My two FDs saw me drop 1.3kg so I’m in a much better place to start the week.

Neil, what terrible rainfall but you are on such a roll with your weight loss. Just like the old days!

Anzac, so funny to read that Sydney is ‘cooling down to 19C’! It’s all relative of course and now a forecast of 17C sounds quite appealing to us! We’ve had three or four glorious, sunny autumnal days and managed to get off the flooded river and back on the canals yesterday. Such a relief. When the flood lock was finally opened, we were first in a long parade going west and there was another coming towards us. There were more boats than we’ve seen all summer. The anchor, life ring and life vests have now been stowed away.

Cinque, are you alright?

Morning all

Fast day before my weigh-in tomorrow. Since I’ve been eating breakfast again the last couple of months, I’m trying something different, and instead of eating all my calories in the evening, I’m going to try to split them into 3 equal meals of 250-300 calories each. I had some raspberries and yoghurt for breakfast. I packed some chili beans and salad for lunch, and I’m going to have some roast pork and probably some more salad veggies tonight. I’ll see how it’s worked out, hunger-wise, tonight.

Suzy, good to hear from you and congrats on the loss. I had bloating and digestion issues for quite a while, I worked out that it seems to get worse when I eat a lot of sugar or starchy processed carbs, like bread, pasta, baking, etc. Natural starchy carbs like rice or potatoes don’t seem to affect me. If you can handle eating boredom for a month, you can try doing the “whole 30” programme. It’s a diet where you eliminate everything except fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs and oils. After 30 days you start introducing foods one at a time to see which ones may cause you issues.

Thin, 1.3 kilos is a great result for a couple of fast days, well done!

ANZAC, our tax rate is reasonably high, but we do have a tax rebate system for people with families. If you have dependent children you get a tax refund, I think ours is to the tune of around $200 per week. It certainly helps pay the bills, but we’re going to have it halved next year because our son has turned 18, so we’ll just get the refund for our youngest boy.

Well, I’ll catch you all tomorrow for my weekly weigh-in.

Morning all. At my weigh-in this morning I was down a whole kilo, for an overall loss of 6.5 kilos over the last 11 weeks. Still rocking along around the average of 600g a week or so. I think splitting my fast into three small meals helped. I wasn’t going to bed with a big meal in my belly.

Have a great one everyone.

Hi everyone

Just a quick check in. FD went well yesterday and I’m almost back into the 77s. How on earth we can put on so much weight in a few days but it takes weeks to lose it is just beyond me!! lol

Neil, congrats on another kg gone. Boom! Hope you’re all doing ok after all that rain. I know it takes some time to recover from it.

Thanks G’day for such a detailed and interesting response x I have heard of all those powders except for the broken cell Chorella one. I think I have seen Chorella before, it comes from greens if I remember correctly. Your smoothie sounds really yummy. All your food sounds so yummy and healthy actually. I agree with you about the “fresh” produce they sell at the supermarkets. It’s not much better here either. So disappointing after owning a fruit and vege shop for 10 years and my parents having f & v shops all my life before that. I’m disgusted at what they try and pass off as fresh sometimes.
I did keto for a while and really enjoyed the food and the weight loss that happened super quickly. I love cooking so it was fun to try all these new keto recipes. Some were flops but others were really good – I think you need to be very choosy about which sites you use.
It takes a lot of commitment to keep at it and I admire you for being able to do that.

Back to work for me. Chat soon 🙂

Hello again, I had the days mixed up when I wrote, where did Tuesday go?

I have had some lovely times doing grandma things. The girls are 8 and 10 now and it makes for some lovely adventures and conversations. It is mostly easier looking after them now, Cali.

Just when I thought my esophagus was settling down, it did a big flare up, even my mouth. Ooh it ached. It seems to be settling down again now on double meds.

Cali, it is nice to have some weather in synch, even for a short time. It is a lovely day here today, I wish I had been outside more. I have callistemons in flower (one creamy yellow, the other dusky red) and roses out. Broad beans are being picked and lots of baby chard. I am busting to do more in the garden. Maybe tomorrow.

