How I sneak fitness into my life

 

Hello friends,

I thought I’d show you my little gym setup at home. I wanted to find a place where I could leave my mat rolled out, and with my fitness items that I’ve collected over the years to hand.

Making the barriers as tiny as possible to me doing a workout is why I like to do this.

So down the side of the dining table it is! It’s roomy enough that I can do my workout, whatever I’m doing that day, but it isn’t in the way when we’re walking through the living/dining room.

Sometimes Paul can’t find me and I’m tucked down behind the chairs doing my ‘dead bug with swiss ball’ 😂

And of course it takes two minutes to tidy up for vacuuming or if we have people around.

My dream is to have a full room as my own little fitness suite. We do have a room off the garage with our treadmill in it and my sewing machine desk in it, but it’s not really a place I’d like to go to each day for yoga, stretching, strength work etc.

I imagine a sunny bedroom set up for that, maybe with a television for classes.

I did a Zoom class fitness lesson last Thursday night, it’s a ten-week online class for people recovering from cancer treatment, and it was more energetic than I was expecting!

I’d already been for my morning walk, about 3km/35 minutes, then met my friend Miri for a walk near her place, which ended up being about 45 minutes up and down some steep hills, so with the more-than-expected strength/step class I slept like a log that night 🤣

I’m getting into the swing of things with strength training (done in my own way, at home), and I’m learning to love it.

I always say to myself how much I love my walks down the road listening to an audiobook, so my next project is to love strength training too.

‘My way’ to do this is with my gentle set up here, having it not taking too much time, and getting little bits in here and there rather than one long session.

I watched a coaching type video in my office this morning and did arm exercises with my small hand weights while I did so. Plus squats and side leg lifts. All my standing things.

It was a twofer since I was doing my exercises as well as listening to something interesting. I love that!

How you do you ‘love exercise’? Give me all your tips 😊

x Fiona

The best way to enjoy fish (my new favourite recipe)

 

Hey friends,

One of our lovely neighbours dropped by one night recently and offered us two beautifully fresh just-caught crayfish.

It was so thoughtful of him to think of us.

(They’re only called crayfish in New Zealand, but I think they’re like lobster or rock lobster elsewhere? They live in the ocean anyway.)

When I was a child my family had a boat and dad would catch crayfish. I remember him dropping them into a big pot of boiling water and we’d eat it freshly poached.

He always told us the legs were the best bit and us kids would sit there with our pile of legs drawing out the fine straws of meat while the adults tucked into the tails 😂

Was that actually true that the legs were the premium part??? I have my doubts now 🤣

Paul and I, having never cooked a crayfish in our life, did some research online.

We found out the humane way to cook them, and also came across a simple recipe.

We served the cooked meat over boiled new potatoes, with melted butter and lemon juice poured over top, and plentiful fresh chives.

Here is the recipe we used although it’s so simple you don’t really need a recipe. I didn’t do the butter sauce with water, just melted it and it was just as delicious.

We liked this recipe so much we recreated it with fresh white fish on another night (see below). With slightly less butter though, and I added steamed veggies 😍

I always get fresh fish when I do the groceries each week; it’s a good routine for us to get those different nutrients.

Paul wasn’t a fan of the weekly fish at first, he felt like it didn’t really fill him up, but if I don’t try to make it too light and healthy he’s a happy boy. Hence the butter and potatoes 😊

I actually really think potatoes get an unnecessarily bad rap. In my healthy slim lifestyle I eat them pretty much every night. I might have trimmed down the quantity, but I still love spuds. They have so much fibre and nutrition.

Are you a seafood fan? What is your favourite and how do you cook it?

 

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And here is how I recreated the crayfish recipe with snapper (it was a hit too!)

It really was so simple to make:

💫 Air-fried or roasted potato chunks (or you can boil little new potatoes like the original crayfish recipe)

💫 Steamed broccoli (I like mine lightly cooked, still crunchy, bright green, and tossed in a dash of olive oil)

💫 Pan-fried snapper (I use olive oil spray in the pan, not butter, since I’m using butter for the sauce)

💫 Melt some butter in a pot on a low heat and let it brown while you’re cooking the fish. Those speckles on the white fish are toasted milk solids from the butter. YUM! Once it’s nicely browned, pour over the fish and potatoes at serving time, and add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice too.

