste. I have also been known to take meat that’s been left on others’ (family and close friends only) plates, for the dogs. They so love a piece of steak and they don’t get it around here. I find sometimes when we have Asian food, if we order a dish each and rice, there’s often enough for a second meal for the two of us at home the next night.

Cinque I have been really sorry to read that you haven’t been well. I hope, so hope, that you can get relief. You’ve been through too much.

And Neil, I am really sorry to read about your wild weather event. Poor NZ…you have really copped a bashing.

We had neighbours like yours a few years ago, but now our neighbourhood has quietened down. Yes Thin, we do still have our Chinese neighbours, but they are more setted now, although their boy has a drum kit but no muffler. Puppy barks and barks from the verandah when he bangs away, so I guess it is quid pro quo, or something like that.

OK, off to the hospital to see OH before his procedure. Take care all and thank you again for your kind wishes and thoughts. Your friendship means so much to me.

Morning all.

OH had another procedure yesterday, and all things being right, and if his 3 doctors agree, could be home tonight. One night’s stay turned into 10.

Thin I know what you are saying, but I am sure even vets make mistakes sometimes. What was dreadful about this one was the system fails in the first hospital that compounded the error.

I think you and I are chalk and cheese, when it comes to where we live. Our family settled this area in the 19th century …there’s even a street named after my great great grandfather further out where our family farmed. My grandkids go to the same school that my father did. I love my house and my big garden. We are quite close in – OH can walk to the shops and library and get good transport into the city now he doesn’t drive. We back on to bushland, and I wake to the sound of birds (and my far neighbours’ chooks). I’d prefer the kookaburras get past 3.30….I can almost set my watch by them,..but it’s a cheery sound. Can’t say I love the drums, but he’s at school most of the time, and he’s not a dedicated drummer (by the time he spends practising, and his ‘progress’). His big brother on he other hand is a beautiful classical pianist …a joy to listen to, although he doesn’t play much now he’s in his senior school years. So different when we had the renters from hell living in the front house in 2018, and the dreadful neighbours with the pool you had when you lived in Perth. No wonder you like this boating life.

OK I’m off to walk my girls. Actually we are off to the very large dog park. I can get 3 or 4 thousand steps up while we are there, which sets me off for the day.

Have a good one all. I hope you are all well and happy.

Cinque that it so nice to read that you’re feeling well and fitting into so many clothes. Long may the new normal waist size continue. Thank you for asking but I’m grumpy about my weight right now. I dropped only 500g after yesterday’s FD. It’s not awful, 61kg was my trigger weight for years but I just want to be closer to 59kg. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned that I’m having foot surgery next month and I won’t be allowed to move for two whole weeks other than five minutes per hour to go to the loo on crutches. The rest of the time, my foot must be higher than my hip. With OH in charge of meals and no exercise whatsoever, I really wanted to be a couple of kgs lighter beforehand. Yum, cauliflower soup. I haven’t had that for years.

Lindsay, that’s good that things have settled down in the neighbourhood. If/when we return to Oz to buy a house, we’ll be looking a lot more closely at the immediate demographics/configuration of pools, etc. Hopefully, it will be a much smaller house with a lot of land and a moat around it. Yes, of course vets make mistakes. I was just making the point that they’re held accountable. As they should be. They too work ludicrously long hours and have to be the cardiologist AND the anaesthetist (and everything else). I was thinking of a WA vet who was deregistered some years ago when two guinea pigs died after castration. Fingers crossed for OH’s safe return home tonight.

It’s a sunny morning so we’re off for a walk in the countryside. Don’t ever take those Australian blue skies for granted.

Hello everyone, gosh it has been quiet here

I just lost a big post, when will I learn?

My weight remains stubbornly the same and is now not helped by a crook back. I did go on the dog walk this morning but quickly realised that was a bad idea. Work is getting very busy so I am spending too much time sitting at my desk so I must get up and walk around at least every hour – no actually every 30 minutes

Glad the weather is warming up Thin and I never take our blue skies for granted, especially after three years of La Nina. It has been cloudy and drizzly again the last few days despite La Nina being over apparently. I do hope to get a few more swims in before the weather turns too cold

I can just picture you in a house with a moat! I’ll join you as I am becoming less and less tolerant as I get older

I’m sorry the reflux is still troubling you Cinque, I hope you can get on top of it soon. I also hope your seeds come to fruition beautifully. Yay for nicer fitting clothes

Lindsay I’m so glad Mr L finally received some good care and I hope he is now home and recovering well. I loved reading about your home and the history and family links. I grew up in a small house with a backyard surrounded by neighbours windows and directly under the flight path (and the airport only 15 mins drive away). When we bought this house with its gorgeous views over mostly bushland, I realised I could never live in a house without an outlook again. It was so very run down but totally worth the 25 years of renovating!

