Found this online - something in Sainsburys Gift Catalogue for Christmas called Seventh Heaven - a Basketful of Goodies . Sounds nice and natural ... until you read the ingredients...

Ingredients

• Red Hot Sauna: Propylene Glycol, Zeolite, Kaolin, Glycerin, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit), Peel Oil, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Cereus Grandiflorus (Cactus) Flower Extract, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Flower Extract, Jasminum Officinale (Jasmine) Flower Extract, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Peel Extract, Juglans Nigra (Black Walnut) Shell Extract, Cetyl Hydroxyethylcellulose, Parfum (Fragrance), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Isopropyl Myristate, Limonene, CI 16035 (Red 40 Lake), 
• Passion Peel Off: Aqua (Purified Water), Polyvinyl Alcohol, Alcohol Denat. (Plant Origin), PPG-1-PEG-9 Lauryl Glycol Ether, PVP, Glucose (Sugar), Parfum (Fragrance), Xanthan Gum (Natural Thickener), Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Fruit Extract, Glycerin (Plant Origin), Propylene Glycol, Tocopheryl (Vitamin E) Acetate, Vitis Vinifera (Red Grape) Fruit Extract, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Chloride (Mineral Origin), Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Fruit Extract, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Fruit Extract, Potassium Thiocyanate, Passiflora Incarnate (Passionflower) Flower Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Sorbitol (Plant Origin), Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Benzoate, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Seed Extract, Nelumbo Nucifera (Lotus Blossom) Flower Extract, Potassium Sorbate, Lactoperoxidase (Milk Origin), Glucose Oxidase (Sugar, Origin), Sorbic Acid (Plant Origin), Citric Acid (Plant Origin), CI 16035 (Red 40), CI 42090 (Blue 1), 
• Fresh Feet: Alcohol Denat. (Plant Origin), Aqua (Purified Water), Tapioca Starch, Parfum (Fragrance), Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil, Menthol (Cooling Agent), Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Glycerin (Plant Origin), Mentha Vindis (Spearmint) Leaf Oil, Sodium Hydroxide, Limonene*, Linalool, Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Extract, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, CI42090 (Blue 1), 
• Very Berry: Aqua (Purified Water), Glyceryl Stearate, SE (Plant Origin), Stearic Acid (Plant Origin), Glycol Stearate (Plant Origin), Glycerin (Plant Origin), Bentonite (Natural Clay), Glyceryl Stearate (Plant Origin), Coco-Glucoside (Plant Origin), Prunus Persica (Peach) Kernel Oil, Mica (Mineral Origin), PEG-100 Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Xanthan Gum (Plant Origin), Propylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Parfum (Fragrance), Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Fruit Extract, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Fruit Extract, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Fruit Extract, Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Extract, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid (Plant Origin), CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 15850 (Red 7 Lake), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake), 
• Manuka Honey Peel Off: Aqua (Purified Water), Polyvinyl Alcohol, PPG-1-PEG-9 Lauryl Glycol Ether, PVP, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum (Fragrance), Propylene Glycol, Xanthan Gum (Natural Thickener), Caprylyl Glycol, Caramel, Mel (Honey), Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Extract, Sorbitol, Aesculus Hippocastanum (Horsechestnut) Seed Extract, Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile) Flower Extract, Vanilla Planifolia (Vanilla) Fruit Extract, Jasminum Officinale (Jasmine) Flower Extract, Sodium Benzoate, Sorbic Acid, CI 19140 (Yellow 5), CI 14700 (Red 4), 
