Boskloofswemgat weekend

This past weekend, we went away to stay at a cottage at Boskloofswemgat http://www.boskloofswemgat.co.za/index.htm. I can't recommend this place enough, its such a lovely, tranquil place, although unfortunately its really HOT in the area. Not a big issue though, when you can spend hours in the beautiful river :-)

We stayed in Langhuis, a lovely little cottage right near a beautiful rockpool.

The farm has quite a few cottages, mostly on the main part of the river and some of them are next to paddocks where you can see the lovely horses and two darling little donkeys. Apparently the one mare does bite so you have been warned, be careful when petting the horses or letting your children pet them. However, having said that, we did in fact pet quite a few of the horses with no incidents.

The main 'swemgat' is large and very idyllic with shallow parts that will be lovely for those with young children. There is also plenty of beautiful lawn where the kids can play. There are (I think) three cottages on the one side of the swemgat (with the beautiful lawns) and two on the other side.

The prices are also very reasonable, I was pleasantly surprised and Francois was a pleasure to deal with :-) Clanwilliam is pretty close with a very impressive Spar Supermarket, so if you forget anything, don't worry. We did all the shopping for the weekend at the Spar. If you feel so inclined you can also drive up the pass a while (I think its Pakhuis Pass) and see Louis Leipoldt's gravesite.

Funnily enough, while we were in Clanwilliam on Saturday, we saw two guys leading some camels along the road, I'm not sure where they were going, but they caused quite a traffic jam LOL

We saw a variety of wildlife at the farm, including, francloins, weavers, southern Boubous, doves, sparrows, sunbirds, and a mongoose. There were also a few very friendly fishies in the rockpool.

Anyway, again, I say, if you want a lovely relaxing weekend away, this is definately the place to go.

Week 3 - Day 1

So, I have now completed day 1 of week 3 and I have realized something which I'm going to admit......I don't know better than the experts and I'm gonna have to rethink my race goals and go back to my original race plan.

Let me explain - I've been enjoying the running so much, that I thought I would be clever and add in an extra training session, so on Saturday, while I was away, I repeated Fridays session. It seemed fine, but this morning when doing my session, I realized it was a mistake. Even the first 5min jogging session this morning was difficult with the 2nd and 3rd being even worse, BUT, I did do the whole session.

So, admitting I'm wrong, I'm NOT going to do the two 5km fun runs and the 10km UCT race that I had planned for March. I'm going back to my original (realistic) plan of my first race being the Spar Womans Race on 10 April.

Having said all that, this has definately NOT put me off running, I still love it and will definately continue, but I am going to listen to the experts and not do my usual 'want everything quickly' thing LOL

I'm looking forward to Wednesday's and Friday's sessions :-)

Week 2 completed

Today is day 3 of week 2 and its now completed. It was really windy this morning so I decided to do my session on the treadmill. I know that working on the treadmill is more or less the same as working outside but somehow it seems fake and I don't really get the same feeling of accomplishment as I do when working outside, even though I've worked just as hard. What is nice though, is that I can see the exact distance I'm doing - not that that makes much difference at this point in the training as I'm working according to time (walk 5 min, jog 4 min etc).

I'm looking forward to starting week 3 on Monday, but in the meantime, I'm off for the weekend to Boskloofswemgat for a well deserved weekend break.

See you on the flipside

Things I've discovered.........

Things I’ve discovered since starting running and trying to lose weight:

1)      Herbal teas may be good for you, but not all of them taste nice

2)      Oatsoeasy creamy natural flavour sounds lovely, but I hate it

3)      When the season starts turning, the mornings get dark really quickly

4)      It’s much nicer to run at 5.45am than 8am (I get really hot & sweaty at 8am)

5)      Water doesn’t taste any nicer if you’re drinking it for health reasons, I still hate it

6)      Drinking more water during the day makes you spend a lot of time in the loo *sigh* (what goes in must come out)

7)      Cottage cheese really doesn’t taste great on its own, but add in some onion/tomato/cucumber salsa and some herbs and you have a yummy topping

