Progress Report on the diet and exercise regime...

Back here I wrote about how I had been told by the doctor, that if I don't lose weight, exercise and change my eating habits, I was going to have to be put on diabetes medication.  

So here we are just over a month later and I thought I'd update you on how things are going.

We went to see the dietitian and the kinesiologist/diabetes educator.  Have to say it wasn't very helpful seeing the kinesiologist/diabetes educator; but did learn a couple of helpful things from the dietitian.  Which were:

1. every 4 grams of sugar per serving = 1 teaspoon of sugar
2. the 5% to 15% ratio.  Under 5% per serving is great.  Over 15% depending on what it is, is not.  For example sodium.  Between the two is okay in moderation.

So we have changed our eating habits.  I have been walking a bit.  Did not walk last week, as it was so hot and humid, but have managed to walk every day this week and have achieved over 10,000 steps every day since Monday. 

What all this translates to is I have lost 8 lbs since June 25th.  Not the greatest loss, but it is going in the right direction.  I have booked an appointment to have my blood work done on August 27th and am back at the doctors on September 4th.  So I have another month to work on it all.  I would love to get another 10 lbs off by then, but we'll see.  

Eating better is more important that losing the weight the dietitian said.

However despite me not being a big ice cream fan I could murder a hot fudge sundae😁

Just not "feeling it."

So this morning I took a class on "Big Stitching."  I had never taken a class at this store before, but had been in the store a few times and found the owner to be very pleasant.

So I get to the store before the appointed time as I needed a couple of things to use in the class.  The instructor was very nice and told us there were nine in the class.  Four seats on one table, and five on the other.  So I went and put my bag down at a seat on the five table by the wall out of the way.  Went to buy my things and came back to sit down.

The woman sitting opposite me started telling this other woman come and sit next to her, which she proceeded to do, but a woman got to the seat before her and sat down.  By the look on the woman's face opposite me she wasn't happy, so I said I would move so this other woman could sit opposite her.  I found this all very unusual and actually thought to myself that the woman I had been sitting opposite was a little insecure.

Anyway, there were now four of us seated and the fifth person at the end of the table, although all her things were set out at the table she was still in the main part of the store shopping.  I brought a coffee with me in a travel mug with a sealed lid.  The new woman who I am now sitting opposite brought a coffee from Tim Hortons in one of their paper cups.  

You will know what happened next without me saying it, but yes she knocked over her cup and the coffee went over the woman's things at the end of the table.  Although the woman opposite apologized she made no effort to help clean up the mess.  Suffice to say the woman's whose things had coffee all over it was not happy and you could cut the air with a knife after that.

To cut a long story short, what with the whole atmosphere at the table and the most uncomfortable chairs I have ever sat on; I lasted an hour and a half.  The class was three hours long.  I was just not feeling it.

THEN.......as I was packing up to go, the woman opposite me says, oh could you drop me off at the garage it's only five minutes up the road............to which I said, there's still another hour and a half left in the class............she says that's fine and up she got.😦  So I take her to the garage, and yes it is only a five minute drive but I was flabbergasted???

Anyway, this is what we were aiming to do, this is the sample:

This is where I am at with mine:

Bit to go, will work on it when I have time.

I have been neglecting my blog recently.

Why?  I have been busy with this and that, mainly the Facebook shop.  I have to say it has been a success so far; BUT you never know how long that success will last, or when your next order will come in.

I booked a craft show at a parent and teachers evening in October.  It cost me $30 for the table........oh and you have to bring your own table....LOL  I figured $30 wasn't a lot of outlay and I am quite confident I will sell $30 worth of stuff to cover the cost.  However, who knows?  

If anyone has done craft shows, any do's and don't would be greatly appreciated.

I actually got a little bit of sewing done for me this week.  I made our grandson a bunny when he was born.  Then made two more ..............who can forget scary bunny!!  He has chewed that one to death, as it's a favourite!!  I made him another, along with one for the chiropodist's newborn and one for the grands cousin.  I am thinking about adding them to the shop?

I then made a couple of passport holders out of cork for dh and I.  I will be making more for the shop and selling those at $15 each.

Just finished another custom order today for an I-Pad/Tablet holder.  Lots of pockets in it and very sturdy.

Taking a class tomorrow on hand stitching quilts, which I have NO interest in, but I want to pick up some tips and tricks about the hand stitching, so I can incorporate that into my work I do in the shop.  Will be back with show and tell after the class!!  Have a good one........

Sunday............

Hubby is off today, so hoping to spend a little time with him.  Have errands to run, then going to hibernate in the house.  Although not as hot as yesterday, still too humid for me.

