Susie's 2022 campaign

[ladyfelsham]

Morning all - been a mad week, but won't bore you with it - in summary, I;'m back to a 4 day week and Friday was BLISS! A sleep in and an overdue catch up with friends and bills and other mundane stuff.

Yesterday it took my poor tradey friends 10 hours to get from London to here, with all sorts of disasters happening to them - but they made it in one piece and did a few hours' work sorting out leaks and dodgy pipes and electrics, so today is the big push to take the cabinets out and put them back in properly. They are both so lovely and good natured about it all, it's a pleasure to have them here - and know it's all being done properly and safely!

Unfortunately though, my two friends who were going to come up next weekend, have had to cancel because one's had to self isolate. She's been tested and is fine TG but is frustrated with having to stay at home. My birthday present from them has arrived and I've had to swear not to open it before the big day lol.

Food has been terrible the last couple of days, but am hoping I'll get my head back into clean eating once the kitchen is finished and everything unpacked - including all the gadgets .

 

[tipperary]

Susie, we are going to need to see pics of this fantastic kitchen once it's finished. In fact I think we need to have an online party and official opening of it.

 

[ChilliQueen]

ooh yes, I agree. A party!

 

[ChilliQueen]

dropping by to say HI Hope all is ok

 

[Cavegirl21]

Is the Kitchen up and running yet?
Hope all is well.

 

[sarahbr]

How's it going Lady F? X

 

[ChilliQueen]

@ladyfelsham we miss you, hope you are ok

 

[ladyfelsham]

Hi there Team Fab - sorry not to posted sooner, it has been life in the fast lane here lately! Busy at work and home - but that's better than being bored .

The kitchen is nearly there, just a few finishing touches, but I'm slowly moving stuff in - and the lino has gone down and looks great.

This is the front door and utility area behind it. More pics to excite you with once it's properly finished, but the shutters are up, the tiling (baby blue metro tiles) is done, just got handles to go on and a couple of other things, and we are done! Definitely going to rest before I get the bathroom done!

All seems to be going ok with the London sale too, all being well it will happen Aug/Sep, which will coincide with the end of my current contract - so then can either go part time or retire altogether.

Foodwise, am trying to do clean eating - although there have been times when Just Eat pizza has won out! I've put on about half a stone because of the big increase in carbs, and the IBS is being triggered by wheat, broccoli and a whole host of other things, so am keeping a diary of sorts to try and identify the culprits - but I've had broccoli as part of a big chorizo/veg/red pesto lunch, even though I know I will pay for it later.

Hope you're all well - will catch up with diaries in a bit xx

 

[ChilliQueen]

OOh I really like that floor!

I'm really happy to hear things are going well in the kitchen and that a sale is looking good. It will make such a difference to your life, I don't really see you retiring but it would be nice to pick and choose the jobs you want to be involved in.

A few blips given how much you're juggling won't matter, and you can re-commit properly soon enough. I think you've done amazingly through such a long time of upheaval.

Thanks for checking in and letting us know you're ok

 

[tipperary]

Amazing floor, very Italian palazzo looking

 

[Cavegirl21]

Where are you?

 

[ChilliQueen]

 

[ladyfelsham]

Hello Team!

Sorry for awol-ness - all is fine but lots going on, as usual. Today is my last working day, so by 4ish this afternoon i will be officially retired! The London flat sale is going through OK (touch wood) so I plan to relax now for a few months and catch up with some personal projects.

And the kitchen is finished!

Took my eye off the weight loss ball for a while, so this week started up CCing. I've decided that I just can't spend every minute of the day thinking about food, it's not good for me. I've deleted all food blogger emails and social media accounts, and want to just focus on other things and try and see food as simply fuel, rather than it dominate my every thought!

As a result I won't be on Minis very often, but will pop in every now and again to see how you are all doing.

Wishing you all the best for a healthy and happy rest of the year (and forever)! xxx

 

[Cavegirl21]

Now you are retired you will have lots of time now to do other things.
I understand about deleting bloggers etc. I don't follow anyone. I do my own thing.

Do pop back now and again to update us on how things are going.

 

[tipperary]

RETIRED I know you were planning to but the last post you had you seemed to be about to start 3 new jobs. Wow , congratulations on the retirement, I'm so jealous. I understand about steering away from food related things but do pop back in. We need to be updated on the cats, the garden and the kitchen

 

[ChilliQueen]

good on you, I think anyone who can work less or not at all definitely should and enjoy life. So pleased for you that the sale is going through, and that your kitchen is sorted. I agree we would love to hear from you even if you don't want to mention food.

