Yippppppeeee!!!!! Tomorrow is Monday, one of my favourite days of the week. I get to dress up again instead of sloffing around in my Crocs and farm clothes. I see all the wonderful colleagues at work and hear their weekend stories. I know Monday is the start of the countdown to the next weekend. So for me, it is a beloved day.

 

Even if you are a boy, or a man, or a non-sewing female, or a lazy person just not interested in Barbie outfits made from socks - I suggest you read the below tutorial anyway. Why? Because you never know when you are going to need this skill. But you could also skip this and go to the sock-story of the week - "The Hungry Heel"

 

Just take a moment to think about below scenarios before skipping the tutorial:

 

1. You might become a grumpy grandpa or grandma one day and need to babysit your little grandchildren - this is  a skill you need.
2. You might one day feel bored and all alone - this skill will make you feel happy and connected - even if it is just to a sock.
3. You might just want to try something outside your comfort zone - and this is a skill that you can safely practice without harm to you or anyone else (just make sure you do it where no-one can see you as your ego might get hurt)
4. You might want to make gifts for free - then this is an easy one.

 

Before we begin - just a note of caution. The images to follow contain a naked Barbie-type doll, so make sure you are over 2 years old before reading any further.

SOCK-SECOND LIFE PROJECT: 10 steps to  making a Barbie dress.

Step 1: Find a buggered-up sock or a lonely sock without a partner. (This is not the same as killing deer for eating, so you do not have to ask the sock permission to help it out of its misery)

 

 

Step 2: Kill it quickly and humanely by snipping its throat.

Do not throw away anything  - the bottom part is going to be used in my follow-up tutorial. But yes - it does not matter if their are holes or other damage in the bottom parts - we are a forgiving and kind people when we deal with socks. Just put the bottom parts somewhere where you can find them again.

 

Step 3: You now have in your hands the potential of 4 dresses. Luckily for us Barbie is very thin, so if you use an adult sock she can fit into it twice. Sometimes real thinness can be useful it seems. So you take each sock and cut it midway vertically. (from bottom to the top, not from left to right)

Step 4: Fold it with the wrong side out, so you have the 2 long-sides of the sock against each other, with the right side on the inside. OK - here is where I might loose some readers, but do not despair. If you sew it as it is - it is also fine because Barbie dolls and little children do not really care if you show the inside or the outside or sunny-side, as long as they have an outfit. Now either by sewing machine or if you do not have a license to drive one,  by hand, sew this looooong back seam close.  DO NOT CLOSE THE SHORT BITS, THEY ARE FOR FEET AND BOOBS. I use any colour thread/cotton, as socks are such forgiving creatures, the back-seam hides everything when you turn it the right side out.

Step 5: You now have a tube. Then you turn it inside out and now you have a dress!! OK - a tube-dress. But it is very magical,  as you can use it just as it is - depending on your level of talent or level of patience. Or you can go to the next level. Just continue to steps 6-10.

 

 

If you are exhausted after all this activity, then dress the doll and call it a day. Feet go in first (believe me, anatomically this is the best way to do it), and what was once the top of the sock (that bit that dug into your fat, puffy ankle and left dents in your legs) now becomes the top of the dress.

Step 6: Now is the fun part, because you get to dig through drawers, old tins, boxes of forgotten treasure and other secret stash to find little bits to make pretty (maybe it is because I am in marketing but I do like to make things pretty) Do not fret about this step, I promise you once you have all the bits and bobs on it will look pretty, pretty, pretty.

Step 7: My mom taught me never to sew or fix something while I am wearing it, as she believed you are sewing poverty to you if you do it that way. But remember, we are making these gifts because we ARE already in poverty, otherwise you can just go to the shops and spend R200 to buy an outfit made in China. So for this step, you sew while the dollie is wearing the dress. The purpose of the step is to prevent her boobs from popping out the top of the dress. Due to her ample bustline, as well as her smooth, wrinkle-free plastic skin, the socks have a real struggle staying up. So add some shoulder straps. It is easy to work with the dress on the doll, as she does not really have feelings and you can prick her with the needle - no complaints or blood.

