Cate's Diary

Hi Val, So glad to hear that you had a lovely visit back home but a pity you felt ill still. You did very well weight-wise. It's so good to feel in control & not splurging on things, just because they're there. I missed you & am glad that you're back. Look fwd to seeing your photos after the party! I took our neighbour a bottle of our Muscat blend to thank him for putting together my trolley & our mattock. Usually he comes outside when I get to his place but this time he lurked in the background looking very strange. I held the bottle up & he came to the door, smiling, but looking quizzical. I said it was a thank you for his help last week & we chatted about the Muscat & I told him the history of it's making. I was cheery & friendly & I think it may clear the air between us. It is so frustrating to cry when someone raises their voice toward you. It is probably his default, as it is so many people. I know a lot about his history & probably a raised voice is getting off lightly. I'm glad that I am not married to someone like him. Thanks for your visit Val. I have a feeling that we have lots of things in common & hopefully we get to meet one day, xo Cate

"Colour My World"
I usually wake up singing a song in my head & thought I would share mine with you. I have woken singing this almost every morning for the last couple of weeks :D It has been in the background of the ABC ads on TV. but I used to love it as a teenager. Love most of those 'corny' old 60's songs! The songs you heard as a teenager are the special ones in your brain. I must tell my LH & sons that if I end up in a nursing home, with dementia, to leave me with some 60's & 70's music & I'll be happy. I'll probably dance & entertain the other 'oldies.'

Cohen's-
Still 100% & didn't weigh this morning :) Tomorrow will be good as it will be 2 weeks exactly. Then I'm having a 3 day break & weighing Monday. No rubbish though :)

Yesterday-
I ate the same as the day before-exactly. Had 1/2 a fruit & 2 crackers left at the end of the day. Went to town & did a fair bit of walking. It was a very social occasion & very enjoyable. I bought some more vegie seedlings & must keep up with them as vegetables are likely to get very expensive soon, due to the floods. Our crops in Tassie ended up covered with mud as well. I'm not looking forward to our next insurance bill.
Today-
Tai Chi day & then a doctor's visit straight after, just to get my scripts. It will get me out of going to lunch & I'll take it with me & eat before going into my ap't. Yoghurt & cinnamon for breakfast, cheese/tomato/cucumber & celery on crackers for lunch. I wish I had cottoned on to the yoghurt/cinnamon/sweetener combo when I was on Cohen's 1st time around as I would then have had an 'extra' fruit portion for later on. Oh well. I love this combo & it really fills me up. I am very rarely hungry until 5 hours later (min.)
OK- I had better get a wiggle on as I have dishes to wash, a shower to have & things to do in town before Tai Chi at 11.30.
Bye for now, xo Cate

 
Oh dear. I know I typed a post in here last night but I must have clicked over to something else before "post quick reply." Oh well, it doesn't matter.
Yesterday-
Tai Chi was especially good yesterday. I went to the doctor's afterward & waited ages. About 5 mins before he called me in I smelt something strong & my right sinus started hurting instantly. When I got to his door I asked him if he had just sprayed his room & he had. We went to another room & I told him what I needed & he went back to his room to write out the scripts. He asked about my allergies & when I told him that I am allergic to most fragrance, but especially synthetic fragrance(perfume, de-odorant, room cleaners, 'air fresheners' etc but also quite a few natural fragrances, like Lavender, he looked horrified & asked me if I wanted that written on my file. Mmmm. Yes please! It's not his fault as I have only seen him recently but it goes to show that no-one there has taken much notice of what I have been saying for the last few years. It's very frustrating. I told him I am on a Disability Pension now because of my allergies. Because people know how hard it is to get a disability pension that is a good way of getting the message across.
I stayed home last night as I was not up to going to 8-ball. A strong reaction knocks me about. I fell asleep before 8 in my chair, after getting rid of my head-ache, but had to use my puffer 3 times in all & still have bad asthma this morning. I did sleep well though.

Weight-
Down another 1/2 a kilo so have lost 4.5 in the last 2 weeks. Am feeling better physically & mentally because of it.
My husband has lots of work on now(too much really) but they have just taken on someone new as a casual & asked him if he minded dropping a day a week for the next 3 weeks :D Mind? Te he- we are both happy about that. I think he'll be happier when he stops altogether but he will probably spend heaps more time at the golf club then. 1 or 2 days work a week only would be good & handy as extra income. That works out perfectly with my pension.