8)      Wholewheat pasta is much nicer than I thought it would be

9)      The bread I like to buy comes in those short, big slice loaves when I much prefer a longer, smaller slice loaf *sigh*

10)   Eating less meat is so much healthier for our bodies and our bank balances

11)   My treadmill is going to come in very handy in the winter months

12)   I actually like running – well, to be more accurate, I like the benefits of running, but not so much the actual running LOL

13)   Having a scale that isn’t digital is very annoying when you’re trying to ascertain how much weight you’ve actually lost

14)   A running bra is a must for lady runners

15)   The right shoes to run in really makes a difference

16)   One can actually get excited at the thought of running a race

17)   Even losing just half a kg can make one really happy J

18)   A sport watch can make it much easier to keep track of training

19)   Starting to run isn’t as hard as I thought it would be

20)   Most importantly, I’ve discovered how much running & sticking to the program makes me proud of myself and lightens my mood on a daily basis.

And now, how about another delicious recipe - this one I got from a friend and I can definately recommend it:

Vegetable lasagne

Ingredients -

1 medium aubergine

3 medium courgettes

1 onion

1 tin tomatoes

1 clove garlic (crushed) or 1 tsp garlic puree

2 tbsps olive oil

mushrooms

lasagne pasta

2 oz butter/margarine

2 oz plain flour

1 pint milk

3-4 oz cheddar – grated

2tsps pesto sauce or 1

tsp dried basil

1tsp dried oregano

1tbsp tomato puree

1 Preheat oven to 180

2 Dice the aubergine, place in a colander & sprinkle well with salt. Leave to drain for 20-30 minutes and blot on kitchen paper before adding to rest of ingredients. (this stops the aubergine tasting bitter as it sometimes can)

3 Heat the oil in a large pan. Chop the onion and fry in the oil with the garlic until soft.

4 Slice courgette and add to the onions along with the drained aubergine. Fry until the courgette & aubergine is golden.

5 Slice the mushrooms add to the pan and continue to fry for a further 2-3 minutes.

6 Add the tinned tomatoes, pesto/basil, oregano & tomato puree. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer whilst you make the cheese sauce.

7 Melt the butter in a pan. Add the flour a little at a time, mixing well after each addition, until the mixture binds together. Continue stirring and cook for 2-3 minutes.

8 Remove from the heat and add the milk a little at a time mixing well to ensure no lumps are formed. When all the milk has been added return to a low heat and bring to the boil gradually, stirring continuously, until the sauce has thickened.

9 Remove the pan from the heat and add the cheese mixing well.

10 Layer the vegetables, pasta and cheese sauce in a large ovenproof dish and place in the oven for 20-30 minutes.

11 Serve with salad and/or garlic bread and enjoy! 

Coming up - one idyllic weekend

My hubby and I are going away this weekend for a belated anniversary getaway. The place we are going to has the unusual name of Boskloofswemgat - it might be a weird name LOL but the place looks fantastic.
http://www.boskloofswemgat.co.za/index.htm  The cottage we are going to be staying in is called Langhuis, but all of the other cottages look equally lovely AND their prices are very reasonable too.

I'll definately be updating you all after we have been there and let you know how it was. We are normally a camping family so staying in a cottage is going to be a nice relaxing change. Not so much packing and not so much setting up - just pack your clothes, some lovely food and go......

Week 2 - Day 2

So its now week 2 - day 2 and I'm still going strong :-) Today was 'walk 35min briskly' and I decided that I was going to walk with a 1kg dumbell in each hand. I've done that before, in Jan when I started exercising and was doing my own thing. However, my own thing wasn't as much as my Shape 10km Challenge puts me up to and walking briskly for 35mins with weights in each hand was a little too much. I didn't suffer badly, but in the last quarter of my walk my arms were aching and the enjoyment had kinda gone out of it. It was a good idea, but I think in future I'll leave the weights behind.

