Group 7-day waking average?

6.7 for me this morning and a unicorn yesterday despite eating the leftovers from our Chinese banquet for lunch AND evening meal. Must get back to low carbing in earnest now as I desperately need to lose some weight and my diet has slipped far too frequently recently. Also need to get out and swing my legs more. I am using this cold as an excuse and it just isn't good enough! Must also get another box of hot lemon sachets as they do give me some relief and comfort.

Many congratulations to @ColinUK and @MeeTooTeeTwo on your House Special achievements this morning and congratulations to @Grannylorraine on your reading in the 5s. I too miss @Lanny and worry that she has been absent for so long. I believe @Michael12421 is just taking a break and hopefully will be back with us soon.
 
Morning all
It’s a 5.3 for me this sunny calm morning.

I have an appointment this afternoon with the chest and lung specialist at the hospital, no idea why, I was referred by my doctor for some reason. Should be interesting.

This morning I will be levelling up some paving slabs that have become wobbly just to annoy me.
 
I miss @Lanny and I miss her cultural stuff. I found it fascinating to get glimpses of a culture I really know nothing about.

Hope @Michael12421 is ok and will be back after his break.
 
I was 5.1 this morning, which surprised me as I didn't have a great night's sleep.
I seem to be lucky enough not to suffer from the dawn phenomenon.
 
5.1 for me. I fell back asleep this morning so had a mini panic over the time.

Got a double GP appointment this morning to address ongoing investigations that keep hitting a dead end and falling through the cracks and some new issues with my tummy.

Need to dash, I'm leaving the house in 20 mins and still in PJs :rofl:
 
Morning all - high, thin cloud cover that seems to be clearing. Hoping for a sunny afternoon.

5.8 this morning after the best night's sleep in forever. I only got up once to visit the bathroom whereas often it's 3 or 4 times.

Congratulations @ColinUK you are doing really well + a HS to boot! Also congratulations to @MeeTooTeeTo on your HS.

Wanted to drive over to ASDA opticians in St Austell today with the glasses that I damaged in my fall the other week to see if they can be repaired, but it appears we are having a delivery of venison/pheasant this afternoon at some unspecified time and will need to get it into the freezer pronto. I really ought to do some housework too... bleaughhhh!
 
freesia said:
I thought the film was very good but rather sad. Jim Broadbent was excellent in the way he showed, during the walk, how his character was forced to face the events surrounding his son and Penelope Wilton played his wife with the right amount of despair at what he was doing. The story of his relationship with Queenie only really came into it nearer the end and tied up the loose ends between his wife, son and Queenie.

What did you think?
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I enjoyed the film on the whole, but I did think that what happened to the son was his own doing and the result of drugs, rather than being the father's fault. However it was pretty typical for the parent to take the blame on himself. Jim Broadbent is always worthwhile watching and he did bring a tear to my eye a few times, at least the ending was a good one. Not a very comprehensive review I am afraid, but I don't want to post spoilers as other members are likely to go see it.
 
Colin's Cultural Corner!

Aida

Verdi

Royal Opera House - Covent Garden
2/5/2023

Firstly let me state that this was a rehearsal so the usual caveat is offered before the curtain rises that some of the cast may be marking their roles and there may be technical issues which need attention as they arise.

Secondly I want to say that I’m not a complete philistine but I’ve never heard or seen Aida before so I’m coming to this as someone who only knew that it was set in Egypt and famously featured elephants at one performance. (Oddly it never actually did and it’s a complete myth that nobody can figure out where started.)

Sitting in the front row of the amphitheater at Covent Garden is no hardship as there is more than plenty leg room. It would be good to have armrests but there aren’t any for any seats on this level so for rehearsals it’s something I just have to put up with.

Casually dressed orchestra strikes up the opening notes and its curtain up and away we go on just about 3 1/2 hours of sublime operatic entertainment!

The director has chosen to stage this in modern dress and in a brutalist set of movable concrete slab walls. At times they represent a palace, at others they’re pushed back to create a parade ground or the inside of a church. The walls tower high above the stage and the lighting is quite hash and creates lots of shadowed areas which contrast with those which are well lit. That’s quite appropriate as the plot is really all about secrets and the risk of being discovered.

We are met with the news that Ethiopian forces have invaded Egypt and the Egyptians are about to appoint a new soldier to lead their army off to fight the invaders. A soldier, Radames, longs to be chosen to lead as he thinks he can use the opportunity to resolve his love life issues.

This being opera, and quite grand opera, those love life issues are the main plot here. Radames is in love with Aida. Aida is an Ethiopian slave serving the Princess Amneris, the Pharaoh’s daughter. Aida is in love with Radames but hasn’t happened to mention that she’s actually a princess and is the daughter of King Amonasro of Ethiopia. Amneris is head over heels in love with Radames. Nobody’s in love with Amneris other than Amneris but we don’t know any of this yet.

Radames sings of his dreams of gaining victory over the Ethiopians and of taking Aida as his bride. Amneris overhears this song and being quick on the uptake realises he’s in love with someone other than her. She’s not so sharp that she realises it’s Aida he’s talking about until she enters the room and he basically blushes and just embarrasses himself.

Nobody knows that Amonasro has invaded Egypt to rescue Aida from her evil capture. A capture which to her isn’t evil as she’s in love. This is not the earliest example of Stockholm Syndrome as when the opera is set Stockholm didn’t exist so it can’t be that but must be genuine love.

Radames is appointed leader of the army and off he scoots to execute a stunning victory in the gap between Act 1 and 2.