Love to you all, xoxo Cate
 
Having those allergies sound horrible, especially since you have very little control. My allergies had gotten so bad in California that I developed adult onset asthma. When the cotton trees would bloom I'd about die. But luckily when we moved to Ohio I guess I moved away from alot things I'm allergic too and am able to just take claritin when they act up. Perfume makes me sick when I'm around somebody wearing too much but not sure that's an allergy. And zomg cucumber melon makes me immediately nauseous. So what kinds of stuff are you able to clean with without getting sick? Gratz doing great on Cohen's btw :) I'll come by letter and see how you're weigh in went.
 
Hi Lisa, Yep, allergies do suck, but I'm getting more used to them & adjust as much as I can. I'm lucky that we are able to live in the country on 50 acres & our house is pretty well allergy-friendly. I use Back-to basics multi-purpose liquid(fragrance-free) for my dishes, floors & general cleaning & Back-To-Basics laundry liquid(fragrance-free), A'Kin & Alchemy fragrance-free shampoo & conditioner, no make up & use methylated spirits to clean glass etc. It just takes more organisation & you have to make sure you don't run out of things. I buy the Back To Basics stuff from Devonport (40km away) in 10 litre drums. Thanks for your visit, xo Cate.

Weigh-in
Down another .5kg so 5kgs in all in 15 days= a kg every 3 days!! YES!! :D

Had a fairly big breakfast, but still basically Cohen's (no toast) & a biggish lunch (tuna salad) & am so full I have decided to eat a meal 2 meal of crackers & cheese/ salad (Cohen's portion only.) Happy with how I'm going & I don't tell my LH unless I gain, in which case I go back on 100% instantly. I am trying to stabilise as I am for now. :D :D Am I happy? Yes, I am! Only 5.5kg above my lowest weight & edging closer & closer to comparative safety.
Having a lovely time with our grand-son & will take him home at 3 so that my LH gets to see the other GK's.
Lots of love to all, xoxo Cate
 
Well done on more weight loss.:)
I've got my biggest allergy time coming up but it's different from yours. We have a caterpillar here that lives in the pine trees. I'm one of the many people that are allergic to their hair. Most years everybody gets their trees sprayed but because there haven't been many around the last few years nobody has sprayed this year and I can see all the pine trees around me full of nests. It is awful as I come out in welts all over my body that are really itchy and make me feel ill if I get a lot. Claratine does help to a certain extent but I spend weeks with itchy skin. I've been rushed off to hospital twice to get adrenaline injections. Once one somehow got on my cheek and I rubbed it right across my face when I brushed it off and my whole face and mouth started to balloon up. I'm sitting here scratching as I write as the first ones are about now.
 
Hi Val & thanks. Very happy with the weight-loss. Now to stabilise it! You had me scratching as soon as I read that! Eeuuww! That sounds really scary. Touch wood, I haven't been rushed off to hospital yet & hopefully I never will! Some people I know are really allergic to ant bites or bee stings & have to carry Epi pens. I have no idea if I am as I don't seem to get bitten (once again fingers crossed-lol!) The world is becoming more toxic. Almost everyone you know uses a cocktail of toxic substances like room de-odorisers/cleaners etc. Just read the labels of the things you have in your house. It's amazing what has fragrance in it really. No wonder more & more of us are becoming more allergic to the world. I am so grateful that I have my haven. :) I hope you can manage to stay away from those caterpillars! I guess it's their natural defence & it sounds very effective. Glad to have you back Val & thanks for visiting my diary, xo Cate.

Yesterday-
Had a nice visit but didn't stay long as they were going out to my DIL's sister's farewell. I am going back soon to help our OGS tidy his room properly. It will take a couple of hours & I will help him organise it. He needs a laundry basket & a re-cycling basket & some containers that will side under his bed. I'll fix.
I brought home a rubbish bag of clothes that need mending. My DIL had them stacked up on a chair four our OS to repair. He doesn't get much spare time as it is.

We shared a bottle of Merlot that friends of ours brought over for my LH's 60th. I didn't enjoy it much at all but my LH did. He got a bit crabby for some reason. I think he's worried that I'm going to give up drinking wine with him. Hmm. It was too flavoursome for me & gave me asthma- too much Sulphur I reckon.

