September Dryathalon - 6 months on

Things are good thank you Anya

I have started this month as I mean to go on - sensible eating/fewer carbs; less worrying.... exercise has started well, yesterday I walked/gently jogged for around 30 minutes (crock knee) and today half an hour with weights and floor exercises in the gym (which is actually a garage conversion) Alas my best friend - the treadmill has died on me and will soon be going to that BIG gym in the sky the scrap man
A new one will be delivered on Tuesday and then there will be no excuses for not getting into training mode for the July 10k (((very scared emoticon)))

I'm afraid I need to lose a little more than 2 kilos Anya - but it's my own fault for stuffing enjoying myself with too much good food and wine recently...

My DM has settled very well with the carers which is a big surprise relief. She seems much more content (her words) and is enjoying the additional contact with very kind people. Her relationship with the Alzheimer's support worker is so good that I think I will arrange another visit during the week. We have found a mobile hairdresser who will come as often as DM would like and they got on like a house on fire....
The search for VSH goes on - I do realise that all of this can go spectacularly wrong in moments but, for now, I am enjoying a little more peace than usual ???

Diva 1 and 2 are doing well and we have DS and Diva 1 with us this weekend - they are currently at the cinema - which is why I am sitting down doing nothing important catching up on my correspondence ?

I did think about going dry this month but then realised that I have set myself a number of challenges so that one will have to wait.....??besides I am so enjoying sipping my cold glass of Sauvignon cuppa whilst bringing you up to date ?

Ah poor murphy - when we had our springer he was often to be seen crashing around in a collar - we said goodbye to him around 18 years ago and if I just reach down to the side when I am sitting I swear I can still feel his lovely softness ❤️?Onwards and upwards brave Murph - get well soon - maggie needs you to vacate the collar so she can hide her head in shame (will there be room for me too)? ?

We always do a sherry in honour of my amazing DF - he always used to pour one just as he was mixing the yorkshire pud mix on a Sunday - no Aunt Bessie's for dad - boy I miss him?

Well, I think I am up to date - it's spag bol tonight although the bol is made with turkey mince (lower fat) and my spag will be carrot and courgetti..... and then apparently Diva 1 is set on watching The Voice or, as DH calls it, "what's that bl***y racket...?" ??

Shame on you Maggie ......not that I'm one to speak, as I've had a similar chocolate-fest experience these last few days too. Could it be increased stimulating the chocolate-craving areas of the brain perhaps? However I've decided that chocolate in The Answer to Insomnia ...as I'm sleeping like a baby these days....actually that's a really silly phrase because do babies really sleep that well? One of mine certainly did (daughter never woke up during the night from the word go) but the other was turned two before he did.

But I'm waffling I digress.

Anyway. A new month...onward and upward. My challenge is to lose 2 kg by May 1st. It's eminently doable and i vill do it [determined emoticon]

Murphy needs his collar for another 9 days but if you can hang on then you can certainly have it after that. Just PM me your addrress.

How's thing with you JG and Ana?

Well, getting a grip hasn't gone spectacularly well so far. I savagely attacked the half a box of leftover Mother's Day chocs at 8.30 this morning and scoffed the lot when we suddenly realised we hadn't had a bill from the milkwoman for 9 months and must owe her around £200. DH blames me for the oversight and I blame him, so the milkwoman got off rather lightly when I rang her. Then I went out for a calorific lunch with the girls and finished off by buying four bars of on-special-offer Thorntons chocolate-covered marzipan to fill the gap the chocs left, and now I've snarfed all of them too. I think I should just hide my head in shame. Can I borrow Murphy's big collar please?

I like the sound of the sherry and nap routine - my DGM always used to enjoy two small sweet sherries before retiring at night. She probably thought that two small sherries sounded much more refined than one large one.

I'm not going to discuss [cupcakes] or anything else that I might have over-indulged in the Easter Bunny might be responsible for ......

Murphy was very battered and bruised after his ops yesterday. I felt as if I had handed him over to be tortured and just wanted to cuddle him better. His right eye has gone and most of his teeth but he's such a little fighter that this morning he had something .(soft) to eat and a little wander in the garden. He kept blundering into things as the large collar he has to wear kept catching on doors, the pergola, the step, etc..