Well, I am just starting to catch up on posts, but I am going to stop already because I am going out this evening (I can’t think of the last time I went out in the evening) as my daughter and friends are going to see the film documentary of ‘Your Fat Friend’ which is playing in the next suburb, and I am going too.

They won’t be dressed up, and I won’t dress up either… but goodness it is tempting. I want to get some glad rags on.

I’ll miss dinner and I am pretty sure that makes this a fast day. An 800 cal day maybe.

See you soon

Another short post.

Gday, how true it is that access to beautiful fresh vegetables is such a privilege. There are some really good markets around here, and even when lots of things are expensive, I can always find some wonderful produce at a low price. (It was asparagus last time I went shopping).

Happy Birthday to the birthday person!

I laughed at your scales going haywire story, hooray for new batteries.

And my heart went out to that remote property for sale, I want to live there!

I’ve been watching Hugh FW’s ‘Three Good Things’ series and have been influenced by it enough to make meals with three good ingredients. (Except then I did a bit of bulk cooking: lambshank stew and chicken and veg traybake, where I used everything from my fridge yum yum). But when I get back to making individual meals I will do the three ingredient thing again I think. It feels lovely and elegant.

Neil, all power to you with cycling and 5:2ing. You will soon get to the 100+ single digits. Spreading the calories out more does sound sensible, and it sounds like it suits you.

Here are your balloons and fireworks! https://c.tenor.com/EIA3v8WXB5IAAAAC/tenor.gif well, sparkles anyway 😀

Spring is fickle here too. Quite warm today. But not as fickle as your wet stormy craziness. I hope it is more settled now.

Cheers all

Morning all

Looks like a B2B fast for the beginning of the week again. I didn’t go overboard on calories. As usual it was what I was eating. I went on a bit of a carb-a-thon. Had toast for lunch, pizza for dinner, and a muffin as a snack yesterday, Friday night it was the usual movie snacks, rum and coke, but I had a few glasses of softdrinks as well, which I don’t usually have. I’ll stick to fruit, veg and meat only for the next couple of days, and hope that will balance things out.

Thin, nothing worse than spending a fortune on fruit/veggies, and getting tasteless produce. I think a lot of it is many of the new varieties have been developed to look aesthetically pleasing rather than to taste good. We grow quite a bit, and the heirloom varieties of things like carrots and tomatoes definitely have the best flavour. I like trying a different variety of potato each year, we grow a row of an early potato like Rocket or Swift, and a row of a main crop like an Agria or Haylo, then an experimental row. This year I’m trying an older variety called “Whataroa” grown by Maori prior to European settlement in NZ. It has a mottled purple and cream skin. https://www.nichols.co.nz/Garden-Centre/Shop/Product-Details/Garden-Centre/Root-Vegetables/Morton-Smith-Dawe/Maori-Potatoes-Whataroa-1kg?ID=40333

Cinque, I really like Hugh FW’s programmes. River cottage, and all his experimental programmes like when he ate no meat for a whole summer, and his activism programmes as well.

Gday, I guess when you’re forced to do something, you tend to resent it. I hated gardening as a kid when my parents forced me to do it, and I didn’t like a lot of different veggies (I tended to stick to the tried-and-true carrots, cabbage, potato, peas, corn, and lettuce). Now I’m older, I love gardening and I’ll eat any veg I can get my hands on. I’m excited at the moment that we’re moving back into asparagus and avocado season.

Well have a good day everyone, Hopefully my fast today and tomorrow sees me keep my streak of losses on the scale.

I forgot to say that yesterday was the first time in 3 years I ate a piece of meat besides the very occasional piece of chicken or mince meat. Meat has been too expensive for my budget for a long time, and I’m not that fussed anyway if I don’t eat meat but I thought I’d try a piece for a change. I bought a small piece of organic grass fed scotch fillet ($15) and I must say I cooked it to perfection. A nice crust on the outside and pink and juicy on the inside with super crispy roast spuds, carrots, broccoli and gravy. It was delicious.

I had a rude shock at the supermarket last week at the checkout, $5.60 for a medium size red capsicum. So on my next visit I thought I would weigh my produce to get an idea of what it would cost and guess what, no customer scales in the fruit and veg section.

