Author: Wattle

No, of course my mind was not on you know whats as I walked right on by the bakery. But just in case my brain does activity on some other levels that are not available to my consciousness, I fully occupied myself taking photos of local street art instead. I have posted some of them in the archives section.

Now for the weight report. Yesterday, dressed in similar clothes to last month and at roughly the same time of day, (before the evening meal) the scales read 73.5 kg. That was a loss of 1.5 kg which was acceptable.

I am not jumping for joy because the goal was to maintain my weight, not to lose it. I misjudged the amount of calories for the month, and that is despite eating all those pies. Perhaps the meat portion of the evening meal could have been a bit more generous? Perhaps I needed to walk only each second day, not every day? You can see what guess work is needed to learn how to stabilise weight after you lose some.

Never mind. Onwards, into Augrapes. Perhaps we could schedule one more ham and pineapple pizza meal…

After the towel task of last month which was very demanding, this Augrapes task is almost trivial. It is easy and enjoyable. The task is to visit a florist shop once each week and to buy some appealing flowers to colour up the last month of the winter.

Firstly, I dump all the catalogues that have cluttered up the table for ages into a box and hide it somewhere, in another room. I still need the catalogues but can get them out and put them away again as required.

Next I place a blue tablecloth on the table and a mat which could potentially soak up any stray water from a vase. After that I choose a vase. There is no need to buy expensive table cloths or vases if I am on a budget. I have used some of the sheets of the paper I use for collendar pages to cover a tall bottle that originally held dried pasta. A blue sheet is able to function perfectly well as a table cloth. Over time I have found some nice vases at opportunity shops and I like to get them out and display them this month.

Then follows the arranging of the flowers. I do it patiently, trying out various ways of placing one sort of flower next to another sort and eventually I get them all standing up, tall. I do it as well as I am able to. After that comes the admiring of them.

Augrapes soldiers : Wattle’s Weight Warriors. Now on duty!

Stop Press! Pie Season ends. Weight report will follow tomorrow.

Yum yum, the pie breakfasts sure were delicious. What could possibly take their place? Lets have a sneak preview of “Augrapes.” Here is a hint…

Some fresh grapes. Somehow, I know you would have predicted that. Only some though, they are quite expensive because at this time of the year they have to be imported.

Fresh grapes do not sit well on pancakes, there is no doubt about that. It would taste odd with ice cream and anyway, they would tend to roll off. Instead, we have fresh fruit of choice on the pancake and try to mix it up. I like to revisit summer berries if they are available. Attempts will be made to cook steamed sultana puddings. Fruitcake suppers might make an appearance.

We will have some home made ham and pineapple pizzas with a small amount of cheese on them. Ham and salad bread rolls are great for breakfast, brunch or lunch.

Cabbage is the star in Augrapes. I just know you would never have predicted that. A large proportion of cabbage and carrot in homemade coleslaw that has a small amount of coleslaw dressing goes really well with ham and bread roll.

How does roast pork with crackling sound? We will definitely have some of that. Naturally, we will mainly have many pork medallion meals with, (yes, how did you guess?) oven fries potatoes, commercial brand finishing sauce and steamed vegetables. Cabbage, carrots and rotate the third vegetable for some variety.

I do so very much enjoy Augrapes, which over the years we have come to know fondly as “Porkust.”

One of the tasks ahead for the month of Augrapes will be to visit the dentist. After all those apples eaten in Apply it hardly seems like it would be necessary. Even so, it is just to have a tiny checkup visit. You and I, ok?

Think of it as an outing. An interesting outing. Even as a very special outing. Certainly it is special in terms of the cost. Truly, it is a luxury outing. Right up there with price of a ticket to Disney Land. It is way more expensive than going on an outing to the ten pin bowling alley, or visiting a cinema.

Now I can just hear you thinking, “Yes, that is all very well but it is not as entertaining as the ten pin bowling alley or the cinema would be.” Ah! But it could be, if only we let it. All those modern posters to look at. The very latest thing in tooth brushes. The awesome beauty of the perfectly clean dental surgery. The friendliness of the dentist and his or her team. There is a feeling of importance too, all their attention is focused on us and the well being of our fangs.

Pick up the phone and make an appointment. Right now! Just to have a tiny check up visit. You and I, ok?

There are no right or wrong amounts. Eat the amount that feels right. It is likely that the amount that feels right at this time will not feel right at this time next year because it will feel like too much.

Over several years the Apply amount of pie for breakfast has changed. It gone from 2 pies each day, to one pie each day, and now this year to one pie each second day. The really heartening thing about this particular example that is I didn’t even really notice it, it is only in retrospect that the pattern shows. At any given time in all those years the amount felt right.

You might have noticed that the pie for breakfast each second day started on the first of the month. Could that be because of my enthusiasm to farewell the Pearn eating theme and commence the Apply one? Perhaps it was a mere a coincidence? Or could it be because there is one more odd day than there is even day in Apply? If I was counting, that would be one extra pie breakfast, wouldn’t it.