Plan B is working!

This new healthy eating, online programme that Baggy has signed up to, is proving to be a winner so far. Or perhaps Creative Clara should rephrase that, as it's more of a healthy living programme. The twelve-week programme only started officially yesterday, but Clever Bird decided to break Baggy in gently, so, as she had been provided with pre-preparation information, she started the principals a week ago. The main principle is to cut out addictive-type things, (or at least that's Clever Bird's interpretation of it). 

 Can you even see the pier that Furry Mama has walked from?

Baggy's sister calls it 'clean food', which kind of fits. Baggy can pretty much eat anything that hasn't been messed about with. The plan intends to reduce Baggy's strong need for carbs, sugar and caffeine, in particular. Now Baggees, don't get this wrong, Baggy has struggled! Cutting down her caffeine intake was hard! She has always drunk at least six mugs of tea a day, and probably a cappuccino too. To start with she cut it to two - then one. Result: splitting headaches for days. But she stuck with it, and for the last three days has had zero caffeine, and no headaches. Result! To make it even more of a challenge, Baggy's super sweet tooth, always used to shove three (heaped) sugars in her teas and coffees. She swapped to sweeteners ages ago - three of them! They too are banned! She's down to one now. Maybe by next week she'll have ditched them totally. Probably not, but she can but hope.

Toasted muesli and Provencal Beef Casserole

But the biggest change, is that The Domestic Goddess is cooking! From scratch. Every day! Yes, she really is Baggees. (And that line has just prompted her to go and check on the Lamb Rogan Josh, that she had totally forgotten was simmering on the hob). 

Cheesy garlic mushroom

And she is eating three meals a day (unheard of, she normally has one).  To replace the teas, she's drinking two litres of water (without drowning).

Naked fish, carrot chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce.

And Baggy has upped Furry Mama's walking significantly! The pooch is asleep pretty much all the rest of the day! Mind you, Baggy is doing around 7-8,000 steps, so the pooch must be doing 50,000+ he hurtles backwards and forwards so much! 

 Toasted muesli with stewed fruit and yoghurt.

And the result you ask? Well, so far, so amazing! Baggy has lost a few pounds already, which is great, but that's not the big thing. No, the big thing is that Hormonal Hannah is a changed person! The extremely dark place that she found herself in has not only gone, it's been replaced by a bright shiny rainbow; and amazingly her anxiety has also departed! Clever Bird can only suppose that it's a combination of ditching the caffeine (which is known to be bad for depression and stress), and taking charge of her health! She knows that it's far too soon to believe that Hannah will stay this chilled, but hopefully she will! Yet, although Baggy aches a lot from all of the extra walking; she has so much more energy than she used to have!

Indeed, so chilled was she today, that she let Grotty Groom have her way, and go and see her Boys. She was determined to give the Boys, the horsey equivalent of a bed bath! Joey in particular, is so woolly and shedding hair, that he's really itchy, and because Hannah had once again stopped Grotty from getting to see them, she hadn't been grooming him!

The lad loved it. Even when lunch was served, although he wickered for it, he was content to continue his pamper session.

Mane, tail and legs washed (despite appearances!). 

When Grotty tried to hose his face, he backed away from the water. Grotty took a moment to realise that it wasn't because he was scared of it, but because he wanted to play with it! Clara wished she could have videoed it, but Baggy's phone wouldn't have survived! Baggy was soaked from head to toe as it was. Having snorted, flicked his lip, and stuck his tongue out at the warm water, he then drank lots of it. Cute. But Clever Bird realised that it was probably lovely, as his drinking water must be pretty chilly at present.

With that in mind, a few minutes under the heat lamps was the finishing touch, before Grotty put his rug back on, and let Joey have his (slightly) late lunch.

Naturally, grotty couldn't leave her own Boy out!

The biggest thing for him, was to give his crest a good shampooing! Baggy knows herself how itchy her head gets, when she's had a pony tail in for days, and Wessle's mane is usually plaited.