Speaking of weighing, I bought 8 x $500 gram bags of pepitas (pumpkin seeds) a few weeks back at the Adelaide Central Markets as I can’t buy them locally. Yesterday I made my keto crackers and when I was weighing the ingredients and used most of one packet I thought the amount left in the packet was odd compared to what I had taken out. So I weighed the 500g packets and every single one contained 440g of pepitas – 60g short in every single bag. I’ll be having words with that stakeholder next time I go to the markets and ask them to weigh anything prepackaged that I buy.

Now I definitely need that coffee 🤣🤣

Gday, 8x60g is pretty much an extra 500g bag, I’d demand a free one next time you’re back there.

Hi everyone

It’s Tuesday FD for me today. I didn’t fast yesterday as I had a visit to the dentist in the middle of the day and thought I was going to need something major done but it ended up being a clean and a plan for three crowns to come. $1700 each thank you very much.

It’s almost 1pm and so far so good

thin, you’re right about the produce in WA. There were a few nice things but mostly really hard to find decent produce. Also I couldn’t believe there was no fresh seafood – all frozen! And what??? A peeled egg in a packet! That sounds gross.

G’day – lucky you realised about the weights of those bags of Pepitas! Illegal and totally rude to rip people off like that. Hope you sort them out!

Cinque – hope that reflux settles soon. I’m thinking of you

Back to work for me. Take care xx

Quacka, with your new life that includes travel, have you considered dentai tourism?

The cost of dentistry was getting exorbitant in Perth and I had a very bad experience with a dentist. He claimed he’d been performing a root canal over three very expensive visits but it later came to light that he hadn’t even attempted it. This fraud and incompetence ultimately cost me my tooth and an unpleasant legal battle – just to get my money back, no punitive damages. The result was that I needed an implant at a quoted cost of $10,000.

The dentist got a slap on the wrist from the dentistry board and a written ‘caution’ against his name for three months – which they ‘forgot’ to post and I had to remind them about. Amazing how the body supposed to protect the public rallies around their own in the face of overwhelming and damming evidence – a bill for a root canal and an X-ray showing it wasn’t performed. By coincidence, the dentist that revealed all this told me that he’d spent many years ‘correcting that guy’s mistakes’.

A neighbour suggested a facility in Thailand. I was naturally skeptical but researched it thoroughly. The implant (involving two trips to Thailand) and a two week family holiday in Thailand cost us $3000. After that, our family travelled to Thailand for most of our dentistry – crowns, fillings, mouth guards, etc and we even planned Bangkok stopovers on other family holidays just to get our exam and cleanings done there.

I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s a huge, modern, spotlessly clean, dedicated facility and every floor houses a speciality like crowns, implants, dentures, and so on. There’s even a hotel attached to it where you can stay for bed and breakfast. In my case, they wanted me staying close for four days after the procedure in case of complications. I was given strong medication for pain relief – but needed nothing.

Most of the dentists and specialists are trained in the US, England, Canada etc. If you need a specialist scan, you simply go to another floor and, when you get back, your dentist is already reading the results. (In Perth I needed a separate appointment across town and had to wait two weeks for the results, plus pay the dentist for another visit).

What sold me on it (after speaking to several Australians who’d been there) was the professional, detailed and prompt response I received when I made the initial enquiry. All the worst-case scenario costs are quoted ahead of time. I was given three cost options for materials used for my implant. They recommended that of the three implant visits needed, I should have the tooth extracted in Perth to save the airfare as the second stage can’t be done for six months after that. That gave me confidence that they weren’t just money-grabbing.

Most of their clients are foreigners travelling to Thailand to access the service. Every patient must pay a ‘sterilisation fee’ at every visit and packages for all dental instruments required are opened on your chest.

My implantologist is Canadian-trained. I’ve been very happy with the result. I realise I was coming from a very different perspective, one of utter shock and disgust at the profession and its governing body, whereas you’re just expressing dismay at the cost. But if you’re interested, I’ll give you the name and contact details of the facility and you can start your own research into it.

