ladyfelsham
Back to SW again
Mmm dinner sounds lush!
Lavender syrup - what about over frozen yogurt?
Lavender syrup - what about over frozen yogurt?
Moonwatcher's (Final) Diary
- Thread starter moonwatcher
- Start date
moonwatcher
Gold Member
I was thinking that this morning - I once made a lavender, gin and honey ice-cream. 'Twas a pretty good combination!
ladyfelsham
Back to SW again
YUMMMMMM! Oh that sounds amazing!
moonwatcher
Gold Member
Tuesday 17th March
All I can think of to say about work is Aaaaaarrrrggghhh!
Well, that's not actually all I can think of to say, but I'm fed up with it dominating my every waking and sleeping moment, so that's all I'm going to say, to avoid stirring myself up again.
Breakfast: GF cereal, s/s milk (synned), xylitol sweetener
Lunch: Small GF bagel, light philly cheese, ham, cherry toms, clementines
Dinner: Chicken breast roasted with chilli, lime, garlic and black pepper, roast veg (red onion, pepper, courgette, chilli and garlic flakes, olive oil) roast BNS squash in actifry with spray oil, apple
Drinks: Water, NAS squash and flavoured sparkling water, one coffee with cream, Maxwell House Latte sachet
HEA: Philly cheese
HEBs: GF cereal, GF bagel (possibly a small tweak, but I have three to use up, and GF ones are too expensive to waste)
Syns: 12
WI tomorrow. I am slightly confident that I have lost - stomach feels smaller. Fingers crossed :fingerscrossed:
All I can think of to say about work is Aaaaaarrrrggghhh!
Well, that's not actually all I can think of to say, but I'm fed up with it dominating my every waking and sleeping moment, so that's all I'm going to say, to avoid stirring myself up again.Breakfast: GF cereal, s/s milk (synned), xylitol sweetener
Lunch: Small GF bagel, light philly cheese, ham, cherry toms, clementines
Dinner: Chicken breast roasted with chilli, lime, garlic and black pepper, roast veg (red onion, pepper, courgette, chilli and garlic flakes, olive oil) roast BNS squash in actifry with spray oil, apple
Drinks: Water, NAS squash and flavoured sparkling water, one coffee with cream, Maxwell House Latte sachet
HEA: Philly cheese
HEBs: GF cereal, GF bagel (possibly a small tweak, but I have three to use up, and GF ones are too expensive to waste)
Syns: 12
WI tomorrow. I am slightly confident that I have lost - stomach feels smaller. Fingers crossed :fingerscrossed:
moonwatcher
Gold Member
Thanks Em.
Feel free to vent about whatever you want hun, including work, but totally understand if you just want to forget about it once you're home. Good luck for WI - and yey for feeling smaller
Thanks hun. At the moment I am trying to focus on changing things - started trawling through the job sites last night. That's a bit demoralising in itself, but I'm a firm believer that having made a decision, something will come along at the right time. In a weird way, the work situation has made me more focussed on sticking to plan the last couple of days. I can't change anything at work, apart from removing myself from the situation, but I can still keep control over my eating!
Estameme
Silver Member
Definitely a great attitude regarding food. It's funny how matters of the heart and career can really throw us off balance if they aren't right. Work is such a big aspect of our lives that if it's wrong it filters through all aspects of life. Well done for not letting it throw you off on a tangent. x
moonwatcher
Gold Member
Thanks Ladies, I am pleased to report WI loss of 2.4lbs, which helped to make the day more bearable!
Wednesday 18th March
Breakfast: GF bagel with philly cheese and ginger curd
Lunch: Tuna pasta salad with gherkins, black and green olives, celery, red onion, beetroot, red onion, garlic and chilli flakes, cherry tomatoes and LF salad cream, one orange, grapes
Dinner: Thai seven spice pork chop, 7 sprays of olive oil, leftover ratatouille, carrots, broccoli, apple sauce
Snacks: cooked ham and beef pieces
Drinks: Water, NAS squash and flavoured sparkling water, one Earl Grey tea with splash of milk, one Maxwell House Latte sachet, one coffee with cream
HEA: Philly cheese
HEB: Bagel
Syns 14.5
Managed to get home a bit earlier than expected as the year 11 I was due to work with after school was double booked with one of her teachers! Promptly fell asleep on the sofa!
Wednesday 18th March
Breakfast: GF bagel with philly cheese and ginger curd
Lunch: Tuna pasta salad with gherkins, black and green olives, celery, red onion, beetroot, red onion, garlic and chilli flakes, cherry tomatoes and LF salad cream, one orange, grapes
Dinner: Thai seven spice pork chop, 7 sprays of olive oil, leftover ratatouille, carrots, broccoli, apple sauce
Snacks: cooked ham and beef pieces
Drinks: Water, NAS squash and flavoured sparkling water, one Earl Grey tea with splash of milk, one Maxwell House Latte sachet, one coffee with cream
HEA: Philly cheese
HEB: Bagel
Syns 14.5
Managed to get home a bit earlier than expected as the year 11 I was due to work with after school was double booked with one of her teachers! Promptly fell asleep on the sofa!
ladyfelsham
Back to SW again
That is absolutely the way to see it, Moonie! I'm a big believer in fate and like you, now that I've made the decision to move down the coast, I know a great job will come up son
Woohoo! Well done hun! xxx
ladyfelsham
Back to SW again
How you doing Moonie love? xxx
moonwatcher
Gold Member
Hi All,
Sorry not been on for ages, but have had rather a lot going on. Completely fell off the plan, with lots of meals out ('planning and discussion meetings', but more on that in a mo), gained 4.5lbs, but weighed in yesterday and have lost 2 of them, even though not back on plan until today, so I suppose it could have been a lot worse! Faced up to it before it got any worse, anyway.