• Avocado Oil: Aqua (Purified Water), Bentonite (Natural Clay). Glyceryl Stearate SE (Plant Origin), Stearic Acid (Plant Origin), Glycerin (Plant Origin), Glycol Stearate (Plant Origin), Juglans Regia (Walnut) Shell Powder, Glyceryl Stearate (Plant Origin), Coco-Glucoside (Plant Origin), Mica (Natural Mineral), PEG-100 Stearate, Glucose (Sugar), Xanthan Gum (Natural Thickener), Parfum (Fragrance), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Chloride (Mineral Origin), Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Flower Extract, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Potassium Thiocyanate, Lactoperoxidase (Milk Origin), Sodium Benzoate, Glucose Oxidase (Sugar Origin), Sorbic Acid, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide) (Natural Pigment), CI 19140 (Yellow 5), CI 42090 (Blue 1), 
• Dead Sea Mud Pac: Aqua (Purified Water), Kaolin (Mineral Origin), Glycerin (Plant Origin). Alcohol Denat. (Plant Origin), Glyceryl Stearate SE (Plant Origin), Sodium Citrate, Polysorbate 20 (Mild Cleanser), Maris Sal (Dead Sea Salt), Glucose (Sugar), Citric Acid (Plant Origin), Parfum (Fragrance), Fucus Vesiculosus (Seaweed) Extract, Silk (Dead Sea Mud), Potassium Iodide, Sodium Chloride (Mineral Origin), Potassium Thiocyante, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Lactoperoxidase (Milk Origin), Glucose Oxidase (Sugar Origin), CI 42090 (Blue 1), 
• Pulped Papaya Rescue: Aqua (Purified Water), Cetearyl Alcohol (Plant Origin), Brassicamidopropyl Dimethylamine (Plant Origin), Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Coco-Caprylate (Plant Origin), Aspartic Acid, Cetearyl Glucoside (Plant Origin), Parfum (Fragrance), Sodium Benzoate, Benzyl Alcohol, Citric Acid, Glycerin (Plant Origin), Carica Papaya (Papaya) Seed Oil, Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5), Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Carica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract, Lycium Chinense (Goji Berry) Fruit Extract, Potassium Sorbate, Citronellol, Geraniol* Hexyl Cinnamal*, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Limonene*, Linalool*, CI 15985 (Yellow 6), CI 14700 (Red 4), 
• Cucumber Peel Off: Aqua (Purified Water), Alcohol Denat. (Plant Origin), Polyvinyl Alcohol, PPG-1-PEG-9 Lauryl Glycol Ether, Propylene Glycol, PVP, Glycerin (Plant Origin), Limonene*, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Oil, Linalool*, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Tocopheryl (Vitamin E) Acetate, Cereus Grandiflorus (Cactus) Flower Extract, Citrus Aurantifolia (Lime) Fruit Extract, Jasminum Officinale (Jasmine) Flower Extract, Juglans Regia (Walnut) Shell Extract, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Flower Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Sorbitol (Plant Origin), Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Sorbic Acid (Plant Origin), CI 19140 (Yellow 5), CI 42090 (Blue 1), 
• Coconut Protein Rescue: Aqua (Purified Water), Cetearyl Alcohol (Plant Origin), Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Brassicamidopropyl Dimethylamine (Pant Origin), Coco-Caprylate (Plant Origin), Aspartic Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Hydrolyzed Quinoa (Natural Protein Conditioner), Sodium Benzoate, Benzyl Alcohol, Citric Acid, Coumarin*, 
• Bath Bomb ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Citric Acid, Sodium Sulfate, Pentasodium Triphosphate, Isopropyl Palmitate, Talc, Cellulose Gum, Parfum (Fragrance), Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, PEG-8, Benzyl Benzoate, Hexyl Cinnamal

