Focus

Well I lost 0.5 lbs this week in weight-watchers.  I had no focus all week (so much for my hopes!) but I have regained focus today and yesterday and have a constant reminder to keep me in line - I am painting my nails, on nail a day for every good day when I stick to my tracking.  It has worked for 2 days as I see my unfinished nails every time my grubby little mitts start to reach for the bad stuff and I am reminded how much I want 2 hands full of varnish!  I know it sounds crap but it is working for me so ner ner ne ner ner.

I had such a terrible night's sleep last night it is unreal.  I have been on autopilot all day - thank gppdness my sister came down to help with the kids.  I think Mr Gherkin and I would have bickered all day if she had  ot!  Everything is OK now though.  Little Pickle is asleep here on the sofa with Mr Gherkin and I really really really hope that he stays asleep for a reasonable chunk of the night at least.  Up and down since 0152 is not a good way to start the day!

I bought a pair of curtains in a charity shop on Friday with the plan to unpick them and use the fabric for bag linings.  The fabric is cream with a textured pattern through it and I think it will make good lining material.  I just need to sort out my camera and post some pics!

Really need to get some sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppppp

A New Week

I started this weight-watching week with a spring in my step and am adamant that I will lose more than 1lb on Saturday.  Mr Gherkin and I went out for a curry last night and I must have had a bottle of  wine to myself but I still managed to only go 4 points over and have made up for that already today.  I  am virtuous and so full of vegetables I may turn into a tomato!  I have 12 lbs to go before I hit target (I have already lost 2st 2lbs!) and I would love to hit that before my brother's wedding in June.  I have not bought an outfit for it yet in the hope that I will be 10st again!  I  will do it.

Easter eggs in the Gherkin Jar

Not being at all religious, I was undecided as to what to do for the boys today.  Sure they can have chocolate eggs but I did not want to do the American thing of an egg-hunt with yet more chocolate eggs (they already each had 3 from various people) and Cornichon would not really be up to a hunt anyway.  

I decided on a visit from the Easter Bird (as prompted my Auntie M yesterday) only to find that I had no food colouring in the cupboard.  I thought I would use my noodle and go organic and try dying some uncooked eggs with beetroot chutney overnight.  THIS DOES NOT WORK.  There was a slight tinge to the shells but nobody would be able to tell.  I then found some green colouring and put it in the cooking water as I hard-boiled the eggs, only to find that the shells did not take on any of the green (apart from a bit one one of the whites that escaped and Pickle thought looked like a green poo!)  

Anyway, the bird came and went like a flash (as he always does) and the fact that the eggs were egg-coloured bothered nobody (apart from me) and Pickle and Cornichon found a lovely tea-towel nest with 5 hot eggs in it outside in a plant pot and thought it was great.  Pickle told me that they were the best eggs he had ever eaten and that he liked the Easter Bird and I was happy.  I have to day that I ate most of the eggs but they were still great.  Even though they were egg-coloured instead of green.   I do not like green eggs anyway.

We had lunch with Mr Gherkin's Mum and Dad and the boys stuffed more chocolate there.  I had trifle and a magnum and then chocolate pudding for tea.  Weightwatchers has gone out the window today but I cooked up a load of veggies that were festering on the fridge tonight so I could well get back on board the WW bus tomorrow.  I certainly need a boot up the backside on that front.

I have just realised that I have not introduced the tribe yet.  More on that tomorrow.

Undecided - to pre-plan or not to pre-plan

Would it be better to post blog entries after planning them or should I do them off the cuff?  I have no plan for today's.  I may sit on this thought and ponder a little.

*comes back after surfing a while*

Nope.  Can't get brain into gear.  Going to bed to think.  Of stuff.  And then blog about it.  Tomorrow.

Caffeine I loved you, but now I hate you

Wow.  After a 2-day long crushing hangover-type feeling, I worked out that it is due to caffeine withdrawal symptoms.  I felt so rough last night I could not bring myself to blog and went to bed, sleeping through until 0550 this morning.  This is phenomenal in the Gherkin Jar!  Littlest Gherkin (Cornichon) has never slept through the night, until the night before last when he went right through until yesterday morning without a whimper (yay!) causing me to shun the caffeine for the first time in weeks and which brought on a cracking eye-ache all day yesterday which got worse by bed-time and carried on through the night and was with me when I woke this morning!  I felt like I had a hangover which was somewhat unfair as I had not even had a glass of wine!  I have been on decaff for about 6 years now and I love it but recently Cornichon's sleeping has been so bad I had to get my caffeinated friend back out and although it has only been 2 maybe 3 cups of (OK strong) coffee a day I can't believe I had withdrawals on my first day without any!  What an evil witch she is.  Give me her calming sister, Decaff any day!

Introduction

I suppose a good way to start this blog would be to reveal some stuff about me...

I'm Gherkin.   I live in Wales.   I am 33.  I am happily married with 2 fantastic little boys and I love spending time with my family.  I love so many things but do not have the time to do most of them.  I love crafting and making stuff and would love to stop time at the end of every day and spend a few hours pottering about with a bag of fabric scraps or a box of beads.  Such a shame that life gets in the way so often and ironing needs to be done or bathrooms have to be cleaned!  I love being active and am in the process of losing 3 stones in weight (just under 1 stone to go! Woo hoo!).  I have recently resurged a love for gardening and am working on a vegetable patch and planting out a load of plants that are pot-bound and have been waiting to be planted for months.  I love reading and have recently finished Memoirs of a Geisha which I could not put down and was sad to finish.  I have a sleep problem (I don't get enough) but that can be remedied with a quick log off.

Nighty Nighty

Just Blog It

Inspired by another well-known blogger and subsequent blog surfing I have decided to hop on the bandwagon and get one of my own - so here is The Gherkin Jar. At the moment I am not sure which direction the blog will go in. I hope to record snippets of my life, my thoughts, feelings, ideas and maybe photos if I get around to it. I would like to be able to look back on this blog and remember cool stuff I did this year and see how things progress. I have a lot on my plate at the moment and I am sure much of it will come out at some point - keep your eyes peeled on The Jar!