Winter whinge; my loser husband; cycling for svelteness; surf ’n’ turf birthday barbie; hallelujah for Phase 3!
Though there’s still a fair amount of sunshine, the weather has drastically cooled here in WA. We set off on our often blustery morning bike-ride to Mullaloo in temperatures of 13°C or 14°C; it might rise to 20°C or so by lunchtime, and in the wee hours it can on occasion drop as low as 8°C.
Fortunately, it’s been easier to get out of bed on these chilly mornings since Roy went on a hunting trip and shot down an oil-heater at Good Guys. Evidently, he could no longer stand the whingeing.
Flattening the Curve, or My Husband the Loser
How will you remember the long weeks of curve-flattening, lockdown, quarantine, or circuit-breaking (as it was quaintly dubbed in Singapore)? I’ll remember it as the time my husband became a loser. Since we arrived in WA on 26 February, about 13 weeks ago, he has slowly but surely been dropping an average of a kilogram a week. Not bad, hey?
Even he will admit that he was ready for a bit of abstinence, after four months of South African gastronomic and alcoholic excess, below…
… that followed four months of calorifically high living in France and the UK last summer:
Much credit to the newly svelte and streamlined Roy, below:
But I should get some kudos, too, as the plan from the start was that he would eat exactly what I fed him. If you’re interested – and if not, feel free to skip back to the slide-shows, or forward to the garlicky rock-lobster photos – he’s been getting lots of vegetables, a bit of fruit, moderate proteins, moderate healthy fats (avocados, ghee, coconut and olive oil), plus occasional whole grains and legumes.
Totally banished were sugar, alcohol, refined white anything, processed foods and dairy – except for milk in his coffee. (The poor man, I know.)
It also helped that the two of us were on the same page. I’d embarked on a protocol that may help reverse a newly diagnosed thyroid condition – early stages, no worries! – which rules out gluten, dairy, soy, alcohol, sugar and caffeine. What’s more, the neighbours were also on track: son Carl was in the throes of an F45 eight-week fitness challenge, while Carrie was pursuing yet another wellness mission of her own.
After years of self-righteously declaring that it’s a far, far better thing to eat one’s food rather than drink it, I’ve done a complete about-face. Caved. Almost overnight, with the help of Carrie’s appliances and advice, I have become a juicer of veggies (mainly celery, carrots, beetroots, cucumber, ginger and the odd apple) and a whizzer-upper of Nutribullet smoothies.
How did he do it?
Sticking to the eating plan has been surprisingly doable. (Apart from my succumbing to the siren call of the odd glass of wine, that is.) Home cooking is key – it’s the only way to know for sure what you’re putting into your mouth. The closure of restaurants has been a strange boon, as has the ban against socialising. Sure, some of the local restos and junk-food joints have been doing deliveries, but we’ve fortunately never been into takeaways – except for the rare Friday night fish and chips feast.
We’re lucky that WA has such superb local fresh produce, together with easily sourced free-range eggs, chicken, lamb and beef, plus seafood caught fresh off our own coastline.
Unlike the sad Americans…
According to The NY Post, Americans have “retreated back to comfort foods and shelf-stable items like Oreos, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and even Spam” as they complied with orders to stay at home. Does this stuff look delicious, or what? What.
Sales of pretzels and potato chips were up 47 percent and 30 percent respectively. Combined with restrictions on movement and exercise, that’s a sure-fire recipe for an even sicker population than before the pandemic settled on New York as its new epicentre.
…or the sorry South Africans
From what I read online in The Daily Maverick, South Africa’s government completely lost any plot it might have had. On 15 March it declared a State of Disaster, in terms of which civil liberties – except the rights to dignity and life, for example – were suspended. Sales of both cigarettes and alcohol were banned, together with the sale of any sort of cooked food such as roast chickens, pies, bunny chows and chicken feet. Tragic.
A couple of weeks ago, Roy read aloud to me a newly published list detailing the types of essential shoes and clothing that may be sold in South Africa: T-shirts were classified as “undergarments”, apparently, and could only be sold for that use. You couldn’t make it up. (So I told him, for at least the hundredth time, to stop reading me the news.)
Cycling for Svelteness
I never thought it would happen. But now, thanks to Covid-19 quarantine regulations, Roy and I are actually using those cruiser bicycles we bought in Singapore nearly ten years ago.
When Craigie Leisure Centre was forced to close its doors on 23 March, depriving Roy of his thrice-weekly aquacise class – and me of my yoga, gym and sauna sessions – we immediate switched to cycling instead. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning we’ve biked the hilly 14km from home to Mullaloo Beach and back.
No doubt that’s helped with Roy’s curve-flattening goals: I suspect the cycling demands more effort, especially when you’re battling up the hills and against the wind. (It’s also a whole lot easier to slack off in the pool, when most of you is underwater and no one can see what you’re actually doing.)
For the past few Fridays, Blaire and Sam have joined us for our coffee reward on the lawn opposite the Mullaloo Hotel.
Surf ’n’ Turf Birthday Barbie
It’s been a long time since Roy had a birthday in the bosom of our Australian family. Usually, the lovely month of May finds us in Durban. WA restaurants had only just started to open their doors to dine-in customers, with a limit of 20 patrons at a time – so a Sunday barbie at home was the obvious way to go.
Surf ‘n turf was the culinary theme: Farmer Jack’s whole crayfish from local waters – off Geraldton, if I’m not mistaken. These fat beauties go for $30 each, well worth it for a special occasion. Roy chopped them in half and trimmed them, while I did the garlic butter and blanched the broccolini.
Also for the barbie – and also from Farmer Jack’s – was a whole beef fillet, expertly prepared by Carl. Courtesy of his student job waiting at Joop’s Place, the legendary Durban steakhouse, Carl says he could never forget how to prepare a fillet – he watched butcher-chef Joop Mol doing it thousands of times.
Blaire contributed an oven-baked casserole full of “Marina’s Potatoes”. Marina is her mother-in-law – Colin’s mum, who lives in nearby Bunbury. Apart from potatoes, the ingredients include lashings of butter, secret seasonings and an hour-and-a-half of loving attendance. (She could give me the actual recipe, but then she’d have to kill me.)
Apart from the first yummy bottle of Browns Brothers bubbly, we also polished off: a splendid bottle of méthode champenoise from Mann Winery, bought in January last year on my birthday trip to Swan Valley; plus another delicious bubbly from Capel Vale – a winery that’s near to Colin’s parents’ home in Bunbury, on the way to Margaret River.
Carrot cake candles duly blown out and the birthday song sung, it’s time to start thinking about Roy’s Big Seven-Oh in May 2021. I wonder where we’ll be?
Hallelujah! … it’s Phase 3 sauna, eyelashes, nails and nightlife
The WA state government has just announced the lifting of Covid-19 restriction with the advent of Stage 3 on the sixth of June – this coming Thursday. Beauty and nail salons will be back in business, just in the nick of time: I’m falling apart at the seams.
Sam can go back to the playground.
Importantly, our beloved Craigie Leisure Centre will be allowed to re-open its gym, classes, swimming pools, spa area and more – 100 members allowed in each area, up to a total of 300 at a time. Hurrah!
And, after three months in Iluka, I’ve booked our first post-quarantine getaway: a four-night stay at a beach resort in the seaside town of Dunsborough, near Margaret River. Can’t wait!
Great read as always Verne 😉 Well done Roy….you look fabulous!! You lost….I found 🙁