The Weekend

When you are not working and when it is school holidays, it is easy for weekdays and weekends to blur because actually, what does it matter what day of the week it is? But this week there is a sense of preparing to return to school (for Harvey) and thinking about returning to work for me. So I was aware it was the weekend and I must say I enjoyed it.

Saturday

It started with a swim. This was my first swim at this end of the beach and what a glorious swim it was.The sky was blue, the water clean and clear and calm. You swim protected by the harbour wall on one side and on the other you can enjoy the views of the cliffs.The fishing boats were coming in which kept the seagulls occupied.Look how clear that water is. I could have stayed in for ages but I had other plans for the day.I spent most of the day in Barnet, North London, with my dear friend Laura. I packed some melon, raspberries and blueberries to enjoy in the car as I travelled North.Look at that lovely blue sky ! It was a perfect day for walking. We walked from Laura’s to a cafe for lunch, past this unusual church made from flint and with these lovely statues.We had lunch at Boyden’s Kitchen. I had an English muffin with humous on one half and mashed avocado on the other with roasted tomatoes and mushrooms and salad. It is very hard to calculate the syns and I think I probably overestimated but I think they are:

1/2 avocado = 7
2 tbsp humous = 5
1 tbsp oil = 6
white muffin = 7.5

If that was correct that is 25.5 for one meal which is a shocker!

We walked a long route home because it was such a lovely day we enjoyed being outside and also to get some exercise in.

I was struck by how villagey Barnet is.These are almshouses (historically provided to poor people).Dr Livingstone, I presume (he lived here).I bought some cherries to snack on in the afternoon as I was hungry after walking 10,000 steps.We had sushi from Sushimania in Totteridge for supper. We got a takeaway and popped to a nearby pub for a drink while our order was prepared. I had a lime soda (3 syns).I noticed at Laura’s that she has lots of photos of her 2 gorgeous daughters but none of her. It took a while but we got a lovely picture in the end.

The sushi was delicious. I am not sure if I synned them correctly but I put down 5. That makes my daily total 32. I can’t believe that is right as I didn’t eat that much but that is what I have calculated. Sunday

Having enjoyed Saturday’s swim so much, we went again this morning, even though the weather was cloudy and the sea far more lively. I love the feeling of being in the water and then I feel tingly and invigorated for hours afterwards.

I had a delicious mango and a kiwi fruit for breakfast. A perfectly ripe mango is a thing of great joy.I went out with Rebecca to go to Scott Jarrett’s open studio. He is a potter based in St. Leonard’s and I like his ceramics and illustrations. I hadn’t realised he opened his studio as part of a wider Open Studios scheme.Fortunately Rebecca was on the ball and so we spent a couple of very happy hours wandering around some beautiful houses and studios, admiring paintings, drawings, ceramics and jewellery. And paper installations.The artists Nick Snelling and Adrienne Hunter have his and hers studios in their garden, which are perfect for producing their art. I appreciated knowing the wonderful sea shores and landscapes of this charming area and seeing it in their paintings.Adrienne’s studio was a place I would love to have to use myself.Nick’s studio was like an art installation in its own right.I find it fascinating to get a small glimpse in to the process of creating art.My tidy tendencies would have had to get this lot sorted out though.As for this – I did feel better about my slightly muddled office.Each to their own environment and method though and Nick creates some very clever and interesting seascapes in his studio.I was very envious of the abundant pears and the pretty Japanese anemones in their garden.I had a very late lunch; a buddha bowl, with a bed of couscous and then lettuce, topped with home made coleslaw (carrots, homegrown kohlrabi and spring onions), celery, red pepper, cucumber and alfalfa and broccoli sprouts.Couscous is so boring but it tasted better mixed together with the vegetables. I synned the 2 tbsp of Vegenaise (vegan mayonnaise) as 8 syns.Lunch was tasty but not very substantial so a few hours later I wanted some supper. While I waited for supper to heat up I had a cup of tea and 14 cashew nuts (HE B choice).Supper was very easy. I had some leftover boiled potatoes in the fridge which I dry roasted and some leftover dal and swiss chard. I heated the dal up with some baked beans added. Nothing spectacular but it filled a hole. Only half a syn for the 1/4 tsp maple syrup and 1/4 tsp mustard in the dal.So that was another good day of eating. 8.5 syns, soya milk as my HE A and cashews for my HE B. I swam and although I didn’t walk very far, it was better than nothing.