Good Morning . . .

I've seen those little chocolate sticks, ROSEBUD -- great idea for those who manage portion control. For me -- both chocolate and peanut butter fall into a category called "a portion is equal to the amount available".

Just worked out my nutritional averages for the month so far and happy to say my 2286 total calories yesterday did NOT screw things up too badly. I'm still in good shape for the month. Average total calories are 1444 and percentages are running right on 40% carbs and 30% each for fat and protein. Sometimes you just get lucky I guess. Yes, I do believe in the 'cycling' philosophy whether you are tracking calories, points, or something else. I just don't think it needs to be all pre-planned. For me, and most of us (probably), it just seems to happen.

Can't rest on my laurels though . . . I'm sitting solidly on 210 right now and I very, very much want to be able to move down into a new decade when I change my ticker at the end of the month.

Nothing exciting planned for me today. Looks like another nice sunny day and the temps may actually get several degrees above freezing. Tomorrow they are predicting rain, but quite a bit milder. We'll see.

Have a great day, everybody . . .

Hello, Everyone! Gosh, it seems like it's been forever since I've been able to be on here, except nothing spectacular has happened in the meantime, so not much to talk about. We're still getting hvac estimates, the boys had to give depositions for our lawsuit against the person who crashed into our car 3 years ago (what a joke-I can't believe they still refuse to settle), & DH had a doctor appt in MN. What it mostly adds up to is too much time sitting in a car and too many meals at restaurants in the last few days, so my back/legs hurt, I'm retaining fluids and my weight is up 2 pounds We're supposed to be on spring break, but no one's gotten to do anything fun yet.

Meowee-I do cycling of calories too and it's amazing how easily that works. Even when I have a couple bad days like the past few, I know it'll be easy to get back on track and on the plan. Glad you're having some nicer weather too. The sun has me thinking about my garden plans and flower beds

Purple-for lost inches!!! Isn't it a wonderful feeling to have loose pants? Keep up the great work!

Beverlyjoy-sorry to hear you're struggling with pain and anxiety. Job issues are such a problem, even when you still have one (my DH is really tired of having to pick up the slack for co-workers who won't work, but will steal his ideas and claim they're their own for bonuses from the managers) I'll pray for your situation. I know stress can make pain matters worse. Remember to try some slow breathing techniques-I know it can reduce blood pressure and pain awareness.

Rosebud-your intuition is great! I need some of your insight,as I still haven't figured out how to get DH to do what needs done when it needs done

Hi to Val and Numpster too! Hope you're all having a great day! for everyone!

HI LADIES ~ well, we had another gorgeous day today; started with sunshine and warm temps again of +15c or 55 F; so we went out for drive this afternoon to see how the snow is melting in other areas. After dinner, clouds rolled in with some winds and we are getting lots of new snow again, but we kinda expected that.

We also stopped at a store to look at shower sets, and I found a lovely suncatcher or stained glass window with hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and flowers on it. It was a very good price too. DH is gonna hang it up for me tomorrow in one of our windows and it should look very pretty.

PURPLE ~ yes, I am able to walk in stores better becuz I can hang onto the carts to keep me upwardly mobile and that helps relieve my back and my legs at the same time. The ice around here is formidable, so I only went walking about a dozen times; not near as much as I had hoped, but I did try to do some indoor stuff instead like dancing and walking from one end of the place to another.

That's why we are so glad that spring is almost here. Our landlord went and got some better rock salt for us, as the stuff DH bought wasn't working well enough to melt the ice for us. The last two days, our laneway has been a sheet of ice, but after DH put this new stuff on, it was melted by the time we went outside to leave just after lunch. So the landlord told DH not to waste his money on the other stuff; just come and get some of his.

I had a bad fall on ice at the last place we lived, so I am very nervous now to walk anywhere near ice; and DH had a few bad falls there himself. I just can't afford any more serious injuries to my back and legs at this point. It will take a bit of time, but I will be doing walking at our lot, but I only start out small in the spring (short walks), increasing my distance each time I go; and I can take rest breaks in between, if I need to as well.

HI RONNIE ~ nice to see you drop by. Hopefully, things can get back to almost normal for you and for family for awhile. Will send up some prayers that you will find a good furnace at a reasonable price, that will fit your budget too.

INTUITION: you just have to know my DH -- all I had to do was come up with an idea of where to get some sand in the middle of winter, that was close by, and also FREE; then he's a happy camper. Capish?

