It's Called DIET Because All The Other 4-Letter Words Were Taken!!!!!

WEIGH IN WEDNESDAY!

Oh dear, after the TOUGH LOVE I received from a couple of  ladies

leaving comments on MY BLOG last week, I was hoping to report a

better result this week! In fact the result is worse! 

NO LOSS AT ALL

 One would have thought having been severely reprimanded last week for 

a paltry 1lb loss I would have done everything in my power to rectify

the lousy outcome and come shining through with a glowing result this week.

 "Must do better!" "Must try harder!" I hear  you cry - all of which is

true - but in my defence, as you will see from MY BLOG, I've had a 

couple of Dinner Dates Out and also I have memories of my weekly Weigh-in

with Weight-Watchers, where I'd remained the same even though I'd

thought I'd done really well. I hope Cindy will vouch for this.

Enough, the Proof is in the Pudding, or in my case

" NO PUDDING at all Daddy!!"

ST PATRICK'S DAY

Well, Top of the Mornin' to ya!  I hope you all survived St. Paddy's Day!  I was able to combine a few greens with a Guinness for my celebration!  

And while we are speaking about the Irish.....

THE  6 NATIONS RUGBY

Came to a close at the Stade de France, in Paris on Saturday night. My friend

Robert Dickson dropped by to watch Ireland take on France in the Final game.

Ireland needed to win to claim the Crown over England and in the end it

came down to the wire with a nail biting finale. For Ireland's Showdown in

Paris, it was a case of victory at all costs - victory in spite of terror, 

victory however long and hard the road maybe, as Winston Churchill 

famously said. In the end Ireland was triumphant with a 22-20 victory over

France. My friend Robert, who supported England was very disappointed

with my jubilation for Brian O'Driscoll!

What a fitting end to that man's amazing career!

Have a happy & well deserved retirement!

Staying with Sport:

THE WINTER PARALYMPICS AT SOCHI 2014

After the Winter Olympics came the Winter Paralympics at Sochi

and I was just as hooked on them. The Star of the Brit Team was a

23 year old from Chelmsford, the Visually Impaired Jade Etherington.

She, along with her Guide Caroline Powell, who skis ahead of her in

an orange vest, picked up a staggering haul of 4 Medals (3 Silver and

1 Bronze)

 This was her first Paralympics and she ended it being the first Briton to 

come home with 4 Medals - an amazing achievement. Such a truly

gutsy performance. Congratulations!

"A LITTLE SCHEME"

After spending a delightful Christmas with, amongst others,  Emily and her children, her 

Fiance,  Jimmy contacted me about a little scheme he had in mind:

Jimmy travels all over the world reporting on Formula One Grand Prix.

The little scheme he had in mind was to tell me about the odds of one 

of the drivers for winning this years Championship. If we were to put

£50 down on a bet for NICO ROSBERG to win there & then,  we would

be able to get odds of 20-1 (Amazing!) Meaning that if Nico won the 

Championship come November, (which Jimmy thought was possible), we

could receive £1000 in winnings ourselves! 

Well guess what!

"Nico Rosberg proved that Mercedes are the class of the field in the early stages of the new Formula One World championship with a runaway victory in Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. It was the fourth win of his Career"

Well, I contacted Jimmy and said: "ONE DOWN! Cool Jimmy, we are on our way"

His reply was "Haha! I was thinking exactly the same thing! Let's see if we are

still smiling come November...."

WATCH THIS SPACE

I hope we are too!!

THE BATTERSEA ARTS FAIR

On Wednesday I attended the Opening of my friend the Artist David Hinchliffe's

exhibition of paintings at the Battersea Arts Fair - whist I was there he introduced

me to another painter also called David Hinchliffe who lives in Taunton, 

where I went to school!

