I've had the worst of times - now for the BEST of times!

DedicatedDFW

Thanks INOD

Are you on hols now p&f? Hope all is good with you

I also remembered i *think* you said you made a bread and butter pudding om nom nom i need to lose weight But woiuld love the recipe for this then i can make it as a treat on occasion - there can be alot of bread waste here at times

peaceandfreedom

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

I do lists and have an idea in my head of the time things will take - i emptied and put back and inventoried the freezer and it took about an hour which i expected.

Well done on your win :T

Do you think if i weed and put bark down it'll help stop the weeds at all?

I really need to defrost our chest freezer in the garage - will leave it until after Easter and make sure to run down both freezers a bit first. It's not one of my favourite jobs. The other freezer needs to be done as well but it is easier because everything in it can be slung into the chest freezer.

I am not a fan of bark. I think it looks untidy, gets scattered about in the wind and I don't really think it's a very good mulch for the plants. It may help suppress weeds for a little while but a lot of weeds grow from seeds that are blown in from the wind, and the bark will not do much to stop those.

Think about paved brickwork that a lot of people have for driveways - after a year or so they will be thick with weeds unless they are sprayed - all those weeds will have come from 'above' not from beneath the bricks.

I don't use herbicides or pesticides because I prefer an organic approach with the garden all working in harmony, so any weeding is done by hand.

The best way to keep weeds down in flower beds is just to keep weeding assiduously everywhere so there are fewer seeds around to sow themselves about. After a season or two of this, you will get far fewer weeds. It is not easy to do though - I find it hard to get enough weeding done.

For paths, you need something a bit more 'hard landscaped'. Around my raised beds for example, I am going to dig down to get rid of the surface soil and weeds, put down a layer of stones / rocks, then put down a weed-suppressing membrane, then cover with a thick layer of gravel. This has worked very well around my greenhouse (though it was done by a man-who-does) - I still get an occasional weed on the gravel surface but it is easily pulled up.

peaceandfreedom

in_need_of_direction wrote: »

I think the bark approach is a myth. We dug out, weeded, put weed fabric down and topped with bark. Nasty weeds still come through.

Absolutely, there is no real alternative to just pulling up weeds.

peaceandfreedom

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

Thanks INOD

Are you on hols now p&f? Hope all is good with you

I also remembered i *think* you said you made a bread and butter pudding om nom nom i need to lose weight But woiuld love the recipe for this then i can make it as a treat on occasion - there can be alot of bread waste here at times

Hi DDFW - yes I have been away for a few days, visiting family and doing other stuff in London. It was very nice but I'm back now with loads of things to do.

I made a bread pudding not a bread-and-butter pudding - I used this recipe: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/13355/bread-pudding

It takes a while in the oven so time it when you will have something else cooking.

How are things with you - will pop over to your diary soon to find out.

jwil

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

Don't be daft, Jwil, you don't need to lose 8.5 stone . And you've enough to be coping with at the moment without tackling a weight-loss plan. My kids are all older and more-or-less able to look after themselves. That makes life a lot easier, believe me, and gives me the opportunity to look after myself and work on my fitness and eating. They say when women reach a certain age they start being more selfish and looking after themselves again after years of nurturing a family - well I think it's happening to me.

Yes, happy holidays everyone, looks like the weather intends to behave itself as well. :j

Sadly I do

Well done on getting the chance to have some time to look after yourself though, it's so important!

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

Yes, that bit made me smile as well - it's me exactly - how I love planning what I'm going to do every day. Lists, lists and more lists - what could be better?

Actually, I find I achieve a lot more now that I actually put a time estimate beside each task - it makes me much more realistic. I have a total that shows how many hours effort overall is required for the day - yesterday's initial list came in at 24.5 hours. :rotfl:

In all seriousness, it makes me prioritise and think about what absolutely MUST be done and do those jobs first. If my hourly total goes over a realistic amount, I move tasks to another day. It seems to work well. I got most of what I needed to do done today. :T I have learned that on a work night I am unlikely to spend more than 3 hours on my tasks -probably more like 2. That's fine, I just need to be a bit smarter about planning things.

Money-wise, there's a lot going out and not a huge amount coming in. I have done an elaborate plan for the next few months as both April and May are high-expense months due to various family events. I am not used to getting over this kind of thing without a credit card and it's proving a bit hairy. :eek: But I'm getting there. It is most gratifying to know that I will get to the end of it without racking up any debt. :dance:

I won 25 quid on the Lotto last night - not life-changing but I won't say no.

