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Morning Crackers!
Well put BM - I second the above. I am on my way to the jungle but I just wanted to quickly add Bracken - your book sounds most interesting and I hope it is helping you on our endless journey and please tell us more. Personally I think you must have been a very conscientious and hardworking teacher who very much cared for her pupils and in this day and age, such teachers are fast becoming extinct. My daughter has been fortunate enough to come across a few and such teachers make all the difference to their pupil's progress.
I also think reading between the lines you don't give yourself enough credit, you give a great deal of thought and time to your eating habits and monitoring. You are always reading up on the latest advice and trends and you take time and effort to stock up your freezer full with in season fruits and make up soups etc. unfortunately of late you just keep getting a spanner in the works and being an emotional eater (like the rest of us) this I think is your main problem but you've had a lot on your plate (as has BM/PB) of late to contend with and if only 5 pounds is the damage, then I say you are winning the battle just slowly.
BM - stick to your guns and see your family. I don't think this is wrong so long as you don't insist upon your OH accompanying you the whole time and you stop him from seeing his family. Meet in the middle, agree before you leave on how much time to spend together with each others family and then have time apart on your own with your family and meet up again.
Right to the garden I must go.
Be good Crackers!
P.S. I think I might be a Rebel!!0 -
Having returned from the garden for lunch, as I was burning calories fighting with the lawn mower I realized I never mentioned exercise either Bracken - you probably do the most out of any of us; walking Nellie, looking after your horse, gardening, cycling and I do so admire you whenever I hear you have done a circuit of the dreaded Jillian! Hold your head up high!0
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MITM, I echo your writings on Bracken being a caring teacher and going above and beyond for her pupils. I clearly remember the Teachers who went the extra mile as I am certain your ex pupils will remember you Bracken.
I am determined to stick to my guns MITM no matter how much I will be shaking in my boots, with palpitations and my hand tremors in full force! I have already told OH how much time I will be in Wales, I don't expect him to alter any of his plans. We will still spend time with each other's family but it will be on equal footing this time. The sad thing is I have never questioned the time we spent with his family, which really is the lions share of our 4 weeks. All I am asking for this time is I spend more time with my family, he will still be with his family for almost 3 of the 4 weeks. Ironically he readily admits he has a far better time in Wales with my lot. He gets on so well with my children, they adore him and are so respectful towards him. He relaxes, we go for Long walks, have pub lunches and it is like being on holiday.
Anyhow, onwards and upwards.
Take care all, BM xxxx0 -
BM and MITM, reading your words has been a great boost for me. I wish I could say more at the moment but must make this rather short. My computer is in my upstairs den and there is no air conditioning. The heat here has been unwavering with so many days in the 30's plus the humidity. Yesterday was the hottest July 22 on record and today doesn't feel much cooler. I suspect these are temperatures you have to contend with, BM, so I must say I don't know how you do it as a regular feature of where you are living. I have been getting up early and taking Nellie for a walk and doing a short bike ride. The eating has been a bit irregular with the weather but not disastrous calorie-wise so fairly satisfied. I'll be back as soon as possible. Regards.0
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Popped in for a minute but very hot in my den and 35C today. Still little rain so much time spent watering the garden. I have several lovely hydrangeas in bloom, pink and cream coloured. The marigolds are doing well as they seem to like the heat as do my two varieties of portulaca , a plant I have really come to appreciate. The hostas are all flowering, a sign that summer is moving along; I don't think the hosta flowers are particularly pretty and all hostas seem to have the same flower in either white or pale mauve. I do love hostas though for their amazing foliage and have some really large one with leaves bigger than dinner plates. Today a rabbit got into my fenced back yard somehow. Thankfully I happened to see it, tore out to the yard with a biscuit to distract Nellie but couldn't see the rabbit when I got there. I know Nellie would certainly go after it and she is tremendously quick. Popping out now.0
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Lovely to hear of your plants Bracken, I was so excited when you mentioned hydrangeas, I recognise very few plants but I so love hydrangeas. I hope to have many in my garden and your colours sound perfect to me. In fact they were used on a Cath Kidston print last year and I bought a few items including duvet sets, mugs, shopping bags etc. I had to smile at you distracting Nellie whilst the rabbit was around. I do the same with Harry but with lizards
You are so right re weather also Bracken, the heat is just dreadful, yesterday was 33c but with 94% humidity as we had grey skies. It is sunny today and already 37c at 9:30 in the morning. OH walks Harry very early and late at night when before sun up and after sundown. I just walk him in the shade of the trees in the gardens throughout the day. It might not be as difficult for Harry as Nellie though as it's all he has ever known, but Nellie has the extremes of your summers and winters. Apart from family the thing I miss most is the Seasons. I deeply envy you yours although I appreciate how difficult they are for you. I'm not sure how Harry will react to the cold and snow, I am going to have to buy him him little Barbour dog coats and keep threatening to knit him a few!
