Derby Does Deal

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

What an amazing weekend :-). We have been to the seaside with some very dear friends.  The weather was kind to us and all was very well indeed.

Before we left home on Saturday I had an apple and banana smoothie which was good but not amazing.  I soaked 30 g raisins and 30g sesame seeds in water for 2 hours and then poured it all in to the blender with an apple, banana and 1 tbsp flax oil.

On the way out of Sissinghurst I stopped at my favourite cherry stall.  Kent has many cherry farms and at this time of year little cherry stalls are set up by the farms to sell the freshest most delicious cherries you can buy.  This one is my favourite – Aragon Farm, Sissinghurst.  It’s on the road between Sissinghurst and Biddenden.

 Sadly, their cherries finish today or if you are lucky there may be some left tomorrow.

They are the biggest, blackest, juiciest cherries.  Perfect.  The cherry season is nearly over so don’t miss out.  When you see a cherry stall, stop and buy some.  Support your local farmers and give yourself a nutritious and delicious treat.

They also had raspberries which were lovely too.

When we arrived in Deal, we checked in to The Royal Hotel.

The Royal is on the sea front.

We didn’t have a room with a sea view unfortunately but our rooms (yes, plural) were lovely.

We had a family suite which had a bathroom, a massive double room and a separate room for the kids which was all within the one private area.  It was brilliant.

I was in Deal to spend the weekend with Michelle and Gini, both of whom I have known for an extremely long time and I treasure their friendships.  Lucy and Sally – you were very much missed and in our thoughts and recollections often.

We went to the beach for the afternoon and it was warm, sunny and glorious.

Michelle had packed a picnic.

To go with our fizz was a lovely assortment of freshly made flans, fresh fruit and homemade cakes.

In the evening the children took us to the pub.

We sat in the garden and enjoyed a drink and later on, were very glad we had been there as we needed a little favour!

We had fish and chips for tea.  Not healthy I know but a British seaside institution and these were excellent.  The batter was so crispy and completely non greasy and the fish was delicious.  I wish I could say I didn’t eat the chips but I ate them all.

The curious incident of the seagull in the afternoon, the evening and the next morning: –  Arriving back at Michelle’s cottage, we were prevented from entering because a baby seagull had fallen off the roof and was outside Michelle’s door and the Mother was aggressively protecting it.  We were advised to use an umbrella for protection so we returned to the pub and borrowed one.  Lara has very genuine bird phobia and it took quite some coaxing to get her back in to the house!  Thank goodness the pub lent us very large umbrellas.

We enjoyed a lovely sunset on the beach and had a very enjoyable evening, popping to another pub and enjoying a truly incredible evening of Olympics.

One of the best Olympic displays any of us have seen was in a house round the corner from Michelle’s.

The lady who lives there knitted all these herself – check out Bradley Wiggins – how brilliant is that!

Michelle met them earlier that day and the knitters husband kindly serviced her bicycle for her.  When he returned the bicycle and popped in for a cuppa, it turns out he was the architect who designed our splendid new hospital in Pembury.  He was also a very good cyclist himself.  Britain keeps winning medals so those knitting needles are being kept very busy 🙂  Go Team GB!

We all breakfasted at The Royal this morning.  Museli, yogurt, walnuts and fruit to start with.

Followed by Kippers, toast and then more toast and marmalade.  I did have more kippers than this but had eaten most of them when I remembered I needed to take the photo!

We did so much today I feel as if we were away for a week.  Deal pier does not look very pretty.  It is an unimaginative concrete construction but it is lovely to walk along it and the view back towards Deal is lovely.

At the end is a good restaurant and this fishing platform.  You walk along a combination of solid wood and then metal grills, through which you can see the sea far below.  Not for the faint hearted but caused no concern for this little man who enjoyed hopping and skipping about.

Observe the grey clouds – we will refer back to those.

I love the sound of the waves slapping against the legs of the pier.  If you come to Deal, please walk along the pier and round the fishing platform.   It is a great experience.

We then began our longer then expected walk to a pub for a drink.  The clouds are beginning to clear.

We walked past this very colourful display of hanging baskets and tubs.

We walked through Deal and through Walmer, sometimes on a promenade and at others on the beach, pausing to photograph boats, nets and lobster pots.  Unsurprisingly, Harvey had a swim in all his clothes and Maddi made the best seashore discovery – a little starfish which was still alive so we put it back.