Best wishes with your future

 

[ladyfelsham]

Afternoon all - and thanks so much for your lovely posts. I had another little health flare up while I was away for the last month but all is better now. I've also spent some time online with a CBT specialist, and it's been an interesting, albeit slightly emotional, journey unravelling a lot of things. A long way to go yet, but of course being off plan I've put weight back on and am puffing a lot again - so it's back to Minis!

And of course I missed you all and our daily natter . The cats are fine - Stella is curled up next to me right now, while Orbit is outside terrorising the local fieldmouse population. Stella is a real cuddler and my sleep buddy, and I woke up this morning to find her wee head on my shoulder and paws around my neck, sooo cute. She has a cute little black nose and looks like a little baby Ewok! Family in NZ is all well too - I'm honorary nana to my sister in law's granddaughter, Delilah, who turned one this week - see below. No progress on the garden, trying not to spend any money at the moment (not even on gadgets!). I did get to an open day for the University of the 3rd Age last week, but walked in to find over 50 people standing round, none with masks on, and I felt really uncomfortable - you'd think older people with probable health risks would know better - so I only stayed an hour. I used to be a real social butterfly but that sort of confidence is disappearing these days for me. Ageing - it's not for the fainthearted!

Foodwise, as mentioned, I've gained. A LOT! So I'm finally climbing on the low carb/keto wagon on Friday, with a sensible shop coming tomorrow - I'm going to follow Diet Doctor and Keto Karma recipes, I've done all the meal planning so I don't overshop, and I'm buying some ready made LC bread to get me started - the reality is, I can't exist without bread, so I need to find a workable substitute.

Speaking of which, which of my LC/Keto friends here have an easy and failsafe recipe they can recommend please? And where do you buy your almond flour, psyllium husk powder, ground linseed and all the other LC stuff - or do you just rely on the supermarket? I wonder if the cost of buying all the ingredients would be the same as buying the actual bread!

Any/all tips on LC in general happily accepted. Keto Karma has worked out the macros as protein 41G / fat 171g / carbs 29g, with a calorie allowance of 1829. I thought calories weren't taken into consideration on low carb eating - but TBH I don't have the sticking power to plug it all in to MFP every day, so that's why i thought I'd just cut out the obvious culprits - bread, starchy veg, pasta/rice, etc.

Will go and catch up on your diaries now, and here's my cutie pie.

 

[Rindaloo]

OMG, I had an email out of the blue, Minimins -a blast from the past! How could I forget you. How could I forget my pals here! Many congrats on retiring and I love the tiles you chose for your laundry area. I will catch up more later. Best wishes!!

 

[tipperary]

Isn't she an absolute cutie, such a happy face. I have no idea about keto breads, I haven't yet found a recipe that seems to be a proper substitute so I've just given up and allow myself really good bread on Saturday or Friday evening. I too find trying to track all the macros everyday just too much effort, more from a time perspective, so don't. But then that could be why I am this size. I find the fasting helps and now I'm not eating my first meal until about 2pm and second by 7pm. I can't actually manage to eat a huge amount at one sitting no matter how long it is since I've eaten so in affect that it how I have reduced my intake.
It's great to see you pop in and catch up and thanks for the fur babies update, none of ours are currently cuddlers.

 

[ladyfelsham]

Evening all - my LC Morrison's shop arrived today, and I'm all ready to jump into cooking next week's menu - a much more attractive proposition now I actually have some benchspace and a table to eat at. Will spend time tomorrow and Thursday making breakfast omelettes and muffins, and batch cook recipes from Diet Doctor - cheeseburger pie / tuna casserole / garlic mushroom chicken thighs / coconut curry chicken / Indian butter chicken / Italian keto meatballs. All to be served up with green leafy veg. I've got bouilion and pork scratchings all ready to ward off the keto flu, and low carb chocolate - and was very happy to discover that Sweet Freedom is low in carbs too, so will be whipping up some nutty granola to have with that and soya coconut yogurt. Also going to try making my own yogurt and soft cheese in the Clever Chef next week - best gadget I have ever bought.

Really looking forward to starting LC, actually - and thanks to @AliGal posting a link, I've found a fab bread sub. The Keto Fitness Club makes very LC bread loaves, rolls and pizza bases, and an order is on its way. It's expensive compared to regular supermarket loaves, but they also do bags of ready made mix which brings a loaf down to about £1.50, so will try this first lot and then get the mix.