Shame on you Sainsburys.

A little reminder ....

....  as to how far I've come. I don't ever want to go back there.

I said that last time but I've learnt a lot since then. I promised myself I would never drift back to the land of baggy, shapeless, stretchy clothes that I thought I could hide behindand I did but never again. Once bitten , twice shy.

I kept this hanger from a dress I bought for a wedding this summer. I looked like an inflated balloon in it. I tried it on again this morning and I couldn't beleive that I'd once filled it. I loved the dress, just hated the size lable. I'm planning on having it taken in once I've reached my goal weight just as a little reminder.

The hanger has gone in the bin.

Good old Sainsbury's

The only thing that pleases me about having to go to the supermarket , is the prospect of checking out what other things they have besides food.

Today I found this adorable stationery range.

A Filofax compatible planner in a very subtle platinum gold finish complete with a 2018 diary, pen loop and credit card holder flap inside. All that for just £6. The wallet that has a treasury tag style closure was a mere £4.

Then I found these in a beuatiful midnight blue and rose gold.

Notebook

Pencil Case

and Weekly Desk Planner.

The quality is superb. An equal match to anything Kate Spade or the likes could produce and at a fraction of the price. Good old Sainsburys.

Slimmer of the Week

... well chuffed and another shiny sticket for the fridge !

Childish I know but there's nothing like a bit of recognition to make your chest swell ( not that I need that - trying to get my measurements down! )

Only 1.5 lbs away from having lost 10% of my body weight and a mere 3.5 lbs away from 2 whole stone.

7000 Jars of Beer

Well the name of this shop has a lot to like about it . Had to go inside and check it out . It's only just opened in Kingston - Unit 11 Crown Arcade it says on their busimess card but the website lists the address as 1 Crown Passage - you can't miss it - it will have this lovely sandwich board propped up outside.

What a find . I didn't count the number of beers they stocked but I did take a photo of one of their shelves. Beautifully displayed - real eye candy.

As I'm putting together a beer advent calendar for my husband this year , I feel I may be paying them a visit or three.

But the thing I liked best was their idea of offering beer tasting ... with a tasting cheese plate . Positievly inspired. There are a number of tables and chairs arranged convivially and I'm guessing  they'll have a wealth of advice on offer. better still , they're open until 8pm or 9pm on most evenings - check here first .

It's so important to support local enterprises so pop along and try them out for yourself.

May well see you there. ... oh and I've just seen from their website that they also stock gins and wines ... two more reasons to book a date. I think I may arrange for my 2 sons to take dad out for a tipple- what a nice way to spend an Autumn evening.

Full Nest

Thought I was going to have an empty nest this Autumn but seems like I can't get rid of the boys just yet. Eldest will be moving out soon , I'm guessing, to live with his girlfriend and youngest is taking a Gap Year and will be off to Tanzania with Raleigh International soon. But until then, the fridge will have to remain filled to the brim and assorted clothes will be dropped and left on the bathroom floor.

In the meantime, youngest son's friends are all off to Uni. To remind them of the many happy Pizza and Chocolate Brownie evenings spent round at our house these last few years, I've made them all a box of brownies to take with them ( and a pizza cutter tucked inside the box ) . Loving the sweetest Mama Elephant cat stamps that I used to decorate the tags ... and I bought the self assembly boxes at Ally Pally last weekend. They fit  the 8" x 8" cake tine that baked the brownies perfectly . Love it when a plan comes together.

Another 2.5 lbs off

I've now lost a grand total of one and a half stone in 8 weeks. It must have been the stress of last night ( see previous post ) and the miles of walking from gate to gate at the O2 arena ! Wished I'd been wearing my Fit Bit . I reckon I must have clocked up at least 10 000 steps !

Onward and downward.

FOO

I'm wondering if I love this band so much because their name spells FOOD without the D ? Nah , it's becuase they are super awesome beyond belief.

So, rewind to Tuesday 19th September. Eldest son and I emerge from the over-stuffed Jubilee line, blinking, into the September sunshine in Millenium Way , home to the O2. I get that thrill I always do when I'm about to hear live music. Not just any live music ... Foo Fighters Live. Does it get any better ?

The tickets have been pinned to my pinboard these last few months and the countdown to showtime has been agonising but here we are at last. This is the very first item on my bucket list and I can barely contain myself. Eldest son saw them live at Reading . Was I jealous ? Heck yes.

And then it all fell apart at the seams. Denied entry at the door because our tickets, bought through Viagogo ( one of the O2s recommnded partner agencies ) didn't match my ID. Naiively I didn't even realise there was a name on our tickets but there it was in tiny print at the bottom and it wasn't my name.

We weren't the only ones. Hundered of fans were similarly turned away . The whole place was a blubbery mess of sobbing fans incapable of believing that despite Viagogos claims that you will not be turned away if the name on your ticket doesn't match yours, this turned out to be a lie.

Those who know me will also know that "Don't ever take NO for an answer" is my motto ( incidentaally I'd like that on my tombstone ). I can't begin to articulate how indescribably disappointed we were. That word doesn't even come close.

The band were due on stage in 30 minutes. We had to walk the mile perimeter of the whole fecking venue to the Box Office to plead our case ... along with, by now , probably thousands of others in the same boat. The queue was a mile long - not a chance.