Because I was only walking this morning, I decided to start early as I used to and left the house about 5.45am. It was still pretty dark, but the street lights helped. One of the reasons I decided to carry the weights, was because I worry a bit about being out on my own in the semi darkness when there aren't that many people or cars around. Soon it will be too dark for me to attempt it, but hopefully by that time it will have cooled down a bit during the day, so then I can do my training at any time.

Of course, as winter comes in, my treadmill & inside will just have to do. Running in the howling wind or pouring rain just doesn't do it for me. LOL

I'm getting a bit worried about the 5km Fun run I'm planning to do on 5 March, cause I know that there's no way that I'll be able to run anywhere near 5km's, but I suppose doing a combination of running and walking will be okay. I just hope that I don't injure myself and therefore mess up my training program.

I'm looking forward to Fridays training....

Week 2 - Day 1

Its now week 2 - Day 1 = 5 min walk, 4 min jog - repeat 3 times. The first 4min jog was okay, the second was more difficult and when I started the 3rd, I was really wondering if I could finish the 4mins. I just carried on plodding though and as it got more difficult, started chanting my mantra "I can do this" and lo and behold, I DID DO IT!!!!

I can't tell you how participating in this challenge and actually keeping up with an exercise program has changed my life. I constantly feel proud of myself and I eagerly look forward to the days when I do the challenge work. I never thought i'd live to see the day when I say I look forward to exercising LOL

I can see that its going to get more and more difficult as I go along, but I'm sure that I am up for the challenge and I'm looking foward to doing my first race :-) If I'm inspiring anyone else along the way, then I'm really happy about that too.

Oh, and on another plus note, I've lost about another half kg (I say about, cause my scale isn't digital). I know its not much, but I'd rather loose the weight slowly the right way instead of fast the wrong way. I have a feeling that as the challenge progresses and gets more strenuous, that the weight will come off even quicker.

Hey Ho Monday....away......:-)

Week 1 of my Shape 10km Challenge completed

Today was day 3 of the first week and its now complete and on to week 2 next week. This morning at 5.30am it was still soooo dark outside and rather windy, so I thought that I would rather do the days session on the treadmill. As I was getting everyone off to work and school, I decided that I really would prefer to do my session outside. I waited till the last one was off to school, then got ready and prepared to do my session outside. It was about 8.05 when I got started and it was heating up but not too bad. All went well, although the 3rd 3min jog was kinda tiring. I'm now going to enjoy a weekend of rest and start afresh with week 2 on Monday :-)

On Tuesday evening, I went with my hubby to his althletics club meeting and joined the club. I got my race numbers but will have to wait for my 'kit' as they are getting new clothing made.

I've decided to give myself some goals to work towards and to that end, I've decided I'm gonna do (or maybe do) the following races:

Saturday 5 March - the Century City 5km Fun Run
Saturday 12 March - the Constantia Village 5km Fun Run
Sunday 20 March - The Capestorm UCT Memorial 10km Race.

I'm definately aiming to do the first Fun Run and see how that goes. If it goes well, I'll do the 2nd Fun Run and if that goes well, I'll attempt the 10km. I'm realistic enough to know that its highly unlikely that I'll be able to run the whole distances, but at least I'll be getting out there. I'll run as much as I can and walk some of the way.

So, thats my plan for March 2011

Me and my tea

Having got brave drinking all the black, unsweetened herbal teas lately, I decided to try my normal tea black and unsweetened. I'm afraid though that it doesn't have the same allure of herbal teas and I only managed to get through half a mug before adding some sweetner and fat free milk.

I love my tea (normal tea that is) and for me to continue to love it, I actually need to enjoy the taste. When it has no sweetener and no milk, its just yukky - rather bitter and unappetising. So I guess I won't be giving up the sweetner and fat free milk any time in the foreseeable future.

I know that using sweetner isn't that healthy, but as I drink copious amouts of tea during the day, having sugar in it would just be asking for trouble. For the same reason, I use fat free milk. Originally when I started with the fat free milk in my tea, it took a lot of getting used to, but now I can't even drink a cup of tea with full cream milk it it without feeling rather nauseous. If I HAVE to have full cream milk, then it must litterally be just a teaspoonful.