Step 8: Just keep on moving those annoying little thin arms out of the way as you go, they get in the way of everything. I have not reached a stage of frustration where I remove them completely, but sure they can be popped right back if that tragedy strikes. Now you pretend you are a "Design Genius" and go wild. It depends on what you have at hand and how much wine you have had to drink. Below is an example of a sober design, so not too over the top. Again - sew anything to the bosom line while she is wearing the dress, otherwise you will loose the elasticity needed to cover those famous, nippleless breasts. WARNING - IF YOU SEW SOMETHING AROUND HER INCREDIBLE WAIST - IT WILL NOT GO OVER HER SLIGHTY LARGER HIPS. That is why I put the red band around her hips, sewn to the dress. The other option would have been to make a separate belt if I wanted to accentuate her waspy figure.

 

 

Step 9: You can now remove the dress and put on other decorations if you wish. Since she is going to lunch with her friends, I did not do too much as her friends can be very jealous.

 

 

Step 10: Congratulate yourself, wrap it up and give it to someone. Sit back and bask in the joy and adoration, or alternatively just stare at it and think how amazing you and socks are. In my book she is not ready to go out, as she has nothing in her hair, nothing on her feet, no jewelry and no handbag. But that is all for the next tutorial.

 

 

 

Sock Personal Story:
Beware - this is another sad story - but not very sad, just a little sad. Some socks get eaten. It is a fact of life and as my husband always says - "that is nature". And the interesting thing is that it does not matter of you are a vegetarian, vegan, fruitarian, sockarian, you could be guilty of eating socks.


And we like to go for their soft spot, which is not the belly, but the heel of the sock. Some people are blessed with natural smooth, beautiful heels. Others are blessed with lots of money so they can pay someone to give them smooth, natural heels. In some circles people care about fish and give their cracked, flaky heels to fish to eat with the resulting smooth heel. There are also people who are quite normal so they look after themselves and work hard on making their heels soft and smooth themselves. We all know this involves some elbow grease, tools of torture such as scrapers, graters, blades, lots of creams and potions, magic socks containing tubs of Vaseline, and then a nice place to get rid of all that dead skin you salvaged from your heels.


But then we get to the rest of the people - them who do not care about their heels. These are the sock-eaters and can be identified by large peepholes in their socks - visible above the rim of their shoes. They will try and hide it with long pants, long skirts, only wear boots or try and fold the sock with a little double layer under the sole of the foot so the hole does not creep up for air.


My lovely child is one of these people. His heels are particularly vicious as they also eat shoes, but the block is about socks so I will limit my lament to socks only.


I discovered this rare condition on his heels when I examined them a bit closer one cold, wintery, Highveld day. And behold - the mystery of how a heel eats a sock was revealed in all its gruesome detail. Hope you can sleep after this, and if you are the parent to a child with the same condition - let's start a support group.

Sock fact: Maybe not a real fact, but then Dr. Seuss was all about non-facts anyway. It is suggested and severely debated that he wrote the below tong-twister. It is often used by actors to loosen their lips, tongues, false teeth and other oral apparatus needed for the stage.


Give me the gift of a grip-top sock,


A clip drape shipshape tip top sock.
 
Not your spinslick slapstick slipshod stock,


But a plastic, elastic grip-top sock.


None of your fantastic slack swap slop


From a slap dash flash cash haberdash shop.


Not a knick knack knitlock knockneed knickerbocker sock


With a mock-shot blob-mottled trick-ticker top clock.


Not a supersheet seersucker ruck sack sock,


Not a spot-speckled frog-freckled cheap sheik's sock


Off a hodge-podge moss-blotched scotch-botched block.


Nothing slipshod drip drop flip flop or glip glop


Tip me to a tip top grip top sock.


Sock Creation: NOTHING TO REPORT!!!! But will try to make progress this week on knitting a sock. I am scared this baby I am creating will not have a twin, so he/she will end up as a lonely sock right from the beginning, instead of only losing its partner later in life.


Sock Challenge: You know what is coming don't you? If you have found a lonely or suicidal sock - you now are challenged to turn it into a dollie-dress. Either following the above tutorial, or ignoring it and following your own mind.


I have not received any sock-donation yet - so sure you are all hanging onto those poor socks because you intend to recycle them yourself. Now is your chance.


May the socks be with you this week
Lovies
Lizette

Socks can be fun too

I am in trouble. Not big trouble, but enough trouble to make me write another sock-story quickly before the weekend.






It seems I have been non-compliant with my sad story about the suicide socks, and my readers demand a happy story about socks - not that there are many happy stories about socks to tell.




