Jennieworld Today

The beauty of the sky doesn’t really come across in the photo, as I think I caught it just a minute or two too late. However, I thought I’d post it anyway.

I’ve been visiting my parents for the last couple of days, which I absolutely adore doing just for the peace and quiet, not to mention that I don’t see my parents anywhere near enough for my tastes! Anyway, from my parents’ living room window they have a lovely wide view across a field. It’s amazing how different that view can look from day to day, depending on the weather; occupants of the field (sheep, horses or nothing!); season; or even simply the time of day. We’ve had a lovely day today, with mostly sunshine and blue skies. This evening then, just before I put the boys to bed we looked outside and there was a marvellous cloud formation which I don’t remember having seen before. My mother pointed it out to me, saying, “look at that - mackerel sky”. I could see what she meant right away, as the clouds were in little puffs all over the sky, looking very much like fish scales with pale blue outlines. We called my Dad then, who took one look and said the same. I’d never heard that description of a sky like that before, but it fit perfectly. Is this a known nickname for this phenomena? Also, does anyone know for definite what creates this cloud formation in a sky which had been mostly clear all day? It almost seemed like water had evaporated all day, and then as the sun went down and the air cooled, the water suddenly condensed into this lovely pattern. Am I right, or way off the mark? At the very least, it made for a relaxing vista, and one that I don’t think I’ve ever seen over my home city.

I took a picture of the view, although I’m not sure how well it will show the clouds. I’ll post it tomorrow or the next day.

Isn’t the last book great? I went and bought it at midnight on the day of release with my friend Hannah, and we read through the night and the next morning (or at least I did, while Hannah conked out on the sofa by 2!). I admitted defeat at 5am and got a few hours sleep, awaking at 11 to finish reading it before lunch! A little obsessive, maybe, but I was determined to read it before I accidentally found out online what the fate of my favourite characters would be. I’m not going to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read it; just suffice to say that I think it may become my favourite book of the series. I was amazed how well JK Rowling managed to tie up all the loose ends which had been left hanging across the last several books, so that I really had very few questions when I finally put the book down.

 Hannah and I ended up going to Asda in Cardiff Bay to buy the book, where we decided that we could queue up in the dry, rather than standing in the rain outside Waterstone’s in the city centre. And we were rewarded for our decision; at just gone midnight, who should walk in through the front door of Asda and straight past us but John Barrowman from Torchwood! I wonder whether he was there for the same purpose as us, or whether he was after a couple of bits of grocery shopping on his way around the Bay walking his dogs at a time when the shop should have been nice and quiet? If it was for the latter reason, he would have been a bit taken aback to see all the hundreds of people queuing round the store for the book! Anyway, John, if you did buy the book I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did, and if you need your dogs walked for you any time, I live locally and would be only too happy to oblige!

I’ve had a comedy start to the diet - two days of eating all the wrong things, albeit in slightly smaller quantities than I might usually consume! However, today has been good, and I’m resisting the call of the maltesers for tonight at any rate, as I know full well that I’ll find it very hard to resist a pudding after my Sunday dinner tomorrow. Hopefully my good day today will spur me on to greater levels of abstinence and salad eating for the next few days. Who knows - I might even fit some exercise into my incredibly hectic schedule!

Here I go again. And yes, this time I’m serious, this time it’s for real, I’m committed, devoted etc etc. I know I’ve said this to you so many times before. But I have to at least start a diet feeling that way, or what point would there be in my trying to lose weight. I’d be doomed to failure at the very starting post. So, I apologise in advance  to those people who have heard this all before, whether from me or someone else close to you, but I’m hoping that twenty-seventh time is the charm, (slight exaggeration) and that this time it will work!

I’d like to lose two stone, or roughly 13-14kg by Christmas. I think that this is very achievable, if I can find a way to combine my life with the necessary amendments and refinements which will need to be made to ensure that I eat healthily a lot more regularly than at the moment, and that I find time to exercise.

I plan to follow an approximation of the Rosemary Conley GI Jeans diet. I’d lov to go to a class again, but my nearest one is nearly an hour’s drive away, which I can’t commit to doing every week. I’m really hoping that someone will come and buy the Cardiff area franchise so that I can start back up again. I enjoyed those classes because you got an exercise session for your money as well as a weigh in. I really begrudge paying £5 a week for someone to tell me how much I weigh. If that was all I wanted I could go and be weighed by the instructor in the leisure centre or by the nurse in my local surgery for free. However, my friend and I have now set up a kind of ‘mutual support and appreciation society’ just for ourselves, which we hope will keep us on the straight and narrow over the coming months.