Silent Sunday

Pick your own? More like spot the raspberry!

The first week of the summer holidays have gone well, thanks to the (mainly) dry weather. This has meant I've been trying to think of things to do that means we get outside, to make the most of the weather before it (inevitably) turns rubbish again.

On Wednesday, I came up with the idea of going to a Pick Your Own - our fruit yield has not been good this year, thanks to the birds discovering the blackcurrants and the intermittent torrential rain getting to the raspberries. So, picking some fruit to take home sounded like a nice way to pass an afternoon. There are no PYOs in the local area so it meant a half hour car journey. I looked at the farm's website to see what was still available to see they were on their last few strawberries, but that raspberries were still available. It certainly looked like it was worth the trip as it also had a farm shop and a cafe.

My Fitness Story... - Penny

My guest post contributor today is Penny, who describes herself as "writer, blogger, vlogger, mother, wife and arts practitioner in residence at AlexanderResidence. My background is in teaching drama and film. My blog is a creative filing cabinet to reflect on the ups and downs of life with small children, and where life permits, life beyond them." Penny promised to write me her story. It's not a tale of a huge loss, but it's familiar to many - the story of an amount of weight that seems to creep back again and again. Here, she tells how she tackled and finally got to trips with it, thanks to something that has been creating a bit of a stir in the blogging world for a few months, the Slimpod. 

Enough of me, here's Penny's post which she has chosen to call:

Toyologist Reviews: Girly Heaven!

Our Toyologist parcel this month had a definite theme. A very, very girly theme. Nearly everything was aimed at little girls so Missy Woo was overjoyed. (We'll skim over the fact that Monkey was somewhat underwhelmed to put it mildly). So Missy Woo and I have been busy having very girly bonding sessions playing with everything. Consequently, she has been in heaven.

Firstly, we have the Melissa & Doug Princess Stamp Set, modelled here by Missy Woo. This is delightful and nostalgic as a craft toy if you are old like me and remember toys like this. Hardly any plastic in sight, it comes in a wooden box with 9 princess themed wooden stamps; 2 ink pads, one pink and one purple; and five coloured pencils. So, it's pretty durable, and it all packs away nicely in the wooden box, which looks somehow prettier and eneater than a cardboard box. The stamps work well and make nice pictures. It kept Missy Woo occupied on a wet weekend afternoon.

Meal Planning Monday

So, first week of the school holidays. As you will see from Saturday's post, I'm a bit daunted - at least last year, Missy Woo still had nursery two days a week so this is the first long holidays we have had with both of them home 7 days a week since they were both babies.

One thousand and eighty eight hours to go...

...until the children walk back into class again. Not that I'm counting, you understand.

No, not wishing my life away at all...

In the meantime, there will be:

- 144 hours away camping
- at least 240 away on a roadtrip/holiday
- 8 hours going on the train to MOSI
- 1 hour going to the dentist
- 2 hours going to the hairdressers
- 2 hours buying shoes (optimistic)
- 4 hours at the library
- 2 hours (possibly more) at a party tomorrow

My Fitness Story... - Rachel

The post today in My Fitness Story... is by Rachel, who blogs at Tales from Lewis Lodge. Rachel has lost an astonishing 100lbs (that's just over 7 stone) since last November on the Cambridge weight plan, which is largely a meal replacement plan, although it has progressed considerably from its launch in the 1980s. Rachel's driver to lose weight was being diagnosed as suffering from sleep apnoea, a condition that often affects overweight people. The diagnosis - and the machine she was given to help her deal with her condition - made her realise that she did need to lose weight to resolve the problem. So, here's Rachel to tell her story. 

The last twenty years of my life has been about repeated attempts to lose weight. Some attempts were more successful than others but for most of the last ten years, I have been somewhere between 17 and 18.5 stone (240-260lbs). Did I want to lose weight? Every day. Could I do it? Could I heck!