DEATH OF A TREE :

Crazy thing to write about, hey?

When we moved to La Rochelle, we realised that if we were to make any kind of start on re-vamping the garden, we would have to – sadly – remove a VERY tall, VERY messy and VERY old palm tree. This was not an easy decision as this tree must have been all of 50 to 60 years old.

We were told by one of the very interested neighbours that gathered to watch the spectacle that the tree would have been planted near the original opstal of the now disappeared La Rochelle vineyard. Be that as it may (and I will try to look it up when I have a mo’), Marc had obtained quotes to remove this monster speciman. They ranged from R10 000 down to R3 600! Not cheap.

The decision duly made, we gave the work to a very experienced tree feller who moved in with alacrity. I think work was a little slow in his business.

Herewith some shots of the grand old tree for posterity. Farewell oh mighty one. RIP.

You can see the height of the palm in relation to the corner of the house roof just visible on the right.

The tree feller was perfectly nonchalant about his task.

The tree feller did concede that our tree was the tallest he had ever had to tackle.

I also have a very short video of our tree’s final moments – but have to upload to web and then insert in this post. Will try to do that sometime as the .mov file I have is unacceptable for upload!

ODYSSEY: All psyched up & nowhere to go!

Yeah well no fine. There I was – on Saturday morning all fired up, fasted and keen to get my latest lot of bloods done.

Tootled along in the new Yaris (now named Ruby btw!) to the lab we now use.. only to find they do not open on Saturdays…. Sh*t… not impressed. I was on my way to pick up my granddaughter to take her to a birthday party so could not shoot through to Milnerton where the Pathcare lab does open on Saturdays. I was planning to go on Friday am but decided on Saturday as Fridays would cut into my working day….. hhhmmm. Will have to go to Pathcare lab tomorrow am.

The regular blood tests have now become even more important in my life as I made some quite momentous decisions recently.

Quite momentous in that I have been battling to curb a backslide in my weight loss progress since all the ‘snot en trane’ of the last half year or so. I need all the help and motivation I can get but I have nonetheless resigned from Weigh-Less.  I will miss the lovely pamphlets they produce and I will miss some of the people I met while there in 2009/2010. I will be glad to have R125 a month more to spend on good, quality food. But for the rest – well quite frankly I truly believe that I can teach most of them a thing or two. Some GL’s are tremendous and others just do not have ‘it’ I am afraid.

I have come to the realisation that I went about my weight loss in completely the wrong way. How can a 25kg weight loss not be a raging success story?  You may well ask! I did the right things for me (I thought) – low GI eating plan mainly of my own creation; using nutrition software to keep track of intake; some increase in physical activity >>>>> and therein lies the crunch!

I have realised that far more than what that damn scale says, it is in fact body fat % that has to be monitored and brought down to within the normal  range. At a 25kg weight loss, I looked pretty darn good if I say so myself and I still get compliments about my June 2010 birthday photo used on most websites I frequent. BUT BUT BUT I was a skinny(ish!) fat person!

If body fat % is right, then the weight will be right too… I think… any comments greatly appreciated here!

Lack of robust physical exercise during my weight loss journey resulted in far too much of that 25kg loss being lean muscle. I can feel that and see that in myself. To rectify the matter will not be a simple undertaking but I plan to give it a go. The low GI eating is resuming (for me the only way to go) and the nutrition software has been ‘re-booted’!  The CRUNCH is going to be the physical exercise – aerobic; stretching; light weights; core;  – dear heaven this is not going to be easy at all!!

Anyone know when I can buy reasonably priced skinfold calipers? I am serious! Can order from the USA for +- $20 BUT the freight costs are very high.  www.chponline.com.

While we are mentioning websites here, check out the new diabetes website www.mydiablog.com. Had a long chat with the founder this evening – a German named Wolf. What a great guy.

Blue Tuesday coming up – had a great weekend out & about in the sunshine so not looking forward to my desk again early tomorrow morning.

Have a great week everyone.

ODYSSEY : Turbulence

Morning all

In all the turbulence I am experiencing at this time, I am trying to regain some semblance of control by sorting out files, papers, making copious To-Do lists and just generally getting on everyone’s case!

I came across this quotation (you know how I love them) that resonates with me:

“Patience – it is the ability to idle your motor when you actually feel like stripping your gears…”
– Anonymous – 

I will talk to you all again soon but in the meantime – What do you know about HAES? Have I got your attention? I hope so. I will fill you in on this lifestyle/health approach soon!

Have great day