So let's start with a happy second life for a sock. There are many, many options but I would like to share the following sent to me by Hilda - who is also a Maplotter. Imagine how happy the sock as well as the little person will be to receive this wonderful transformation. Almost as happy as me when I lose 100kg in my own transformation. The changes of a sock ending up as a happy kangaroo in its second life is obviously much higher than the changes of me losing even 10kg. But then the blog is about socks not about me, so let me re-focus.

Sock personal story - here is more happiness, maybe more than you can handle. And I was reminded by the Cheshire cat that socks can be fun too - so enjoy these fun socks.




I work with chickens (ok maybe not WITH chicken but stuff involving chickens.) I saw these socks on the web, and viola - got them organize through one of my wonderful agencies called WE EVOLVE. They were given to all co-workers who completed a task related to chicken feet, and I now have evidence that if your socks are happy - you will be happy.

Thank you to my IVS colleagues for always going the extra mile, even if it means walking in chicken feet all day.




I also include a rare picture of me having fun in my chicken socks - they look so much better than my own legs and feet. makes me wish I was a chicken. At least then someone would be willing to pay for my thighs. Nom-nom!!

That is about as much fun as I can handle without drinking my whole bottle of wine tonight. (Need to save a glass or two for tomorrow evening, just in case I am in need of fun again)








Following my self-assigned blog structure, I will now touch on Sock Facts. And something fun everyone should know about socks are that there are special Sock days! (https://www.happytoes.com.au/Sock_facts_s/88.htm)"There’re a huge amount of awareness days which involve socks. Whether it’s odd sock day, red sock day, rock your socks day, or novelty sock day, you’re sure to find something to wear for these days on happy toes. You could even sneak on some of our footlet to wear for ‘no socks day’!"








Sock Creation - OK - this is NOT FUN. Not even for my cat. After 3 evening of fighting with 2 balls of wool, 5 bloody knitting needles, 1 pattern in small print and 1 tired old woman trying to knit a sock - I can categorically tell you it is not fun to knit socks. Alas - I need to complete the challenge as I know the fun will come when I pull these sockies on my feet and slip-slide through my house on the cold tile floor.

Sock challenge - how many suicidal sock have you found? Please find them before it is too late and they are lost forever. I promise you I will give them a good home. So this is still fun, because you are saving a sock from self-destruction and giving it a life of fun in my household.


Talk to you after the weekend
The Sock Funhouse manager
Lizette Hunt

What is a Maplotter?

According to the Urban Dictionary - it is the following:

Urban Dictionary: maplotter

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=maplotter

7 Mar 2016 - A person who lives in a run down plot with no shoes and a broken fence. Usually surrounded by chickens and malnourished dogs.

So what I find so funny about this definition is that it comes from an URBAN dictionary, who obviously have never been outside a city/urban area. It is also a bit difficult to live IN a plot, we prefer to live ON the plot.

Another funny thing is that the run-down plot in the definition has no shoes and a broken fence. I have never seen a plot WITH shoes, but hey - I do have a little shoe-garden on my plot, so sure it will count.

As for the chickens - they got that one right, especially on my plot where I have some chickens, but luckily they are not aggressive and never surround me.

Lastly - the only malnourished thing on my plot escaped through the broken fence - so now we only have well-nourished animals left. (Including me - hie-hie-hie)

Aaaahhhh - I love my life as a Maplotter. I love my chickens, my ducks, my little pigs, my doggies, cats, hubbie. I love the space, the sunsets, the wind through the massive trees. I love the magic of growing food, being creative and finding solution to everyday challenges on the plot.

It has been a while since I was active on my blog, but I am still the same crazy person trying to pack as much into life as I can. So I invite you to join me on my journey again as I tackle the following BIG questions in life:

1) How can I get things for free or gift others things for free?

2) Can I become self-sufficient enough to live off the grid?

3) Is it possible to make recycling fun?

4) Should we live a magical life and what does it mean?

5) Where can I find fun and joy in everyday life and spread it like farm butter to share with those around me?

Talk to you soon - and the wonderful topic is going to be all about socks. I know - does not sound exciting but have you ever tried to think like a sock? Socks are brave, courageous and fun. They are handy, necessary and love to play games. It is almost impossible for a sock to die!!!! They serve humankind in many ways and life would be terrible without them. But more sockery in my next blog.