I am such a fan of browning butter in recipes, it provides a beautiful caramelised flavour. I remember often making a Donna Hay recipe in the early 2000s for ‘fish with brown butter’. It was always a favourite.

[I recently made a blondie recipe from Smitten Kitchen and it calls for the butter to be browned too. I made it for Micky dog’s funeral and everyone said how good it tasted. It was the browned butter that made all the difference!]

💫 Then a scattering of something green. Here we have spring onions, but I’d use parsley or chives at other times. A fresh green sprinkle is always a welcome addition both for sight and taste.

💫 Also, I really think part of the appeal lies in using a bowl to serve as well, rather than a dinner plate. In restaurants they often use big bowls, and the food is stacked up rather than spread around the plate. It really did look more restauranty to me, arranged like this.

And this, my friends, is how to get your husband to be excited about fish for dinner! 🤣

 

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Spotted: A real cutie when visiting the library this week.

Who wouldn’t want to sit on the seat in preference to cold looking cobblestones?

I do love a girl who has standards.

xoxo Gossip Girl 😍 Oops I mean Fiona :)

Have a great week!

A winery outing, and tussock for Micky

 

 Hello friends,

The past few weeks we’ve been getting used to being a household of two dogs not three.

It’s sad that I no longer expect Micky to pop his head around the doorway when he hears a noise coming from the kitchen that could possibly mean food.

And there are still times when tears spring to your eyes at a sudden memory.

We bought this baby tussock plant because Micky loved a good sniff around the tussock when we went for a walk along the waterfront at Ahuriri Beach.

We thought it would be a nice way to mark his grave.

Paul planted it a few days ago so Micky will be loving having his own tussock all to himself.

I think you’ve got to do the fun, silly things like this.

It just feels like the right thing to do 😊

 

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And we had a fun outing recently. A local winery that we’re a part of their wine club offered a tasting of their new season releases.

 

 

 

It was set in the winemaking area itself, and it was cool to see all the barrels. One of the winemakers told us they cleaned the rooms up a lot for the event, because usually there would be forklifts coming and going. But on this day it was pristine.

Honestly, it looked like the setting for a Hallmark movie it was so perfect (you know, the one where the main character is running the family vineyard and a hotshot from the city comes into town trying to buy her out and they end up falling in love).

 

 

 

The snacky food table looks so beautiful and lush looking, don't you think?

 

 

  

There was even a dj playing. All the details were on point 😊

It was a nice little outing on a Saturday afternoon 🍷

Happy weekend to you.

Spring is here in Hawke’s Bay.

It’s lovely to feel a bit of heat.

xx Fiona

 

PS. My most recent book Life Is Good is now available everywhere on audiobook. Go and take a listen if you’re interested! And please ask your library to order it in (paperback or audiobook) if you’d like to read or listen to it for free. (It helps me out too because then other people can find it at the library who otherwise might not know who this Fiona Ferris lady is.)

 

 

The ups and downs of life, and how to feel better

 

Hello friends,

Last week was a funny week, up and down, and it was all to do with my lymphedema. I don’t feel like it’s getting better, and things just felt on top of me and overwhelming. Hence, I haven’t been in touch. I’ve just been doing home stuff and not much that’s creative.

I’ve been feeling really down about it but I know low moods pass. They’re like clouds in the sky. At that moment it felt really cloudy and just too heavy for me.

I did a few admin tasks with my healthcare providers, and decided that had to be enough.

I don’t know why I’m telling you all this, except to say that life isn’t always sunny, even though we’ve had beautiful sunny winter days here lately. I enjoyed my outdoor walks each day, so I guess all I can do is look for the good things.

❤️ A sunny walk after a frosty start.

❤️ A good swimming session .

