Foul Sunday

[woolybanana]

It is rissing down and not too warm, and you probably have the dreaded visitors ( bit like a dose of the squits really). What do you do with yourselves: play games(I am banned as I cheat merrily and openly), watch DVDs, read a book etc........? Just curious.

[Quillan]

Unfortunately Wooly some of us have to work although as our guests don't start leaving till tomorrow it is just a 'tidy up' day. Being pretty knackered and doing an easy meal today of Pate starter, Cassoulet main course and chocolate mousse for desert means I can grab a few hours kip shortly ready for the meal tonight. I have however blanked out a Friday through to Monday in early September so we can have three or four days sailing in the Med which in reality will probably mean just giving the boat a wash down and crashing for the long weekend visiting the odd bar or three. [B]

Its sunny outside by the way with the temp currently around 29 deg (it should be in the late 30's this time of year). The negative side of all the rain is that the grass (I use the term lightly as it is more weed than grass) has not died back and I have to keep cutting it, all 7,500m2 of it.

[NormanH]

I spend the day in intellectual and artistic pursuits that are so far out of your ken that I can't even begin to explain them [6]

[idun]

Thanks wooly, I read, 'fowl' so you have just reminded me to get a chicken out of the freezer. Not for today, but tomorrow. (must add it was fresh farm, properly reared blah blah blah chicken that I froze, not a frozen one).

[mint]

I was supposed to be out walking but I was en panne d'oreiller and decided I'd give the walking a miss.

Then I thought I'd make a nice leek quiche and another one with just veg and cheese and no egg and cream mixture.  Started off with the latter, only to find, when it was time to transfer it to a baking sheet that I'd neglected to put the pop-up base on!

So, there I was left with a beautiful and colourful pastry filled with potatoes, leeks, carrots and cheese and attempting to scrape the lot onto the baking sheet without leaving too much of the contents behind on the work-top.

Normally I would have been so cross I'd probably have chucked it all out and started afresh.  Then I thought of what I'd read earlier on about those people in Iraq who are dying through lack of food and water and are too frightened to stay in their own homes in the certainty that they would all be killed anyway by the extremists in ISIS.

I was covered in confusion and sadness at the images going through my mind, so I just scraped the lot onto the baking sheet, pushing the pastry in at the edges to try and contain the vegetables and I have told OH that we'd just have to eat that and feel real gratitude in our hearts.

Back on to the spirit of the thread:

Well, the weather's OK here, sunny and warm.  The clothes are out on the line and I am revising a couple of nice pieces of jolly tunes that I'd forgotten I had the music for.

I am in the middle of reading a trashy American thriller which I am nevertheless enjoying.

Later on after lunch (yes, I know lunch is late today[:P]), I might persuade OH to go with me and the dog to some soup-making competition in one of the nearby villages (and yes, you did hear right).

I have written out the cheque to pay the tax man.

I have contacted my bank to try and cancel a credit card purchase I'd made.

I've caught up with sending a couple of emails that are overdue.

I've....................oh come ON, Wools, are you REALLY interested in what other people are doing???

It's just boring, routiney stuff, same as you are doing..................roll eyes!

[AnOther]

We don't do 'dreaded visitors' and I don't understand would anybody put up with visitors described as such !

We have four here at the moment, a couple of German friends who come every year - she for up to 6 weeks, he for two - plus daughter and SIL.

The weather is the usual sh1te but nobody is moaning or bored or expecting to be entertained, the Germans have taken over the kitchen and are preparing a Hungarian goulash which needs to fester for at least 24 hours, SIL is baking bread, and OH and daughter are reading, I'm here of course plus doing a few little jobs about the place - everybody is content and peace and harmony reign.

[woolybanana]

[quote user="NormanH"]I spend the day in intellectual and artistic pursuits that are so far out of your ken that I can't even begin to explain them [6]

[/quote]

Watching strippers rehearse again are you, and then sitting at an outside table oogling young girls in their short skirts? Well, Norman, fortunately I am not following this example.

[Benjamin]

Then I thought of what I'd read earlier on about those people in Iraq

who are dying through lack of food and water and are too frightened to

stay in their own homes in the certainty that they would all be killed

anyway by the extremists in ISIS.

