I had a very happy Christmas

 Tuesday 26th December 2023

Well we had a lovely, relaxing Christmas, how was yours?  Christmas Eve himself went to see his mom and do his last minute Christmas shopping whilst I had a tidy up and then Aryn and I watched a movie, we started Polar Express but didn't finish it, not for me, I have to say, I will try and watch the rest at some point.  I did like this quote though, 

We watched Jumanji with Robin Williams, I'd seen it obviously but not for years and Aryn enjoyed it, we then watched Scrapper, a good film I thought.  We were in bed early, he's still not well, a really nasty virus it is and without tempting fate I don't understand why we haven't caught it from him!  Christmas day was lovely and chilled, up early, Aryn got up before 9 thankfully, they had bacon sarnies, I had smoked salmon and toast then opened our presents or it could've been the other way round, I can't recall.  

I did really well with my gifts, the boys did me proud, the most beautiful Claddagh bracelet from himself, he outdid himself there, its gorgeous, a Dune bag and scarf, again exceptional taste in his choice, some perfume, he always picks one that smells lovely, slippers which was the only thing I asked for and needed and some Molton Brown bath stuff.

Aryn bless him bought me a gift too, that's the first time he's used his own money and ordered something off his own back, a jigsaw portable puzzle board so I can do my jigsaws and put them away so the cats can't get to them, how thoughtful was that! 

I felt truly spoilt and blessed to have the life I have right now.  We all sat together and watched the newer version of Jumanji and then I enjoyed some champagne whilst prepping our lunch, the boys did man stuff like putting all the logs in the shed.

Dinner went down well, we did our usually pull crackers, wear silly ates and enjoyed our meal.  I've decided that's the last turkey I buy, it's a lot of fuss for a not particularly nice meat, the lads had beef anyway and I wasn't impressed with my turkey this year, I'd rather have lamb chops I think, especially when you think how many lambs are in Ireland!  The beef though was what I'd bought from Taylors butchers back home, just the best joint again.

Our afternoon/evening was spent relaxing in front of the tv and another early night, he's a little better but it's really been a nasty dose of whatever, he's pottering about this morning but I'd prefer him to rest and recover, everything can wait, he won't though, I've been amazed that he's rested at all.

I cooked way too much yesterday but partly because I can make bubble and squeak with it today nom nom.  Other than our dinner, I had some tiramisu and we had a beef sarnie later and that was our lot.  It wasn't intentional but there's barely any junk in the house this year, not missed it either tbh.

Here's to a lovely day, I'd like to chill again, maybe start a jigsaw, I have a feeling he's gonna not sit still though.  Aryn's seeing his mom at some point I think to exchange gifts etc, he hasn't seen her since the 23rd so it'll be their Christmas get together.

Here's hoping for a calm day x

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x

It's all coming together...

Saturday 23rd December 2023

WOW, it's Christmas Eve, Eve and we haven't been food shopping yet, I'm not stressing over it though, we'll eat what we can get if it comes to it.  We were just too busy yesterday to care!  It looked like yesterday was the only dry day forecast so he wanted to get the two living room windows done and fair play to him, he did because that poor man is not well at all!  

I've left him in bed to try and sleep but his coughing woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep so it's half six in the morning and all is quiet.  

Back to yesterday, whilst he got the windows done, I cleaned up the sofa we'd bought with us, it had some green mold on it from being stored since the summer, thankfully with a bit of effort and some white vinegar, it seems to have worked.  I them emptied the kitchen cupboards and gave them a thorough clean, well most of them, I'll do the rest today or tomorrow, I've got enough clean ones for the food we buy and plates and pots and pans etc.  Once he'd finished the windows I had to set about cleaning up the living room.  We were going to paint in here but it will wait, he needs to rest and the fumes from the paint would not help at all.  It'll all wait won't it, I can feel it coming together a bit at a time, I've put the curtains up we bought with us and the rug down, the sofa's been bought in and my chair he bought back last time and it's all cosy.

