Maxi cabs! another good reason to move down south! i am tired of weight watching too. My scale has dust on it and can stay that way till I think I really have lost something!
Poor Jason. wouldn't want to be in his shoes either! Nor my busdriver's! I turned off ALL phones and have not heard a peep out of anyone! Hope your day is a good one. I spent mine with Jen!! she took the flaming bird home thank God!! I was threatening to send him to your Sunday!

Nae~ So glad to hear from you Miss Oakley!!! I would love a pooch like all of you have but the allergies!! OUCH!!! It is a great feeling when kids or pets are so trusting. Unconditional love. Great thing! Hope your day is a great one too! Sorry to hear your friend is moving. Very brave of her. Keep up the good work with food and water!!! Congrats.

Jen helped me move some stuff. We got to have a loooong chin wag too. Kinda clears the air. disabilities have a way of clouding some issues. We don't hold any punches so it straightens both of us out at the same time! Thenshe went "shopping" in my kitchen and left!! Scares me what will happen to her when I am no longer here! I worry about the bird too!
The shower is calling my name and I am tired from everything today including self pity! Goodnight all!

Hello. Now what to say to ease the woes of the 80 chicks around the world thread?I really cannot say anything to help about the perennial problem of not losing weight. I am 100% successfull in NOT doing it! Though I will give Miss Shad a gentle kick in the you-know-where...missing lunch IS NOT A GOOD THING TO DO!! Even a yoghurt would be better than nowt.I am not really lecturing...I am very bad at missing breakfast. Now of course if breakfast at home was as good as the schmorgassbord (somehow I don't think I spelt that correctly!) there would be no problem at all. Perhaps it's just as well... I can feel the lbs piling on just thinking about all that lovely cold meat and cheese and wonderful bread...
Shad I am very sorry that you are feeling so mizzy at the moment. All I can say is that even if the weight is not dripping off all this gym activity must be doing heaps of good in your body and when you have reached the ripe old age of 80 you will still be as supple as a gazelle...now where's a vision to behold!! Coime on kid...you can do a mountain full more than me any day!! And why I think of it, why are you weighing yourself every day? Throw those darn scales away...or at the very least, get DS to hide them in his house and only let you use them once a week!!
Okay. Lecture over. Here now is a huge big [[[[[[[[[[HUG]]]]]]]]]]
I went to a really brilliant concert last night at the Bury St Edmunds Theatre Royal. It was The Locrian Ensemble, a quintet of well renowned professional players with guest performers...a harpist and a baritone soloist. Their programme included Elgar's Nimrod, Pomp & Circumstance No. 1, Suza's Trinity Bell (but they didn't have a bell...the basist said DING at the appropriate moment!) a couple of harp pieces, O Sol Mio ( the Cornetto song) something from Riggoletto, the Hornpipe (last night of the proms usual) and a beautiful rendition of The Meditation from Thais. The performers were all dressed in period costume, wigs included. The theatre was packed to bursting and ear wigging on conversations when leaving the theatre enabled me to learn that this ensemble visits Bury every year and for some people it was their third year of going to the concert, but not one piece was repeated from last years programme. Brilliant.
I'm glad you liked the Salzburg photos. If you are very good I'll regail you with some more!! We went to a dinner-concert in the Stiftskeller St Peter restaurant by the Amadeus Consort Salzburg. It was again a period costume set-up...but NO wigs! All Mozart and held in the oldest recorded restaurant in Europe..circa 803 A.D. The music was awesome but the meal...well, what say you? There was "cream of lemon soup with cinnamon", "prime boiled beef of veal with amaretto, parsnips and roasted potato cubes"..(eh?) and "Semi frozen parfait of honey" on a beautifully decorated plate that had a sillhouette of Mozarts bust in dusted cocoa and a stave with a few notes in chocolate icing. It is SO nice, speaking as a classical musician, to see that people do still enjoy classical music in a live setting. There is nothing like it, as far as I'm concerned. I miss performing very badly.Great to get to a concert but I wish it was me up there playing!

Good Morning Wordly Chicks!! I think today will be a lazy one. Sinus and meds make Mel a.......see I can't even think of a word!! Eyes are burning, nose stuffed, head heavy....how can this be when I live in air-conditioning! Guess I'll just have to suck it up and clean the house. The wash is all caught up except for the sheets that will come off the bed today or tomorrow. Forgot to defrost some meat so cooking will be Saturday instead. Maybe DVDs and some reading this weekend and MANY pills!!! Hope you all have great weekends. I know mine will be a restful one!!!