Must run, hi everyone else and I hope you can post soon

Hi all, I had a horrible weigh in, I was up 1.7 kilos from my last weigh in two weeks ago. I didn’t really do anything different from normal, and my digestion issue showed up, it’s so annoying.

Things still a bit hectic, getting insurance sorted for the damage to our house, work is still hectic and the weather means I’ve not been able to get out on my bike as much.

I hope everyone else is doing ok, better get back to work, have a good one.

Cinque, I’m so sorry that you have all these health issues to contend with. You are so adventurous with your kitchen activities. Yes, you are correct, the bunion surgery takes less than an hour, is done under a local (so you’re aware of the sawing and filing) and then I am literally not allowed to do anything for two whole weeks. Total recovery can take one year but I’m ignoring that fact for now. I’ve made a list of boring jobs that can be done while sitting with my foot elevated. I have two WASGIJs, several books to read and a book of Bletchley Park puzzles. I also have thousands of safari photos to cull choosing only the absolute best to keep. What I really want to do is paint the boat. Oh and no, I’m not yet back where I wanted with my weight. OH can’t wait to take over in the galley (and I dread it on several levels!).

Neil, that’s frustrating about the weight gain. Something is going wrong (same with me).

Anzac, I hope you’re feeling good and the weather is pleasant.

I’m tired this morning. The fire alarm went off at 2am in the hotel and we hurriedly half-dressed but, just as we reached the door, it stopped. Then I couldn’t get back to sleep.

A quick update from me.

My busy schedule continues for another couple of weeks, but thankfully I’m through the flurry of food events, it’s mostly non-food commitments for the next fortnight to keep me busy. Despite a minimum of 3 FDs per week I still gained 3.5kg over the last month. I went back onto a strict regime again yesterday as I intend to make a big dent in this gain before easter. To reduce the damage to the scales over easter I have declined an invitation to dinner for good friday and will just do the family brunch on Sunday. It wasn’t the meal out on Friday that worried me, it was the fact that everyone there is expected to exchange easter chocolates. I have enough trouble dealing with the haighs eggs that I’ll get on Sunday, I don’t want to double the problem.

I’ll let you know whether my strict week is successful. I’m combining 4:3 with very limited daily food choices, which I usually find a successful approach over the short term.

Hello everyone.
Apologies for not responding to everyone’s posts, but I would have delayed making this post yet again if I wanted to do that and I’ve been delaying too long.

Take care.

Hello everyone, I thought I posted two days ago but a week has flown by. It is quite terrifying how quickly time flies

Not much to report, still maintaining rather than losing but I guess that is better than going up. I have an incredibly painful gum infection to go with my bad back so exercising is definitely out of the question right now. Dentist yesterday, physio today ho hum

What a complete farce Thin! I am so cranky on your behalf – 300 pounds versus 7 pounds. And a middle of the night fire alarm just to top it off. Grrr. We arrived in Paris in 2019, Christmas time, only to find a complete general strike. We had to forfeit a couple of pre-paid tours as there was no way for us to get there (e.g. Palace of Versailles) plus many exhibits and things of interest were closed. Mind you, the big benefit was we had to walk everywhere and saw much more that way plus kept the kilos off. On Christmas day we walked from our hotel in St Germaine to the Eiffel Tower, then to Montmartre for a pre-booked lunch and back again. 25,000 steps that day alone. I hope the op goes well, everything is crossed

LJ I find it most difficult when there are lots of social events to navigate. Sorry about the 3.5 but I know you will get on top of it quickly. We have nothing planned over Easter thank goodness. Perhaps a venture to our favourite Thai restaurant but that will be it

I’m in awe of the tasks you are undertaking G’day. Paving, fencing, fixing drains etc. It proves that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Good luck getting your studies and business up and running again

How were your steamed buns Cinque? Yum

I hope you get the extra staff in soon Neil so work isn’t so crazy

The forecast here was three days of torrential rain yesterday (happened) today and tomorrow. However I am looking out to blue skies and gorgeous sunshine. It is 25 degrees and perfect. I think we will even venture into the pool for one of our last times this season. The cooler temps will have the temperature down but I heard the heating turn on around 10am this morning so I hope it is get-in-able (new word lol)

Take care all

Cinque, laughing that it took a cyber mate across the country to remind you of something in your freezer. So funny. So much fun hiding those little eggs in the house and garden. We lived in our house for so long that DD got to know all my hiding places too well and could just zoom around gathering them. One of my favourite Easter things was placing a large stencilled rabbit foot that I made across our patio with talc sprinkled to make the footprint. How old are those little girls now? Is your SIL enjoying good health and are they settled in their environs?