Sorry to highlight this bit of your posting SW17 but there aren't a group of extremists in ISIS; they're all extremists.

Would I run with my wife, kids and grandkids? As sure as hell I would.

[mint]

Oh, Benjamin, I just didn't like to think that every single one of them is so utterly depraved and abhorent[+o(]

[PaulT]

Well, the two Bs (Bush and Blair - the latter being a Middle East Peace Envoy - now there is an oxymoron if I ever saw one) did well didn't they. Charge in to the Arab world, remove dictators that may not be nice people and replace them with a whole load more that seem even more unpleasant.

[dave21478]

I went for a bike ride this morning.

I am fat. Its gone beyond "a bit chubby" and into properly fat, possibly, obese kind of territory. I have been watching my food intake for a while and my weight has started to go down slowly but I need to exercise too. My knees are not up to jogging so I decided to try out the bike again.

I used to cycle loads maybe twenty years ago and would happily have done 30-odd miles in a day with no real problem.

So last week I dragged my old bike out of the pile of junk at the back of the garage, wiped off the dust and cobwebs and put some wind in the tyres. Which went flat within seconds.

I had my wallet emptied at Decathlon for a pair of tubes and new road tyres in place of the tired (tired - gettit? [:D] ) off road tyres.

So this morning, full of good intentions I set off. Its 4 kilometres round the village, mostly flat or gentle slopes. It took me about 16 minutes and pretty much killed me. I never stopped on the way, but when I got back home I could hardly stand up due to my legs trembling so much. I had to have a little lie down and the sweat just poured off me.

Some improvements need to be made!

This afternoon was spent fiddling with the garage door in a rare flurry of activity and anti-procrastination, following the discussion on the insurance thread.

This evening...quelle surprise, it got very hot very quickly today so now the skies are black, there is a constant bass rumble of nearby thunder and I suspect that any minute now its going to be another epic rainstorm.

[Loiseau]

Went to the seaside and ate yummy mussels in celebration of a grandson's 10th birthday. Rain chucking it down, but eased up by the time we had finished, so we all went to one of those accrobranches places and watched the two grandsons clamber among the tops of the pine trees at dizzying heights, and whizz down zip wires with great aplomb in the sunshine.

Home to chop onions for my cuddly banana, who was whipping up some delicious dish of aubergines.

Must stop and sample said dish now.

Angela

[mint]

[quote user="dave21478"]I went for a bike ride this morning.

I am fat. Its gone beyond "a bit chubby" and into properly fat, possibly, obese kind of territory. I have been watching my food intake for a while and my weight has started to go down slowly but I need to exercise too. My knees are not up to jogging so I decided to try out the bike again.

I used to cycle loads maybe twenty years ago and would happily have done 30-odd miles in a day with no real problem.

So last week I dragged my old bike out of the pile of junk at the back of the garage, wiped off the dust and cobwebs and put some wind in the tyres. Which went flat within seconds.

I had my wallet emptied at Decathlon for a pair of tubes and new road tyres in place of the tired (tired - gettit? [:D] ) off road tyres.

So this morning, full of good intentions I set off. Its 4 kilometres round the village, mostly flat or gentle slopes. It took me about 16 minutes and pretty much killed me. I never stopped on the way, but when I got back home I could hardly stand up due to my legs trembling so much. I had to have a little lie down and the sweat just poured off me.

Some improvements need to be made!

 

[/quote]

I didn't get my bike out today but I did watch the weekend's cycling events in London on the telly![:D]

The pictures of people riding through Richmond park made me think of my own training in Richmond park when I was preparing for a charity bike ride in Turkey some dozen or so years' ago.

How I love cycling!!  It always makes me want to whistle and it always makes me feel carefree like a child again.  I suppose it's because the last time I cycled consistently everyday was when I was a youngster.  Once my dad taught me how to ride a bike, you couldn't get me off my elder sister's bike that I borowed so much that she gave it to me in the end!

Dave, I know you are probably in a hurry to lose the weight and that you always seem to be on the go all the time, but have you tried walking?  I have read that it's the best way to lose weight and KEEP IT OFF.

