Love is in the air....

There is a lot of love about this week... Hearts in all shapes and sizes are popping up everywhere I look on the internet. Did someone mention Valentine's Day?

You know, my Other Half is not the most romantic type - he has only ever bought me flowers once. To be fair it was a single red rose and he had to tuck it inside his bike jacket to deliver it. All those thorns with only a tshirt to protect him... no wonder he never got me any more!!!  This year he has a meeting with the Coleford Carnival of Transport Commitee (of which he is a member) tonight so no surprise dinner for 2 for me then... *sigh*

So it seems, if I want some of that lovin' feeling I will just have to find it for myself...

 Happy Valentines Day my lovers!!

#Mumentum - Weighty Matters...

 The scales are not my friend...

Or you could say they are my very best friend as they are honest and they tell it like it is without sugar-coating the truth. Unlike a good friend, however, they don't offer hugs and a cuppa to ease the pain of bad news (and they are a bit of loss on the gossipping front to, if I'm honest...).

After last week's post full of positivity my confidence is back on the floor. You see, despite spending best part of an hour every day jogging, hula-hoop-ing, boxing, yoga and pretending to be a Jedi knight with my light sabre on the swordplay section of WiiResort; despite clocking up a couple of hours and 15km on the exercise bike whilst watching Eastenders; despite sweating like a pig in my Zaggora Hotpants; despite there being barely a cake, biscuit or packet of crisps in the house because money is tight again; despite all of this the scales show no change...

It's frustrating to say the least.

Friends have tried to reassure me that aren't showing weight loss because I am building up muscle mass thanks to all the exercise and although I am losing fat, muscle weighs more. Etc. Etc.
Problem is my scales are clever. They show me how much of my body is fat (a scary 38% at the moment!!) and how much that fat weighs (you really don't want to know).
The numbers are exactly the same as they were at the beginning of January...

I am clearly not doing everything I could/should so this week I am going to really concentrate on what I am eating, portion control, getting plenty of water and  ABSOLUTELY NO SNACKING.

Snow lovely...

The past four winters we have been blessed (cursed) with LOTS of snow. It disrupted everything from food deliveries to public transport and emergency service response. We have had to abandon vehicles and walk home through the drifts when freak snowstorms have made it too dangerous to drive. Local supermarkets ran out of staples as everyone panic bought essentials in fear of the worst. Our business suffered badly as, for two winters running, the snowy conditions dragged on for weeks and nobody was coming into the shop. Assuming the OH could even get to the shop to open up.
So this winter's distinct lack of the white stuff has been a welcome relief. Yes we've had snow but it hasn't been enough to stop most day to day activities (at least in this neck of the woods) and it hasn't hung around for long enough to be a pain.

Yesterday it was doing it's damnedest to prove that, actually it can be rather beautiful...

When we woke up to this sight - a bright, slightly waning moon suspended in a pinky blue sky just before the sun rose - I knew we were in for a lovely day...

Snow covered black branches against a pale blue winter sky

In places where the sun doesn't reach the snow still lay thickly

A Hazy Shade of Winter

Temperatures have plummeted over night this past week or so, creating  a 'snow-thaw-freeze' cycle that has made for some gorgeous icicle formations...

 

Every twig has it's own little ice jacket...

Even the individual blades of grass have been treated to crystal coating!

Natures own tinsel and fairy lights - this tree actually glistened. Unfortunately I could not quite capture the sparkle of sunlight on the ice... Believe me, I tried.

 

The late afternoon sun on the rapidly melting ice was dazzling.

It's all gone now. With every day we are heading closer to Spring so I don't know if we'll get any more this Winter... If it means we can head out in the sunshine and witness this beauty again then I won't mind too much.  

But if it stops everyone from getting to where they need to go and means the corner shop runs out of coffee I might stamp my feet a bit...

#SilentSunday 12/02/12

 

 

for more fab pictures search #SilentSunday on twitter.com

Retro toy fun - Old Skool Lego

Yesterday we* were given an amazing gift from the Other Half's brother - a box of Lego. More accurately, a vintage (mid 70's?) set of Lego in it's original box!  

