Day 872

Day 872...

Monday has rolled around and it was a beautiful morning with clear blue skies and warm sunshine as we set off on our early morning walk armed with a Tupperware tub! Yep you read that correctly as today we were on a mission to pick some blackberries. We took a steady one hour and seven minutes to complete 3.4 miles and by the end we had a tub full with berries.

While I got myself ready for going out Simon was able to apply some varnish to the 3D printed pieces that he'd airbrushed yesterday. He's also done a little more work on a model that he's currently building as well.

We then jumped in the car and headed just a few miles up the motorway to the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet mall. It had been a while since we'd last visited here and we just thought it would be somewhere different to have a look around with no specific reason for going.

Because we have now adopted an intermittent fasting approach to our meals we no longer eat first thing in a morning instead we have our first meal of the day around a traditional lunch time of the day. So as that time of day approached we decided to 'break our fast' with burgers! One benefit of eating low carb/keto for these past 8 years is that we have moved away from the traditional breakfast type foods and therefore making our first meal of the day burgers is perfect for us and Five Guys is great for anyone who eats like we do. We were able to order bacon cheeseburgers with whatever toppings we wanted (I go simple with mushrooms, green peppers and mayo) but without the bun. You can opt to have your burger in a lettuce 'bun' or, like us, simply in a tray. Great way to break our fast and this was followed by a 200 Degrees coffee, which is always a great cup of coffee.

On our wander around we decided to pick up a pair of Converse Hi-tops for Ethan as he'd mentioned getting a pair and these were too good a price to pass up. We also came away with some bargains from Superdry as not only were all their prices discounted to 'outlet' prices but they had another 20% off on top. This meant we came away with three t-shirts for Ethan and a pair of short denim dungarees for me all for under £50! 

Back home and we decided to make the most of the remainder of the afternoon by 'going down our gym' and throwing some weights around. Simon is making great progress at getting back to where he was before he broke his wrist and was able to lift some heavier weights again today. He even had me proper bench pressing at one point and I was quite pleased that after a first set of just the bar I was able to add 5kg to it and complete a full set of 10 with relative ease. I might need to keep at this one and see just what I can manage, I might surprise myself!

And then to finish out the day I managed my first three minute cold shower!!

See you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 863 & 864 - Another Weekend

Day 863...

Simon was up and out early this morning for a 7.30am barbers appointment! After he arrived home we had a coffee before popping on our walking shoes and venturing out for a longer walk than normal. As it had been a bit wet overnight we kept to the pavements and headed in the direction of a local garden centre that has a lovely cafe called Piptree Cafe.

It was a 2.2 mile walk which we managed in 40 minutes and then we had the same journey home again. The day was rather grey and looked like it could rain at any minute so we went out armed with an umbrella and rain coats and needed none of them! Typical!

After a bit of brunch we had a decidedly lazy afternoon. It was raining off and on and Simon had his latest piece of digital art that he was desperate to get completed. I had a few online bits to do but then spent the remainder of my time just chilling and watching some TV and some YouTube.

After a very lovely keto dinner of black pepper chicken stir fry we settled down for the evening to watch a couple of Drag Race shows. We had the final of All Stars Season 7 which has been phenomenal to watch and in our opinion the right queen won. And then we started watching the second series of Drag Race Down Under.

Day 864...

The day started a little later than usual and after a coffee we decided that a walk was very much needed. Not sure what was up with me this morning (and the majority of the weekend if I'm honest) but I was struggling to feel motivated and actually felt quite grumpy. I'd hoped that getting out for a walk might have lifted my mood but I'm not sure it made any significant difference. 

It was another grey day following rain over night and again looked like it could rain at any moment, although it was surprisingly warm. We kept to a flatter route and tried to avoid too many wet fields but we still clocked up 3.5 miles in 1 hour and 6 minutes.

While I had the exciting task of updating our online grocery shopping ahead of collection tomorrow Simon was focused on cleaning up his recent set of 3D prints. This involves sanding the pieces to remove any lumps and bumps that shouldn't be there along with smoothing out the lines that appear with a 3D print, followed by the application of a resin filler to fill in the gaps and help create a smoother surface.

I made a start on my newest jigsaw which by the power of Amazon was ordered yesterday and had arrived by late morning. I have still not found the missing piece of my last jigsaw so have packed it away in the hope that it may show up at some point in the future. But today I was able to get the edge completed of my new Winnie the Pooh themed one...

Simon has been able to hook up a special camera to his 3D printer which means that he will be able to keep an eye on the printer from wherever he may be, which as the printer is at the opposite end of the house to where Simon normally works is going to be pretty useful. He can even control the printer from the app that runs along with the camera! It's a nice safety feature to have in case a print gets too hot (although it should shut down automatically) or if it starts to misprint. This way Simon will be able to avoid unnecessary errors and the waste of printer filament.

And then for the first time in like forever we had our Disney Dream Girls Sunday meet-up/quiz. We started doing a weekly quiz on a Sunday sometime in 2020 when the world was going mad and we'd been pretty good at making it a regular weekly occurrence but as life became more 'normal' and our lives resumed it had become harder to find time when everyone was free to 'meet up'. Since out last meet-up it would appear Zoom have reduced the amount of free time you have to chat and so our little chit chat was cut short and we didn't even get around to having the quiz element! But we have put next Sunday in our diaries and so hopefully then we will be able to chat and quiz!

OK, I think I will sign off and see you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 733

Day 733...

We have another Sunday and it started off as is the norm with collecting the weeks grocery shopping. But with that out the way we then had the day completely free.

Having used the fire pit yesterday to destroy some old paperwork we had the messy job today of clearing it of all the left over ash. Once clear it revealed just what a poor state our fire pit is in...I knew it had a hole somewhere but hadn't realised just how bad it had gotten...

Hole number one...

Hole number two!

We still have some stuff we need to burn so I am hoping it lasts us long enough to get that cleared before we can finally get rid of it!

Simon had a little updating of his latest art piece to do as he has also just received a request for a private commission and so wants to get his current project cleared so he can make a start on that. 

As the day was bright and sunny, with just a little chill in the air, we decided to take a walk out in search of coffee. Just two and a half miles from our house is a local garden centre that we very rarely visit, if at all. Our idea of gardening is to keep everything simple and as low maintenance as possible! But at this garden centre they have a lovely cafe which I have been meaning to visit for a while and we were so glad we did today. It is a lovely space, beautifully presented and they serve a local coffee called 200 Degrees which is fabulous. They also sell some high protein, low sugar cakes made by a local bakery called Sweet Rebellion, who I'd only recently become aware of so it was chance to give one of their treats a go.

Peanut Caramel creation - yummy!

It was then time for the return walk of another two and a half miles, so hopefully the extra calories taken in will have been off-set by the walking!

Back home and the next phase of our upstairs bedroom re-imagining took place; the 'let's get rid of the mattress' phase! Thankfully Simon was able to roll up the mattress and with some nylon rope, and a little assistance from me by sitting on it he was able to get it tied up into one big roll. It was then squeezed into the back of the car ready to be disposed of tomorrow at our local recycling centre. And with an empty car we will then be heading in the direction of Ikea to buy a sofa bed to replace the aforementioned mattress!

And with that exertion out of the way it was time to settle down with a coffee and chill; I had my jigsaw to continue with and Simon had his digital art. We then have a plan to start re-watching the Star Wars movies in preparation for the new Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series that starts in May. I made the mistake of commenting that it's been a while since I've sat and watched the movies, so I inadvertently gave Simon a good excuse to get them out and re-watch them! May the force be with me!

See you tomorrow.
xx