I think you have to work with some men ~ know how to sweetly cajole them, or bargain with them a bit. He likes anything that's FREE; and anything that isn't too complicated or difficult to figure out. He just needs some ideas: and that's a gift the women in our family are quite blessed with. He's very mechanical himself though, so that's not an issue for us.

My mother used to always say that the key to a successful marriage is to choose your battles very carefully; and to know when to hold 'em (hold your tongue) and know when to fold 'em (know when to let things go, and walk away). Do you always want to be right, or do you want to be happy?

My mother taught me this song when I was very young and there's lots of wisdom in it ~ Here's a little something that every girl should know: Daddy's never lose -- but mommy's always win, so let the sun shine in and face it with a grin. Just open up your heart, and let the sun shine in! And, we used to repeat it and change up the verse with ~ Mommy's never lose -- but Daddy's always win, and so forth ...

MEOWEE ~ I am very fortunate that there are some things that I can have that I can resist binging on. I can eat little bits of dark chocolate, muffins, one scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, and peanut butter without a problem. I have more difficulty with munchies like chips, nachos, and cookies, but I am getting much better. I am trying to allow myself little treats as part of my plan, but I am avoiding those few things that give me more trouble for now.

Well, it's time to go put up my tired legs and have a nice big cuppa tea. HI to VAL, and BEVERYLYJOY, and NUMPSTER ... take good care ladies ROSEBUD

RONNI . . . If I tried to stick with a set number of calories every day, I know I'd never last. As a matter of fact, I look at the whole month as a unit although i know that most 'cyclers' think a week at a time.

PURPLEORC . . . I'd swear my waist is getting bigger not smaller, but it might be that my fibroid tumour (aka Fibbie McGee) is growing, but as long as he causes me no pain or bleeding i really don't want an abdominal hysterectomy . . . my earlobes on the other hand are getting really skinny now.

ROSEBUD . . . Just goes to show that we are all so very different -- chips and cookies are usually not a problem for me. BTW, don't forget that most ice-melters don't work very well after about -5C. Oh my yes -- all stores should come with shopping carts.

Good Morning . . .

I do know it is morning, albeit an overcast one, and imagine my delight to discover that it was only the 19th of the month. I spent most of yesterday thinking that Friday (first official day of Spring) was going to be the 22nd instead of the 20th. So this is like somebody gave me an extra two days to play with this month.

Nothing too exciting for me today -- probably a little shopping and lunch with my friend LouLou.

Hope everybody else has a great Thursday (it is Thursday, isn't it?) . . .

HI LADIES ~ We had another wonderful day of sunshine again; the temps were a bit colder though, with some winds that kinda chilled you through. I stayed home and did laundry and household stuff. I made a nice cottage pie from leftovers and some fresh mash for dinner tonight; it was tres yummy, for sure!

While I did that, DH went up town to run some errands; he needed to buy some new rubber boots as he wore his out last year, and he picked up a couple things that we forgot the other day. It's getting colder outside right now and things turning icy again. DH cleared the sidewalk in front of our house while things were melting today, becuz the ice was so bad that everyone was walking on the road instead (which isn't really safe on a busy two-lane road like this).

MEOWEE ~ yah, the stuff we bought to put on the ice would take ages and only melt a pinhole here and there. A waste of money for sure; the new stuff works much better, but then like you say, it was also pretty mild out there the last few days too. Hope you had a nice day shopping and having lunch with your friend today.

HEY VAL ~ TGIF tomorrow -- How are things going way up there? Are you away on a cruise or something? Haven't heard from you in a long while; it makes me think that you are away on a trip again ... hmmm?

HI to PURPLE, and BEVERLYJOY, and RONNIE, and NUMPSTER ... hope you all have a FABULOUS FRIDAY tomorrow!!!

Time to go do my puzzles and have my tea ~ take good care now ROSEBUD

Good Morning . . .

Well, it is officially SPRING and, the sun is trying to shine in northeastern Nova Scotia. Nice after it rained all day yesterday. There is **** in the forecast for Monday/Tuesday, but a lot can change before thben so maybe "they" will be proven wrong.

I celebrated the start of this glorious new season by removing the 'blankie' I tack over my westerly facing, and very drafty, sunroom door. As I sit here in front of it, I fear I may have jumped the gun a little; but it definitely looks more spring-like in here. May trot off to town later on (just because I can) but other than that I honestly have no plans for the day.