  

The windows are in but I've pulled curtains cos they need cleaning!  Not doing that yet :)

Can I just say if you live in the countryside and you have a clean floor, you don't really LIVE in the countryside, it's impossible to keep it clean, especially if you have a coal fire.  I don't want a show home, I want a comfortable, cosy, cleanish house that we can enjoy living in.  He'll never stop pottering about doing stuff and I'll always be making a mess in the kitchen cooking something and that to me sounds like a perfect life.  I really can finally visualise us retiring here, it's so quiet, I love it.

Once we finally got done what we could, we could barely walk we were so stiff, we're not in our 20's anymore, we forget don't we that our bodies don't want to play these silly games anymore and scream stop and seize up :)  We all showered and got cleaned up and went out for a meal for his dads birthday.  Lovely night and this is how I know he's really poorly because he didn't want to stay out drinking all night with them, he came home with us about half ten and went straight to bed, bless him.

The meal was lovely, I had chicken, bacon and ham vol-u-vent starter and honey roasted duck for main, no room for dessert but I did finish it off with an Irish coffee.  If I can get my internet to work, I'll share photos and post this blog at some point but at the moment, that's not happening - the joys of living in the middle of nowhere, although I've been told that they've just had fibre put in so we can get that fitted for next time we come back.

  

  

The pub we ate at has a train in the restaurant, as you do!  Yep a full size pub, it used to be a train museum, then became a pub, then closed down and it recently reopened and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the food, a lovely evening all round. 

I give up for now, I can't get Facebook to connect at all!  Instead I'm gonna go make a cuppa an maybe tidy the kitchen a little or decorate the tree, I need to be quiet so as not to wake anyone.

------

It's now 2.30 in the afternoon, I'm once again on my own in the living room, but now I've decorated my tree, blue and white/silver theme this year, been and done food shop too - enough to last us till Wednesday anyways and had a tidy up in the living room.  Himself is quite poorly, he didn't come shopping with us, I've got him cough medicine and sweets and he's took himself back to bed I'm glad to say because he seriously needs to rest!

      

Aryn's gone walking with his mom and her dogs, he's been gone a while so getting some exercise at least, actually I think they were going to visit her partners parents, I wasn't really listening when his dad asked as I was putting food away.

The kitchens a bit of a mess but it's gonna have to wait, I'm in pain and need to rest for a bit, wonder if I can find something to watch whilst I have control of the remote! 

Yeah I'm gonna do that, here's to a merry Christmas, I've just poured wine.  We were supposed to go into Athlone to see his mom today and apparently he still needs to get a few things (translated means he didn't get me all the things he thought he'd be able to get a McArthurGlen on Monday gone lol, I don't really mind because I've only bought him a few things, not gone mad this year at all.  If he's a bit better, we'll try tomorrow, otherwise it'll all wait, I'd rather have him well.

Here's hoping you're having a great day.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

Quite the journey...

Friday 22nd December 2023

I'm sat looking at a Christmas tree that needs decorating, so much to do today!  We left home Wednesday afternoon, it wasn't long before I realised I'd forgot my coat, doh, thankfully there is an old scruffy on here that I'd left last year, just wouldn't go walking around the town in it.  It was windy on the way to the ferry, thankfully the ferry was okay despite being half hour late leaving which meant we hit Ireland in a full on wind weather warning storm.  That was quite the drive in a motorhome full of double glazing and a sofa, he handled it well though and we arrived at the house just after 3.30 am.  Sadly the heating hadn't kicked in so we walked into a cold home, we soon built a coal fire and for the third Christmas running yesterday we had a visit from the plumber to look at the boiler - all fixed again :) 

Next Aryn disappears to his room and calls his dad, there's a dead bird on the floor, it's obviously come down his chimney at some point, so we disposed of that.  Then he comes back in living room and says, 'do we have clean bedding?' I ask what's the matter with it, 'it's cold', I'm thinking of course it's cold, but then he add's 'it's white', deep sigh, of course it needs changing so 'welcome to Ireland', I've spent the past 24 hours doing the washing just in a different country :) 

We got ourselves just shy of 4 hours sleep before nipping into town for a bit of food for breakfast and coal for the fire, they've sold out!  We manage to find some elsewhere, get our bread and milk, makings of a breakfast - we forget the eggs, but I grab a turkey just in case they sell out by the time we go to do our Christmas food shop, which we're doing this morning.