Maplotter lovies

Lizette

Powerful Poison

I am not talking about ant-poison, arsenic or any other obscure deadly molecule. For me - SUGAR is a powerful poison - and this is how I participated in an involuntary trial to prove it,

3 months ago = 1 big decision made to live without sugar.

2 months ago = feeling great!! Losing weight, missing sugar.

1 month ago = still feeling great!!Weight loss slowed down, not missing sugar. Decided to discontinue the anti-depressants that have been part of my life since my face fell flat on the one side (like a half-baked Victorian sandwich cake)

This is another story (a very bitter story) - and for years I have tried to deal with the pain of losing my good looks - even acting as silly as pulling the offending face up manually to look better in pictures. Some efforts were more successful the  others - but looking at myself with love and endearment - this is actually very funny as I am not fooling anyone, especially not the camera.

Just for your entertainment, here are some examples of my lame-face self-help face lift efforts. And you are allowed to laugh - out loud!!

1 week ago = I love sugar!! I tasted it again and I absolutely adore it! I eat cake, more cake, a Redbull, a chocolate, 2 bottle of Sweet Rose wine. Cannot understand how I could live without it.

BUT... I notice phlegm after the second day of my sugar-binge experiment, my  once is blocked, I need to clear my throat constantly, I even develop a silly little cough. (I can now see in hindsight that it was my poor body's attempt to get rid of the silly stuff I was loading in again)

Undeterred, I continue with what I can now identify as an involuntary clinical trial.

After 3 days of sugar mania, (and I am sure the wine was helping here) - I develop sore joints, and sore muscles, and sore other-things. I start walking like an old woman, making little Ugh sounds when I go down or up a step.

By day 5 I struggle to get a good night's rest, getting all irritated and feeling extremely tired.

By day 6 I am puffy, Puffy face, swollen eyes, puffy stomach, puffy fingers - you get the picture - I am puffy.

By day 7 - I need a double dose of Valium and fluoxitine!!! I am experiencing a vicious, irrational anger with the world, the people around me, the fact that I picked up 2 kilos, I am furious, teary, unhappy!!

And then it hits me. It hits me like a massive sugar cube on my adrenal glands - I look, perform, act, ARE better without sugar in my life.

So today - back on track as I have now proven to myself what a terrible poison it is and I do not need it. Just like I do not need arsenic, ant-poison or any other deadly molecule in my life.

If you want to share your sugar-coated story with me, please feel free to do so.

Lovies
Lizette

It is crunch time for me. The end of the month is one sleepy away, and I still have lots of challenges to finish!! So a quick recap of where I am as of this morning:

1) Get something for free.

This went excellent!! Got free rosebush, free lemon tree, free Bougainvillea cuttings, free Lavender plant, free Acacias.

2) Lose 3 kg - shame, I tried but sadly failed. Luckily the 3kg is not going anywhere, so it is available for me to loose next month.

3) Knit a scarf - Done - photo evidence to follow

4) Make 1 outfit for myself - this must be done by tomorrow night, I am halfway there.

5) Finish a needle project - just about finished - another one for the weekend

6) Recycle something - not even started - I do not think I am going to sleep tonight as I need to finish this one also before Sunday

7) Upcycle a piece of furniture - Yippppeeeee - before I feel like a total failure, this one is done and ticked. Sure - not a masterpiece but at least some effort into a ugly little drawer unit to make it even more ugly!!

After looks a bit worse than before!

From this

8) Fix something broken - not successful. Have handed in a broken radio - but no joy in getting it back yet

9) Get rid of something - success, during the pantry exercise I got rid of a lot (except the bloody 3 kg of challenge 2)

10) Read one story book - Done. A horror called "the piper"

11) Read one book for development - Done. It is called FOOK IT!, and has led to me developing (I did read it for development) a real nice FOOK IT attitude. Has made a big difference in how I act and re-act to stuff. Please try this book - it works!!

12) Bake a Cake Chapter from "Baked and Delicious". DONE!!! I baked/maked 7 different cakes, even a Baked Alaska, and I can now confirm that you can bake Ice-Cream in a very hot oven without it melting all over the inside of your oven.

