PigPog

Right! Back in business after a brief sortakinda holiday. Before my little break I was getting a little downhearted and frustrated with how my progress on the plan had slowed down and my interest in the whole thing had started to wane. So, a break was just what the doctor ordered. Although I had two separate 3-day breaks from the diet I did still go to group and weigh in. Defeating the object? No, not really. It seemed sensible to keep an eye on things in case my time “off the leash” was doing far more damage than I was preparing for. As it turned out, it wasn’t too bad at all.

4th February

This was after a weekend of burgers at Wetherspoons, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, chocolate and cheese and biscuits, so I was expecting a gain. I lost 2 and a half pounds.

11th February

I wasn’t going to weigh in on Mr and Mrs night. In fact, Michael and I were only there really to photograph the winners. When the winners turned out to be us, the camera had to be turned over to someone else. Thank you Chris for such a great job!

At the end of the evening I decided to pay a visit to Mr Scale, who informed me that I had gained 3lb. Trust me, I had earned every ounce.

18th February

Back in business this week, and after the obligatory fish and chips on the beach and enough alcohol to turn me into a stumbling comedy drunk for the night followed by just 4 days back on plan, the most I was hoping was for was to have not gained any more than the 3lb I put on the previous week. I lost the 3lb, and one more for good luck.

All of this takes my weight loss to a total of eight stone, eight pounds or 120lb or 54.4kg.

I enjoyed the break, and now I’m back on plan I’m enjoying food optimising again. And for the next six weeks I’m not alone. Yes, friends, Michael’s slimming too. And for a good cause. Both of us are participating in Slimming World’s Slimathon. I’m going to be keeping on the tried and true Food Optimising plan, while Michael is doing his own thing, including joining me for Slimming World meals and cutting back on his daily pint of Ben & Jerry’s. Want to sponsor us? Please do! Check out our page on Justgiving for more details.

Ah, it’s good to be back. The journey continues!

Or, if you prefer, sponsor Michael. We’re both taking part in Slimming World’s 6-week Slimathon to raise money for the NSPCC. Our fundraising page can be found here, and I’ll keep you all posted on our progress!

Thanks!

Back in August, I received a phone call from my mum.

> “Don’t worry, but I’m in hospital.”

Of course, I’ve never done what that woman told me to, so on hanging up I kicked off a couple of weeks of panic, anxiety and worry over what was going on. I only received information in dribs and drabs… she was having an operation, it was to do with her stomach problems, she was in surgery, took a little longer than expected… and then a week later found out that it was emergency surgery to remove a tumour.

Since then, Mum’s had to learn to live with a stoma which she nicknamed “Fred”. Mum tolerated Fred’s presence for six months, living life to the full, including going on holiday twice. Last weekend she went back into hospital to undergo a reversal operation, to have Fred out of her life and return to functioning normally. The op was on Monday, and once again I’m receiving just bits and bobs of news from the hospital and the lovely Derek. It seems the op was a success but from what I can gather recovering from it is a bit of a struggle.

Times like this I really feel the 200-odd miles between us, and part of me just wants to drop everything and race up there to be by her side, to watch her every move, to make sure she has everything she needs. But I know she’s in good care, the staff at King’s Mill are excellent, and if I did turn up, she’d kill me.

When we talk to her on the phone Michael always quacks at her, because either a) Mum’s fondness of the phrase “mi duck” or b) Michael’s a bit silly. She loves to hear the ‘quack quack’, so please, send some healing silly quacky goodness to my mum today.

Keep on keeping on, Mum. Dawlish is waiting for you in April.

Decided to abandon my planned theme for the week and go back to a project I had started for Slimming World. This is an information board about Flexible Syns, and will hopefully be a useful little extra for us all to enjoy at group.

I have made things today, and I had a lot of fun doing it. However, having failed to get a decent shot of the things I’ve made and at the same time realising how crappy they are, I think they’ll stay hidden for the time being. If I’m going to give you people a Fimo Space Hopper and a Fimo Bod, they should be good. These aren’t. But I had a larf doing it.

So, to compensate for the lack of anything decent from me for the second day of my retro week, please enjoy this little YouTube gem, featuring the yellow frocked b*stard himself:

Back in the day The Capstone was where all the swingers and hip cats hung out.

Meanwhile, in reality, Capstone Restaurant is in Ilfracombe and has this fab old sign which inspired me to knock this up for kicking off the third week of Thing A Day… Retro Week!

