Summer Solstice Sensation

Carmen

Good morning,

LL, so glad you are feeling better:) As you say, a good nights sleep makes 'problems' more manageable.
Well done for getting back to your exercise regime, I used to enjoy the Rosemary Conley dance exercise, unfortunately cannot manage that now, never mind at least the weight is coming off:)
Love your idea of a get together once we reach our state of fabulousness, you slim jims may need to wait a little longer for me:rotfl:

Mrs W, what part of Cyprus are you heading for? My one and only visit there was a bit of a disaster, but did see some beautiful parts of the country:)

I had a busy day yesterday and today will also be the same, so will class that as my exercise :rotfl::rotfl: I shall look forward to my trip to the farmers market tomorrow, I always find it relaxing watching to world go by as I enjoy my croissant and coffee:)

Well, looks like being another nice day, the dawn chorus is in full swing, the cockerel across the valley is adding his contribution...hmmm :rotfl: The cats have had their breakfast and have gone back to sleep (my next reincarnation I think )
OK, need to get my show on the road, take care y'all.
:hello:Maman:hello:

Carmen xx

lessonlearned

A bit of a non day really, weather too cold and dismal for gardening. Had to wait in for a maintenance check on some of OH's equipment. It was my sister's turn to help with OH today so whilst we were housebound we had a good rummage through some cupboards, the loft etc. She was laughing at my "hoarding". However, most of it consists of treasures to be sold when I start my little bric a brac business:o Honest. At least I will have plenty of stock :rotfl:

Did manage to fill a charity bag.

We also sat with OH going through some old photo albums - nice little trip down memory lane. This in turn prompted DS2 who had a day off today to sort out some of his photography for his portfolio. Bless him - hopefully now that the carer system is working well and if the cleaner works out ok I can free up some time to start my little business and incorporate it with helping DS2 promote and market his work.

I think a stall selling assorted bric-a-brac, some of my own design projects, artworks and photographs should work well. A nice eclectic mix. It will be fun and on good days OH can come along too.

Other than that not very much really. The lurgy has really taken hold today and I've not felt like doing much - will have to try and get my a** in gear tomorrow (oops today).

Carmen - Love your description of your early morning. When the weather is good I like to rise early and have my coffee outside before the rest of the house is up and about. Lovely and peaceful.

G'night all x

lessonlearned

Hi Everyone

WI today - 1lb (9lbs) so feel quite pleased - a good result considering my cooking hasn't been up to much this week. With feeling so rotten I haven't really paid too much attention to what I was eating so a lb was good news.

Been coughing and spluttering again most of the day.

My new "Lady Wot Does" started today. Decided to concentrate on the kitchen so she blitzed it, paintwork, light fittings, cupboards, tiling, the works.

She is actually the daughter of OH's principal carer. She's only 24 and she bought her 8 month old baby with her. Carer and OH played with the baby whilst Mum got on with the cleaning.

OH really enjoyed having them here, he loves babies - he simply wouldn't get that kind of stimulation and fun in a nursing home. We also managed to get him onto the exercise bike today - I doubt that he'd get that there either.

When she left I decided that as she had degreased and degunked the tiles I would regrout them. They look like new now. Well worth the couple of pounds spent on the tube of ready mixed grout and rather a lot of elbow grease.:p

Still no gardening today, will definitely have to start tomorrow - all my "babies" need transplanting.

DS2 finally lost the battle to save his tooth today - poor lamb. Dentist reckons it will be possible to make a bridge though so not too dire. Our dentist is lovely - she will try anything to save a tooth and takes it as a personal and professional failure if she has to extract one.

Hope you are all well. Maman how did you get on SW this week, Carmen did you get lots of nice bargains at the market. Still doing ok with my budget although I'll need to do a bit of stock up soon - don't think I can last until the end of the month.

No exercise today - just thinking about it brings on a coughing fit.

An early night beckons.

Bye for now x

maman

You seem much perkier now LL, and as busy as ever. But you are allowed to rest, you know;)

Well done on your WW success:T and that was with a fish and chip supper!

I lost another 1.5lbs today, that makes me 3.5lbs off 3st and 6lbs from the original target I set. Unfortunately I think getting there will take a while due to my holiday next month. But I can afford to be patient. I'm determined to enjoy what life offers and if that means a bit of stop/start on the eating plan then so be it!

The grouting sounds good, in fact your whole kitchen sounds very neat. Did you have to scrape the old stuff out at all or just put the ready-mix on top?

Good that your DH enjoyed his time with the baby too. The arrangement is a great one all round!

I thought your early morning sounded idyllic too, Carmen. Shame it was because you couldn't sleep. I've been to a meeting this afternoon and to get there I drove along the South Downs, really lovely. I do love this time of year.

Hope you're OK MrsW, you haven't gone on your hols yet have you?

MrsWoolfe

Good Morning Ladies!

no I haven't quite left on my travels yet, I'll head up to my Mum's tomorrow night as it's only half an hour to the airport from her house- means I won't have to get up quite so early on the Sunday, Mum's happy as it means we'll see each other on my birthday- even if it's only for a little bit in the morning.

Things have been really busy for me this week- and crazy the last few days which is why I haven't been able to post, hopefully today will be a little less hectic (please!).

LL you certainly sound much brighter! and glad your OH enjoyed having the Baby over- I think having little ones around often cheers me up, love having my nieces as I get to play and laugh with them and I don't think we do that enough

I have fallen off the wagon a bit in the last few weeks, so this week I've tried to get back into good habits again eating-wise making sure I have a good breakfast- having my planned snacks, low GI options...so silly because as soon as I start eating right again I feel tons better within a day or two so really no excuse to eat badly!