We then spent a few hours, emptying the motorhome of double glazing and all our stuff, that took a lot longer and a hell of a lot more effort to do than to type it!  He's really poorly but just keeps going, which just means it'll take him longer to get better.

We didn't seem to stop yesterday and at 5 when we finally did, he went to fetch us a Chinese takeaway as we have no food, the boiler man arrived as he was out, then his dad and the neighbours so dinner wasn't a sit down together affair :)  

Today I need to clear out the motorhome and change and wash the bedding in there, I'm really enjoying my laundry holiday so far!  This is because tonight we're off out for a meal for his dads birthday and we might have his siblings sleeping over which means we'll be in the van!  

I'm gonna decorate my tree in a bit I think, then we'll go food shopping, then we'll be out for dinner later.  Could've done with an extra day before today but it is what it is and we'll enjoy the rush of it all I'm sure, I also wished he was feeling better, poor love is very poorly and I'm waiting for Aryn and I to catch it.

I know once the tree is up and we go shopping, I'll feel more Christmassy, I'm waiting for him to take a window out, then it'll feel like winter for sure!  

Wish me luck :) 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me x

 

Cos a poorly bloke is all I need!

Wednesday 20th December 2023

I'm sat enjoying a bit of love with Coco as I won't see him for a couple of weeks now!   He'll be looked after by my sister and at least they get to stay in their own home and have the run of the house.  I found Minnie in his wardrobe last night lying on his trousers, Coco had been in mine the night before and I'd closed the door not realising, took us a moment to work out where the noise was coming from.

Health wise, I ate more veggies yesterday and was more aware of saturated fats, the Nutracheck app is great for that, it not only tells you how many calories but you can have it also show fibre, fat, sat fat, sugar protein, salt, carbs.  You can choose up to 4 to be on show at all times, I also like that it shows you where it is on the green, amber or red scale, a great guideline.  

I went back to wholemeal bread instead of the white I've been getting for Aryn, and I reverted to low fat spread rather than butter, that's made an immediate healthy change.  I can't believe how over the last few months, I've let these things slide, partly because it's convenient, cheaper to only buy one thing not too but also let's not lie, because it tastes damn good!

I got lazy, so I'm going to use this Christmas to get my lazy lost, I'll have spare time on my hands so I can plan some tasty menus for January to help me lose a few pounds and get us all a little healthier.  

I did manage to lose 1/2lb yesterday on the scales, which is great for December, it's not gone up any higher, I'll take that.

You couldn't make it up though, I have a very, poorly man on my hands, he's full of lurgy, had a terrible night, bit of a temperature and he's got to drive the motorhome to Ireland, terrible timing for sure!  I'd say he had man flu but to be fair he doesn't make a big thing of it when he's poorly which is why I know he really is - deep sigh!

On a positive, I feel truly blessed to have a work wife who's okay with me going away every Christmas and leaving her holding the fort, I'm really grateful and even though Aryn doesn't realise it, he is too because it makes visiting his mom easier. 

We're off for a real adventure aren't we, fitting double glazing at Christmas!  Decorating the living room once the windows have been fitted, all the time, I'll be wanting it done so I can put my tree up lol. 

He's just got up, so I'll go make him a cuppa,

Have a great day, here's hoping the crossings not too bad!  EEK!

Mwah, luv ya

Love me xx 

Christmas isn't the main thing on my mind!

Tuesday 19th December 2023

The slow puncture was thankfully repairable, it was a screw in there!  A tenner is better than a new tyre!

I'm surrounded by double glazing, it was dropped off last night do too dark to be messing about putting some in the motor home, I'e prayed all night that the cats didn't knock it over, of course they're being extra mischievous and putting my nerves on edge!