So... on to the exciting bit (or crazy, depending on your point of view). About 20 years ago, OH and I rented our house out to some friends and spent 2 years living in a variety of motorhomes and caravans (a variety, because we didn't have much cash, and gradually updated as we went!) We were both working, but simply loved the lifestyle - staying on proper sites on farms, lakes, cliffs etc. We have always planned to do it again when we retire. Now... about three weeks ago, OH said "Why wait until we retire? We may not be fit enough to enjoy it as we get older, why not do it now?"
So, after loads of discussion, we have decided to go for it. We are in a rented place now, so nothing to sell or let out - we just give a month notice when we're ready and off we go. There is loads of downsizing we have to do - we have been here 19 years, and have accumulated so much stuff! The thing is, I used to love this house and garden, but as we both get older the massive garden has become a chore instead of a joy. There are hundreds and hundreds of yards of hedges alone to be cut and tended, and that's before we even start on the rest of it. Whenever we go out at weekends, it feels like we 'should' be back at home doing the garden, and it just seems to taint all our enjoyment. We never have any time to enjoy it, because we are working in it, or feeling we should be! Also, for various reasons which I won't go into, there are near neighbours we strongly want to get away from. Generally life here, which use to be idyllic, is now miserable, and I've had enough. It doesn't feel like my home any more.
Initially I will carry on working, but if it works out as planned, only for a few years - the plan is to save most or all of my wages after a while, to see if it is realistic to survive on one wage. I may then retire early, or find something part time. For now I will stay at the school, but still look around to see if anything comes up. I think that with the home stresses disappearing, work will not be so tough.
Having decided we were going for it, and resigned ourselves to having to save for at least a year first, a letter dropped onto the mat last week - paperwork for a tiny pension of OH's which we had forgotten about, which he had opted to take early. It's not massive, but at the end of the summer, it should give us some ready cash to hopefully buy what we need -maybe put a bit to it.
So, the current plan is to 'do up' Tilly, our small vintage caravan, get her ready for a holiday this summer, then sell her and buy the bigger van, for sometime later this year. At the moment I am busy making up two pairs of curtains for her, (the boring bit!) and will then move on to making more fun and interesting pretty fripperies! OH is busy in his spare time emptying her out (been a temporary shed for a while!), repainting the ceiling, repairing seats and replacing some interior wood, mending the gas box, staining exterior trim... and plenty more small bits and pieces, as she has been sadly neglected the last few years. That is exactly what I mean, for quite a few years, we've never had the time to actually get the caravan ready for holidays and to go on a holiday in it!
Phew! Gone on a bit there. Am still in PJs and have just realised the time! About to get showered, put a joint of lamb in the slow cooker for tonight, and then back to making curtains (10 pairs in all!)
Will try and catch up with everybody's news later.
Sorry not been on for ages, but have had rather a lot going on. Completely fell off the plan, with lots of meals out ('planning and discussion meetings', but more on that in a mo), gained 4.5lbs, but weighed in yesterday and have lost 2 of them, even though not back on plan until today, so I suppose it could have been a lot worse! Faced up to it before it got any worse, anyway.
So... on to the exciting bit (or crazy, depending on your point of view). About 20 years ago, OH and I rented our house out to some friends and spent 2 years living in a variety of motorhomes and caravans (a variety, because we didn't have much cash, and gradually updated as we went!) We were both working, but simply loved the lifestyle - staying on proper sites on farms, lakes, cliffs etc. We have always planned to do it again when we retire. Now... about three weeks ago, OH said "Why wait until we retire? We may not be fit enough to enjoy it as we get older, why not do it now?"
So, after loads of discussion, we have decided to go for it. We are in a rented place now, so nothing to sell or let out - we just give a month notice when we're ready and off we go. There is loads of downsizing we have to do - we have been here 19 years, and have accumulated so much stuff! The thing is, I used to love this house and garden, but as we both get older the massive garden has become a chore instead of a joy. There are hundreds and hundreds of yards of hedges alone to be cut and tended, and that's before we even start on the rest of it. Whenever we go out at weekends, it feels like we 'should' be back at home doing the garden, and it just seems to taint all our enjoyment. We never have any time to enjoy it, because we are working in it, or feeling we should be! Also, for various reasons which I won't go into, there are near neighbours we strongly want to get away from. Generally life here, which use to be idyllic, is now miserable, and I've had enough. It doesn't feel like my home any more.