For me, a nice mug of tea is like a haven in a storm, its something to be savoured and enjoyed with relish (not the hamburger kind hehehe). Its an almost mystical experience LOL. It usually takes at least two cups of tea in quick succession in the morning, before I feel like my day has really started. Having tried various teas over the years, I have to say that Glen tea is definately my favorite favorite :-)

So here's to tea in general and Glen tea in particular *raises mug in a toast* Cheers!!!

Week 1 - Day 2 & some recycling stuff

Today is day 2 of my first week, so its 30 mins of brisk walking. It was sooooooo windy this morning, that I wasn't up to walking outside so I decided to do my 30 min walk on the treadmill. Its not nearly as much fun and its really hotter (no breeze/fresh air), but it really was better than walking in the howling south easter outside. All went well and I'm very happy :-)

Hmmm LOL, thats a very short entry so let me write a bit about our recycling project. Unfortunately our municipality isn't into recycling, so if we're gonna do it, we have to do things ourselves. For quite a while, we have been recycling paper (or local church has a paper igloo) and glass (there were glass igloos at the Edgemead hall - now moved to the edgemead shopping centre). Late last year, we decided that we needed to get more proactive with the recycling.

The main problem with recycling, is storing the stuff till you have enough to take to the recycling depot. We have a basket for paper and an old milk crate for the glass but that was it. So we went to a local plastic shop and bought 4 fairly large bins with lids. We use those for tin, cardboard, plastic and polystyrene. Its been going really well and we usually empty some or all of the bins once a week on a Saturday at the dump (they do recycling too) in Panorama. We also have a compost bin, into which we put all vege waste and teabags etc along with the inners of toilet rolls & cardboard egg cartons (apparently its best to do it that way). As a result, we actually put very little into our black bin for the municipal collection.

Its a great thing to do, but now that we are doing it, I find myself getting very frustrated by the amount of tins & glass & plastic bottles that lie around my neighbourhood. Often when walking back from the shop, I actually pick up these items and bring them home to recycle.

Another frustration is having to wash the items. Glass jars aren't that much of a problem and some tins are okay, but animal food tins are a hassle to wash, but if they aren't washed it causes all sorts of problems - so occasionally, I still do throw the odd animal food tin in the bin cause I simply don't feel up to trying to wash it out. I try not to do that too often though.

Seriously though, most of the time its no hassle at all and I would be really happy if many more people would start doing it. Even if you don't want to go to the expense of buying some bins, just use black bags to collect the stuff. Just start with paper and glass if you don't want to go the whole hog, but you'll be surprised at how proud it makes you feel of the fact that YOU are doing something for our world.

ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!!

Done & dusted

Well, week 1, day 1 is not done and dusted. I successfully completed the first session of my Shape 10km Challenge. I have to say that jogging the 3min sections were easier than I though they would be. Tomorrow is going to be a rest day, but I don't want to do nothing so I'm going to do some yoga or pilates type exercising or something like that. Nothing too strenuous. I'm gonna be doing some weight work each day with 2kg dumbells. I started that about a week ago or so already. I started off with 3 x 5 reps of various lifts and I'm now doing 2 x 10 reps of the same lifts.

Things are definately getting better. I weighed myself today as well and i've lost about half a kilo. Its difficult to tell exact weight loss cause I still have one of those old fashioned scales. I told my hubby that I want to get a digital scale. The reason being, is that you feel less discouraged about the weight loss if you can see you lost even a little weight. With an old fashioned scale, its very difficult to get accurate results. I've been about 63kg's for ages now and couldn't seem to shift any weight and I don't even eat that much.

I think the problem was, that I was eating a lot of bread, mostly white bread, because thats what was available and convenient. I'd have two or three slices of toast for breakfast, then a sandwich or two for lunch and then my supper - not such a lot really, but it was really difficult to cut down on that without starving myself.