The clouds completely cleared and we walked to Kingsdown in brilliant sunshine.  The landscape changed from a beach with pebbles to plant covered shingle.  It was beautiful.

We finally reached our destination, The Zetland Arms,  Kingsdown, which is a pub on the beach with a view towards St.Margaret’s.

These friends of mine are so very wonderful.  I was wearing inappropriate footwear for such a long walk.  So they offered me their shoes.  I struggled with the sun in my eyes so Michelle gave me her sunglasses.  My gorgeous little boy walked bare footed so I could wear his Crocs.  Thank you lovely people.

That cold drink was ever so welcome.

We wandered back, in blazing sunshine, back through Walmer, past the bandstand (how very English seaside town)

and a Great Dane.  I bet he never walks anywhere without being stopped.

We had a much needed cuppa and slice of cake at Michelle’s.  Our short walk in the clouds turned in to a long walk in blazing sunshine so I now have a very red face and décolletage as testimony to how sunny it was beside the sea.

What a wonderful weekend, full of love and affection, happy reminiscences, laughter, personal conversations that you can only have with the rare few and new experiences to add to that expanding catalogue of a life shared.

All too soon it was time to bid a very fond farewell, to our lovely friends from Derby.  Please come back to Kent very soon.

Posted in Beach, Keep It Local | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Nature’s Bounty

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I was wide awake at 5 am today and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the early morning, until my mind began racing so I got up.  I enjoy being the first one up.  I like to potter about on my own while I make tea and tidy up a little.  I am so rarely on my own, I enjoy the few minutes when I am.  I love the light and also the coolness of the air in the early morning.  I wished it was the weekend because it was sunny and I would have liked to relax but no such luck so I was at my computer working by 6am.

I made a fantastic smoothie for breakfast.  This one was good enough to have its own recipe.

Strawberry and Goji Berry Smoothie

Ingredients (serves 1)

  • 1/2 punnett strawberries
  • 1 banana, peeled and frozen the night before
  • 2 tbsp natural yogurt
  • 1 tbsp Flax seed oil
  • 1 tbsp goji berries
  • 1 tbsp Acai powder
  • 1 tbsp Chia seeds

You know the drill – place in blender and blitz until smooth 🙂

This was completely delicious and I will definitely make this again.  I blended it for ages until it was really smooth. It was a lovely orangey-red colour with a great flavour.  And so good for you too!

We have a good routine going on a work from home day.  I tell the kids when I am on a call and they know to be quiet or go out and give me some space.  When the dining room door is shut, Mummy is not to be disturbed.  They both had friends over today so when I needed to stretch my legs and have a break, I popped in to the garden instead of having a quick chat with them.  I picked these pretty sweet peas.

Love the smell and bright colour of these little flowers.

 

For lunch I went and picked green beans, broccoli, 3 types of kale and spring onions plus nasturtiums.

 

Harvey and I made a chicken and vegetable stir fry which was yummy.  Apart from the chicken and onion, I grew all that myself 🙂

It only made 2 small bowlfuls which was not quite enough so I did give in to temptation and have a little bowl of cherry pie and custard that Lara had left on the side 😦

I couldn’t manage my garden on my own and once a week Adrian comes to work his magic.  Look what he harvested today!

Yes, garlic.  I am so pleased this grew in my garden.  Real garlic bulbs.  I was so excited!  Particularly because they looked like they had rotted so I wasn’t expecting any of them to have grown.  Adrian laid them out in the greenhouse to dry out and tomorrow I will snip off the roots and scrape off the mud and then store them :-).

I was so glad to finish work this afternoon, nearly 12 hours after I started.  I am completely fed up with my job at the moment so was hugely relieved when it was time to log off.  The sun was out again (we had torrential rain in the afternoon) so we went for a long walk in the woods over the road in the early evening sunshine.  Well, Lara and the dogs ran and Harvey ran one lap and then walked with me.  It was nearly 7pm when we got back and I got on with making dinner.

In 2 large sacks on the patio, I have been growing some potatoes and tonight I harvested my first crop.  Look how perfect they are !

I also checked out some other crops such as the tomatoes which are coming along nicely.

