Back to Normality

After a super busy week last week, this week was all about getting back to some sort of normality. It was lovely to get up on Monday morning and not have to do any cleaning. I did need to take the dog out for a walk and do the weekly shop, but that was all there was on my list for the day, save for getting back into my weight loss journey and counting my calorie consumption. It was good to be able to get back to keeping an eye on what I eat. I'd put on a pound or two over the weekend, which wasn't too bad. I'm sure it will drop off again soon.

Whilst we were away, a neighbour unfortunately died. I saw a message on the street Whatsapp chat on Sunday morning, posted by his wife. He's had health problems for a while, but it was unexpected and must have been a horrible shock for the family.

We came back home to a couple of disappointments of our own, small things in comparison. One was some damage in the garden. The hammock post got broken off to a stump, and a fence also collapsed due to being sat on. OH was able to subsequently mend the fence, but the hammock post is irrepairable, which is a pity.

The other disappointment was that a neighbour had done something to the lovely honeysuckle outside of the kitchen window over the weekend and it now looks like it is dying. The trunk and roots are in their garden, so I don't actually know what they've done, but it now looks like this:

It's a very sad sight. It's such a pity. It was a lovely healthy and beautiful bush. It has upset me a little. We later found out that it was done by accident. 

Anyway, I walked the dog and then headed out to do the weekly shop. I spent quite a lot, as we needed quite a few things and I needed to buy extra now LB is back home for the summer, as she eats a few different things to what OH and I eat.

Tuesday, I had booked to go to a class at the gym, so OH walked the dog for me. I decided to look and see if there were any summer jobs advertised online for LB and whilst doing so found a temporary job that appealed to me, so I started to complete the application.

Due to the distraction, I then had to rush out to my class and was a bit late.  Luckily, I was still allowed in and the class was good. I'd forgotten how tough it was, as I hadn't been to this particular class since before I started my last job. It involved using weights which I quite enjoy and I came out feeling like I'd had a good workout.

When I got home, I finished applying for the job. Fingers crossed I hear something from it.

LB informed me that she'd managed to get some shifts at her previous job at a local theatre. Her shifts start next week, which is good. They don't tend to have much going on over the summer though, so she will still probably need to look for something else.

On Wednesday, OH was out cycling for most of the day, so I needed to walk the dog and then get back to go to my Soca Aerobics class. I walked there to get more steps in and kept my phone on me during the class to keep track of my steps. The class was good and then afterwards I headed into town to go to the building society, as I wanted to update my pass book. Some share dividends had been paid in a few weeks ago and it was slightly more than I'd expected, which is always a nice surprise.

I then popped into our local Primark and took a look around, but there was nothing I liked in my size, so I didn't spend any money and walked home.  I was so glad to get home and have some lunch, as I was shattered. I'd done nearly 15,000 steps in total. Quite enough for one morning. 

I'm feeling a little under the weather at the moment, I think I have a summer cold. It's not a bad one, but it is a bit chesty and is making me feel a little tired and not as energetic. I've tested for Covid three times and all tests were negative, so hopefully it isn't that.

The afternoon was quiet. I just hung out some laundry and then took a nap. I harvested some blackcurrants from the garden later, ready to make some jam. I need to defrost some blackberries from the freezer to combine with them.

In the evening, I went to the allotment with OH to harvest some peas, lettuce and berries, mainly raspberries. We've got a big glut of lettuce at the moment and just can't eat it fast enough and this is despite sowing it at different times. The heat is just making it bolt like crazy. I'll just have to eat more of it.

Thursday, marked the completion of two weeks on my weight loss journey. I lost 4lbs in the first week, but then put a pound on over the wedding weekend, so by the end of the second week, I had lost 5lbs or 2.2kg in total, which is fine. I'm not trying to lose weight quickly. The slower the better, as then it might stay off.  That felt like a positive start to the day.

I was really tired when I got up, as I virtually didn't sleep at all the night before. As a consequence, I almost didn't go to the Pilates/Yoga fusion class, but made I myself cycle there, as I knew I'd feel better if I did.  It was a hard class, but enjoyable. The free over 50's classes finish for the summer in 4 weeks, so I need to make the most of them over the next few weeks. Once they finish, I'll  have to pay £2.20 for over 50's gym sessions or classes until the free classes restart in September, which isn't too bad, but there's less variety.

When I got home, I made myself a big salad for lunch. I then decided to head up to the sewing room in the afternoon to nap and try to catch up with sleep, as I was really tired. It wasn't wholly successful, but if nothing else, it kept me out of the kitchen and away from food, so I was less likely to graze. I'm determined to take it easy this week, until I'm feeling a bit better.

I took the dog out later, it had cooled down a bit thankfully, so I managed to get a few more steps in, not as many as the day before though.

On Friday, I woke up having recovered from the lack of sleep I experienced the previous morning, but I didn't have any plans to exercise, save for walking the dog.

After lunch, I retired to the sewing room and spent a relaxing afternoon working on a couple of different hand sewn quilts that I've started recently. It felt very therapeutic. 

It was, however, interrupted by a commotion going on in the garden, with lots of squealing and banging. The dog had caught a big rat and killed it, fortunately for me, as I would have hated to have to put it out of it's misery had it been injured and still alive. I guess she's doing what she's genetically programmed to do being a Cairn terrier, but it wasn't nice to witness.

In the evening, we watched Glasto on the TV. I would love to go, but I'm probably a bit old now.

Saturday morning, I decided to go to a free session at the gym again. It's not a particularly strenuous session, but it gets me exercising and costs me nothing. Having said that, I did work up a sweat and tried out lots of weight machines I don't normally use. There's a fun game on the wall too, where you have to slap the flashing lights to stop them and I had a few goes on that. It's good fun and gets you bending and stretching.

Instead of going home, I went straight to the allotment. It's inspection week next week and we needed to weed the paths and generally tidy up, as well as harvest lettuce, peas, berries again. There are potatoes and beetroot to harvest too, but we're waiting until after the inspection on Wednesday, so that we don't leave big gaps that aren't cultivated. It looked pretty tidy after a couple of hours work and we came home for some lunch.

In the afternoon and evening, I stayed inside where it was cool and watched Glastonbury on TV.

I've enjoyed this week, getting back into a normal routine. I'd almost forgotten what I normally do on a regular week and found myself wondering what to do with myself at times, but by the end of the week I had more or less settled back into it. There's lots of stuff I can get on with, it's just a question of putting my mind to it.

Hope you had a good week.