Weighing in................

AutoWate.   A cute vintage kitchen scale, nicely chipped grey paint, and registers 24 ounces tops!  
My scale is also in the kitchen, hidden behind a hutch. I hate dragging it out, tapping my foot to turn it on, then taking the step up!  The discomforting brand name is THINNER, ugh!  Of course it's for weighing much more than 24 ounces............it's a people weighing, digital monster.  Who knows its top weight, just hope I never see it!   Only pleasant thing about it............it's silvery grey and black, my colors!

I really didn't eat a lot this holiday season, but I did my share of nibbling......cheese, crackers, cookies, chocolates and such, after all it's only polite, isn't it?  I did not sit down to groaning tables with plates piled high with Christmas specials.  I baked a ham for others...........I do not eat any meat........with the usual accompaniments.  This week I used up the ham leftovers and made a large pot of split pea soup, of course I won't be eating that either!

I didn't even bake this time around, too much traveling and fun visitors arriving kept me busy.  No English Christmas Cake (a delicious, rich, heavy fruitcake with a traditional layer of sweet almond paste and royal icing) perfumed my kitchen.  I purchased a fruitcake from a big box store and, after one bite, wrapped it up and donated the over-sweet, cloying mess of candied fruits, with barely a smidgen of actual cake, to others!  Mince pies, those delightful little individual English ones, juicy with rum, topped with traditional brandy butter, an assault to one's senses on the first bite! No time to make pastry so opted for imported Scottish ones baked by Walkers - OK, but not as good as mine, though I say so myself!  I even reneged on my promise to make a genuine English sherry trifle, swathed in real whipped cream and scattered with toasted almonds. Thoughts of eating the leftovers, then having to unbutton my jeans, were just too disconcerting.  I only had two sips of calorie laden egg nog........but made up for it with plenty of red wine!

So what's a gal to do when the scale shows a bit of a gain anyway?  I do not make resolutions but tops on my list is to stock up on veggies, salads and such, cut out the dreaded sugar, and return to healthy eating.  Another dreaded word floats before my eyes - exercise.  In my case this will be walking more - it's free, I'm able, and Nature provides scenery beautiful enough to make it a pleasure.

What are you doing to get fit for this New Year?

Hope to see you on the hiking trails........and I really think I must go home to England next Christmas so I can eat all those traditional foods once more.

Images taken last Nov. at The Depot and Sleepy Poet - Antiques venues in North Carolina.