Well done on the lottery win :T

It's great that you can get through the expensive times without the credit card

jwil

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

Do you think if i weed and put bark down it'll help stop the weeds at all?

*cough* my cat liked to poo in my old neighbours bark *cough* For that reason I wouldn't put it down.

peaceandfreedom

jwil wrote: »

Sadly I do

Well done on getting the chance to have some time to look after yourself though, it's so important!

It is important and it sounds like you are not getting that chance at the moment. Having a young child, a full-time job and doing lots of stuff in your 'spare' time is inevitably going to mean that you don't get much time for you.

I'm sorry if I sounded flippant about your weight. If you really do have 8.5 stone to lose then that's quite a daunting target. My advice, for what it's worth, would be to just change one thing at a time. You clearly need to cut down calories - so choose a food item that you feel you eat too much of, that contains very little nutrition but is packed full of calories. Most likely it is also packed full of sugar as well.

I have no idea what your food is like but likely candidates are:

• Most breakfast cereals
• Almost all bread
• Chocolate bars
• Biscuits/cakes

If you feel you eat a lot of any of these, choose one section and cut them out. Don't try this until it's a good time (i.e. you are not ill, baby Jwil is not ill, you are not on holidays etc.).

When losing weight, everyone has to reduce food intake - it is an excellent idea to make sure that the food you are cutting out/reducing is the lowest in terms of nutrition - that way your body won't miss it and indeed will be better off without it.

As far as exercise goes, if you can find some time, go for a nice walk, that's all you need to do.

peaceandfreedom

jwil wrote: »

*cough* my cat liked to poo in my old neighbours bark *cough* For that reason I wouldn't put it down.

Ooh yes, I'd forgotten about the neighbourhood cats who used my bark (I did try this once many moons ago) as a toilet.

Not to mention that bark is an absolute haven for slugs and snails. :eek:

jwil

peaceandfreedom wrote: »

It is important and it sounds like you are not getting that chance at the moment. Having a young child, a full-time job and doing lots of stuff in your 'spare' time is inevitably going to mean that you don't get much time for you.

I'm sorry if I sounded flippant about your weight. If you really do have 8.5 stone to lose then that's quite a daunting target. My advice, for what it's worth, would be to just change one thing at a time. You clearly need to cut down calories - so choose a food item that you feel you eat too much of, that contains very little nutrition but is packed full of calories. Most likely it is also packed full of sugar as well.

I have no idea what your food is like but likely candidates are:

• Most breakfast cereals
• Almost all bread
• Chocolate bars
• Biscuits/cakes

If you feel you eat a lot of any of these, choose one section and cut them out. Don't try this until it's a good time (i.e. you are not ill, baby Jwil is not ill, you are not on holidays etc.).

When losing weight, everyone has to reduce food intake - it is an excellent idea to make sure that the food you are cutting out/reducing is the lowest in terms of nutrition - that way your body won't miss it and indeed will be better off without it.

As far as exercise goes, if you can find some time, go for a nice walk, that's all you need to do.

You didn't sound flippant

There's a lot behind my weight (literally ) but I'm just not in the frame of mind to tackle it at the moment. I'm a big comfort eater so when I'm tired/stressed etc I eat. I can't focus on the debt and the weight, and I think they are related. So first of all the debt needs to be under control and then the weight will be my main focus.

I try and eat well, but I also do eat a lot of rubbish for convenience. I do try and make a good effort for little jwil so maybe that will help.

Although I am that overweight, I'm still reasonably active and it doesn't stop me doing anything. I'm out with the dogs every day and we are often out at the weekends. I could definitely be fitter though.

I do need to do it, and try and make small changes that will eventually add up, but it's got to be one thing at a time for my sanity

peaceandfreedom

jwil wrote: »

Although I am that overweight, I'm still reasonably active and it doesn't stop me doing anything. I'm out with the dogs every day and we are often out at the weekends. I could definitely be fitter though.

I do need to do it, and try and make small changes that will eventually add up, but it's got to be one thing at a time for my sanity

You are indeed very active, Jwil, you certainly put me to shame. I can be so lazy sometimes.

You are right, you need to tackle things one at a time. You have so much on your plate at the moment (no pun intended). I was overweight for many years, not by a lot - maybe a couple of stone maximum, but it's only really in the last year or so that I seemed to summon up the will to do anything about it.

I think you have to be in the right 'place' and I finally was. I seem to be doing things in the opposite sequence to you, as I did the weight and now that's under control I'm finally getting serious about the debt.