A New Week W/E 29th July 2023

After a not so good week last week, I was happy to welcome a new week on Sunday. It was a quiet day. A morning dog walk and an afternoon spent sewing again. I've found myself so hungry lately. I've just wanted to eat and eat every day. I have to stay out of the kitchen to stop myself. I don't know if my metabollism has kicked up a notch or what, but it's driving me crazy and I'm finding it hard to stick to my 1800 calorie allowance. I just need to keep trying every day. It's working and the weight is coming off slowly, so I don't want to give up.

I'm currently obsessed with homemade popcorn. I mentioned that I'd bought some popping corn and made some in another post, but in all honesty, it didn't turn out as well as it could have, because I used butter in the pan. I read somewhere that oil is better to use and prevents burning, so I made a new batch on Sunday using a Chilli infused olive oil and it turned out so much better. Virtually every corn popped and very little was burned. I added a bit of salt too and it was so tasty. I love trying different spices on it. It's such a low calorie/fat snack too, compared to some other things that I normally reach for. 

I received an email from my sister in Australia on Sunday. It was lovely to hear from her. Her eldest son is getting married next year, but unfortunately we can't attend. I was worried I'd upset her when I emailed to tell her.  She seemed okay about it though. It's such a long way, so expensive and I'm not currently working. It also clashes with a wedding on OH's side of the family here in the UK, which is super unfortunate and LB will also still be at University and won't be able to take time off to go, as she will probably have exams or assignments to complete around the time. It was a difficult decision, and I'm sad about it, but I had to make it.

On Monday, I couldn't head out to do the weekly shop until the afternoon, as OH was using the car to go to visit a client. Instead, I took the dog out and tried to dodge the rain as much as possible. I have to admit that I love summer rain. I much prefer to have some rain, than have it constantly hot all summer. It feels like a normal British summer this year and I for one am glad of it.

For lunch on Monday, I decided to take a slightly different tack and make something a bit more substantial than just salad, as I thought this might help with the feelings of hunger. I made up half a packet of mediterranean cous cous and heated up half a tin of Lidl's new lightly spiced taco beans in sauce, added a tiny bit of grated cheese and made a small salad on the side. I needed something more filling, especially if I was heading out to do the weekly shop. It's so easy to buy and eat an unhealthy snack when you're out and about if you're still hungry. I've done it so many times.

When I finally did head out to do the shopping, I managed to use a 10% off voucher I'd earned through the Lidl plus app, which is always useful, especially towards the end of the month.

On Tuesday, I had booked to go to a class at the gym again. After the class I walked on to the high street to pick up a few greetings cards that I needed to get. By the time I'd got home I'd done over 10,000 steps so I was happy. When I got home, I had almost the same lunch as I'd had the day before, to use up the remaining halves of the taco beans and cous cous.  I then had a shower and got changed and then pottered a little before heading off to an appointment at the dentist at 4.30 pm.

Luckily, I didn't need any treatment, which was a relief, but I will need to have my teeth cleaned at my next appointment in January and had to put a deposit down for it, which did mean paying out more than I'd hoped.

On Wednesday, I had a busy morning. I'd booked a gym session, as OH and I were heading up to Yorkshire for a few days and I wanted to get one in for the week. When I got back, I showered and changed and headed off with LB to her bank to sort out some issues she'd been having. OH meanwhile had set off on his bike to Peterborough, where I was due to drive to meet him and then continue our journey up north. 

When LB and I got back from the bank, I packed, loaded the car and set off. The drive to Peterborough was okay. I thought I was going to be late, but OH took longer than he thought he would to get there, so I was actually early.  We had some food that I'd prepared and taken with me and then we continued on our journey.

We were visiting OH's parents for a couple of days, to oversee a roofing job that OH had arranged to be done and his mother needed him to do a few other jobs around the house and garden.  We stopped off and caught up with his parents and then headed up to his sister's house in North Yorkshire, where we'd been invited to stay for a couple of nights.  We hadn't seen them since the wedding of their son a month ago, but then had barely talked to them, as they were very busy on the day, so it was good to catch up with their news and other family news.

On Thursday, we were up early and returned to OH's parents to meet the roofers. I took the dog off for a long walk and left OH doing jobs for his mum. Later, I returned, had a bit of lunch and headed out to my favourite Yorkshire shop again. Anyone who has followed me for a while knows my love of Boyes store. I managed to find quite a few things that I wanted to buy including a couple of metres of green fabric for a quilt project, some make up, a pair of leggings, dog treats, candles, etc.

On the way home, I dropped into a couple of charity shops and found this lovely cotton/linen mix Laura Ashley skirt for £4.99. It has pockets too. Great for winter or summer. (It needs an iron)

When I got back to OH's parent's house, we needed to do a quick tip run with some rubbish and OH needed to check the roofing work before the builders left and then we headed back to his sister's. Me by car, him on his bike.

We paid one last visit to OH's parents on Friday for him to finish off the last couple of small jobs and then we headed back to London. 

We almost witnessed a head on collision on the way home and we would most certainly have been embroilled in the carnage had it happened, as we were travelling behind the van that decided to overtake on a bend with another vehicle coming from the opposite direction. Luckily, for everyone concerned, the van driver managed to pull back in, but he must have been inches or split seconds away from a collision. It's one of the scariest incidents I've ever been close to. The angels must have been watching over us on that journey, that's all I can say.

In view of the above, it felt extra nice to get home. Poor LB was having problems, as she'd been taxed on her wages from the theatre, despite not earning above the tax and NI threshold. She was very disappointed, as she needs the money to pay off her overdraft.  She can still just about do it, but it will mean living on very little for the rest of the summer, if the tax doesn't get sorted and then waiting for a rebate in April. Stepping into the adult world of work and taxation is a steep learning curve for her at the moment. I feel for her, as she is working 6 days a week and has very little free time for the next six weeks. Without the taxation, she'd have a little more money with which to enjoy herself when she's not working.

On Saturday, LB was at work and OH had gone off on a cycle ride for most of the day, so I was home alone with the dog. I didn't mind. I unpacked from our trip, got some washing on and then took the dog out. It's official. Bramble season has now begun, as I was able to pick a bag of blackberries on the walk, from the hedgerows. I just love foraging for blackberries and then making jam from them. 

When I got back, I made some bacon sandwiches to use up some leftover bacon, and a small salad to accompany it and then spent the afternoon pottering at home, doing a bit of this and that, some more washing and and some sewing. Bliss.

It has been another week of challenges this week, some of which I haven't mentioned here. I'm hoping for a better week next week, as I feel like I've been wading through treacle this week. Just when I think that I've resolved one problem, another one crops up. Sometimes things are thrown in our path to test us. This has certainly been the case this week.