Month: May 2015

May 5: Oops but for a good reason!

fitfor15in15 4 Comments

It’s 11.18pm and I’m typing this under the bedcovers on my mobile phone because …

I totally forgot to write today’s post.

I had grand plans of discussing last night’s World Snooker Championship final, the flooded Aare river in Bern, my lunch with Leonie and then dinner with Claudia but instead I came home, watched tv with Leo and came to bed.

Just as slumber was about to take hold, it hit me – no blog post! Argh!

I know I’m distracted because tomorrow morning something exciting is going to happen. I’ll tell you all about it then!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

May 4: The force was strong on Monday Runday

fitfor15in15 2 Comments

Not only is it Monday Runday, it’s also Star Wars Day … May the 4th be with you.

The fourth, I mean force, was strong today on my 5km run. Apart from stopping to take the odd photo and having to walk 200m to get rid of a stitch (again!), I felt really good and was happy with my time. I think I’m so worried about being dehydrated and getting that weird pain in my ears, I overcompensate and drink too much water before I head out.

fitfor15in15

At the beginning of the run, one of these tracks was a little creek

fitfor15in15

Looking towards Sariswil

fitfor15in15

These calves looked so cute, I had to stop for a photo

fitfor15in15

So sweet – they ran over to say hello!

fitfor15in15

Maybe I smelt good, but I doubt it

fitfor15in15

In the end, they all lined up for their 15 minutes of fame

fitfor15in15

Saw a man using a strange machine in the fields, and waved … and maybe ran a little harder! Such a dag

fitfor15in15

Rape seed in full bloom

fitfor15in15

I startled this heron (?) in the puddle and it flew off majestically

I had thought about taking a longer route, but then chickened out at the last minute. Probably a good thing, as it was really humid (no wind too) and I ended up having to shed top layers and run in my tank top – first time that’s ever happened in Switzerland!

As part of my cool-down, I walked back to the tulip field (I measured it as 550m from our house) but the ducks from yesterday were gone. I bought a bunch of solid hot pink flowers as consolation.

fitfor15in15

Magnificent tulip with insects!

fitfor15in15

The bunch from yesterday, downstairs

fitfor15in15

The new bunch from today, upstairs

The tulips aren’t going to be around for much longer – I’m almost tempted to collect a bunch of beautiful white ones, with pointy tips, tomorrow!

This morning was rainy and pretty miserable, so while waiting for a break in the weather, I mended the split in the backside of my apple-green cotton trousers. Initially I thought my pants would only be good enough for garden work afterwards, but I think I did such a good job, and the thread matched so well, I can wear them out again. (Can’t believe (and am very thankful) a hotel sewing kit carried that colour!) Then again, I may have been without my glasses when looking in the mirror … And after taking this photo, I’m now having second thoughts. I’ll wear a long top. 🙂

fitfor15in15

Maybe my mending effort wasn’t so invisible after all …

All this rain has made our next holiday plans a bit sketchy – from next weekend, we’re planning to walk the first third of the Swiss Camino, from Constance to Einsiedeln. It should take about five to six days of walking, and is only 93km long, but if it’s going to be too wet, maybe we’ll have to rethink our plans. We walked the second (middle) section from Einsiedeln to Thun in 2012 and hopefully we’ll complete the third and final stage from Thun to Geneva before too long.

  • Physically Fit: Monday Runday – 5km jumping across the muddy puddles
  • Mentally Fit: Walking to the tulip field again and talking to the calves
  • Nutritionally Fit: Sixth day of fasting (500 calories) on the 5:2 Diet (and start of the final week perhaps?)
  • Minimalism: Mending the green pants

Have you been out wandering in your neighbourhood recently? I’d love to hear about what you see when you go walking or running.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

May 3: Another Sunday walk

fitfor15in15 4 Comments

We had a great time at the BEA with everyone yesterday, and a quiet, relaxing time home alone today.

The gang - Leo, Tom, Sandra, me, Leo, Pastora and Iva

The gang – Leo, Tom, Sandra, me, Leo, Pastora and Iva

fitfor15in15

We didn’t go on this ride

fitfor15in15

Leo, Tom and Sandra

fitfor15in15

General BEA sideshow and ride alley

fitfor15in15

Bueller … Bueller …

fitfor15in15

Sandra and her hamburger, me and my second Berliner raspberry doughnut. I told you I was addicted

fitfor15in15

Leo found the biggest sausage grill

A little bit of wine tasting

A little bit of wine tasting

Seems to be a Sunday tradition at the moment, going for a wander in the neighbourhood. It’s been raining so much the past few days, we made a break for it during a rare break and headed out. Again, the walk was leisurely, but they say 30 minutes a day is all you need.

fitfor15in15

Good weather for them

fitfor15in15

You know it’s impossible not to stop at the tulips

fitfor15in15

These ones came home with us

fitfor15in15

A mistake photo but I like it

fitfor15in15

What an amazing tulip!

fitfor15in15

Beautiful light on the rape seed field

fitfor15in15

Lovely colours, blues and greens

fitfor15in15

Mud up a side track

fitfor15in15

He wasn’t very camouflaged

At home I spent a bit of time in my garden, admiring the blooms. We also watched the first season of Broadchurch, which I really enjoyed. I’ve long been a fan of Olivia Colman – she never disappoints. She was amazing in Tyrannosaur (not for the faint-hearted) and Green Wing too.

fitfor15in15

In my garden at home

fitfor15in15

The first two signs of my gladioli!

fitfor15in15

My new bulb garden is coming up a treat! Those pink tulips started white

Oh and Mayweather beat Pacquiao. I didn’t watch the fight, just read about it. The more I know about Mayweather, the less I want to retain.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

May 2: Getting back on the bandwagon

fitfor15in15 Leave a comment

It’s been wild weather here for a few days, and Leo is at work attending to some flooding on his building site. What a pain that’s going to be – sourcing pumps and people on a Saturday.