I've also been "prepping" for hols- facials, good pedicure, de-fuzz, slathering on the moisturiser. Got my sunblock ready and looking for a good facial sunblock. Dh has had to take the day off to get the car sorted- great timing for the starter motor to pack in- so he's going to pop into Debenhams for me during the day (tried to go last night too 20 mins to get to the bottom of the road- so turned round and came back) and pick up the new Elizabeth Arden one- it's in the 8hr range, factor 50, UVA and UVB, photstable and oil free, I've also been told that it doesn't leave the white residue - which is a biggie for me- being dark skinned the sunblocks that do this are a nightmare for me- it's on offer at the moment so can get two creams for £26 instead of the usual £23each....

have put out what I want to take so just a matter of putting it all in the suitcase tonight, taking my seedlings over to my friend's so she can look after them and then off we go!

Right must go and make sure nothing scary is going to crop up while I'm away...hate coming back to work to a big fat mess!

Hope you are all doing well, will try and pop back before we go:D

MrsWoolfe

(can you tell I'm getting excited yet!?:D)

lessonlearned

Hello Everyone

To misquote the (in)famous Gordon Gecko in Wall Street (I love that film - so 80's cheesy) "Rest is for Wimps".:rotfl:

Busy day today - had my hair chopped off - quite funky;) The colour is all mine now and I rather like it - white at the front and a bit more "pepper and salt" at the back.

Hope I will be able to style it ok by myself. It tends to be baby fine and has got thinner of course with age. Will try some thickening mousse that's lurking in my box of tricks although I sometimes find it makes my hair feel a bit sticky. Can anyone of you kind ladies recommend any products that make hair appear thicker. I do the bending over thing when blow drying to add volume and that helps a bit.

Managed a bit of gardening before I went to the hairdressers and then did some shopping afterwards. Apart from that just the usual washing etc.

Rather tired - had a bad night - everytime I got to sleep I woke up with a coughing fit. So yes I did have a nap this afternoon.:D - didn't have much choice as soon as I plonked myself on the sofa I was gone.

Hope you have a lovely holiday Mrs W - I would be excited too.:p Forget all about work and just have a fab time. "Happy Birthday" too. Tell us all about your adventures when you get back.

:T on the weight loss [/B]Maman [/B] - you've done so well. I think you are right about being patient. Although it pains me to say this I think it's finally dawned on me that even after I've reached my target weight I will still have to be vigilant or I will simply pile it all back on. For that reason I want to find a way of losing weight that is sustainable over the long term.

About the grouting - it was generally in a good condition with just a couple of tiny holes and a few minor shrinkage cracks, so apart from a thorough degreasing it didn't need much prep.

I just removed a couple of lose bits and filled them with grout - the same as you would if you were using pollyfilla to fill a hole or repair a crack. Then I just applied a final coating over the whole lot. I managed to gouge out the lose bits with either my fingers (no wonder my nails are jagged again) or an old knife.

If necessary you could go over the whole lot with a wire brush to remove any lose debris to help the grout adhere. However, because it had just been scoured and degreased I didn't need to bother. The big thing is to make sure there is no dirt or grease. My LWD (Lady Wot Does) had blitzed the grout with a toothbrush and bleach to clean it first and that was enough.

Anyway - just tidied my eyebrows and am going to tackle my dirty, jagged gardeners/diyers nails.

Just tummy crunches today.

G'night all x

lessonlearned

Just had a thought about grouting - told you I was a diy fanatic.:D

I've also got a tube of grout whitener - not used it yet. If the grout is good but just dingy apparently it's just the thing. £2-99 from Wilkinsons.

It's in a squishy tube with a sponge applicater - like those shoe whiteners we used to use in the days of white school plimsols for games.:o Now I'm showing my age - no fancy trainers for us.

There's also a grout pen you can use - costs a bit more so not tried it - should imagine it's pretty easy - like a fat felt tip or magic marker I would think.

I might use the grout whitener on my bathroom to freshen it up at some point.

maman

No time for a longer message but, in case you manage to log on

:bdaycake:

Happy Birthday and have a lovely holiday MrsW (and MrW of course;))

Carmen

Well done LL and Maman on your weight loses' keep up the good work
Happy birthday Mrs W, have a lovely holiday.
Will post more tomorrow.
Carmen xx

lessonlearned

Hello Everyone

Lovely sunny day here so lots of pottering about in the garden, transplanting my "babies". Going all out with the fruit and veg this year. My sister planted my tomato seeds and over 50 plants have come up. Friends and neighbours will be getting plants whether they want them or not.:rotfl:

Have decided to host a family lunch party tomorrow so nipped to Sainsburys at 8.30 and picked up loads of bargains. Freezer is jam packed now. Still plenty in the store cupboards too. Apart from milk and some fruit and veg I shouldn't need anything else now for a couple of weeks at least.

The good news is after last months housekeeping disaster I will come in at less than half this month for the food. I've also avoided any additional frittering. Saved about £20 by not having my hair coloured too, so all in all quite pleased with myself. Just shows what you can do when you put your mind to it. TBH it's not even been painful, we've eaten very well. Going to try very hard to keep this up.

Anyway - no extra exercise today - just the gardening and the usual stretches and crunches.

Off to bed soon, G'night all x.