Good Morning everyone

Hi thin. Honestly, I have never even considered going to Thailand but have heard several good things about it. I guess the only reason is that I haven’t done any overseas travel before. I have two holidays booked so I hope that once I do them I will be more confident in going overseas and then I would definitely look into it. Would love you to give me the details please. It sounds like you had a very good experience so it’s good to hear from someone who has actually done it!
That criminal dentist in Perth – well let’s just say I know what needs doing to him! Unbelievable that he thought he could get away with and then worse that the dental board were lax in doing anything about it. I hope he’s not still practising.

Yep Neil, don’t worry about the 200g. There are so may variables that affect our daily weight and one of the biggest is how much water we are retaining, all related to a million different things like our food and drink, our medications, the weather and even just sometimes I feel like our body just says I’m doing this today!

I had a good FD yesterday. I’m doing another one today so my first B2B since restarting 5:2. I don’t think it will be 500 cals but I’m hoping to stay under 700. That will be 500 for dinner and 200 for lunch. I can do it

Hope you all have a lovely day xx

Good morning everyone from a very warm Melbourne with mad thunderstorms forecast.

Gday, sympathy for your weather, I am girding myself for a dreadful summer, but I am pretty sure a dreadful Melbourne summer will be easy compared to your area.

Suzy, yes! The year is flying by!

And yes, I also agree that our digestion changes as we age, getting less and less robust. We do need to enjoy how good it is at the moment as it is never likely to be any better!

And another thing I agree on is salads for summer! I find those salad vegetables so cooling, I don’t want them on cold days.

Enjoy the dance festivals!

Quacka, sympathy for the cost of the crowns, but I think that when I got mine they were more expensive and probably not as clever and long lasting as they make them now. (Before I had even heard of dental l tourism like Thin’s).

I hope your B2B fast day went as well as the first one. On a roll!

Neil, yes it sounds like a bump not to worry about. best wishes for a good week this week.

Best wishes everyone!

It sounds like some of you are bracing for a very hot summer. We had our own little heatwave yesterday with the temperature reaching 19C. No coat!

Neil, you are doing SO well. It’s fantastic to read of your ongoing downward trajectory with so few bumps in the road. I had to look up, ‘The Hangover’ and noted that Bradley Cooper was in it. I’ve just seen a movie with him in – A Star Is Born. I really enjoyed it and before that, I didn’t even know what Lady Gaga looked like and I couldn’t name any of her songs. I’m so out of touch. I thought they were both very talented actors and singers.

A few months ago, I was recommending, ‘Colin From Accounts’. It’s an Australian series. I just wanted to say, don’t bother with series 2.

Quacka, B2B fasting! I’ve never tried it. I hope it goes well. Does your OH do any fasting?

That dentist is still practicing. He goes off the radar for a while and then pops up in another suburb. He trained in Perth and is now in his late fifties. The dentist that said he had fixed lots of his mistakes told me, ‘he’s a nice guy but he just shouldn’t be practicing dentistry’. That dentist ran for the hills when I needed someone to testify on my behalf. The name of the Thai facility is Bangkok International Dental Centre (BIDC). https://bangkokdentalcenter.com. I understand it’s a big leap but it’s always good to have options.

We watched Dr M’s, ‘Just One Thing’ the other night. It was about the benefits of a 30 second cold shower – or any cold water immersion. Has anyone tried that? It’s still so sad to think of his untimely death.

Gday, your weather is like ours was a week or two ago. Now it’s only on the mid to high 20’s during the day and around 10 to 15 at night. We went from summer to autumn almost overnight. So much better for sleeping.
A couple weeks ago when the second hurricane was heading toward Florida, spent at least 12 hours texting back and forth with my cousin who was down there in a house owned by her and her husband. They live in Wisconsin with very cold winters, so it’s a nice warm getaway during those months. She was down there by herself and had planned to leave 2 days prior to the hurricane but her flight was cancelled and she couldn’t get another one. When the hurricane got closer it looked like it could hit their house which is practically on the water. She decided to drive to her son’s house which is about 45miles inland. Luckily, it hit further north up by Tampa, bet we had some tense texts throughout the night. It seems like lots of bad weather this year.

