Flying Solo - Acceptance

Why all these photos of Mr. Poe when speaking about flying solo?
The old house started emptying when the kids flew the nest, followed by Mom, moving on to her forever home.

It was just the three of us left: my darling hubby and Mr. Poe.
When hubby passed on unexpectedly, I stayed on another two years and surpassed my goal of fifty years before selling up.

Estate living is proving to be very laidback, filled with tons of benefits, and I'm finally taking my health seriously. I've joined an aqua aerobics class and started using the treadmill and the cycle machine. I lost quite a few kilos while I was sick because any snacks, sweet biscuits, and creamy desserts made me cough, so some of my clothes, especially trousers, are falling off! I don't mind losing some weight, but I will have to adjust some of my clothes or go clothing shopping. Which gal does not like that!

My friends know the story of when I sold my home. I had to find a home for Poe, and by a miracle, a young couple adopted him. They dote on him, and I get regular updates.
Poe is thriving in his new home and has now become a very long, fat cat. He's still a real character, swinging from being loving to being aloof and getting up to mischief! They live on a small farm in the middle of sugarcane, so Poe has been having fun catching small snakes and playing with them. What wasn't fun was when a two-metre-long Black Mamba came into their house, Poe realized this was not something he could handle, and stood deadstill when the large snake slithered right past him to go into a bedroom. His new Mom called her husband at work, and he and some of the workers managed to capture the snake.
I ordered the T-shirts above as a gift to Poe's parents, and added a few treats for them and for Poe as well. They all really deserve to be treated.

I'm finally cooking more often, although cooking for one makes me lazy. I was determined to make a stuffed chicken breast cooked in flaky pastry. Jamie Oliver makes it look so easy, but I always start cooking too late. I ended up turning two-minute noodles into a stir-fry with the chicken stuffing ingredients. When I do make the real thing, I will share it, hopefully, I will get to it before this new year ends:)

Easy, simple meals; I love corn on the cob, microwave-baked potato is super quick. One can get quite creative with fillings and turn a baked potato into a meal on its own, but I was lazy and used a nice creamy mayo, which worked well with the smoked flavours of the haddock. I was even too lazy to make a nice creamy mash! The meals they offer to residents are good, but I still prefer food from my kitchen to food cooked in the restaurant kitchen. Home-cooked still is best, and while I had endless energy before the big move and the nasty bronchitis, I will get back to real cooking and baking soon!