We did all our running about yesterday, B&Q followed by IKEA and we made the mistake of having an IKEA breakfast, wasn't impressed, the sausages were the only thing on the plate that was hot.  

Dinner time we had the leftover lamb with pitta bread and salad and I really enjoyed the salad side, who knew how much I could like carrot and pepper sticks. 

 

I had a text from my gp surgery yesterday saying "your recent cholesterol blood test indicated that you would benefit from following a cholesterol lowering diet.  Please see the attached factsheet to help you with this journey thank you.  

Of course, I wanted to know what my results were, so I walked over to ask, luckily my GP is over the road, I can see it from my window.  The receptionist asked if I wanted a printout (of course I did) and she told me that my triglycerides had gone from 0.4 to 1.1 since April.   These are the results. 

Now with the help of the internet, those numbers are okay (if you know different, let me know).  I don't know if my triglycerides could have risen that much this month because I've been overindulging with Christmas niceness?!  Anyway regardless its just another reason to take control of my health and lose some weight in the new year.  

My other blood tests were good, my liver function is sound - who would've thought it ay!

Again if you read anything else into those results because you know your stuff, feel free to get in touch :) 

 I am seriously ready to make changes though, even to the point that I'm contemplating leaving my wine at home.  I'll still have a drink over Christmas, I have 3 bottles of champagne but if I don't take my own red wine, I won't drink any red wine at all because I won't be able to get it there! 

My boys will have a choice, they can get on board and eat healthy foods with me, i.e. less red meat, processed meats and more fish and wholegrains, or we'll have to eat different meals some of the time.  I'm not cutting it all out of course, we shall still take the beef joint that's in my freezer with us, but when I make that cottage pie, I'll try using soya mince.

I was awake in the night feeling sick and that's what I'm eating, combined with my weight.  I could make out its the paint fumes from the weekend but it isn't.  My snoring hasn't been made any better by the fumes but I already snore because of my weight and my wine, I believe anyway, he snores too but I can sleep regardless, mine keeps him awake. 

I'm not down on myself, I've just swallowed a reality pill!  Depending how you look at it, it's crap timing with us going away for a fortnight or it's brilliant because I'll have a fortnight to take care of me, to use the time to create healthy meals using food you can buy from Lidls!  I'm opting for the latter.

Aryn didn't eat at all yesterday, he's a poorly boy, spent the day in bed, so we will all benefit from being healthy.

Right, I'm gonna go shower and get ready for work.  I've got a couple of ideas for food today, there's some pork belly the boys can have, I'm fancying tinned salmon with something, maybe I could do mash with both and veggies, perfect.  I'm gonna get some soya mince and make a cottage pie of some sort, maybe sliced potatoes on top instead of mash.  We'll see, I've got my positive head on now., reminding myself of one of my favourite sayings...  

If you don't like where you are - MOVE - you're not a tree! 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me xx

Only a week away...

Monday 18th December 

Well I've slept almost 10 hours last night, that's brilliant for me and I feel great for it, I've made a conscious effort to drink more water too.

My meals have also improved since my last blog, had a much better weekend, one meal I made that I was particularly chuffed with was this one.  My Indian fakeaway, beef madras, pilau rice, onion salad but the one that made me happy was the chicken curry.

I was experimenting to see if they'd notice, it was only a cheap jar of own branded curry sauce from Sainsburys.  I made it with half chicken and half quorn pieces and no one noticed!  Why?  Because quorn has fibre in it, chicken doesn't and it's lower in calories.

As you can see from the image above, 4.7g of fibre per 100g and only 97 calories.  Once I told them, they agreed as long as it was flavoured really well, then yeah they'd eat it.  I'm thinking cottage pie, curry's, pasta bakes, in wraps, lots of options.

I can't believe this time next week it'll be Christmas Day, I haven't bought a thing to eat, I was just gonna buy it there as we have so much to put in the MH already, he's just checking the manual for weights :) then maybe I can go do a little shopping!