The blueberries turn blue and then get eaten.  Not sure if it’s birds or my resident fruit bat who can never resist a piece of juicy fruit!  I only have about 10 berries on this bush – I don’t think the local C0-Op needs to worry about the local competition 🙂

A lot of my lettuces bolted but some are ok and the seeds I planted a couple of weeks ago are doing well.

I enjoy growing and eating a variety of lettuces so picked several leaves from 3 different lettuces.  What do the supermarkets do to our food to make it so tasteless?  This lettuce tastes fantastic.

Super time.  Harvey helped me choose what to have.

I asked him to choose food that was different colours, tastes and textures and he did a great job.  On our colourful plates we had tuna in mayonnaise, pomegranate, avocado, red grapes,lettuce, tomato, cucumber, home grown new potatoes (served with butter and salad cream) and half a corn on the cob each.  The potatoes were excellent.  They have so much more flavour when they have just been dug up and the texture was lovely – firm and dense, not watery like some I have had recently.

It was a delicious dinner, which I have just washed down with a Corona beer with a slice of lime in the top.

Cheers and have a great weekend 🙂

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Contrasts

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I have been so badly behaved with my eating recently but today I was really good :-).  I came home from Birmingham last night and was too tired to post but here are a couple of pics I would have included.

On Tuesday night we went to bed early

and ordered room service while we watched a movie which we all thought was a real treat.  Lara and I had a chocolate fondant pudding with honeycomb ice-cream – plate lickingly delicious.

The next morning I decided to go to work later than usual so I could have breakfast with the kids and treated myself to a waffle.  The hotel has a waffle maker and a large jug of batter and it took 3 minutes to cook.  It was so huge I shared it with Lara.  I had mine with cream, honey, fruit and bacon.  It was wonderful.

On to today.  I have to start behaving and I started today.  I had some strawberries and used about half a punnett

which I made in to a smoothie with a banana, 1 tbsp chia seeds and 2 tbsp natural yogurt. Nothing else so it was really thick as I didn’t add any liquid.

I stopped at a supermarket in a service station on the way home last night and bought some courgettes (why didn’t I grow any this year?).  So I had them, plus a corn cob and some very old Camembert which I retrieved from the fridge.  Corn kernels scrapped from the cob taste so much better than tinned or frozen alternatives and I have discovered the knack of removing them so they don’t ping all over the kitchen.  You hold the cob over a shallow dish so the cob is standing up and use a very small and very sharp knife and do it slowly.  Simples.

What did I make with that and a large juicy tomato?

Vegetable Gratin

Ingredients (serves 2)

  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
  • 1 corn on the cob with kernels scrapped off
  • 2 courgettes, sliced on the bias
  • 1 large ripe tomato, sliced
  • Soft cheese (optional)
  • Cheddar cheese or parmesan

Method

  • Heat oil in a frying pan and gently fry the sliced onion for about 15 minutes
  • Add the garlic and fry for another 5 minutes
  • While the onions are cooking, turn the oven on to 180 ° C
  • Place the corn kernels in a shallow baking dish
  • Put slices of soft cheese on the corn ( I used about 1/3 of a small one)
  • Place the cooked onions and garlic on the cheese and corn

  • Add the courgette and tomato and top with grated Cheddar.  I didn’t add much as I had the Camembert inside.

Bake for half an hour
Set aside and wait for 15 minutes before eating it.

It makes a difference if you can bear to wait before eating it.  It helps absorb some of the water and the flavours are more intense when the temperature cools slightly.

This was amazing.  It was so delicious and because it had cheese in it, it was very satisfying.

So I had half at lunch time and the rest late afternoon.  I have had nothing else since except a glass of water as I feel completely sated.  This was very easy and if you have a glut of courgettes, this is an excellent way to use some up.  I could make that again tomorrow.

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Brazilian in Birmingham

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Hotel breakfast – yay !  Muesli, fresh fruit, almonds and yogurt with grapefruit juice.

Off to work and work, work, work all day.  I had a chicken sandwich and bag of popcorn for lunch.  I was so excited to finish work and go to the hotel, knowing my children were there :-).

Lara was busy for a while so Harvey and I went to the bar where I had a much needed gin and tonic and we shared some bar snacks while watching some of the Olympics.

Early evening we strolled along the canal.

This is such a pretty pub, on the canal.

Looking towards Brindley.

Canal barges.

Canal sign post.  I haven’t walked far today !

