Back to walking

Weight loss this week: 2 lbs

Back to walking this morning.  I tried out Lick Creek Park about 11 miles and 20 mins by car from the house.  Good cinder or sandy paths through the trees, but note the warning at the bottom of the notice board "Beware of snakes"!  A few dog walkers about but only passed two on my 2 mile brisk walk.  Can't quite keep the motivation going to walk for longer on my own with no conversation going on!  Where are my walking buddies when I need them!  

The other reason for stopping after 2 miles was that I found myself back at the parking lot and  as I had forgotten to take the trail map with me and was not at all sure where I was most of the time, it seemed sensible to quit while I was ahead.  Will be more adventurous next time! 

This afternoon I investigated Brazos Natural Foods...which turned out to be an organic grocery with very expensive produce.  I know that saffron is expensive, but $10+ for a few grains in a jar! That seemed excessive.  And a small bag of pine nuts, another $10.  Still, they have spices and herbs in quantity and a system for helping yourself with a little scoop so you only have to buy what you need.  

The 'nothing to watch on TV' situation got to me today and I spent half an hour painstakingly going through every channel on cable trying to find something worth watching.  In the end I decided that I didn't understand the channels or the cable and the house owner's brother came in after work in response to an email SOS.  The urgency was due to the fact that a Norwich friend has a famous niece (Lisa Vanderpump, given the game away!) who is on the US version of Strictly Come Dancing - Dancing with the Stars and I wanted to watch (misplaced loyalty!).  Anyway, Justin patiently explained the numbering system and that at some point in the evening a channel called x suddenly changes to y. And KAMU is also ABC, sometimes.  All very clear!  He's also shown me where on the internet to find the TV listings for all the channels on the cable.  So now we can be really certain we're not missing anything!  They're doing Downton Abbey and Call the Midwife, Time Team and Antiques Roadshow.  All old programmes of course.   Still, I have managed to pin down the BBC World News.  Sat down to watch Dancing with the Stars and found it was last week's round up.  Still managed to see Lisa doing her foxtrot and apparently it's on again on Monday night.  Would you believe it, we have exported two of the judges, the tall, avuncular Len and the short, excitable Bruno!   And no awful pantomime jokes from Brucey! 

The only excitement this evening was the discovery of a bright green lizard on the inside of the back door.  Yours truly donned rubber gloves and chased it round the sitting room, while Peter held the door open!   We must remember to close the doors and windows at night.