I lost a bet yesterday regarding getting a sofa in the garage of MH, so that's got me 4 new tyres, but on a positive, at least I get my comfy sofa in Ireland!

  

I cooked a delicious Sunday roast yesterday, loving my Ninja AF500, did my leg of lamb in there, this time on roast and I lowered the temperature to 120 degrees and cooked it slower, it took about 3 hours, I just kept resetting it until I got the temperature to about 75, blooming melted in your mouth.  Another successful batch of meat from Facebook Taylors, can't fault them.

Busy day today, B&Q then Ikea for a desk top for Aryn, my tyres got a slow puncture so that needs sorting too, ggrrrrrr to another bill.

I have people in my house so my days not started quietly like it usually does , isn't it weird how we get used to our routines and get thrown off track when it changes.  Himself has broken up for Christmas so he's here and Aryns not gone to school again :( 

Hey ho, let's make the most of the day shall we, 

Mwah, luv ya

Love me xx 

There's never a 'perfect' time to start!

Saturday 16th December 2023
 

19 days!  That's how many days there are till I will be back to 'normal' after all things Christmas and New Year and things that will interfere with being able to get some sort of routine. 

 
Isn't it funny how just one off hand comment that wasn't to my knowledge said with any meaning or malice can affect you much more than it should!  I realised last night after we'd been out that yes a comment on Thursday has hit home a little harder than necessary.  I'm sure I read way more into it that was meant and combined with something I put on yesterday to wear which did me no favours at all and was quickly taken off made me want to lose a stone in a day!

If only it was that easy ay! Not the best time of year to want to 'get on track' when Christmas is on the door step, we're about to be doing lots of travelling and DIY and visiting etc BUT... as I'm a big fan of saying to others, it's not what you do between Christmas and New Year that matters, it's what you do between New Year and next Christmas - time to start practising what I preach!

 If I get out of arrrgggghhhhhh mode and start to think rationally, I can make plenty of wise choices over the next few weeks, I don't have to go into YAY IT'S CHRISTMAS - SOD IT SYNDROME do I.  

I'm calming down about it now as I'm typing, but I won't lie, I've had a bit of a cry this morning, I cried last night too but that wad alcohol fueled for sure, another thing that isn't helping my weight loss journey.  

My weight doesn't bother me until I try to find something to go out in, if I'm in my joggers or leggings and a baggy top, I'm okay cos I'm used to it, but oh I put a pair of jeans on last night with a baggy cardigan and NOOOOOOO, I did not look how I'd visualised in my head.  I can laugh about it now but yesterday I was mortified and quickly took said jeans off. 

Now I've thought about it all and realised I've spiralled, I can calm down and form a plan starting with taking beef out of the freezer to make a curry for dinner which we'll have with brown rice.  The boys can have naan bread, I can happily live without them. 

I'd like tandoori chicken, I need to get a good recipe to make some, you can't beat a good tandoori chicken leg on the bone and it's not too high in calories, 257 for 1/4 chicken from an Indian takeaway from the Indian, served with the shredded lettuce, onion and cucumber = nice...

See this is the thing, I bloody love food, yesterday I made stuffed potato skins, they were amazing, I only had a couple but I could've eaten the entire plate.  They were really good though, potatoes coated in olive oil and salt and pepper, then roasted for an hour (or until soft inside).  Cut in half and scoop out potato, put skins back in oven for ten minutes to crisp and whilst they're doing that, smash up the potatoes with bacon bits (I'd cooked the bacon at same time as spuds and cut it into pieces) and cheese.  Put that back into the skins, top with more cheese and pop back in oven for ten minutes.  Now if I made them again, I wouldn't put cheese in my mash, they didn't need it, they were delicious and a bit of cheese on top would've been enough.  You can't beat Vivaldi potatoes from Sainsburys because they taste like they've already had butter added when they're mashed up, so good.  

