No we didn't go mad!! And some great news

Thank you for all the congratulations, I'm still on a high from losing that weight, we'll definitely be having a 3 day diet stint every week or 2.  I don't mind being very strict for 3 days, it'll help us to continue losing weight without getting bored and giving up altogether.  

On Saturday for dinner we had a 1/4 pounder burger each, shop bought frozen ones, which I topped with blue cheese, with oven chips and an olive ciabatta roll spread with Bertolli and mayo, to stuff the chips in.  Oh and coleslaw on the side as a token bit of veg.  The chip butty was lovely, the burger was just alright - but it kept repeating on me and gave me indigestion all night.  Think I'll stick to making my own in future.  Sunday's dinner was lean minced beef with loads of chopped veggies in, served on horseradish mash, lovely.  Other than the chip butty, oh and a packet of crisps whilst watching Strictly Saturday night (fantastic, by the way - both Strictly and the crisps!), we didn't go overboard foodwise at all really.

Out to town this morning, to pick up something on order.  No, not a Christmas gift, something practical.  We like soft lighting in our lounge in the evenings, one fairly dim floor lamp behind husband's armchair, a small lamp on the desk and a large glass jar on the mantel filled with fairy lights.  It's all very restful and easy on the eyes....trouble is, I can't see to read or crochet, the lighting is just too dim.  So I'm getting a floor lamp to stand beside my chair, it's called a Father and Child lamp, an uplighter with a small adjustable reading lamp lower down the stand, should be just right for me to see by in the evenings, each light has an independent switch so I don't have to have both on if not needed.

Some good news (for a change!) - my mother was undergoing tests for a gastric problem, the possibility of stomach cancer had cropped up.  The tests showed no sign of cancer, she has a hiatus hernia.  Not very nice for her, of course, but what a relief it's nothing more serious.  She's been told to eat small meals, little and often, and nothing too spicy (she doesn't like spicy anyway).  She already takes medication to protect her stomach from the side effects of her aspirin.

Husband's got the dentist today, eye and hearing tests Wednesday.  Betty's going to the groomers on Thursday for a bath and nail clip.  I shall be doing some baking this week (I missed that last week), and have some chutney to try and pep up.  I made a batch of fruity chutney back in the Spring, 6 jars....it's ok but nothing special, not spicy enough and not up to my usual standard.  4 unopened jars of it have been sat in the cupboard ever since, we had 1 jar a few months back, didn't have another for a while as we weren't keen.  I opened another jar a couple of weeks ago, thinking it might have matured and got better with age - nope, still boring.  So I'm going to put it all back in the pan, add some more spices and a couple of chillies, bit of brown sugar and vinegar and reboil.  Hopefully that'll bring it up to scratch, I certainly don't want to chuck it away.