I'm now having oats or yougurt for breakfast, a healthy snack midmorning, usually provitas with a healthy topping for lunch (sometimes a low GI wholewheat sandwhich), a healthy mid afternoon snack and then my supper. I'm also drinking more water and having some black, unsweetened herbal teas during the day as well.

On the subject of herbal teas, I can tell you the following based on my exerperience (I prefer if possible to drink them without milk or sugar):

Green tea - pretty revolting, I'll never have it again. Even the Freshpak 'Shape' one with added hoodia was impossible to get down (I even tried adding honey, lemon & cinnamon to try make it more palatable).

Buchu tea - not as bad tasting (with added honey) as the green tea if you can get past the awful smell - I couldn't, so won't be drinking it again.

Freshpak 'Energy' (rooibos with added ginseng)- a very pleasant tea, with a lovely, slight strawberry flavour. My doc has warned me off ginseng, so lamentably I won't be buying this lovely tea again, but I'm gonna finish the container by limiting myself to one cup of it every couple of days (shhhhhhh, don't tell my doc).

Freshpak Fennel (or any fennel tea for that matter) - A lovely tea, one of my fav's and very good for lowering high blood pressure (don't drink it if you have low blood pressure), and also good for lots of digestive problems.

Herbex 'Detox Herbal Tea' - Slimmers Tea: - a lovely tea, which I really enjoy. Its a mixture of rooibos, honeybush, black tea and some herbs as well.

I passed all the teas I don't like on to my fil (father-in-law) cause he'll normally drink just about any weird tasting tea LOL so at least I didn't really waste money buying them.

On the subject of money, the herbal/healthy teas are so expensive, its really annoying, its time the peeps who make them get on the bandwagon of getting the populace of SA more healthy - come on guys give us a break, we're trying to do the right/healthy thing here.

Green light means Go!!

Well, I went for my effort ECG today and got the okay from my doc to do the 10km Challenge. So now I'm all ready and going to start with Day 1 of Week 1 on Monday. I'm actually quite excited and looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to joining the same running club as my hubby and doing my first race. For me races aren't the 'big thing' about running, its getting fit and losing weight thats most important.

High blood pressure and all that jazz....

First step to starting the Shape 10km Challenge was to do the health test. The health test is a list of questions and if you answer any of them with a YES, then they suggest you consult your doctor. Well, I had to answer question 6 with a yes, I do have high blood pressure and also have this 'thing' where my heart randomly skips a beat. Both these things are well controlled with medication though.  I also have slightly elevated cholesterol, not high enough for medication though, its controlled by diet.

So, off I go to my doc to have things checked out. He drew blood to check my cholesterol level (I'll get the result tomorrow) and although he thinks I'll be fine for the Challenge, he said rather play it safe, so now I have to go and do an effort ECG tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get the green light and be able to go ahead, I'm sure it will be just fine :-)

I'm really missing my fennel tea, which I ran out of yesterday and none of the shops in walking area of me have any *sigh*. I actually tried green tea instead yesterday.....YUK!!!! Its the most revolting stuff I've ever drunk (although whiskey comes a close second). I barely managed to drink the cup I made ewwwwwww.
Unfortunately I don't drive, so I'll have to wait patiently for the weekend so hubby can drive me to a bigger supermarket that will have fennel tea, or else I'll have to resort to a health shop.

Which reminds me, I still need to have my cup of (normal) tea this morning. I couldn't have anything when I got up as I was gonna have the cholesterol test. So off I go now to have my beakfast and first cup of tea of the day. Wish me luck for my results tomorrow.

Running gear and all the problems that go with it...

Well, as I've mentioned before, I don't like exercise and thats why over the years I've NEVER managed to stick to any kind of exercise plan. My hubby started running about 2 years ago and has been nagging me to start running too, but I've always resisted it. Then, out of the blue, on 3 Jan 2011 he again said the 'running' thing and this time, much to my surprise, I said "okay". I started the next day, rather haphazzardly LOL. I had no running gear and no shorts even vaguely comfortable enough to run in so I borrowed a  pair of hubby's running shorts (Yip ladies if you want to wear the pants in the family, thats the way to do it hehehe). I ran in a T-shirt and my old trainers.

