Friday 30 March 2018

Easter holidays!


Well, I made it to the holidays.  But I woke up this morning with a rotten cough and stinky cold.  I have a crick in my neck that's making turning my head painful.  And I hurt my knee at work which is making walking difficult.  I'm being referred to a physio but I have to wait 2 more weeks for my appt  *sighs*  I know I'm run down when I have mouth ulcers.  Hopefully 2 weeks off will perk me up again!


I'm sticking to my 90 day plan but with a knee injury I may have to pause it for a week.  I'm a few days short of the end of the first cycle.  Lots of people take a wee break between cycles so my enforced one shouldn't have too much of an effect.  Tomorrow is my weighing and measuring day so here's hoping the hard work is starting to pay off.  So far I've been able to wear 2 old dresses to work I've not been able to wear for 2 years!!

And finally, I now own a second property! Eeek!! Scary and exciting in equal measure but that news deserves a post of it's own over the weekend.

Sunday 25 March 2018

Making a start


Today was a nice Spring day so my lovely mum and I made a start in the back garden.  We took away the polytunnel frame and emptied all the Grobags into the space.  We didn't dig in all the compost, I wanted to leave it for Penny to scratch in.  And so far she's had a great time although she was a bit camera shy!  I have a plan for this wee patch of garden. 😉


The polytunnel frame is rather rusted so it wasn't easy to take apart.  I'll wait until the Easter holidays and get OH to help me break it up.  We moved it onto the patio and left the Grobags out to dry off.  I'm planning on getting a big skip over the holiday so it'll go in there along with the old carpets and internal doors that are lying in my garage! 


Mum planted up the 2 free Chandler blueberry bushes I got last year. We thought one of  mine had died as the leaves went brown and dropped off almost overnight.  Thompson and Morgan replaced it but actually sent 2 by mistake!  Then the 'dead' blueberry bush revived (!) so now I have 5! 


This photo popped up in my On This Day feed.  Six years ago OH surprised me with a birthday weekend in Skye.  It was a tad windy! But I love this photo as it's just before OH grew his beard and I still have dark hair!! 💓

Saturday 24 March 2018

Hanging on


And another 2 weeks has just whizzed by!  I am so busy with work stuff that everything else has gone into survival mode.  I come home exhausted and curl up on the couch for the evening.  OH being away a lot hasn't helped and I even spent my birthday on my own because I just couldn't be bothered organising anything.  My house and garden are a complete tip but not quite at health hazard level (yet!) Thanks goodness I only have 4 more teaching days left then a 2 week break.  I can hang on till then.

Next week is a busy week as I finally get the keys to the flat!!! 😊 There's still a few niggly things to be done, mainly concerning money laundering laws *ROLLS EYES*  Everyone in an official capacity wants to know exactly where every penny comes from.  And just saying you saved up isn't enough.  Apparently! *sighs*

On the health front, I've been sticking rigidly to my 90 day plan.  I haven't been tempted to weigh myself but I know I've lost something around the tummy area.  I've got 1 more week to complete of Cycle 1 then I have to do the measurements.  Fingers crossed!

Sunday 11 March 2018

Ups and Downs

 Frittata, Prawn Burger and sweet potato fries, Roast Cauliflower and Chicken Salad

Why do Mondays to Fridays drag and Saturdays/Sundays whizz by in a flash?? *sighs*  Last week was a dreadful one work wise ending with me being punched by one of my pupils *sighs again*  Ah well, just 3 more weeks until the Easter holidays.

In a effort to get myself fit and healthy before going to Australia in July (I don't want a repeat of 'She needs a bigger wetsuit!!') 😲 I've signed up to do The Body Coach's 90 day Plan.  I already eat healthily (most of the time) and I go the gym but I've not been able to shift the weight I wanted.  So something had to be changed.  It's a programme of nutritionally balanced meals tailored to me and 5 different HIIT workouts.

Bagel with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, BBQ meatballs and NY Style Steak and Eggs

So far I am loving the food!!  In fact there is so much food I sometimes struggle with the portions.  I already meal prepped so that bit is easy.  I've adjusted my gym workouts to HIIT sessions and do a couple of extra ones at home when I get in from work.  It's not a weight loss plan, more of a lose fat/gain muscle plan!

It's not for everyone but I need to do something to shock my body into action.  My weight has been yoyoing this past year and I just feel I need a completely different approach.  I'm one week into the first 30 day cycle and so far so good. 

Saturday 3 March 2018

Freedom!


I finally got my car out after 5 days!  I was getting a bit stir crazy 😜 I tried to get out yesterday but after an hour of shoveling snow, it started to snow heavily again so I gave up.  OH finally got back from Italy this morning (2 days late!!) and helped me do the last bit out to the road.  The main roads are driveable but the gritter lorries just push the snow to the sides of the road in huge piles.  This makes the roads very narrow.  But at least they're clear.


Every morning I've dug out a path to the coop so Penny can come out if she wants.  She's got food and water inside and outside.  I scatter some feed over the ground so she can forage a bit and she gets warm porridge too. She seems happy enough as she gives me an egg almost daily in return.


Meals have been interesting this week!  I was running down my fridge freezer so I could clean it and restock it.  I had no meat or fish left.  Just loads of veggies. This was a veggie lentil chilli mixed with rice and chopped spinach with some wholegrain mustard.  Doesn't photograph well but it was delicious!


This was Punjabi spiced roast cauliflower (Madhur Jaffray recipe) with spinach rice and toasted cashews.  Also very delicious.  It would have been lovely with some raita or mango chutney but I didn't have either.  It really was a use it up meal!

I did manage to get to Sainsbury's today but the car park was a disaster with huge piles of snow everywhere and inconsiderate parking (mainly by 4x4 drivers).  I drove round it (very carefully!!) for 20 mins then gave up.  I tried the small Lidl near me and it was the same story.  So I came home, put my walking gear on and walked back to Lidl.  I managed to get some chicken, cod and salmon (their pricing for local Scottish produce is really good!) and some fresh fruit and vegetables to keep me going for a few days.  There were lots of empty shelves, some things I wouldn't be buying anyway.  Hopefully the next time I go they'll be full up again.

Hope you're safe and warm wherever you are!!

Thursday 1 March 2018

More snow!


Emma was a bit excited to see so much snow this morning!  In this pic I've actually caught her mid bound above the snow as it's up to her stomach when she stands still.


It took her ages to find a spot to pee! 😆 


 Just an hour later we had yet another whiteout


4x4 cars are the only vehicles I've seen on my hilly road


This is the passageway from my door to the gate.  It's more than 30cm deep.  Luckily it's soft and easy to scoop with my big snow shovel.  The Red Alert warning has now been downgraded to Amber, which is still serious but the worst seems to be over for us.  No idea if school will reopen tomorrow.  We are a digital school so have been doing some remote teaching and learning this morning.  Although only 2 of my pupils have been doing the tasks I've set my class.  Ah well.