Is it February already? Yikes, I would have sworn it was just Christmas last week. January has rushed by at a startling pace and I’m not quite sure where I spent my time, but let’s see if I can gather my thoughts and give a clear picture …..
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| © Cleo @ Classical Carousel A chilly but refreshing walk |
Well first, let’s start with something boring. After keeping off most of my weight lost from being on Weight Watchers for over a year, I gained back 10 pounds. I’m not quite sure how I did it because I wouldn’t say I indulged over Christmas, but I did do a smoothie challenge for my food blog in January and I think that’s the culprit. Yes, smoothies are supposed to be healthy, but they are high in natural sugar and therefore calories. So back to WeightWatchers we go. Actually I’ve already lost 3 pounds, so I’m not worried but it was kind of shocking after such good maintaining.
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| © Cleo @ Classical Carousel Dare to be Different! |
I’ve started downhill skiing lessons and had my first one a week and a half ago. I wasn’t thrilled with it because the instructor had us walk up a hill and snowplow down for an hour. Yes, an hour. Boring! I wanted to go! So at the end of the lesson I grabbed another lady and we headed up to a run. Happily we both made it down easily but it did make me realized that I need to get into better shape.
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| © Cleo @ Classical Carousel |
As for reading ……….. and I will sound like a broken record here ……….. I’m still trying to get through City of God, Crime and Punishment, Dead Souls, The Republic and Murder in the Catherdal (which, thankfully, is so short that it should take no time at all). Honestly, I read so little in January that it’s shameful. So putting January behind ….
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| © Cleo @ Classical Carousel One of my favourite photos …. so far …. |
In February, I need to keep plugging along with the above. I was thinking of adding Henry James’ The Ambassadors, as one of my Goodreads groups is reading it, but I started it and am not that enamoured with James’ writing. I didn’t think I’d be, but I question with my reduced time, if I really want to put it into a book that I won’t enjoy. I’m longing to read either Middlemarch or Jane Eyre but I know that’s a dream at this point.
And so I will sign off, with my usual wish to read more and be less busy. If only one day it will come true!
I know those longings. Don't you just want to dive into something familiar and comforting? Jane Eyre sounds so lovely.
I'd tell you what you should to do, but then I'd have to take my own advice, so…
I am loving your photos – they look magazine worthy!!
Skiing sounds fun…someday I will get back into it. Watching the Olympics is also inspiring. 🙂
Those are some heavy reads; don't feel bad if they're going slowly. I find that it's not the length that slows me down, it's the subject matter…
I know! I made the mistake of watching both Middlemarch and Jane Eyre on DVD and now I'm dying to read both!
You COULD tell me what to do nevertheless. One can never have too many mothers ……… lol …… ! 😉
Thanks for your kind words, Marian! I am soooo loving the photography aspect of my food blog. I hope I can perhaps make some money from it one day.
And thanks for reminding me about the content of my books. I think I'm a little burnt out by it. If I have the time, I can compute it but since I have no time, it's such a slog. Perhaps I should grab a completely different, easier book and start to read. I'll have to give it a thought ….
HAhaaaa! 😀
What beautiful photos! I've been reading but blogging seems to have disappeared. And I spend all my time figuring out the logistics of life. Blah.
who was it that said, the best life is an active one… dunno if i agree whole heartedly with that, but it might be true… nice to hear from you again and the pictures are excellent, the first one in particular: great place to walk!!
Hi Cleo. I just love your photos of Canada. It's actually cold and rainy here, which as a Texas I welcome with open arms.
I'm also on Weight Watchers and was a very bad girl over Christmas. I'm still trying to get back to my pre-Christmas weight. And, of course, today is Valentine's Day and my husband and I are going to celebrate. Sigh. It's so hard to be good.
Thanks, Jean! When you figure out the logistics of life, can you let me know? It gets even more complex instead of easier. I could use some easy.
They should have said the best life is a balanced one. :-Z It's one of my favourite places to walk and there are beaver dams out there somewhere. One year, there were nets of spider webs all over the place. It was beautiful. I must go walking more often!
Hi Sharon! I wish we could send you more of our cold and rain. Actually it snowed last night and then today was beautiful. I haven't felt warmth on my face for soooo long!
Well, we'll have to keep each other accountable. I've been doing some manual work and then have been sick for the first time in years the last week, so I think I might have reduced my weight back to where it was. However I still want to keep going. I have to keep focusing on the vegetables, which will hopefully be easier to do as spring approaches. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!
