Shoes, Dublin, Conkers and a Spa Break

I paused my Sentence a Day posts a few months ago but now I'm raring to go again, albeit a few days late with September. Without further ado....

Sun Sept 1:
Got inveigled into going to a dealer for a test drive by the hubster. Took ages! Wasn't able to do a blog shoot.

Mon Sept 2: Bright and sunny.  Roads busier as the kids have gone back to school. Ventured into a field near the office to do my shoot, the post is here. Box of bulbs came today, hooray.

Tues Sept 3: Left at 2, wasn't feeling great.

Weds Sept 4: Changed two of my social media handles to reflect the blog's name rather than mine. Working from home and v busy.

Thurs Sept 5: Unusually at home because of an evening event, the Vionic runway show in London. My, what a glamorous audience! Nice to have a few glasses of champagne and a catch up with Jacqui and Michelle.

Fri Sept 6: exhausting day. Went to the pub in the evening for John's sisters 60th. She doesn't know there's also a lunch in Dublin on Sun - it's a surprise.  Goodness knows how we kept it a secret.

Sat Sept 7: off to Dublin. Easy trip. Checked into our hotel near the park  (pic at top). Saw Riverdance at the Gaiety Theatre. Really good show.

Went to a traditional Irish pub for dinner with live music, and had this delicious lamb shank.

Sun Sept 8: warm pleasant day. Went for a walk around the city centre and posed by the Phil Lynott statue.  The surprise lunch was booked at Fire, a former municipal building.

The extended family was present, a lot of whom live in Ireland. Read here about Sue's reaction.  This is what I wore.

Mon 9 September: drizzly.  Walked to the Shelbourne Hotel to get a cab to the airport with John's other sister and her husband. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was arriving in Dublin so traffic was at a standstill. We were home by 2pm - rushed off to do some food shopping.

Tues 10 September: I'm on holiday for the rest of this week. Did a few chores and set off for Grayshott Spa, about an hour and a half's drive. I last went there about 20 years ago! Did an aqua aerobics class right away. Then had a massage.  Dinner was sublime.Three courses and healthy but delicious. I'm here for four nights.

Weds September 11: keen to do a lot of exercise today. Did circuits, stretching. Had an aromatherapy massage with Faye who did yesterday's massage and is so easy to talk to. Did Pilates in the afternoon using balls of different sizes - very challenging!

Thurs September 12: knees quite sore today so need to be careful about what exercise I do. Did a walk followed by a short session in the gym and then a swim. Had "lymphatic drainage" with Urzula. This was surprisingly tiring. Had a personal training session to learn some new stretches.  Dinner was smoked haddock kedgeree, below, followed by baked apple with dates and lavender cream. Divine.

Fri September 13: feeling great! Went to a stretch class and then did aqua aerobics in the sunshine in the outdoors pool in sun. The day was rounded off with a facial and the dinner highlight was honeycomb ice cream (and I normally don't even eat desserts).

Sat September 14:  decided to leave Grayshott before 9 as I have a lot to do today. I collected a meat order for tomorrow.  Did some gardening, removed a huge penstemon and got rid of a Christmas tree which came in a small pot a few years ago but is now looking a bit sad.

Sun September 15: Went to Power Plate, cooked sirloin for lunch, John's daughter and husband came. Sunny.  Planted most of my daffodil bulbs. Wrote Wednesday's blog post.

Mon September 16: back at work.  V quiet in the office.  Ploughed through emails then had to turn a pres around v quickly.

Tues September 17: at an all day off site meeting. Photos. Sunny but cold. Long day.

Weds September 18: Working at home, very busy day.  Went to Power Plate. Tried a new dinner, recipe with aubergines and lamb steaks.  Not a success.

Thurs September 17: in the office. Was dreading today for various reasons and woke up in night but everything went ok.

Fri September 18: working at home. Sunny, colder. V busy again - it's the run up to a major event that we run, and I'm the campaign manager.  J got my winter clothes down, five bags. Two bags went up. I make a note of what's in each, otherwise he claims he can't find the bags!