❤️ Reading (and please don’t laugh!) Sweet Valley High books. I bought a vintage retro lot on Trade Me (New Zealand’s version of eBay), and I’m revisiting my early teens. It’s very comforting right now. They were my favourite books back in the early to mid-1980s. I couldn’t love the pastel covers more. And my sister found me the first 12 books of Sweet Valley Twins at a thrift store. Such fun!

 

Reading makes me happy :)

So things are what they are. Life isn’t always wonderful. But I know the clouds will move on. Apart from the lymphedema, I’m otherwise healthy, and I have so many other good things to be grateful for too.

I had a lovely weekend. The coffee ladies came to my place on Saturday. I had the fire going, and made a ‘Devils Food’ chocolate cake before they arrived. It was a Betty Crocker mix, but I used butter and milk instead of oil and water, along with the eggs.

Being around other people was just the tonic to help me forget about things for a few hours and just be a normal person again, instead of getting too much in my head, overthinking everything, and letting it all press down on me.

Yay for that :)

~~

 

{Winter vines in our street}

A big help to me feeling better is to focus on my mindset.

There are days when I feel really good and have a happy day. And then there are days when it all gets too much and I feel weighed down. Nothing has changed between those two days except my thoughts.

I don’t know if my lymphedema will be permanent. No one knows, not even my surgeon or breast cancer physiotherapist. It’s an unknown thing.

So why am I getting myself down by telling myself that it will be?

In the beginning, I told myself it was only temporary and that things would work out. It felt much better to say that to myself than, ‘I’m going to be stuck like this forever. It’s going to get worse.’

Yes, there is a chance it could be permanent, but there’s also a chance it could resolve.

One friend wore her compression sleeve for two years, fifteen years ago. She told me her arm is still a little larger than the other, but it’s not something she thinks about day-to-day. She doesn’t wear compression anymore and it’s not an issue.

Things like that give me hope. And why shouldn’t that be me too?

So the clouds have passed in my mind. There are still a few around, but I’m not looking at them. I’m looking at the blue sky.

I’m telling myself positive statements too, which helps me take positive action. It’s all heading towards feeling empowered, rather than feeling helpless.

Wow, that positive mindset stuff really works, Fiona. Who knew!

That’s why I love mindset work so much, and why it’s woven throughout every single one of my books. It really does allow you to create a good life and feel better when you’re going through the hard times.

And we all have hard times.

My dad’s eight-year anniversary of passing is today. We all had lockdown in 2020. In 2023, our area was hit by a cyclone and flooding, and people died. And 2026 is my cancer recovery year.

There’s been a lot of big things to take action on, and I can stay in a helpful mindset.

So I’m here today to say I’m feeling better.

And if you need this post, I hope it’s helpful for you.

All my love,

xx Fiona

 

 

 

 [My book links lead to Amazon US and they are affiliate, which means I may earn a small commission, but the price doesn’t change for you. I appreciate it if you choose to use my links if you are purchasing anything!]

Living well without spending a lot - my favourite way to live :)

 

Greetings from a sunny, crispy cool day at Ahuriri Beach for another lovely dog walk 😊

Daphne and Chloe have their coats on. Micky still refuses to wear one 🤣 I tried it again at home just before we left and he took two steps in it and promptly sat down until I took it off him 😂

The sun was so pretty sparkling on the water like diamonds. I thought it was just in that particular spot but as I walked along the path the diamonds followed me... that’s when I saw that they’d always be there, it was the sun, not that piece of water 🤣 I do worry about myself sometimes! 

 

 

 

But still, being followed by sparkly diamonds is quite nice.

Paul spends half his life waiting for Micky to sniff the grass, trees, rubbish bins. There is so much a little dog needs to explore, and tussock, that’s his favourite.

 

 

 

And of course, we let Micky take all the time he needs to thoroughly check everything out since he’s an older boy and we want him to enjoy his golden years.

I love seeing the shag birds on the branch sticking out of the rock at sea. They often hold their wings open to dry them and it’s so cute to see. Of course, no-one was drying their wings today when I wanted a photo 😂

 

 

 

In the photo below you can just make out snow on the hills in the distance. There were children swimming in the sea, can you believe that when even the air temperature was chilly let alone the water? Kiwi kids are hardy creatures!