My first run was actually a run/walk. I walked to warm up then ran a bit, then walked, then ran etc until I had managed to get once around the block (approx 1.2km's). I didn't want to overdo it and get injured or too stiff, cause I knew that would be the knell of death for this exercise program LOL Slow and easy wins the race or so the tortoise would say :-)

I quickly discovered that for ladies, running is not that comfortable. Boobies, believe it or not, can be a problem and the bouncing, although maybe pleasant for men to watch, isn't pleasant for me. I told hubby that if I'm gonna do this, I need to get 'kitted out'. So, that evening we went shopping and I came back with 2 running shorts (mens ones, cause the ladies ones are pathetic *sigh*), 2 sport bras (and I went a bra size in the process - why, I have no idea), some running socks and 2 plain, loose cotton T-shirts.

While we're on the subject of sports bra's let me just complain a little. I don't consider myself that well endowed in the booby dept (34/36B), so I had thought I could get a lovely sport bra that I had seen advertised in a mag. MUCH to my disappointment, said sport bra only came in S, M & L and let me tell you that L was so small I could barely get it over my head, yet alone anything else.... Then came the shock of finding that all of a sudden, I'm a 38B (where the hell the extra came from, who knows). Eventually, after much trying on of different sizes and types, I did get two that were okay and actually fit.

As already mentioned, I got men's running shorts cause they are so much nicer than the ladies ones - not necessarily in looks, but definately in material and fit. The running tops are so ridiculously pricey that I just went to the local supermarket and got 2 cheap T's to run in. So now I'm all kitted out and ready to go, with one problem, we're going camping the next day. I knew that if I stopped while we were camping, that I was likely to stop altogether so I decided to run while on camp too.

Believe it or not (and I felt it hard to believe myself) I did in fact keep up with my run/walk every day while I was camping and treated myself to a lovely swim in the empty (it was real early) river. That was the best swim of the day, with me the only one there - what bliss...

When I came home from camp, I started a new routine. One day I would briskly walk the block with 1kg weights in each hand and the next day I'd do my run/walk the block. As time when on, my run sections got longer and my walk sections got shorter. I still can't run the whole block yet, BUT I WILL GET THERE. After a while, I added an extra walk round, so one day I'd walk twice round the block and on the run/walk day, my second round would be mostly walking with the middle section a run. Slightly more than a month later, I'm still at it, much to my surprise.

At that point, I was still saying that I didn't want to do races, I was doing this to get fit and lose weight. Then, the other day, while on FB, I saw this ad on the right side of the page about a 10k Challenge and when I follwed it, it was on Shape Mag and they reckon they can get anybody from a couch potato to a 10km hero in 12 weeks. For some reason, that seemed very exciting. I saw a way to take this to the next level with a great scientifically formulated program, so I immediately signed up. http://www.shapemag.co.za/challenges/10k/

I'm going to be starting the new program on Monday and have Mon, Wed and Fri as my 'work' days cause that works out easiest for me. I was a bit worried about going from exercising 6 days a week, to just three, but many people say this program works, so I'm gonna go for it anyway. I am doing a bit of weight work every day with dumbells, so I'll carry on doing that and maybe some yoga too.

I've decided I'm gonna comit to doing a 10km race in April, so hopefully I'll be ready by then and I've even decided to join the same running club as my hubby. I still can't believe that I've gone from vehemently refusing to run, to wanting to run a 10km race, but I can't tell you how proud of myself I feel. Even though I hate waking up early, somehow waking up at 5.30am so I can run, doesn't seem that bad. So, Carol is well and truly on the go......

Why we do it

People run/walk for very different reasons. I'm doing it to keep fit and lose weight and have joined the Shape 10km Challenge http://www.shapemag.co.za/challenges/10k/ which has actually inspired me to commit to entering my first race in April - Thanks Shape Mag.