Hi Miss Mel! You posted at exactly the same time as me! How are you holding up? Not too good by the sound of it.Take it easy this weekend and make sure you eat if you are having to rely on pills to get yourself through the days at the moment.Cant have you suffering with gastritis on top of everything else, my friend.
Well I guess it must be time for me to eat something today. Having lectured Miss Shad I'd better practise what I preach.
Ah, the photos, by the way, are...1.View from The Fortress (the missing salad cafe!!) 2. One of the many paintings in the cathedral and 3. Some very good buskers just outside the cathedral who at the time were playing Carmen. Brilliantly talented musicians!!
Ta ta for now. Try be good all of you and yes that would include me too!!

I went to go and get MY breakfast and heard the mail call! We did post together!! Teel I love pics as you already know so this is a great start to my day!! The concert sounded wonderful and one could almost hear the music with your description.
On the sinus front....this too shall pass. Just don't want to run into things now and make PHYSICAL injuries to boot!

Shad~ Teel just reminds me that I wanted to ask if you are still retaining much water and if so what were the results of your tests. I don't think I remember you saying anything about your pills or did you say he cut them down?? I find soy milk and asparagus a good way to get rid of fluid. But I know it doesn't work for everyone. I hope all our love and caring helps while this is going on! ((((((((((SHAD)))))))))))

evening all {that was my impression of a cop} now before i forget SHAD go to www.bbc.co.uk and go to gardeners world they had a program on tonight giving a year in the queens private gardens and it was good you have to go and see they are so big you dont realise how big it is from the outside and the grounds are so complex all the studies and nature programs that go on things you never get to hear about now if i won the lottery id give SHAD the money to start her own business and to travel the world to MEL id give her her own transport and chauffer{a nice sexy ex fireman} and tickets to visit everyone to HAPPY and ds id give trips to go all over this wonderful planet to study all the butterflys and creepy crawlies your hearts desire and the funds to never have to work again so youd have plenty of time to do so to NAE you my freind id give the power to go all over our world and to meet as many influential women as your heart desires not forgetting our shad, mel, happy ,teel and just for fun our mad clan to TEEL there are so many things id like to give you but mainly the good health and happiness to live your dreams and the power to find that family if you should so desire and of course to be able to take holly on your travels of the worlds famous opera houses and of course to visit us all i think benjy and cleo would like holly and promise to behave impecabbly and for me well i already have my hearts desire i have my kids my husband who is also my best freind my family and my dogs i also have some very dear freinds who help me through some bad times and laugh with me through the good and that includes all of you my new found freinds who mean so much to me and have given me the push to get up from bed so many times so i can see into your wonderful and varied lives and for that i thank you all and MEL conner said **** come and give aunt fanny a lift on his bike
kirsty

Oh you girls are so great. I love you all to bits

I won't give up, even though I am bored and tired of it all. No I don't weigh myself everyday, just so happened that I hopped on the scale for the first time in a week and found it had gone up 1.5kg. It is sometimes just all too hard - it's hard to explain, but it just seems that I spend so much time thinking about food and what is good for me, what seems to help and what doesn't and then the wrong thing happens and I chase my tail trying to get this extra weight off. Why doesn't it come off as easily as it goes on. Yes I can see a few changes in the body, yes my clothes are much looser than they were, yes I can go back to a smaller shoe size, but............... there is always a but......... Sometime soon I am going to have to buy health care insurance. I don't want too, I pay enough through my taxes to have health care and it's not my fault that the free system is abused. Now medical insurance takes little notice of your overall health, they don't care about you as such, but they do care if you fall into the so called obese or overweight range as far as their scales are concerned and charge accordingly. So I need some of these kilos to shift and soon. As for the pills the 2nd doc told me not to take. I didn't for a whole week and carried around with me nearly 5kg of water weight mostly in the wrists and ankles and boobs. It took 7 days of pills to get rid of it (and little sleep because I was racing back and forth all night) I don't mind not having them, but not if I am going to be a water balloon for the rest of my days and he doesn't seem to have an alternative remedy. Then there was Jason who said that I should eat more because of the weights and exercise making the muscles work harder and need more sustenance - the direct result of which is this 1.5Kg gain since Monday. I don't know how long it will take to get this off again. Enough of my woes. This too shall pass. I just get soooooo tired of walking the line all the time and the thought of it stretching out forever and ever doesn't really do much for me I can tell you. Roll on death - old age pension is too far off.
DS#1 arrives today. He will be here for a week and then start his new job in Adelaide. I don't know how long he will stay with me, probably 3 or 4 days before going to hang out with his mates. I look forward to seeing him.
DS#2 will be painting most of the day before racing off to the footy. I have requested that he stick to plain walls and I will come along and do the trim as I am able. He grinned and agreed and will probably forget what I said immediately.
I suppose I should now get up and go do things ready for the imminent arrival. My friend Chris from down the road borrowed some bedding for the Canadians and said she would return it this week and hasn't so I need to go back and get that stuff otherwise DS may well freeze in the middle of the night - maybe not as Wellington has been a mite cool lately I gather.
The Champagner rose managed to flower this week. It is supposed to have an almond type scent. For the life of me I can't smell anything on it. Still I thought that about Shocking Blue as well and in it's second year it has got better and better. Champagner is a cream colour sometimes tipped with pink. More than that I can not say as there has only been one flower so far.
Okay, I have rambled long enough. I'd best go sort out the house for the grand arrival and then get ready for Pilates. Oh and I'd best go shop for veges as well. This one is vegetarian. Then I best sort out some recipes to cook for him - perhaps I best do that before the shopping so I know what to buy.
Connor and Mel on a bike. The mind boggles.