Thanks for the good wishes for my surgery, yes it will make a difference because you’re a glass half full girl. We are now on a fourteen day mooring adjacent to a little alley that will give me access from the towpath to the road so our kind boater friend can drop me very close to the boat after the surgery. First though, we have another train trip to make to Nottingham for OH’s visa interview.

Anzac, I remember your big trip to Europe but was amazed to read that it was 2019. It seems like yesterday. Our boater friends from Perth live on theirs in France. It sounds like the French are even worse at strike action than the British which is saying something. Flipping passport office workers on strike here now for five weeks! Mine expires shortly. I was going to ask when your final swim might be but, reading on, you answered my question.

The sunshine has made a big difference to my outlook. I managed to get one side of the hull painted (above water line obviously) so I feel somewhat productive. It’s made the other side look even worse. The boat gets scratched during a cruising season and it’s more cosmetic than anything. But there are bigger maintenance paint jobs required that we were hoping to complete before my surgery that will now have to wait until summer. Once the blossoms start falling, it’s hopeless.

There’s a kingfisher in residence on this stretch of canal so, while I’m inactive, I’m hoping to use my newish lens to get a good shot.

Neil, LJ, Lindsay, et al – all OK with you I hope? CalifD, still reading?

FD for me. The last of the Mexican Chicken soup. It’s supposedly 277 cals. These days, I eat nothing until 5pm on a FD but I probably rely too heavily on coffee and tea. How are doing with cutting your down LJ?

Yesterday, while shopping for a ‘cast protector’ so I could protect my wound in the shower, a man said to me in conversation, “she’s like you, not an ounce of fat on her”. Such a lovely thing to hear but it took a few seconds to sink in that he was talking about me.

Hello everyone,
Happy end-of-summer chocolate festival, for all who celebrate.

Thin, I do hope you get a good picture of the kingfisher, you can give it greetings from its Australian tree kingfisher relatives at Lindsay’s house.

Good luck with that painting.

Anzac, hooray for your weight wise mojo!

Excellent to be getting that cancer cut off, ouch, I’ve had a mole off my back and it does hurt at first! I can’t even remember how I washed myself after wards! At a basin with a washer maybe. Just so long as they get it all!

Well, my steamed buns have been a disappointment. I think I needed to give them their second rise before I froze them, the poor yeasties just did nothing, so I have been cooking one and then cutting open the dough and just eating the tasty filling. Sigh. But at least it is a tasty filling.

But otherwise I am going pretty well. My reflux seems close to under control with my small meals and uprightness, 10 days until my hospital appt which might give some insight to what is going on.

Yes, I am hoping for more posts too, I miss the sense of community here.

Best wishes to everyone

Good morning all

Thin, I laughed out loud literally at the survey responses. Seriously? When it is a black and white yes/no question why on earth do you need to give someone that option? I’m glad I’m the age I am and grew up when the world was normal. Dearie me, I used to leave the house straight after breakfast and go off with friends and climb trees and explore and fall over and pick myself up and carry on and then not come home until the street lights turned on. I’m surprised I made it to 57 having lived such a dangerous childhood. Sorry, I do know that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit but honestly!

You would think that after last year with finding Mr Anzac’s bowel cancer in the nick of time that I would be more alert to getting regular check ups for all things health related. My skin specialist is very hard to get into so in the middle of last year I went to the GP for a skin check instead. I remember thinking that he was not at all thorough and I should make a booking with the specialist. Well I put it off and off and finally went and BOOM – the skin cancer on my back is not cancerous but in the scale of pre-cancerousness (new word) it is in the moderate to severe range. He said we got it ‘in the nick of time’ and my entire body went cold. He also said the incision will be large so I will need to be very careful with it for weeks. I don’t mind, just get rid of the dratted thing please

Back on the subject of pc-ness (another new word) I remember getting a jolt when I watched my nephew’s wedding on live-stream a year ago. They didn’t pronounce them as husband and wife; instead the celebrant said “I now pronounce you married to each other’. Puhleeese!

Sorry about your buns Cinque but I was so happy to read the reflux is a bit more under control

Hope the painting and the FD went well yesterday Thin. My scales took another 200g off this morning so I am happy. That is 1kg since Thursday. Yay!

Two cups of coffee, two chatty posts – who could ask for more?