Harvey ❤ Lara 🙂

We went to a fab restaurant for dinner – Rodizio Rico.  It is a Brazilian restaurant which was located in the Mailbox area of Birmingham, a short walk along a pretty canal from our hotel.  You help yourself to a very varied salad bar with hot and cold dishes.

Then men come to your table constantly, serving freshly grilled meats.  We had chicken, sausages, steaks, lamb kebabs, pork, chicken hearts (I passed on those) and  gammon.

We went crazy and had cocktails too 🙂

We are now all snuggled up in bed, watching a movie.  What a delightful evening – if only all business trips could be this much fun!

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Family In My Suitcase

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I worked much longer and harder today than I expected to.  This is going to be another tough week!

This looks weird but it was quite tasty.  I had some left over smoothie from yesterday and I used it to make porridge with this morning.  The chunks are banana to sweeten it as it was a bit sharp.

Lunch was reheated lentil and aubergine bake with rice, yogurt and cheese.  It reheated really well.  Too well actually because I ate most of it before remembering to take a photo!  I will definitely be making this again, it really was very good.

After working from 6am until 6pm (yes, I did!) I hastily packed and drove up to Birmingham.  I was so tired when I got here because I had worked flat out all day, without even time for a dog walk at lunch time 😦 .  I knew I must have been tired.  On my way out to dinner I stopped at a cashpoint machine to withdraw £200.  I carried on walking and this man called after me – I had only left the cash in the machine!!!!  He could easily have taken it as I had definitely walked away and was round the corner.  How extraordinarily kind of him.  Whoever you are, thank you very much.

Look who I packed in my suitcase!

This Mama has had enough of being without her babies so she brought them with her.  We had a superb drive up here and arrived about 2 hours and 40 minutes after leaving home.  No traffic at all, it was brilliant.  We checked in to the hotel and went out for dinner to Wagamama’s.

I had miso soup (Lara was posion tester), edamame beans,

Pad Thai,

 

with a beer,

and white chocolate and ginger cheesecake – oops.

Our desserts were on the house as an apology for not having a dairy free dessert except an ice lolly – happy with that!

We had a stroll along the canals to stretch our legs before retiring for the night

and then headed back to the hotel.  Lara and I had sleep on our minds but the little fella had other ideas!

All relaxed now and sleep beckons.  It is so much fun having them here with me.  I must pack them more often.

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British Wildlife

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

What a gloriously sunny morning :-).  I was feeling so guilty (and still full!) from the previous days over-eating I just had a nectarine for breakfast.  A perfectly sweet and juicy nectarine.

Mid-morning we headed off to the British Wildlife Centre which is on the A22, halfway between the M25 and East Grinstead.  What a delightful little place this was, especially if you have young children.

As the name of the place suggests, this is all about British wildlife.  When you arrive you are given an itinerary and every half hour, they feed one of the animals and give a talk about them.  It was not too crowded and we leisurely strolled around, from one enclosure to another, enjoying the talks and the animals.  We started with some otters.

We met Jeremy and Helen here with their 2 boys.  After an hour or so we sat and had a picnic together.

I had taken a tuna salad (tuna, sweetcorn, tomato, celery, cucumber and mayonnaise) and also ate some nuts and Licquorice Allsorts.

Often the talk involved the keeper standing outside the enclosure but the hedgehogs were in a pretty little area called ‘The Dell’.  You could get really close to the hedgehogs which look so cute.

And just chill for a bit while the children played.

There was plenty to look at.

Ribbett.

Water vole.

Dormouse.

The red squirrel enclosure was hilarious.  We spotted a red squirrel

and wished it would come closer

which it did.  In fact it came so close it ran up Jeremy’s leg!  Having got over the shock we all found it hilarious.

This was such a lovely place, we were surprised to realise we had spent 5 hours there.   We stopped for a cup of tea and an ice-cream but spent the rest of the time strolling round.  There was lots to see and we all enjoyed it.

What is in this pond?

Lentils and seaweed :-).  Yes, having arrived home I set about making supper.  Harvey decided he wanted to be a vegetarian today.  After he had enjoyed his BLT that is !  We negotiated and have agreed that he can mainly eat a vegetarian diet (which we do really) and have meat occasionally.