Sat September 19: the last official day of summer, and gifted with brilliant weather. Did power plate and food shopping. Then went to a "welcome to the world" party (similar to a christening) for John's first grand child. It was a lovely day.

Sun 20 September:  did some blog photography and wrote 2 posts. Roast chicken. Dreamed that I couldn't find my car. Boris was telling me I wouldn't get it back. Looked up the meaning of this dream and it's not good!

Mon September 23: in office. After three trips to petrol stations looking for a working air machine, I was finally convinced to go to Kwik Fit to have a slow puncture looked at. Unfortunately it can't be repaired.  Booked in for tomorrow for a new tyre, nearly £200.

Tues September 24. Terrible rain. Took car to the garage again for the new tyre, and got quite wet on the walk to work. Felt a bit carb deprived and headachey.  Revolting silage smell from a farmer spraying his fields, and and cars in the upper deck at work got splattered.  Came home and had to face a late meeting.

Weds September 25: At home.  Long day, ended at 8pm.

Thurs September 26th: had a day off. An old friend Margery was visiting from Dorset. We went to the William Blake exhibition (disappointing) followed by a lovely lunch.

Fri September 27th: worked at home. A free pair of bamboo socks came in the post - my third pair!

I gathered some conkers on the way to Power Plate. They're useful on window sills for deterring spiders.

Sat September 28th
Had hair done. Big drama, armed police chased a car through nearby Loughton.  For dinner I created a recipe from one of my low carb cook books: ratatouille with ginger/mandarin lemon sole.  Did a mini shoot by Virginia creeper, now a glorious red.

Sun September 29
Went to Power Plate. Very windy today. We had roast beef and I made a casserole.


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A Time For Reinvention - and Link Up

Autumn/Fall is a much better time for attempting major life changes than January, in my view. January is such a bleak month with three months of winter still ahead and bank balances decimated by Christmas.  I started several of my major jobs in the month of September, and it's a month with feelings of optimism  (Brexit aside) and regeneration.

I like to change my beauty routine at this time of year. I was thrilled to get two more products from British skincare firm ARK to continue my efforts to brighten and polish my skin.

I've been using their Age Defy nourishing moisturizer and cleanser, both aimed at the over-50s, for a few weeks and said I'd give an update when I'd used them for a while.

Well, I've had a few compliments about my skin recently so they must be doing a good job! I like the moisturizer in particular.  The pump mechanism isn't great because it stops working long before the pot is empty, but no problem, I just lift off the lid. It has a refreshing herbal/eucalyptus type scent and is a good primer for makeup.

The new exfoliator is aimed at all age groups:  you simply leave the product on for longer (five minutes) if you're over 50.  I'm not always very good at using exfoliators. They seem a waste of time if they aren't very grainy - how do you know they're sloughing off dead cells? - but on the other hand, too much graininess is bad  (remember Aapri?).

This exfoliator has a triple action: a physical, fruit acid and enzymatic action to gently slough dead skin and debris. AHA acids from bilberry, sugar cane, sugar maple, orange and lemon help to diminish the look of acne scars and the appearance of wrinkles.

I like it! There's a pleasing graininess, but not too much, and afterwards my skin looked fresh but not red.

I haven't tried the hydration injection masque yet but as you know from previous excursions,  here and here, I love trying a mask so I will report back.

Kick starting a New Health Regime

At the start of September I spent four days at my own expense at Grayshott Spa, on the Surrey/Hampshire border. I haven't been there for more than 20 years but it was still the tranquil heaven it always was, with just a few changes.

Every day there are two walks in the gorgeous heath land surrounding the mansion

One of the changes is "the Regime," a special diet for the gut devised by Stephanie J. Moore and Grayshott's head chef Adam Palmer.  Grayshott runs a 7-day long introduction to the Regime.  I didn't do it, but the food in general is based on its principles. I was hoping it would kickstart a healthier eating regime. Somehow, even after the delicious three-course dinners, I managed to lose four pounds! Yes, even after a daily pudding like this - honeycomb ice cream!

