My tip for losing weight is just doing small things like avoiding cake, and weighing breakfast cereal. I did that in 2019 and managed to lose a stone and a half over the year, which I've mostly kept off. Trying to avoid things only makes me want them!
We went for a Great Amble today, across Richmond Park to Barnes and then on to Kew Bridge via the Thames and a bus home. In Barnes we went to the Saturday market there, had a coffee and bought two very large almond croissants for tomorrow's breakfast. My husband spotted George Clooney cycling along but I missed that
Kids' outdoor activity at church today, first since lockdown. Good fun with lots of activities, but it was cold ....! And it rained a bit at the end, but not to worry. Rule change from Monday means we can restart indoor youth club next Friday.
Going carb free would be very difficult at the moment...we have just bought a bread maker from a friend ( for 10 €!) and MrD has, in the past week, made two loaves and a brioche. All very delicious. If he's not careful we'll both be as fat as mouldiwarps in a few months!
We had a bit of a Grand Day Out today. My inlaws came over the border (¡!¡) and we met them for lunch somewhere about 1\4 of the distance between us (nearer us than them.)we haven't seen them in person since mid August.
I don't have scales so gauge weight gain by the comfort of my trousers: if they feel tight I need to cut down on food and exercise more.
I realise I'm very lucky being one of those people whose shape and weight hasn't really altered since I was 20. It means less expenditure on clothes for a start - I'm writing this wearing my school house rugby shirt bought in 1972!
I would be rubbish at a low-carb diet - I'm far too fond of pasta, rice and potatoes for that. Although I use my bread-machine, I don't eat a huge lot of bread: a couple of small slices of toast for breakfast, and occasionally some bread and butter with supper, if the bread's newly made.
Supper this evening was a chicken breast done in the oven with veggies - more or less the same recipe as I do with salmon - and it was quite good.
Steak'n'chips as per usual for a Saturday. Steak briefly frightened in a frying pan, then rested for 10 minutes, then served with the juices from a pan deglazed with butter, garlic and fresh parsley.
I made my sort-of-bolognese whichwas fairly goodl although I'd forgotten to buy any mushrooms and was too tired, after a (cold and slightly damp) kids' activity day at church, to go out and buy some. Washed down with a very nice Spanish Duero red wine.
I’ve been busy the last 14 mornings, owing to teaching the last two Saturdays, so I skipped church this morning and went for a long walk in the wetlands nature reserve and sat by the lake. We are now having a quick barbecue before husband joins the church online games afternoon. I’m going to potter round the garden and do some weeding, I’d like to do some work on my research proposal but have told myself I need time away from my pc!
[...] husband joins the church online games afternoon. [...]
Would this be things along the line of, 'Where is Jesus?' (spritualised version of 'Where is Wally?'), or 'What Would Jesus Do?', where you come up with the most imaginative suggestions? Or for the church history buffs, perhaps 'Name that Pope'?
[...] husband joins the church online games afternoon. [...]
Would this be things along the line of, 'Where is Jesus?' (spritualised version of 'Where is Wally?'), or 'What Would Jesus Do?', where you come up with the most imaginative suggestions? Or for the church history buffs, perhaps 'Name that Pope'?
It does sound interesting!
Nah, it's a CoD mod where you go round shooting heretics.
Lol! Church has a monthly games afternoon where the geeks play strategy games like Carcassone, Settlers, etc. It currently meets using Board Game Arena and Discord. It is very non-churchy and non-Christian friends come along.
A lot of them also meet up in the week online, especially those living alone.
I'm just back from having coffee and a BACON SARNIE with my friend A (the one who was my bridesmaid): she phoned out of the blue and invited me round. She also gave me a housewarming present - a stainless steel mortar and pestle - which I'm going to christen later by using it to crush the garlic and salt for the steak marinade.
The idea was to sit in the garden, but it really wasn't warm enough (and was threatening rain), so we sat in their music-room, with the French windows open on to the back garden, and put the world to rights (as you do).
We've also arranged to meet for coffee on Thursday afternoon, which'll be nice.
Mr Nen and I did a very low carb diet some years ago and both lost a lot of weight very quickly. Unfortunately it piled back on equally quickly once we started eating more normally.
We've had a lovely outdoorsy sort of day - coffee in a friend's garden this morning and then afternoon tea and cake and chat in another friend's garden this afternoon. The latter gathering was the first time we'd been together "in 3-D" this year so we shared a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the first of, hopefully, many meetings.
Yesterday Nenlet1 and son in law ended up staying for an evening meal as well, so we ate stir fry on the patio at 6pm and just as we'd finished the coffee and cake course it started to spit with rain. So the timing was pretty good.
The past couple of days have been suited to outdoor things but tomorrow, not so much. Storm and Tempest, I gather.
Yes, we'd booked to go to a wildlife park tomorrow, but managed to change it to today, when the weather was better. It was still a bit chilly but mostly dry, and we got to see lemur babies and wallaby babies!
I’ve renewed our annual membership for the botanic gardens and pre-booked entrance for today. We’ll go this morning so hopefully we might miss the rain later!