I am debating off and on with myself whether to get a rowing machine this winter.  No stress on lower joints, "rechauffer" you up real quick without spending a fortune on heating and you could pretend you are rowing up the Amazon or somewhere equally exotic and as far away from winter in France as you can get[:D][:D]

[suein56]

[quote user="dave21478"]I went for a bike ride this morning.

[/quote]

That's brilliant; the trembling legs will be history if you can do a little biking regularly. And I mean a little, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Most (sunny) days I cycle about 1.5km to the beach, go for a quick swim and then cycle back home. All done and dusted in about 40 mins.

It makes me feel energised without killing me off.

Go on, you've spent the cash make the outlay worthwhile.[:)]

Sue

[dave21478]

Yeah, I plan on doing the same circuit each morning when possible, hopefully improving my time and being less close to death at the end of it, and at some point in the future when it is becoming easy I will extend the loop out to the next village and back or something.

Rowing machine - try before you buy. Many of the cheaper ones - and some of the expensive ones - make a horrific amount of noise in use....clanking, creaking, groaning and the whirring of whatever device it uses to add resistance. My sister found this out the hard way a while ago. The good ones obviously cost a hell of a lot more money.

[Gardian]

Nice weather here - for a change!

Full English breakfast for me this morning (to Mrs G's disgust), then the Sunday papers. Afternoon in the shade reading my book - 'Singapore Burning'. Excellent, but sad. My Dad was there at the time.

Nice dinner - big prawns in garlic butter.

Still nice & warm here - no thunderstorms for a change!

[Chancer]

Stick with the cycling Dave and you will be really surprised and pleased with how quickly you improve, you are already riding at 15km/h which is pretty good and if you didnt stop at all you still have what it takes.

Next time go a little slower and concentrate on more distance, I have been cycling quite seriously since doing the same as you 3 years ago, around town, to and from keep fit, the swimming pool, running track etc, a couple of hills one quite steep but otherwise flat I now average 22km/h on road tyres (good move by the way!) but on my longer rides 50-60ks its more like 20km/H so you are close to the pace, slow up a bit to do more endurance and before you know it you will be cycling faster.

For décades I could never pedal constantly even though I could do long distances, now I pedal all the time and never need to stop, the big hill that I hit 40 seconds after leaving my house I now take in top gear (middle front sprocket) and stand out of the saddle, its my warm up, before I would be down to 1st gear and then would have to stop peddling on the flat.

Other than a trip to the UK and one sunday drive a fortnight I have not used my car all this summer, I have a trailer or use paniers for my shopping.

I would normally have done a long ride today but the weather being like it is I did the same as you and sorted out my workshop. Tomorrow I am going to Knock through a doorway, a double parpaing wall that was the first ever job I did on this place, this whole summer has been either re-doing or undoing work that I have already done.

[idun]

AnOther, how do you avoid dreaded visitors?

My mother was just that, and what could I say to my Dad................ leave Mother at home????????  So one puts up, and shuts up. 

Won't it be family members who are usually 'dreaded visitors'? Friends after all one can 'ditch' if you've gone off them, but family is always family. It isn't as if I haven't had a long period when I was not in touch with my parents as my Mother did not want to see, as she thought I was a loose woman! But eventually we made up and things went back to their usual uneasy state.

I have had a wonderful lazy day today. Just done things I wanted to do.

[AnOther]

[quote user="idun"]AnOther, how do you avoid dreaded visitors?[/quote]I'm sorry I don't understand the question ?

Our visitors are either immediate family which means, son or daughter plus their OH's - praise be neither with any obnoxious ankle snappers - or people we actually like, we don't invite anybody else, where is the problem ?

Maybe we're fortunate in not having aged parents nor do we have extended families who invite themselves but even then I'd have little compunction it telling them they were not welcome.

[mint]

[quote user="idun"]AnOther, how do you avoid dreaded visitors?

My mother was just that, and what could I say to my Dad................ leave Mother at home????????  So one puts up, and shuts up. 

Won't it be family members who are usually 'dreaded visitors'? Friends after all one can 'ditch' if you've gone off them, but family is always family. It isn't as if I haven't had a long period when I was not in touch with my parents as my Mother did not want to see, as she thought I was a loose woman! But eventually we made up and things went back to their usual uneasy state.