 

 

 

I love activities that are enjoyable and don’t cost anything, and that’s what these doggie waterfront walks are for us.

 

 

 

It just costs a bit of petrol to get there (I know, petrol prices, hardly a ‘free’ outing 😂) and if we can resist the cafes we’re good. The food and drinks always look so appealing, and the thought of whiling away an hour or two looking out at the view does too.

Can you imagine us turning up with three dogs though? We’ve already been turned away from one place, and that was when we only had two dogs. They wouldn’t even allow us on the outdoor terrace!

Oh well, home for a yummy healthy lunch and homemade latte 😊

 

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Yay, the audiobook is finished!

I really do enjoy recording my audiobooks, and I’m so happy you all told me that you didn’t like the professional lady who did my first audiobook and you only wanted ME 🤣

Maybe I’ve discovered my calling... being an audiobook narrator. Well for my own books at least 😊

‘Life Is Good’ is now available as an eAudiobook in my eStore here.

And within the next few weeks it will filter through to Audible, they always take a bit longer. I see it’s already available on Spotify. If you have Spotify Premium you should be able to listen to it for free.

And, you can ask your library to order it in!

I get so excited seeing one of my paperbacks or audiobooks on a library platform.

I have a few more audiobooks that haven’t been done yet so I will complete ‘The Chic Author’ and also my blog books too.

I hadn’t done ‘The Chic Author’ yet because I thought I might update it, but I’ve since decided to leave it as an early snapshot.

For an update, I have outlined a new author-sequel book.

I have so many good ideas for new books!

That must really mean I’m feeling better.

Hoorah for that!

Happy listening 😊 

 

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Winter skies on my walk earlier this week 😊

I have had a few enquiries about paperback copies of ‘Life Is Good’ for readers in New Zealand, and I’m happy to send out signed copies.

In New Zealand dollars they are $25 each, with postage being $8 (or $14 for rural delivery).

I’ve ordered ten copies from Amazon Australia (the closest printing facility to me), and can get more if necessary.

Please message or email me if you’re interested.

But apart from that I am keeping cosy, and mapping outlines for new books. I have three hatching, and think I know which one will come next ❤️

And, I went swimming! I’ve been going once a week to a local heated pool and it’s great for my lymphedema as well as general fitness and gentle cancer rehab.

I was advised to avoid school holidays, haha, it would be a ZOO there! So I had two weeks off and it was nice to be back this past week.

Plus my outdoor walk each day plus I’m doing yoga once a week plus 2-3 half-hour strength workouts each week.

It sounds like a lot but it doesn’t feel like it. I just go for a walk each day and do some other activity five days a week.

I’m really excited about taking care of my body who has been through so much. I’m still getting there but feeling stronger all the time. And more healed!

It’s definitely a long road though (this picture is appropriate!), much longer than I thought it would be.

But that’s okay. I have time. It’s the ultimate slow living lesson.

I hope you’re having a great weekend 😊

xx Fiona

PS. To find all my links in one place you can always go to fionaferris.com (And my Amazon link is affiliate, thank you if you choose to use it!) 

 

Happy Matariki, and winter glam

 

Hello friends,

Here I am at a glam lunch out recently 😍

My new pleather pants are so cosy for winter.

These are the ones I bought on my radiation week trip from a store called Blue Illusion.

It’s an Australian store I believe, but so chic and French-style.

They’re the kind of place that doesn’t just have clothes, they have jewellery, shoes, scarves, soaps, books - all the lovely stuff.

It’s probably just as well there isn’t an outlet in Hawke’s Bay or I’d be there too often 🤣

It’s chilly and cosy here at the moment, and we saw family for Matariki (Maori New Year) lunch on Friday.

According to Wiki:

Matariki is the Māori name for the Pleiades star cluster, whose mid-winter reappearance in the early morning sky marks the Māori New Year. It is a nationwide time of remembrance, celebration, and planning for the future, marked by a public holiday.