News of the victory has reached the palace and a banquet is being readied in his honour. Amneris frets over every last detail and over how she can get Aida to reveal that she’s in love with Radames. She comes up with a plan so dastardly that it cannot fail.

She lies to Aida and tells her that he’s died of his wounds, Aida is saddened. Quickly she then reveals that she’s been telling lies and that Radames is alive! Aida is overjoyed! Amneris now accuses her of loving him and basically says that as Aida is a slave and that she is the Pharaoh’s daughter she’s got no chance in the game of love.

Cue lots of singing. And cut to a parade ground for a parade of the Ethiopian prisoners. In their midst is Aida’s dad but he’s keeping his identity quiet and he pleads with Aida not to reveal his real identity to his captors.

Radames asks for the Ethiopian prisoners to be released in a sign of mercy as his award for victory. Oddly the generals refuse citing the probability that having a bunch of disgruntled invaders in the middle of your capital city isn’t a particularly wise idea. However in a scene that follows rather quickly we see Aida waiting to meet Radames when her dad turns up with some loyal fighters so how he managed to get there I don’t really know.

He uses emotional blackmail to persuade Aida to ask Radames to divulge the route his army are taking the next day. The idea being that either the Ethiopians then either attack them or avoid them and attack the palace. I’m not sure which but it doesn’t really matter.

Because of love Radames wants to escape the city with Aida and head off to Ethiopia and build a new life there. So he tells her exactly how they’ll get there and how they will avoid the Egyptian army. Amonasro leaps out of the shadows to reveal both his true identity and that he’s heard where the army is camped. Radames is distraught to learn that he’s given away a state secret but doesn’t think he’s guilty of treason because he had pure motivations driven by love.

The Egyptian general and Amneris are waiting just upstage for this revelation before letting it be know that they heard the whole thing and Radames is being arrested for treason.

Amneris then weighs up whether she wants the love of her life to live or die because if he lives he’ll still love Aida and if he dies then it’s a way of proving dominance over the slave.

Radames is condemned to death in a trial where he is accused three times and says nothing in his defence. He’s led off to be buried alive in his tomb and Amneris pleads for his life a little. Not too much as she then joins the priestesses and chorus singing about his impending entombment.

Cut to Radames in his tomb. He’s singing of his love for Aida again when he hears a noise. It’s Aida! She snuck off to the tomb when she heard of his sentencing so that they could die together. And they do. Beautifully.

The plot moves along at a blistering pace with no flat spots at all. The music is sublime. The singing, particularly of Aida, here sung by Angel Blue, is unbelievable as is the size of the chorus. At one point there were over a hundred people on stage in addition to the handful of character roles. It’s a huge opera with a huge cast and a huge orchestra and it’s hugely entertaining.
 
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Pattidevans said:
Morning all - high, thin cloud cover that seems to be clearing. Hoping for a sunny afternoon.

5.8 this morning after the best night's sleep in forever. I only got up once to visit the bathroom whereas often it's 3 or 4 times.

Congratulations @ColinUK you are doing really well + a HS to boot! Also congratulations to @MeeTooTeeTo on your HS.

Wanted to drive over to ASDA opticians in St Austell today with the glasses that I damaged in my fall the other week to see if they can be repaired, but it appears we are having a delivery of venison/pheasant this afternoon at some unspecified time and will need to get it into the freezer pronto. I really ought to do some housework too... bleaughhhh!
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Venison and pheasant, how the other half live.🙂 Nearest I have come to pheasant is road kill.
 
TinaD said:
It is worth it to be mobile but what a blasted ballancing act.
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Isn’t it just! Now I’ve started doing some gardening this year I’m finding I really need to watch what I take for food and reduce the bolus, very much a balancing act and harder to predict when you are doing variable amounts of exercise!
 
Pattidevans said:
Not a very comprehensive review I am afraid, but I don't want to post spoilers as other members are likely to go see it
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I tried to be suitably vague as well, just in case
 
Congratulations @MrPixels on your HS! Love @ColinUK ’s house for @MrPixels - if you need a town house as an alternative then here is a Beverley Hills mansion for you :

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My unicorns have fled!

Ok breakfast which didn’t move things at all then about 10am started to feel hot and it rocketed to 10.2 and stayed there long enough to take me out of range for a couple of minutes. C’est la vie.
 
does every blummin issue you have get blamed on diabetes?
Tummy issues she thinks is down to that. (bloating, cramping, lack of appetite & nausea).
Anyway, got bloods again to get inflammation markers checked again and a celiac screen because of family autoimmune history (not celiac but MS) and stool sample to sort out.
Been sent away with some laxative stuff and she might have added buscopan (?spelling) too.

Not much to say about the fluid retention except she checked all the cardio workup that was done and everything is totally normal so just keep going with water tablets but she's adjusted my script for that so its a few months supply at a time and I can be flexible with how many I take on any given day.

I had been on psoriasis forums who recommended me a wash and cream so bought some to try which is like magic fairy dust for my skin. That's now on repeat prescription :D She was quite interested in how that has been for me as she likes to take a non medication approach where possible, which I do agree with.

Chemist had system issues so will go pickup the huge pile of scripts I handed in in a few days and figure out what she actually gave me 🙄.
 
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Leadinglights said:
Venison and pheasant, how the other half live.🙂 Nearest I have come to pheasant is road kill.
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We don't usually live on such fare but we were given a voucher for an online game provider as a joint birthday present by some friends. It arrived about 1pm, beautifully packed and insulated. Now in the freezer. I'm looking forward to cooking some of it.
 
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