Where's the chicken Max?

The Chicken - Max's favourite toy. Sadly now gone to chicken heaven!He's gone through 3 so far!!

Ruby Tuesday

Just some of my pressed and carnival glass collection.

Why not join in and post a Ruby Tuesday picture yourself, the rules are simple. Just post a picture with red in it, it can have as little or as much as you like, but it must be one of your own and it can be of anything you like. For more details hop over to Mary the Teach at Work of the Poet and check out the blogroll.

My Diet Monday: Week One - 280lbs

Today is my 100th Post and as a special celebration I am starting a new thread, which will follow me on my journey to Weight Loss Land. I hope you will join me on my journey and be my companions over the coming months in my search for the Great Goalweight. I will need all the encouragement I can get as I battle the Dreaded Munchies and the Rumbly Tumbleys :-).

Over the last few years the weight has been piling on and I am ashamed to admit that I have now reached the horrendous total of 20 stone(280lbs - GASP)!!! And as I am only 5' 2" this is not a good look - not to mention the health implications involved. In fact I am doing a very good impression of Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars!

Last week was going to be the first week, but unfortunately myself and hubby both went down with gastroenteritis! Although I did lose the magnificent sum of 8lbs over 2 days, as this was all fluid it has now been regained and I am back to where I was at the beginning of last week.

As this is the 1st week of the month, I figured this would be as good a time as any to grasp the nettle and get going. I also figured doing it so publicly would give me the added incentive I need. (Although it's taken a lot of courage to actually admit how heavy I had become!).

As I need a kick start to lose the first 2 or 3 stone fairly quickly for health reasons, I will be on the SlimFast diet for the first 10 weeks and then a more regulated healthy eating regime from then on. I know some people will not approve, but I also think one has to use what works for them & I know this will work for me - or should do. This is a long term project divided into 3 month sub sections. So the first sub section will take me up to Xmas & New Year and the goal is to lose a minimum of 2 stone, but preferably up to 3 in that time frame.

Every Monday I will post an update of my progress and let you all know how I am getting on - wish me luck :-)

Scrapbook Saturday 27/9

Click pic to enlarge
Here is my entry for Scrapbook Saturday. It's one of my favovourite photos and was taken when my daughter was aged about four - she's 25 now!

Most of the elements used are from Joni Gray and this particular set can be downloaded HERE for FREE.

Unfortunately since I got back from holiday last weekend, since early Tuesday morning (3am!)I have been down and out with gastroenteritis, as has Hubby! So we have been spending a lot of time in the bathroom, hence my quietness on the blogging & EC etc front. However I am starting to feel more myself and gradually getting back into the swing of things and looking forward to catching up with all my friends in blogging world :-)

Don't forget to hop on over to MammaDawg.com and add yourself to the SS blogroll.

More Scrapbook Saturday posts with Freebies:
Pepsi & Max 2
Caravanning Capers
Calendulas and Candy

Back from the Lakes!

We are now back from a great week in the Lake District. We took the caravan to Lake Windermere, where we stayed at Fallbarrow in Bowness. This is a great site, right on the lakes edge, with all the touring pitches divided by hedges and each with their own water, electricty & TV supply plus drainage. Our pitch on RogerGround was very handy for the shower block and only a stones throw from the lake itself.

The dogs were as good as gold and behaved themselves beautifully all week, despite the number of ducks and swans they saw every time we took them for their walks down to the lake. They even got to go on the top deck of an open top bus between Bowness and Ambleside and then back down the lake on a steamer, which was a real adventure for them!

We did a fair bit of touring round the area. Went out to the coast and saw Barrow in Furness and Grange over Sands on the first day. Wasn't particularly impressed with that part of the Cumbrian coast to be honest, although Barrow was interesting for it's industrial heritage and shipbuilding. There are still large docks there and they are still building submarines there.

Our next trip was over to Coniston Water and round the lake there. This is where Donald Campbell was killed in 1967 trying to beat the world water speed record in Bluebird. It is also the setting for Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons books. The water was very tranquil and smooth and the scenery very prety. Most of the houses in this area are built from the local granite, some of which are a lovely greeny colour and have no evidence of mortar between the rocks, so they appear to be dry stoned, like all the field walls in the Lake District.

On a couple of evenings we pootled into Bowness which is literally a couple of minutes from the entrance to Fallbarrow, and even I could manage to walk to the town centre easily, despite my bad back! We strolled round checking out all the pretty shops and restaurants, and then went for a drink in the Albert pub. We spotted a nice looking restaurant called the Postillion which we bookmarked for dinner on Friday.

Friday was our big touring day, when we covered the most ground and really saw the Lake District properly. Altogether we visited 9 lakes including Grasmere, Thirlmere,
Buttermere, Bassenthwaite, Crummock Water, Derwent Water, Ullswater (my favourite!), Brothers Water & back to Windermere. We took a look at the towns of Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith and wended our way up and down through Honister Pass and Kirkstone Pass. We stopped for lunch in Buttermere and I had a lovely Brie & Bacon baguette with chips in the Bridge Hotel's bar.

Later that evening we walked the very short distance into Bowness and tried our luck at the Postillion Restaurant we had found earlier in the week. Unfortunately we had neglected to book a table and were told to come back at 9pm (an hour & a half later!). Not fancying having to eat so late we looked for an alternative and found a lovely little family run Italian Restaurant called the Villa Positano hidden just off Ash Street. This turned out to be a real find as the food and atmosphere was great. Despite our not having a reservation they found us a table and service was excellent.(Having read reviews for this restaurant on the web since returning home, I think we were very lucky to get in at all!). I had calamari provencale (squid in a tomato, onion & garlic sauce) followed by pappardele pasta with chicken livers in a white wine and chili sauce, both were delicious, and followed it all up with tiramisu. And not too expensive either.

Saturday morning we leisurely packed up the van and pulled off site just before 12. Had a pleasant journey home in the sunshine and 4 hours later arrived at the farm we keep our caravan in storage. This is a CASSOA Gold site and the security is excellent, so we never have to worry about having it stolen or vandalised.

Twenty minutes later we were home and remembered to switch off the burglar alarm as we went into the house. Much as I like going away and visiting new places, I like coming home to the comfort of my own bed even better!

Wordless Wednesday 10/9: Before & After!

Click pictures to enlarge

Scrapbooking your life story

Here's something of interest to my scrapbooking readers, in case you are not already aware of it. It's happening over at Scraps of Mind, where Karen has just introduced a new series by guest blogger Kylie Moore from KylieM Designs. The subject is How to Scrapbook your Life Story, and judging by the first part, published last week, it's going to prove very interesting and helpful to anyone who would like to take on such a project. There is also a Free Life Story Quick Page to get you started.

So head on over to Scraps of Mind and see if you would like to get involved in what could be a very exciting series.