New Year, New Plans and Hopes

Lynplatinum

Hiya All

Mrs Salad Dodger - jars of what in fridge??? Can we help to find solutions?? List em on here and see what we know!!

Suki - brilliant progress mate! Well done!:D Lost weight eh??? When you work out how let me know Dont over do it and go to mad though and think of some low calorie pat on back activitiy for yourself (mine is going for a nice walk or watching a whole movie!)

OK since Im staying at my friends (house and dog sitting) - I cant actively pursue my intended goals, however, I am keeping busy. I am a member of the National Trust and so trips to gardens and houses are 'free' for me - so got one of those planned. Also went for a walk in Fowey today which is an old stomping ground for me (I used to live here as a child) and tomorrow I plan to visit Bodmin which I havent been to since I was about 10 - 12 years old! So am doing more than just sitting reading or watching TV!
Nite all!

LameWolf

suki1964 wrote: »

Good luck Lamewolf

As for the swimming, are there any lidos near you? They do have chlorine as all pools have to, but because they are outside you don't smell it so much as that heady gassy smell can escape

It'd still affect me even if it was outside; I have a very keen sense of smell, and what occurred was off-the-scale traumatic, and just the slightest whiff of chlorine sets me off; even posting about it is making a mite wobbly.

Just to add to the complications, I need assistance from Mr LW to dress/undress. This wasn't an issue in Iceland; they seemed to be fine with him coming into the disabled changing room with me to help; but considering I can't even use shop fitting rooms due to this, I can't see me managing to get in and out of a swimsuit very easily.

Oh well, I'll just hope he doesn't ever pitch me out of my wheelchair into the canal when we visit our favourite pub, which is canal-side.

ScotinLondon

ScotinLondon wrote: »

Is it too late to join?

If not, my plans for the year are as follows:
new sofas, as my current ones are 15 years old and totally gone
new curtains - age is same as the sofas. Have been donated some curtains which are good for the spare rooms
pass my current ACCA exam - do at least one class a night..
try a new recipe once a fortnight
update our one and only bathroom

Thanks

Hope everyone has a good week.

SIL

Afternoon all...out of my plans - we have done the following:
ordered new sofas! only taken 5 years - had to find the right ones and hope that these are it. The current old sofas are so old - that they are going one way or another!

Have also started studying too - only two weeks worth of full classes to go through, hopefully will do it before a full month of revision for exam in March. Lets hope I do better than last time!

We did try a new recipe too: Cuban Black bean stew
https://www.marthastewart.com/337366/cuban-black-bean-stew-with-rice
It was nice, but does need something extra in flavour tho - so next time will be adding coriander power and smoked paprika i think. We have those already. All the ingredients we have already.

We are going to try another new recipe tonight (I hope) and it asks for dijon mustard which i don't have - i have normal english mustard. Can I use that or is there something else that i can or just leave out? The receipe is Nigella's chedder cheese risotto.

Need to get bathroom quotes next...

Have a good rest of the day all and week. Not sure when I will be posting next.

SILx

suki1964

Lynplatinum wrote: »

Hiya All

Mrs Salad Dodger - jars of what in fridge??? Can we help to find solutions?? List em on here and see what we know!!

Suki - brilliant progress mate! Well done!:D Lost weight eh??? When you work out how let me know Dont over do it and go to mad though and think of some low calorie pat on back activitiy for yourself (mine is going for a nice walk or watching a whole movie!)

OK since Im staying at my friends (house and dog sitting) - I cant actively pursue my intended goals, however, I am keeping busy. I am a member of the National Trust and so trips to gardens and houses are 'free' for me - so got one of those planned. Also went for a walk in Fowey today which is an old stomping ground for me (I used to live here as a child) and tomorrow I plan to visit Bodmin which I havent been to since I was about 10 - 12 years old! So am doing more than just sitting reading or watching TV!
Nite all!

Cheers lyn, I can't say I'm eating any differently, just no booze, from a bottle of red a night ( more at the weekends) to zero. I seriously eat very little, all my weight is down to the booze.

Lamewolf, the only other suggestion I have, is fresh water swimming. That seems to be the new thing so perhaps a Google search for a local group?

I can just barely swim. A lazy breast stroke, refuse point blank to get my face wet, if I do I panic and start to sink like others I too nearly drowned as a child in an empty swimming pool ( outside and tipping it down ). Was only a family walking by and saw me at the bottom of the pool that I was saved.

Scot, I wouldn't swap Dijon mustard for English usually. Dijon is very mild and vinegary, English is way too hot, but then cheese does need a wee lift so I might be tempted to put the tiniest amount in

ScotinLondon

suki1964 wrote: »

Scot, I wouldn't swap Dijon mustard for English usually. Dijon is very mild and vinegary, English is way too hot, but then cheese does need a wee lift so I might be tempted to put the tiniest amount in

Thanks for that Suki. Don't think i have ever used Dijon mustard for anything in my life...indian spices no problem but western spices etc - am still getting my head around it.
so, i think we might just leave it out...and then see how it goes. However, now that i am thinking of it - was it dijon or whole grain mustard. It has been a long day - can you tell??

SILx

karcher

suki1964 wrote: »

I feel so much better for finally doing it and I'm keeping on top of the previously declutterd areas

Other positives have been IVE LOST WEIGHT :j:j

No idea how much but a coat which I could just about do up but could barely move my arms in, now fits . My belt also needs a new notch added to it.