*I say we - technically it was for the Little Man, but, you know, he has to be supervised and besides he has the attention span of a fly...

This is Lego as I remember it before it got all technical and based around the latest blockbuster movie...

 

Check out that collar and the hair!

Now if your family was anything like mine there was always plenty of Lego to play with but, despite our best intentions, it rarely stayed in it's original box for long. This set however even has the instructions!

 

 Well, naturally I couldn't wait to get stuck in. It didn't take long to build the hospital - cleverly hinged on one side to allow easy play. Honestly it was like being 7 all over again. Right down to nearly throwing a wobbly when I couldn't get one bit to stay together properly...

But after about half an hour of reacquainting myself with teeny Lego (the LM is still at the Duplo stage of Lego building) I had my state of the art (c. 1970) hospital complete with bed, trolley, sink and tiled cabinet (I made that one up myself - you see it all comes flooding back!).

 

Doctor 'How are you feeling?' Patient 'A bit stiff, doctor...'

See this is 'old skool' Lego - in the days before Lego mini-figures existed. These guys don't bend in the middle...

Now I have made the hospital I can't wait to have a go at some of the other ideas on the box...

Relaxing in our stylish living room...

Who needs MFI? 

As I suspected the Little Man got bored about ten minutes into construction and decided that bowling on the Wii was much more fun. I think I may have to pass the task of creative Lego play over to Daddy. I'm sure he could make something far more interesting to a four year old boy than the various retro interiors I want to recreate :-)

Thank you to Uncle M for this little surprise. I promise I will pass it on to the Little Man as soon as he is old enough to appreciate it.

In the meantime I have a restaurant to construct....

***UPDATE***

Apparently all Lego sets can be dated by their set number. This one was released in 1978. Thanks to @frizzychick for filling me in on that one :-)

#Mumentum New Year, New Me (blah blah blah)

It's been a while since I last did a Mum-en-tum post and, well, nothing much has changed.
December brought the usual round of over-indulgence - I blame the fact that mince pies and brandy cream are only available for 2 months of the year. I have to get my fix before they disappear from the shelves until next November...
But, that said I entered 2012 10lbs lighter than I was at the beginning of 2011 so there must be some progress being made!
Now back in the old days (read early 20's) shifting a stone after the party season was not a major problem. A few weeks of soup, salad and chocolate hobnob abstinence was usually all that was required to shift the winter weight. But it is true what they say about it getting harder as you get older.
Last week I celebrated my 38th birthday (with Chinese food and chocolate cupcakes) That's officially 'late-30's'. Nearly 40 even. If I stand any chance of getting rid of those excess pounds stones for good, this is the year I have to make it happen or else a  life of floaty tunics and elastic waistbands looms...

No dieting here though.
I detest that word... instead I am looking a bit more carefully at what I eat and, most importantly, my portion sizes. I have been researching some low fat, healthy recipes and trying to create meals that I can enjoy with the LM. I am looking for recipes that are intended to serve only one or two (not as easy as you might think) so that over-eating is not an option. If  I find some good ones I will share if you like :-)

The gym or exercise classes are still a non-starter for me. Even if we could spare the cash I can't get to any of the darn things! The exercise bike, however,  is finally being used as it was intended - ie: it's not draped with coats, bags, ironing etc and my lovely OH picked up a second hand Wii complete with Wii Fit for me for Christmas which we have all had lots of fun with through the dreary month of January. I am just starting to get into a routine of sorts and it is actually very good fun and the daily body tests are pretty motivational! I will let you know how I get on with that and how much of a difference it makes...

In the meantime I wish all you lovely Mumentum ladies a (slightly belated) Happy New Year. Lets make 2012 the year we all achieve what we want! xx

Don't forget to visit Liska's blog NewMumOnline and check out all the other Mumentum posts this week...  (for some reason my lovely new blog template won't let me add the the linky tool to this post)
 

#SilentSunday 05/02/12

for more fab Silent Sunday pictures search #silentsunday on twitter.com