One wonderful day, let's have another....

Sunday 7^th July 2013

“Use your imagination not to scare yourself to death but to inspire yourself to life.” - Adele Brookman

 

What a wonderful day yesterday was, mom enjoyed her 75^th birthday and we spent the entire day up the garden, we had a couple of visitors and we all chilled out enjoying the sunshine – was lovely.

 

I did manage to get 3 panels primed (I also managed to cover myself in the grey primer too!) and I panel painted so today I’m being painting over the primer and also fetched some more paint as mom has chosen a couple more colours she quite likes to do two or three other panels.

 

I spent an hour looking at old photos yesterday morning, such fond memories, it was lovely to reminisce.  Just thinking about what mom must have seen and done in her 75 years is something to get the brain going. 

 

This morning I lay in bed smiling because it’s Sunday I love Sundays and then I remembered how as a kid I hated Sundays they were “BORING” and also meant I had to go to school the next day, yet now I just love the idea of being bored because we live such busy lives.

 

Well I suppose I can’t ignore the food from yesterday, it could’ve been worse, I had 4 x Lindtt chocolates for my breakfast (moms birthday chocolates), for lunch I had a cheese salad sandwich with marmite.  Then my tea was sundried tomato bread warmed up like a pizza with olives and chorizo on, followed by 2 more chocolates.  I didn’t track or ProPoint it, I wanted a none WW related day with my mom and other than a couple of texts from members asking me questions I got it and it was lovely. 

Back to reality today though and actually ProPointing any of the goodies I choose to have, mom does have a pizza in the fridge so I may have a quarter of hers with lots of salad for my main meal, being in the garden stops me thinking about, stop me even wanted anything to eat to be honest.

 

I can’t even think about food or anything to be honest at the moment as my full attention is on my garden, I can’t believe how much fun we’re having out there, mom’s mood has improved massively since we’ve started doing it, I’m sure the sunshine is helping too.  It’s like our sanctuary, and we’re both enjoying it immensely and long may that continue.

 

If you are thinking about how to enjoy the sunshine without doing too much damage to your weight, do something that involves moving more, it may be gardening, it might be walking, cycling or just playing with the kids in the garden – we heard a lot of that yesterday when we were out there, it’s lovely to hear all that laughter.

If you do feel like having a few drinks in the garden why not get fruity and have a Strawberry Bellini cocktail, I like this idea because it makes me think of some of my favourite girlfriends

 

Serves 8, 3pp each

 

            400 g Strawberries, stalks removed

            2 tablespoons Artificial Sweetener, powdered, optional

            750 ml Champagne, or Cava, (1 bottle) chilled

 

·         Reserve 8 strawberries for decoration. Blend the remainder in a food processor or blender, or use a hand-held blender to give a smooth puree. Strain the strawberry liquid through a fine sieve to remove the pips. Add the sweetener, if using, then chill until icy cold.

·         When ready to serve, share the chilled strawberry mixture between 8 Champagne flutes. Partially slice through the reserved strawberries, so that they sit on the rim of each glass, then top up with chilled Champagne or Cava.

·         Serve immediately. Cheers!  Maybe wait till this afternoon at least though ‘-)

 

Or a refreshing Strawberry and elderflower wine cooler

 

Serves 8, 3pp

 

            300 g Strawberries, stalks removed

            200 ml Elderflower Cordial

            750 ml Wine, White, Medium, (1 medium bottle) chilled

            500 ml Lemonade, Diet

            8 sprig(s) Mint, Fresh, to decorate
1 handful of ice cubes

 

·         Puree the strawberries in a blender, or use a stick blender, if you have one. Strain the puree through a fine sieve into a large jug to remove the tiny pips.

·         Mix the elderflower cordial and white wine into the strawberry puree. Share this mixture between 8 glasses. Add a couple of ice cubes to each glass.

·         Top up each glass with the lemonade, then serve at once, decorated with a mint sprig.

 

 

Well I’ve got to go, Alfie is starring intently at me, he wants his walk!

 

Have a great day everyone xx