This afternoon, we’re going to the BEA, which is Bern’s agricultural exhibition, kind of like the Royal Shows in Australia and the UK and, I imagine, State Fairs in America.

There’ll be cows, horses, tractors, and wursts on the grill. (That Oxford comma was very important, otherwise it would sound like the animals and tractors would also be on the grill!)

We’re going with Pastora and Leo, Sandra and Tom and Iva, whose husband Marko is away for work, so it will be a hectic afternoon of German. Good for my mental fitness. Maybe some beers will be consumed later on. Not so good for my physical fitness.

I feel like I’ve fallen off the sweaty exercise bandwagon a bit lately but was very pleased when I stood on Liliane’s scales yesterday – two kilos lighter than last month’s ‘weigh-in’ (when I clean their house, I use their scales!). I don’t trust scales much, and definitely don’t feel the need to own any, but I do feel slimmer (and stronger!). Maybe the 5:2 Diet is working for me?

Speaking of the 5:2 Diet, I only did the 500 calorie day once (Monday) last week. I’ll do two again next week. And speaking of weigh-ins, the Mayweather v Pacquiao fight is tomorrow morning Swiss time (at about 6am they say). It starts very late tonight in America. I wonder if it will be a fizzer? I look forward to reading all about it and watching the highlights.

In order to boost my cardio fitness a bit, I did Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Workout Level 2 again (the last time was March 2). I should have done Level 3 but I was in a bit of a hurry and didn’t want to search for something.

She really makes you sweat, ol’ Jillian, which is why I keep coming back to her workouts, along with the duo from Fitness Blender. This time, I actually did most of the walking to plank and push-up exercises on my toes, not on my knees. Hallelujah! My arms are hurting quite a bit too, because of that and various lifts with weights that were tough. Yahoo! Overall, I find it a great 25-minute workout.

  • Physically Fit: Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Workout Level 2
  • Mentally Fit: Going to the BEA with friends
  • Nutritionally Fit: Back to two days per week on the 5:2 Diet next week
  • Minimalism: Loving my stretchy black and white Marimekko dress I bought in Melbourne with Gabby. Today I’m tucking it up to wear as a top with jeans – love clothes that serve more than one purpose!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

May 1: Working on International Workers’ Day

fitfor15in15 Leave a comment

Today is, or was, International Workers’ Day or Labour Day and oh, the ironing, I mean irony.

Instead of sitting back with my feet up enjoying this day of rest, I was hard at work at Liliane and Rene’s, cleaning like a crazy woman. While half of Switzerland kicked back watching the torrential rain, I was gagging on vinegar fumes scrubbing the shower walls. (Must remember to dilute that stuff a bit more next time.)

The last time I put on my Sadie the Cleaning Lady hat, I vacuumed the ceilings to get rid of some small cobwebs, but thankfully for my back, I didn’t have to do that and feel a whole lot better for it. I still managed to clock up four hours of cleaning, so I’ll do the bedtime yoga again, just to give my back a bit of a stretch before sleeping.

Two things I’d like to talk about today. Leo found this hilarious phone app called MyIdol. Well, not only Leo has found it, it’s going gangbusters around the world. It’s in Chinese, but it makes for some great laughs. Click the link above to see some funny photos and videos (love Putin pole dancing) and if you fancy downloading the app and making some pictures yourself, then here’s an article with the instructions in English. Believe me, you need them, otherwise you end up looking like this …

fitfor15in15

A bad everything day!

Second, but definitely way more important than that narcissistic silliness, is the Netflix series Bloodline.

We finished the first season yesterday and it was great; I really recommend it if you like a bit of drama and suspense. The premise of the show is: “A picture-perfect family is hiding many secrets. When the rebel oldest brother returns to the fold, wanting to be part of the family business, things change in many different ways.” I’m not going to give anything more away, other than the initial reason I chose to watch this is because Kyle Chandler is the main actor.

I loved Mr Chandler so much in Friday Night Lights, choosing this was a no-brainer. I realised some of the traits of his FNL character, such as certain mouth movements and stares, were also part of his character in Bloodline, so maybe they’re not acting traits, they’re Kyle Chandler traits?!

Wow, that was a long diatribe, because what I really wanted to say was we watched this show because I have a teenie weenie crush on KC, but the real star is Ben Mendelsohn, the returning brother. Wow, he is good. Really good. Scene-stealingly good. And I’m very proud to say he’s an Aussie. Watching the show has definitely been a good contribution to my mental fitness – even though all the characters are mental!

If you don’t have Netflix, I’m sure it’s quite hard to see this series, but hopefully it becomes widely available sooner rather than later. I’m looking forward to the next season which will be released next year.

I hope you’re all well, wherever you’re reading this. Welcome to May. Thank you for being on this fitfor15in15 adventure, too.

Wishing you a wonderful day.