Today-
I just finished reading another Alexander McCall Smith book, in his Isabel Dalhousie series, called "The Careful Use of Compliments." I have an exercise book with my favourite authors & their books, in order of when they were written, & I order them from the library. I alternate authors & try to eke them out. If I have read a book before it doesn't matter- I read it again. I will try to find some in second-hand book shops as I would enjoy reading any of them again.
Favourite Authors-
Donna Leon (Commisario Guido Brunetti series)
Alexander McCall Smith (Isabel Dalhousie series) & (No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series)
Kerry Greenwood (Phyrne Fisher series) & (Corinne Chapman series)
& Ian Rankin (John Rebus series)

I think I may have broken a toe. I kicked my toe really hard, this morning on a wooden chair & it hurts so much I can't put a shoe on. I hope it's only badly bruised!
My car is booked in for it's 1st yearly service on Monday & I had planned on walking around Launceston for a few hours while it was being done. If all else fails I may have to ring one of my SIL's & get picked up & spend the time with one of them. It would probably save me money.
I am so determined to save money this year!

OK. I have a little housework to do so will go do it now-slowly. It really hurts to wiggle my toes!
Love to you all, xoxo Cate

 
Ow I winced when I read about your toe as I have broken one of my little toes twice and it is so painful. I did it both times in the same place, hurrying up our hallway to answer the phone I banged it on an old fashioned sewing machine that we have there. You'd think I'd learn to be more careful but I have actually banged it there dozens of times. It is on a big old fashioned metal stand and is very heavy. The toe is now completely disfigured. I hope that yours isn't broken.
I seem to be getting allergic to more and more things. The problem with the caterpillars is that you don't need to be in contact with them just their hairs which are everywhere. I can't do any gardening or sweeping outside for months and even 6 months later if I go into the garage and touch something that has been undisturbed for months then I get a bad reaction. It really frustrates me as I often can't help in the garden and even sweeping indoors can cause a bad reaction. We decided to completely clear out a store room that we have a couple of months ago and within minutes I was head to toe in welts but it makes me feel bad that I have to leave my husband to do everything on his own and I enjoy us doing that sort of thing together. Sometimes it's my fault as if I remember to take a couple of claratine before the reaction isn't always so bad.
Have a great weekend. It's gone cold here this week so we might go up in the mountains to see the snow.
 
Hi Val, No two allergic reactions seem to be the same but there are so many. Yours sounds terrible. I would be stuck if I couldn't go outside & potter around the garden. It's my garden, and being able to walk around our 'block,' that is my saviour from the synthetic pong('fragrance') of the rest of the world! I love doing jobs like cleaning the shed, cutting wood etc with my LH too. I take an anti-histamine every day of the year. I think I have broken my toe but will know more when the swelling goes down. I also have bruising on the top of my foot beneath my toe, where it jarred. I'm not sure if I have any shoes I can wear & my car is booked in for it's 1st year's service tomorrow. I'll reassess tomorrow but had better wash my car today. Catch up again soon, xo Cate
 
Thanks. It isn't anywhere near as sore today but the bruise is spreading all over the top of my foot. I am wearing one of my new pairs of sandals as they are adjustable, but I have a big wad of cotton wool between them & my bruise. I washed my car yesterday & I have to have it serviced this week or I void the warranty. If all else fails I'll find a quiet spot to sit somewhere & read. I have $43 to spend at the book exchange & can pick the rest up when I get my car back. The car dealer is a fair way's walk. Ouch. Maybe they'll drop me off over the other side of town if I limp in (I will be limping anyway!) & then I can slowly wend my way back to them. You never know!
I had better get moving. I'll put some shows & socks in my car for the drive home I think. I'd put my slippers if they were even faintly respectable.
Bye for now, Cate
 
I had a good day in town, although I limped around for a couple of hours. Feeling good though. I had weighed myself this morning & had gained a kilo over the last 3 days. That's ok- I'm still down 4kg for Jan. Am concentrating on dropping further slowly for a week or 2 & then may go back on Cohen's if I don't lose anything. It works. I'm also concentrating on not making my LH crabby :) & eating what he eats (almost) for a while. Still no bread or milk though, although I did have a skinny cappuccino, w/o sugar, in town to see what it was like (nice.)

