Love thursday...oh my beloved, I will see thee soon.

this is a photo of the last rock off lands end.

Happy love Thursday everyone.

Tomorrow night my husband, child, and me will be travelling down to Cornwall, the land that has captured my heart and sole.

The trip down takes for-ever, approximately 5-6 hours on a good day...and it's boring. The best part of the journey is stopping at Exeter services for snacks as they have a Marks and Spencer there!!.
The journey is packed with landmarks as we make our way down, I look out for them and get ever more excited as I spot them.

I first went to Cornwall with my husband about 10 years ago. We didn't have a car so heavily relied upon my mother-in-law for transport, at this point I didn't really know her that well but soon got to!!! The love affair was instant.

We then had our very first holiday in a cute little B&B in St Ives and the love just grew.

I love the people, the pace of life, the smell of the air, the scenery, the out door way of life, but best of all...some of my husbands family live there and I love each and every one of them.

When we go we normally stay with my sister-in law, Kate. She is a fantastic woman and I seem to laugh the whole time that I am there..her husband is such a hoot and her 2 wonderful daughters just take my son off with them and I never see him!!! he is always playing with "the girlies". He will only get dressed when the girlies do in case he misses something or won't go to bed until they do, the youngest is just 18 months older than Theo and the oldest if 5 years older, so they all get on tremendously well.

We have been counting how many sleeps to go for the past month!!! now it's only one more sleep but he has to go to school as normal tomorrow...god help his teachers as the child is already wired about the holiday!!

I would love to move down there and would move right now if I thought that we could get work relevant to what we do.
My husband once took me for a drive round the none holiday towns once to show me that some parts aren't as nice as the holiday towns. True they didn't have that holiday feel about them but I have rose tinted glasses on when it comes to Cornwall, almost blinkered!!! His trick back fired as the villages were surrounded by breath taking country side, I had visions of 3 of us trekking come rain or shine...that's what wet weather gear is for ...right?

So this love Thursday I dedicate to Cornwall.

Please leave links to your love Thursday.

the first weigh in

(this is a cake that I made for my friends birthday, of which I would love to sink my teeth into right now> I thought the image appt for this entry!)


Over the past week I have had a range of emotions and my body has gone through a state of complete shock!
The emotions have been pride at the fact that I seem to have stuck to the eating plan, grief for the food I can no longer consume, knackered due to all the walking that I have done, and tired...just tired.
My body however, is not amused. So used to crisps and delicious crusty white bread with a very nice coarse pate, that it has been screaming at me. But I do feel better (it may be placebo) on the inside.

This week I have eaten 12 apples, 7 banana's a ton of carrots, a whole swede, broccoli (of which I hate, but apparently its packed with good stuff), an amount of water that keeps me needing a wee, enough fat free yoghurt's to feed a small army, 2 punnets of strawberries, all fat has been cut off my meat....so pretty good for me. I have weighed and measured and written down all that I have eaten...no small task...I have checked and re-checked the fat content and added up what is ok to eat....in short, my food and what it contained has dominated my week!!

The exercise has been fantastic. I am not a lover of the gym, I find it incredibly boring and I am not the sort of person that can really take the elite that are gym goers...they are in a league all of their own aren't they???
I have walked my little socks off this week and feel really good for it. It does seem the more exercise you do the more energy you have...go figure. But when I get into my bed at night I feel as though I am taking a well earned rest...brilliant.

So off I went today with my new hobby (food) and my new priority (exercise) fully expecting to loose about 4 pounds....2 AND A HALF POUNDS...I mean, I have worked bloody hard this week for 2 and a half pounds???? enough said about that.

I think that if I am not careful this week I will be back to square one. Anything less than maybe 7-8 pounds is such a fragile weight loss and go can back on with one binge week.

So I press on and continue with a slightly miffed heart.

My thought / question for this entry is....what in your life have you tried really really hard at but, right at the finishing post has annoyed you???

I am taking action

My biggest thing this year is to get rid of my weight..there is alot of it.
In line with this, I today, joined a slimming club - which shall remain nameless.
It was fun. At the start they introduce new members (me) and ask why are we joining - what other answer can one come up with other than...I'm fat and want to loose weight??
This didn't go down to well, I think she was expecting some sort of explanation like i am loosing baby weight (5 years of baby weight, I think not), or I have a big wedding to attend (already done that this year), but no, I sat there and told the truth like my mamma taught me!

Anyway, I have a 4 different diet, or lifestyle chooses as they call it, to follow. I'm confused as to what I can eat with what and when and how much and of what colour...taking a breath now.

Apparently, on one of the "lifestyle choose plans2 on woman lost 10 pounds in one week - bring it on!! Although I really don't think 10 pounds in 1 week is healthy though do you??

In total I want to get rid of about 28 pounds / 2 stone worth of extra blubber..I know I can do it if I apply myself as I have done it before...something tells me it will be very different this time round though!!
But in saying that I feel good already. I feel good because it means I am taking control of this area of my life...empowered.

So here I go...get rid of 10 pounds first and then go from there is the plan, but if that goes OK then I will go for the 2 stone weight loss.

So my thought / question for this entry is...we are nearly 4 months in to the new year and how is your new years resolutions going???

ooooh ebay

I love ebay, I have bought so much on it and I have to have a laugh at some of the stuff that people list on there!!

The prices vary for similar items wildly but I do, I love it!!

I recently spent about £40 and bought about 3 pairs of shoes and about 3 tops...where else can you go to get such cheap items??

i have rules about it though..If I can wear it it either has to be vintage or brand new, so shoes and tops are included in that. Bags and things have to look semi new and I never ever buy things that I think I can cheaper elsewhere. As some of you know my car was recently raped and murdered and so I am looking for a new one that I can love and cherish - and this is where ebay is crap...cars are soooo out priced on there, having a look in the local rag and on auto trader and so ebay is not good value for money here.