I'm going to do some laundry now, nothing dried here with the humidity yesterday so I have a fair bit to do.
Hope all the Crackers are well and wish you all a lovely weekend xx0 -
Good Evening Crackers!
Are we ever satisfied with the weather?! What a difference a week makes... I had to check when did I last post the words 'Off to the garden' as it has rained ever since... And I mean poured on and off everyday. I've been unable to go into the garden as it's been so wet and I was desperate to cut the grass - it was getting to me like when you know you need to vacuum, not that I ever get to that point being a control freak! I did dead head my roses during a brief break in the rain clouds as they looked so pathetic, dead and dripping petals and rain but I have not yet ventured up to the rockery for fear of slipping.
I did walk once with my friend only to get trapped in a sudden, seemingly never ending downpour so hard I had to ring and ask the husband to come out in his car and rescue us! It's not so much the rain being the problem it's the grey that is what gets me down, at least I think that was the cause of my doom and gloom feelings oh and the sight of my frizzy hair for 6 long days!
I probably didn't help matters by reading Jennifer Teege's book, an account of her discovering her Grandfather was Amon Goeth, the vicious Nazi Commandant at Plaszow concentration camp in Schindler's List in one complete day (it was raining) followed up in the evening by the documentary of her Mother Monika Goeth (his daughter) meeting up with Helen Rosenzweig (his maid) at the villa in Plaszow filmed in 2002.
My daughter is doing an extended project on Oskar Schindler and Amon Goeth for college so it was as research. The book 'My Grandfather would have shot me' is interesting as Jennifer has done a lot of background research having been adopted at 6 and only discovering by chance she is related to Amon Goeth at 38 - she's now 46. But what I actually found more distressing than the knowledge he's her Grandfather and how she deals with it, is her relationship with her birth Mother. They meet 3 times after her adoption when she's an adult but they are at this point estranged but the Mother who was a baby when her Father was hanged is more interested in learning about her dead Father then her living daughter who wants to know her. It's very sad and hard to understand how Monika Goeth can go into schools and discuss her situation when she won't even publicly acknowledge this first daughter, she had another 6 years after. And if you haven't heard of the book before, the title is because she is black, her biological Father is Nigerian.
Alas the combination of rain, grey, doom and gloom equals 'eating weather' so I have not been good since my last weigh in on Monday when I had lost a further 0.6 pounds. Still on the bright side at least I was under when I started over eating... However I need to be good now as the first family guests arrive on Monday and I will have to bake. Thankfully I awoke to sunshine today and have spend most of the day out in the garden tending to my plants and cutting the lawns and NOT over eating - and I have no frizz today yay!
PB - long time since we heard from you although you have an impressive checking in of 70 days!
Right Crackers be good - I'm trying!0 -
Afternoon Crackers!
Well Crackers this is becoming a very quiet thread - I do hope it is just the heat that is keeping you away Bracken? PB - I trust that nothing is troubling you and BM - I hope that you are just busy enjoying yourself with your family in the UK?