I'm going to go sit & put my feet up now & read the paper. I'm fairly tired & both legs are aching from limping.
Love to all, xo Cate
 
Strange people sure do pass through this forum and away again with their random comments don't they? lol

Anyway poor Cate! I get busy and come back to check and you've injured toe! Sounds like me :X I'm so accident prone. A few years back I tripped in the park, fell and broke my elbow, lol. Anyway wow didn't seem to slow you down a bit though! You have such a great approach to life. I need to work on mine so I can be happy and content every day despite whatever hand I'm dealt :) You are such an inspiration, and I'm not talking just about the weight loss.
 
Hi Lisa, :seeya: I know- I had a little laugh. :) I try to give people the benefit of the doubt & assume they mean well. Thank you Lisa for being so sweet. I wish I was happy and content every day (I do get down as well,) but I guess I am most days which is good. I try to look on the bright side. I appreciate you saying that I am an inspiration to you. That has made my day :D xoxo Cate

Feet-
Getting there! Limping around in sandals has rubbed off some skin on the sole of my other foot unfortunately. I soaked them last night & massaged some cream in. I swear I heard them sigh! I'll do some gardening today as my work boots(bush-walking ones) are comfortable. I won't be doing any serious walking today.

I didn't weigh-YES!
Bye for now & love to all, xo Cate
 
Yesterday-
I spent most of the day pottering around gardening & it was a lovely day. I re-potted some of our indoor plants as well. We have a great vegie patch- mint, coriander, Vietnamese mint, parsley, thyme, lemon balm, basil, purple basil, rosemary, sage, a mini lemon tree, rhubarb, onions, garlic, potatoes, pumpkin, spinach, zucchini, carrots, parsnips, Asian salad mix, lettuces & tomatoes. I think that's it. I have another punnet of lettuces to pick up today. :D

Weight- Had settled up 1kg after 1 day off Cohen's 100% & has stayed there, so still down 4kg. If it goes up .5kg I'm straight back on 100%. Maybe I will go back on it next Monday anyway ;)

Today-
Is Tai Chi day & will go for lunch afterward as they're good company. I usually have a bowl of soup, with gluten-free herb & garlic toast (tiny amount.) I'm feeling good. The foot isn't much better but I'll wear shoes & socks I think. I don't think it's broken though so it should get better soon.

Love to all, xoxo Cate
 
I can't wait for it to be spring here....I want to do a bit of gardening this year but on a small scale to start so I'm not overwhelmed. My husband won't help much cuz he screams like a girl if he thinks he's got bugs on him :X Gratz on the weight loss. Hope you're toe keeps improving.
 
:grouphug: Hello my little Aussie baby! I've missed you! I hope your foot is feeling better some!! It's so amazing that you are doing Tai Chi! That sounds so relaxing! I was out for a walk today and the sun alone splashing on my face was immensely relaxing as well! It was great! :beating:

What I really like about the way you think, Cate, is the fact that you are holding yourself accountable daily. Even on Cohen, or off Cohen, you are always Conscious of what's going on with your body. I realize now, that as I do weight watchers, that it may be something that I will go on and off my entire life. That's ok! Just like it's okay for you! That balance is so important. You are a very wise woman ;)! The fact that you keep your path to success as a tool in your back pocket all the time, should be an indication to the rest of us, that this is for LIFE! You are AMAZING!!!! Very inspiring!! ..to say the least! :D!
 
"How beautiful a day can be
When kindness touches it!"
~George Elliston.

I'm in a hurry Lisa & Alta & will catch up with you both later today, in your diaries. Love to you both, xoxo Cate
 
I found this today while dreaming of gardening and landscaping my yard, lol. I thought you'd enjoy it.

Here's a link to some really pretty gardens too.

Hope you have a beautiful day! *hugz* ~Lisa
 
How's the toe doing Cate? I hope that it is less painful now. I don't know about you but I when I have a bad toe I am constantly banging it again sending shockwaves of pain through me. I am so clumsy and uncoordinated and constantly walk into things and trip over things. My poor dad gets a nervous look on his face everytime I come near him in case I tread on him or trip and land on him.
Glad to see that you are still doing well with your weight :) That garden photo is beautiful.
 
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