Decluttering

 Thank you for the lovely comments, I am actually starting to see a difference when I look in the mirror, the fat stomach is getting smaller.  At present though it's beginning to sort of empty out, leaving wrinkly saggy skin....pretty disgusting really.  Hopefully, that might improve in time...although my skin's not youthful and elastic anymore so it might not!  Still, nobody has to see it (except husband, poor bloke 😂) and it's got to be better than fat!

We've finally begun doing a major declutter - like most people, having lived here for several years we've accumulated a lot of stuff, a lot of which doesn't even get used anymore.  I've been wanting to do it for ages (years even) but husband wasn't really on-board with it before.  Now he is though, as his garage is so full of junk he could barely get in it and could never find anything.  Yesterday he filled the trailer with an old sofa and fridge, plus more assorted junk, and we did a tip run, the first of many I expect.  I sorted out my wardrobes (one in the spare room) and drawers, accumulating a huge pile of unwanted clothes on the bed.  I'm washing them all then will bag them up and sell them as job lots on our local FB marketplace page.  The same with bed linen - I reckon I have about 8 or 10 sets....how many do we need for goodness sake?!  Only 2 really, one on the bed and one spare.

I have lots of surplus kitchenware cluttering up the cupboards, so that can go too, along with ornaments and collectable china.  Years ago I used to collect Chinese ginger jars and pottery, none of it worth much, just bits I picked up for pennies at boot sales simply because I liked them.  Well, ever since we've lived here (8 years), it's all been wrapped up in newspaper in a cupboard in the utility room, so it's not like I'm going to miss it.  Besides, I don't fancy dusting it all if I did have it out on display 😂.  So very busy for the next week or so, but we'll have a lovely uncluttered house (and garage and shed) at the end of it.  The trick will be not filling it up again....

Big smiles

 Thank you for all the lovely comments about my drawings, you're all very kind.  Special thanks to you Jill - praise from a real life very talented artist is amazing!  Any tips would be welcome!

On the dieting front, we're still going strong, it's become a way of life now and we're both feeling the benefits.  I'm very pleased to say that I've now lost a stone - can't see it in the mirror, although husband says my face looks slimmer.  I can definitely feel it though, my clothes are looser - in fact I've had to stop wearing a favourite pair of cropped jeans as they are now so loose they practically fall down.

I'm losing very slowly, at the rate of about half a pound a week, sometimes a whole pound, occasionally nothing but then a pound or 2 the following week.  Whilst it would be lovely to lose 5 or 6 pounds a week 😂, I know it ain't gonna happen and losing slowly means we have time to really adjust to the new eating way of life.

Not been on the exercise bike much recently as I've had loads of pain and stiffness in my hip and back, although it's easing off a bit now.  Didn't help that I ran out of my cbd oil, have stocked up again now so that's helped.  We're off to the beach with Betty and a picnic today, not been for 3 or 4 weeks partly due to my hip/back (walking on sand or rough terrain inflames my hip), but also because the little chalet park was full of tourists, so more people and dogs about.  Most of them will have gone home now.  It's cloudy at the mo, not cold at all though and is forecast to be sunny in a while.

Lovely week!

This week has just rushed by, it's been a busy one and I can't believe it's Friday already.  I've been to the chiropodist and had my hair cut (not by the chiropodist!), took Betty to the vet for an ear check, been grocery shopping, went up on the Quantocks with a couple of friends for another lovely dog walk, did some more watercolour painting.  But the highlight of the week was an arranged meeting for lunch with my brother and sister in law, and on a different day a visit from my best friend, all of whom I haven't seen for months.  It was absolutely wonderful.  When we'll be able to do it again I don't know.

To reply to a few comments:-

sb - I'm hoping to get a new laptop, but in the meantime I'll look into getting a stand or some sort of holder for my Fire tablet, thank you.

Heather - There's a Mens Shed in Bridgwater, apparently, I did mention it to husband some while back but he wasn't interested.  In any case, it's closed currently.

Hazel, good idea to crochet blankets for the RSPCA.