We are having very mixed weather hot days followed by heavy storms. However on the dry days I have been working hard in the garden and everything is in order once more. Can't keep up with the abundance of vegetables ready for eating! I have done lots of evening hill walks with the daughter and managed to get back on track with my eating (helped by he vegetables! and re-lost the weight I had gained so I'm back just below my target, with a little wiggle room ready for the next big family get together this coming weekend.
I've decided (as I'm not getting any younger) that in the Autumn I'm going to start my old 8 minutes resistance work out with Jorge 6 days a week and attempt to throw in a Jillian twice a week. I have a feeling I said this last year too but never got around to starting! And as I need to get out of the house each day regardless of the weather after seeing this quote 'there's no such thing as bad weather; only unsuitable clothing' I'm going to invest in a proper rain mac!
My friend is due shortly for my daily trot so I must end.
Be good Crackers!
P.S. It was National Friendship day on Sunday and I saw another excellent quote 'There's nothing better than a friend unless it's a friend with chocolate' Charles Dickens. Now that would be my kind of friend!0 -
Hi Fellow Crackers, a quick mail as I am trying to pack, we fly to the UK tomorrow and I have only just got my suitcases out. It shouldn't take me Long to pack as I am the size of a small country and only about 10% of my clothes fit me. Weirdly enough after the year I have had I don't seem to have the energy to care. When I come back in September something has got to change. So I will try to formulate a plan of action for then. I think I will aim for 5000 steps and take it from there. If I am unrealistic I know I will fail at the first hurdle. I will have internet in one of our houses so hope to keep up with your posts there. Wishing you all a happy summer and that you are all enjoying good health. Xxxxxxx0
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Well I hope Crackers that the reason no one is posting or even logging in (never known us to be so quiet or so long not to hear from PB last posted 6th July and Bracken 26th July) is that like BM you are all having a happy summer break? I am off to the UK for the next 2 weeks and I do hope that on my return in September that someone will have posted - crackers are not a lot of fun unless you have someone to pull with!
Be good Crackers!0 -
Oh dear! I don't know if there is anyone around to read this. I feel so apologetic and was stunned to read that I have not posted since July 26. I have read only the last three posts so am assuming that you BM are in England (and I hope having a wonderful time) and likewise MITM. PB, I understand you have not been here for some time either but hope you are well. I am putting much of my absence on the unrelenting heat that has persisted almost without interruption, including the past three days of 40, 39, 43C- morbidly humid. And this is September. Here, it is now dark at 8 o'clock and yet still so hot. I think I have mentioned before that I have no central air conditioning (which has never been an issue like this year) and my computer is in the upstairs den and so particularly hot. Even as I write this at 8:41 I am dripping with sweat so may not last long. The month of August was also very busy with my sister from the West home for the whole month, followed by her husband in mid-month and the her daughter and fiancée for the Labour Day weekend, just passed. My sister was not with me the whole time of course but there were numerous family gatherings, finishing with a shower for my niece last weekend. My other sisters believe that nothing is worth doing simply so the shower took the form of a crawl, like a pub crawl, starting at 10:30 in the morning and moving to a total of five of our residences, ending at my youngest sister's in the late afternoon for a barbeque and the gift giving. It was quite hectic with quite a lot of driving between homes but doable. There were 14 including the two young children (4,1).Mine was the second stop. Because it has been so hot my garden had got quite out of control and I had been out the few days before early in the morning and later in the evening to try to sort it out.
I managed to get some order restored and so wasn't too embarrassed by it all! My niece was very appreciative of the shower and was happy to have a chance to see our places during her brief visit. (She is very busy with her Optometry Practice as she is just beginning her career and feels she can't take much time off yet). The men in the family, very sensibly and despite the heat, went golfing and then returned for the evening barbeque. (I think they spent much of the afternoon in the clubhouse as they made a very early start to play golf) So now quite uncomfortably hot so will be off but hope all are well and look forward to getting back here more promptly. Regards.0 -
Good Morning ladies! I flew in last night so it's back to "normal" heat, humidity and loneliness for me! I am over my usual overweight(!) so after a few days to settle in, it will be "here we go again".
