Any diagnosed germophobes or hoarders on this forum?

Hi @Escaped_Goat , did you manage to get in a walk before it rained?

I just finished my novel, which was excellent. I'm going to try and do some housework now, and then a shower. Self care is more of an effort when you're down.

What sort of nuts and seeds do you have in for snacking on?

@NatureLover No walk.. the weather beat me. Oh well!

How did your day unfold? Self care is a real bitch when you're down! However... I'd count reading as a form of self care. What sort of novels do you enjoy?

I had walnuts and sunflower seeds. Tonight I'm having teriyaki tofu, broccoli & carrot with rice.

Oh, yum! Can you make enough for two and send it through the screen please? @Escaped_Goat I really need a decent hot meal with veggies.

Sorry the rain beat you. I tried to go for a walk...only managed 10 minutes. I just wanted to be back curled up on my bed in the warm.

Yes, reading does me a lot of good. I like serious novels, about childhood trauma etc., and also stories about the wars, and light-hearted stuff too, some chick lit but generally not the ones about fashion and superficial stuff...more the ones with good characters in them, if that makes sense. Also Lee Child's books, and some thriller /political drama and detective novels and mysteries too, but nothing too gory with body parts in it! Definitely no horror.

What do you like reading?

@NatureLover if I could I would. You need a cooking challenge to get you motivated.

I'm not going to let the rain upset me... it's winter. Rain is expected.

I actually enjoy horror... biographies... a nice murder or two..

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@Escaped_Goat wrote:

I actually enjoy horror... biographies... a nice murder or two..

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Haha...I don't mind a murder if there's no gory details. I like the occasional biography too. Do you like Lee Child? Every year around August I order Lee Child's latest thriller from the library - it comes out towards the end of the year and I'm usually number 196 or something like that on the list, and don't get to read it till February!

Oh gosh, I don't want a challenge with cooking, I want something nice and easy! Well, slightly more difficult than toast would be OK... 😄

I need to go shopping tomorrow morning again...I started psyching up earlier this afternoon. Hopefully I'll be feeling a bit better tomorrow.

Hope you can keep warm tonight, @Escaped_Goat ...

Good morning @Escaped_Goat ...double posting to say I hope you are snuggling in bed with the heater going and the 5-strength coffee percolating...

I meant to have gone out to the shops first thing at 8am this morning (more things on the shelves first thing) but couldn't make myself do it. I've now had brekky and am trying again to go out shortly. Am finding it hard to do anything at the moment. The house is a mess and there's a million things I ought to be doing. I didn't even ring the library yesterday - such an easy thing to do, but I didn't. I really hope I can scratch up some energy and motivation from somewhere soon. I think it's the SAD depression, hitting early this year...there's no other reason for feeling down. Although the messy state of the house is probably getting me down too...

Thanks for listening.

I hope you get some sun today and can go for a walk.

@NatureLover Good morning!

A challenge doesn't need to be hard.. just something that gets you thinking outside the box.. or gets you out of a rut.. or changes a habit. So a cooking challenge for you could be as simple as more meals with vegetables in a week. 😀

It was cloudy overnight so no frost therefore not as freezing cold this morning. Just regular cold and grey outside. I'm not up long.. lazy bones here. I need to shower this morning... waiting for the room to get warmer first. 😂 Nothing worse than coming out of a lovely warm shower into a freezing cold room.

I'm sorry to hear SAD has gotten hold of you. Take deep breaths and don't look at the big picture. Take things one at a time... one moment at a time. Don't get bogged down in that million things to do thought process and narrow your focus in your home... tunnel vision can be a good thing. Pick one thing you need to do... shopping? Okay... once you manage that sit and have a big glass of water. Well done you! Then when you feel hydrated pick one thing you need to do... ring the library? Can you check online to see if the overdue books are being waited on by someone elsewhere? Our library allows us to do that here... if not waited on we can renew them. If that service is not available... I guess you'll need to decide how urgent it is that you phone them today or can it wait and be put on the "by the end of the week" list.
You will need to put your shopping away today or at least the perishables... that's achievable.. the perishables... anything else is a bonus.
One thing at a time.. moment by moment.. keep hydrated.. you can do this. Look at how many winters you've gotten through so far... you can kick winters arse!

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@Escaped_Goat wrote:

One thing at a time.. moment by moment.. keep hydrated.. you can do this. Look at how many winters you've gotten through so far... you can kick winters arse!

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Aww, thank you for your encouragement! @Escaped_Goat

I went shopping and also posted a letter - woo hoo! I feel ridiculously proud of myself, lol. And although I was 1 1/2 hours later than I meant to be, there was everything I needed on the shelves, including Stir-Thru pasta sauce, which hasn't been there for ages.

More meals with vegetables sounds like a good aim. I bought some more cocktail spring rolls to have with sweet chilli sauce, as that seems to be what I'm feeling like at the moment. Better than toast. Plus I got zucchini and carrots. Thank for reminding me to keep hydrated, too - something that often slips. I think I will ring the library next, after this. My books have already been renewed twice and can't be renewed any more times...they haven't been reserved by anyone else.

I agree about waiting for the room to warm up first, before your shower...

Thanks again for listening and sending encouragement. I hope your day goes well today and you get everything you want to done.

@NatureLover look at you kicking winters arse before I'd even posted! Way to go you!

I snuck out for a walk before my shower because the clouds didn't look particularly ominous... not a hill walk. I was almost home when a man smiled at me and I smiled back and he did that strange bow and wave with his arm to indicate I should proceed on the narrow path before him. I was glad to get home and fall apart because I am trying hard not to be attractive to men at the moment... I don't want attention. Personal reasons... just going through some stuff. So now I'm scoffing a bowl of lentil bolognese and garlic bread and I'm stuffed but still eating 😂 So much for the 80% rule!

Reserved! That's the word I couldn't think of this morning... fibro fog! At least I made sense. 😂

Hi @Escaped_Goat ...thank you!

Lentil bolognese and garlic bread sounds so yummy.

I'n glad you got a walk in - I did too, with about 5 glorious minutes of sunshine. It's taken me all day to have my shower, but I just had it and now I have nice clean hair too.

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@Escaped_Goat wrote:

I was glad to get home and fall apart because I am trying hard not to be attractive to men at the moment... I don't want attention. Personal reasons... just going through some stuff.

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I'm really sorry to hear this. And I'm sorry that the man on the path caused a bad reaction. Dang man!

I feel pretty overwhelmed this evening. I am really struggling to get much done each day. I'm truly worried that my coping level has really dropped significantly during lockdown.

I'm going to take the evening off to read my novel. It's already given me 3 laughs today, so it's a good 'un. I will check in on the forums though in case you reply.

Take care, and I hope you sleep well tonight...