If like me, you love food, are looking forward to Christmas but dreading it at the same time because you know how easily you can gain weight - take a breathe - a deep breathe - calm down.  We will be okay, even if we do gain another half stone before the end of the year (which we don't have to), we can and will get it off in January.  

I'm going to sit and plan some really tasty, healthy meals to make over the holidays  When I do the Christmas food shop, I won't be buying all the crappy stuff, no one in this house needs it, both himself and I need to shed some weight and Aryn needs to eat healthier too, obviously not to lose weight. 

Well, thanks for 'listening', it's good to 'talk' or blog in my case.  I'm going to go shopping at some point and get the brown healthy bread and skimmed I like rather than having what I get for them because it saves a bit of money!  I'm gonna go make me a mug of tea and take 5 to chill before I get him up so he can deal with the decorators when I go to work.  Not sure what to have for breakfast, I WANT a sausage bap but that's almost 600 calories so I could be better off choosing something lower in calories and a little healthier, maybe a couple of eggs scrambled, decisions, decisions...

Here's to a day of thinking before I eat, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

It's so good to laugh!

Friday 15th December 2023

So I started my day with a sausage bap yesterday and it was amazing!  I did contemplated Greggs, but I know if I'd gone there I would've had the baguette £3.10 & 558 cals rather than the bap £2.30 & 388 cals.  I made use of what I already had, yes I still have some bread rolls lol!  

An Aldi tiger roll is 25p  200 cals and the sausages I used worked out at 40p each & 168 cals, so £1.05 for that bap, I'd normally use the Warburtons rolls which work out at 15p & 148 cals each & I like Coop sausages but I can't find the price, I have used Tesco's which are 28p each, so that would've only cost 71p, bloomin bargain and I cooked it in 5 mins ish in the actifry so it wasn't difficult.  

It was delicious too, tastier than the Greggs on and my mug of tea are always better :)

After our morning huddles I nipped to Walsall to see the angel made of knives, it really is worth a visit, I've wanted to see it since it was first made. 

Once home, I knocked up a stir fry, the noodles were lovely but I'm just not a fan of stir fry, I wanted to give it another chance but my mind wasn't changed. 

  

I ate it though but it really was not worth 636 calories!  I'd have rather had meat and mash with veggies.  I was left wanting more food, it just didn't hit the spot at all.

I can honestly say the highlight of yesterday was laughing, this time of year can be so stressful with lots going on, we've added extra stress to our week before Christmas by deciding to get windows, carpets and have some painting done, so to sit and proper belly laugh with Elle and our members was a great release.

Oops I haven't thought about dinner tonight, we're going for a drink but I still have to feed us all.  It's too late to defrost meat, I've got spuds and some veggies, so I'll have a think what to do.  I want something that can be reheated really.   

I've never made potato skins, might have a play if the spuds are big enough, I want nom nom kind of food, I could stuff them with bacon and cheese, mmmm, nice.  I'm starving and it's not even 7am!

On that note, I'm off to move all the coats out of the hall ready for the painters later, the carpet mans bringing carpets and I've got an appointment this morning to have blood taken, I'm not sure why, the doctors called to book it.   I think that's my only must do's today.  We shall see!

Make sure you look for something to laugh at today, smile at least x

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

Better, not perfect but good enough!

Thursday 14th December 2023

I survived the day, went shopping, you need food don't ya, it's one of those things you have to have!  I did have a lazy dinner though, we had the fish cakes from the freezer (wouldn't buy them again) with packet mash and frozen peas, Aryn had fresh green beans.  I also had ham and cheese cobs for brunch as I was starving when I got home from work because I skipped breakfast, so I had one then and I had one for tea later.   I was over on the day by 75 calories, that's a lot better. 

That really was my day,work, housework, shopping, cooking, watched a bit of tele and did a bit of my jigsaw and that was my lot. Normal daily life, no drama, no stress, love it!

I bought a noodle meal deal because I wanted the stir fry veggies and for another quid you got the noodles and the sauce.  We'll be having that today I think with chicken or I could do the chicken with pasta and defrost some beef to do with noodles tomorrow, decisions, decisions!

