I am feeling very happy because I lost 3 pounds this week even though it was my birthday week and I was not eating to plan all the time.  I did however focus when I could and do a lot of exercise which saved me.  So that means I have lost 8.5 pounds to date (in 2 weeks) and I am pleased with that.

I am finding I do well and feel good when I exercise in the morning and eat a light breakfast of just fruit.  I like most fruits and have had a variety of fruit salads throughout the week.

Lunches and suppers have mainly been home cooked and simple.  With no alcohol, which I find easy to resist when we are home alone but it is harder with visitors but I did it this week.  I batch cook so I have leftovers.  It means I eat the same meal several times in the week but at least it’s nutritious and mainly free from syns.

One exception to home cooking was a lunch in Radley’s Bistro on George Street which Ian treated me to.  They made me a buterbean pie with potato on top instead of pastry.  I managed to leave most of the sweet potato fries.  This was very tasty.

I did some new exercises this week or familiar exercise in new places.  I did a challenging (for me) yoga class in Udimore on Monday.  I will go again as I enjoyed it and really liked the teacher.

On Monday Lucy and I went for a walk in Hastings Country Park which I have never been to before.  It was beautiful.  Lovely weather for a walk too as it was sunny and very clear so we could see for miles.It was windy, which I suspect is not unusual in these parts, judging by the trees! We plan to walk the entire length of the park, which is about 5 miles, hopefully next week.The sea conditions were too rough for me this week so I have not been in the sea since Sunday but I do plan to go tomorrow.  Instead I went to a swimming pool and yesterday I swam 50 lengths (of a 25m pool).

I did quite a lot of walking around Hastings as we had some lovely visitors staying this week; my step-Father Ian and his wife, Helen.  Helen loves gardening and arrived with a plant for my garden and plans to buy me some more while they were here.  Helen was impressed with my immaculately kept vegetable beds but not quite so impressed with my weeding in the flower beds so Ian and Helen both rolled up their sleeves and helped do some weeding and pruning which I was very grateful for.I prised them away from the garden so we could go for a walk around the Old Town as neither of them have been to Hastings before.  We started at Rock A Nore.We were blessed with a beautiful day.I have wandered round the Old Town many times now and every time is different as each visitor notices and is interested in different things.  Ian and Helen liked the architecture and all the different doors and door furniture.

I had a successful morning (as well as very enjoyable) because I found some items for a costume I am putting together and a chair.  I have been looking for a chair that is tall enough for me to sit at in my new office/study but not too tall.  It has been tricky but I found one in Hendy’s so I was really pleased about that.  I often take visitors in to Hendy’s because it is so interesting and there is always something you want to buy.

After a morning away from a garden Helen had itchy green fingers so I took them to one of my favourite nurseries;   The Walled Nursery on Water lane in Hawkhurst.Its a delightful independent and family run nursery, with many greenhouses which are being restored.  We walked through the melon house which has lots of succulents and cacti in which I liked.

I highly recommend a visit.  They also have a cafe and adjacent to them, in the old estate office, is my favourite florist; Astilbe and Sorrel .  We enjoyed being there and Helen treated me to some new plants which were planted as soon as we got home!  I liked these so might get some another time.

I have also enjoyed walking at Bulverhythe this week.  It is convenient to get to after dropping Harvey at school and the sun has been shining brightly first thing.  I have not added any filters of edited this picture in any way – I love that blue.These two enjoyed their walk there this morning.More cloudy today than yesterday but such pretty blues in the sky made it a real delight to walk about in.So that was my week.  I did well from Monday until Thursday night when I went to Marion’s with Sarah for a belated birthday celebration.  Marion’s daughter Lucy is a vegan and her daughter JoJo lives with 2 vegans so they are really good at vegan catering.  Jo Jo made a wonderful tomato, aubergine and pesto tart which was so good I ate too many slices of it (and too much humous and olives in oil). Hey ho, it was all delicious and lovely to be back in my old village for an evening with my former neighbours.I had earlier that day spent a happy afternoon with another friendly face from Sissinghurst; Lisa, who came to visit. I love living in Hastings and am so glad it is easy to keep in touch with the super souls I met in Sissinghurst.I am happy with my weight loss this week, happy with my exercise and very happy to have spent time with so many lovely people.  I feel really motivated to have a good week and can not see any obstacles. I hope you have a happy weekend.