Hope this mail finds you all well xxxx0 -
Hope everyone is having a good weekend. We loaned our car to a Friend whilst we were away and are not having it back until Tuesday, unfortunately online shopping here leaves a lot to be desired so we are eating a lot of takeouts and sandwiches. I am desperate to start eating healthy again and can't wait til Tuesday to start. It's another holiday here tomorrow (Monday). On our return our kitchen fridge freezer had stopped working, it's a Miele so I dread to think what it will cost to replace/repair, thankfully we have a huge American fridge freezer in the spare room so at least we can keep things cold. I am getting exercise just from walking back and fore to it for milk for tea etc!
I have even more ironing to do now so will make a start on it. I have started knitting with both a vengeance and passion now, I am really enjoying it and am trying far more complicated things than I used to, I am hoping it will keep from thinking (and eating) too much if I am concentrating on a pattern.
Wishing you all a good week, as MITM says I hope you are all just busy and nothing is wrong.
Take care, BM xx0 -
Oops! Just noticed your post Bracken, I sympathise so much with you regarding the heat, I left Wales with it being in the 20's C with a lot of people complaining about the heat! I appreciate we aren't used to it though. I then landed here and it was in the high 30's so I know just how difficult it is to be motivated to do anything in this heat and humidity. The baby shower sounds amazing! They aren't as popular in the UK as they are with other countries but I think more seem to be happening. Sounds like you all had a good but exhausting day.
Lovely to know you are well, hope Nellie is doing OK with the heat, Harry was born here but he is not good with the heat at all, we keep his hair short but have to be so careful with him.
BM xx
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Hello Crackers. I haven't had a chance to read the posts I missed during my absence but am slowly feeling I am getting organized again with some moderation in temperatures for the past couple of days. On Saturday and Sunday, I managed to make two batches of pickles. I had pretty well decided not to do any this year because of the heat but I guess habit caught up to me and the desire to have a few jars so I can give them away if I need a small personal gift. On Saturday, I made my grandmother's Bread and Butter Pickles- they are quite straightforward consisting of thinly sliced cucumbers and onions in a sweet/sour sauce of basically turmeric/celery seed/cinnamon stick. I have written out the recipe for my cookbook but still have kept the original Grandma gave me. I love to have it out as seeing her handwriting seems to make my memories of her even more real. Sunday I made a Chili Sauce; my original recipe makes a very large batch but I cut it back to just a quarter and still it was enough work as the recipe calls for tomatoes, onions, celery, apple, red/green peppers, peaches and pears- all of which have to be sliced and diced. Today has been the nicest day we have had in months with very low humidity and moderate temperature but still sunny.
I have a lot of work to do in my garden. In early August, my rear fence that I share with a neighbour was finally replaced. My neighbour is very handy and my brother was good enough to find time to help build the new one. The fence is wood planks with lattice on the top. I'm really pleased with how it turned out; the old one had been there for about 25 years and was really decrepit. We did hire someone to put the anchoring posts in as that is hard job because they have to be cemented in. It certainly saved a lot of money not having to hire out the whole job. Although I can't build, there was a lot of cleanup work for me to do. Before the fence was built, my brother also removed two large trees that had encroached along the fenceline. That has changed the pattern of the sun in the yard and now I have a lot of work redoing the beds and have to remove some hostas as it is now too hot for them. I am looking forward to growing some plants that like light more there as the rest of my garden is shady. Although it is still hot here, there are definite signs of fall. Along the ditches of the roads, there are great swaths of goldenrod in bloom. It is considered a weed here although my Mom used to tell me that her father grew it in England in his garden. I have a few plants in a spot that gets a bit more light and think it is a fine plant. At the moment, my nasturtiums are still blooming, along with begonias (pink and white) and marigolds. I have a morning glory, blue, which I had almost given up hope of it blooming- nothing but a mass of green leaves. But on Friday morning there was one lovely huge flower and now there are several every day.
Lots more I'd like to say, but must out to the garden for a bit before dinner.
