Frump to Fab - Summer Solstice Sizzler

fedupandskint

Totally fab day here - a 10 mile walk in the country side, burnt off 2000kcals in a 5hr walk up the peaks and a little try out on a road bike which was brilliant!

Really want one of them now too.....another savings pot needs setting up for that and aim to get one next year for lots of fun!

faithless

Hope LL's that your back and parents are doing better.:s

No fabbing here - wearing paint covered rags day as spent day helping put up fences in back garden - absolutely no lifting due to back, just odd jobs and painting bits, making tea and catering, but think I've still overdone it and will pay tomorrow. Also I have a cold as well as hayfever so I feel and look terrible - white with red blotches on nose, cheeks and lips. Thank goodness for Kleenex Balsam tissues, otherwise my nose and lips would be cracked and bleeding by now!

Podperson, Barry M do gold and silver shatters that look bright, and aren't expensive - about £3.99 in Superdrug, and think they were 3 for 2 last week. They also do a new 'mock croc' effect one, where instead of it cracking into large chunks, it shatters into little sections that look like crocodile skin! The shatter effects you getdepend on how you apply it - thicker coats are different to thin, and some say to paint it in diagonally, in like chevron stripes for the best results.

WelshWoofer

Faithless - hope you're not suffering too much today. I'm a hayfever sufferer too - it gets you down doesn't it? Its been over 30 years for me now - doesn't appear that I'm going to grow out of it now.:(
Pod -hope you had a nice quiet night?
LL - hope that things are a little better for you? Thinking of you and your parents.
Sparkles - that walk sounds exhausting! You put us all to shame!

Well, yesterday I did 10 hours of schoolwork - sometimes you're just in the right mood. I've broken the back of it now and only have about half a day left to completely finish it off. I'm writing a new scheme of work for the new Biology GCSE - need to get it right for the teachers and the kids.

Today I'm going to do a couple of hours more work to try to get most of it done, walk the dog a few times and clean the house ready for the visitors tomorrow. If I get time I'll also pop to Mr S to buy a few fresh bits for the visitors and use a voucher they sent me for £4 off a £20 spend, I'll make it up to £20 with some storecupboard and freezer bits if needed (won't need to shop on the weekend then).

Fab wise, not a lot planned but I will have a bath tonight and a defuzz and general tidy up of toenails and fingernails.

Right, I'd better get dressed and take the dog to the park before the rain starts. Hope everyone has a good day xx

fedupandskint

Fabwise for today;

just back from walking the dog for over an hour around the water park
Next task is to do the ironing ready for the week ahead
Then a bike ride for an hour to see how I get on and discover a route to take
Back for lunch and some fruit for snacks
Then read one paper for the assignment
Take the dog out again
Read one more paper
Heat up leftovers for tea
Get work stuff ready
Get work lunches ready
Have a little rest!

EpsomOldie

Thanks for your welcome everyone, it seems very supportive here. Well since I last weighed myself on Saturday, I've lost 4 lbs - purely down to eating more fruit and veg and Muller Lights instead of ready meals. Plus, like most people I always lose a little more when I first begin eating more healthily.

Cooked some lovely Thai chicken burgers with cucumber, coriander and coconut salad yesterday - adapted from an old SW recipe.

I thought I saw a 'Lose 7 lbs in a month' thread here which sounded manageable but I can't find it anymore. I have around 4 stones to lose so anything non-threatening sounds good!

On my way to the allotment now for some weeding, digging and planting before the expected rain in the afternoon. Then I'll get stuck into some ironing and clothes sorting. Not only should it keep me away from the fridge, but it'll bring home to me how few clothes I have. I've put off buying anything for such a long time because I look so big and frumpy in everything.

It's usually Pilates class today but not happening because it's a bank holiday. I'll dig out the exercises and try to fit some of those in too - I always feel better afterwards.

Best wishes to all.

podperson

Morning all,

Sparkles - you're definately putting us all to shame glad you had a good day, when you say peaks do you mean the Peak District? I used to live near the top end of them, some lovely countryside.

faithless - hope the cold's a bit better and you're having a quieter day to recover x Thanks for the polish tips, I do quite like Barry M stuff so might see if I have time to pop in Superdrug tonight, the 'mock croc' one sounds good.

WW - well done on the work marathon lol! Hope you're all sorted for your visitors.

Well, I had a very quiet night as it turned out. I had popped into the library on the way home to drop off some books and pick up on I had on reserve, as I was heading out the guy behind the desk goes 'wait, I think there's some more in the back for you' and came back with a massive pile of about 10 :eek: I had obviously got a little carried away on the online reserve system, though they usually take weeks to come in dribs and drabs! Was trying to fit them into my shopping bag, down the side of my handbag etc :rotfl:So, yes, ended up curling up with one of them after my tea and before I knew it was nearly 11 and I had got nothing done Ah well, probably my last quiet night this week - am going straight to choir from work tonight, we have a charity concert in 2 weeks so on long rehearsals this week and next. Then am supposed to be going to the cinema with my film group tomorrow, then it's actually our 'official' meetup on Thursday but will have to see about going to that as I really do need to get my photos from weekend edited.
Hope everyone has a good day, sun is trying to come out here

podperson

cross-posted Epsom but that's fantastic on the weight loss :j great how just small changes can start making a difference. I think the 7lb a month thread is this one.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3984673

Must get back on it myself, have been very slack lately

lessonlearned

Good Morning Everyone

Sorry not able to say hello to all of you - really struggling at the moment. I am reading all your posts though - you're all doing very well and lots of positivity and good vibes going on here.