At least I'm thinking about meals again, that's progress!

I'm gonna have to go, I need to get ready for work, I've been chatting on phone for ages with himself this morning so I have to go but I ain't got much to say anyway :) that's not like me is it ;)

Mwah, luv u

Love me

Nutracheck app re-opened!

Wednesday 13th December 2023

Good morning, how's your world?  Mine was a little crazy yesterday rushing round getting stuff done but it's done now so I can breathe!

I need to pull my neck in and get back to tracking from today, I gained 1.5lb yesterday so I want to take back control or I'm gonna regret it come January, if I can have a week at least being mindful, that will help a little.  

Having said that, we had this for lunch yesterday, it was delicious thought, 337 calories per 100g, it's a 350g bag, I reckon if we made our own pitta versions with the salad, it would easily make 3 and it tasted as good as the chippy version.  £4 a packet or part of the 3 for £10 offer in Iceland, now don't get me wrong, you shouldn't be eating this stuff every day but as a treat, definitely cheaper than chip shop!

 

This was the salad we had with it, £1.15 from Tesco (£1.25 from the Tesco garage) but there was plenty for the two of us.  It was ideal as we're not eating much salad so there was no waste, having said that it reminded me I actually like salad and it's not too cold to eat it!

This was our treat dinner, I'd already took it out the freezer before getting weighed!  It was an M&S meal for two which was reduced last week and I'd frozen. 

  

If you have half of the entire box, it's 1092 calories, I didn't have the naan bread or onion bhaji's, I'm not a fan and Aryn destroyed those so mine came to 811 calories, again a damn sight cheaper to buy and lower in calories than a takeaway, took 25 minutes in the oven but can be microwaved.

I found 3 Celebrations in the cupboard which cost 129 calories, it's these little bits that add up without you realising over the next few weeks, thankfully they're gone now and I won't be buying any more!  

Let's just say at 2734 calories, I completely blew my budget yesterday so there's definitely room for improvement!  Tracking will help me realise what I'm doing, rather than my 'ignorance is bliss' attitude that's made me gain weight 2 weeks on the trot now!  It needs to stop!

Oh but one thing that hasn't been helping - but I'm not using it as an excuse - is my kitchen scales, turns out they've been weighing stuff wrong!  I weighed the naan bread last night because I thought they were good for 75g, when I put them on my scales they came up as 36g & 42g, which confused me.  I got a bag of sugar out of the cupboard to check that, what should have been 1kg showed as 756g, they're not weighing correctly!  If you have electric scales, check them regularly with something you know the weight of because mine are obviously broken! 

What to eat today?  The fridge is quite sparse, the freezers not much healthier to be honest, I know there's a chicken gyros thing we could have.  I have bread rolls left 146 calories each, I could have fish finger cobs with them for lunch, I've just checked the freezer, it really is empty on healthy food, there's 2 frozen fish cakes we could have with packet mash, I haven't even got frozen beans for Aryn, I need to go shopping!  I found two chicken breasts, I could defrost them and do something with pasta tomorrow with them - yeah I'll do that, that's one meal.  Gonna nip to Lidl's after huddle for a bit of fresh and to check out what they've got, give me some idea of what we can get over Christmas as Lidl's is the local shop in Ireland. 

Then when I get home, I'm gonna get the iron out and iron stuff and get my bag packed, stuff I won't need this week, cos we've got the painters in Friday/Saturday so I won't be able to be up and down the stairs!

Yeah let's get lots done today!  Hope you're day is good too. 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

Going to work for a rest!

Tuesday 12th December 2023

A busy day rushing round yesterday getting stuff sorted!  My phone is driving me mad, I'm not sure if it's the phone that's dkd or the networks that are crap, trying to talk to him on the phone is getting harder and harder, I can hear him and he can't hear me and we thought it was because of him working in middle of nowhere but now he's in a city so it should be okay and it isn't!  I have an iphone that's about 4 years old and I really don't want to spend a grand on a phone again but when I look at alternatives well....  I have almost 10,000 photos and 100's of videos on my phone going back to 2015, it'd using 152gb of 256gb and I don't know what to do.  Transferring those photos onto a memory stick is an option I guess and using my iphone on just wifi then buying a cheap phone just for calls if it is the phone causing the signal issues. DEEP SIGH!