Mrs Tiggywinkle - I do know about blankets for babies ideally not having holes in (so their fingers/toes don't get caught), the design i'm using is a very close weave.  And i'm using Stylecraft Special baby acrylic DK, no wool fibres.  But thank you.

Husband is really getting into the idea of wood carving, he's done a couple of practise pieces and come to the conclusion he needs some other attachments for his multitool thing, he's ordered some.  He's after some stencils now, to make letters and numbers for house signs (we need one for a start).  He also picked up a thick piece of tree trunk discarded on the roadside and brought it home, he's going to cut it into slices and use those.  It's all keeping him busy and he seems to be enjoying himself.

Some photos:-

Ponies on the Quantocks the other day.  Betty was quite keen to go play with them....fortunately she was on the lead.

Some of the watercolour drawings I've been doing lately:-

Lavender.  The bow's all wrong, need more practise with that, but I was quite pleased with how the flowers came out.

First time I've tried a sunflower.  It's not right yet, I hope to do it better with practise, as I'd like to use one as a card topper.

A get well card for a dear friend.  I've drawn quite a few lily flowers now, in different colourways, think they're my favourite flowers to draw.  Although I don't actually like lilies much - well, it's the smell I don't like.

I tried drawing a rose, but just couldn't get the shape of the petals right.  I'll get there eventually, will watch a few more youtube tutorials.

H for H - looks promising!

This morning I mentioned the idea of wood carving or whittling to husband...hmm, he said, looking mildly interested.  I set him up with some appropriate videos on youtube, then left him to it while I got on with making soup for lunch (roasted red pepper and homegrown tomatoes, yummy).

Looks like success!  He found several videos of wood carving, some with stencils, on blocks of wood, using a small dremel multitool thing - he's hooked!  Must be, he spent an hour showing me things and telling me all about them...I'm just glad he's finally found something that seems to really interest him.  He's placed an order for some tools, and has sourced some small blocks of wood - a neighbour has loads from a home project he's doing.  I'm very pleased he's so keen.

We're off up to the Quantocks dog walking with friends this afternoon, it's sunny and fairly warm, if a bit breezy.

Look! And H for H...

Look what arrived in the post:-

The lovely bag that Rachel (Rachelradiostar of Eternally 28 blog) made for me.  It's a dog walking bag, the zipped pocket at the front holds poo bags which you can pull out through the cleverly designed hole, rather than scrabbling about for them in the bottom of your bag, or searching all your pockets.  It's just so me, I love it, in fact I'm using it every time I go out, not just for dog walking.  It's beautifully made, my favourite colours, has 2 front pockets and another inside, and a cross body strap so I can be hands free, which is my preferred choice of bag.  Thank you Rachel.

We've not had much luck so far finding a hobby for hubby (ooh, a campaign slogan!  H for H 😁), thank you to everyone for all your suggestions.  He's quite definite about what he doesn't want to do (jigsaws, any kind of artwork, model railways, small model kits) but hasn't a clue what he WOULD like.  It'll have to be something practical, he's dyslexic so anything that involves reading or writing is out.  One of the suggestions from you lovely readers (Gemma's Person) was wood carving...Now I'm fairly sure that's the sort of thing that would appeal to him, I'll ask him when he gets up.  He could do it in the utility room, or at a pinch the dining room (there's no heating, other than a portable electric radiator, in the utility room, which is an old extension which originally held a bread oven on the side of the house).

Meanwhile, I've got a new hobby to add to my collection 😂😂.  I saw a post on FB the other day, saying that the neonatal unit of the hospital needs small woollen blankets for their prem babies.  I like crocheting blankets but only during the winter, too hot the rest of the year.   Tiny blankets are thus perfect!  I started the first one yesterday.

To save my/our sanity

I'm going to be brutally honest here.....lockdown has put a bit of a strain on our relationship, it's the result of us being together 24/7.  And before anyone says it, yes I am lucky to still have my husband around, just as he's lucky to have me.  It's not just me, OH feels the same.  Now don't get me wrong, we do love each other, we've been together 40 years next year (38 years married) and have no intention of parting.  But throughout our entire lives together, I've always had hours most days when I've been home alone, and I didn't mind that at all.  When I was working, it was normal office hours, and then part time, whereas husband always worked shifts, generally 12 hours, earlies, lates and nights, weekends included.  Since he's been retired he's worked outside, in our garden or helping elderly neighbours with their gardens, or doing odd jobs for them...he's very sociable and loves to be outside, his whole life is outside really (it's ok, it's not overnight, I don't make him sleep in the shed!).

