Lovely positives from everyone – like everybody else, I love reading this thread.

Allie, I was sorry to hear about your beloved cats though – no matter how long we have our pets, it’s never long enough, and it’s always difficult to say goodbye. Six months now since we lost our boy, and I still frequently get tearful. I miss him dreadfully every second of every day, and he is never far from my thoughts.

Anyway, some really nice positives for me today.

1. Finally finished the giant photo collage for my elder granddaughter’s 18th birthday celebrations tomorrow, and it looks fantastic. I whittled down over 3,000 photographs to a meagre 180 (10 from every year of her life to date), starting with the day she was born, right up to the present day. I hope she is pleased with it – it will look wonderful at the party tomorrow, and hopefully be a bit of a talking point, plus something for her to keep afterwards.

2. Have come up country for the celebrations, so have the chance this weekend to catch up with lots of family and friends, but most especially my 3 children (plus partners) all gathered in one place, staying under one roof (fortunately daughter has large house!!)

3. This evening my lovely daughter and my younger granddaughter surprised me with tickets to take me to see a Birmingham Royal Ballet performance of La Fille Mal Gardee. It’s one of my granddaughter’s favourite ballets, so light-hearted and so much fun. She is a dancer herself (she trains with The Royal Ballet School) so going to the ballet with her is always an education as well as a treat.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Only just got home, so now time for a cuppa and bed methinks. Big day tomorrow!

1. I have two pens of very lucky chickens. – Mr Fox decided to pay a visit Thursday night. – One pen was surrounded by feathers yesterday morning, but no one missing. – The other pen one was missing then I spotted a beak under the back edge of the pen. – Somehow it had got itself under the night coop and got stuck. Luckily for her I had watched a friend use long planks as levers to walk a wooden shed into position a few weeks ago and used the same technique to lift the coop up to get her out.
2. The installation of the fibre broadband will be delayed because they need to replace one of the poles which is leaning badly. – Its good news because I felt free to spend the last few days of wonderful weather pottering outside rather than doing housework. – The room in my house where the engineer will need to do the installation of the network has been the dumping room while the renovations are going on, and will need a deep clean before I will not be embarrassed at asking anyone to work in it. If they had been turning up to do the connection next week I would have been working indoors taking sad looks at the sunshine outside.
3. I have a streaming cold at present, one good thing is living alone when you feel like that, you have much more options on doing what it takes to feel comfortable in your own space. – I still haven’t worked out how spending time in a hot bath gives you a break from a runny nose.
4. One article I saw last Sunday on the latest fashion has kept me amused all week. – Apparently the in look is to wear a plastic unit which makes it look as if you have 3 breasts with a tank top over it. – I can’t help thinking what peoples reactions would be where ever I go if I was dressed like that. 🙂

Theodore your photo collage sounds lovely. I’m sure it will be much appreciated.
JGwen I love fashion magazines – to laugh not to covet! Sounds like that outfit was taken from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy which mentions the triple-breasted whore of Eroticon 6. Sorry to hear you are sick, it seems to be going around the forums at the moment. Maybe a computer virus?
1. That reminded me of the magic/dreaded pregnancy chair at my old workplace. Three employees in a row who were assigned to it quickly got pregnant. I was young and single and never dared sit in it.
2. I did a couple of hours hard work in the garden today and I now have an aching back and blister on my thumb. Badges of honour!
3. My husband who has a cold was less sniffly last night so I got a much better sleep.

It sounds as if this going to be beautiful weekend, both sides of the pond. Theo, enjoy every moment
with your children, and other multi generational family members and friends. It is the life blood of
our existence 🙂
I’m glad that the marauding fox didn’t have his way with your chickens, JGwen. That would have
been soo depressing. Once again, your training as an engineer surfaced to rescue the poor creature
trapped under the coop. Would a life size scarecrow do any good to protect them?
Natalie, I can’t begin to imagine what the Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy might be, or the triple breasted
whore of Emoticon 6, either, but it sounds like a splendid Halloween costume 🙂
I’ve been feeling more than a little dishevelled after returning from the beach, so my positives for
today consist of a day of pampering…conditioning and treating my “age inappropriate” shoulder
length hair with conditioner and “bluing” shampoo, and giving myself a manicure with Autumn
colored nail varnish! I feel more civilized now, and ready for our excursion to the Russian Icon
Museum tomorrow. Meeting up with my beloved cousin and his wife, and then sharing a meal
together before we head back to Connecticut and they travel home to Rhode Island. Beautiful
seasonal temperatures have finally arrived, and Indian summer days…I feel very frisky!!! Enjoy
your Sunday, everyone! Cold winds will be blowing soon enough 🙂

Alliecat, ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ is a British sci-fi comedy book series (and radio show, TV series, and movie) where Arthur Dent escapes Earth just before it is demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, discovers the Universe is bigger and even more confusing than he thought, and later finds out the Earth was actually a huge organic computer with a 10 million year program designed to find the answer to life, the universe, and everything, destroyed just minutes before the program finishes running. (Spoiler, the answer is 42.)
1. My daughter had her first Acrogymnastics competition today in level 2, after doing very well last year in level 1. First in Balance routine, second in Dynamic routine, first overall! Yay Jasmine!
2. When we got there all the seats were already taken and we had to sit on the floor at the side, but moments later some people left (no idea why) leaving seats in the front row! We nabbed them instantly. So much more comfortable for more than three hours of watching.
3. A little nap when we got home.