Anyway on a positive, I've sorted carpet for Ireland, a couple of bedrooms sorted anyway, again I recommend SK Carpets Facebook local lad too, always good to support local, small businesses. 

83 Woodend Rd, Wednesfield WV11 1NW

01902 238058

Next I treated myself to my nails at Glamazon, again supporting local business and they're lovely ladies there Facebook

 

I'm really pleased with my sparkly Christmas nails, I even had them cut down, I can't handle long nails, I'm too heavy handed and clumsy!

Food took a back seat if I'm honest with all my 'doing' stuff, I started my day with bacon and mushroom rolls and ended it with burgers and onions to use more of the rolls up, I'd bought loads on Friday for pork rolls which we didn't have as he went to Ireland!

Oh those burgers were so good, he'd put them in freezer when he bought motorhome back, they were just Co-ops frozen and they were delicious! I could eat them again for sure but I can't find them online, they were in a red box anyway!

We're having the hall, stairs and landing painted at the weekend, nothing like having it all done at once is there! I'm trying to arrive getting double glazing made at the same time, my house loks like a storage unit and that's only going to get worse before Friday. On a positive, my shed is tidy now because I've sorted it and got rid of plenty and I have a bit to go to H2HU in the new year when they're taking donations of other things other than food. Please continue to donate food throughout December, they're getting short of stuff because so many are in need.

We've got Indian for dinner today, I remembered to take it out of the freezer yesterday, it's one of those box meals for 2 that I had from M&S reduced last week and froze - look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves they say don't they! It's true though, being careful has meant I have the cash to pay for the painting and my sister had hers done last week and it was a bargain I couldn't refuse!

Let's get this day started, bread rolls for breakfast :) I'm thinking with scrambled eggs and spinach, a little bit healthier.

Yeah that sounds delicious, so I'm off.

Mwah, luv ya

Love me x

Hang on in there, we can make it through the week

Monday 11th December 2023

A quiet weekend for me, after the huddle Saturday morning, I went carpet shopping, going back today to put the order in now himself has approved the sample I bought home Facebook highly recommend, lovely bloke and very helpful.  

Made a pork dinner yesterday, wasn't struck by the slow cooker pork joint this time, it didn't shred like before, hence it ended up on a dinner, I'd had crumpets for breakfast which I haven't had for ages and I cooked them in the air fryer so I didn't have to stand watching the grill, I don't have a toaster, haven't had one for years.

My tv viewing included 'dashing through the snow' loved it, I watched the first series of Last Tango in Halifax, I know it's an old series and I'm late to the party, but I'm loving it.

I also did 2x500 piece jigsaws, that kinda gives you an idea of how little I got done this weekend doesn't it.  A real lazy weekend on my own, thankfully because I've been up since 3.45am as he's gone to work, poor bloke didn't get back till gone 9 after what's a 9 hour journey house to house including the ferry.  Add to that Storm Fergus making the boat trip proper choppy!

I've got a task this morning, go to get quotes for double glazed windows that we will take back to Ireland and he'll fit himself over time, that'll save some money hopefully!  

Treating myself today, having my nails done at Facebook, I can't believe I'm actually typing this but I'm going to have them cut shorter!  Yeah they've got too long for me, I'll be doing DIY over Christmas and I can't handle these.  I'm thinking silver and glitter, get my festive on ;)

I need to get some stuff done today, we go away in just over a week and I need to sort what we're taking with us, so I'll go.

Oh I've just watched the last I'm a Celeb and I loved it, I have enjoyed every minute of it, first time I've really watched an entire serious but I was completely hooked.

Mwah, luv ya

Love me xx