How appropriate that I’ve just read the second Seven Sisters book (The Storm Sister), as the sisters are named for each of the Pleiades stars. As mentioned in a previous newletter, it was a glorious book, so rich and intricate. I am in awe of a brain that can come up with such an exquisite story.

Happy Matariki to you! 😊 

 

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Winter vines in our street on my walk 🍇

I’ve been told these are Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand’s most popular wine.

I’d probably choose most wines over this varietal but the vista is pretty 😁

And in writing news I am making notes for a new book.

I hope you are enjoying just-released Life Is Good and having a giggle at some of the stories! 

 

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I never dreamed I’d be able to say I was a ‘number 1 bestseller in breast cancer’, but here I am.

The last category I thought I’d ever find myself in!

Life has its twists and turns 😅

Also, the paperback is now available, for my paper-loving ladies 😘

Here’s the link for Life Is Good on Amazon US, and it should be available at your local Amazon too.

I am doing some background work to have the paperback be available through bookstores and libraries too, although I think you already can ask your library to order it in.

I’d love to be in more libraries!

Wishing you a lovely day.

It’s so cold here, but gorgeous. Blue skies and frosty.

Keep cool or keep warm wherever you may be 💛💛

xx Fiona

 

PS. My Amazon links are affiliate, which means I may earn a small gratuity if you click through them, at no extra cost to you. Thank you if you choose to use my links :)

New book out now - Yes, Life Is Good :)

 

Hello friends,

I am thrilled to announce the premiere of my latest book ‘Life Is Good’ 🌺

If you’ve been in my world lately, you’ll know that I’ve been through some stuff. Breast cancer specifically. And I ended up writing a book about it!

Please listen:

I promise you will really, really enjoy this book, even though it’s about cancer.

It’s not dry or a medical textbook (which is just as well since I’m not a doctor). What it is, is an honest, uplifting, and funny account of what it’s really like to go through breast cancer treatment.

There were many crazy moments and I’m sharing them all with you (even the ones that I wondered whether to or not… you’ll see 🤣)

Kindle is available right now, and the paperback in a few days (just keep an eye out for it at the same link).

For an Amazon alternative, you can order the eBook from my eStore too.

All my links are at fionaferris.com.

I’m now getting cracking on the audiobook. Just gotta limber up those vocal chords, it’s been a while since I have recorded one.

I hope you really enjoy this book, I’m actually quite proud of it 😊

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And I’ve been keeping things cosy here while many of you are sweltering. This morning was a sub-zero frost and it’s still only 4 degrees (39F) nearing 9am.

Micky dog is still in bed under his blanket. He’s definitely slowed down in the past few months now that he is 14, but I’ve never known him to sleep in so long. I did check he was still breathing! 

 

 

To make a little fun for myself I’ve been indulging in Christmas in July, along with a dash of self-care. I’ve been leaning on my self-care practices even more at the moment. In no particular order, here are my current favourites 😊

❤️ Reading books. I just finished ‘Dandelion is Dead’, by Rosie Storey: 4.5/5 for me. Loved the story, and the British sense of humour. There were a few too many back and forths before the ending so not a 5/5 but still a solid ‘would recommend’.

❤️ Sipping my morning latte. (always in a Starbucks cup!) I make a stronger brewed pot of filter coffee and then use it like cold brew – half a cup of coffee and half a cup of whole milk, heated in the microwave. It’s my version of the ‘no foam, extra hot’ latte I used to order at Starbucks ✨

❤️ Going for a walk. Always with an audiobook or podcast. I’m 3/4 through Emma Grede’s ‘Start With Yourself’ and am thoroughly enjoying it. And before that, ‘The Storm Sister’, the second Seven Sisters book was incredible. They are such involved, high-quality stories (almost 20 hours long on audiobook!) that it boggles my mind how someone can write such amazingness. We do have a treadmill but I prefer walking outside with the fresh air and soothing colours of nature.

