The latest in Philippa Mold's Diary.

July 9, 2008

2.5lb off eh? Amazing. Although I have been doing a lot of

walking, which makes a huge difference. I did set myself a goal

weight loss of 6lbs by the time my holiday arrived and I have

achieved this, somewhat to my astonishment!

Pouring with rain today so we go into town to find something

decent to wear while swimming. Marks & Sparks has just the

thing, so there is no excuse now not to dive in.

Home to find a large puddle on the conservatory floor. Dog

totally denies having anything to do with it, and we discover

that there are four broken tiles on the roof which are the

probable culprits. Supper of prawns in marie rose sauce and a

large mixed salad, followed by a WeightWatchers rice pudding.

Only 1.5 extra points earned on my pedometer today.

July 10, 2008

Home all morning, waiting for a roofer to arrive to fix our

tiles, so spend the time gardening. Then, once the roof is

fixed, we go off to Otter Nurseries for a late lunch. Have

forgotten my free cream tea voucher yet again, which is

probably just as well. And we still haven't visited the

swimming baths yet — must find time for this.

I have a cottage cheese, prawn and peach open sandwich for

lunch and husband has a vegetable crumble. Only half a point

earned on my pedo today. Oh dear!

July 11, 2008

The weather doesn't look too bad at all today so we decide

to walk to the Turf Locks for lunch. We leave the car in the

car park at the swing bridge and walk the three miles along the

towpath, through the Lime Kilns, and past Topsham. It is a

glorious walk, and we are a mere quarter mile from the Turf

Locks when the heavens open.

There were a few scraggly bushes which we sheltered under,

and put my cardigan on top of our heads. After 10 minutes of

this we decided to make a run for it and arrived at the pub

looking like drowned rats.

Lunch made up for it however; we each had a toastie filled

with ham and cheese and a side salad and it was jolly good. We

had a pot of tea between us and, lunch over, emerged into

brilliant sunshine. Not a rain cloud to be seen. So we soggily

plodded home, with the breeze drying us out nicely.

We had to evade a pair of swans who had come up onto the

towpath with their four cygnets, and told us in no uncertain

terms to vamoose. So we did, making a large detour just to be

on the safe side. We didn't fancy our chances walking past two

enraged swans protecting their youngsters!

Back to the car and the pedometer showed a healthy reading

of six miles and, by the end of the day, we had burned up an

extra seven points on my pedometer. That's more like it!

July 12, 2008

We just pottered at home today. Husband watched the test

match and I did a bit of gardening and read most of a novel. We

managed to get through four lollipops each and a bottle of

wine.

I have decided that for the rest of my holiday, I shall

relax a little about food. I shall be very pleased if I manage

to stay the same weight and avoid a gain. Probably wildly

optimistic of me.

Supper of mixed meats, new potatoes and salad, followed by

strawberries and low fat condensed milk. Nil extra points

earned on my pedometer.

July 13, 2008

Another lazy day. We go to Otter Nurseries again for lunch

so that husband can have another of their vegetable crumbles. I

go for a jacket potato with cottage cheese and pineapple.

Another day when no extra points burned up on the old

pedometer. Have WeightWatchers lentil and carrot soup with

buttery toast for supper and a glass of wine.

July 14, 2008

Decide to be more aerobic today and drive to Fingle Bridge.

We walk for 45 minutes each way on the Clifford Bridge

footpath, which is quite tricky as the ground is still wet from

the recent downpours. Our reward on our return is a pub lunch,

alfresco, looking over the river. We both go for lasagne and

garlic bread washed down with orange squash. Calculated we

walked four miles.

On our return home we had a guilt attack and took dog to

Exmouth where we also had a whippy ice cream and a cup of tea.

Have given up counting our food points consumed.

July 15, 2008

Have decided on a boat trip from Dartmouth to Totnes today

and aim to catch the 11.30am boat. Wake up early to be greeted

by the dog making a fair impression of Long John Silver in an

eye patch. The poor pooch's left eye is closed up and he is

clearly unhappy because he is trying to hide behind the

lavatory. This is a bit difficult because there is not a lot of

room.

Husband phones the vet and we coax dog from his lair and

into the car. Vet extracts large grass seed from dog's eye and

a chunk of cash from our bank account. We are so relieved that

he could have asked double and we would have stumped up.

Belatedly on to Dartmouth, and we catch the boat by the skin

of our teeth. Elderly persons surround us and I didn't know

whether to succumb to the temptation of saving a few quid, or

to be hugely insulted when asked by the boat's ticket chappie

whether I was on a pensioner's fare. On one side I could save

myself a fiver. On the other side, HOW DARE HE. I am not 60

until next year. Surely I don't look that old yet?

Have lunch at the Seven Stars Hotel in Totnes. I go for the

fish pie and husband has the steak and kidney pie. From now on

until the end of my holiday, I have decided to put my pedometer

into a drawer and to stop counting points. This is because I am

on holiday. So there!

Help out at WeightWatchers tonight and have not weighed

myself either. I am covering the shop which is a challenge in

itself, since I have to do sums in my head as our members

clamour for choc bars and biscuits. Managed to balance the

books by some miracle and go off to our fave hostelry for a

sandwich and chat with the resident bar steward. Tomorrow I am

having a hot stone treatment, courtesy of my hairdresser for

achieving my two stone weight loss. Really looking forward to a

bit of pampering.