Resolved
How are you New Year Resolutions going, Dear Reader? Yes, I know it's only the fifth of January, but . . .
'K, I'll start. Weighed in at Slimming World last night. Dropped all of 8oz. Half. A. Pound.
Knew I shouldn't have opened that box of Quality Street this week! CHOCOLATE! Mind you, I was kinda surprised that Sis gave it us, knowing I was trying to regain a sensible weight and all, but she's had other things to think about recently (cancer diagnosis, started treatment yesterday. She's looking forward to May, when she hopes it will all be over. Apparently 'her' kind of cancer has a very good prognosis.)
Anyhew, now on the final 3 stone 2lb (or so) to 'Target Weight'. Well past the Half-Way Point. Think I may be looking forward to May too! I really liked the 'New Look' style dresses which were fashionable last year. I even have a pattern for the same, so when I am my final size I shall be able to make one. Or two. Whether they are still fashionable by then I don't care!
Meanwhile I am wondering which of the jumpers' worth of yarn I could perhaps start on as the three cardigans I usually wear in the winter are all beginning to hang on me. As I steeked the fronts of two of them there's no way I can unravel and re-knit either, which is a shame. Hmmm, two or three years ago when I knitted these cardigans I had no thought of actually losing all the weight I'd gained during my last major depression. Ah well.
I rarely make New Year Resolutions - mainly cos they rarely last. If yours don't either, Dear Reader, if you were thinking of getting fit, maybe don't go taking out an expensive gym membership. Try carrying your shopping a bit further - balanced so that it doesn't throw your back out. Who needs a gym-full of weights?
Or leave the car and walk to the corner shop. Or dig out your bicycle, get it serviced, and use that. It's amazing what you can carry on a bicycle if you have the appropriate panniers (ask me how I know!) Yes, I know, there's always a headwind on a bicycle and it rains a lot at this time of year (year round, come to think of it) but think of the fun you can have jumping in puddles on the way! I mean jumping in puddles if you walk, not if you're riding your bicycle. Hmmm, time to dig out the ol' wellie-boots?
Then there's Supporting Local: local coffee shops, local butchers, local bakers, book shops, other local tradespeople (should we still have them) rather than national or international chains. Ok, so I admit I'll still be doing most of my food shopping at Asda. But I'll continue to support local coffee and tea shops where I can find them, provided they aren't already rammed when I'm in desperate need of a caffeine fix!
Writing of caffeine fixes - how about taking your own, reusable cup? It's reckoned that we use squillions (2.5 billion in the UK alone) of single-use paper or plastic cups - most ending up in landfill. Apparently the 'problem' with paper cups is that they have a fine plastic lining to render them completely waterproof. It's difficult to separate the cup paper from the plastic lining at the point of recycling. So people don't.
I gather there are recyclable paper cups available 'out there', with linings that separate easily (though not when you're drinking the coffee/tea.) Maybe it's time to inform those who regularly dispense them? And I know you can get stuff which claims to be made from recycled plastic cups, but why use the things in the first place?
Apparently some coffee shop chains are offering discounts if you take your own mug (see link, below.) But what with it being January - the month when Credit Card bills come home to roost, not to mention Home and Contents and other Insurance premium payments - maybe taking a flask of coffee with you might be a better saving, both for the planet and your pocket.
Ok, I realise that if you're walking places it's extra weight to carry. Not to mention extra bulk. But what price not getting (deeper?) into debt? What price the planet?
In the UK MPs are calling for a 25p 'latté levy' on disposable coffee cups* - and a total ban unless recycling improves. Apparently there are only three facilites in the UK which can recycle the currently widely used style of 'paper'-with-thin-plastic-lining cups.
The other thing is that China, which takes most of our plastics and other recyclable wastes, has recently said that it won't be taking any more plastic waste. This in an effort to clean up its own act and reduce the amount of pollution (some of) its industries generate.
Trouble is, what with most recyclables being shipped overseas for recycling, most of the places which did recycle stuff in the UK have shut down. Hmmm, can I see the present government getting behind a drive to re-open some of them? And how many of us would like to live near recycling facilities: lorries delivering bales of waste, lorries taking away the 'new' stuff . . .
Perhaps a good New Year Resolution would be to try to use less plastic. Specially the 'currently not recycled' and single-use kind. Looking into it.
Then, should you feel like you want to make a difference in the world. Yup, even li'l ol' me, all on my lonesome - some suggestions here. Remember, it's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness!
Right, two resolutions and a possible third. Guess I might be able to keep them. Anyone want half a box of Quality Street? And as it was given to H and me, why am I advertising this. That half-box of chocolates is his (you know, the coffee creams, the strawberry creams, the orange creams, the toffees in chocolate. Sorry H.) As are the various bars of dark (70% cocoa mass) chocolate he leaves lying around - safe in the knowledge that I don't like them!
Y'all have a good day, and New Year now!
*Apparently it's worked wonders with single-use plastic carrier bags. At this rate I'll have to buy waste-bin liners - for the wicker waste-baskets.