Maggie I can't believe it's April tomorrow either. But like you I really must get a grip on my eating habits which have gone by the wayside left lots of room for improvement

Hope the Personal Terrorist didn't overdo it JG....and you are still able to stand?
What's your DM up to now? I've just come back from walking to our local shops and I remember wheeling MiL there when she was with us. We did that walk almost every day and she used to demand enjoy a stop on the way back at a local hostelry for a large sweet sherry. Then she slept it off for a couple of hours

Oo, a cake with raspberries and chocolate eggs sounds like heaven, even to one who ate so much chocolate yesterday that I went to bed with a sick headache (well, I've post-Lent Mother's Day chocs and Easter eggs to clear, and obviously only a short time to do it in) I'm also very re the CK tickets - what a super present.

Poor old Murphy I do hope he feels better once he's recovered, Anya, and adjusts quickly.

I seem a bit disorientated this week. Only one day with DGS2, because of Easter, an extra day helping out with the other two scallywags, because of Easter, an hour's sleep gone missing somewhere, April fast approaching when it was surely only last week Feb turned into March, all the chocolate... My challenges have gone for a burton lately, but I'm determined to get a firm grip on them again. To that end, I've just downed a pint of dull and boring delicious water, and am planning an evening power walk. Oh dear.

JG you made me smile at the image of your DM festooned in all her bits and bobs love the idea of the rosary beads and holy charms perhaps it might catch on as the new fashion trend.

Just kissed Murphy goodbye as DH us taking him in to the vets to have his right eye removed today - it's for the best as it's obviously painful and he can't see out of it anymore.

GD3 (him of cabbage eating fame) wants to know if he'll have a pirate patch over it

Well I'm certainly not channelling an inner Mary Berry - I mistakenly put bicarb instead of baking powder into the g/f easter-type cake at the weekend?- it was made all the worse by the fact that my MIL witnessed the whole thing?
Still my DM loved it and once I covered it with mini eggs and raspberries and I had imbibed a couple of even I thought it looked better ...LOL

maggie DM wears her pendant around her neck - also she attaches her keys, her rosary beads and a 'holy' charm - she's barely 4'10" tall and very fragile - goodness knows how she manages to move as well....?

I hope you have managed to round up all the DGC and the doggies Anya and that you have some 'quiet time' to recover. How is Murphy....?

I had to smile about the cabbage and GS (5). Diva 2 came for lunch on Sunday and I had prepared the green beans which were sitting in a colander ready to cook - every time she passed she took a bean. I asked her if she would like some of her easter egg and she said "no thanks Grandma - but please can I have some beans" strange child....?

We had lovely G&T tonight to celebrate DH's birthday (I won't tell his age but just think clickety-click ) He is becoming quite the gin connoisseur so I found a lovely pink gin for a gift ? It was very, very nice with a fever-tree tonic! I also bought the tickets for the Carole King concert at Hyde Park in July so all in all - a lucky man - but he's well worth it ?

I think I'm off for an early night and a read of my book - it's the personal terrorist tomorrow so I need to prepare ?????? March has been a complete failure in terms of achievement - I can only hope April will be better......?

I found your post strangely reassuring Maggie and very familiar!

I'm totally whacked having has GSs (9 & 5) and their Jack Russell and dachshund puppy since yesterday morning and still have almost 24 hours to go.

So far Jack Russell has escaped through hedgehog hole into next door's garden and wouldn't come back so GS (9) had to go and ask for his dog back 'please'. Puppy has peed everywhere and howled for 30 minutes last night before eventually going to sleep. GS (5) locked himself in downstairs loo and I had to ask my neighbour to help me take door off to realise him and GS (9) was sick just as I was supposed to drive to station to collect DH who has managed to escape all this been visiting his sister up north.

Plus my old dog has been poorly and might have to lose so eye, so been dragging him plus GSs (can hardly leave them home alone) to vet daily and it's costing me a small fortune in vet bills.

In the plus side GS (5) was in ecstasy over having cabbage with his meal, scoffed the lot and wanted seconds and the Easter egg nests we made turned out very well, which is probably why GS (9) was sick. And I've made a compilation of soothing music to play to puppy tonight in the hope she'll settle better.

?

