Day 10 (Wed)

Several things have annoyed me so far today:

1. The weather.  I'm sick of the rain (especially as Rich is enjoying blue sky and sunshine in Portugal) but that is not all.  It has rained so much that the golf course is closed, again so I couldn't play golf this morning.  I spent ages trying to put together a group of 4 to play in the Daily Mail Foursomes and then the course is closed so it has been postponed and we probably won't be able to play on the next date.  Harrumph. 
   
   Not to mention faffing around dressing to play, loading golf clubs etc and then, at the last minute, getting the call that it was cancelled.  I suspected it would be but couldn't take the risk of not getting ready just in case.
   
2. Blogger.  Every time I post a photo I carefully resize it to make sure I avail myself of the free photo storage and don't hit my 1GB limit.  I KNOW I checked the amount but now it seems that I have not been reducing my photos sufficiently so, unbeknownst to me, I have hit my limit and now have to PAY for storage if I want to upload photos to my blog.  Grrrrr
   
3. Me.  I KNOW I can't have snacks during the day and I didn't even WANT one so why, when I spotted a forgotten about cooked sausage in the fridge, did I unthinkingly bite into it??  Once bitten into of course, there was no going back so a day which was looking like being exemplary has been besmirched by snacking!!
   
4. Work.  Just a bit dull and people keep ringing me up to "chat through" issues which help their work along but cost me time.  Meh - shouldn't be annoyed by this as it is effectively "my job"!

So, let's turn this around.  What has been GOOD about today??

1. Well, I finally got round to making carrot and coriander soup and it was delicious.  I had a bowl for lunch with NO carby additions!  No croutons, bread, toast, crackers, nothing!  This is a major step forward for me and I'm pleased to report that I didn't miss the bready stuff at all.
   
   Once I've made the first batch of soup each autumn (I never get round to doing it in summer) I remember how easy and quick and rewarding it is so tend to get back in the swing of it.  Fingers crossed.
   
2. The "making stuff" kick continues as I finally got round to making the rose hip syrup I should have made a week ago.  To be honest the hips are past their best but they should be alright.  Can always pick some more if I like it.  I picked them on a whim because they looked so beautiful on the bush.  I would have photographed the final product as it looked rather beautiful in its bottle, a lovely, gleaming ruby red.  Should be nice on icecream, pavlovas fruit, rice pudding, fruit etc.  (Not that I eat much of those itmes you understand!!)
   
3. Our wet and cold POM (aka dog walk) first thing this morning.  I dug out some wellies which actually go over my chunky calves so I won't be detered in future from walking up the field because it's wet.  And it was strangely lovely in a cold, wet sort of way.  As we were on our way back to base, in a hilly, rocky corner of the big field, a lone swallow accosted us.  The girls went mental, chasing it in tight circles up and down hill and hurling themselves alarming off rocks! 
   
   I'm sure the swallow was teasing them as it kept disappearing over the wall then coming back and dive-bombing them again and it was flying in tight circles around the dogs but nowhere near me!  Also, we carried on moving away and walking towards the edge of the field but it continued to harry us, so it can't have just been protecting something (what?). I think it was just the love of flying to be honest.  Whatever it was, the dogs loved it and were hyped up for ages afterwards.
   
4. And what WILL be the best thing about today is that Richard is going to be home this evening.  He's only been away since Sunday afternoon and I was at my parents' Sunday and Monday but I really missed him.  It's been the longest we've been apart since we got together.

In other news, I'm starting to formulate a plan for coping with our awayday to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.  As you know an away football trip usually involves far too much beer (liquid carbs!!) and poor food choices.  I want to have fun so I suspect there will still be some beer (maybe shorts if we're in a decent pub) but I'm going to work on the timing and the food choices to minimise damage.  I reckon I can still do the cold shower, black coffee, morning walk and skipping breakfast element of the plan (which is the most important bit) and then can take a lunch of soup in a flask and salad in a tupperware so that I do NOT have burgers, chips, pie or other carb-based meals.  It will just take a bit of planning, lots of willpower and lots of and steeling myself to say "no" a few times.  It CAN be done.