So everyone:

Australian Dance to Nutbush..........

Never knew this was a big thing Australia did you?

Questions, but no answers...........

Just done another video for my shop and I used the expression, "Bob's Your Uncle."

Wonder where that came from that expression?  Is it specific to the British? Need to look it up when I have a few moments to spare.

Do you use expressions that you have no idea where they came from?

You're in the know before the rest!!

I had appointments at the doctor's office on Tuesday so didn't get a lot of sewing done, but I did get a couple of these made..........

They are for opening lids.  I am having a heck of a time with my thumbs and am finding it difficult to open things.  This is my answer to that difficulty.  The bottom is actually shelf liner, as it grips to everything.

What do you think?  I plan on making more and listing them on the shop.

I can't win an argument normally.........

especially with the grandchildren!  I personally think all three year old's should be lawyers as they all have the art of negotiating down pat!!  So imagine my surprise when I discovered I had won a competition.  I live behind an author and she was having a Facebook competition to guess how many words she would write in a month.  What would you think?  The answer will be at the bottom of the post.  I came the closest without going over.  She handed me my prize over the fence yesterday 😊  I am as pleased as punch with the prize.

I got a signed copy of one of her books:

and this lovely mug and pen. 

If you have a moment you can read  more about her here.

Now onto something completely different.  I was looking at this bag of peas I had in my freezer:

What other types of peas are they if they're not 100% natural?

Answer to the question was just under 24,000 words, I guessed around 23,500.  That's a lot of words isn't it?

Nothing like telling the truth.........

Recently our daughter and her family had a couple of days away and they stayed in a yurt.  It was stinking hot and no a/c in the yurt just fans.

After one night the 3 year old, asked to go home as she didn't want to sleep in the SHED anymore........

No more shed yurt holidays for them I guess!!

Out of the mouth's of babes!!

I am sorry I have been away........

however I was busy sewing up a storm for the open house on Saturday.  I was up and all organized well before the 10 am posted opening time.

It was a hot and humid day with just a few drops of rain, but overall it was a good day weather wise.

It was a great day for other reasons as well.  I got to meet two long time readers of my blog.  You know who you are and it was a pleasure to be able to spend a little time with you.  I got to sell a number of my items and sold a lot more than I thought I would, so thank you too everyone who bought from me.

My best selling items were the produce bags, and the soup bowl cozies.

I did take a couple of photos of everything set up:

I took a video also but you do have to go to Facebook and too Appleby Lane to see it.

I am writing this Saturday night and am pooped.  However not too tired to order more fabric online!!  I also ran a couple of errands and called into a fabric store on Saturday afternoon and picked up 1/2 metre of this fabric, as I have an idea of something to make with it!!

I will be updating the Facebook store on Sunday to get everything up to date.

Again thank you everyone for all your support.

A huge thank you for your suggestions..........

and yes I will be offering mixed fabrics with the produce bags.  Went and bought sweet corn and peach fabric to add to the collection.  Again thanks for the suggestions.  Sometimes the most obvious things don't occur....LOL

I am excited to be hosting a "Porch Sale/Open House" on Saturday for Appleby Lane.  Figured it would be a great way to meet the neighbours and introduce the business to my local neighbourhood.  I will let you know how I get on.

For people living in the Barrie, Ontario area, give me your email address in your comment, I moderate all comments, and I'll email you my physical addresss.  If you know people living in the Barrie area, let them know about it.  Also if you fancy a mini road trip, it's also Barrielicious at the moment, so lots of deals on at restaurants.  Plus a chance to pop in an visit me!!

Back Garden, and produce bags

We finally got the back garden finished this weekend.  The corner is a low point and always wet so nothing much grew.  We have added drainage and put a small retaining wall in the front.  All the hosta's were from another part of the garden and our son was getting rid of the tree from his garden.  All in all we are really pleased with the results.  It's a sheltered area and gets plenty of water so I think it should do well.

 I have planted up some sweet peas this year and they seem to be coming along nicely.

In between everything else I have been doing some sewing, and made these produce bags for the shop.  I am selling them in sets of three, one bag is 12 inches, the other 11 inches and the third 10 inches square.  I am hoping they will sell?

 Which print do you like the best, the onions or the mushrooms?

More Ikea finds..........

Ikea has all sorts of neat things.  I took a shine to these dog butt hooks........but I decided to pass on buying one. 

I have given up trying to grow anything live in my Llama planter, so decided to buy a fake plant.  They have a great variety in Ikea.

Finally this came home with us.  Isn't it cute, it's to hang our "small's" on the washing line.  It was only $4.99 couldn't pass it up, you can buy it here.