Ha ha Allie — I love your “age inappropriate” shoulder length hair! A few years ago I decided that i wanted to enjoy my hair until I was old and I lost it all so I grew it out from a “proper” short bob to well below my shoulders. I’m careful to keep it trimmed, layered and colored (to avoid the old lady witch effect) and I really love it!
The amazing thing is that over two years on BSD and low carb my hair is stronger and thicker and super shiny —even my hairdresser comments on the changes!
Another NSV for the BSD!
Natalie, congratulations to your daughter on her sport event win! That is wonderful!
JGwen, the poor chickens! We have had chickens for years and we lose some every year to foxes and bobcats. So glad your BSD-strong arms got the trapped one out safely!
Theodora, so good to see you back posting again and happy 18th birthday to your granddaughter — I’m sure she loved her photo collage!

Well I just had to post…… not sure where, but thought this was maybe the best place. Please forgive me for not acknowledging all your posts, I have read them and they all have such great positives. BUT, I have just had a conversation with someone who I’ve not seen for 8 or 9 months and he is a ‘secret low carber’! Since I last saw him he has been diagnosed with T2, went to see a dietitian who put him on, to all intents and purposes, a low carb diet which he is very quite about. Maybe he thinks it’s a bit out of sink with the usual low fat stuff so the three of us spoke as though we all belong to a secret society! ! He’s lost four stone, is in remission and looks wonderful and also, he says, feels better than he has done in years. So yet another great result for BSD and in a bizarre sort of way he has given me a great boost to get back on track. So I think that’s 3 positives all rolled into one!

Oh Allie, I’ve absolutely refused to cut my hair into an ‘age appropriate’ style, completely rejecting the idea of a forties plus bob! At 62 I occasionally think I should conform, but then I have a really good hair day and think, ‘what the hell it looks great as it is’, so it remains what I call ‘bra strap length’, although in the warmer weather I wear it up anyway. Have found good hairdressers here in the UK and in Turkey, both of whom know what to do with long(er) hair, so am able to keep it layered and in good condition and OH does my colouring for me.

Hope you had a wonderful time visiting the museum and spending time with your cousin, Allie. Lovely news about your daughter, Natalie, you must be really proud. I was a big Hitchhikers Guide fan! Definitely appealed to my off-wall sense of humour.

Positives for today ….
1) Bags are out and packing has commenced – yippee!
2) Looking forward to lunch with daughter and friends tomorrow.
3) Roast pork in the oven for tonight’s dinner – yum!

Had a very good weekend

1. Court up with some old friend this weekend, whom we have not seen for about 9 years, they live in Canada. My OH nailed it when she said you can tell friends, that when you sit down to talk, you feel like you have never been apart.
2. To show friends are important my OH with slave labour from myself, organised an English afternoon tea garden party, as this is the West Country, cream tea was included, not very BSD friendly but yummy all the same, once a decade won’t arm?
3. Been doing the biggest house de-clutter in years, so much more visible space, so much to the tip and charity shops.
4. End of the sunny season but still using our newly laid patio in this glorious extended summer we are having.

Good morning, all! There are many threads where we discuss all aspects of the BSD, and I’m happy to
do so,, any time…anywhere…any place, but my heart is HERE, where we share our lives. I need to make
it the first stop of the day, rather than read recent posts in the order in which they come in!

Natalie, thanks for the explanation! I don’t know much about Sci-Fi…. I know that Kazz is a big fan
though 🙂

Sumo, good to hear from you! I spent yesterday with very close friends too, and there is NOTHING
that means quite so much. I’m glad that you had a beautiful indian summer day for your tea. I’ve
always had a secret yearning to attend a true English garden tea party. I wonder what is typically
served? I’m most curious about the savory offerings 🙂

V., we are a secret society!!! Perhaps we need a secret handshake?

Sunny and Julia, you both know that I took a special delight in reading that you have both chosen to
defy convention and refuse to accept age appropriate norms, either 🙂 🙂 🙂 That more or less spills
over to every aspect of my life though, and you can include “political correctness” at the top of
that list! I remember that in the past I’d see old ladies with blue hair, tightly “permed”, at the market
or elsewhere, and it was a badge of honor, of sorts. I was wondering what my cousin’s wife would
think seeing me with below shoulder length hair, 2-3 x as thick as any other earthly creature, and
just gathered up with a hairclip. (It’s not actually blue, by the way 🙂 ) First thing she said was, Allie
your hair is absolutely beautiful! That’s what dear friends do for us!

Yesterday was one big ongoing positive for me. We traveled north to a typical New England village,
complete with a town green, at least 4 churches located at all 4 corners of the town square. Brilliant
sunshine and cool temperatures. The icon museum was very well done, and instead of the ubiquitous
white walls, they were all painted terra cotta or charcoal gray, with special orange lighting, to
represent the interior of churches where the icons typically could be found. Very effective!
Following our tour, we walked down the hill to a lovely restaurant with outside tables, and commenced
to enjoy a 3 hr leisurely lunch. Both myself and my cousin celebrate birthdays in Oct., so being
able to spend this day together was simply wonderful, and took the shock and sting out of my
becoming a septuagenarian in 18 days. The cliche “how did THIS happen?” quickly faded into
the mist! Just happy to be alive 🙂

alliecat

We had a selection of sandwiches
Salmon
Beef
Ham & cheese
Prawns
Egg
All curtesy of Marks & Spenser’s

https://www.marksandspencer.com/afternoon-tea-sandwich-fingers-20-sandwich-fingers-/p/p21104829?prevPage=plp

Small cakes and cheese cakes, with a gluten free selection. All served on 3 cake stands.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/12-mini-tart-desserts/p/p60013360?prevPage=plp

Gluten free scones, Devon Clotted Cream and Strawberry Jam
Pots of Tea, Decaffeinated Tea and coffee for the heathens, milk and lactose free milk.
The main thing is all portions are small and nibble sized as it is supposed to be a Tea in between lunch and dinner
If you google M&S Afternoon tea you can see the typical fare available.