Rotten weather forecast so I’ve picked all my tulips and put them in vases - they look glorious. They are red and yellow and three times the size of the ones you get in florists.
Bank holiday so of course the weather is dank and dismal.
The local farm shop is full of disgruntled campers/glampers looking damp and asking what do you do around here when the weather is like this? The answer is we stay at home, nipping into the garden between downpours as the dictates of Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit allow. Eejits 😈
Veteran camper here, we always take a pack of cards and some small board games camping with us, things like Bohnanza, Deep sea adventure, Coup and Love letter. Obviously cafes aren’t available to sit and play in at present but we have a large family tent with a porch so that makes it easier.
Bank holiday so of course the weather is dank and dismal.
The local farm shop is full of disgruntled campers/glampers looking damp and asking what do you do around here when the weather is like this? The answer is we stay at home, nipping into the garden between downpours as the dictates of Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit allow. Eejits 😈
Please, what are *glampers*? It sounds like one of those lovely
onomatopoeic words...
It is - it's glamorous camping in luxurious tents, set up in advance so you don't have to do it - so you get glamping and glampers - have an article. They aren't really getting the full experience this way.
Far as I can see from that link it isnt real camping at all, more like renting a cottage with a short walk to the toilet facilities! You'd think they'd have more gumption and bring things for wetdays! This is the UK , after all!
We did this with our children every year for five years, on on the Isle of Mull. Thirty years ago. The toilets were plumbed in, in the ‘tents’. It was brilliant. Two minutes from amazing water sports, all part of the package.
I’m off to check if they still do them ...
Yes they do! I think I’ll book for the whole family next year - memory lane!
Best of all, you could go in away from the midges!
“ Shielings have been on Mull for 35 years, long before glamping was ever even heard of. They were inspired by the summer dwellings of Highland shepherds tending their flocks by mountain and shore in days gone by.
They offer spacious, airy, dry, fireproof, bright accommodation and are very strong.
You have all the comfort of an ultra basic cottage, whilst still experiencing all that camping under canvas has to offer. Be at one with nature, listening to the sea and birds.”
Weather is windy, cool and showery, with Worse To Come. Swimming opened today and I managed to do 575m which surprised and pleased me (I'm not a good swimmer). It was noticeable - after more than 4 months of closure - that many people didn't stay in the water for as long as they usually do.
Put eggs on to boil. Soften finely sliced onion in butter. Tip in peas and rice. Microwave the haddie in more butter (c 3 minutes). Flake, add, and mix everything until heated through. Add (by now) boiled eggs quartered. Serve with a wedge of lemon.
We've just been up to London for the first time since early November. Walked from Waterloo to Piccadilly via St James Park and Green Park and back through the back streets taking in Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square. Finished up with very nice Arancini for lunch from the food market on the South Bank.
Back before the rain starts, but the wind is getting up. I was nearly blown off my feet walking down Haymarket.
Alternative cheat's kedgeree. Per person
1 pot of supermarket's egg fried rice (has egg, onion and peas in)
1 portion smoked haddock
curry powder to taste
parsley, ditto
butter, ditto
Poach the haddock in boiling water
Microwave the rice
Put the rice in mixing bowl with the haddock, flaked, and everything else.
I’ve renewed our annual membership for the botanic gardens and pre-booked entrance for today. We’ll go this morning so hopefully we might miss the rain later!
I used to work for Spillers Milling in Station Road, Cambridge, where we had a test bakery. This meant that there was usually fresh bread to take home. A favourite lunchtime entertainment was to take any spare / stale bread down to the Botanic Gardens (free entry in those days) and cause a feeding frenzy by throwing it to the ducks.
London wasn't too busy @boogie. The food market was the busiest as were the cafes on the South Bank, but it was lunch time. I felt pretty safe, as we were outside all time, apart from the trains which were OK.
There were queues outside Hermes and Louis Vuitton, so some people must be feeling flush. If we get a chance before we move, it would be nice to do it again.
Spillers Mill is now luxury apartments. That whole area is filled with luxury apartments! My husband’s business rents a house in Brooklands Avenue beside the botanic gardens.
It is - it's glamorous camping in luxurious tents, set up in advance so you don't have to do it - so you get glamping and glampers - have an article. They aren't really getting the full experience this way.
London wasn't too busy @boogie. The food market was the busiest as were the cafes on the South Bank, but it was lunch time. I felt pretty safe, as we were outside all time, apart from the trains which were OK.
There were queues outside Hermes and Louis Vuitton, so some people must be feeling flush. If we get a chance before we move, it would be nice to do it again.
My d-i-l had to go to Birmingham on Saturday, by train. Euston was closed for engineering work which meant that Marylebone station was uncomfortably busy.
Comments
We went for a Great Amble today, across Richmond Park to Barnes and then on to Kew Bridge via the Thames and a bus home. In Barnes we went to the Saturday market there, had a coffee and bought two very large almond croissants for tomorrow's breakfast. My husband spotted George Clooney cycling along but I missed that
I realise I'm very lucky being one of those people whose shape and weight hasn't really altered since I was 20. It means less expenditure on clothes for a start - I'm writing this wearing my school house rugby shirt bought in 1972!
