Here it is the start of another month. January sort of flew by for us. How about for you? We hope the new year has started off well for you and will continue in that direction.
We spent the first week of 2007 in Ireland with friends from the States in a self-catering cottage behind a terrific pub that featured live music every night of the week. It was our first experience of Ireland and it certainly won't be our last. We absolutely loved the countryside, the people, the music, the food, and the drink. It is similar to Scotland in many ways but different enough in other ways to make it an interesting new adventure for us. We only saw a limited amount of the southwest coast (the Dingle peninsula, the Ring of Kerry) and the route between there and Shannon Airport, but look forward to going back to see other parts of Ireland in future trips.
If you'd like to read more or see some of the photos we took, you can look back in the blog archives for the first 9 blogs in January beginning with Happy New Year! and moving up the month to Final Installment of Ireland Travel Diary.
Don has been having a painful time with his right knee, which grew quite serious when his leg almost went out from under him a few times in the Shannon Airport the day we flew back to Scotland. He went to our medical centre where the GP diagnosed it as "floating cartilege." She referred him to the physiotherapist at PRI (Perth Royal Infirmary) and, furtunately, he didn't have to wait long for his appointment. Meanwhile, we bought him a cane (which over here they just call a "stick") and upped his daily intake of Ibuprofen. Did he stop playing golf? Not on your life! He found, however, that he often couldn't manage a full 18 holes. It wasn't the playing that caused the problem but the tromping up and down hills, especially the downhill bits.
Last Thursday he had a flat tire on the way to see the physio. Fortunately he was just outside the village and able to "hirple" with his stick to Comrie's deli to use the phone. He phoned for road assistance and then phoned me to let me know and so I could phone PRI. Happily, PRI were able to get him in one week later, which was today. This morning when he saw the physio, he had an X-ray done first which confirmed that there is torn cartilege in his right knee. Keyhole surgery will take care of it and has a very good success record, although he will likely have to wait a few months for that. Meanwhile, the physiotherapist said the best thing he can do is to keep active to keep the muscles in his leg strong, so he has been urged to play golf. I think he was quite relieved to hear that for he was somewhat fearful he'd be told to lay off until after the surgery. He got back from Perth, ate lunch, and is now out on the course with Gordon.
My physical challenge has been putting myself on the South Beach Diet. Many of you have heard us joke about how we moved from the "land of milk and honey" to the "land of cream and sugar." We have really enjoyed all the cream-laden foods, especially the desserts. But I've known for a while that I was living in a fool's paradise and that one day, I would have to call a halt. While I maintained 3 exercise activities a week (Keep Fit, Aquafit, and Pilates), I was able to stave off the inevitable, but Aquafit packed in a year and a half ago and Keep Fit about 9 months ago.
With its menu plan and recipes and no need to be counting anything, the South Beach Diet is fairly easy to follow except for the fact that all its recipes and ingredients are assuming you have access to an American supermarket. Some ingredients simply aren't available here--EggBeaters, for example. But somehow I've made do with what I can get and have managed in 3 weeks to lose 10 lbs. Don has been a super supporter and has eaten what I eat for most of his meals.
The first two weeks, Phase I, was the most restrictive, and I lost 9 of the pounds in that period. I have been on Phase II for almost 2 weeks but will go back to Phase I for another week or two just to get a bit more weight off here at the start. It is most obvious around my neck and around my middle that I have lost weight and certainly my clothes are fitting better. I have lots of good energy and have stepped up my exercise level. Fortunately, Aquafit classes began again a couple of months ago. Recently, I dropped Pilates and added a weekly Aquafit session. Otherwise, I try to get out for walks. When the weather is too cold or wet, I have a DVD on loan from my Pilates teacher that is a 20-minute low-impact aerobic walking routine (equivalent to a mile) that ends with 10 minutes of Pilates mat work to stretch out the muscles that have been taxed.I had a check-up for my cholesterol and blood pressure just prior to starting the diet and so have begun it with a pat on the back from the medical professionals. I look forward to surprising us all when I return for the follow-up check in 6 months' time, especially when they note how many stones I've lost. Over here weight is calibrated in stones. A stone of human weight is equivalent to 14 lbs. I tell you that because a stone of hemp is 32 lbs, a stone of cheese is 16 lbs, a stone of meat is 8 lbs, and a stone of glass is 5 lbs, according to our British English A to Zed, which erroneously predicted that once Britain went metric, the stone would disappear.
Tonight we are driving to Edinburgh to meet our friends Patricia and Brian for supper after which the four of us will go to a jazz concert. Next Sunday we will spend the afternoon and evening in Glasgow taking in a few Celtic Connections concerts.
Our weather has turned quite mild. Today it's to get up to 57. All in all, it's been quite an easy winter, except for the excessive rain and flooding threats in November. Fortunately, the musty smell in our back hallway has almost completely faded.
We have begun planning two trips: the annual visit to Bethesda in April and a week in southern Italy in early May. Soon it will be time to get to work in the garden. I must begin by planning what will go in front of the new fence in the back garden.
What are you up to? We hope this finds you all well and energetic.
Love,
Lynn and Don
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