How about you . . . any exciting 'vernal equinox' celebration plans?

HI LADIES ~ We had another gorgeous sunny day, but it was very cold and that played havoc with my feet and lower legs. I'm starting to wonder if I have a type of arthritis in my feet as the cold and damp really bother them -- so I put on some warm wollies and put them up for almost two hours this afternoon. I had a heck of a time sleeping last night; was having silly nightmares about silly things, and felt chilled too. Sure hope that goes away for good.

HAPPY 1st DAY OF SPRING, MEOWEE ~ We tried to open up our front door so we could use our porch and it was stuck closed. Dh had to use a board and hammer it to get it open. The snow has melted off our deck, so I wanted to go and sit there, but then we couldn't get the door to close either: there was a 2-3 inch gap. That was no good cuz then all the cold would come into the house and make our furnace run non-stop, so DH had to bang it close the same way he had to open it. The landlord doesn't want to fix it until all the snow is gone and the frost is out of the ground; I sure hope this isn't a permanent problem. What's the use of having a deck or door for that matter, if you can't ever use it???

HI PURPLE ~ it's still a bit too cold here to enjoy without winter coats; and poor DH fell on some ice today. He was out there trying to break some ice up and then fell on one really bad spot. He was waving to a little boy going by with his mommy & daddy and down he went, but says he just hurt his elbow. Poor guy. That's exactly why I won't venture out there right now. When the weather is warmer, I'll get DH to open the front door and sit on the porch instead, but turn the furnace off first.

BTW ~ we got some really good news today: that our gas bills (for heating and hot water) will be going down over the next year, so that's nice for us; will give us back a little pocket money for other things.

Yes, I have to watch myself too or I pay with sore feet and legs; maybe I overdid it this week too, as today they were really bothering me, so I'll be staying home and taking it easy for few days for sure. I hope you are feeling better soon too. I spent some time sitting in my rocker today, soaking up the sun right here in my livingroom, and that was nice too.

Well, it's time to put my feet up again and rest some more; and do a puzzle and maybe some reading. I'm listening to some quiet music on the radio as I'm typing on here as well which is peaceful too. Take good care ladies ... VAL, and RONNI, and BEVERLYJOY, and NUMPSTER -- have a great weekend!!! ROSEBUD

sunny but cold . . . at least I know it is Spring and things will soon improve.

HI LADIES ~ this was an interesting day: we woke up to sunshine and ended the day with sunshine, but in between, we had huge feather-like snowflakes on and off all day; they were very pretty though. We had lots of excitement at our feeders today; lots of woodpeckers and one female got into a tiff with a starling over the peanut butter suet cake. It was very funny to watch: oh, and the woodpecker won the spat. At one point, we had our chipmunck, a female woodpecker, some starlings, a few house sparrows, and a bunch of finches all at the same time; it was really nice.

Well, we had a nice dinner of spagettini and mini-meatballs with homemade mushroom & tomato sauce that simmered all afternoon. I also made some nice fruit & bran muffins for our snacks today; I omitted all the sugar and subbed a bit of molasses & honey instead and cut the fat down to 1 tbl. I think next time, I'll just leave the fat out and see how they are; these were quite moist as I had subbed some mashed bananas for the fat in the recipe.

PURPLE ~ glad you took a day off and rested; I have to admit when I read that you went walking while shopping and then came home and tried to go for a walk outdoors on top of that, I was a bit concerned for you. I know for me that wouldn't be possible right now; I have to watch to not overdo it also. Hope you are feeling better by tomorrow. That show about the Vets living together sounds interesting too. That's nice that they allowed some ladies to come and join them there.

You have many benefits that we don't have, but those council taxes are high. They remind me of some of the high house taxes some people are paying here now. That's nice that you might be able to get a scooter or rent one; I don't know of a program like that here. It sounds like your country is way ahead of ours for taking care of their physically challenged people for housing, transportation, and mobility accessories.

HI MEOWEE ~ glad you finally have some nicer weather down that way. I think it's wonderful that you are able to use your sunroom again too -- we want to have one in our cottage with windows with screens that open, to protect us from the buggies.