He did exactly the same thing with the water when Grotty showered his face. It must be the equivalent of warm tea (decaffeinated obviously).

Two hours later, Baggy was soaked, but happy...

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!

Plan B.

Firstly, a very Happy New Year to you all Baggees; Baggy hopes that you all had as wonderful a Christmas and New Year holiday as Baggy did.

It was brilliant for Baggy to have number one furry home for over a week, and to have her sister staying for a few days as well. Pepper Pooch quite enjoyed having his cousin, Pickle Dog staying too - although Bracket kat wasn't terribly impressed. All-in-all it was wonderful.

And yet, even during the festive period, Clever Bird could feel the beginnings of Hormonal Hannah's anxiety building. For those of you who suffer from clinical depression, and/or anxiety, it will come as no surprise that the reason that Creative Clara hasn't blogged since Christmas Day, is because since Calum went back to work and Debby and Pickle went home, Hannah has hit a bad patch. 

As Calum is usually away at work for five days a week, having him at home for ten days, was a treat. Baggy misses him when he's away, and she spends so much time alone, that she does get lonely. Additionally, having her sister staying for five of those days, meant that instead of her usual isolation, Baggy had constant company. When Baggy woke on January 2nd, (extremely late, because she's sleeping appallingly),  Debby had already left to get home, and Calum had left for work at 2.30am; so it was a bit of a shock to Hannah's system. 

In some ways, Baggy loved getting her routine back. When you're used to being alone most of the time, and to doing your own thing as and when you want, without having to consider anybody else; having constant company (even company that you literally love), can be a little exhausting. But when they're suddenly gone, the house seems so quiet and empty, and rather than welcoming back her space, Baggy felt lost. Clever Bird had already recognised the signs that Hannah's depression was lurking in the background, when Cal and Debby were still with her, and yet it was still a shock when the black cloud swamped her.

It's just not something that you get used to Baggees. Even when all the signs are there: nightmares, poor sleep, tiredness, tears, snappiness, aches and pains - depression still somehow sneaks up on you. In fact, Creative Clara doesn't really want to write about it, there are so many worse things happening! The world is on the brink of collapse; Baggy has close friends who've lost loved ones recently, or who are suffering from much worse illnesses, and yet in many ways that can make depression feel even worse for the sufferer. There's often no logic to when the black cloud might arrive and even when there is, it's a ghastly feeling - yet it's a real feeling and trying to dismiss it because other people are going through far worse, is really not helpful!

Baggy was told by her doctor to take Hormonal Hannah back in to see her if the depression got bad again, but currently Clever Bird is stopping her from making an appointment. Why? Well, because she can't see the point. Baggy isn't able to go back onto antidepressants as they eat her insides and give her ulcers, so she doesn't see what good it would do.

Yeah Baggees, Clever Bird is probably being stupid, as is her way, but for now, she has a Plan B! Plan B is to use the gang members who are still operative to keep Hannah going. Furry Mama is increasing the length of walks that she takes the pooch on. The Domestic Goddess will be dragged out of hiding to get the house looking good, and to start cooking some healthy meals, because Baggy has signed up to a new Healthy Living plan. Gloria Gardener will be collecting leaves and doing some planting-planning. And as soon as Hannah can be persuaded to let her, Grotty Groom will be getting back to her horses (who she now hasn't seen since before Christmas). And if these actions fail to get Hannah back on track, then (and only then), will she visit her doctor once more...



Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!

Happy Christmas Baggees

Well Baggees, today is Christmas Day, for those of us who celebrate it, so first of all, Baggy and all the gang, would like to wish you a very Happy Christmas from beautifully sunny Suffolk. 

Look at that sky! Not a cloud in sight to produce a snowflake of any size in Suffolk, just horizon-to-horizon blueness, as the happy nutters did their Christmas morning swim!