❤️ Feeling cozy. It’s nice to rug up in the winter with fluffy socks and a warm jumper, but I like feeling cozy in the summer equally. It’s all about the softness of fabric. Washed cotton tee-shirts, soft linen, fine satin loungewear pants. And feeling clean too: just-washed hair, moisturised skin and a pretty body mist.

❤️ Being my own cheerleader. I’ve felt down during my recuperation more so than usual, so I’ve been calling upon my inner cheerleader regularly. She reminds me that life is still good, I’ve already come so far, most complications are only temporary, and oh, let’s go and do something fun.

Let me know your favourite, and please share your favourite self-care practice right now 😊

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Wishing you a wonderful weekend whatever you’re doing. And Happy 4^th of July to my American friends!

And I’d also like to say, thank you for being there with me. Even though I haven’t been online as much, I’ve felt the care and the love. It means a lot.

xx Fiona

PS. My Amazon links are affiliate, but it makes no different to the cost. I do appreciate it if you choose to use my links, as always ❤️

 

The writer returns - I'm feeling more like myself, yay!

 

Hey friends,

Join me for a cozy winter outing with the doggies! I mean, how cute is Chloe in her puffer jacket? And Daphne in her hot pink fleece?

Chloe loves standing up at the window, watching the world go by.

And Micky is just out of the frame and very much NOT a jacket guy. When I tried to put one on him on a freezing day he sat on the lawn and refused to go for a walk until I removed it. Okay then!

And as for me, I'm feeling better. Hoorah! I actually feel like I'm coming out of the tunnel. It was a longer tunnel than I'd anticipated, and had lots of dog legs and side tunnels lol, but I made it.

Since we were last in touch I've been WRITING too. So exciting. My mojo is back 😍 Of course I may still experience tiredness and lack of inspiration in the future, but for now I'm revelling in being back into the world of words. I truly couldn't be happier.

And that means I'll have a book completed soon. It is finished, but I'm just doing all the editing, which always takes longer than I'd like but I want it to be good so I curb my impatience.

At the beginning of the year, just after my surgery, I started writing down my experience. It was one long document with no chapters, and I just kept adding to it. I realised, reading back to it, that it’s really funny.

I know ‘funny’ isn’t a word you’d normally use to describe a cancer memoir, but it is, along with uplifting, and giving you, the reader, a front row seat to what it’s really like to deal with a cancer diagnosis.

I like to think it takes away some of the scary mystery, because it is petrifying to think about what you’d do if you were ever told you had cancer.

I hope you’re well, and thank you for your continued messages, emails and comments. I have not responded to many at all, virtually zero, because it feels like ‘a lot’, but I truly, truly appreciate them, and read every word.

And I have taken on your advice, even down to what books to read (I just finished Yesteryear, what a crazy ride that was!!)

Big hugs to you, and I’ll see you soon, maybe with a new book!

Fiona x

Yesteryear is here on Amazon at my affiliate link if you want to join the fun.

One day at a time! And Hawaii plans :)

 

Hello friends 😊

Paul and I are out for a walk at a local park on a cool but nice wintry day.

I'm learning to take things easy around here. I think my biggest lesson this year is going to be 'patience'. You can't rush healing.

I still have 1-2 medical appointments each week, even five months after my surgery. This past week I had an Aclasta iv infusion for my bones, and a session on an arm pumping machine for my lymphedema.

I do get down quite often, but then I put things in perspective and feel better again. I am definitely getting physically better though, just very, very slowly. I guess it’s been a lot all at once for my body.

I even had a bout of vertigo a few weeks back, completely out of the blue. It’s crazy times I tell you.

Thankfully I found a YouTube video that helped me fix that (it’s the displaced crystals thing), and I am 95% better. I’ll wait a few weeks more and go to a specialist if I’m still not 100%.

One fun thing we did was book a Waikiki Beach holiday in Hawaii for later in the year.

Paul heard of a special package deal from a local travel agent on the radio and one of the hotels offered was the one we stayed at on our belated honeymoon in 2013. We were married in 2008 but had a business to run and no money for a honeymoon at the time.

So we’ve just booked our honeymoon hotel and now have six months to look forward to it and also, for me to get healthier and stronger. It will be our fourth time in Hawaii, it really is our happy place!