People who'd been bought tickets as gifts were also being turned away because they weren't the original purchaser. Groups of fans who'd arrived separately were being turned away because they'd planned to meet their friends ( and also original purchasers ) of their tickets inside the venue and they were already inside and had been told they wouldn't be given re-admission if  they came outside to meet their friends and prove their genuine identity . It was crazy.

The press turned up and took photos of the whole sorry mess. An angry mob had begun to gather and no-one was getting inside becasue of the backlog now of indignant fans who'd been fleeced . The fact that this stipulation had been implemenetd on the night with no prior notice ( despite what some claimed ) was appalling.

By 9pm half the seats inside were empty ... apart of course from all the record company execs and  hospitality freeloaders. At one point, a man in a wheelchair was denied entry because his partner ( whose name was on the tickets as original purchaser ) had used the disabled entrance separately to his partner who wasn't entitled to accompany him as she wasn't disabled , to access his wheelchair poition by the side if the stage. At this point I saw red.

I wasn't going to be bullied by the jobsworth at the gate in the high-viz jacket who was relishing the drama. I refused to move and wasn't going to be intimidated by his threat to have me evicted from the building. Fortunately I wasn't alone and we stood our ground ... a crowd of several hundered started chanting - " Get your manager here NOW ".

With a minute to go they finally relented. Stress levels on a scale of one to ten were about eleven.

So, what's the answer ? O2 management cannot not only endorse but actually operate in partnership with re-sale ticket agencies and then change the goalpost at the last minute. They are only too keen to offload blocks of tickets at a premium to agencies to do theitr selling for them when it suits them.

Get your act together O2 .

Another 2lbs.

... which brings my total to 16.5 lbs.

Thought I was going to put on (at least ) a pound this week given that we'd had husband's birthday on Friday along with a weekend away with relatives where the home baking , in the form of chocolate cake, flapjacks and plum and almond tart with custard, came thick and fast to the table. Managed to resist absolutely everything and felt very virtuous. Even managed to select a half decent salad at M&S at the motorway services en route.

This is proving to be surprisingly manageable.

Sizzix Bargains

Two things:

1. I have become addicted to dies  
2. I didn't know Sizzix offered such amazing bargains in their clearance section

In combination, these two facts proved fatal. I ordered a few items only yesterday and they arrived today.

The Tim Holtz sets of script words were only £3.75 each reduced from £15 and the Framelets set of polaroid frames were only £3 down from £12, That's a whopping saving of over £42.

The  3D Textured Impressions folder wasn't on offer but I'd been waiting for it to be released and it's gorgeous.  Incredibly sturdy and gives a lusciously deep impression.

So ... having saved that much ... what can I go spend it on !?

First stone off ...

... and boy does it feel good. Haven't noticed many body size changes yet but I did find I kept having to hoik my jeans up the other day. It truly is enlightening to emabark on a weight loss programme , no pun intended. I get quite evangelical about it . I don't need any more encouragement after watching "Embarassing Fat Bodies " last night.

It takes a while to re-adjust but as I've always cooked from scratch, it's not as daunting for me as it must be for others. I never really used to buy many processed foods either so no great deprivation there. Cutting out alcohol is tough and I've been very strict about it because I don'y want to be tempted to lapse. Yes, I have had the ocassional glass of red wine but I've kept it to an absolute minimum. I spend all my 'syns' on good fats like olive oil and avocado . Feeling very virtuous. I just need to stop getting on the scales every five minutes as if I don't trust that the weight will come off. It will. I just need to be patient.

Went window shopping for new clothes yesterday . I have my eye on so many beuatiful things but I may not be squeezing into them just yet so I'm only looking and reminding myself what beutiful brands there are out there. Last time I lost weight I was stoney broke and barely bought a single thread unless it came from a charity shop. Looking forward to having a bit of a pre Christmas splurge in a couple of months time.

Normal for Norfolk ?