Anzac, thanks for the detail on the pre-cancerous growth. Yes, once out, it’s behind you (although I guess it always was) and you can look ahead to healing. Perhaps it’s possible to use the hand-held extension in the shower (if yours has one) being very careful to keep the wound dry. I loved reading about your carefree childhood. As children, we played with others in the street (roller skating, etc) or making up games in the fields behind our houses. We had to be home before dusk. We walked to primary school without our parents (two miles uphill each way in the snow). Survived nicknames without lasting psychological scars (my maiden name lent itself to plenty of teasing).

Lindsay, I was hoping you’d give us an update as I took your absence to mean bad news on OH’s health front. Everything sounds very good. You’ve completely blown my image of you (again) with the story of falling off your seat drunk. OK, tipsy. Happy Belated Anniversary. What a funny thing for Rosy to do with the fruit. Unbelievable that the hospital would send a bill in the circumstances but I suppose those things are generated automatically by a separate system. Just wait until AI takes over our lives.

Now that I’ve read that your OH had to elevate his leg for six weeks, I’ll stop whinging (quite as much). Thank you for your good wishes. It’s such a minor thing in the scheme of what so many of you and your OHs have been enduring. But as DD said, when you’re contemplating surgery, you don’t want to have to worry about the logistics as well. Yes, the train fare was gouging but at that appointment, we were told in no uncertain terms that public transport is out of the question for the follow-up dressing change so we have had to rent a car at £111 per day (OH’s age – he can still fly a helicopter but a car might pose a risk). Why I can’t go elsewhere for that appt is a mystery. The river is in flood so we can’t move the boat closer and our kind friend who’s bringing us back after the op will be cruising in Wales at that point (having delayed their trip for me).

DD is in Costa Rica. We were mugged there on our honeymoon. OH sported a black eye for the remainder of our holiday which didn’t look good for a newlywed couple. DD contacts us daily and we have ‘what3words’ and ‘polar steps’ to track her whereabouts and movements. She’s still travelling alone but hooking up with other travellers for short periods. Recent highlights were the scuba courses in Honduras and volcano boarding in Nicaragua. Lots of very interesting wildlife too.

You both mentioned weight. I’m inching closer to where I wanted to be after Sunday’s FD. I’m glad I did that painting yesterday, it’s raining yet again.

Good afternoon everyone. I have a rare day at home, so I’m taking the time to catch up on posts.

Thin, after all the difficulty of getting to your surgery appointment, I hope the bunion removal goes well. I also hope your waistline survives your husband’s cooking.

Lindsay, I’m still giggling about your flight into the shrubbery.
Excellent news that your husband is on the mend, despite the incompetent hospital.
What a sweet dog Rosy is. The question is, does Scarlett actually eat the fruit, or just play with it?

Anzac, wow it’s a good thing you had that skin check when you did. So glad it was found and removed before it became dangerous.

Cinque, I hope your sleep improves, as it has such an impact on your health. It sounds like Tuesday will be busy, but on the plus side, you get it all done and can then hopefully have some quieter days.

You might remember I had many food challenges in March and did extra FDs every week to help, but I still gained 3.6kg that month. I started a one week regime on 2nd April to prepare for the next challenge of easter. I had intended to eat from a limited range of “no frills” food choices and do 3FDs. I doubt I actually went over 1000 calories even on the NFDs as I got bored with those limited food choices very quickly. I lost 2.6kg that week. Easter was the challenge that I expected it to be and I regained 1.2kg. The final tally of all that is that I still have 2.2kg of the March gain to lose. Beyond that I need to lose a further 5+ kilos to get to the weight range that I used to be (and haven’t been since the covid lockdown in 2020).
I can do this second goal more slowly and am thinking of following the same plan as I followed last winter, where I did a FD every third day and I actually counted calories daily on my fitbit, aiming for 1500 calories on NFDs. (If I do 8000 steps per day my TDEE is around 1600cals.) I did that for the whole of last winter and lost almost 9kg over the 3 months. Once I got into the swing of it, it was easy and I oddly didn’t stress about meals out, I just made the best choice I could and accounted for the calories then went straight back to careful choices for the next meal. This was easier in winter as there always seem to be fewer social outings involving food – fewer family birthday dinners and people just avoiding planning outings when it’s cold I think. One of the things that worked especially well for me was that it also avoided the weight gain I usually experience every winter.

As I want to be as healthy as possible for the travel in October and next February, I think I need to take an approach like this. (Less weight on my joints will make a difference.) I will be starting this no later than the end of this month. I’m just doing a more restricted week or two first.

Hello to everyone one else who is reading. Take care.