Shad, I am really sorry you are so frustrated at the moment and I completely understand. You have really put so much more oommph into your gym workouts, one would think you'd see you'd see the scale moving a bit. The frustrating part is that you are "downsizing" as the muscle you're building gives you more form but as you say, the silly insurance companies only look at the surface details. You could be an anorexic and in the worst of health and a terrible insurance risk, but those numbers would look fabulous compared to someone who was lean and mean and strong. Go figure. Vent, but don't look the faith woman.

And who are you supposed to listen to. I have gotten to the point where there is so much conflicting information that I have had to step away from it a bit, just to sort my head out. This is good, no it's not, yes it is, only if you do it on alternate Tuesdays on odd numbered days... And that's just the stuff that makes sense - I don't even give a second thought to the foolish, fad, gimick stuff.

Anyway, you just keep plugging and focus on being healthy. Enjoy your time with DS#1 this weekend. Find some interesting new vegetarian recipes.

Linus, what a sweet post you made. If I had more money than I needed, I would find a way to get us all together. The problem would be in deciding where to meet. Probably up Teel and Linus' way would be good as it is halfway - not too long of an airplane ride and much lovely country to see. But imagine the fun we could all have if we we were to spend an extended weekend together. Seeing as most of us haven't seen what the others look like, first game would be to figure out who's who just from the looks, eh?

Mel, I have the same Dr. Phil book, I am trying to make my way through it now. I find it's easier to find some time over the weekend than during the week. Asparagus you say for curing water retention? That's interesting. I really like asparagus, will have to eat more of it. I can't do soy with the thyroid. Hope your sinuses have calmed down - don't know if it's been the cooler summer weather or what but mine have really bothered me quite a bit. Not fair since they are so evil over the winter, I look forward to a break over the summer months instead of headaches and a drippy faucet of a nose. Hope you feel better. Sorry to hear of the rotten bus situation. I think you need to find a new friend who has a motorcycle WITH a sidecar so that you can go tooling around the state. Sure is a problem tho when you have to depend on someone for a ride, isn't it?

Teel, wish I could have been with you in Austria. Loved your pictures and the descriptions of your travels. We look forward to more. That cream of lemon soup with cinnamon sounds quite interesting. I'm such a sucker for soups.

Nae, where did you find a lifejacket for the dog? Enjoy your vacation and camping trip. I told DH today that I must pay closer attention to the weather. A cool front kicked in - way cool for this time of year and it's going to be absolutely stunning for camping. I have a day and 1/2 left of vacation and had I planned ahead of time, I could have taken a half day off - DH already had the day off and we could have packed the car and trotted off with as DH says WAY too much STUFF for just 2 days of camping. Oh well I say might be true but don't I always have exactly what you're asking for? I WILL get at least one camping trip in this season, yes I will.

I guess with the nice weather that means we'll focus on getting things done outside for the weekend. Some of my flowers were looking rather droopy which I attributed to the cool weather so far. Sure enough, it was seasonally warm last week and boy did they perk up. Even our little hybiscus bush has tiny buds on it.