The I Spy pocket book to Norfolk ( remember them ? ) would now have to include the following :

Chelsea Tractor
Oh-so designer crumpled linen shirt
Cath Kidston shopper
Any item of clothing from either Joules or Boden
An overpriced crab sandwich ( £12 and upwards - it's a flipping sandwich ! )
Designer Deli
Three times cooked chips ( what's the matter with just once cooked chips ? )
The word 'Gastro' at the top of any pub menu
A £4 carparking ticket even if you only want to stop for 10 minutes.


Taking a pop at Social Stereotypes is easy ( but fair ) game , but the Chelsea-on-Sea brigade take the biscuit , or rather the sea-salt organic shortbread finger no doubt. They hunt in packs and emerge pale-faced from their 4X4s in search of something painted in a neutral Farrow and Ball paint shade.

I realised that when we last took the boys to Norfolk, we were camping, didn't wear linen, had an old banger of a car and wouldn't have paid more than a tenner for a fish and chip supper for all four of us. My how times have changed. I liked the fact that you had to walk at least a mile to get even a glimpse of the sea at low tide - all that fresh sea air . No trip was complete without the purchase of a lurid plastic bucket and a crabbing line , spied hanging from a hook outside the local newsagents' and maybe a cream tea if we were lucky.

The shopping oppurtunities these days are on another level. Surely there are only so many driftwood hearts, sailcloth bags or cashmere throws you can look at without getting shopper's fatigue. I didn't buy a thing. It was all just ' stuff '.

And as for eating, everything had 'gastro' tagged onto it or at least 3 superlative adjectives. A tomato is a tomato isn't it ? The 'Gourmet Norfolk' magazine in the hotel lobby was an exhaustive list of michelin megastars and designer delis. I really only wanted a crab sandwich.

I mustn't complain but I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for Norfolk resdients who have to put up with this invasion of the designer tourists throughout the summer.

Saturday Night

Good grief I hate it with a vengeance.

The teenage years were spent worrying that we didn't have an exciting enough plan and might get caught not going out at all - a heinous crime. The opening music to MOTD still strikes a chord of fear in my heart - that would mean we were either stood up ( or down ) for a night's raving and had to spend the evening in our bedroom listening to sad love songs on Radio Caroline assuming that the rest of our tribe were out furiously partying somewhere whilst Dad was downstairs watching the footy and Mum would be checking her pools coupon. For those of you under 50, none of the above will make sense.

Then there were the early married years where, being married to someone in the TV business, I'd usually end up on my own whilst new husband would be out filming or recording some show or other.

After that there were the early baby years when you'd be knackered and asleep on the sofa by 8pm. The promise of a night in with a bottle of red wine thwarted by the fact that you'd be legless after half a glass, and longing for an hour of sleep in the certain knowledge that you'd be up at 2am , 4am and 5am with a crying infant.

I'm not sure what came next, I think it was the skint years when if your mortgage hadn't emptied your bank account, then unpaid maternity leave would have created a sizeable hole in finances. The mere thought of squandering a small fortune on a night out was unthinkable when it was toss up between getting the car serviced or having the boiler fixed.

Next came the fat years when the thought of jostling alongside stick-thin size zeros at a night club in a pair of extra stretchy black leggings and an over sized T shirt ( the fat person's sorry uniform ) were filled with dread and desperation.

So here I am in the pre- retirement years with a grumpy husband and a pair of youngsters, for whom every night is potentially party night , still penniless and fat with no desire whatsoever to muster enough energy for an evening on the town, let alone the company of the 'happily -marrieds' , or the 'just back from a holiday of a lifetimes' or worse still the perenially skinnies with an appetite like a horse and the metabolsim of a gazelle, complaining that a size 8 is too baggy on them.

Our Saturday night bust-up last night revolved around my asking husband for some help with what seems like my never-ending mission to de-clutter the house. This ultimately involved my piling a lifetime's photographs and scrapbboks into a crate and dumping it by the back door ready for the binmen next week. If nobody in the house can ever be bothered to look at or even acknowledge them, then why shoudl I ? I've been carfeully recording and archiving our collective memories for the last decade in the beleagured hope that someone someday might actually show an interest. Fat chance.