TODAY, my dear friends, I am now selling on ebay!!! laughing as I say this. I never normally sell my cast offs, I tend to take them down to the charity shop, but if I have worn the boots once, why shouldn't I sell em!?!?!
I thought it would need more effort than it did. It only asked for the minimal amount of information on my goods, which is really good news as I tend to get really bored with that sort of thing - being blonde and all.

So I will let you know how my goods sell, I have to admit that it is rather addictive and I now looking around for other things that I can flog - its all rather exciting!!

So my thought / question for this entry is what have you done recently that you have never done before and can see yourself getting addicted to???

factual Friday

I thought that I would create factual Friday. This will either be a single item while the facts about it or a list of facts that I thought you might find interesting. I like what I call crap fact, things that you can just come out with at dinner parties and such!

So here is the first factual Friday!!

SALT

why is salt so bad for us? we are told by the new food labels on packets how much salt is on the products and if its in the green zone or red zone - but do you actually know why it's so bad for us???

so here goes.............

Salt is a commonly occurring mineral, the technical name of which is sodium chloride. It is the sodium part of salt that is important. The body needs a certain amount of sodium to function properly.

Sodium helps to maintain the concentration of body fluids at correct levels. It also plays a central role in the transmission of electrical impulses in the nerves, and helps cells to take up nutrients.

In adults, when levels of sodium are too high, the body retains too much water and the volume of bodily fluids increases.

With high levels of fluid circulating through the brain there is a greater chance that weaknesses in the brain's blood vessels are exposed, and that they may burst, causing a stroke.

Similarly, a greater volume of fluid passing through the heart can place additional strain on the organ, increasing the possibility of coronary disease.

An adult will be able to remove salt from the body through the kidneys into the urine.

Experts estimate that if average consumption was cut to 6g a day it would prevent 70,000 heart attacks and strokes a year.

Reading food labels can be confusing as they often give the sodium, rather than the salt content of food. To calculate the amount of salt in a product, multiply the sodium content by two-and-a-half times.

So there we go - salt in a nutshell - happy eating!!

My question for this entry is what crap fact do you often tell???

happy st patricks day

Not being of Irish descent, I don't celebrate St Patricks day but St Georges day instead.
My husband has some sort of Irish thread to his genealogy somewhere along the way, something about priests coming over - unsure, can't confirm!!
But if you do celebrate, happy st Patricks day.

here's some facts for my Irish friends:

St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD. It is also a worldwide celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland, and a provincial holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Blue, not green, was originally the colour associated.

St Patrick is patron of fishermen in the Loire, where a legend associates him with a blackthorn bush. The saint is said to have slept beneath it, and when he awoke the next day, Christmas, the bush flowered, and was said to have continued to do so every Christmas until its destruction during the First World War.

According to legend, on the day of Judgement, while Christ judges all other nations, St Patrick will be the judge of the Irish.

comic relief

so my son's school sent a memo round last week saying that the kids could wear something funny for money - so he went to school in his favourite PJ's and dressing gown. He does have slippers but they are old and rather manky so I hunted (and I do mean hunted) the shops yesterday for new slippers for him - where do we go now that adams and woolworths has gone???
so I ended up getting him some very plain black plimsolls - remember them from your school years.

anyways. so today is comic relief and out of all the evening long charity campaigns that are on TV, this one has to be the one that hits me the hardest.

I was watching celebrities doing stuff for charity like climbing mountains and doing a bit with Sir Alan sugar and couldn't help but laugh along - my kind of watching. In amongst this fun was the serious side of why they were doing it. There was this one where a baby was dying of malaria and it hurt to watch it. The child was about 5 months old and was just lifeless in its mothers arms and all they need is mosquito nets and some drugs - how hard can that be??

I like the way that comic relief works - they have set up loans where people can apply and then pay them back - instead of waiting for free handouts. A woman in Uganda has 5 kids and had nothing - NOTHING. then she got a loan for just £10 and started to grow coffee. She would take it to market but there was sooo much competition she would often walk 10K with bags of coffee on her back to return home (another 10k back) with all of her coffee.
She then set up a coffee house and now sells it worldwide along with it being fairtrade. She is doing really well and she says that she uses all of her money to put her 5 kids through school so that they can become accountants to help out...how fantastic is that...this woman still does back breaking work but is very happy.

The things that we moan and groan about are relevant to the lives that we lead and especially in todays current climates with people loosing their houses and jobs and having to go to refuge centres. I think, we should look to those people who haven't much but are happy. yes they are living hand to mouth, but aren't we all in our own little way, the difference there is the the distance they have ti travel to get medical help or are sooo reliant upon the weather for their food and they have to pay for education...it all seems a little more than here.
The thing that upsets me most is the medical side of things.
Recently I have been in hospital and got instant test and results - I felt truly humble to the NHS. Over in places with no NHS they still have to pay for their drugs and the god damn government is sitting in their nice houses with food on the table whilst their people are missing meals so that their kids don't die....it makes me sooo friggin made.
I will be an avid watcher and will donate as much as I can afford. If I could drop everything and go ut to help, I would like to say I would but I think I would be become tooo emotionally involved and would need some serious counselling when I got back. I appreciate that sounds selfish but they need someone supportive and not a liability!

So donate and give everything you can for these people and for people here...dig deep and then deeper. It costs just £5 to but a mosquito net - how many nets will you buy tonight - how many lives will you save by picking up the phone and donating your money too???
watch the show, laugh and cry on be on an emotional rollercaoster.
Do it - save a life.

my thought for this blog is how many lives ar you intending to save?