The Big Adventure

AlexLK

Sounds like a wonderful holiday, Goldie.

Karmacat

Thanks for that, Goldie - I'll paste and copy that over to my folder of notes

We've booked a lot of ship's excursions, our reasoning being that time is short and we're prepared to let them do the organising. I'm used to doing it, and so is my sister in a different way, but this bang-bang-bang of a new port every day would be too much - its a holiday, not an endurance test :rotfl:

Goldiegirl

Yes, the ships excursions are a good way of seeing the things you really want, specially if they are not within walking distance of the ship.

Karmacat

Exactly - there's a cog railway/boat/coach thing, purely for the scenery, for instance, I couldn't possibly organise that. I'm very concerned about my energy levels too, though I seem to be doing well at the moment. Still careful to rest when I "should".

Anyway, hope you're enjoying your day

michelle09

Your trip looks great GG, so glad you managed to see the northern lights. They really are spectacular!

Would you recommend Fred Olsen for older travellers? My grandmother is looking for a new cruise, but I don't believe she's tried Fred Olsen. They did their big cruising days on ships likes the QE2.

Goldiegirl

Sorry for delayed replies!

Karmacat wrote: »

Exactly - there's a cog railway/boat/coach thing, purely for the scenery, for instance, I couldn't possibly organise that. I'm very concerned about my energy levels too, though I seem to be doing well at the moment. Still careful to rest when I "should".

Anyway, hope you're enjoying your day

Yes, ships excursions are a really good choice if you want to see a lot in a short time. On our first cruise we did a lot of full day excursions, which was tiring, even though we were a lot younger then. Now we tend to do more half day excursions, so we get some 'down time' as well

michelle09 wrote: »

Your trip looks great GG, so glad you managed to see the northern lights. They really are spectacular!

Would you recommend Fred Olsen for older travellers? My grandmother is looking for a new cruise, but I don't believe she's tried Fred Olsen. They did their big cruising days on ships likes the QE2.

I think Fred is very good for older travellers. I'm 58, and I was one of the younger ones. I'd say most passengers were in their 60s or 70s (or older). The ships are smaller than the mega ships, and some older people prefer the smaller ships as its not so far to walk! If your grandmother likes Cunard or P & O, she'd probably like Fred, as there is a similar onboard atmosphere. I hope to cruise again with Fred, I really liked it.

Goldiegirl

It's been quite busy since my last update.

We've had the new carpet laid in the living room and the flooring laid in the dining room.

The new sideboard and display units for the dining room have arrived , plus a really cool glass coffee table for the living room. Next week we have a new dining table, chairs and a couple of side tables being delivered, plus a table lamp, and we will be nearly finished! I have to say, it's looking really good. I was apprehensive to start this big project, but I'm glad we did it.

Before we started, we did a cost projection, and, believe it or not, the end result is just a couple of pounds from the projected figure. Some things cost more and others less, but I'm really pleased we didn't overspend.

There's a few more things we'd like to get to finish it off, like a couple of new pictures and ornaments. We have some 'extra' money from eBay sales of old furniture, Quidco, and M&S Premium Club vouchers, so we'll use those funds for the little extras.

I'm currently listing on eBay a few old ornaments that no longer fit in, and when we get the new dining table in place I'll ebay the old dining table and chairs. So far we've been lucky with the furniture sales, as people have collected their purchases promptly and as planned, so that is much appreciated.

Some ornaments have gone in the loft as they have sentimental value. I don't want to build up clutter again, so I'll look at them again in a year or two, as I might feel ready to sell them by then, as I won't have been looking at them every day.

As I'm not micro-managing myself, I'm not trying to keep to a walking schedule. I found I was beating myself up if I couldn't get out for a daily walk (like today due to rain). However, I normally get out for an hour or so most days - but I will add up the mileage at the end of the year, to see if I'm close to 1000 Miles in 2018.

I weigh myself once a month on the last Saturday of the month, so that's due tomorrow.

This week we finally managed to get out into the garden to get on with tidying it up. What with concentrating on the house and poor weather, we hadn't had much chance to do anything. We intend getting someone in to cut back the shrubs. We didn't do it last year, and it's getting too overgrown and tall.

We haven't been out much what with being so busy, but when it was really hot we went to Canterbury, to see Sunset Boulevard at the theatre, one of my favourite shows.

Karmacat

It sounds like everything's going really well, Goldie, and its *so* nice not to need to micromanage, as you say. I hope the ornament buying goes well - the thought of it makes me shudder, to be honest :o:o much safer for me to have blanket rules in place, buying one or two things (ornaments or chocolate or cake, take your pick) is bound to end in tears ...

In any case, enjoy the V&A.

Goldiegirl

I'm quite looking forward to the ornament/picture buying. There's no rush for it, so we're going to buy something we like when we see it, so there's no pressure at all, it could be months before we do it.

I know I'm not micro-managing myself, but I was gutted yesterday at my weigh in, when I found out I'd put on a quarter of a pound this month! I still weigh less than I did at the start of the year which is good. I don't over eat and what I eat is healthy, and I walk regularly, so I may have to accept that this is the weight I am now. However, the weight is not the full story, as my body fat has decreased each month. Not by much, but my body fat is has reduced by one percent since the start of the year, so I'm pleased with that.

Karmacat

Oh, then the fat/muscle ratio is changing :j:j:j

In that case, your weight *really* doesn't matter - well done you! And on the lack of pressure on everything else