Thank you, Sumo!!! It’s going to be an adventure, following all of your links….I really appreciate it!
I recently learned what a full English breakfast was, thanks to Kazzi emailing me a photo. I’m
not sure what to make of the “blood pudding” though! Maybe it’s an acquired taste? My father
had deep English roots, and I’ll never forget the smell of waking up to lamb kidneys cooking on the
stove for breakfast, when Mother would occasionally humor him with this request. My grandmother
always did roasted beef with yorkshire pudding for Christmas, and a flaming plum pudding (?)
with mincemeat tarts for dessert. So I’m not a complete neophyte ! I no longer have a proper
garden, but it might be fun to create an afternoon tea for friends, nonetheless. No Marks & Spencer
here, so I’d have to create it all “from scratch” 🙂

Allie

Hi all. Sorry for radio silence – has been very busy. Glad to see so many positives despite the dreaded lurgy sneaking through our community!
1) Packing complete for departure to Greece tomorrow. Phew. I am like a bear with a sore head the day before a holiday – lot of stress and worry about journey/house while we are away/ etc etc. So good to have the packing sorted!
2) Despite the medicane (never heard the word till last week – a Mediterranean hurricane) – our plans seem still to be on track. State of emergency in some localised areas, but nowhere near our planned hotels. Rotten for those affected of course. And even worse elsewhere in the world …. we see a lot about the tragedy in Indonesia here given Dutch colonial links.
3) We had a full house and lots of positive comments about our Chamber Choir performance yesterday. It was a joy to do.
I shall try to join in now and again when we have wifi, but in the meantime, happy hols in Turkey SunnyB, and best wishes to all until mid-October.

Have wonderful trips to Turkey and Greece, SunnyB and Caronl! Happy 70th birthday Allie!!
Sumo, your garden tea sounded wonderful — I have some new neighbors on my street and that might be the perfect way to say a proper hello and introduce them around.
My positives are first, we have a move-in date for our new house at Tahoe — well, not new “new” but remodeled and up on the mountain where it is absolutely silent and wild — I’m so excited to leave our current location due to the endless weekend “festivals” held nearby which are fun but too many people and cars. The only problem with all this is the old house is for sale, has been for sale, and no offers yet. Bit of a conundrum — we’ve tried dropping the price, may have to drop further.
It is beautiful fall here! Everything dry and rustling, trees golden and red, acorns dropping from the oaks and squirrels burying acorns in all the garden pots.
I have finally finished my (only) daughter’s wedding planning (Nov) — now I only have to do place cards and enjoy the party! Wow, that is a LOT of organizing!!! Who knew?!!

Have a great time in Greece, caronl, please to hear your destinations haven’t been adversely affected by the Medicane. Hope your stress levels will drop back quickly once you trip is underway. Glad your new property is ready for you, Californiagirl, but seems you have a bit of a quandary as to how to progress with your old home. With luck it will all suddenly fall into place.

I’m thinking it should be possible to produce a passable English High Tea / Cream Tea / English Tea, using some low carb baking, so that the only high carb elements would be preserves. Having said that, I think the one thing that really temps me to eat high carb is an English Tea!

Really happy that your day with your cousin was such a wonderful success, Allie. And may I add my congrats and warmest wishes for your upcoming milestone birthday. Glad there is a little band of us flouting accepted convention for ‘age appropriate’ hair and revelling in our long tresses and colour. Now we have the bods, we definitely need the hair too!!

So positives for today ….
1) Lovely lunch with daughter and two of her friends.
2) Lots of cuddles with daughter’s friend’s seven week old baby – oh bliss!
3) Was dry and sunny, so I was able to walk to meet them for lunch and walk home again.
Has been a good day … hope everyone else is having a positive day too.

Just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY Allie. A great milestone and even better to reach without ‘age appropriate hair ‘. I’m a mere fraction older than you and doubtb if I will ever have that permed hair with a blue rinse!!!! Not sure of your exact birthday Allie but enjoy!

My cold is clearing up. – Still have a sore throat and occasional cough, but I don’t have to do everything single handed any more cos I no longer have to hold a tissue to my nose at all times.

I have treated myself to enrolling on the first stage of a course on equestrian facilitated learning. – The first section is all the technical stuff on what all the different qualifications and terms within the industry mean, I couldn’t get to grips with it over the weekend but its online so I can start again now the cold is fading. – equine facilitated learning is all about looking how people can build self confidence and team leadership skills by being supported by a trained professional while spending time with horses. – It worries me when I watch guests staying in my holiday let, especially the families who are city based, trying to interact with any animals. With some there is such a self centred pattern, they treat animals as if they have no desires or feelings.
I came across a book on rehoming a rescue dog at the weekend on a charity stall. – It was even better than I expected, it is written by someone experienced at training border collies and covered a little on his training methods.

JGwen
Our preferred bread is Cocker Spaniels, wife has had them for over 40yrs, as she points out they came first?
Last year a family friend said they knew a family that wanted rid of the 4/5yrs old cocker dog, would we be interested. Our approach was to meet him in his own home, then over a month took him out for walks and to meet our younger cocker bitch and our family to see how he was with manic grandchildren. He turned out to be super cool and calm, our hope he would help out hyper cocker calm down? No such luck some of her nutty behaviour seems to have rubbed off on him? If a dog can have ADHD our cocker bitch would be it, but as with all animals they are not pets they are part of your family, you would never guess seeing these 2 dogs play and interact that they have only been together for 18 months, it makes me laugh to see them trying to get one up on each other.
My son-in-law when he joined the family was shocked to find out that animals all have different characters?
We also find with Autism in the family our dogs cross barriers people can never do, and bring calm to stressed out minds, even my eldest son approaching 40 says hello to the dogs before anyone else, and sometimes only the dogs.