Thin, you asked about our fresh produce in California. Since they grow so much here and in the valley it’s usually very good and in good supply. We export a lot of apples to the UK. We send produce and nuts all over the world. Almonds have become a very popular crop and I think we export a lot more than we use in California. But we also import a lot of produce. I have a bowl full of Envy apples from New Zealand sitting on the island bench right now. They are the best apples! We grow avocados in the state but also get a lot from Mexico. We import a lot of produce from Mexico and South America. It amazes me how much food is shipped around the world.

Cinque, I think you’re right about the fiber. It’s good for the gut but if you don’t eat enough regularly, especially beans, they can cause a lot of bloating. But it seems like within a week or two that settles down. High fiber foods make me feel full longer.

Quacka, I have never considered leaving the country for dental work, but if we were closer to Thailand I might at some point. From what thin has said the place she goes to is a top notch operation. Denytists are so expensive here too.

Neil, congrats on the continued weight loss. You’re back on a roll again. Did they get all the cleanup done from those rains a few weeks ago?

SuzyQ , I hope you get the problems sorted out with the IBS. I wonder if any fermented foods would help? Sauerkraut (if you like it) is easy to make at home, as is kefir if you can get some starter grains. It’s kind of like yogurt but faster to ferment and not nearly as fussy.

Well, time to get some sleep. Have a great day, everyone.

CalifD, thanks for the run down on California produce. I haven’t seen the Envy apples – although I haven’t looked as I only buy Pink Lady apples which have become a silly price. Lately, I haven’t bought any because there are always so many free cooking and eating apples available at this time of year.

It looks like the authorities did a good job of convincing people to leave Florida before the hurricane. That would have been scary to be unable to get a flight out. Unless you’re Neil’s relaxed friend.

GDSA, I loved, ‘Colin From Accounts’ series one, we didn’t enjoy the second series and didn’t finish it. I like the actors, it made a nice change to see some new Aussie actors and fun to learn that they’re married in real life. Did you find the cold showers improved your mental well-being as touted?

Neil, that’s a lot of sports stuff. There was an America’s Cup Race the first year I ever went to Perth 1985/6 I think it was. The whole town (Fremantle) was mad for it. I remember a poster on the back of all the buses with a drawing of the Cup contained in some thought bubbles and the slogan, “Wishful Thinking Kiwis’.

I banked a fast day on Saturday as DD was coming for the night on Sunday to spend two days with us. There’s a great pub near where we are currently moored so we went for a Sunday roast. I woke to a great low weight and blew it with a delicious nut roast and roast potatoes. So this week I must be very careful.

We also had our new canvas cratch cover fitted over the weekend which had been ‘patterned’ back in June. It looks very smart. The guy who made it lives on a boat too and we had to co-ordinate our movements. It can be challenging to get work done as a constant cruiser (aka water gypsy). We’re heading on towards our winter mooring this morning when it warms up a bit. I might need my hand and foot warmers. The leaves have turned to beautiful autumnal colours and the sunrises are super oranges and pinks.

Have a great week everyone.

Neil I’ve postponed my 48 hour fast until the weekend. Miss GDay made a luscious chocolate cake and biscuits on Monday as her Aunty is here for a few weeks staying with relatives and Miss GDay loves baking treats for her when she visits. I always feel guilty if I don’t eat some of her baking as she puts in so much effort and they are always beautifully decorated. So needless to say the scales nudged in the wrong direction the last few days. Given we are going out to lunch on Friday there was no point in trying to get the 48 hour fast in this week, might as well wait until the damage is done for the week and then fast. Great mistake to make Neil, well done.

Thin I do so many different things to ensure (or try to ensure) I have good physical health and mental wellbeing so I really can’t say that cold showers directly attribute. However I’m sure they do as research shows this is the case and the centuries old practice of cold plunges must account for something.