Well, lockdown curtailed all that, he's not doing nearly as much for neighbours....for the first few weeks he didn't do anything for them at all.  Now he does some brief bits of gardening for them, but no diy - well, not inside their homes.  And when the weather's bad (it's rained a lot on and off here lately) he can't work outside.

So he's been inside with me a lot, and therein lies the problem....he has no interests or hobbies indoors.  So what does he do?  He puts the TV on, does the man thing of sitting there with the remote in his hand constantly flicking through the channels, then falls asleep (medication makes him do that) leaving the TV blaring out daytime rubbish or some repeated car prog that I'm not remotely interested in.  I almost never have the TV on, I prefer to listen to the radio or cds.  He will do the odd bit of housework (he does the hoovering as he knows I find it a problem for my back and hips), even cooking if I ask him to...he used to make the bread but we rarely eat bread now.  So he's here either snoring with the bloody tv playing to itself, or talking at me giving me a running commentary about what he's watching, or cars he's looking at on the computer.  I am SO not interested in cars....you'd think me repeatedly telling him that over the years would have sunk in by now.  I guess it's because he has no one else to talk to, Betty's not that interested either 😂

I have plenty to do during the day - housework (not that I do much of it, just what's necessary), washing, meal planning, cooking.  And I do crafting....crochet, which I generally do mainly during the winter, cardmaking, and now watercolour drawing.  I also like time on the internet, reading blogs and newspapers and watching YouTube videos of drawing and getting new card ideas.

So we've had a few chats about it, and came to the conclusion that husband needs to find a couple of hobbies he can do indoors.  He has no idea what though, I suggested a few things, which didn't really appeal.  So we're going to go to The Range (a big home and garden store which has a large crafting section) and see if there's anything which takes his fancy.  And we might see if the local college is going to be doing any adult education things he might be interested in.  Any other ideas gratefully received!

A bit of normality

Like a lot of us with this pandemic situation, I keep losing track of what day it is (or perhaps it's my age!).  Not that it matters much, except when we have appointments to go to, or something else to do.  I keep thinking it's Monday today.

Had a lovely time at our friends' house on Saturday, it's the first time we've had a long face to face chat and gone inside someone else's house since before lockdown.  We started off in the garden but moved inside when it came over cloudy and got a bit chilly.  It was so nice a) to see them, and b) to do something 'normal', albeit socially distanced so no hugging.

Yesterday I didn't feel very well again, having been up since around 3 am unable to get back to sleep, hip very sore and head feeling like it was stuffed with cotton wool.  We decided to take Betty and go up on the Quantocks for a walk to get some fresh air.  The Quantocks is a beautiful hill range, spanning around 38 sq miles of hills, moorland, heathland and woods.  Lots of ponies and sheep grazing freely.  Tons of rabbits and birds, deer too if you're lucky enough to spot them.  Loads of parking areas, which were mostly full, it being a bank holiday, however we found one that was half empty.  Even with that amount of cars it wasn't at all busy, it's such a vast area it's never going to be, except for people picnicking right beside their cars.

Some photos, taken on my phone so not brilliant:-

Gorse and heather as far as the eye can see

Looking towards the Bristol channel and South Wales in the distance.  Not another soul to be seen, although we did pass a few people and dogs.

I just love living here, moving to Somerset 10 years ago was the best decision we ever made.  All this beautiful countryside and a lovely beach within a few minutes drive, and wonderful views from our bedroom windows.  Livestock all around us (cows and calves in the front field, sheep in the back one), the very busy farmers and tractors to watch.  Hardly any traffic, very peaceful, we know all our neighbours.  Ok, so there are no shops or any amenities at all nearby and no public transport, meaning we have to drive whenever we need anything, but it's a small price to pay for the privilege of living here, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you for the nice comments on my last post.