JGwen not quite the same thing but I used to help with Riding for the Disabled back when I was considerably younger. As helpers we’d groom and saddle the horses, and lead or walk beside them to make sure the kids didn’t fall off. The kids had a variety of physical and mental challenges, but they all loved horses! So happy sitting up there and interacting with them.
Sumo I am so often shocked when a new study comes out that ‘discovers’ something amazing like dogs exhibit emotions. Have these people never met a dog before? Some wacko ‘experts’ used to say babies didn’t have individual personalities until about six months of age when they’d had time to develop them. Um, ever met more than one newborn?
Anyway,…
1. Felt awful yesterday with this cold, so much better today.
2. Dragged the kids away from technology (it’s school holidays) and into the backyard. Aiden collected some ants for his ant farm.
3. The guy came and fixed the heat pump for the swimming pool – the control panel was faulty for the second time since we got it a year ago – and we have solar power now too. All set for summer – or even warm spring days if we set the pool heater to 30C!

Characters, yes one of our previous dogs and our current nutter bitch, fancy themselves as actors, they were injured and limping, this achieve more attention, then we noticed the limp was sometimes on the left then the right, obviously there acting skills didn’t include continuity?

Crazy isn’t it, that humans are so conceited as to think we are the only creature capable of character, personality and sentience? And you’re absolutely right about babies Natalie, right from the first minute they are all different, with a hardwired personality. Glad you are beginning to feel better, sounds like you should be fit enough to enjoy your pool soon.

Love the story about your limping dog Sumo! Sounds like a toddler trying to get extra attention by faking a cough or fake crying.

Today’s positives for me are ….
1) Found a lovely lace top in a charity shop this morning. Really pretty guipure lace in a deep navy, which will look great over a pale pink cami. And it’s brand new with original labels, at the bargain price of £4.95 – very happy.
2) Final birthday present for while we’re away, posted off today – another pre holiday task ticked off the list.
3) Twenty four hours in to my planned fast today. Feeling fine and hoping to get through to eight this evening, which would make it my longest fast at 30hrs, but if I need to cave before then I’m not going to beat myself up.
4) Going to steal a fourth positive today. Meeting up with a group of friends and acquaintances this evening, for a chat and a few laughs.

Have a positive Tuesday everybody and please let us know about it.

Here I am, straggling along late in the day, as usual..This 5 hr time difference is a nuisance!
First and foremost, Caron, I want to wish you a fabulous holiday in Greece! Have the time of your
life 🙂 Break a few plates !!! And dance, dance, dance 🙂

Julia, moving up the mountain will be an adventure! I’m so impressed that you are a master gardener,
and have brought your own philosophy to how you want to interact with nature. It’s difficult to
know when to pull a property off the market for awhile, but I do think the real estate does pick up
in March. My youngest sister has 3 homes also, and is trying to decide the very same things that
you are regarding disposing of 1 of them. When my husband traveled extensively, I used to have
a fantasy of him being snowed in with me in a cabin in Colorado or Wyoming…Not feeling it so
much now that he’s underfoot every day 🙂 How lovely to have a wedding to look forward to!

Sumo, I’m charmed by your quick wit and self deprecating sense of humor. I’m very enamoured
by this word “nutter” which I think that I’ll have to appropriate…I don’t mind in the least being a
nutter, but a “nutter bitch” might be a bridge too far 🙂 I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t love animals,
either. They all have distinct personalities, don’t they?

Natalie, as the snow begins to fly this winter here in New England, I’m sure we will all be engaging
in some fantasies about your pool life down under!

Sunny, the navy lace top sounds very classy. You’ve reminded me that I should gather up some
garments that I’ve never worn and find a new home for them in a consigment shop.

As usual, I forget my positives because I’m too interested in the lives of you all….I found some
gorgeous, huge chrysanthemum plants at a garden center today, and a lovely ornamental cabbage.
They’re installed on the balcony. Tomorrow I’ll rid the scene of the petunias that are well past
their prime, also. All I need is a jaunty little pumpkin to complete the tableau! Have a wonderful
evening, everyone 🙂

Hi all. From a slightly damp Greece i shall note that
1) I avoided all filo delicacies at breakfast this morning for the joys of scrambled eggs, feta and fantastic tomato-y tomatoes.
2) so far all our travel plans have delivered..taxi at 04.00, hire car etc etc. So de-stressing rapidly!
3) Delphi Delphi Delphi!
Wishing everyone a good rest of week.

I like chrysanthemums too Allie – perversely I actually like the smell of them. Sure they will look great on your balcony when you have finished your autumn display. Is a consignment shop, like our charity shops here in the UK – run by charities using donated goods – mainly clothing – to raise funds? I love shopping in charity shops, it’s full of plus points – bargains to be had, funds raised for charity and better for the environment too, as less ends up in landfill. Like you Allie, it’s time I had another trawl through my clothes and took some to charity shops.

Looks like I’m first in with positives today, so here goes ….
1) Managed a 30hr fast yesterday and was surprised how easy I found it. Had to stop myself from absent mindedly dipping into the pot where I keep the apricot kernels, but wasn’t seriously hungry at any point. Would have liked to see a more favourable result on the scales this morning, as 0.2lb loss seemed meagre, but hey ho. Might see if I can wedge another in before we go off to Turkey.
2) Lovely evening out last night and venison for dinner – yummy! And I resisted the wine, sticking to soda with lemon.
3) Another day closer to our trip to Turkey and getting things ticked off the pre-holiday ‘To Do …’ list.

Have a day full of positives and hope to read about them later.