Can I come and help out with your DM please JG ?

Just popping in to say that I'm sacking the inner Mary Berry. My leek and mushroom tart has a soggy bottom and will have to be scraped in lumps out of the tin, my lemon drizzle hasn't drizzled and is just perched on top of the buns and my hard-boiled eggs haven't dyed. There are pools of coloured water on every surface and I'm having to abandon ship to go fetch the ground almonds I forgot to buy for the almond cake. I guess I can't blame Mary for all of it, but someone should pay, don't you think? DH wants to count himself lucky he's down t'allotment.

That G & T you mention sounds tempting, Anya

I just don't have an inner Mary Berry to channel everything I make baking-wise (bar scones - for some reason I can make the most wonderful scones ) is a total disaster! But I know what you mean about nature abhorring a vacuum

I wonder if we'll be the same as these older ladies. I can just picture myself half way up the stairs is a stair where I sit clutching a G & T cup of tea and a piece of toast. Sounds about right to me

Yes, hope DM is behaving herself JG

I'll sign off now as GS1 & GS3 and their Jack Russell and miniature dachshund puppy (10 weeks) have just arrived and are staying over till Saturday and things are getting a touch out of hand!!

Speak soon

jg, I do hope your mum has been behaving herself keeping well this week. I do sympathise. Your experiences bring back memories of early morning calls from my DMIL's carers a few years back. She had a bed downstairs and an emergency call button on a chain round her neck. She was often to be found waiting patiently for rescue halfway up the stairs, with the toast and cuppa the carers were coming to make. The emergency button would be waiting patiently on her pillow.

No, Anya, pounds have not dropped off me during the great chocolate deprivation. Perhaps because nature abhors a vacuum and this one was filled by crisps....

Not long to go now though till I can tear into those Easter eggs.... I have a quiet Sunday and Monday coming up, earmarked for important household tasks such as watching the last 10 episodes of Dickensian and the whole series of The Night Manager. Before then we have DGS3's first birthday party at DS's tomorrow, and everyone round at ours tomorrow for the day. Which reminds me, I'd better get out of bed now and channel my inner Mary Berry

Happy Easter, gang!

Oh Anya and maggie - your stories and descriptions of events and people fill me with hope and make me laugh out loud!! Thank you...❤️

Yesterday was an interesting day - the Canarycare system alerted me to the fact that there was no movement recorded from my DM since 5.24.a.m. - this is unusual - trust me!! I waited until around 9.30 (in case she was having a duvet day ) and then got in the car to see for myself... On the way I received a call from DM's church visitor who couldn't gain access... I gave her the key safe code and in she went.. My DM was still in bed (never heard of before in the history of time!!) Anyway, she was fine but very weak and afraid to get out of bed in case she fell over

It's possible that she has had a mini-stroke but after spending the day with her, feeding her and providing gallons of tea - she was very happy when I left her. I saw absolutely no point in involving the medics - what can be done after all ...? other than cause more anxiety ...

I have had a very amusing chat with her today when she teased me unmercifully about how bossy I am .... moi ...?
I will be there early in the morning to 'meet and greet' the a.m. carer (this is all new to her) - I am keeping my fingers very tightly crossed that my DM will be happy with them ....

Normal Monday duties were resumed on my return which meant a sleepover for diva 2 - she is an absolute delight and should be a tonic served up by the NHS - I have no doubt she would improve many people's lives ?

Glad to hear that you are on the mend Anya enjoy the 'free' bubbly, perhaps we can hire GS3 for our next social function ....

Ha ha maggie my DH is an avid photographer so I completely understand the anorak, flask and sandwiches - plus, maybe a tripod or two ...

I am a complete failure on any kind of March challenge - it has passed me by in a flurry - and let's just NOT TALK about chocolate....

April will be better - I promise ???

Night night all

Glad to hear it at least ended well JG (((hugs))))

Phew!! That was a tough day ?
But all's well that ends well and tomorrow is another day etc. etc. ?

Chat 'properly' soon, hope you are all well ...

Night night gang

What a blood-thirsty few days you've had Maggie but well done your great niece and quite right to feel proud.

The end is indeed in sight chocolate-wise (says she smuggly who hasn't given up anything for Lent) Don't give up now. Have you lost loads of weight???

