Not TOOOO bad

Glorious sunshine blessed us today (forecast to be the last good day for a while) so, while a suveyor poked round my (rented) house, I took the dogs up Bradwell Edge.  It was actually hot - I was cursing my choice of a long-sleeved t-shirt.  In March!

                                                

So, we head though the back lanes and work our way up hill.  Edge Lane - sounds innocuous doesn't it - bloody steep though!

The Edge looms above us but the road is not too bad so far.

Come on Mum!!

Hazy views of Bradwell below us with Hope Cement Works in the background.

 



Shelagh poses for photoes - it's not like her to be so co-operative which might explain why she looks a bit glum in the second pic!!

 



 

The dogs love snow, especially patches of icy snow left behind when the rest has melted.  Shelagh is desperate for me to hack off a lump off ice soshe can take it off and bury it.  Mad girl!

 She also like eating the snow...

What're we doing Mum??

 



Minty puzzled.

 



She thinks snow is for rolling in not eating.

 



 

Bloody litter bugs!!  How can you leave your coke can on the verge out here in such gorgeous surroundings??  I took it home in case you're wondering...

 

 

Then back down the hill to Bradda.  A lovely lunchtime walk before heading back to the grindstone!!

So, how am I doing apart from when I'm on lovely country walks??  Not too bad to be honest.  I have been stepping on the scales most mornings so I'm not hiding from them which is always a good sign.  This morning they showed 14.7.6 so, while I have had a 3 lb gain from my lowest number, it is not a terrible one.  I'm still a stone lighter than I was last September and that is something to hold onto.

Now, I REALLY want to drop another stone this spring.  I have so many nice clothes I could be wearing this summer and I don't want yet another summer to slip by not getting into them.  BUT life is throwing a LOT at me at the moment and a benign equilibrium is more important than heaping more pressure on myself to drop weight.

Work is extremely busy.  There is just too much to do, no budgets to use external solicitors and not enough solicitors within the Council to service its legal needs.  It is a daily struggle but I don't get paid enough to work long hours and get stressed so I've pledged to do my best and that is just going to have to be enough!

Then there is the sale of my house.  It needs to progress fast for one of the buyers down the chain so that means dealing with packing up and clearing the house as soon as possible.  And the prospect of dealing with Diarmuid one last time before our final tie is snapped.  Hopefully it will go smoothly but I'm working on the basis that it will not.

Then there is the house we're living in.  It has been sold so we'll have to move.  The landlord tells us he has another house for us to move into but we haven't been able to see it yet as he has works being done.  Uncertainty.

Then there's my mum and dad.  Going over there to give dad a hand takes a fair bit of time and is worrying really as we don't know how long the status quo can continue.   Poor old dad.

I know I have too much on because a little thing like running a golf club team this summer is stressing me out.  Full on chimplike avoidance is going on and it NEEDS to stop.  Luckily the golf team is the only thing I'm avoiding.  I seem to be able to tackle everything else on my agenda so, if I can just get the team sorted (and asking for help looks like it's on the cards) I'd at least be coping in a healthy manner.  THIS is progress.

To be honest, I'm not on top of the world at the moment but, unlike other times this has happened, I'm not hiding away.  I'm still eating pretty well, exercising and getting on with stuff.  I could be cheerier but I'm not in a bad way.  That probably explains why I've not been blogging much - who wants to be low-level grumpy in writing??

We've got a long weekend off coming up and I really hope that it is a good one and that we can just chill out together and have a GOOD TIME!!