Supper this evening was a chicken breast done in the oven with veggies - more or less the same recipe as I do with salmon - and it was quite good.
I usually marinate it for an hour or so, then fry it in a little oil and butter and add a splash of the marinade to the pan along with some mushrooms.
Must amble along the street to get some red WINE.
I haven't checked out the weather yet, but it would seem to be a mixture of sunshine and cloud.
It does sound interesting!
Nah, it's a CoD mod where you go round shooting heretics.
A lot of them also meet up in the week online, especially those living alone.
The idea was to sit in the garden, but it really wasn't warm enough (and was threatening rain), so we sat in their music-room, with the French windows open on to the back garden, and put the world to rights (as you do).
We've also arranged to meet for coffee on Thursday afternoon, which'll be nice.
We've had a lovely outdoorsy sort of day - coffee in a friend's garden this morning and then afternoon tea and cake and chat in another friend's garden this afternoon. The latter gathering was the first time we'd been together "in 3-D" this year so we shared a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the first of, hopefully, many meetings.
Yesterday Nenlet1 and son in law ended up staying for an evening meal as well, so we ate stir fry on the patio at 6pm and just as we'd finished the coffee and cake course it started to spit with rain. So the timing was pretty good.
The past couple of days have been suited to outdoor things but tomorrow, not so much. Storm and Tempest, I gather.
🌷
The local farm shop is full of disgruntled campers/glampers looking damp and asking what do you do around here when the weather is like this? The answer is we stay at home, nipping into the garden between downpours as the dictates of Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit allow. Eejits 😈
I did the same last sat, and the lemur babies were esp nice. They also had baby baby birds you could peep at through a very small window.
An Early Expotition to buy SOSSIDGES has been successfully accomplished, in order to avoid the forecast Gales and Rain...
Please, what are *glampers*? It sounds like one of those lovely
onomatopoeic words...
I’m off to check if they still do them ...
Yes they do! I think I’ll book for the whole family next year - memory lane!
https://shielingholidays.co.uk/
Best of all, you could go in away from the midges!
“ Shielings have been on Mull for 35 years, long before glamping was ever even heard of. They were inspired by the summer dwellings of Highland shepherds tending their flocks by mountain and shore in days gone by.
They offer spacious, airy, dry, fireproof, bright accommodation and are very strong.
You have all the comfort of an ultra basic cottage, whilst still experiencing all that camping under canvas has to offer. Be at one with nature, listening to the sea and birds.”
I've kicked off the bread maker, and composed an online grocery order for Thursday.
Tonight's dinner is cheat's kedgeree and tomorrow's a gratin of potato, onion, gammon scraps and way too much cheese.
Little remains but a sedate afternoon of knitting.
I'm just back from a blowy-but-dry walk and talk with a friend and her dog. Holing up indoors for the afternoon, I think.
It wasn't the same, but it was rather good in its own right. Even if (like us) you are carnivorous, his "Much More Veg" is well worth a look.
As it's a Bank Holiday, as others have said, of course it's raining, but not more than my new raincoat can handle (so far).
I'm currently sitting in the Riccarton Inn waiting for my sister (and possibly a niece, great-nephew and wee dog) for a late lunch.
I haven't been here before, so research will be in order.
It's grand having this Ridacard thingy* - as Del Boy would say, the world is my lobster!
* especially when I worked out where to find the right bus stop at Haymarket.
Smoked haddock
Sachet of ready-cooked pilau rice
Onion
Frozen peas
Eggs
Butter
A wok.
Put eggs on to boil. Soften finely sliced onion in butter. Tip in peas and rice. Microwave the haddie in more butter (c 3 minutes). Flake, add, and mix everything until heated through. Add (by now) boiled eggs quartered. Serve with a wedge of lemon.
Back before the rain starts, but the wind is getting up. I was nearly blown off my feet walking down Haymarket.
[pedant] as Arthur Daley would say[/pedant]
1 pot of supermarket's egg fried rice (has egg, onion and peas in)
1 portion smoked haddock
curry powder to taste
parsley, ditto
butter, ditto
Poach the haddock in boiling water
Microwave the rice
Put the rice in mixing bowl with the haddock, flaked, and everything else.
🙂
“There are fewer metaphors around than people think.”
― Terry Pratchett, Small Gods
I used to work for Spillers Milling in Station Road, Cambridge, where we had a test bakery. This meant that there was usually fresh bread to take home. A favourite lunchtime entertainment was to take any spare / stale bread down to the Botanic Gardens (free entry in those days) and cause a feeding frenzy by throwing it to the ducks.
There were queues outside Hermes and Louis Vuitton, so some people must be feeling flush. If we get a chance before we move, it would be nice to do it again.
Rather late, but thanks for the info!
Still, think how much busier it might have been in *normal times* (remember them?) with Euston out of action.
Gales are occurring here. Rain is predicted to commence around 7pm.