'K, I'll start. Weighed in at Slimming World last night. Dropped all of 8oz. Half. A. Pound.
Knew I shouldn't have opened that box of Quality Street this week! CHOCOLATE! Mind you, I was kinda surprised that Sis gave it us, knowing I was trying to regain a sensible weight and all, but she's had other things to think about recently (cancer diagnosis, started treatment yesterday. She's looking forward to May, when she hopes it will all be over. Apparently 'her' kind of cancer has a very good prognosis.)
Anyhew, now on the final 3 stone 2lb (or so) to 'Target Weight'. Well past the Half-Way Point. Think I may be looking forward to May too! I really liked the 'New Look' style dresses which were fashionable last year. I even have a pattern for the same, so when I am my final size I shall be able to make one. Or two. Whether they are still fashionable by then I don't care!
Meanwhile I am wondering which of the jumpers' worth of yarn I could perhaps start on as the three cardigans I usually wear in the winter are all beginning to hang on me. As I steeked the fronts of two of them there's no way I can unravel and re-knit either, which is a shame. Hmmm, two or three years ago when I knitted these cardigans I had no thought of actually losing all the weight I'd gained during my last major depression. Ah well.
I rarely make New Year Resolutions - mainly cos they rarely last. If yours don't either, Dear Reader, if you were thinking of getting fit, maybe don't go taking out an expensive gym membership. Try carrying your shopping a bit further - balanced so that it doesn't throw your back out. Who needs a gym-full of weights?
Or leave the car and walk to the corner shop. Or dig out your bicycle, get it serviced, and use that. It's amazing what you can carry on a bicycle if you have the appropriate panniers (ask me how I know!) Yes, I know, there's always a headwind on a bicycle and it rains a lot at this time of year (year round, come to think of it) but think of the fun you can have jumping in puddles on the way! I mean jumping in puddles if you walk, not if you're riding your bicycle. Hmmm, time to dig out the ol' wellie-boots?
Then there's Supporting Local: local coffee shops, local butchers, local bakers, book shops, other local tradespeople (should we still have them) rather than national or international chains. Ok, so I admit I'll still be doing most of my food shopping at Asda. But I'll continue to support local coffee and tea shops where I can find them, provided they aren't already rammed when I'm in desperate need of a caffeine fix!
Writing of caffeine fixes - how about taking your own, reusable cup? It's reckoned that we use squillions (2.5 billion in the UK alone) of single-use paper or plastic cups - most ending up in landfill. Apparently the 'problem' with paper cups is that they have a fine plastic lining to render them completely waterproof. It's difficult to separate the cup paper from the plastic lining at the point of recycling. So people don't.
I gather there are recyclable paper cups available 'out there', with linings that separate easily (though not when you're drinking the coffee/tea.) Maybe it's time to inform those who regularly dispense them? And I know you can get stuff which claims to be made from recycled plastic cups, but why use the things in the first place?
Apparently some coffee shop chains are offering discounts if you take your own mug (see link, below.) But what with it being January - the month when Credit Card bills come home to roost, not to mention Home and Contents and other Insurance premium payments - maybe taking a flask of coffee with you might be a better saving, both for the planet and your pocket.
Ok, I realise that if you're walking places it's extra weight to carry. Not to mention extra bulk. But what price not getting (deeper?) into debt? What price the planet?
In the UK MPs are calling for a 25p 'latté levy' on disposable coffee cups* - and a total ban unless recycling improves. Apparently there are only three facilites in the UK which can recycle the currently widely used style of 'paper'-with-thin-plastic-lining cups.
The other thing is that China, which takes most of our plastics and other recyclable wastes, has recently said that it won't be taking any more plastic waste. This in an effort to clean up its own act and reduce the amount of pollution (some of) its industries generate.
Trouble is, what with most recyclables being shipped overseas for recycling, most of the places which did recycle stuff in the UK have shut down. Hmmm, can I see the present government getting behind a drive to re-open some of them? And how many of us would like to live near recycling facilities: lorries delivering bales of waste, lorries taking away the 'new' stuff . . .
Perhaps a good New Year Resolution would be to try to use less plastic. Specially the 'currently not recycled' and single-use kind. Looking into it.
Then, should you feel like you want to make a difference in the world. Yup, even li'l ol' me, all on my lonesome - some suggestions here. Remember, it's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness!
Right, two resolutions and a possible third. Guess I might be able to keep them. Anyone want half a box of Quality Street? And as it was given to H and me, why am I advertising this. That half-box of chocolates is his (you know, the coffee creams, the strawberry creams, the orange creams, the toffees in chocolate. Sorry H.) As are the various bars of dark (70% cocoa mass) chocolate he leaves lying around - safe in the knowledge that I don't like them!
Y'all have a good day, and New Year now!
*Apparently it's worked wonders with single-use plastic carrier bags. At this rate I'll have to buy waste-bin liners - for the wicker waste-baskets.