3)

Caron, I’m glad that you’ve had a safe trip, and all connections have gone well. Now all you need to do is
switch your brain into holiday mode. It generally takes me a few days to accomplish that 🙂

I like the peppery pungent smell of mums too, Sunny! Whenever I arrange cut flowers for the house, they
are the only blooms that our siamese wouldn’t touch! I’m so impressed with your 30 hr fast, and have left
a comment on the weekly thread. You are a powerful lady 🙂 I can’t function without pre-travel lists, either!
I hope the packing is going well?

I’m just enjoying a cup of black coffee out on the balcony, and I’m feeling virtuous because I had a lovely 5 mi.
brisk walk out in the sunshine this morning. Not as nice as the beach, but it will have to do! So happy that
the heat and humidity seem to be behind us. I’m very aware that the days are turning dark earlier and earlier!
Have you all noticed this too? We turn the clocks back at the end of Oct., and then the lights need to be turned
on at 4:30….Time to get in some logs for the fireplace! I come alive this time of year..Full Autumnal color
looks to be about 2 weeks out, but there are some early splashes of red and orange on selected treetops!

Have a day full of positives, my friends 🙂

Sunny, if you have time to reply before you go back to Turkey, I’d be very interested in what you’ve included
in your layered bulb pots? I convinced Kazz to try some parrot tulips for her Spring garden! I might need some
too….My Russian grandmother used to grow them, and I was in awe of them when I was a child! The black
ones were gorgeous. Maybe some violas (johnny jump-ups) as a ground cover? I’m feeling more confident
now, knowing I can bring orchids back into bloom. Nine flowers and buds on the pink one, and a beautiful,
healthy stem emerging on the white one. I thought it was just an air root to begin with, but now I’m seeing the
telltale bands forming, and a little segmented top! Small joys lead to great ones 🙂 Mother Nature is a queen!

Hi Allie – I used dwarf tulips, dwarf iris and dwarf daffodils in one pot and dwarf tulips and crocus in another. I stuck with varieties with short stems, as it gets very windy where we are and normal height spring flowers like daffs and tulips would suffer badly I think. Talking of the garden, I really need to get out and water my pots this evening, as we haven’t had proper rain in a few days now, so I’m sure they could do with it. My very favourite spring flowers are daffodils – always think they look so hopeful and cheery and the dwarf ones are so cute and dinky!

This display sounds lovely, Sunny! I hadn’t even thought of miniatures, but I know of a wonderful place called
The White Flower Farm” that would be a nice day trip. Once upon a time I used to order from them regularly. I’m going
have a look at their website! It’s so very odd to have O/H around every day! I suppose that eventually I’ll get used
to it 🙂 Yes, DAFFODILS! So elegant!!! I used to do large plantings of white ones and others with peachy pink
bowls, and they were interspersed with daylilies, that covered up the daffodil leaves when they were curing.
Always enough to cut some for the house, as well! Sorting this will be my next project 🙂 🙂 🙂

Allie – Let me know what bulbs you get from White Flower Farm and if you get any miniatures. Would love to hear about your next project. I’m very fond of miniature flowers – tiny cyclamen, dwarf daffs, miniature dianthus, all lovely – so dainty. One of my miniature cyclamen is throwing out an unbelievable number of blooms in such a pretty soft pink.

Has your OH decided on retirement now? If so, I completely understand your need to adjust to having him around every day, as it’s something I had to do myself – but guess it’s just as strange for them too! My OH does some work again now, so it’s not everyday he’s around, by of course when we are in Turkey, we’re together pretty much 24/7 – lucky we get on so well!!!

How inspiring, all this talk of spring bulbs. What a lovely show you will all have next year.

Fortunately, I have never had to get used to “having o/h around” as, although he is now retired from gainful employment (he still does a lot of “pro bono” work – to keep his hand in, and his mind active) we worked together running our company for 35 years before retirement, so we are well used to spending most of our time together. Otherwise, I think he may well have driven me mad in retirement! Bless him.

I love Autumn too, but I am going to miss all the wonderful colours this year, as we will be heading down under and hitting their Spring! But one can’t have everything.

I’ve had a really stressful day today – if it could go wrong, it did go wrong. But hey, I’ve dealt with all the mishaps, persevered and sorted everything out, finally, and there are always positives to be had, today mine are all “trip” related…..

1. As you know, we are about to leave on an extended trip to Oz and NZ (10 weeks), but our annual travel insurance comes up for renewal whilst we are away – it renews automatically, and I had received the renewal notice, but the premium had been hyped by a whopping 20%, for no apparent reason other than we are a year older than last year. So I rang to see if they could reduce it Thank goodness I did! The lovely lady I dealt with managed to reduce the premium to just 10% increase but she had to run through all the Ts&Cs with me, and it would appear, because o/h is over 70, he is only covered for trips abroad of 35 days or less duration!!!! Never been a problem as normally our trips are less than a month, and if I had not rung to renew early, he would have gone away uninsured, without us even being aware (ok – I KNOW we should always read the small print)!! So big positive that I rang and have been able to sort that out – albeit by having to take out a single trip insurance for him (on top of renewing our joint annual) at a cost of an extra £260 – so negatives as well as positives in this one, but taking it as a positive that at least he is now covered!

2. I suddenly woke up in the night in a panic! I have been focussing on our trip being to NZ as we are only stopping off in Oz for a few days, and as I know British Citizens don’t need a visas for NZ, I had done absolutely nothing about visas. But, as I say I woke in the night with the sudden realisation that we WOULD need a visa for Oz. Anyway, I applied online at 3am (on my phone, whilst still in bed) and by the time I got up this morning, there was an email saying that electronic visas had been granted to us. Thank goodness I remembered, else we may have ended up spending our 6 days in Oz in the airport. Phew!

