Frump to Fab - A Whole New World.

helensbiggestfan

Ah, Maman, Chanie......thanks for the pep talk.  Very much appreciated. You are both very kind and supportive.  I think you are both right, it's probably just Covid and tiredness talking.  I'm ok really.  There are people much worse off than me,  

love your sons comment Chanie, bless him.  He's right of course, but I had to smile at the context he used it in, little Tinker.  😅

anyway I have had a good day, have managed to clean through a bit so the house is clean and tidy again and I managed a short walk.  It was drizzling but I don't mind a bit of rain. It was warm.  

I have treated myself to a heated gilet. (Same principal as heated sofa throw).  it arrived today and I'm trying it now.  Bliss.  Already I can feel it easing the pain and tension in my neck and shoulders. I do find heat helps, hot baths, hot water bottles, stick on heat pads etc.  But this covers the whole back, shoulders and neck.  A bit of a naughty purchase, more of a want than a need but if it helps with pain relief then it's a worthwhile buy.  

Just listening to the news......seems like there has been a breakthrough with vaccines.  🤞

#Cautiously optimistic.  😉

chanie

ll we are all allowed the occasional downer, but we have to get up. dust ourselves down and move forward.

helensbiggestfan

Good Mornjng Lovely Ladies. 

Chanie. ....thanks. You're right, we can allow ourselves the odd down day.  It's doesn't matter if we fall, what counts is that we get back up again.  So.....Yesterday I fell, but I have now picked myself up and dusted myself down and am ready to go again.  I've snapped out of the doldrums now.  I had another straight 8 hrs of sleep and thankfully feel much brighter this morning,  I think waking up to a nice tidy house also helps.  

Last night I had a bit of paperwork sort out, and went over my finances.  They look quite healthy😂 and actually better than I hoped.  Still managing to overpay the mortgage. It's great to see it coming down. I am in the process of switching broadband/mobile providers so should save myself a bit of money there.  I want to try and cut back on the grocery budget a bit too.   It's not too bad but I know I can do better.  

Not much planned today, another gentle catch up day, go for a walk, do some exercise, maybe make a start on reorganising the kitchen cupboards. But first I am going to give myself a skin peel this morning and a bit of a pamper session.  I'm glad I've got a hair cut booked for when we (hopefully) come out of lockdown. It seems to have had a growth spurt this week. 😂. 

Have a great day y'all.  

maman

Glad to hear you got a good night's sleep LL. I'm sure tiredness is a big factor. 😊

Your grocery spending must have been all over the place lately what with being away from home and hosting the family. I'm sure you'll soon get it back under control. I enjoy the challenge of eating well and getting best value at the same time. 

I did some expensive internet shopping yesterday. I went online for eye cream but noticed the Christmas gift sets were on sale with 20% off so I splashed out. As well as my Clinique eye cream I bought a Benefit set for my moisturiser and a Clarins one for my serum plus all the little freebies that come with them which I enjoy trying.  I should be able to pick them up tomorrow in our local Waitrose. 

We've been out for a walk again. It's mild, dry and fairly bright here. We did just over 3 miles which equates to about 7000 steps.  Unfortunately we timed it badly as we hit (not quite literally) the children coming out of school so had to keep stepping aside on pavements. It's very different from the previous lockdown when schools were closed and the streets were really quiet.  Maybe we'll start going into the countryside or to the seaside where we won't meet so many people in open spaces. 

helensbiggestfan

Back on the healthy eating.......Moroccan style falafels, salad, olives and a bit of feta.  The white stuff is yoghurt.  Going to try and eat more vegetarian meals, and definitely no snacking. Lol.   The freezer and cupboards are groaning with food so I'm aiming to start using some of it up.  As you say, my housekeeping budget has been all over the place recently and I think I have been overbuying, especially on quick and easy things - more expensive and not as healthy. I'm hoping to eat well for less.!!!! 

Your beauty buys sound great.  Good idea to stock up whilst the offers are available.  

My knee has been playing up today but I strapped it up and went for a walk.  Did a detour and picked up some nice organic eggs.  Nowhere near 7k steps though.  😉.  Made a start on the kitchen cupboards, just doing a couple at a time.  Time for a nice cup of coffee and curl up with a film.  

Watched a film called Parasite.  Korean with English subtitles.  It won loads of awards in the last Oscars.  It's a dark comedy/tragedy, almost Shakespearian.  A bit gory in places so not for the squeamish but very clever and thought provoking.  

Nice to see the news is a bit more positive. 

candygirl

That meal looks delish LL 😋😋
I've just got in after my DAT scan at hospital. Was there from 11am until 4pm!! The staff were fab, but one of them told me the scan costs 2.5k!! 😲😲😲
Am making garlic mushrooms n salad for tea later. I can't move at the mo 🤣🤣 

helensbiggestfan

Good Morning lovely ladies.   

Candy.....good that you have had your scan at last.  Finally a step forward for you.  I love garlic mushrooms.  I think I might do a mushroom "risotto" today for a late lunch.   I can't eat rice really so I use tinned spelt instead.  It's has really nice nutty taste.  Then a salad for supper.  Trying to eat more salads, it's the only way I can eat raw foods.  