Hope you all enjoy the weekend. Is this THE weekend we all promised to be good? *** giggle, giggle ****

Linus, please tell Benjy and Cleo that they needn't bother on Holly's account!!!
I am extremely lucky this weekend. A. and I are going to see an outdoor performance of Carmen tomorrow evening. It is to be held in the grounds of an old, very old hall, I think Tudor dated. I have never been to the hall before and apparently there is a lake and the performance is held in front of the floodlit house and all the lights reflect beautifully in the water....stunning I expect!! Oh and you can picnic in the grounds beforehand...yum yum.
Linus, m'dear, you have so many kind wonderful thoughts in your brain..I think if I won the lottery I wouldn't be around to enjoy it...I'd have dropped dead from the shock!! And as Shad rightly said "Connor and Mel on a bike!"...THIS I have got to see!!!!
Shad I truly hope that life is better for you in the coming days. You have worked far too hard to be disappointed in this way. Have a great time with number 1 son before he starts in Adelaide. How is the weather over there at the moment? Warm enough for a stroll out somewhere? And how is number 2 son's painting colour scheme looking? Are we to look forward to some piccies later in the year?
Happy have you worked out lately how much you have saved since giving up the "weed"? Over 3 months now...nearly 100 days. I think that is an awesome thing to have accomplished and I congratulate you again and again. If only I had your tenacity I might have lost loads of weight by now instead of merrily gaining a few pounds on top of the lots of pounds I had already decided to keep!! Very well done, my friend!!
Roseblush, how is the local racoon population faring? And PLEASE PLEASE will you take a photo for us of Teeka in her life jacket? What a gorgeous fun loving pooch!! Will you take her camping with you? Does she get her own tent?
Mel...shame about the bus wheelchair lift. It makes me so darn mad. Doesn't anyone take a pride in their job anymore? All I can say is try and do a bit of self preservation and relaxation for the next week till you can get out and about again...though I wouldn't hold your breath that it will be properly fixed then...you know how these things go....
Ah I just remembered. Does any one here remember way back at the beginning of the year reading a book on something to do with finding inner self...or life or something along those lines? I just cannot remember what it was called. It was one of those "can't put down" books. I have a feeling it may have been Happy or Mel....Was it a Dr. Phil??
No piccies today. I have to download the second and third photo c.d.'s first....

Happy Saturday Chicks of the World! Or Sunday as the case may be!

Teel~ Dr Phil wrote a book called Self Matters and it also has a companion workbook that you can buy. It's separate of course!!!$$$$ His Ultimate Weight Solution book made such a hit there was a lot of talks going on about Self Matters. Your date sounds delish!!! The lighting alone is wonderful to think of. I hope you both have a great time.

Happy~ get out the sleeping bags and get the butt out there camping before the first snow! I too am tired of the conflicting diet crap. Also of the Govt. changing their minds on what is good and bad and then good again! But through it all, I am weeding out the garbage in my diet and getting healthier at least. Not much thinner but healthier I hope!

Kirsty~ You bring tears to Aunt Fanny's eyes!! Tell Conner in my next lifetime I will come and take him up on that bike ride. Don't want to make Auntie Shad too nervous!!! She's in a dilemma right now. No knowing how she'd react to us flying down the hills of Scotland!!! ((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))) for thinking such sweet and generous thoughts for me!!!

Shad~ ????????????? is all I can say for the weight issue. How about a "real" (lol) diet for 7 days to see if it will make a difference?? I know you're not a fan of fad diets but I couldn't come up with anything else! Hope the weekend with DS1 is a great one and maybe the vegetarian menu will get things moving?! I too can't wait to see DS2's color scheme in pics and your vanity!!!

I think Nae is out swimming with the pooch!!
Have a great Saturday and enjoy. Ours is dark and dank so cleaning and TV are the schedule for today!! Adios Friends!

teel, I forgot....when I looked at the pics, it took me a minute with the first one to realize I had to turn my head!!!!
I laughed so hard that I cried!!! It was the turning point of my day!!!