It was actually surprisingly mild at Southwold this morning for once - just as well really as Creative Clara had Baggy put on her nutty, netty-skirt, which doesn't exactly keep the wind out. The pooch was happy to have a swim, even if Baggy and number one furry weren't.

Number one was sporting the only Christmas present that Baggy let him open before Christmas - his Rudolph jumper. She had to give in to one present being opened, as he's been poking, prodding, shaking, and rattling presents for the last two weeks, with the incessant, 'Can we open them yet?' that was driving Baggy nuts, as it does every year. Last night, (Christmas Eve), it was, 'So, how soon after midnight can we open presents?' Clever Bird thinks that only the first number five is relevant in his age, most of the time, but especially when presents are involved.

So, naturally, as soon as they got home, presents were opened, while they drank tea and ate Calum's homemade sausage rolls. The pooch's two new toys didn't even last long enough for Furry Mama to take a photo of them, but at least he enjoyed himself ripping them to shreds. And Calum's (outdoor) dragon, seems to have taken up residence on the coffee table.

And yes Baggees, that is a glass of Bucks Fizz in Baggy's 60th-birthday glass, and jolly nice it was too!

Now although Calum is more like a five-year-old, than a fifty-five-year-old when it comes to presents; when it comes to cooking, The Domestic Goddess is delighted to say that he's the master! The traditional Christmas dinner was delicious, and now the Baggy household are flopping about eating too many chocolates, and watching television!

Happy Christmas to you all Baggees, wherever you are and whatever you are doing today...

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!

Guess what Baggy did!

Baggy didn't manage to get up when Clever Bird wanted her to this morning, as Hormonal Hannah nearly threw the phone across the bedroom when the alarm that Clever Bird had set, started bleeping. She didn't throw it; but she did switch it off so that Baggy could go back to sleep. An hour later, the phone rang. It was number one furry, 'Morning beautiful, I thought I'd call you because you said that you wanted to be up early.'

Even though this was perfectly true, Baggy fancied some more sleep! But after a quick chat, Baggy was awake enough to drag herself out of bed. Clever Bird wanted her day to start earlier so that Furry Mama could take the pooch to the beach, then Grotty Groom could get to the yard, before the horses' lunchtime, because she wanted to work Wesley.

With a slightly briefer walk than usual - largely because the pooch managed to lose his tennis ball halfway through , (or possibly gave it away to a friendly collie, when Furry Mama was heading the two-hundred yards, to collect the pooch's poo and wasn't watching his every move), Grotty was at the yard by 11.15. Now, Clever Bird is not at all sure what came over the woman, but as she was driving there, Grotty decided that she wouldn't work Wesley after all, instead, she would ride Joey! Now Baggees, this was a huge decision! One that came from nowhere, and everywhere. But Psychic Ploppo wonders whether it had something to do with her two fairy friends, who did some of their magic on her behalf last night! It's also because Clever Bird knows that unless Grotty gets on with her plans, they just won't happen.

However, even Clever Bird was surprised when Grotty started to collect Joey's saddle! Baggy's heart was racing as she quickly groomed Joey, and tacked him up.

'Ignore my shakiness Joe, it's just me being silly - nothing for you to worry about.'

Joey carried on munching his hay - not bothered! 

'Rightho, let's go, before I chicken out.'

As Grotty led Joey down the track to the school, she chatted to the snorting horse, 'There's nothing to worry about, we did this a few days ago didn't we? We're only going into the school.'

Once inside the lovely big indoor school, Grotty managed to position Joey next to the mounting block. And repositioned him. And repositioned him again.

'Sorry Boy, but it's an awfully long way up there! I remember the days when I could have got on from the ground.'

'Rather you didn't mum! It twists my back.'

'No chance of that now though, with my arthritic knees.'

'Well, that's good.'

'Don't move baby, or I could end up on the deck.'

'Have some faith mum. I'm going nowhere.'

'Oh, good lad.'