It will also be two weeks without alcohol come Tuesday and I'm feeling really confident on that score. Also having these long winter evenings to fill I've gotten back into a beauty regime of sorts which in itself is making me feel better and more positive in myself. I know it's only early days but it was this day last year I quit smoking and I've stuck with that so I'm really thinking I can stick with these new plans

My hat is off to you suki1964 :T

Well done on all counts x

VfM4meplse

eandjsmum wrote: »

[eandjsmum - I so admire you. I have tried swimming lessons twice, albeit when I was schools (many many moons ago) but my fear of water and I think having a nasty p.e. teacher, has seen me never venture into a pool again.

I did it I went swimming although I think the teacher will have to be patient with me. I would love to swim properly and that means swimming lengths in deep water.
When I was much younger I nearly drowned and I have been terrified of water since. I think its way past time I tackled this phobia.

I was in the same position, and eventually learned to swim at the age of 37. My goodness it was tough at the start, but within a few weeks I had built up to enough lengths to make a mile. It was a real struggle for me as I have never seemed able to float in the same way as everyone else has. What really helped was remembering the advice: "don't fight the water". So as soon as I stopped fighting it,, and instead visualised myself as a baby floating in amnion (don't judge me!!!) things got easier and I found that I could actually swim. It also helps that modern pools are only 4' deep, so the chances of drowning are slim (unless knocked unconscious, in which case you're stuffed).

LameWolf wrote: »

just the slightest whiff of chlorine sets me off; even posting about it is making a mite wobbly.

And that is exactly why I stopped swimming! I'm not a fast swimmer by any means, so the length of time I spent in the pool doing my mile swim meant that the chlorine well and truly permeated my skin. And turned my hair to brillo in the process

I'm getting on okay with my goals for January, most of which are domestic niggles. The problem is its costing me a fortune!! But once I'm there, I can concentrate on getting on with life, and importantly turn my attention to my nice big garden

Happy to report that whilst walking this weekend I saw a perfectly manicured and flowering camelia tree - the first I've seen so far this year. How I love a good camelia!

Wednesday2000

suki1964 wrote: »

It will also be two weeks without alcohol come Tuesday and I'm feeling really confident on that score. Also having these long winter evenings to fill I've gotten back into a beauty regime of sorts which in itself is making me feel better and more positive in myself. I know it's only early days but it was this day last year I quit smoking and I've stuck with that so I'm really thinking I can stick with these new plans

Brilliant!:T

PipneyJane

ScotinLondon wrote: »

Have also started studying too - only two weeks worth of full classes to go through, hopefully will do it before a full month of revision for exam in March. Lets hope I do better than last time!

Hi Scot


Are you doing any revision courses? I’m an FCCA, so well remember the exam pain. It took me five years. I struggled for 3.5 years until my employer sponsored me and then I could afford to pay for revision courses. They were a revelation, because all the lecturers had been to the ACCA lecture conferences and been tipped off about the main focus of the next set of exams.


Good luck.

ScotinLondon wrote: »

We did try a new recipe too: Cuban Black bean stew
https://www.marthastewart.com/337366/cuban-black-bean-stew-with-rice
It was nice, but does need something extra in flavour tho - so next time will be adding coriander power and smoked paprika i think. We have those already. All the ingredients we have already.

No wonder that recipe is tasteless. It's missing some main ingredients. (I've had the benefit of having a Cuban-American friend cook me black bean stew.) There's a slow cooker version of the recipe on my blog, but at the very least, Martha's recipe needs to be augmented with the following:-


6 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspooon liquid smoke (2p)


Incidentally, American friends warned me off Martha Stewart's recipes years ago, saying they were unreliable. (They aren't very well proof read.) Also, there are plagiarism issues. I believe Julia Child complained that Ms Stewart lifted entire recipes out of her books, complete with spelling errors.


- Pip

ScotinLondon

PipneyJane wrote: »

Hi Scot


Are you doing any revision courses? I’m an FCCA, so well remember the exam pain. It took me five years. I struggled for 3.5 years until my employer sponsored me and then I could afford to pay for revision courses. They were a revelation, because all the lecturers had been to the ACCA lecture conferences and been tipped off about the main focus of the next set of exams.


Good luck.

Thanks for the above. I have done a revision class for the last paper that i did. This one I have to book for the revision class, but just want to finish the study course first. Its all online and i can study at my own pace too. Its a good online course that I am using. its what i used the last time round for a different paper.

Am on the professional papers now - so am trying to learn different study techniques too as I need to think about what i am writing and doing etc rather than regurgitating information as it was for the foundation papers.

PipneyJane wrote: »

No wonder that recipe is tasteless. It's missing some main ingredients. (I've had the benefit of having a Cuban-American friend cook me black bean stew.) There's a slow cooker version of the recipe on my blog, but at the very least, Martha's recipe needs to be augmented with the following:-

6 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspooon liquid smoke (2p)

Incidentally, American friends warned me off Martha Stewart's recipes years ago, saying they were unreliable. (They aren't very well proof read.) Also, there are plagiarism issues. I believe Julia Child complained that Ms Stewart lifted entire recipes out of her books, complete with spelling errors.

- Pip

Thanks also for help with the recipe. We did think that after we did the recipe for the first time. I have two portions in the freezer, which i will eat when DH isn't around and add more spices too.

I think we will try it again but maybe not so soon.

Thanks again
SILx