Let's face it, scrapbooking is just an excuse to hang on to the past and indulge in obscene levels of expenditure in the hope that it might fill a void or render our memories meaningful. So it was that I found myself last night leaving the house - YES - on a Saturday night - and driving round aimlessly looking for some form of solace or refuge. It struck me that unless you want to sit in the corner of an anonymous pub nursing a warm pint with a bunch of sorry solitary drunks, there aren't a lot of options for the lonely.

I ended up at a 24 hour Tescos - the saddest place on earth on a Saturday night where sales of meals for one and hard liquor probably peak at around 9pm. The coffee shop was closed so I resorted to a saunter round the magazine aisle wondering who on earth buys Practical Sheep Rearing or worse - Esquire ( Get the lowdown on popular culture as well as great advice on women, sex and gadgets and more ! )  - yes that's what it actually says on the cover complete with exclamation mark.  I resisted a dozen Krispy Kremes and left with a clutch of 'back to school' stationery although I have 2 boys who've both finished their school eduaction. You never know when you might need a 10 pack of file dividers though.

Streets are empty by 9pm and car parks are no-go areas unless you want to be mistaken for looking for something else other than a quiet place to park up and reflect. Enough said. Restaurants are full of groups or couples and you never know what sort of a weirdo might come and sit next to you if you end up at the cinema.

And so it was that another Saturday came to a sorry end and I returned home, parked up and went to bed. My only victory was that I'd managed to survive it without resorting to food or booze. A victory in itself.

Smoasting Season has begun

Yes, the Social Media Boasting season, or SMoasting season as I like to call it, has flung open its doors as it always does after results day.

The most hilarious example I received was online from a 'friend' .

"How did you do at Slimming Wold last night ? " she asked innocently.

"3lbs" I replied knowing full well why she'd got in touch

"2lbs" she countered, adding , " Oh and [insert son's name here] got A* A* A and he was only 2 marks off a third A* - so we're having his paper re-marked "

I could have wet myself laughing.

Youngest son did so well but I'm not about to splash his grades across Facebook for the world to see. No gloating here. I'll let close friends and family know privately ... if they ask .... but I'm content to let him smile quietly to himself in the knowledge that he worked his socks off, acheived the kind of success of which he can be proud and let the rest of the helicopter Mums brag from the rooftops that their offspring are clearly child geniuses ... then wait for them to unravel when they get out into the big bad world and realise that one of the finest gifts your parents could have bestowed on you , is that of quiet modesty.  

Week Three at Slimming World

All the threes - end of third week , third weigh-in - 3lbs lost for the week - Hurrah.

I was worried I might only scrape my target of 2.5lbs but I managed to exceed it thankfully. That included two sneaky but small glasses of wine during the week and a meal out so I'm particularly chuffed.

I'm saving my syns for tomorrow night when we'll either be celebrating or commiserating youngest son's A Level results. The champagne is on ice.

Careful what you wish for

At some stage in my life I must have mentioned that I liked Snoopy. For every birthday, Christmas and Valentine's Day thereafter , I amassed a sizable collection. Strangely I chose to keep them all and now can't bear to part with them. Most of them were from a boyfriend during my university days. He'd send them to me for no other reason than to say he missed me. How sweet. I think I appreciate them more today than I ever did back then. And here are just a few of them, and yes ... they're going in the trunk.

The BIG Trunk

I bought a BIG silver trunk and that's where all my letters and memorabilia will be going.

Today's the day. Having spent most of the summer holiday ( aka monsoon season ) sorting through and re-reading each and every letter, card and notelet, consigning every carefully penned message to its assigned folder, I am now going to attempt one last cull before those I that have survived the cut will be bundled into the trunk and who knows when or even if I may ever open it again.

The task has been overwhelming. I am a die-hard sentimentalist. The reading of sweet, kind words, notes of encouragement, congratulations and commiserations at every milestone of my life so far has left me an emotional wreck. I have learnt more about my younger self than I ever realised at the time.

So, one least day to get this done and then I can move on. But before I do, I want to document one bizarre co-incidence. One afternoon , I had settled into a chair to read another pile of letters, this time from my mother who died over 30 years ago. She wasn't one for lengthy letters but what she did write always made me laugh out loud. She seemed forever to be sending me £5 notes, urging me to buy 'nice food' and telling little anecdotes that would end with a phrase such as " well ... you know what your Dad's like " . I could almost see her eyes roll heavenwards as she wrote it . This particular letter asked me how I liked the chair she'd given me for my newly purchased house in Greenwich. She told me that it was 'wasted' in their hallway and that it was called a library chair. It was the very chair I was sitting in as I re-read that letter three decades later. How strange and unlikely was that ?