'Told you. I looks after my mum.'

'Okay, walk on Joey.'

For fifteen minutes, Grotty and Joey walked around the large school, while Baggy hummed silly tunes, and chatted to Joey, in an effort to calm Hormonal Hannah down, and to keep Joe relaxed. He was a total angel, and Grotty found herself grinning, and enjoying herself. It was while she was attempting to work out how to get back off, that Grotty realised that it wasn't 'only a few days', since they were last in the school, it was over a month!

'You really are a good boy Joe.'

'Why do you sound so surprised mum? You know I am.'

'You always are. I need to remember that.'

'You do. So, are you getting off?'

'I don't want to accidentally set my air-jacket off baby, so do you think I could get off onto the mounting block?'

'How should I know mum? You're the one up there.'

'Oops, that's too far past it - can you remember how to step back?'

'Of course, I'm not an idiot.'

'Go back.'

'What, more?'

'Back.'

'To here?'

'Perfect. Now if I can just get my leg over the back of this blooming saddle.'

'Get on with it mum.'

'Oh shit.'

'You stuck mum? I won't move I promise.'

'I wish I knew where the bloody mounting block was. Ooooo, there it is. Hang on Joe, I just need to get my foot out of the stirrup and..... Phew! I'm off.'

'You don't say! Where's my treat?'

'Thanks baby. No, that's not a treat, it's my phone.'

'Oh.'

'I'll get you some minty treats when we get back to the stables, but I just need to take a photo of this momentous occasion.'

'Can we go now? I need my treats.'

'I have no idea how to take a selfie Joe.'

'You're not kidding mum. Can we go? Please.'

'You're not even going to let me take a decent photo of you are you? I need proof!'

'We need to get treats! And, it's lunchtime.'

'Okay, I give up. Let's go.'

'Finally.'

For you Baggees who have no idea of Grotty's history, riding Joey on her own was a big deal for Grotty. It's probably only the tenth time that she's ever ridden him, and she has only ever ridden him before, with other people with her; so for a nervous rider, this decision was huge, and Grotty was really proud of herself, and Joey. It's the first step towards getting Grotty back on her own sharp, slightly-nutty, much littler horse...

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!

Animal therapy

Maybe it's because it gets dark so early at this time of year, but Baggy seems to be permanently tired. The pooch still needs to get out though, so Furry Mama wrapped Baggy up and headed to the beach.

Yesterday it was overcast and raining, so Baggy wore loads of layers to keep warm. Today it was blue skies and sunshine, so she ditched a couple of the layers. Clever Bird has realised belatedly that it would probably be a better plan to check the weather forecast, rather than looking out of the window! Yesterday was mild, and Baggy was boiling hot, giving Hormonal Hannah extra back-to-back hot flushes; today on the other hand was seriously chilly - despite appearances, and Baggy was cold. Clever Bird has reminded Furry Mama that it is December, and that clear skies at this time of year generally means that it is cold!

Not that Pepper cared, he still had a swim to cool himself down. Furry Mama walked the length of the beach, while Creative Clara picked up sea glass, and what seems to be a tiny piece of amber, in between picking up the pooch's ball.

Baggy had her cappuccino, while the pooch gave her the 'evils', to make her get a move on and get back onto the beach. By the time they'd walked back to the pier where Billy Bob Jalopy campervan was parked, the melancholy that seems to be overwhelming Hormonal Hannah had lifted, so Baggy decided to take Grotty Groom to see her Boy.

As Baggy drove to the yard, Pepper curled up and went to sleep, and Baggy started talking to herself. Now she does this a great deal Baggees. Clever Bird thinks that it's because she spends way too much time on her own, but it's also a way of rehearsing conversations. Naturally this concerns the pooch rather a lot, so he instantly woke, and tilted his head while he stared at Furry Mama. 