Yes, the House Warming went very well. We had 24 adults and 6 children and ages from 2 to 86. And five dogs. I ordered loads of party food from M&S but not all if it was there when I went to collect it. The poor manager was going hairless.

But, bless him, he trotted me round the shop with a basket, adding similar items but chucking in extra and then gave me a £25 rebate and a bottle of bubbly. So I came out of it very well . The general consensus is that the nieghbours should all get together more often so we're having another Bash at Christmas. My family (daughter, SiL, son and DiL) were great, answering the door, getting people drinks and moving around 'working' the rooms so no one felt left out. GDs (6 & 4) took the neighbour's 2 year old under their wings and looked after her and GS1 was on 'dog duty' making sure none sneaked out, got trodden on, started fighting or stole any food.

GS3's mission seemed to be to sample the food to make sure it was safe to eat!! He performed his duty like a good 'un!

I hope your housewarming went well, Anya, and yes, I felt the ! was very appropriate in the circumstances! And I'm so pleased you enjoyed your break, jg.

We're just back from a couple of days in London. We went down to see my great niece performing in a Jacobean tragedy at the Rose Theatre (so proud ). I must say that for such a gentle girl, snapping necks, beheading and general bloodlust seemed to come very easy We also went to the Crossbones graveyard in Southwark and the Museum of London to see the exhibits from Scotland Yard's Black Museum, so it's a surprise to me that I slept at all last night....

Chocolate deprivation is kicking in. Good Friday will be hard as it's the only day I can get the family together for Easter and there will be chocolate galore, including an egg hunt. I'll have to keep smiling through gritted teeth for another two days afterwards. The end is in sight though I shall probably be found in a chocolate-induced coma on Sunday, but what a way to go!

I'm going to indulge myself today (without chocolate, unfortunately), as DH has gone off on an RSPB trip (yes, complete with anorak, binoculars, flask and corned beef and beetroot butties - I kid you not). I intend to put my feet up and watch a few of those episodes of Dickensian I recorded a while back. Perhaps start a new jigsaw. #wildchild

It's true

Yes, gradually entering the land of the living again. Lots of bugs floating round this part of the world, schools reporting many children off. GD2 diagnosed with strep throat and a couple in her school with scarlet fever. GS3 off school too for nearly a week - unheard of.

It's our House Warming (!) tomorrow. Invited neighbours and family as a way of saying 'thanks' for all their help and support following our fire, just hope I've enough energy to get me through and enough alcohol and food and forks for it to go well

Does anyone remember the episode of the Vicar of Dibbly, with the chocolate fountain, when Dawn French drank directly from it you reminded me of that Maggie

What will she think of next JG? Your DM I mean? I'm quite impressed she can actually remove a dust bag, as I find that quite fiddly myself and usually end up swearing at the thing and have to get DH to do it. But as you say most of it easily sorted

Thank you Maggie
We had a great break and it was mostly guilt and challenge free ...??

I am so impressed with your no, no, no and no ... showing great resilience! I am amused by your description of the chocolate 'mountain' and have to say I am with you on Italian food. I adore it although pasta is a no-no for a gluten-free diet. Many restaurants now do gluten-free pasta so not such a problem.... although when you are onion-free and garlic-free ......??

It's been busy since we got home but things are moving forward with my DM...and her sense of humour prevails.
Never mind the knickers and socks in the sideboard, the three open toothpastes in the bathroom, the christmas/birthday cards in the knicker drawer and the vacuum cleaner which
was being used without the dust collector, so many more but - it's all quickly sorted...

She is happy and completely unaware of what is happening ... long may it continue ❤️❤️

Hope Anya is feeling better now xxx

Hi, jg. So glad you're enjoying a well-deserved guilt-free and challenge-free break

I'm still drinking the damned water and foregoing the late night internet and the chocolate. I'm even saying no to my favourite mocha coffee. But every other treat is up for grabs, so I've just enjoyed a lovely leisurely Italian meal out with the extended family to celebrate DD2's birthday. I was so full of good food and drink I felt able to hold a variety of toddlers and their marshmallow kebabs up to the chocolate fountain (or as DGS1 would have it, the chocolate mountain) without quite succumbing to the urge to drink directly from it.