Where is everyone?? Am I the only one with no life?!?!
Shad the parcel has arrived! I am surprised we are not all arrested!! Jen and I got a great laugh when we saw the MAP!! "They" will think we are spies and trying to locate vulnerable areas!!! She is coming down later and we will hang it up on the wall!
Thank you sooooo much. I have looked all over and was going to order one on-line. The stars can go on the map but the butterflies are going to decorate my old and new wheelchairs if it ever gets here! They are so beautiful!! Happy's pictures come to life! You just made my day!!
Now we must decide how many miles per minutes pedalled?!? So very sweet of you to send it!!! ((((((HUGS))))))
PS~ We loved the ribbon decoration! The map arrived in grand style!! We just saw the map has the butterflies on it where everyone lives!!! How great!!! Who is the star? DS1??? He will have to be moved now!!!
Or is that........ God I forget her name now!!

dont worry mel im here just as im not allowed to sit as my spine has gone on the fritz again i thought id be able to slip on for a nice long blether but dh got my freind to phone me so i couldnt do anything so she called at 7.45 and she hung up at 10.50. so much for my long blether so im just popping on to say if i feel better ill pop on tomorrow and if not ill post a wee one wish you where all here tonight as its the start of the festival and were being bombarded with fireworks from the castle and they really go overboard dogs are under my duvet and the kids are on the balcony and as its minus 2 with the wind chill and they are in there jammies im going to go and rescue them
speak tomorrow
kirsty

The star is to remind us all of just who and where is the centre of the universe and you will see that it is not any country that we live in. It is of course my country. I was going to attach ribbons to all of our addresses and carry them to New Jersey (all roads lead to Mel), but it become a bit hard to get the ribbons to fold up with the map. You can use the stars and/or butterflies to add extra people to map as they come and go. Shaker of course lives a bit north of where I placed the star. I plonked it down near to where I used to live. I'm surprised it arrived so quickly. I was sure it would be opened and checked out thoroughly.
Not much to report here. I picked up DS1 yesterday, actually his plane was early and he was waiting for me and we came home to find little brother and nephew esconced on the couch watching the footy - which of course we won, albeit in a rather nail biting fashion. We then watched the Brisbane Lions demolish their opposition and finally the Bill and went to bed. Today, will be doing a few chores and generally mooching about. BJ doesn't want to do too much during his week here as he is tired from packing, selling, moving and generally doing what one has to do to shift house to a different country. He is talking about going to O'Reilly's up in the mountains for a day to photograph - he's worse than me about photography and you should see his cameras!!!! almost needs a bodyguard to guard the precious jewels, and that is about all apart from catching up with a few friends and family.
So today will be spent sorting out some breakfast food for him - he doesn't like my choice of cereals! shopping and pottering about. Got over last nights dinner with cheese omelets and salad, of which nephew inhaled at great speed and still got around to looking like a refugee and some of the best strawberries I have eaten for a long time - of which nephew ate at least a punnet full on his own and half a loaf of fresh made bread. I won't say how many pieces nephew had, but there is not much left of the loaf. Nephew is passing into typical teenage years - rapid upward growth and insatiable appetite. He's 13 and looks like a stick figure.

Anyway, time to go fix some breakfast, shower and do something else. Catch you all lighter!!!!!

Oh while I think about it - that concert sounds great Teel. With the reflections and all. There used to be a place in New Plymouth in NZ that had concerts in a sound shell across a lake. It was a delight to go on a still night and listen to the music, see the swans gliding across the lake and listen to beautiful music. Yours sounds just as good. Yum Yum - feasts for the soul.

Ok Miss Mel, since you started talking about your parcel, you will now have to give us a less cryptic version of what it is since you have peaked my curiousity. I take it that it's some sort of map of distances so you can track your pedalling to visit us all but what's with the stars and butterflies?

At the nature museum they have a video of Monach butterflies and their migration south in the winter. They congregate in a specific grove of trees and their numbers are so great that the weight of them is enough to snap the limbs off the trees if you can even imagine that! So did Shad send you some butterflies to carry you and your magic chair across the winds to wave hello and stop for a spot of tea???? Just be careful flying over Scotland and you don't want to catch a firework over Kirsty's festival and go up in flames

Ok, so if I won the lottery then I could go to school for therapeudic massage and could then help you relieve some aches and pains in the back, spines, necks and so forth. Until then, all I can offer is to share some of my aspirin and linament. The linament's active ingredients are camphor and turpentine - stinks something fierce but DH swears by it. If you call ahead, I'll warm up some towels and get the linament ready for you. I have about 12 boxes of tea, pick a flavor and I'll put a pot on too.

DH and I have finally figured a bit of an answer to the dilema of what to do under the tree out front. We picked up some materials at the store just now. He's starting it while I get dinner on the table. Will take a picture once it's done. Nothing fancy as we are trying to conserve funds for my imminent "not so vacation" but it looks better than it did a few weeks ago.

Best go chop up the salad now, take care ladies. Why so cold in your part of town Linus????? Summer over already? Or are you just closer to the North Pole than I thought?