New Start 16 - Hiking and Nature-y stuff!

As I've been a poor Lighterlifer over the last few days, I've decided to get back to basics and that means more blogging! It was one of the things that kept me away from temptation in the early days so why not try it again? I've been watching more telly than usual recently and we all know that telly means snacks!!

So, above is some photos from Kejimkujik National Park in Nova Scotia, Mahone Bay (with the 34 churches) and our first and very foggy day on the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton, NS. It was lovely up there but so frustrating that day as the fog obscured what you knew would be fantastic sea views. Still, we saw some amazing wildlife including puffins and assorted seabirds; the Bald Eagle pictured taking a fish from the sea behind our boat; seals, that gorgeous and fearless littel red squirrel eating his pine shoots behind us for a good 5 minutes 'til he got bored; woodpeckers, and many others.

Charming D managed to persuade me to pose with the Moose sign - suspect he's running a caption competition amongst our friends but think he'll receive more insults than me so good luck to him!!

We also spotted some rather more brightly coloured wildlife in the little town of Baddeck, namely their High School Seniors heading off to the Prom. Dig the dresses girls and great suits lads!! And I know it's mean of me to point her out (especially given the largely supportive group that we are) but how did the mother of the girl on the far right in the inadvisable pink dress let her out?? I mean, it's one thing to be big but not to dress with half an eye for your size and shape is just plain daft. Hope she wasn't too miserable.

Anyway, what else? I was meant to have my French class this evening and, for once, I'd done all my homework really thoroughly so was really looking forward to it. I'd prepared to talk about our whale watching trip and even taken photos to illustrate. Set off from work early at 4.30 to leave plenty of time and promptly hit a traffic jam behind the M1 southbound being closed. I must have missed the accident by minutes as well. So, 2 hours later I got home having not made it anywhere near my French class. Grrr... hope the accident wasn't serious. Don't think it was from the radio coverage.

Got home and took the dog for a lovely sunny walk along the river, including a swim for her where I thought she was going to get washed down the river, it was running so strongly after all the rain we've had! I was all ready to lunge in but she pluckily managed to paddle back to shore and then turned round and asked me to throw another stick for her....daft mutt! Now I'm back, being good and avoiding the kitchen - gold stars please!!

Actually, just reading the 3 comments I've had so far to my "binge" confession, makes me realise what great support this blog has been. The worst thing you can do is avoid posting because you might feel down or distant from the diet. That is precisely the time you need the support the most. Not that I was actively avoiding it but I wasn't actively making time for posting either and then complacency and cheating set in. For me, it's like weighing myself every morning - it's a declaration of intent to follow the diet and stick to it for another day. I might not always suceed but it's a good start.

So thanks for your help and support, it is, as always, much appreciated.