I bought Stephanie's book, Why Eating Less and Exercising More Makes You Fat: Current Health Advice is Failing Us, and the Grayshott recipe book, Gut Gastronomy: Revolutionise Your Eating to Create Great Health by Vicki Edgson, to learn more about the diet.

It's low carb and avoids high GI foods  (such as potatoes, bread, grains, bananas).  The diet encourages us to be lavish with fats and nuts. We're now using butter and coconut fat, and avoiding spreads which are full of hydrogenated fats.

Diets like these have shown revolutionary results in reversing type 2 diabetes.

In the last three weeks I've continued the weight loss and it's now half a stone  (seven pounds). I don't feel low on energy and I'm not feeling constantly hungry (hangry) as you normally are when you eat less.

I haven't really cut out any food groups:  vegetables are carbs and some are starchier than others. The diet forces you to cook unprocessed foods and to avoid anything pre-packaged, plus desserts, sugar and sweeteners. But I'm not counting calories for the first time ever, nd it's such a relief.

I've been cooking everything from scratch and trying new veg and ways of cooking them:  celeriac mash was a revelation!  Last night I made my own ratatouille to accompany a dish from the Grayshott recipe book, lemon sole with mandarins and ginger. Both delicious and even Mr Mutton approved.

I haven't given up my vice - cheese - and have a few thin slices with two sourdough crackers if I'm not sated.

I must confess to not doing some of the gut health measures - soaking nuts overnight, blanching salads, eating sauerkraut and making kimchi.  Life is too short!

Examples of what I'm eating

Breakfasts

When I'm in the office, I take a bottle of Biotiful Kefir which is nourishing and good for gut health. Or I take a container with some coconut yoghurt, blueberries, raspberries and nuts.  At home, I like two poached eggs on a slice of toasted sour dough  (better for us than wholewheat bread).

Lunches

Lunch is a challenge with this diet:  the best thing is to make a salad, which I try to do on most days. I add an interesting pot of edamame and soya from M&S or Tesco, and some sliced turkey or salmon. If I'm in a rush, I make a smoothie from the Grayshott book  (apple/pear/juice of half a lime/maca powder and coconut milk). Or I have a Huel shake - quite a few carbs, but also filling. You could, if you had time, roast some vegetables with meat or fish.

Dinners

I make a few batches of chicken casserole or chilli at the weekend and have plentiful vegetables with those, plus a serving of oily fish once or twice a week, falafels and a grass-fed organic steak. If I'm in a hurry or desperate, I have an omelette with ham and a Greek salad.

I've just bought another recipe book, The Diabetes Weight Loss Cook Book, by Katie and Giancarlo Caldesi. This is useful because it profiles the two authors and two others in terms of how many carbs they aim to have each day (it varies).  And there are some useful recipes for crackers/bread without the carbs. Joe Wicks' recipe books are also good for low carb recipes.

I have an ambitious target of another seven pounds in the next month, in time for a reunion with former colleagues from the first job I ever had.  My reward, if I succeed, will be a new pair of Boden patterned Richmond trousers!

Disclosure:  I was gifted with two products by ARK Skincare.  Copy approval was neither sought nor given, and my editorial opinion is my own and always objective. 

Sharing this post with #WordlessWednesday at Claire Justine, Chic&Stylish at Mummabstylish, Top of the World Style at High Latitude Style, #ThursdayTell at Muttonstyle, Fancy Friday at Nancy's Fashion Style; Fabulous Friday at A Pocketful of Polka Dots, Anna at The Glamadventure,  Linkup on the Edge at Shelbee On The Edge, #BloggerClubUK at My Random Musings, #Stylewithasmile at Stylesplash, Visible Monday at Not Dead Yet Style, #ShareAllLinkUp at Not Dressed as Lamb

Now it's that time of the week:

Last week's most clicked was Jess from Elegantly Dressed and Stylish who looked stunning in her chestnut dress from Target.  Jess is a master of wearing colors that suit her, and accessorizing.

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