It’s mostly still T-shirt wearing morning walks (when it’s not raining, which has only been today). Unfortunately we had postponed a photo-club field trip to Angouleme a few weeks back due to rain too and once again today due to the rain. However; yesterday was lovely, so much so that when friends came for dinner last night we sat out and ate. Here’s a couple of shots from my walks this week, La Garenne de Beaulieu and also Siena pretending to be a cow, she does love to eat grass!
The meal was interesting in that we put the diet on hold whilst still choosing a main from the diet “book”. So I prepared a strawberry balsamic salad with halloumi. Strawberries marinated in balsamic vinegar with ground black pepper and extra virgin olive oil with rocket and watercress on a bed of grilled halloumi cheese. Delia’s main was chicken breast stuffed with feta and olives with a salad of green beans, cucumber and baby spinach (except we couldnt get baby spinach so a reprise of rocket and water cress). Dessert was brought by our friends and was a gorgeous strawberry tart (which, to help with the diet and to my disappointment was sent back with our friends only half eaten). By the way, although I don’t yet pass Jamie Oliviers “string test” (waist measurement of half my height) I am down to 72.2kg from 83kg just after Xmas. I still have what can be affectionately called “pat’s paunch” though shrinking. As a diet it doesn’t feel so strict, I can easily imagine it as a lifestyle change rather than just to lose weight. Lots more vegetables and salad, nice chunks of meat, just less carbs.
So last week was my birthday. I’m still accepting gifts so hurry, but then I’ll accept gifts 365 days of the year! Anyway, Delia won’t argue that she hasn’t been the most successful at organising things for my birthday. She’s told me what she had tried to do or what she had thought about but this time she hit the nail right on the head. She gave me headphones that I could use to block out her tv whilst I’m watching my stuff (ok that also means she can’t overhear the “leakage” from my ear buds). And she organised the whole day. A late breakfast and off to Ambazac for lunch, I got to choose between two restaurants and the food was excellent. Then we went to “La Musée de Mineralogie et Petrologie” Certainly not something for her though she did a good job of seeming interested, even in the “Uranium” room. A great birthday, well done Delia!