This was the achievement of the month!!! And some of the reasons why I did not lose the 3kg. The Parmesan Chili hearts should come with a warning - they are completely addictive

Parmesan Chili hearts from the book                         Parmesan Chili and black salt hearts from the Hunts

And then the least exciting bake in the volume was the poppy seed cookies. This challenge posed a bigger challenge - since all the poppy seed in SA is being used to snort by drug addicts, I could not find a single bottle of poppy seed anywhere. Not in the biggest P&P, not in the smartest Woolies food store, not anywhere!! So I innovates and used some pecan nuts instead of poppy seed. By this time of the challenge I could not care less.

And lastly - the ever-popular Pecan Pie. I bartered with the neighbour, she gave me free Pecans and I baked her a pie. And one for my new acquaintance, and one for my family. I had to take the picture quickly, as it disappeared faster than a pe-can in a pe-can't stampede

13) Fix one area in my house - DONE, pantry the only perfect room in my house. Wish I could sleep there every night

14) Fix one area in the garden - yet another challenge to complete on Saturday

15) Fix one area on the plot - uh-uh.

16) Complete one frugal activity - DONE, registered for chronic medication with Discovery

17) Keep to my budget - DONE!

18) Do something for somebody - DONE

19) Work/cook my way through "Fyn Kookkuns" volume 2, - DONE. This was a jol. I made 5 different stews, From Irish stew, to Beef Ragout with celery and walnuts, to Lamb Navarin, to Paprika Goulash. And then the section on vegetable was my favourite activity. Just to make one vegetable dish "Gordon Blue" style creates a kitchen full of dishes, utensils worthy of a 12-course meal. They make you pull the whole vegetable apart, then force you to put ti all together again. Just to make a Filled Cabbage can take up to 3 hours. These girls who wrote the book had too much time on their hands - but the results are worth it. Cabbage, cauliflower and Spinach have never looked so shit but tasted so amazing

 ALL of these dishes to just make a cauliflower with cheese 

 Outside and inside of filled cabbage with home-made tomato sauce. (told you it looks shit but taste fantastic!!)

 






20) Have one dinner party - this is happening tomorrow (with my new acquaintance)

21) Do one herbal focus - DONE, Lavendered out

22) Prepare for 1 long-term goal - DONE! Have secured one additional income stream for when I retire

23) Do 1 step towards short-term goal - DONE, consolidated every last bit of debt, planned payment schedule to ensure they are all paid off by end 2016, and communicated to all the lucky recipients of my hard-earned money on how I plan to pay them

24) Declutter one area of my house - DONE with my pantry project

25) Organise one area in my house - DONE - pantry project again

26) Knit one cushion. NOOOOOOoooooo - this is a HUGE challenge and the second one I know I will not achieve. I have even tried to knit in traffic (promise I only do it when the car stands still) - but no chance of completing it this month.

27) Knit one toy - DONE!! Meet "Meneer Boontjie" aka Mr. Bean

28) Save for my wishlist - DONE!! R500 in R20 notes towards my big-screen TV, R300 in R10 notes towards a personal laptop, and R150 in R5 coins towards a very expensive imported bra.

29) Make one new acquaintance - DONE!

30) Reconnect with an old friend - Done!! Dina, I love and adore you - thanks for not trowing me away due my anti-social and friend-neglect phase

So wish me luck for the weekend (or Saturday to be precise - let see if I can cram it and finish or complete the last 6 challenges) This statement is not valid for the fat, knitted cushion and broken thing challenges!! 

Lovies

Lizette

Life is a day on the beach

I promise you an everlasting holiday if you subscribe to my philosophy. I love the sea, I love holidays and I love life, so it is good for me to merge these 3 and create my own private philosophy. It is not complicated, so please do not expect any Jung-like quality work, just a few simple ideas that assist me with coping on an everyday level.

1) The sea just is what it is. It does not get personal, has no agenda, no secret vendetta against the people who are brave enough to get their feet wet. That is the same with life, it just is. So nothing that happens to me (either good or bad) has hidden meaning, secret messages from anywhere or anyone.

2) The sea makes waves, and so does life. It is just what it does. Some waves are big (like losing your job, getting divorced, etc.) Other waves are small (examples are people cutting you off in traffic, someone being rude at the office, etc). Sometimes there are tsunamis, and I leave it to your imagination as to what can be classified as a tsunami in your own personal life

3) There is no way I can stop the waves, neither can any-one else stop the waves for me. I cannot make them smaller, I cannot wish them away, I cannot always prepare for them. All I can do is accept that they are always going to be there. Even if I decide to go to another beach, there will still be waves. Maybe they are smaller, even tiny, but maybe there are more of them, or the water is dirty, or there are bluebottles in the water - who knows? Waves are non-negotiable.