Regards.0 -
I love hearing your about your garden Bracken, I usually look up the flowers you have mentioned. My horticultural knowledge is sadly lacking, in fact non existent, but one day............. You haven't mentioned Nellie, I hope she is doing OK?
Today is my first day on my own for 5 weeks and I am totally on my own as OH has had to fly off to Malaysia on his first day back to work so fingers crossed he won't be gone too Long. I have to admit to being a weepy and feeling sorry for myself, I am so homesick. It is always difficult at first but then I seem to settle into some sort of routine. I have the repair man here in an hour so I want tohave a quick tidy up.
I am starting to eat healthier today. I kidded myself I was still on holiday until last night, which really was just an excuse to eat. So I am back to weighing and recording, I can't even think of exercise yet as the heat is too much here, and I am not motivated enough to exercise indoors. Hopefully when a few pounds come off I will feel more with it.
Hope this post finds you all well, BM
Ps Bracken, your Chili sounded amazing! Xx0 -
Evening Crackers!
Almost a full house so I cannot complain! Absolutely thrilled to see posts from you both - BM have a good sob you will feel better for it. I'm off to bed now as I had next to no sleep last night having to get up at 2.45am for my flight but once I'm back on my feet again I will be returning to post.
Be good Crackers!0 -
A pop-in but it feels good to be back here. BM, I totally understand your not wanting to get back to exercise in the heat. I did so little this summer, especially in August and that first week of September. This week with the moderation of temperature (still not ideal to me!) I've at least got back to regular walking, even if not as far as I'd like. I'm trying to use some of the ideas from that book on habits I mentioned some time ago (there is more to be said, later I hope) One idea was that it was important to establish the habit of the habit; so with walking the author would say that it would be more important to establish the notion one is a walker by always walking whatever number of times you wanted to establish rather than worrying about how far/fast/long you walk. So even a few minutes would be ok. I must confess that during those really hot humid days I did not walk at all. Even Nellie seemed lethargic and glad to just laze about in the back yard. Today though we had a two walks and en route Nellie visited the dog, Logan, down the street and had a bit of a romp in his back yard. I had a lot of shops to go to today at and at each stop I parked well away from the entrance. So I was really pleased to put in 8585 steps on the Fitbit (my previous days this week have been more modest at around 3300 steps). BM, I think you are doing well to get back on track by weighing and recording. Although exercise is important, it seems that a lot of what I read now emphasizes, "you can't outrun your fork" and diet is 70% of weight loss. I'm recording and weighing again too so look forward to other's insights here.
MITM, I still have not caught up on some posts I missed so am uncertain if you've just arrived home or are off to England. In either case, I look forward to your return here.
Other Crackers are still in my thoughts.
Regards.0 -
Glad your back safely MITM, it is lovely to see we are slowly getting back together, hopefully absent friends will be able to join us soon. I am still on track with my healthy eating, but it has been difficult. It is so very hot here today I have only had short walks around the gardens in the shade. I am mindful of what you wrote though Bracken and hopefully it will become habit again however short the walk.
I am still working on the ironing pile, it seems never ending but I can only do it for a short while (Gynae/back problems again!) so it will be a while before I am up to speed with it all.
The engineer from Miele came and declared our fridge freezer a write off, it has to be replaced! I am truly shocked by this as I have always a known Miele to be excellent quality (I recall your 30yr washing machine as an example MITM). I told him I thought that was ridiculous but he said it's because it is built in and has not had enough ventilation. I queried that it is not our fault as we moved in with it as it was but now we just have to bite the bullet and replace it and hopefully our landlord will reimburse some of our money. The rules here for tenants are totally difficult to the UK. I was a landlord in the UK and the onus was on me for everything, but it is completely different here.
On the plus side I have finished a Baable hat for my Son and it is now "blocking". It feels really wierd to be knitting wooly hats when it is almost 40c here lol. (It is called a Baable hat as it has sheep on it!).
Oh well, I can't procrastinate any longer the ironing has won.
BM x
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Please forgive the inappropriate capital letters and incorrect words/spelling in the above. The predictive text on this ipad is a nightmare!0
