Up the garden path - It's Friday

Hello there, it's Friday! I hope you are all well. My flowers were a gift from M last week, they're still bringing cheer but are just starting to droop. It's been a funny old week with an appointment at the Dieticians and feeling ill on Wednesday night and most of Thursday. I'm feeling much better now.

The Knit & Natter group took to the road and went on a trip to a wool factory, which is essentially a 'small' warehouse. Lots of lovely squishy balls of wool and patterns were brought home by several members, me included. I bought four balls of yarn, a pattern for another project and 2 balls of cotton yarn, which I'll show you another time. We finished by visiting a cafe for a cuppa and something to eat. I had a slice of delicious Lemon Meringue Pie, before heading home to start some more knitting.

Though the group didn't meet for their usual session with a drink, the trip was fun and we still did the natter part of the Knit & Natter, so that was good.

I've mentioned IBS and the Low Fodmap diet before and people often ask what is that? I've collected some links and basic quick information that may help you, if you are interested in this.
These are the booklets that are used in Lincolnshire NHS to determine which FODMAPs need reducing or eliminating. The Monash University founded in Melbourne Australia, have led the way with research into IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), they found that Fodmaps are short-chain carbohydrates that are rapidly fermented and can be poorly absorbed.
Interestingly Monash University are also known for IVF, seat belts in cars and influenza drugs. 

Fodmaps are -

F Fermentable
O Oligo-saccharides (fructans & galacto-oligosaccharides)
D Di-saccharides (lactose)
M Mono-saccharides (fructose)
A And
P Polyols (sugar alcohols - mannitol and sorbitol)

Here is a snippet of what foods are in each of these groups.

I've recently been testing the last food group for me, which is GOS and why I was ill. After testing all of these - I am intolerant to Sorbitol which is 'part of' the polyols group and GOS (short for) Galacto-oligosaccharides, though I can tolerate a very small portion for a day.
Strangely I was ok with the wheat test initially (tested over a yr ago) but am now unable to eat bread for more than one day. I can eat crumpets and wraps but not so much the crackers and bread for more than a day at a time. Whether the soya flour found in bread has appeared since I first tested it I don't know. Soya is part of the GOS group. Regardless, I've come a long way in finding out what I need to reduce or avoid. I just need to test dates and pistachio nuts, then lastly (not fodmap foods) tomatoes, peppers and spicy foods.

Before I start anymore knitting eg new yarn or continuing my purple jumper, I felt like revisiting this yarn that I'd won in a raffle a very long time ago. I'm making a waistcoat but I don't really have a pattern. The pattern that I'd bought from a wool shop was for super chunky, whereas this is a much thicker yarn. You'll notice that the yarn has already been knitted into a tube. It's still available and there are several patterns online to buy. The waistcoat is a fairly boxy type shape, how hard can it be. Basically I'm using this pattern as a guide only. It's growing fast on size 12mm and 15 mm needles, I'll see how it goes over the weekend. 

I disturbed QT sleeping

Mr QT looking cute on his my bed. Such super long whiskers, even his eyebrows touch his whiskers. Which speaking of Whiskers or rather Whiskas, that's what he's happy to eat 'at the moment.' It's fine chunks and quite smelly. We mash it well with a fork otherwise he'll just lick off the jelly. Both the teens have put boards across their doors to dissuade him from coughing up a fur ball in their rooms. Sometimes he jumps over the top, so it's always a bit of a shock to see him sleeping on their beds. QT is looking out the window in the second picture.  

I'm listening to another Maisie Dobbs mystery on audio, very slow but enjoyable. Maisie and her close team of assistants, friends and police at Scotland yard are involved in trying to solve two crimes. It sounds like she has some personal decisions to make and it'll be interesting to see how things turn out.

New path 2019

M has been working outside on a new path to connect the patio area to the main garden path. The photo below shows how it used to look albeit it was under snow last year. Sorry, I couldn't find another before photo. The two conifer trees that we string the Christmas lights on have been removed to lay the path and in front of them (the soil) will now be grass. The trees hid the bins but the roots were lifting the slabs making them dangerous to trip over.

Christmas trees 2018

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.
From a sleepy QT and me, have a lovely weekend.
Cathy x