'Sorry Peps. I'm just talking to myself.'
'Dats wot I thorts mum, but iss not normal.'
'I'm trying to calm myself.'
'Iz my job. See I puts my head on your leg. 'S'okay now.'
'Thanks baby. Go back to sleep.'

It's every time that Baggy drives to see the horses: she starts to get anxious, her heart rate increases, she gets hot and panicky and feels physically sick. It's irrational and annoying and it prevents Grotty Groom from going, but Clever Bird prevented Baggy from taking the turning to go home and carried on to the yard.

She didn't stay there for long. Just long enough to groom Wesley and put some plaits in his mane, and to give him and Joey some treats. But at least she went, because as she has done for the past week, she was tempted not to, even though she adores the lad.

Grotty really does want to get that routine of going daily started, even though Hormonal Hannah still has a massive mental block over it. But she needs to get on with it, because the cold weather is demonstrating that Baggy is not getting any younger! The arthritis in her knees becomes more apparent in the cold, so if Grotty plans on riding again, she needs to do so sooner rather than later. Life is far too short to prevaricate...

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!

It's time for positivity all round.

Creative Clara has been taking a few days off from blogging, because frankly she has been rather in despair since her last blog! She and Clever Bird have been upset by the aftermath of the British General Election and haven't known quite how to respond. The overwhelming win by the conservatives, came as zero surprise to Clever Bird. The moment that they were the only party promising to deliver Brexit, it was obvious that they would succeed. As Clara said in her previous blog last March, ( http://baggybodysback.blogspot.com/2019/03/putting-world-to-rights.html ), the silent majority were always going to back the decision that they made in the referendum, as soon as they got the opportunity to. Clever Bird cannot understand how anyone would think differently. The government asked whether the people thought that Britain should leave the European Union; they said that Britain should. The people who voted to leave, were then ignored, called every name under the sun, made to feel that they were idiots who knew no better, patronised, and told, 'that of course they would change their minds once they knew the 'true' facts.' 

But how is anyone, ever going to know the 'true' facts about anything as huge, important and complex as running a country? Even the people that run it, only know part of the picture - their part that they are directly involved in; the bigger picture is managed by thousands of people: politicians, civil servants, Lords, local government representatives, advisors, consultants, all contributing their expertise. And as with the referendum, this latest general election seemed to be promoted on all sides by negative propaganda. Clever Bird just cannot understand, staunch supporters of whichever party, shared nothing except negative facts about the opposition on their social media. 

Instead of, 'Vote for whoever, because they will deliver x,y and z brilliant policies,' it was always, 'If you vote for whoever, you are wrong, wrong, wrong, and an ignorant whatever.' The election is now over, and yet the hatred and vitriol seems to have got worse, rather than better. Friends and family are threatening to disown each other and end relationships, total strangers are merrily slagging each other off in public, it's awful, and Hormonal Hannah can't handle it. What's more, Clever Bird doesn't understand how anyone expects to sway someone else's opinion on anything, let alone something as emotive as which political party they vote for, by calling them every name under the sun, and telling them that they are wrong.

Freda Fretter just prays that friends can remain friends, families can continue to respect that they may not agree on everything, but that they are still family, and the people who run Britain, can stop slagging each other off for long enough to look after the country. Rant over. And apologies Baggees for discussing politics at all. It's not something that Clara likes to do in this blog, which is supposed to be a lighthearted account of Baggy's days, but it's hard to ignore the current state of the country that Baggy loves, when even a woman in the vets thought that it was okay to start laying into the receptionist about how anyone who voted for the current government is wrong, wrong, wrong, and an ignorant whatever. And people wonder why the majority remain silent.

Clever Bird would like to think that over the Christmas holidays, friends and family can set their political differences aside, and work together to make the world a better place!

Meanwhile, Baggy still isn't feeling 100%. It's been a struggle to persuade her to get out-and-about. But the pooch needs his exercise, so she has been walking him. He however, has skinned his back pads again, so yesterday Furry Mama put his little boots on him.