As my title suggests the Ape Woman is back, but I can at least shuffle around the house now, can sit up (reasonably) straight for more than a few seconds and can stand at the sink and cooker - so normal (ish) service is now being resumed.

Hoping to get behind the wheel today and drive to see OH. Thank goodness I drive an automatic - a manual would be out of the question. Absolutely no heavy housework or lifting though - I think I have finally learnt my lesson.

Re the Osteopath (Bitsy thanks for the reminder). I used to see one before - he also did chiropractic stuff too. I will phone tomorrow and get booked in and see what he can do. It hurts like hell when he does his stuff but I know it does me good.

My posture is very bad at the moment, hence the Ape Woman walk - not a good look:rotfl::rotfl: My right hip is higher than the left so everything is out of alignment and it all needs to be "clicked back" - ouch, ,ouch, ouch - but it does work. Fancy paying a small fortune to be tortured.:eek: I feel like what I really need is being stretched out on the rack (you know the old medieaval instrument of torture). My spine just feels really compressed and that it needs a good "de-kinking".

Tummy problems have been horrendous - IBS and headaches - mainly stress related of course. So am really having to nurse that along too. Oddly enough when I look in the mirror I don't look too bad.:rotfl:

Mum still in hospital - can't get any sense out of anyone - but from what Dad has described sounds like a minor stroke. TBH I think she has had a series of TIA's. She is dreadfully confused. Apparently she thought she was hosting a tea party yesterday and kept offering her tea to all the other patients. Bless her.

I am going to try and buy some newspapers today with the all the Jublilee pictures. She adores the Queen so it will cheer her up. Apparently Dad and her neighbours have bought her loads of chocolates - she has advanced Diabetes!!!!

My sister will be home today so she can help Dad, who is rapidly going to pieces. He was in tears on the phone last night saying he wished he had listened to me and that they really should have moved into sheltered accommodation like I had suggested. What can you do - it's probably far too late now. Mum may be able to come home for a few weeks or months but then it will have to be a nursing home. My poor dad is heartbroken.

I have been unable to do anything except offer telephone support and try and talk to the hospital and explain that Dad needs help and systems in place before Mum comes home - thankfully the hospital had a rethink and have kept her in to do some further tests and a full assessment.

We'll just have to take it from here.

Anyway enough of me and my woes - hope you are all well and enjoyed the Jubilee festivities. All I could do was lie on the sofa and watch them on the box.

I thought the Concert was pretty average but I loved the pyrotechnics that accompanied Paul McCartneys "Live and Let Die" - very clever - and of course I'm an absolute sucker for a good firework display.

We live fairly near a large country park and they often have firework displays - I can open my lounge curtains and watch them for free.

Off to soak some of the stiffness away, lunch and then try and visit OH - not seen him since Friday. It might have to be a short visit - although I can at least lie on his bed if necessary. Then hopefully I will be able to drive to see Mum tomorrow (miles of hospital corridors - won't be able to manage them today).

Bye for now X

PS - My lovely DS2 has bought me a beautiful Orchid plant to cheer me up. I think I've brought him up quite well - he's been making me drinks and snacks, lifting, carrying and fetching for me, visiting OH. He'll make a good husband one of these days - even if his bedroom is still a tip.......

Bitsy_Beans

LL make sure your mum isn't dehydrated, that can also cause huge confusion and I don't think hospital staff are as vigilant in making them drink. Obviously if she is on an IV for fluids ignore me
Re your back........when my dad had back problems in the 80's my parents had one of these

http://www.mht-supplies.co.uk/backpain.htm

Might give you some relief, not sure if you can or should use it whilst you're on your own but then again the one my parents had didn't have a hand rail. I know it's yet more money but if it works and avoids ongoing costs of osteopath maybe worth it, especially if used routinely.

Sorry for not responding to everyone else individually I have to get on, only popped on briefly

Catch up later xxx enjoy the bank holiday

lessonlearned

Thanks for that Bitsy - I didn't know you could buy stuff like that. I will definitely look into that one.

I have a shiatsu (I think that's what it is called - or am I getting confused with a breed of dog!!!!) massager which I do use quite a bit. It cost me £70 - roughly the price of two physiotherapy treatments so well worth the money.

I just need a bit more that a Swedish or deep tissue massage at the moment. I know that everything is misaligned - I can just feel it's all out of kilter.

Mum currently having a brain scan - so will know more soon. I totally agree with the dehydration and confusion - I will get my sister on to this - she is visiting tonight. The same thing happened with FIL - he wouldn't drink because he didn't want "to be a nuisance" asking for help to the go to the loo. As soon as SIL got him home, eating and drinking properly he did seem to regain quite a few marbles, at least he now knows who and where he is.

I know that they do put out water but getting the patients to keep drinking is another matter, especially when they need help. I have to bully my OH and bribe him by adding squash to the water, otherwise he won't touch it. Worse than children .........;)