Dieting - again!

Well, I'm about to go onto my 50 millionth diet of my life! As you can see from the above photo I need to whittle myself into shape before flying off to summer in Switzerland. This diet is called the Dukan Diet and it says I should be able to lose 10 kilos by the 27th July! Wow! I will be happy with 5! The only problem is that for the first 3 days I am not allowed anything but protein and that will kill me as I am not a meat eater and it will kill my liver but I will give it a go and maybe I will lose a couple of kilos that I can then put back on in Switzerland! If anyone else wants to try it go to http://www.dukandiet.co.uk/ where you can work out your ideal weight with the help of their website. Now if I can just stay off chocolate and sugared almonds - or do they count as protein?

On the first of July I have to register for a Masters degree and send in a proposal about what I want to do. I have whittled down all my interests into "The role of Women in the Ancient Near East with particular reference to the Book of Judges and Deborah". If any of you are like me and reading the Bible for the first time - try reading Judges. Talk about a nasty bunch of patriarchs, and by the way does anyone know of another name for men who aren't exactly misogynists but treat women like slaves? Patriarch is too pleasant if patronising.

Our building moves on apace and we managed to commandeer one of the security guards to help us move a leadwood tree trunk into place so Elias (builder) could brick it into place where it will serve as a hammock upright. Also it will double as a lantern holder at night and a bird feeder hanger in the day! These stunningly heavy leadwoods were brought down from a farm in Thabazimbi for us a few years ago before we even began to build our extension. Two of them were incorporated into the family room downstairs where they "hold up" the floors of the rooms above. They don't actually as they were only put in a couple of years after the building was finished! Because this last one was needed around the front of the house with a couple of tight right angled corners to go round I decided they had to come through the house. Elias was horrified (HIS wife is obviously a stickler for housework!) as he had just seen me vacuuming! But it was the most direct route and once through the kitchen door I put two upside down mats under the front and the back of the tree trunk and they were able to slide it neatly right through the house and out the other side! SO thats in place and next weekend the boys (OAP 72, Aaron 59 and Elias 49) will concrete the slab into place ready for the stone work. We only have until the 14th June to finish it - then it will be October before we can do any more.

We have had masses of rain lately, no sun for days which plays havoc with the solar power and yet temperatures have dropped suddenly so that nights are bitter. I covered all the tender trees with sacking in the hope that they can withstand the highveld frost we get in June. Last night I saw a scorpion on the lounge floor and asked OAP is he fancied getting it out. He obviously didn't but felt it was his duty as a man so popped a tupperware over it and slid a piece of paper under. On picking the paper and tupperware up he tipped the scorpion out again and as it lay so still he pronounced it dead and scooped it up onto the paper, whereupon it did a resurrection number, whipped along the paper and onto his hand. With a scream he flicked it off - SOMEWHERE onto the floor. For those who don't know how and where we live, at night our house is vaguely lit by gas light and candles and a scorpion is bloody difficult to see! Anyway we did find it again - dragging itself under the piano - scooped it into the Tupperware and bunged it outside back into the bush! OAP (forgetting that he was the one who had screamed like a girl - I was the one who swore like a trooper at him!) said "shame its so cold outside" - Yeah right and your point is?