I hope your weather's holding up. It's been very Spring-like here today. We were at a Thomas the Tank themed event this morning, complete with little trains, donkeys and bouncy castle and it was so much more fun in the sun. Perhaps Winter's shutting up shop at last

How are the challenges going gang ....? I'm glad I'm not on a 'dry' challenge or a no-cheese challenge - a week in France is currently challenge-free ??

It sounds like you had a brilliant time in Cornwall maggie but I would give Weston a miss next time ? My DB lives in BA...RTH but up here in the north we still call it BATH - well done your DGS2 ...lol

I think the nostalgic evening was borne of frustration - I needed something to take my mind off (of) things....
It worked but this latest plan is definitely working.....
Having ensured full care for my DM for this week, we have escaped to SW France - where the sun is shining and the montagnes are snow-topped. Bliss.

I have set foot on an aeroplane for the first time in 5 years and it feels great ?? otherwise it takes two days to drive here! We were here in no time at all and I already feel calmer and more relaxed than I have felt in some time...

I am sending some calm vibes to all g/netters who may benefit from them and, of course, especially to the gang of two - Anya and maggie

No, Anya, kippers aren't obligatory, only for those of us with smoked fish habits I'd have liked to have seen the Eden Project and Lost Gardens myself, but we didn't have time. We managed to fit in Truro, St Ives, Falmouth, Mevagissey and Padstow (my favourite), from our base in Newquay - not bad for a 4 night stay! No sign of Poldark thundering along those lonely cliffs though

We have just come back from 2 nights in Weston Super Mare - lots of yomping along the beach and prom, of which there are what seemed like many miles. It was good to be in both Cornwall and Somerset at this time of year, when we were sharing the sands with only a couple of dog walkers, and we had a lovely day out in Bath. I was just telling DGS2 that darn Sarf it's known as Barth, to which he looked at me suspiciously and replied that he calls it Bath (Yorkshire to the core!).

Our hotel room in Cornwall had a spectacular view of the sea and a few brave surfers. Our hotel room in Weston had a spectacular view of a corrugated iron flat roof and a rusting fire escape, and was blessed with incredibly old and noisy plumbing. So noisy, in fact, that I got up twice just to check that the clanking and banging wasn't a psycho on the flat roof, trying to break in....


jg, your nostalgic evening sounds delightful.

I've never visited Cornwell Maggie except via Poldark (twice) (whew! ) but suddenly decided as, due to a complicated different school holidays over Easter scenario (SiL off after our schools go back so can do school run) I've booked myself a short break there April 4-7th. First two nights sleeping in a container at the Eden Project then a day at the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

Are kippers obligatory for breakfast there?

I'm a bit worried about all this water you're drinking and your experience of public loos hope you're not overdoing it?

Like you I have all sorts of weird & wonderful uses for my mobile, in particular, and since discovering the voice function, love to ask it questions verbally. It doesn't always listen very carefully though and when I look at the screen I have to at some of its interpretations.

An evening of pure nostalgia by the sounds of it JG - there's nothing like those songs of our youth and a trip down memory lane is there? ? Just a thought???? Could you perhaps make a compilation of songs from your mother's era and play that for her?

Take it easy though on that knee, an evening of boogying to hard rock won't do it any good

Heck - my challenge today was keeping up with my DM ... her memories and thoughts were everywhere and anywhere - but, as ever, we ended up having a giggle about it all

So, Anya and maggie - at least I won't be racing you two around Sefton Park 10k in July - that's a bloody blessed relief.... Mind you the way the knee is going, I'll be doing a good impression of hop-along-cassidy ...

I would have responded earlier but - really the smell of kippers was just putting me off.... yuk!! I'm sure the oils would be good for my joints but still YUK ?

I always have a giggle to myself when I am reading your posts A and m and I realise how much I have missed you ....

So, I'll tell you about my evening shall I ...? DH decided to buy some fancy-pants state of the art equipment to play our music - SONOS something or other.... We have had a lovely evening listening to all our favourites (I'm a bit soppy and made an Anniversary playlist for our 40th) - there's been a bit of dancing,?? a bit of name-that-tune ? in 1,2,3, - and a lot of 'looking back' - special times ❤️

Night night