OK, when I figure out the secret I will tell you. Ha. I only have TWO kids. My husband makes his own appointments. How is it possible that I spend nearly all my time managing our lives? Oh I tell you what though I should read your food blog. I'm so tired of figuring out what to feed people, I would happily live on Trader Joe's salads for eternity at this point, but we've managed to hit a whole new level of diet needs in our house, above and beyond what we had before. It may kill me.
With my daughter off to college I thought I would have more time. How wrong but I can't really figure out what happened. I thought homeschooling took up oodles of time. When I got that time back, it seems to have just disappeared!
Yes, check out the food blog. I'm trying to post mostly quick and easy, healthy recipes. What are your families new dietary needs? I can perhaps steer you in the right (and easier!) direction ….
I'll PM you on GR, seeing as how none of them are MY dietary needs…
Let me start…
February is almost over at the moment I write this! Reading is difficult while the Olympic Games (and reruns) are on the tv 24/7.
Cooking: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa…I have not made the sweet potato recipe yet. I put it on hold.
Weight? I switched to a plant based diet (no meat, only feta cheese and beans, lentils etc and no dairy…switched to almond milk! It's delicious.)My only weak point: celebrate finishing a difficult, long book with a Heineken!
Reading: Perhaps it would be a suggestion to put the books you are reading 'on hold' for a while and start smth fresh and new! You helped me when I hit a bump in the road by telling me the same thing! I discovered some great 'children's literature' when I ventured of the beaten path.
Try some plays… at the moment playwright Martin McDonagh (…no one can tell a story like an Irishman)is worth some reading time. Did you know he wrote the screenplay for the Oscar nominated film "The Three Billboards"? Time to make my coffee…hope you have a great Sunday!
Ah yes, and the Netherlands keeps winning all the skating medals! 😉 I just posted a Kale and Potato Soup with Roasted Garlic that's delicious and whips up in 20+ minutes so you might be interested in that. I tried to go vegetarian and I'm mostly dairy-free anyway except for yogurt and my last blood test was stellar, HOWEVER I'm low in iron and B12. I was even on a plant-based supplement for both so obviously I'm not absorbing it and I do think I need to eat some meat.
I think your reading advice is a great idea. I've been working so much and then today I had to shoot food for a magazine submission, so I haven't had a moment to read, but I'm going to pick something new as soon as I can. A play sounds like a good idea. For some reason, I feel like a re-read and I had the urge to re-read Hamlet today. Perhaps ….
In any case, I hope you've had a great day and thanks for the support and advice, Nancy!
Well, lets just January was not a mixed month for most of us, and for me personally February is not looking up either! Weight Gained? Check Parental Illness? Check Halt on all outdoor Activity? Check! So far it is a fabulous year! Ugh! But it is what it is and what I am trying to say in my whiny way is despite everything, there is still much to hope for! For instance, the downhill sking sounds excellent and even better, if you think, you need to get in better shape? Are you still doing yoga? The food blog and the photos look amazing and I am sure you will go great lengths this year! Finally, ditch Dead Souls; I did; maybe I will pick it up later, but not now! I think Nancy's idea is excellent of starting something new…do let me know what you finally zero in on! Here's to a truly wonderful month, and months to come!
I'm a big believer in the Weight Watchers program, and I wish you much success in your efforts. I also look forward to whatever you might post someday about Crime & Punishment and Middlemarch; both book are on my radar for 2018. Best wishes from a restless reader on the Gulf coast . . . Tim
https://inquiriesinformal2ded.blogspot.com/
Postscript: I share your feelings about Henry James, but I am determined to read Portrait of a Lady this year. I started and stopped it last year, so hope I make it this time.
It sounds like you're having a doozie of a year so far. My word! Hopefully it improves! My dad had a knee replacement, and I had to look after my mother, so my family responsibilities were unusually high this month. I've also missed two out of three of the downhill lessons so far, so I'm not doing very well in that department. I feel like becoming a hermit. Hopefully I finish off the month better than I started.
Crime and Punishment is going well but The Brothers Karamazov is still my favourite. I can't recommend Middlemarch highly enough. And thanks for the well wishes!
I hope it goes well for you. I keep looking at The Ambassadors and feeling that my time is so limited, I don't want to spend it on THAT. Poor James!
Cleo, I feel the same way now that I’m only homeschooling one. I’m certainly spending more time running around to this that & the next thing which I largely avoided when I had all the kids to teach. I think I’m just slowing down or getting lazy…
Don't you look back and wonder how on earth you got everything done? And then wonder why a few things have you so discombobulated? Hopefully life slows down a little for both of us, but it's nice to know that I'm not alone! 🙂