Dull and murky here but  surprisingly warm.  I decided I needed bright lights and people so I went to B&Q and Sainsburys.  😂.  Bought some compost to plant my spring bulbs and a couple of houseplants to help brighten up the house.  I picked up an olive green cowl necked sweater in Sainsburys.  I really wanted something in say teal or red but they didn't have anything. Still olive is better than griege.  😂. I will keep looking.  Might try online.  Also picked up some items I can't get in Aldi's.  

No real news. Aiming to tackle another couple of cupboards.  

Struggling to exercise at the moment and yet I need to do at least some yoga or tai chi to control pain levels.  So I decided to get some more Flarin and put myself on a short course.  Hopefully it will help me be able to start exercising again so I can break the vicious circle.  Have just taken a couple so once they kick in I can start with some gentle tai chi later.  Although I tend to find I really need to take them for around 3 days before they have any real effect.  I'm still taking tumeric as my chiro advised but it doesn't seem to be doing much.  Maybe it just takes a while.  

Anyway, feeling a lot more cheerful today, back to my usual optimistic ebullient self.   I know we aren't out of the woods yet but the news about the progress with vaccines is very cheering.  🤞🤞.  Hopefully next year our lives will be more "normal". 

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,



Tomorrow is my last creative writing workshop and I am really looking forward to it. I did another new piece of work yesterday afternoon. My younger son and daughter both read it and gave me positive feedback, so I will perform it tomorrow.  It is completely different to my other work as it is a piece of writing that deals with trauma. 

I also performed my 2 monologues that I had written in the previous 2 weeks to my son and he really loved them and thought they were really great. 

On Monday evening we had chicken and vegetable stir fry for dinner. My lunch yesterday was Jumbo king prawns and vegetable stir fry

thepurplepixie

Sugarbaby your food always looks so colourful and fresh, obviously doing well with the dieting as well.
I had to see GP this morning, honestly it was like going into an ebola hospital, I think of my DIL working on a covid ward or my DD teaching 6 classes of 30 teenagers a day in a crowded room and it is such a constrast.  Still I was glad to be able to get an appointmet.  I am very fair and freckled and have had more than one scare with skin cancer, I've now got a couple of small lesions on my arm but she was reassuring and we are trying some topical treatment before resorting to hospital and having them removed.  I'm not a sun lover and dread to think what state I'd be in if I'd ever been into sunbathing.
I haven't been anywhere in 12 days, no shops or anything just out for a drive, so this morning I had my Sainsbury's double up nectar point vouchers and went and bought some bits, it was early and not busy so I felt fine about it.  I decided to renew some kitchen bits, nothing very exciting but I spent £80 of vouchers and feel happy with some new baking trays, every day cutlery, glasses and some utensils.  It is nice to shop.
We have the new electric bed coming tomorrow, it will make life easier and I'm hoping it will help him a bit.  Also clearing out the bedroom so the guys can set it up meant I could give it a really good top to toe clean.  As you know DH is a hoarder and there were books under the bed, a bookcase, lots of electronics so really hard to clean.  Once the bed is here it will be moving stuff back in but I'm hoping some might go elsewhere.  We will see.
I have a dental hygienist appointment booked for Friday and dentist, I have seen the dentist this year but last saw the hygienist in December 2019 so I am happy about that.   After that I will be avoiding people for the rest of lockdown and hoping the vaccine is here soon.

maman

More delicious meals sugarbaby.😋 I enjoy a stir fry too but mine aren't as low carb as yours as I always add noodles. Enjoy your last creative writing class. I know you write well already as you've shared some of your work with us. Do they give tips as well as sharing your work?🤔

I've just got back from spending my double up vouchers in Sainsbury's too pixie. I have to admit that I wasn't so virtuous and used mine to buy fizz! 😁

Our dentist seems to operate in a strange way. I made an appointment after the first lockdown because of a wobbly tooth and then, because I'd initiated it, I seemed to be back in the system and have had a hygienist and dental appointment since.   DH didn't have any 'emergencies' so he's never been contacted??  I'd have thought they'd have started addressing the backlog  of routine appointments by now. 

I know what you mean about going to the shops feeling more normal LL.  I like olive green. It's a colour that suits me without being too bright. Years ago I bought several mix and match items in olive green from Wallis. I have a long, silky pleated skirt which I love and still wear. At the time I also had a batwing jumper , matching cardigan and a knitted pencil skirt.  The knitted items looked good together like a sweater dress but also teamed well with the pleated skirt, perfect for draughty restaurants. Since the colour has come back in fashion I've been able to replace the cardigan and the jumper (jumper was an excellent CS buy from Zara). I've also got a satin vest (actually a body suit) that is great with the skirt for dancing. 

Today's fashion pages featured a white trouser suit  based on the one that Kamala Harris wore the other day. 
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/times2/why-i-want-kamala-harris-s-white-suit-wqkz5fcnn
It's not something I could wear but it looked brilliant on her.  I also wouldn't want to pay the dry cleaning bills! 🤣