I have had a wonderful lazy day today. Just done things I wanted to do.

[/quote]

I have every sympathy with your post, Id.

My sister always brings some dreadful friend with her as she doesn't want to travel alone.

This year the friend was an improvement on the last one she brought but I swear you have never seen a pair of more useless women!

Even so, I dreaded the visit so much I was sunk in despair for weeks before she came, lost sleep, lost appetite.  Did my utmost to persuade her NOT to come but she insisted that she wanted to see OH on account of his not having been well last year.

The visit was every bit as awful as I had feared but, as you say, Id, it's almost impossible to say "no".

We are fortunately a very small family so I don't get "infested" with visitors ("infested" is Gengulphus' word which I have now claimed[:)])

[Quillan]

[quote user="dave21478"]Yeah, I plan on doing the same circuit each morning when possible, hopefully improving my time and being less close to death at the end of it, and at some point in the future when it is becoming easy I will extend the loop out to the next village and back or something. Rowing machine - try before you buy. Many of the cheaper ones - and some of the expensive ones - make a horrific amount of noise in use....clanking, creaking, groaning and the whirring of whatever device it uses to add resistance. My sister found this out the hard way a while ago. The good ones obviously cost a hell of a lot more money.[/quote]

Unfortunately Dave just cycling won't do it. You need a diet and exercise combined. I used the Dakin diet combined with walking and went from just over 120kg down to 87kg over about six months. I also used some suggestions from Wooly (might be worth you sending him a PM) and with the lot combined it worked very well. I have not continued with the 'maintenance' part of the diet I just watch what I eat and it is quite easy to keep the weight off now. I do notice the weight coming on over the winter (getting back up to 91/92kg) when I am least active but once I start to walk again in the spring it soon goes back down again. Hill walking is best as it makes you work harder but taking the dogs with me and the enjoyment they bring means I don't realise I am losing weight.

[Quillan]

Unwanted visitors makes me think of when we lived on our canal boat. We were in the Midlands, the back and beyond. We had just sat down to lunch when there was a tapping on the side of the boat and when we looked it was some neighbours from London. "Just passing by on a drive out for the day and thought we would pop in and see how you are." they said. Well it was a three and half hour drive up the M1 the another hour across country and they must of walked for hours along to towpath to find us and even then it was all down to luck even then. "We are very well" I said then closed the door and went back to eating my lunch.

This was followed by another tap on the boat so I went to look again and it was the same people who told us they had been travelling most of the day to which I replied that I would have offered to put them up but the boat only slept two but if they hurried they might get back to their car before dark and that my lunch was getting cold. Fortunately we never saw them again. In London we hardly ever spoke to them, just the odd nod as we passed by. We only told them we were going to live on the boat and that we had rented the house out just to be courteous in case the wondered what was going on.

There is a thing about boats in that if you mention you have one you seem to get a lot of new 'friends'. With living in France and running a B&B we made a preemtive strike before we came and told 'friends' and 'family' that they would be very welcome to visit and that whilst we never gave discounts we would give them a special one of 10% if they decided to visit but not to tell anyone. Of course we don't charge our direct family but then they never come 'in season' anyway.

[idun]

AnOther said:We don't do 'dreaded visitors' and I don't

understand would anybody put up with visitors described as such !

AnOther said:Maybe we're

fortunate in not having aged parents nor do we have extended families

who invite themselves but even then I'd have little compunction it

telling them they were not welcome.

AnOther, you have to remember that we moved to France when we were 'young' and my parents were younger than I am now when they came to visit, so, as I am not actually 'aged' then they were not. Just my mother was quite piece of work really, a very odd woman indeed! My Dad was fine.

Would you really, in your early thirties have told your parents that they couldn't come to see you? Or just told your Dad that he could come, but alone?  If so, well, we are very different.

And IF my eldest had remained with the horrible horrible girl he was engaged to, then I wouldn't have told them that 'only' he could come and see us, I'd have put up with her and shut up to boot. 

I'm not talking about extended family, but close family.