We don’t do anything strenuous, just alternate beach days with shopping days, and eat some nice meals in between.

I’m still reading a million books and not writing any. I just finished the newest Freida McFadden ‘The Divorce’ on audiobook in 2.5 days, it was such a ripper! Would recommend 😊 It’s here on Amazon at my affiliate link.

I’m also reading ‘Woman Down’ by Colleen Hoover. I’ve not read any from her before. I’m about halfway through and don’t like to ditch a book. But I think she is more dark romance which doesn’t really ring my bell. I know she is mega popular though. That book is here on Amazon too. 

Wishing you a lovely weekend!
Fiona x
 

Focusing on the positive

 

Dear friends,

I’ve been so down in the dumps and fed up with my ongoing lymphedema and post-radiation complications, that I posted an update on Instagram three weeks ago and completely forgot to copy it over to Substack and this blog (I post the same on both).

You can read my missing post here on Instagram to catch up, but otherwise here I am today, out for a walk in the sunshine. It’s well into autumn now in New Zealand but it’s warm enough, especially on a sunny day with wind from the right direction (i.e. not the south pole), that I took my long sleeve top off and walked in a tank top on this particular day.

It’s nice to get some vitamin D on at least one of my arms, since my other arm still has a compression sleeve on!

With my medication being changed from Letrozole to Tamoxifen due to my bones not being good enough to deal with Letrozole, I’ve had to start the whole ‘it takes a few months to get used to the changes’ all over again, and I really have felt so hormonal on Tamoxifen.

Overwhelmed and fed up, crying on Paul’s shoulder, being a bit of a biyatch to those closest to me… it’s all been a lot of fun let me tell you.

So instead of all that, let’s look at the other side of the coin, the bright side. What are all the good things I’ve enjoyed lately? Shall we focus on those while I wait for my lymphatic system to (hopefully) repair itself?

🫶 Paul and I went to see The Devil Wears Prada 2 last week, a mere one day after it was released. I enjoyed it but nothing replaces the original. Definitely worth watching and rewatching though. Milan was so gorgeous and the sumptuousness of the whole movie was gorgeous.

🫶 We got gluten-free fish and chips and ate them at the beach. I felt bad that the last time we’d been to the lovely fish and chip shop with the nicest owners was two years ago but you don’t want fish and chips too often, do you?

🫶 I am on book 3 of the Hideaway Bay trilogy that is so cozy, wholesome, gentle and lovely that I don’t want it to end. I’m listening to the audiobooks and they are beautifully narrated. Would recommend! (I bought them with Audible credits previously but I see now all three are in the Audible Plus catalogue so you can listen to them without using any credits).

Book 1 is The Secret Keeper, below, book 2 is The Game Changer, and book 3 which I only have 2.5 hours left on (so sad!) is called The Rule Breaker. These three books are already contenders to add to my favourite re-reads list. I’d love to get the paperbacks too or maybe just listen to the audiobooks again :)

 

I listened to the same author’s Blackbird Beach series a few years back and that’s still on Audible Plus too. I loved that series, but I love this current series more. It’s just so comforting to read. Her storylines draw you in and you want to see what happens next. I love happy books, and these also have a light sprinkle of mystery and suspense too. But they’re mostly calm and meandering :)

🫶 I’ve been enjoying my daily walks and weekly yoga, and getting into strength training too. Just at home, with squats and lunges, and some light arm work. Plus doing little things on my rebounder (one of those mini trampolines) which is good for my lymphatic system.

🫶 It’s cool enough to light our woodburner and we are having lovely fires each night. The doggies enjoy it so much and take turns sunbathing before they have to move away after getting too warm!

So that’s about all I’ve been up to: walking, reading, relaxing, and keeping day-to-day life sorted.

I went to a lovely Mother’s Day afternoon tea with my sister hosted at my mum’s yesterday, with aunties and cousins and close friends. It was a sociable way to spend a few hours.

I hope you’re well too, big hugs :)

x Fiona

 

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