3. In an attempt to lose half a stone extra to give me lots of wriggle room for our trip (I was already 7lbs under my original target, but that has become my new “norm”, so wanted some extra wriggle room to play with) so I am just about to complete a 76 hour fast. I have had nothing but water, black coffee and black tea since 2pm on Monday, when I was out for lunch with a friend. I will break fast at 6pm this evening with a light meal of poached salmon, asparagus, and a salad. The scales this morning, at the 66 hour fast mark, showed a drop of 6lbs, so may be even more by tomorrow’s weigh-in, as today’s calorie count will be a meagre 378, with a carb count of 14. I’m feeling great, and not at all hungry – I think the longer the fast, the less hungry one feels, and atm, I feel I could easily extend the fast even more. But I won’t – whilst I want to have lots of wriggle room, I do still want my clothes to fit!

It is such a lovely sunny day today (extra positive) but sadly I have been too busy to be out in the fresh air to enjoy it. I do hope everyone else is having a good day. x

PS I hope you are enjoying your holiday, Caron, and that it is no longer damp.
We head off on Monday, so not sure if / when I will next get on here to post, (though if I get the chance, I will pop in occasionally), so Sunny, I hope you have a wonderful time in Turkey.

Thanks Theo, enjoy your trip too – I’m sure you will – it sounds wonderful. Well done on that amazing fast – very impressive! Makes my 30hrs look meagre by comparison and my loss in that time was certainly pretty paltry at just 0.2lb, so I’m very envious of your 6lb! You’ve definitely put in the effort though, so very much deserved.

My positives are fairly small for today ….
1) Bit more packing done and to be honest, it’s almost finished.
2) Made a batch of very tasty almond crackers.
3) Looks like the road works outside our house is almost finished, which will mean we won’t have to get them to move vehicles etc. to get on and off our drive. Yiippee!

Hope you’re all having a really positive day.

Oh Theo and Sunny, we are going to be losing you both at about the same time!! I will have to make some mental
adjustments! Certainly I’ll be keeping this lovely thread alive though, until you return 🙂 I find it fascinating, Theo, that
you managed a business together with your husband for 35 years! I’m so happy that you find yourself in a place today
where you can close the mansion, and travel around the world for 10 weeks at a time. Have a wonderful trip down
under! I’m glad that final arrangements have fallen in to place, and you have no worries about travel insurance!
A 70 hr + fast puts you into the stratisphere! Bon voyage, my friend 🙂 🙂 🙂

Oh Sunny, you put me into a delightful place yesterday, thinking about Spring bulbs! The White Flower Farm has a
Live chat feature, so I was able to get some advice in real time from a resident horticulturist. It seems that while
bulbs can be planted in pots in my severe climate, there is a lot of folderall with insulating the pots with leaves
and/or shredded bark, and the recommendation is to refrigerate the bulbs in an extra refrigerator for the appropriate
period of time. I’m disappointed that I don’t have your more temperate climate. Or an extra refrigerator! I think I’ll
have to wait until potted daffs and muscari are available in the spring, then tuck them into outdoor pots with a mulch
cover. I can always pot up some ammarylis bulbs and paperwhites for Christmas, and some dancing cyclamen in
jan., as a houseplant. I would so like to see your orchid display on your window sill 🙂 O/H really isn’t interested
in retirement, so he’s expanding his job search to include Cape Cod. If this comes to pass, all of this adjustment
will be well worth it. I can’t imagine how great it would be to walk the beaches each day, while he toils away in
lecture rooms. It could be heaven!

Bit disappointing about the bulbs, Allie, but sounds like you have a work-around to bring spring cheer to your balcony. The possibility of Cape Cod as a base sounds blissful. Is the climate there much different to your current location? Just thinking it could perhaps mean spring bulbs as well?! Only have seven orchids in bloom at the moment, as several have now gone over and although there are a couple with developing shoots, they’ll be awhile before they produce flowers. Though next time I have a good display, I’ll perhaps take a photo and post a link.

Yes Sunny, I would love to see that! Upon your return, I will repost my email address, and you might be able to include
an attachment. I’m hoping to have skype in our future anyway.. so will be awaiting your return. Are you off next
monday for your little slice of heaven, in Turkey? Having such a getaway must be something to always look forward
to. I wish I knew more about it! Google is but a moment away, however 🙂 I always enjoy the properties that are a
part of the National Trust, that Krysia posts for us. I do imagine myself walking there. Have a great evening xx

School holidays, pouring rain, and we’ve all been more or less sick all week (the kids too) but…
1. We all seem much better.
2. We have 60+ board games and we’ve been going through them and playing the ones we don’t remember.
3. Tim didn’t cough all night – I got some sleep in my own bed!
I hope you all have a lovely time on your holidays!

Oh Natalie, shame about the weather, but sounds like you’re managing to fill the time and have some fun. Glad you are all feeling better and that you have managed to get some proper sleep – makes such a difference.

Allie – would be lovely to be in touch via skype etc. looking forward to it.

Positives for today … little ones again …
1) Had to go to bed early last night, as I had a headache I couldn’t shake off – woke up with a clear head and feeling fine.
2) OH has coloured my hair for me today. Next week I might wind up the courage to put a few little touches of purple in it too.
3) Looking forward to a romantic wedding anniv meal out this evening.

Have a weekend packed with positives one and all.

I’m happy that you’re coming out of the fog, Natalie! I’ve read that a single lost night of sleep can
affect one’s cognitive abilities, and takes an entire week to reverse. What ages are your children?
Mums can never take a day off, and just have to keep going.!!! Feel better soon 🙂

Good afternoon! Just want to wish Sunny and Theo safe journeys, great trips and happy holidays. Also anybody on a trip who I’Ve missed out hope you are having a great time too.
I am toddling quietly along at the moment so all is good. Have a great weekend. Will be back soon.

Thanks, Verano.