Thin lucky you to get free apples. I love eating an apple a day, always a Granny Smith which are cooking apples as I love their taste over any other variety, although given the extremely limited varieties avail here (only 3 varieties in our local supermarkets) I can’t say I’ve tried too many. I have a Granny Smith and Red Delicious in my garden (apple trees need 2 specific varieties to polinate and produce fruit) so I eat both but GS in my absolute favourite. Lots of new buds and flowers on the trees so hoping for a good crop coming up.

Good Afternoon Everyone

I’m still here and still fasting just been really busy at work again and also trying to organise our NZ trip.

Today is my Wednesday FD and so far so good. Feeling a bit hungry at the moment but it’s 3pm and I’ll get through.
Monday’s FD was great. The boss was here and I had so much to do so it went quickly and easily. I’m still hanging in the 77 range so I’m hoping to see 76s tomorrow, I think I’ve been in a bit of a plateau as well Neil.

thin, I don’t like doing B2B FDs but sometimes they are just needed if I’m going to fit two into a week. The second FD is usually a few more calories than usual but I find if I am in the right frame of mind, I can do it. Hopefully I will be in the right mindset next week as I will be going to breakfast with my gym friend on Wednesday so Monday and Tuesday will be my FDs.
My OH doesn’t do formal fasting but sometimes he doesn’t eat breakfast as he is too busy surfing! Then he is ravenous for lunch lol

Anzac, Happy Anniversary!! I wonder if we are going to be at the airport on the same day. We are flying out on the 17th November but very early in the morning.

Well I better go. Almost time for home and then I am making dinner and we will be eating early tonight. I’m hungry!
Tomorrow is first appt for the first crown so not looking forward to that. I’ll be ok.

Take care all and look forward to reading your posts xx

Good Morning Everyone

Wow, that first class trip sounds amazing. What sort of points system have you been using? I joined Qantas FF as they had the cheapest flights to NZ when I booked. Good luck with the dentist too!

Well I didn’t make it to the 76s but I am very close – 77.1 kg. So next week it will definitely be in the 76s. I am looking forward to an active and healthy eating weekend ahead so that I can start the week off right next week. That’s my aim now I just have to make it happen!

Happy day all xx

It’s practically criminal G’day, we also paid $7.90 for a cabbage the other day. We used to laugh about cabbage saying it is the poor man’s vegetable as it is so cheap and lasts for ages and you get so many servings out of one. Not anymore

Anzac, Happy Anniversary! Friday is tomorrow here. 😁

Quacka, you’re almost out of the 77’s! 76 sounds so much lower. I don’t like B2B FD’s either. I feel starved by the second day.

Cinque, GS apples are grown in California and are one of my favorites too. There is one type that is more sour, which I like, but it’s also softer or not as crisp of a texture. I love the combination but don’t see them in the store often. Maybe it’s because most people like sweeter apples. 🍏 When I do see them I buy as many as we can eat.

OH’s caregiver who is here for 4/hours, 3 days per week, showed up a week ago with a stuffy nose and coughing. She claimed it was just a cold and her daughter had one too. I asked her if she would take a Covid test. We had some home tests here. She agreed and did the nose swab thing and I did the rest. As soon as I put the drops in the tester it immediately turned bright red for positive. I sent her home and called the agency that she works at to let them know. She had been here less than half an hour. The evening of the following day OH and I both had runny noses and felt “off”. We’ve tested 3 days since then and we’re negative but I still don’t feel great. I hope it’s just allergies or a cold. We are behind on our vaccinations by several months. Hope we feel better tomorrow. We are always so careful except for having the caregiver here. I am always the only one wearing a mask anymore at the grocery store.

Thin, congrats on the new cover for the boat. I like your referring to yourselves as “water gypsies” lol!

Have a good rest of your day everyone!

Hello and happy Friday !

Still on the go alot with mini me and work, but managing. Just quite exhausted and I feel more tired on FD’s , so I try to plan a FD around a day I know may not be crazy. Its not so easy at the moment. All the dancing festivals will be over after the 2nd Nov and hopefully then we can slow down. Work will head into its busy season as we do corporate gifting and most clients leave stuff to the last minute. Its weigh and measure weekend, so crossing all fingers and toes for a good result 🙂

califD , I am amazed at the thoughtlessness of your caregiver? How did they think it was a good idea to come into work being ill ? But then humans confuse me most of the time.