Well, I spent some time today looking at room and housing designs, just for fun; now it's time to put my feet up and do a puzzle or two. We just had a nice, quiet day at home; am planning this for the whole weekend. Hope all our friends out there have a lovely weekend and a SUPERBLY SERENE SUNDAY!!!

Take good care ladies ... ROSEBUD

Good afternoon fellow chickadee's


First things first "HAPPY MOTHERING SUNDAY" I know it is not mother's day in Canada or the USA as it is later in the year to my knowledge. Father's day is the same day as yours just Mother's Day is different.

DH is feeling achy and stiff today after working in the garden. The worse job taking up a shrub called a broom which was in the wrong place as it grew like a "triffid" every year and had to be prune very heavily each year. It would not have been so bad but it was on the stretch of garden bordering the path leading up to the bungalow. If you did not prune it severely it started to block the path. It took my DH a long while to take it up as the roots had gone beneath the path. But eventually it was taken up.

My leg is much better today after recent days of it spent spasming. Normally I suffer for several days after spasms as it feels like it has been bruised afterwards but it hasn't been too bad. Did the washing last night and put it out early this morning. The weather was lovely drying weather so was dry within a couple of hours. Even though it was glorious outside it had a very cold biting wind. Hoping to do the ironing later today the few pieces I have to do.

Yesterday evening I made some carrot and ginger soup. Made from chicken and vegetable stock plus I peeled umpteen carrots I added a pototo, seasoning and onion powder. After it was cooked I used my hand blender and made a smooth soup. This is for me for tea today and I am looking forward to it. I love soup but homemade is extra nice plus added bonus you know what has gone in to it.

ROSEBUD I bet your spat between a wood pecker and a starling was funny to see at your feeder. I have never seen a chipmunk as they are not native to our country.

Yes I think overall our country does try and help those who have mobility issues. Most of our buses now are wheelchair friendly as the side lowers down to the kerb and they just roll from one to the other. There are then spaces to sit in a wheelchair on the bus. The amount of wheelchair spaces are limited per bus but at least there is progress.

We also have a scheme called RADAR which is a organisation for the disabled person. From them or selected shops you can purchase a RADAR key which is a key which allows you access to locked disabled toilets. They have been locked to help reduce the likelihood of being damaged. Don't get me wrong we do have disabled toilets that are not in the RADAR scheme though more of these RADAR ones are popping up. The key only costs a few dollars and is well worth it. The only down point I have about the key is it is massive, so does not sit neatly on key ring. The only reason that comes to mind that it is so big that it is easier for some people with challenges with their hands and it would make holding small keys virtually impossible.

Our welfare scheme also provides care financially for those who are born or have acquired challenges. They are not perfect by no means and can always do with improvement. Though if I compare them with other welfare schemes in other parts of the world it is brilliant. Like you say we appear ahead in some aspects of caring for people with physical and mental challenges. Next year I think we are having a little shake up with one of the benefits which is to now look at what you can do not what you can't. Really and truthfully it is to sort out those people whom are abusing the system we have in place to help those in proper need. The most used way of scamming the scheme is pretending to have a bad back. So thousands of pounds is spent trying to catch these people out by observing them. There has been a great number been caught out as they say they have a bad back and there they are "moving furniture" for example. I feel so sorry for those genuine people with damage to their back. At the minute though the wording is ambiguous and they have not yet clarified what they call severely disabled. So many like myself are anxious to know what they mean by that. Though it says in the information I have read ( or at least I think I remember) that those with neurological problems will be exempt. If this is the case I will be exempt as MS is a neurological condition.

MEOWEE Glad spring is upon you and know you know that the better weather is just around the corner for you. Then you will get the lovely weather and the plants firing into life after lying dormant all winter.

Going to put my feet up now as I have been up with the birdies this morning. So I think someone here's going to be in bed early tonight. Bye and take care

purpleorc

Actually, I use my sunroom all year -- it is well insulated even though the door is drafty since the 10 windows seem to work well. No heat except for space heaters but since it is on the south side of the house, if it's sunny, it is warm no matter how cold the outdoors and the room will stay fairly warm for a couple or three hours after sunset too.

Speaking of sunshine -- there was lots of it earlier but it is now fading fast. Guess the couple of inches of snow they say we are getting tomorrow may just materialize after all.

I did not sleep well last night and have already had a nap and I'm beginning to think I need another one. Just a really draggy day for me. Luckily I have no big plans anyway.

See you later . . .