Why do you build me up, butternut baby, chestnut lentil me down? 10/10 club - all welcome!

[pinkspottywellies]

For anyone who wants a boost to their general health. The suggested goals are:

EAT 10 PORTIONS OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES EVERY DAY - if you don't usually eat much fruit and veg I would build up gradually or you could upset your digestion.

DO (AT LEAST) 10 MINUTES OF EXERCISE EVERY DAY - can be yoga, stretching or something more energetic. The plan is that the idea of doing 10 minutes is not too daunting, and having started you may well find you want to do more.

There are no restrictions on what you eat so long as you get your 10 fruit and veg as well. The focus is not on weight loss but on improving our energy levels and hopefully our general mood and well-being. Sign up below and post here to tell us how you're getting on and how you are feeling.

Basic guidance on what constitutes a portion of fruit and veg here and you can download more detailed information by following the link at the very bottom of the page

Firm avocadoes are very annoying.

I made a lentil & vegetable soup today, spiked with corinder, cumin and cayenne pepper (in an effort to scare off this looming cold)

That soup sounds nice Tatties.

Avi, are you speaking in code? Or are you distracted with your ironings ?

Tatties - I have a cold and I made lentil and vegetable soup today too. I made it in the mother ship, it's so comforting to use and cleans so easily. I love it, maybe even more than my ladle.

Tell me about your ladle MrsC.

Oh, it's not very interesting to look at, plain metal, but I find using a ladle very comforting and reassuring. Is that stupid? Maybe the action of ladling something out perfectly encapsulates a feeling of providing, I don't know.

Oh yes I'l like to hear about your ladle MrsC. I think I have Kitchen Envy

x-posts. I only have a plastic ladle

Oh yes, ladles are jolly good. Saves one from pouring porridge and soup into unsuitable places. I have two

You wouldn't have kitchen envy if you saw it. It's quite small and full of crap with jars all over the place, random things pinned on the wall, cupboards where boxes of tea fall out when you open them, a leaky dishwasher and a back door that doesn't quite fit its frame so that a breeze whistles through.

Sounds a bit like ours MrsC.

S'alright Avi, it was just a bit of a shock. Well done!!!!!!

Hello! Am popping in to shout satsumas and mangos.

Am having conversation about pressing matters such as Radio 5 presenters and things like that. Ver important. Oh yes.

Now I have more Kitchen Envy I would love jars all over the place but dh won't let me. Nothing is pinned to the walls but I keep meaning to put a board up. We don't have a dishwasher. And snap on the tea falling out and door doesn't fit!! You were just showing off

My teas just fall off a shelf.

Hello 100x

There is nothing better than a good ladle!

3 portions of veg/ beans, banana, raisins, juice (x3 ), dried prunes, ... not 10 but doing well for me.

Ooh I love ladling too. You feel so munificent doing it.

I had a very good day yesterday, one of my better ones for some time. I didn't feel too tired even though ds got up at 5.30, and I had more f+v than I have had for a long time - as well as the breakfast stuff I had avocado, tomatoes, hummus, cucumber and beansprouts in wraps for dinner, and then some blueberries, and a satsuma and some melon.

We also did some baking and made fairy cakes with a surprise filling of blueberries and sweet cream cheese. They seem rather fab even though I only had a half a one.

I also now have 2 private scans booked for the week before Christmas. I had better cancel one . Oh well I hope it is all right. Every time I feel better I worry, and every time I feel worse I just moan. And people keep asking me to do more and more stuff and I have vowed to cut down and try not to do extra stuff in the evening and at weekends, and saying you can't do it because you are 'feeling a bit tired' sounds so lame. A friend is moving away and wants to go out one Friday night before she goes, and I just groaned. I can just about stay awake till 9 pm on Friday nights and that is it. I think everyone thinks I hate them or am just being a lazy fucker.

Franny - you must be ruthless with your time, you are not just lying around feeling a bit tired, you are creating life. You have to concentrate.

PSW - How was I showing off?? I have read it over and over and I cannot see. I would like to have enough cupboards to put the jars in and my back door is a real worry. The floor doesn't quite meet it any more and combined with some cracks in the paint and one in the conservatory it suggests that the whole corner of the house might be on the move again. This is bad. I do understand dishwasher envy though, despite its being temperamental I miss it very much when it breaks completely every three months or so.

I have a cold now, a proper one so I spoke too soon about seeing it off.

I did forget to take it yesterday though. I am eating my granola with apricot, plum, blackberries, blueberries, apple, grape, banana and pear. I am steeping sage and DH has just come back from school armed with lemons.

Boco- I would probably prefer to have lunch on Thursday so there's a chance of me being able to taste it. If you've already got a lift to the station tomorrow then that's fine, it will be nice to see you anyway, I will have ginger soup and sniff a bit.

Good morning. Franny i'm glad you had a good day. It's all so much harder the second time. You have to entertain a small person and answer constant questions and you don't get as much staring into space time. It will get better soon though, in the middle.

DD1 was up in the night with what sounded like croup - she's not had it since she was 2, and she got into a panic as she was coughing so much she couldn't get her breath. So at 2.30 this morning we were sitting in a steamy bathroom with her wailing and me shouting 'CALM DOWN' in a not very well thought out or calming way. Then dd2 woke up and it was about 4 before everyone went back to bed. I've given her the morning off, she's ok, but looks a bit ghoulish. Her tonsils are massive again, although she says her throat doesn't hurt. The doctor will roll his eyes so not taken her. This is non stop! We are not a healthy family at the moment.

MrsC i would like to come to Norwich tomorrow - i can get a bus to the station. But it'll depend on dd1 now. Are you fairly flexible about lunch? If not maybe next week?

Oh sorry x-post MrsC. Let me think. I've got a lift home from the station tomorrow, but i will see if i can change it to thurs, may be better anyway.

Franny your fairy cakes sound delicious, I want one Are you still getting the nausea on and off? It is very hard to make excuses for not wanting to go out isn't it... But I think at this time of year people generally are rushed off their feet and run down so maybe you could play that up a bit?

MrsC is your mother ship a le Creuset pan? I always think they look nice but I can't lift them!

Boco I do that not very calming "CALM DOWN" too So sorry you've had a bad night though. It's just miserable when it's one illness after another

Ds has been having a few major episodes at dp going to work in the morning (is it because he hates being with me all day??)

Now, Tatties, don't be so feeble.

Boco - I am very flexible. We can wait and see how your DD is if you like. I have so many remedies lines up I maybe better by tomorrow anyway so I will come whenever you can. It's much more effort for you getting here, I feel a bit guilty.

Oh no don't feel guilty - i LOVE getting out of The Village.

Oh, it sounds creepy when you capitalise it. I will picture you running for the train with ordinary looking people on the platform except as you pull away they are all looking at you and twitching slightly.

I have watched too many films.