I would love some fruit trees. My gran had so many when I was little. I used to help her make jam and bottled fruit in syrup. She had such green fingers. Could grow anything. Her veggie garden and flower garden were awesome. Then agian , other than looking after me while my parents went to work , she put all her energy into her gardens. Unfortunately even though I was her “assistant” her green fingers didnt rub off on me.

@Thin, I have a detective series I read on and off about a British detective that lives on a boat in Oxford, she has just sailed off into the sunset after her retirement from the force in the last book I read. It sounds like something I could quite easily do . How are the winters on the boat though?

We have our annual church Portuguese Festa on Sunday – lots of delicious food on sale. So im guessing Monday is going to be a FD for me 🙂

Have a great weekend everyone ! Chat soon .

Suzy, narrow boating is a unique and great lifestyle. I highly recommend it. We didn’t intend doing it for five years but here we are. We’ve often said we wished we could take the boat to Africa.

You asked about winters. The boat itself is toasty warm – most boaters have to leave their doors open because it gets too hot. We have a Morso Squirrel diesel stove. I can cook one pot meals on this and always have a kettle boiling. We also have central heating in the form of three radiators run by a Webasto heater – similar to what caravaners use. We can programme this to come on when we’ve been away from the boat all day or in the morning if the diesel stove wasn’t on all night.

The problem is that you’re standing on the stern in the elements using the tiller for propulsion. This is absolutely no fun in the wind or rain. There are many boaters who live aboard year round but there’s not much cruising going on. Lock maintenance is carried out during the winter months so there are many navigation stoppages. Boaters tend to either go in a marina for winter mooring (expensive but affords boat security, shore power, water, services, chandlery on hand, etc) or pay the Canal & River Trust to moor canal side for three months (cheaper but no facilities). Or you can just move on as usual every 14 days planning around the stoppages.

Morning all,

I’ve had an absolutely disastrous weekend. I was heading off on my trip on Friday, I was all packed up and on my way. I’d driven around three hours, when all the engine warning lights came on in my car. I stopped at the nearest town to check what I could, but there wasn’t anything I could see. I couldn’t find anyone to look at it because it was the beginning of a long weekend over here. I wasn’t keen to drive the rest of the 7 hours up to Nelson and then the 10 hours back again, so I cancelled my trip and limped back home in the car, stopping every 70km or so to let the car cool off and settle down.

I lost $200 in accommodation through non-refundable deposits, the car is booked in today to find out what is wrong, but that’s likely to be expensive, and to top it off we had heavy rain, and we discovered we have a leak in the roof as we had water staining showing up on our ceiling. I’ve got a guy coming around to look at that as well, and that’s also likely to be expensive. I was so depressed I went on a binge-a-thon, just ate crap for 4 straight days. I’m guessing I’ve probably undone about a month of weight loss in 4 days.

Today is my birthday and I’ve just cancelled my leave for this week and gone back to work, because the weather forecast here is looking pretty grim for the rest of the week. I’m really feeling pretty depressed and ashamed of myself for eating so much in response to the stress.

I hope everyone else had a better weekend than I did.

Thin, the principle called to admit that they had not done the right thing and they have altered all their regulations to say that if something similar happens in the future, they should seek professional medical assistance rather than relying on first aiders in the group. He’s still suffering from it, and he’s got a dispensation to get out of sitting upcoming exams as he has trouble concentrating for large periods of time. His results will instead be taken from an average of his years assignments.

Hello everyone,
I had a big day with family friends on Saturday and continuing my social time as my nephew has stayed overnight after seeing a concert in Melbourne (Thom Yorke).

Cali, you are right, it is the granny smith crispness that makes their sweet and sour taste perfection! Pink Lady is crisp and tangy too, so they are also a favourite of mine Thin (I think it was you who loves them).

I do hope your household are okay after having covid visit. How I wish they made it easy for anyone who works with people to take the time off with any flu/covid/cold symptoms.

Nephew is awake, I will write more later!