![\"Pippin](\"https:\/\/bronwynparry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/20131217SkyeBasketCute-300x276.jpg\")
Pippin at nine weeks old in the toy basket.<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"Gordon](\"https:\/\/bronwynparry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/20131221GordonPippin-300x225.jpg\")
At 10 weeks old, she has us wrapped around her little paws.<\/p><\/div>\n
Pippin came home with us on 14th<\/sup> December and has kept us on our toes ever since! She’s now almost 14 weeks old. Being a border collie, she\u2019s smart, energetic, quick to learn, and eager to stay on top of everything.<\/p>\n ‘You want to play, Skye. Really you do.’<\/p><\/div>\n That\u2019s Skye, our three-year-old underneath. She\u2019s been wonderfully patient with Pippin, and most of the time loves to play with her \u2013 although Pippin is definitely an Energiser Puppy, who just keeps on keeping on, and some days Skye, like us, begins looking for the \u2018off\u2019 switch! Tansy has been very good with Pippin, too, and they seem to have reached a general understanding that Tansy doesn\u2019t play much and doesn\u2019t like being leapt on, but if Pippin wants to lie down nearby or maybe have a little nuzzle, that\u2019s okay. So we’re all happy and adjusting to our new ‘family’ member quickly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another recent beginning is on my stalled PhD candidature. Because of all the medical dramas from 2008-2010, I withdrew from candidature a few years ago, but as of late December I\u2019m officially back on deck, with a revised research proposal that builds on what I did back in 2007-2008, but takes it in a new direction, with a focus on the creative process for authors in the rapidly changing publishing environment. I plan to write and publish two novellas as part of the research project, exploring not only the creative writing process, but the publishing and readership context which influences the choices facing Australian authors of commercial fiction. I\u2019m hoping to do the two novellas this year \u2013 perhaps for a pre-Christmas publication date \u2013 and finish the exegesis\/thesis next year. Fitting it all in around writing full-length books, of course!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yet another beginning in recent months \u2013 I\u2019m on my way to the new, slimmer \u2018me\u2019! Those of you who\u2019ve met me in person know that I am short and decidedly overweight. My natural tendency to roundness wasn\u2019t helped by four years of limited exercise because of the unexploded bomb in my head. I\u2019ve tried Curves, I\u2019ve tried calorie counting, but as \u2018a lady of a certain age\u2019, I\u2019ve found it very difficult to shift any weight. In mid-November I read about the 5:2 Intermittent Fasting way of eating \u2013 often referred to as the Fast Diet. Basically, on 2 non-consecutive days of the week, you limit calorie intake to about 500 calories (600 for men). The rest of the time, you eat normally. I\u2019ve been doing this for two months now, and 500 calories is actually not too hard.\u00a0Poached eggs, smoked salmon, asparagus, lentil soup, fresh fruit – not too hard at all! Especially since it’s only two days per week. In two months, I\u2019ve lost 6.5 kilos. This week, I wore jeans for the first time in more than three years, and as I look at my wardrobe, and look at my sewing fabrics, and browse clothing images on Pinterest, I can now imagine myself as not-so-fat. There\u2019s still a whole lot more to lose, and it won\u2019t happen overnight, but I\u2019m feeling positive about it now in a way I\u2019ve not been able to before this way of eating.<\/p>\n So, with all these exciting new beginnings, I’d better keep moving and get on with achieving things in 2014!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I seem to be at the \u2018Beginnings\u2019 stage of everything at the moment.\u00a0It\u2019s the beginning of the new year \u2013 well, still early days, anyway! I\u2019m not quite sure how 2014 will evolve yet, but there will be plenty to … Continue reading ![\"Pippin](\"https:\/\/bronwynparry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/20140115SkyePippinPlay-300x225.jpg\")