I will pop by Ikea again soon, as they had some neat things in there.

Garden/people/dog watching while walking...

I have to say when walking around the subdivision there is plenty to see.  I enjoy looking at other people's gardens seeing what they are doing, or in some cases NOT DOING!!!  I am always confused as too why people live in houses and do no gardening what so ever!! Why not live in a condo or apartment where you don't have a garden to look after?

One house I go past has grass that is knee high.  I saw the other day they had finally cut it, but what a mess.  You can tell the lawn mower was struggling and it chopped the grass all up.  Just looked like a bad haircut.

I tend to go walking first thing in the morning.  I try to beat the heat.  It seems we have rabbits galore around here.  Some are even verging on to being quite tame.  We have a number of woods around so plenty of birds.

There are a lot of dogs and their owners.  I am still wary of the smaller dogs, but have made friends with a number of the bigger dogs.  One huge boy is so friendly and was a rescue and couldn't be more friendlier if he tried.

There are a number of people who walk, but not as many as where we used to live.  On Thursday morning I was laughing to myself, as Thursday is garbage day.  It was Canada Day on Monday so garbage pick up is a day later this week; on Friday.  It was crazy how many people had put their garbage out.  I guess people just forgot this week? 

I walk two to three times around the subdivision, takes me around 50 to 55 minutes to walk three times around and I do around 6,500 steps.  I walk up a steep hill three times.  By the time I have done that three times I am pooped!!!

I am trying to walk 10,000 steps a day again!! 

Oops......

Over here in Canada, and I would think it's also the same in the United States, putting your middle finger up to someone is classed as a rude gesture.  It's also called flipping the bird and basically means go away using bad language.

Now why  am I talking about this, you wonder?  So back in late April, early May I dropped a rock on my finger and it resulted in a blood blister under the nail.  One grandson is fascinated with my finger for some strange reason?

 Anyhow, when showing people my finger I usually show it like the photo below.

Can't say I thought much about it, until son mentioned that did I realize that when I do that I am giving people the finger..........can't say I did..........oops!!

One week and 3lbs down........

So I am one week into this eating better and losing weight.  Now will admit I haven't been stringent in the exercise department, but I have had a few 10,000 step days.  With it being a long weekend, I didn't get the walking in, but was busy otherwise.

My eating is a whole lot better, but of course could improve, but with losing the 3lbs, I am happy, as it's 3 lbs in the right direction, and slow and steady wins the race as they say.  I have another 9 weeks before I see the nurse practitioner, so losing the 20 lbs by then seems to be doable.

I am finding life busy at the moment with the gardening, the walking, the business and just the general day to day things and when I am busy I don't have as much time to eat!!  There is always room for improvement and I want to concentrate on walking more this week, as that is the best way for me to lose weight.

So my goals for this week:

Up the walking.

Cut back on my sweet things.....had a bit of chocolate mousse cake on Tuesday as it was someone's birthday.  But did have an hour in the swimming pool with the grandkids......so that should count for something....LOL

Remain positive!!!

A visit to Ikea to upgrade a room

We had a trip to Ikea on Sunday, as I wanted some shelves for my sewing room.  However not just any old shelves; floating shelves and I know Ikea keeps the perfect size.

One of the aims of this mini reno was to clear off my sewing desk so I have more space.  Now to be fair, the desk does not always look like this!! I had actually piled everything onto it, to move my desk out for dh to put up the shelves.  My desk was actually dd desk growing up and it's similar to this Ikea desk.  As mine is probably 20 years old, they have changed the design.

 Below is when we he got the shelves up and already my sewing table feels so much bigger.

 This has to be my favourite thing and that black metal shelve cost a whole $14.99.  You can find it here.  It has a lip on it and the bar, so it's perfect to hold my rulers.  Have my glue and my ironing spray.

 The other shelves are the floating shelves and we bought the Lack shelves in a white stained oak finish.  These ones are just under 4 feet and were $24.99 each.  I picked up the two green plastic lidded boxes, not 100% sure what I am going to put in them you can buy them here.  I also got the lovely artificial plant, which you can get here.  I need to find a pot to put it in.  Filling the shelves will be a work in progress, but I am up for the challenge😉

Overall I am super happy with this mini reno and it cost under $100 for it all.  I haven't been to Ikea in a while, and was pleasantly surprised at all the great things I saw at very reasonable prices.

A Happy 152nd Birthday Canada.

Today is Canada Day, Canada's birthday when the Canadian Confederation was formed.

We live close to a couple of golf courses and a driving range.  When we were driving past the driving range we saw these and I thought how impressive they looked:

So for all my fellow Canadians, I wish you all a Happy Canada Day.