And, before the Pedant Alliance come after me with sticks I should point out that the Grocer’s Apostrophes are intentional.

We’ve lived here in Devon for over a year and I’m still bowled over by the beauty of the place. Moving from a fairly nondescript suburban housing development where the view was just more of the same houses to, well, this:

It’s incredible. I’ve spent a great deal of time staring at this view open-mouthed. I still can’t believe we live here.

The great thing about being here in Tiverton, not far from an attraction known as “Devonshire’s Centre”, is that we can travel to either of the coasts in the time it used to take us to get to work on a wet morning. And when the weather’s good and we have the time, we love to get out there and make the most of it. Here are some of my thoughts on our recent visits to just a few of Devon’s fabulous coastal spots.

The North Coast – Lynton and Lynmouth to Barnstaple

The north coast is rugged. Seriously rugged. It’s walking boots and things with “The North Face” stamped all over them, and Real Ale and an excuse to blow a fortune at Millets. As the sign welcoming you to the area will tell you, it’s where Exmoor meets the sea which it does so in an explosion of breathtaking scenery.

Lynton and Lynmouth are villages separated by a gorge. Normal people who visit Lynton at the right time of year would travel between the towns using the clifftop railway. But some people either aren’t that sensible or arrive out of season when the thing is out of commission and find themselves very delicately negotiating the route down on foot and, fuelled perhaps by fish and chips in Lynmouth, charging back up again but pausing every five minutes to beg for oxygen, sherpas and St Bernards bearing brandy.

The rugged landscape continues along to the west of Lynton and emerges several gut-churning miles in Combe Martin. From there it’s just a few minutes along some more impressive scenery to Ilfracombe, one of the larger coastal towns in North Devon. I haven’t really got much to say about Ilfracombe, as it seemed the entire town was closed. Maybe another visit between April and September will see it with more life.

There was certainly no shortage of life in Barnstaple, the next town along, when we visited yesterday. Barnstaple is the shopping destination for North Devon holidaymakers and Michael’s parents certainly seemed to enjoy wandering around its variety of shops with us despite the bitter cold wind.

The South Coast – Exmouth and Sidmouth

The south coast is altogether more tranquil than the rugged North. Although there is no shortage of hills and beautiful scenery anywhere in Devon, the towns along the south coast suggest a more relaxed pace. It’s cream teas and craft fairs and sitting on a bench by the sea and watching the world go by. Exmouth is our most frequent destination along the south coast as it’s only about 20 minutes from Exeter. In comparison to the towns on the north coast, Exmouth was positively buzzing with activity when we visited last Sunday – a car boot sale at the Hall and an Antiques Fair at the Pavilion. A perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Sidmouth is utterly gorgeous in just about every way. It’s the ultimate Devon seaside town. Streets of interesting little shops, cafes and hotels, a sandy beach, and as a backdrop, the magnificent Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. You can be admiring little seaside souvenirs in the shops, and then just up the road be admiring imposing red cliffs and preparing yourself to tackle Jacob’s Ladder.

There is so much of both coasts that we haven’t explored yet – out further west to the north are Croyde, Westward Ho! and Clovelly; and to south further west are Dartmouth, Salcombe, Plymouth and going on into our neighbouring county that we’re really looking forward to exploring at some point – Cornwall.

We we are very lucky to be living in such wonderful surroundings.

Last photo for Devon week is this shot of the River Taw in Barnstaple. Tomorrow, I’ll be posting a piece featuring all the photos from the last few days all about Devon’s north and south coasts.

Hele Bay, near Ilfracombe.

Sidmouth

Exmouth

These pics and others will feature in a piece I’m working on to finish off Devon week.

Okay, so this only qualifies as a ‘thing’ because:

• The photo was taken in Devon. (week 2)
• It’s a thing for Slimming World (week 1)
• I cropped it.

Let me explain. Michael and I went along to group tonight with the intention of photographing another one of our group competition nights. We were thinking we’d sit quietly, take some snaps of the winners and enjoy sharing the results. One slight problem… we were the winners, leaving one of the other members (fortunately, a keen photographer so she knew her way around the D40) to take the snaps on our behalf. So, a bit of a fail for “Thing A Day”, but another bit of silverware for the desk and another certificate for the album.

Back to business with the ‘things’ tomorrow, but I won’t be uploading anything tomorrow as I won’t be home. So you’ll be getting two on Wednesday.

And for JohnA, I’ll end with Slimming World haiku:

Bow down and worship The incredible shrinking Sam And, of course, Michael.

See you on Wednesday!