Aubergine and Lentil Bake

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

200 g puy lentils
800 ml water
Several strands of dried seaweed (optional)
3 – 4 aubergine
salt
1 tbsp oil
1 large onion
1 green and 1 red pepper
2 stalks celery
1 heaped tsp turmeric
1 heaped tsp sweet smoked paprika
salt and pepper
1 can tinned tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp oil
Cheddar and natural yogurt/sour cream to serve

Method

Place lentils, water and seaweed in a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer covered for 20 minutes, by which time the water should have been absorbed but the lentils will still be moist.
While the lentils are cooking, chop up the aubergines, place in a colander with salt and place a heavy weight on a plate on top.  Leave for half an hour.

Turn the oven on to 180 ° C.
Heat oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onion, peppers and celery for about 10 minutes until they are becoming soft.
Add the turmeric, paprika, salt and pepper and fry for another 5 – 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and tomato puree to the lentil mixture and bring to the boil.

Add the remaining 2 tbsp oil to a frying pan and lightly fry the aubergine in batches.
Place the aubergine in the base of a large oven proof dish.

Top with the lentil mixture.
Cover and bake in the oven for an hour.

Serve with natural yogurt or sour cream and Cheddar.

I like this spicy so I ground some dried chilli flakes on too.

This was delicious.  I served it with rice for the others but I just had the lentil and aubergine bake.

My little animal lover enjoyed his vegetarian meal which he had without the dairy accompaniments and was even happier to know he had a vegan meal.  A good ending to a lovely day.

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Lunch In The Sun

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I was so tired when I woke up.  We watched the Olympic ceremony until the end so didn’t get to bed until 1 am which was a much later night than I needed.  Worth staying up for though – wasn’t it amazing?

I had a red berry smoothie first thing to get some much needed vitamins.

After a dog walk with Annette we headed off to my sister Abi’s for lunch.  I took some sweet potatoes, which I had sliced and placed in a bag with some oil, salt, cinnamon and white pepper.  To cook them you just tip them in to a baking tray and bake in a hot oven for about 40 minutes.

I also made a salad of finely chopped broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cucumber and parsley, which I mixed with some raisins, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.  It was dressed with the juice if 1 lemon, 2 tbsp maple syrup and some salt.  I got the idea from Oh She Glows’ Detox Salad.  I used similar ingredients but not with her quantities.

It was so sunny we sat outside.  Andrew had made us all some foccaccia which we enjoyed with olives and humus.

Plus fizz :-).

Relaxing is so much easier in the sunshine.

Lovely cousins.

Cheeky boys.

My brother-in-law Jim cooked BBQ chicken and sausages which was served with a lovely salad made from lightly fried courgettes and asparagus with cherry tomatoes, fried halloumi and a homemade basil and oil dressing.  Abi made a tabouleh and it was all served with my sweet potatoes and salad.  It was all delicious.

Even better for being able to eat outside.

For dessert, Andrew had excelled himself.  We had his lovely chocolate, nutty Crunchie squares (it was Andrew who introduced me to these last year).

Plus he made a baked cheesecake, covered in berries.

As if that wasn’t enough, Abi had made a strawberry pavlova.

How could I resist this?

I didn’t resist anything and completely over-ate.  I must have had a million calories today 😦 .

All too soon it was time to head home.

I am now sitting watching the Olympics and feeling uncomfortably full.  I had a wonderful day, nearly all spent outside, with very dear and lovely people.

Posted in Diet Struggles | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Back For The Olympics

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I have worked hard and played hard in Birmingham this week so I am completely exhausted.  Unfortunately I have eaten disastrously.  The office was full of unhealthy choices which were being paraded round constantly, either as fund raising or people celebrating going to or coming back from holidays.  I was so busy once in the office each day, it was hard to make time to go and get anything healthier!

I missed showing you a photo of my cute, tiny but perfectly formed little bathroom.  Plus they used Neutrogena products which I like.

One of the lovely things about staying in a hotel is having things done for you.  Once showered and dressed I wandered down to the dining room and helped myself to muesli with fresh fruit and yogurt with a grapefruit juice and a cup of tea.

Enjoyed eating it and walked away.  Left everything for someone else to clear away.  I do like that – no wonder my children do it whenever they think they can get away with it 🙂

This is my commute.  From the front door of the hotel, where I am standing to take this photo, to the building at the far end on the right.  No complaints about that!