He did a walk from the comedy selection of walks, until Furry Mama decided to risk letting him off lead in Halesworth park, and threw the ball for him. The pooch instantly forgot that he had boots on...

... and chased his ball.

Once he'd realised that he could run in them, he started to walk normally!

Travelling at this time of year in Billy Bob Jalopy campervan is not quite as comfortable. Forty-year-old campers, don't exactly have modern heating - more accurately, they don't really have any heating, so Baggy has a solution for herself:

And for her pooch:

And having made it home from the beach in the cold camper, the house with its new heating, is also cold! So British Gas returned for the third time last Friday, and Hormonal Hannah had a bit of a meltdown at the engineer who arrived. He was a good guy though, and he spent time explaining how the system works to The Domestic Goddess. Having bled a couple of the radiators, he explained how the individual thermostats on the radiators worked; they measure the air temperature above them. The air temperature that gets hot quickly, when the thermostat is hidden under a curtain and behind the sofa! So as the engineer spoke to his boss about the bedroom radiators that are attached to nothing except 300-year-old wattle-and-daub, The Goddess rearranged the sitting room (again).

Once more a sofa is blocking a door, but for some reason, this time Hannah rather likes it. And the pooch is enjoying pretending that he's a cat, sitting on the back of the moved chair.

Freda Fretter is just hoping that the engineer who will be coming this Friday to move the bedroom radiators so that they are safe, is not one of the incompetent ones who did the work in the first place...

Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!

Cast your vote.

Baggy was up with the sparrows, (well those ones that like a bit of a lie-in that is), and straight round to the Polling Station. Pepper Pooch joined Baggy in the village hall to help her put her cross in a box. Fortunately, Baggy did remember to take her reading glasses in with her, so that she didn't accidentally vote for the wrong lot. Cross marked, Baggy left, wondering why exactly she had bothered when the same party has been in power in Baggy's constituency for the last fifty years (at least); but if everyone thought like that...

The pooch was delighted when he realised that Baggy wasn't driving him and Furry Mama straight home - they were on the beach by 9.30. It was cold. Not that this stopped Pepper from going into the sea. Furry Mama on the other hand was seriously chilly, as she walked straight into the wind, eyes streaming with sand blasting her face. Every time she threw the ball into the wind it flew about five yards, so she decided to throw it behind her instead - it then went about thirty yards. Happy pooch! It was all so much more pleasant, when they turned round and headed back away from the harbour, and the wind was helping the ball, and Baggy along!

Quick cappuccino to warm Baggy up, while Furry Mama tucked Pepper up in his towelling drying coat. He needed it - it's surprising how fast he can go from panting like a train, from his exertions, to shivering because he's been swimming in the freezing North Sea and is then standing in a cold wind. And how cute does he look Baggees?

As they headed back to Billy Bob Jalopy campervan, Furry Mama wondered what it feels like to swim in the North Sea at this time of year, bearing in mind that it's pretty blooming cold in the height of summer! Then she saw this sign:

She can't help thinking that it would be rather a fun thing to do, to swim in the sea on Christmas Day! Maybe next year!

Grotty Groom was disappointed when Baggy told her that there was no time to go and see the Boys, but The Domestic Goddess had got British Gas coming at some point between noon and six to fix yet another leak from the new heating. And as she wants it all checked over, she needed to make the house look vaguely cleaned!

That done, Creative Clara decided to get wrapping!

It's the first time that Baggy has been truly excited about Christmas, probably since she was about five! Yes, she's enjoyed Christmas every year since she's been with her lovely number one furry husband, but only once it's arrived - this year she's been looking forward to it for weeks! 

The pressies are under the tree! Now she just has to stop Calum from opening them before the big day - although Clever Bird thinks that she might let him open one early...



Note to readers: For the avoidance of any doubt, every character in this blog is Baggy! No Baggy was harmed in its writing, although some of them get pretty confused!