4) So what can I do? I have quite a few options open to me.
  a)I can just sit on the beach and watch them. I can watch other swimmers getting knocked around,          enjoying the water, being eaten by sharks, whatever. I can choose to be an observer - but at some        time I will need to get wet as it is bloody hot sitting in the sun like this, and it can also get                    extremely boring watching other people the whole time.
b)I can get just my feet wet, standing in the foam-breaking part of the waves - this can be a good coping strategy, but every time a BIG wave comes along, I scream like a girl, pick up my skirts and run back on the beach - scared to face the force of a bigger wave.
 c)I can go into the sea up to my midriff, keeping my head and my arms high in the air to avoid getting any saltwater in my eyes. Every now and then I can give a little jump when a bigger swell pushes against me.I can pretend this is swimming.
 d)I can be brave and go all the way in - that scary but exciting place where you are in so deep your feet does not touch the soft sea sand at the bottom. This option also gives you the opportunity to either take a deep breath and dive under the breaking wave, or alternatively surf it right out to the beach.

So although I cannot control or choose the waves that come my way, I definitely CAN choose how I am going to handle each wave. Some days I will just sit and watch, other days I decide to go in for a real good swim.

And I look forward to the BIG WAVES - you know the ones that push you down to the bottom and you are not sure where is up or down? The ones where you come up for air afterwards and your one boob has escaped your costume - and half the sea sand has made its way into the bottom of your costume. Because this type of wave makes you feel alive, it shares its energy with you, it make you laugh out loud as you float in the temporary calm it left behind. You can hear it crashing on the beach, knocking over all the wimpy feet-wetters, washing away their towels and dissolving the beach-sitter's sandcastles. And you get ready for the next one!!!

I just LOVE the sea - come join me for a swim!!!! The weather is gorgeous.

Lovies
Lizette (on holiday!!!!!)

Houston, we have a problem!!

A BIG problem. it seems that when I chose my challenges, just like friends, I did not expect them to clash! Imagine throwing a party and inviting all your friends at the same time. Seating the dangerous, naughty ones next to the quiet recovering alcoholic one. Mingling the sarcastic, straight-shooting friend with a group of insecure, sensitive souls. Getting your single, sex-starved friend to make salad with your prude, frigid friend's husband.

I knooooowww. It sounds like fun to me but a nightmare to others.

And this is what is happening at my challenge party.

Now I take my challenges very seriously, and will struggle to continue with life as I know it if I happen to miss completing one of them.

So here is where the problem lies:
1) I need to bake about 7 items to complete the "Bake a cake chapter" challenge.
2) I need to lose 3 kg this month
3) I need to read a book for my pleasure (and I have chosen a horror!!!!)

Combining all 3 these challenges at one party is looking for trouble. And trouble is just what I found last night. Early evening I was still on track. The baking track. I made some more jacks - not nutty ones this time but some with raisins and then melted chocolate on top. Please see below the ideal book-quality picture.

It is easy - but I refuse to give you the recipe because of what happened to me last night. The same might happen to you and then you will be glad you never had the recipe.

So as the sun set over a dry and dusty Delmas, I started my next bake - chocolate custards. it is an innocent enough sounding name, but the word "chocolate" should have set off the alarm bells in my head. They came out lovely, closest to the book I think from all my baking adventures.

But then there was a poor little one that did not set properly, and he was all lopsided with a skew little face like mine. I put some cream on him, drizzled some coffee syrup around him, - he still looked sad and disappointed, so  I ate him!! And his cream, and his coffee syrup. The whole lot!

The Banting gods were not happy with me. Not happy at all!.

So I slinked away to my bed to get out from under the chocolate spell, and decided to continue with my horror book. And then inspired by to the horror of the story, I  used the cover of darkness to eat 2 oats and raisins chocolate flapjacks. Just because I was scared, and a boiled egg just would not have the same comforting effect as a cookie.

I had another look at the offending cookie in the light of day, and it does not seem to hold anymore magical powers over me - just an innocent clump of butter, oats, golden syrup, raisins and chocolate.

 

As you can see, I will have to be stricter with my challenges and who I invite to the same party. Let's hold thumbs that I did not boycott/toy-toy away my 3kg loss just for one evening of chocolate-induced insanity.

Lovies
Lizette