On the other hand, my friend Mandie is walking for a totally different reason. She supports the "Little Fighters Cancer Organization" and is desperately trying to get diapers (nappies to some of us LOL) for the youngsters who are fighting cancer with all their might. She's a brave lady and so has pledged the following on Facebook:

I WILL WALK UP AND DOWN THE LENGTH OF THE ENTIRE ADDERLEY STREET IN HIGH HEELS AND A DIAPER!

by Mandie Erasmus on Monday, 07 February 2011 at 15:39

THIS IS MY PLEDGE

I am making the following pledge in the hope that it will shake up things a bit and that people will start donating packs of disposable diapers to the Little Fighters Cancer Trust.

The Trust supports the families of children battling Childhood Cancer. One of the forms of support we offer is to make sure each child has ample nappies. Most of the Little Fighters do not have any bladder or bowel control due to the effects of the Cancer ravaging their little bodies. The painful and horrid treatments also have an effect on their excretions and the amount there of.

I ave posted many a plea for disposable diapers on the wall of the Trust's fb page with limited reaction. The manufacturers were contacted for sponsorships as well, with very disappointing replies.

These children are not wearing nappies because they are too lazy to potty train or their parents don't want to make an effort. They have to wear nappies because they have no choice. Their free will was taken from them by the Cancer the day they were diagnosed.

Some of the Little Fighters need up to 20 diapers per day! Now, if ou think that a pack of Huggies nr 5's Jumbo Pack costs an average of R125, that is 58 nappies which will last 3 days. That totals R1250 just for nappies per month! This, in addition to medical bills, medications, special foods, travel expenses and all the costs of hosting Childhood Cancer in your home as an unwelcome guest.

Now, I , Mandie Erasmus, pledges to walk in an adult diaper and high- heels up and down the whole length of Aderley Street, Cape Town, South Africa IF 50 JUMBO PACKS OF HUGGIES OR PULL-UP DIAPERS ARE DONATED TO THE LITTLE FIGHTERS CANCER TRUST DURING THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY, 2011...AND I will post photographs.

So come on, if you want a good laugh, donate a pack of diapers! I will even make it easy for you if you do not live close enough for drop-off or collection, you can deposit R125 into the Trust's bank account and if your donation is referenced with the words "DIAPERS WALK!" it will count as one pack.

Hope to hear from you soon as the month is very short!

Health to you and yours.

Mandie Erasmus.

h

Little Fighters Cancer Organization.
Non profit trust.
FNB Paarl Mall.
Acc Nr: 62277783249
Branch Code: 250057
Swift code: FIRNZAJJ. (Inter)
Trust Reg nr: IT2817/2010

As I said, she's a brave lady, much braver than me, but to support her I have donated money to buy a pack of diapers so I know she's at least one pack closer to her goal.

 

This is a great cause so if anyone who reads this feels inspired by Mandie's bravery, think about donating a pack of diapers or money to buy a pack.

 

Mandie, my hat off to you, you have my support and I'm so proud of you.

Hmmmm, where to start...

For quite a while now I've had an on and off relationship with healthy living and becoming more 'green'. Sometimes its been more on than off and other times its been more off than on. However things are now on a much more positive front. I guess that in order to get up to day, I need to backtrack a bit and start at the sort of beginning.

First things first - I DON'T LIKE EXERCISE - LOL I know thats bad, but me and exercise go together as well as me and maths, which means WE DON'T!!!!

I used to run at school many, many, many years ago, but since school, nothing (until recently, but we'll get to that a bit in the future).

This year however, seems to be the year when everything seems to be clicking into place (whether I want it to or not :-) Excuse me if this blog is a bit wishy washy or to and fro-ey, cause although I've attempted blogging a couple of times in the past, its never come to anything  - bear with me I'm sure i'll get better as I go along (although I can't promise that hehehe).

So, what's to come is a bit about recycling, a bit about healthy eating, with some lovely receipe's that I've tried out here and there, and a bit about running - maybe more accurately, walk/running.

Its the new me I guess - Carol on the go - and going I intend to be, so keep tuned :-)