Message from Venice :-)

Hi all

Having spent all day at the pool I thought I'd do a quick blog from my lovely hotel in Venice. Not willing to send full photo of me by pool but you'll recognise my toenails in the photo!!

The weather is very very lovely - clear blue skies and lots of sunshine. In truth it's not really sight-seeing weather but we've done quite a lot visiting St Marks square, the Jewish qtr, Murano & Burano (Venetian islands renowned for glass & lace respectively - you can imagine what a fabulous time the boys had there!!). Last night we did a trip to here The Barber of Seville performed in a beautiful Venetian house overlooking the canal - opera isn't really my thing but it was a lovely evening & the complimentary Prosecco was lovely too :-)

And then there's the food.........
Hotel breakfast is a lovely buffet with lots of fresh fruit (watermelon, ogen melon, plums, peaches etc), scrambled eggs, grilled toms, ff yoghurt &, before you think this blog is being written by a hacker!, fabulous croissants, cheeses & cakes. Have to say that cake (yes cake - jam tart, donuts, sable biscuits, almond cake etc) is an acquired taste & not one I'm indulging but it does all look very inviting :-)

Lunches have been various salads - our lunches have been small because of the heat & the big breakfast.

Dinners have varied but have been lovely with lots of fresh fish, veggies, pasta etc - and actually I had dessert only once a fabulous tiramisu (when in Venice....)

I'm not a huge ice cream eater so haven't had even one yet although the boys have and I have been tempted but actually not enough to have one :-)

Tomorrow is our last full day in Venice & then we join the cruise on Saturday - will let you know how I get on.

Love to all
Lxx

Absent without leave & we all know what that means :-)

So after a blogging gap of just about two weeks thought I'd give you the benefit of my musings on this very pleasant Friday evening.
On Monday we are off on our holidays so today was an opportunity to do some last minute shopping & to have my beautifications attended to - manicure, pedicure & waxing in other words (see results below).
Rather delightfully my toenails match my sun dress however I'm not certain that they'll match my other clothes but who cares I'll be so chilled out it just won't matter - and I like the colour!!

Last time I blogged we were mid-Olympics and now it's all over but we had such a great time and the events we saw will be adventures we will treasure forever especially as I can say 'I was there when Mo Farrah won the 5000m' - absolutely astonishing :-)

Suppose I should update you on the debacle that is my weight loss - suffice to say that I had lost 5lbs in four weeks & now I haven't :(
The week before last was truly a disaster & I weighed in feeling very bloated but didn't imagine such a huge gain. However a lot was fluid because by Tuesday I'd lost 2lbs. This week hasn't been bad because in the wait for Dom's A level results my appetite deserted me and despite a fear that I might ingest my body weight in chocolate (& that's quite a lot of chocolate) as you don't need an appetite to do that - I haven't.

Proud mummy moment coming.......
Dom passed his exams & is going to Nottingham uni in September.

So now I'm on the pre holiday cycle and really looking forward to it.
We are off to Venice for five days & then on a cruise for a week.
I need the break and am looking forward to escaping to somewhere warm and sunny.
I am still a bit concerned about being sea sick but like the good pharmacist I am I have plentiful supplies of travel sickness pills so should be fine!!

As I said earlier I did a bit of shopping this morning as I looked at my stretchy selection and decided that done of it might be a bit warm as average temp will be 32c. I went to a shop called Trendy Togs in Queensbury - not my usual haunt but I'd been recommended - & what a good recommendation it was :-)
They had a really good selection of colourful tops and I even bought a couple of cotton (or linen I'm not certain) sleeveless tunics. Definitely a good find and for those of us with tree-trunk arms and big bums there is choice - always a bonus in my book :-)

So I think that's all for now - I might try to blog a bit while I'm on holiday to keep you in touch with my attempts to eat sensibly in Venice and on the cruise.

Will be in touch.
Lxx

Lots of Olympics - not enough dieting (or blogging!)

Hi all

Very sorry not to post this week but (to be honest) I've become an Olympics junkie & all my spare time (& some of the time i should be doing other things!) has been taken up watching the tv, listening on the radio or viewing on the Internet!!!!

It is highly addictive and very distracting - but aren't we doing well :-)

Anyway - I lost 2lbs last week and was very pleased with myself if a bit surprised as I rarely lose more than a pound a week these days.

This week in all honesty I have been quite naughty and if things turn out as I expect the results may not be good.
It got cooler so my 'chocolate fancying gene' was out in force.
I've also been nibbling odd crisps, bits of bread etc etc - not counting my syns properly and generally not putting in enough effort or concentrating on the task in hand.

I have been better over the weekend and I had my hair cut on Friday (has to be good for a couple of ounces!!) but if I'm punished by a gain I only have myself to blame

We had a BBQ yesterday and I had a glass of Pymms - I do make it with diet lemonade but as the host it is beholden on me to eat the leftover (& thoroughly 'alcoholic') fruit in the bottom of the jug!
However the rest of the food was very SW friendly with lots of yummy salads and fresh fruit for dessert.

Today Tobz came home from camp - so nice to have him home & he obviously had a good time - wonder how long it will take him to mess up his beautifully tidy bedroom!!!!

Next week will be quite busy, I'm out all day tomorrow, working Tuesday - Thursday, Olympic hockey on Tuesday, Olympic athletics on Saturday (soo excited) and friends for a BBQ on Sunday - phew!!!
Must try harder this week as the following week is my last before holiday AND A level results week - all sorts of terrible excuses for not following the plan!!

Hopefully you'll be hearing more from me this week as I'll need to be much more focussed.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend
Lx