That’s good news, Natalie. It’s so miserable when the whole family is ill, particularly for mum, who has to keep going regardless! So really pleased you are all on the mend. Take care.

Hey, Sunny, may I wish you a very happy wedding anniversary? Am I allowed to ask how many years? I’m guessing you are way behind Allie and myself? Enjoy your celebration dinner. (We shall be in NZ for both o/h’s birthday and our wedding anniversary). And go for the purple – what fun that would be! (Although, thinking about it, if I were to go purple, my kids would say that was a sure sign of old age due to Jenny Joseph’s famous (and funny) poem “Warning” (more commonly known as When I am old, I shall wear purple”) 😆🤷👍)

1. I’d really like to go on our big trip with hand luggage only – don’t you always find that you take mountains of clothes on holiday, but end up wearing the same things over and over again, so most things just don’t get worn, but need ironing when you come home? Plus, it’s not as if we can possibly go on holiday for 10 whole weeks and not do laundry so, in reality, I don’t think I would need any more clothes for 10 weeks than I would for 2 weeks. And we managed to go to South Africa for 3 weeks in June with only hand luggage. Anyway, today he’s shown the very first signs of caving in!! Yeh!

2. Have just finalised another trip to South Africa for next March.

3. Just given the lawn it’s final cut of the year (unless a kind “lawn fairy” flies by to mow it whilst we’re away😆😀

Hi all. A quick visit.
1) have loved catching up on all your news. And welcome back MaggieBath – lovely to see you posting again.
2) we are enjoying glorious sunshine and 28 degrees here in Greece. Fabulous. Best wishes to Theo and Sunny as you head on your travels.
3) We are self-catering for the next few days. Good to feel more in control of what we eat.
Have a lovely weekend.

HAPPY, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, Sunny! Each one is extra special these days 🙂 The “golden” one is on the
horizon for many of us, and extra preparations will need to be made! An October wedding must have been
beautiful….Make the absolute best of your romantic evening! Be sure to let us know your departure date, as
I know that it’s coming up FAST. I will content myself with anticipation of a future skype date…I’m putting
it forward as my “positive” for today 🙂
#2 MaggieBath has returned to the forums.!
#3 Today has been beautiful and cool, so I’ve hoofed it around the neighborhood again, today, keeping my
eyes out for leaves beginning to change, and flocks of birds traveling south in formation. Loads of honking
geese on the road today!

Wishing everyone a fine Fall weekend 🙂 And lots of industrious bulb planting 🙂

Alliecat my daughter is 14 and practically an adult (but still needs her mum sometimes, actually we are closer now than we have ever been as she used to be daddy’s little girl) and my son nearly 12 but still my baby – definitely still needs his mummy! I can’t believe he will be in High School in February (year 7-12 here), we are a short family and he hasn’t hit his growth spurt yet so he still wears size 8 (ie for an 8 year old) and looks about that age. He’s academically ready for High School but I’m not sure about his organisational skills…

Two of you have mentioned MaggieBath, who I don’t think I know, and I can’t see her name here? Hello anyway!

As it’s spring here all our bulbs are already up, many already faded. Some lovely white tulips still going strong down the side of the house. But my favourites are the humble little freesias, presumably planted by the previous owners they have spread all over the garden and come up in every nook and cranny; lovely sunny yellow and white and purple.

1. I was having a lazy weekend breakfast when my husband asked if it was almost-niece’s (cousin’s daughter) birthday party today, and what time it started. I checked my diary. It started in half an hour! Arg! The four of us got dressed, rushed to the shops and chose books suitable for a 2-year-old, then got to the party only ten minutes late. Impressive speed.
2. There was a table laden with party food. I decided I would have a small slice of home-made chocolate birthday cake at the end, and nothing else. I stood with my cup of tea and chatted and didn’t have any junk, or even any not-junk, until a little piece of cake which I didn’t finish.
3. My sewing skills are almost zero and it’s taken me a long time to hem up a floor-length full-skirt dress that I had to cut about a foot of length from (because I am 5 ft 1/2 inch tall). But I finished it tonight! It’s a costume dress I bought the same time as my medieval dress, ‘vampire countess’. We don’t really do Halloween in Australia (although the shops would like us to) so it’s not for that, I just liked it!

Freesias are delicate and beautiful, Nat.! It will be inspiring to hear what’s happening in your summer
climate when the snow is swirling around my head in a few months. 🙂 tell us more about the
vampire countess! Maybe your teenagers would enjoy a Halloween dress up party for their friends,
even if it’s not a custom in your part of the world?! I’ve just rediscovered a site that has, among other
offerings, legging with skulls on them, and one printed with large spider webs. I’m going to choose
one of the two, and dance around in them, regardless of the season, just for fun! Being age inappropriate
could be a new mission in life 🙂 I know that I’ll have lots of company here!!

First positive of the day…Skyping with Kazzi in 2 hours 🙂 🙂 🙂

Allie & Theo – thank you both so much for the warm wishes for our 21st wedding anniv yesterday. We have both been married before – me twice, OH once. This time round, we’ve both broken previous marriage durations now. Our October wedding was blessed with warm sunny weather, late flowers and leaves beginning to turn and actually the weather was very similar here yesterday. By contrast today is rainy and cold. OH installed a burglar alarm on our house today and needed me to foot the ladder for him and although I was only outside for a few minutes, the tops of my ears got very cold! Supposedly it’s meant to be warmer again from tomorrow, but we’ll see. We’re usually out of the country for our wedding anniv, so it was strange to be at home this time.

Love freesias Natalie, beautiful perfume and as Allie says, such delicate flowers too. Well done on managing to get to the birthday party so quickly and for resisting temptation whilst there. I’m guessing it helped you had only recently had breakfast, but even so, it not always easy to ignore a table full of party delicacies.