Edited to add ...

Job done - thank the Lord . Now I can get back to the here and now.

This will be me ...

... at the local swimming pool next week .

The Cupboard Under the Stairs ... in Numbers

Will my life ever be done with de-cluttering ?

I should seriously NEVER EVER EVER go near another shop for the entire rest of my life.

Always good to start a new clearing out project at the end of a long day when you're tired and hungry and at your most irritable although that might extend to most of my waking hours at the moment. So I decided to tackle the cupboard under the stairs this evening. Here is its contents in numbers :

• Thermos Flasks - 5
• Insulated cool bags - 17
• Those blue plastic bags from Ikea which you never remember to bring and so have to buy another - 9
• Shopping Trolleys , I was old before my time - 2
• Hideous laundry bags - 16
• Not quite so hideous red vinyl polka dot bags which may or may not come in useful when moving house but in the meantime occupy about 50% of useful cupboard space where I could be storing things I actually use and need now - 23
• Picnic sets - 5 , for goodness sake , what was wrong with me ?
• Metres of bubble wrap - 20 but never any when I needed it or could find it
• Tool kits - 2 but do either ever have the right tool, screw or nail ? No
• Rafia style beach bags - 7
• Canvas Shopping Bags - 14 A veritable archive of shopping through the years ranging from Golden Jubilee souvenir bags to long defunct department stores

The only real find were two delightful navy blue and cream stripey fleece car blankets which came in their own fleece bags embroidered with a bright red fleece star - one for each of the boys when they were little and accompanied us on every day trip and holiday. Those will be going in the boys' trunks which are in the loft and hold all their childhood mementoes - heaven help them.

Most of these are now bagged up ready for the charity shop. When they receive this lot , they'll probably think they all came from a closing down camping shop. We only ever went camping once. Once was enough in my book. It wasn't the outdoorsy bit I hated , it was the fact that every other camper seemed to bring all their indoorsy stuff with them to the campsite. I couldn't beleive that people would go to all the bother of erecting a tent then whip out a telly and watch East Enders of an evening . What on earth is the point of communing with fresh air if you're just going to bring all the misery of London with you ? That and having  to listen to every other camper snoring through the night . Never again.

So we now have a huge space to fill under the stairs and what will I be putting in there ? Everything I've just cleared out of the living room ... which in numbers amounts to :

• Bags of 200 Ikea tea lights - 3 If I lit one every day from now on they'd still be going in 2 years time
• Tea Light Holders - mercifully less than  the above
• Dinner Candles ( such a quaint old fashioned term ) - 23
• Packs on incense sticks - 6 and they all smell horrible
• Incense stick holders - 4 the last vestiges of my hippy youth

... and here's the difficult one ....

Arts and crafts projects from the boys' primary school days - countless. Oh my , a whole new hornet's nest of indecision. What to keep and what to turf discretely in the bin bag ? There are only so many pottery owls, ping pong ball headed choirboys and balsa wood models you can make room for. I have left it to husband to decide but will wait until he's gone to bed to resue what he will inevitable throw out. They area a heartless bunch husbands.

Slimming World Week 2

I was stupidly anxious about weigh-in last night as I've been glued to the scales all week - an old habit which I'm finding hard to break. I needn't have worried though - 3lbs off which was exactly my target. Going for 2.5 lbs next week.

Treated myself to a cheeky glass of red wine when I got home which I realised afterwards was quite foolish. It's going to be hard also to break that old habit also of reward = food , which is where it all went wrong in the first place.

Today I've eaten 'experimental' food like a Minstrone Mugshot and a 0% fat yoghurt . I'm not in favour of anything low fat or recognised 'slimming' foods like the soup . They are the work of the devil . However they were surprisingly tasty and, when used in moderation, an acceptable part of the whole plan, providing I don't start relying on them.

Onward and downward. No scales this week - that's going to be tough.