Day 15 - Feb 15

Breakfast in Canberra Novotel was scrambled eggs, mushrooms and other lovely things; snack = nothing; lunch = fish salad [at BluFish in DeGraves street; snack = nothing;

Day 16 - Feb 16

Weighed in at 61.5 Breakfast = tuna and tomato; snack = tofu; lunch = caesar salad; snack = tofu; dinner = sausages in tomato sauce; snack = tofu. Went to donate plasma in the morning but the machine malfunctioned and I ended up donating more than 200 mils of whole blood which means I won't be able to donate anything for at least a month. Went on to Monash and had yoga with Janie which was great, though very hot work.

Day 17 - Feb 17

Weighed in at 60.5 which is good. I hope I can keep this up while Mike and Denise are here. Breakfast = tuna and tomato; snack = tofu; lunch = tofu and salad; snack = tofu; nibbly things at council reception; snack tofu. Had one drink at the council reception, did 10,000 paces plus and drank plenty of water. All in all pretty good. Spent the day at home and worked on the Arthur lecture; did the washing so that Laura's sheets are clean for Mike and Denise. Did a whack of tidying up in Laura's room and it looks quite good now. Council was at 4 p.m. at Council and even though it was hotter than I normally like I walked there

Day 18 - Feb 18

Weighed in at 61.5 kg. Breakfast = tuna and tomato; snack = tofu; lunch = beef sashimi; snack = tofu; dinner = barbecue spiral sausage and chicken shaslick with salad; snack = nothing. Went to the Glen for shopping in the morning then headed home and got ready for Mike and Denise's arrival. They turned up about 5.30 and we had a drink and then I headed upstairs for a skype conversation with AEMA but it didn't work and after half and hour a mucking about we deferred it to next week same time. The barbecue was good and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Dranks way too much wine and Mike's special mixture which was simply not wise. Wewnt to bed with a glass of water which ended up all over me by the morning.

Day 19 - Feb 19

Weighed in at 60.5 though I am drinking and eating too much. Breakfast = tuna and tomato; snack = nothing; lunch = ham and cheese wrap; snack = nothing; dinner = roast with veg and lots of other not so good things. Didn't drink too much today but woke up with the possibility of a hangover from over indulgence last night. Went to the zoo to see the baby elephant in the morning where we had lunch and then DFO at South Wharf. Home in time to put the roast in and all's well. Laura came but Harry was not well and unable to come.

Day 20 - Feb 20

weighed in at 61.5 which is not too bad considering how badly I'm eating. Breakfast = sausage; snack = nothing; lunch = caesar salad; snack = nothing; dinner = restaurant meal at Sun Luk; several glasses of wine and a beer at lunch time as well as a latte. Today we went shopping at Bunnings in the morning and bought three fans with lights for Laura's room, my room and the study; garden arch; water feature; magnificent pot plant for the bathroom and other sundry bits and pieces. After Bunnings we went to the Nott for counter lunch. We came home and I'd managed to lock us out after having left all the house keys inside. Anyway Laura dropped over and rescued us, which was just as well as it was hot, hot, hot. Harry is in hospital with suspected appendicitis, or irritable bowel syndrome or Krohn's disease. Mike helped [did the lion's share really] with installing the arch and the water feature as well as two more little plaques for the fence. We had dinner at Sun Luk and then headed into town ostensibly to go to the observation deck of the Rialto towers, but when we got there the notice said that it had been permanently closed since end December 2009. We walked up to the casino and had coffee then came on home and to bed.

Day 21 - Feb 21

Mike and Denise left this morning and I must get back on track. The weather is still beastly hot but I did some gardening and planted out the garlic and the mint as well as the petunias Denise gave me yesterday. Unfortunately I weighed in at 62.5 which is the heaviest I've been for a while. It's probably because I've been having too many glasses of wine and Mike's special mixture - as well as piggout in general. Breakfast = tuna, dip and tomato; snack = cheese; lunch = cheese, salad and dip; snack = cheese; dinner = sausages with mediterranean veg with dip; snack = cheese. pedometer = 11,216; at least 3 litres of water. Starting in earnest tomorrow.