You can see some of my David's paintings behind us. By the time

the Fair had closed on Sunday he had sold a staggering 7 paintings,

mainly due to the advertising in my last Blog, I have to say! He did promise me a 

commission of 0.005% - which I worked out to be less than one First Class 

Stamp!! Mind you,  he did take me out to dinner at a Lebanese Restaurant, 

later that night,  near his flat in Battersea Square:

Try not to look too closely at what we are having - I'm not sure 

it's very Calorie Conscious!!

The Wolseley Restaurant, 160 Picadilly, London, W1J 9EB

The Artist - David Hinchliffe

I returned the favour,  later that week,  with a Farewell meal

at the Wolseley Restaurant in Picadilly. David is now in

NewYork painting in a Studio in Harlem - in preparation for

the New York Arts Festival there - "Go David!!"

RO WILLMOTT

I got a lovely email from my friend Ro Willmott who now lives in Blockley

just up the hill from Hollybush, our old Cottage in Broad Campden. She

and her then partner, Vince, used to run the Kings Arms Hotel in Chipping

Campden and then the Riverside Hotel in Evesham. They have a boy

called Freddie who I believe is now high up in the medical profession in London:

"Dearest Neecie, 

The Willmotts en mass have been inspired by you ! ( nothing new there !) rinse and spin gave up sucking 20 Marlboro lights 12 months ago with inevitable body mass consequences .darling Freddy is a tad stout , and I'm as fat as butter !! So with you as our guiding light, we Sally forth to a slimmer healthier future!! Love as ever x x "

I love her nick name for Vince: "rinse and spin" - too funny!

EMILY

Also another lovely supportive Email from Emily:

"Having basically stayed the same weight over the cold Winter months (but no gain thankfully) I am feeling up for a big loss over the next few weeks. So much easier to cut out carbs as the weather gets warmer and we come out of hibernation! I'm loving your blog and so proud of your weight loss. Keep going 😘❤"

Thanks, Emily, seeing your amazing weight loss at Christmas was a true inspiration for me.

Keep it up Sister! You can do it! Love yer! xxx

THE TWO FAT LADIES

I LOVED watching the "Two Fat Ladies".  I remember when I first found them on the telly in LA.  I would sit on the end of the bed at Phyllis Avenue and just stare with my mouth wide open salivating.  They used butter and fat in everything and they also smoked and drank while cooking.  My kind of ladies.

I just found out that Clarissa Dickson Wright passed away yesterday.  Now they are both gone. It's a sad day as they were both hugely entertaining.

I have a photo of Angus imitating Jennifer (on the right) which was taken in London years ago when he and Maisie were staying with Cins and I in Camden.  Gussie wore my glasses and the similarity was brilliant.  I would have included it, but the picture is somewhere in storage in Los Angeles.

Speaking of Angus:

ANGUS McNEICE

&

I have to say we are all bursting with pride.

Angus secured a job this week working for ESPN. He will now be

responsible for reporting on Chile's Football Team's road to the

World Cup in Brazil later this year and their performance, amongst

others, at the World Cup itself. I think I'm right in saying that he 

will still be deputy editor of the Santiago Times in 

Chile whilst he is working for ESPN.

Congratulations Gussie - Welcome to ESPN.

MAISIE McNEICE

&

Here is my daughter Maisie at work in Dublin for the Company

Damn Fine Print:

Before working for Damn Fine Print she graduated

from the National College of Art & Design in

Dublin with a First.

HAIRY BIKERS LITE MEALS

I'm still having fun with recipes from the Hairy Biker's Book.

This week I tried Chicken Biryani!

My Preparation!

The Meal itself: Chicken Biryani

(317 Calories)

My Meal Tuesday Night: Haddock, Garlic Spinach & Poached Egg

(211 Calories)

THANK YOU FOR READING

Well folks another week, another Blog, and a Big Thank You to all

of you who left Comments last week - a record 16 no less! And

to those of you who are having problems leaving a Comment on

the Blog - please email me your Comment and I will put it on for you.

ianmcneice@mac.com

I will leave you with the Best Diet Advice I know: