Home again......naturally....

A week has passed already since our holiday and we have jammed so much into this last week it almost feels like our holiday was imaginary.  But this happens every time we go away.  There is just so much catching up to do when we get home.  We are so lucky that our gardener, Trudi, looks after the place for us and her son Neil does a great job at taking care of our old Labrador.  Hudson really is showing his age now and I don't think he will see this year out.  The skin cancers are spreading rapidly over his body.  But he is still reasonable lively and when he is not, well, we know what we have to do and have prepared ourselves for it.

So, what have we been up to since arriving home.  Apart from unpacking the suitcase and washing and ironing great mounds of clothes (really must reduce our wardrobes by half) it has been same old same old. Before we left for holidays Philip opened gates so that the cattle could have six paddocks so he has been busy mustering them all into one mob again to continue rotational grazing.

I have been cooking light and healthy meals in order for us to lose the weight that we gained on holidays.  We are back to fasting for 16 hours each day and NO ALCOHOL until we re-gain control of our weight that I'm pleased to say is almost back to normal.

Miso Eggplant on Brown Rice for an easy lunch.  Apart from being delicious it filled my tummy to the brim!

Exercise has been high on our list this week. Philip has been cycling and I have been making good use of the pool.  I caught my little toe on the bedside table a few days ago and boy oh boy has it been painful.  No walking for me at the moment. When I visited the doctor this week to start the preliminaries for my finger joint replacement, she looked at the very bruised toe and said that she thought I had probably broken a small bone. Yoga has recommenced after the long Christmas break and on Tuesday I went along to the new premises for a gentle class.  I am making myself practice yoga on a daily basis this year, just 15 minutes a day, because my body and mind enjoys and needs it very much.

We had a quick trip to Cairns during the week as we had quite a list of things that we both needed.  For Philip it was maintenance items and a haircut and I, well I didn't really NEED anything but how is this cute little razor that I picked up in K-Mart for $10! It works amazingly well but I'm fairly certain it won't last long.

Can we talk about my boy Nick Kyrgios for a moment. He has again shown what a truly remarkable and admirable person he is by organising the tennis Rally for Relief tournament that raised $5 million for the bush fire ravaged areas of Australia.  Being a Canberra boy he knows first hand how devastating these fires have been in Australia. I really want him to do well at the Australian Open.  Maybe this will be his year.  I  hope Aussies get behind him and stop knocking him.  And as for Ash Barty, isn't she a dynamite.  I watched her play Danielle Collins last night in the Adelaide International semi finals. My heart almost stopped a couple of times but Ash certainly showed her mental strength and I'm sure she will do well in the AO. Hey now wouldn't that be a dream.  Kyrgios and Barty to take out the AO!

Well friends, that's a wrap for this week.  I'm glad to say that we have received some lovely rain while we were away and just wish I could send it down to Victoria and New South Wales where the fires are raging.