Thanks for the holiday wishes, V. Getting excited about the off on Wednesday next week. Still have visas to sort out, but going to get that done today. I can’t imagine 10 wks with just hand luggage Theo – and I’d want to bring back trinkets and souvenirs too. We have had our apartment in Turkey for 15yrs and we have still never travelled out there with just hand luggage! OH is very keen to be able to do that, so we’re planning to leave extra clothes out there this time, so we can travel out next spring without hold luggage.

Positives for today are …
1) Had a lovely meal last night with OH. Love having time to just sit and chat with him, without any pressures or anything demanding attention.
2) Finally got around to sorting out my spice draw. Threw out a whole load of old stuff, cleaned the draw and the jars going back in, rearranged the draw so spices are on one side and herbs on the other. Looks great and means I now know what I’m short of and what to bring back with me from Turkey.
3) OH had to take all the coats and shoes out of the storage corner in the kitchen, whilst installing the alarm, which has resulted in a major turf out of old shoes, boots and coats. A bit late for spring cleaning – or is it early? Either way, it’s good to have it tidy for once!

Have a wonderfully positive weekend one and all.

By contrast to yesterday’s high winds, rain and cold, today has been mild, sunny and quite pleasant. The sunshine was useful, as it meant I could do some laundry using our solar generated electric for the washer and dryer.

Positives for today are …
1) Unexpected visit from eldest grandson last night. He’d been out with friends in our local town and missed the last bus home, so walked to our house and slept over. Made him pancakes this morning, before driving him home.
2) Good number of household chores ticked off this morning, in prep for our upcoming trip.
3) Only four sleeps to flying back to our ‘home’ in Turkey.

Hope you have all been having a positive weekend.

Haaahaa, what a welcome surprise to find your grandson on your doorstep, Sunny! Boys will be
boys, and I’ sure that you made the most of it 🙂 I imagine that those pancakes were probably the
best he ever ate!

I’ve gone into rodent mode, squirrel or chipmunk, and have felt the urge to store nuts for the
winter, too. I had a very productive day preparing a BSD friendly version of chicken cacciatore,
portioned for 2, as well as processing an enormous cauliflower for cauli rice, also placed in
heavy duty plastic bags…all of it now in the freezer, along with 3 qts of ratatouille! Still room for
multiple bags of frozen leaf spinach, some cranberry apple chutney, and one more mystery entree,
yet to be determined 🙂 I’m feeling very efficient! Next project….Procure logs for the fireplace….!

I can now give myself permission to travel out into the world and find myself a pair of pointy
toed high heeled pumps to prance around in on the “septuagenarian” birthday 🙂 I’ll need a good
10 days to practice walking in them before venturing out into public. To the best of my recall, the
last pair was purchased 20+ years ago 🙂 Hope I don’t fall on my face in the shoe salon!

Wishing everyone a full basket of positive this week…

Theodora
I have read somewhere that 80% of the clothes taken on holiday are never worn, never a problem for me as my OH throws all most stuff out to make room for hers? Just think of all the goodies you could bring back with the luggage allowance the 80% of clothes takes up?

1. Second weekend running big clear out, last week nearly 200kg of clothes, amazingly almost all female? This weekend shoes and bedding/towel cupboard, massive bag of shoes and may be 2 handbags, female again, seems to be a theme? Ho this old thing I’ve had it ages, as the new tags are still attached?
2. Finally persuaded OH her car needs to go to the car graveyard, sat there 8 months, needed a jump start but started first time, unfortunately clutch seized so cannot drive to scrap, local scrap yard will pick up for nothing, if the car has any value they will also pay you, some deal with local council to stop fly tipping of cars.
3. OH happy nails done Friday, Hair done Saturday, for a wedding this coming Saturday, well hair almost done, needs to go back in early to have it wedding sorted? I’ll just run a combe through mine

This happened a few weeks ago but still gives me a warm glow! My neighbour’s a specialist in critical care, dealing mostly with hearts and strokes. He was telling me that the over 65’s are managed by the geriatric team, so I said “what, people like me?” His face was a picture, he just stared at me “you’re over 65, you can’t be … f***ing hell!”
This way of eating has taken years off me, and tho I’ve got good age genes, cutting out the refined carbs has made a massive difference. I’d like to think that perhaps they will have a rethink about arbitrary age limits. Meanwhile I’d better stay healthy 😉

Hope the pointy high heels will be an outrageous colour, Allie – scarlet or cerise maybe? Or turquoise or cobalt? Should definitely be something with a bit of zing!! You’re certainly in full on prep mode for winter. I’ve already prepared for a chilly weather welcome when we get home in November, plenty of logs in the grate and log burner laid ready for lighting. OH has chopped plenty of logs ready for our return from Turkey and actually, perversely I’m quite looking forward to cosying up in front of a real fire again. I know the novelty will wear off, but at the moment it has some appeal.

Yes, I certainly made the most of the unexpected visit from the grandson. He polished off six pancakes, half with salted caramel and half with Nutella choc spread. He’s not generally a big eater, so this was quite unusual for him. Won’t get to see him again before we leave, so was lovely to have him visit.

How lovely that your neighbour was surprised by your age, Maggie. People used to be surprised by my age, but I have to say that compliment doesn’t happen so much these days.

Okay, so positives for today are ….
1) Finalised all the paperwork for the village hall, ready for handing over tomorrow to a deputy.
2) Making fish pies for this evening – mine topped with cauli mash.
3) Divided up my kefir grains, so that I can leave most of them ‘sleeping’ in the fridge here and take some with me to Turkey too.

Right now, I’m going to go and review the packing now and see if I can get it finished, all but the last minute stuff. Have a great day everyone.