Last night BJ came and met me and we wandered along the canal to The Mailbox where we had a lovely meal in Mal Maison which is in a shopping and entertainment complex called The Mailbox.  It was extraordinary how many people were out eating and drinking and still partying late in to the night.  No sign of a recession in this part of Birmingham!

The office was getting in to the spirit of the Olympics but I would have preferred to be in London to see the street entertainers they had in the office, the torch relay outside and boat flotilla :-(.  However, the Birmingham office did dress down every day, and we were encouraged to dress in the colours of the Olympic rings.  There was lots of fund raising going on, including a very poplar, chuck a wet sponge at the management and colleagues who gamely stood in the stocks outside the building.

There was a market in the square outside the office during the day and when I left this evening, a a large screen had been set up to watch the games on and a band were playing.  It would have been fun to stay and watch it with a crowd, on this warm and balmy evening but I really missed my family and couldn’t wait to get home.

I had a Caeser salad and a yogurt and granola pot on the train on the way home.  I made it home just in time to watch the Olympic ceremony.  I was home 10 minutes before it started – phew!  And I am now thoroughly enjoying it with a G&T, happy to be back with my family and feeling very proud to be English.  I can not believe this is going on just up the road and we are now all so excited about going to see some events. Go Team GB 🙂

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Hotel Happiness

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Farewell London with all your pink signs for a few days.  This one was on the underground at London Bridge.

I was heading to Birmingham for work for a few days.  I grabbed a Bircher Muesli with pistachios and dried cranberries to eat on the train.  It was very good but probably really high fat as it seemed very creamy.

I worked hard all day, breaking to have a tuna and cucumber sandwich for lunch and a bag of popcorn from EAT.

I finished work at about 6:30 and strolled all of 5 minutes across the square to my favoured hotel.  We have a budget we have to stick to and recently the Hilton Garden Inn has been too expensive but it is cheaper at the moment so my colleague and I were delighted to be able to book it.  This is my room.

I really like staying here.  Not necessarily for a holiday but as a base when you are working it is perfect.

This hotel room has everything you need and it is all good quality.  I would rather be at home but if I have to be away then I am very comfortable here.

My colleague and I went out for supper to Carluccios.  I had a lovely aperitif of a Bombay fine and tonic with fresh thyme in it which was really refreshing.  I would never have thought of making this but I will be serving this at home.

For starter I had foccaccia with oil and balsamic

followed by a goats cheese salad which had pine nuts and sun dried tomatoes in it.

I confess I did indulge and had a meringue with raspberries as a little treat.  It was quite a modest portion so not too disasterous.

We ate outside as it was a warm and pleasant evening but did not linger long after we had eaten.  It had been a very long day so I wanted a chance to relax.  And we both wanted to take advantage of the amazingly fast wifi in the hotel.  I am currently sitting at the little desk, downloading music and simultaneously upgrading all the apps on my phone.  Apologies for the power surge Birmingham but my wifi is painfully slow at home so I am enjoying this 🙂

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London Turns Pink

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

What is happening to London?  I turned up to the office yesterday to find Wenlock (Olympic mascot) outside.

When I walked along Bankside at lunch time, there were more Wenlocks and Mandevilles (Paralympic mascot).  But I forgot my camera so no photos 😦

I found a new eatery today.  It is not new but I had not noticed it before so it is new to me – degustibus.  An artisan bakery.  So this is not a good thing for me to find because I find bread hard to resist and for breakfast I had 2 slices of wholemeal toast with peanut butter and jam.  I haven’t had that for ages and I did enjoy it.

The street painters were busy today.  I love this one – it shows you how far the Olympic record holder jumped in the long jump.  Just extraordinary how far that is.

We also have lots of sporting symbols on the ground.

Banners from the lampposts.

Olympic lanes in the roads which will create complete chaosStreet signs everywhere.

So today may be my last day in London for a while.  My team are decamping to Birmingham plus some home working during the Olympics.

I had a smoothie for supper tonight but last night I made a delicious stir fry.  Starring a bunch of leaves from the garden

red pepper, onion, sweetcorn and chicken.  I cooked it with fresh ginger and some chill sauce I bought in a farm shop.

It was delicious.

So while London bakes in sunshine and is slowly but surely being covered in pink signs, I am out of there for a while.  I need to pack as I am off to Birmingham at 5:30 tomorrow morning.  Just time for a lil drink with Lucy tonight first.  Enjoy the heat 🙂

 

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