Initially I will carry on working, but if it works out as planned, only for a few years - the plan is to save most or all of my wages after a while, to see if it is realistic to survive on one wage. I may then retire early, or find something part time. For now I will stay at the school, but still look around to see if anything comes up. I think that with the home stresses disappearing, work will not be so tough.
Having decided we were going for it, and resigned ourselves to having to save for at least a year first, a letter dropped onto the mat last week - paperwork for a tiny pension of OH's which we had forgotten about, which he had opted to take early. It's not massive, but at the end of the summer, it should give us some ready cash to hopefully buy what we need -maybe put a bit to it.
So, the current plan is to 'do up' Tilly, our small vintage caravan, get her ready for a holiday this summer, then sell her and buy the bigger van, for sometime later this year. At the moment I am busy making up two pairs of curtains for her, (the boring bit!) and will then move on to making more fun and interesting pretty fripperies! OH is busy in his spare time emptying her out (been a temporary shed for a while!), repainting the ceiling, repairing seats and replacing some interior wood, mending the gas box, staining exterior trim... and plenty more small bits and pieces, as she has been sadly neglected the last few years. That is exactly what I mean, for quite a few years, we've never had the time to actually get the caravan ready for holidays and to go on a holiday in it!
Phew! Gone on a bit there. Am still in PJs and have just realised the time! About to get showered, put a joint of lamb in the slow cooker for tonight, and then back to making curtains (10 pairs in all!)
Will try and catch up with everybody's news later.
Happy Holidays
Gold Member
Wow that's really exciting, you're right though about doing it now & not when you retire as you may not be fit enough. Me & Bob decided a few years ago we'd spend our money on travelling where we wanted to now whilst we still have our health rather than save money now & travel when we retire, honestly it's so much fun doing it now, ok we have to penny pince here & there but it's nothing I've not been used to in the past.
Oh keep us up to date on what's going on, it's so exciting.
Oh keep us up to date on what's going on, it's so exciting.
ladyfelsham
Back to SW again
Oh Moonie that's so exciting!!!! I am really pleased for you both - life is for living, and you and OH are going to have a ball in Tilly2
I think the pension letter is a sign from fate that you're doing the right thing - and isn't it wonderful to be planning an adventure! And can I come too? Tilly sounds like a good fit for me, maybe Tilly2 could tow Tilly baby (with me in it)?
Please keep us updated! xxx
I think the pension letter is a sign from fate that you're doing the right thing - and isn't it wonderful to be planning an adventure! And can I come too? Tilly sounds like a good fit for me, maybe Tilly2 could tow Tilly baby (with me in it)?
Please keep us updated! xxx
moonwatcher
Gold Member
Sounds fabulous
Oh Moonie that's so exciting!!!! I am really pleased for you both - life is for living, and you and OH are going to have a ball in Tilly2
I think the pension letter is a sign from fate that you're doing the right thing - and isn't it wonderful to be planning an adventure! And can I come too? Tilly sounds like a good fit for me, maybe Tilly2 could tow Tilly baby (with me in it)?
Please keep us updated! xxx
Thanks for the positive feedback ladies. It seems that people either totally 'get it' or think we are completely crazy! We are both really excited about it, although it's a way off yet. Just getting OH to clear all his crap (sorry, I mean the stuff that he is keeping because it 'may come in useful one day') out of the garden will be a mammoth task! Even though we will both still be working, I know from when we did it last time that the lifestyle really suits us. I really want to spend more of my time reading, knitting, sewing, walking, admiring the scenery etc. The two full sets of curtains are taking for ever! Every set measured, (memories of my Dad in my mind- "Never mind that measure twice, cut once rubbish - measure three times, cut once, then measure the cut piece again to check!") Hopefully I should have them all finished by tomorrow, as well as taking up two new pairs of work trousers for the OH
Susie - that's exactly how I felt about the pension letter - it was so fantastic to open it up, completely unsuspecting, and see the pound signs! Kerching!
Food - not good over the last few days. I am at least recording it all. To be honest I can't wait to get away from my neighbours. It seems that all the time it didn't seem to be an option I was plodding along, but now it is actually going to happen, everything has hit me really badly. We went out today to B & Q for some paint etc., and stopped for something to eat, and on the way back I had a mini meltdown and made OH drive out to the coast, instead of the planned coming home and finishing the curtain making (me) and painting (him), not because I was tired of working on them, but because I just didn't want to go home. While we were eating our meal, I was thinking about food and dieting, and I realised that lately I don't enjoy cooking at home like I used to, mainly because of the position of the kitchen. There is absolutely no peace in there from the constant noise, and just being in there reminds me every time of the situation with them. That feeling seems to be spreading to the rest of the house now, which is not good, because I need to be at home and getting on with stuff over the next few months.
I am in a bit of a quandary about food and dieting at the moment. I'm not sure my head is in the right place, but on the other hand I don't want to simply give in until we do move out. I am swinging backwards and forwards from being kind to myself to being really annoyed with myself. The summer is coming... I bet I don't even need to finish that sentence.
Apologies that I haven't caught up with you all in your diaries. I haven't been online at all, but I didn't want to completely lose the momentum of updating again.
