Buried Treasure

We rebuilt a couple of raised garden  beds. We've been poking at it for weeks, but this weekend we really dug in (pun intended!) and got the job done before the expected cold weather arrives.  I'm so out of shape that a couple of hours of digging around in the dirt and burying treasures caused me to wake up in pain today.

My allergies flare anytime I spend much time outdoors too, but sometimes I just have to live. By the time church was over today, all the pain had settled in as a near-migraine headache. Seeing tree shadows on the road as we drove along really increased the sick feeling.

I came home, ate lunch, took Excedrin and Diet Coke, and headed on out to work. I hated doing it on Sunday, but that ox was thoroughly in the mire!  Anyway, the headache is gone, but I bet my body is going to be aching tomorrow.

I'm using "borrowed" pictures becasue it's dark and cold and I can't really go out and take pictures right now. Or at least I don't want to.

These are great to work with, and don't have to be "perfect" to look great--as long as they are straight.  We stained ours with a redwood stain.   https://www.lowes.com

This isn't ours, but it's close to the color we stained ours. Besides the pretty color, we hope it will make it last longer.
https://removeandreplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/DIY-Landscaping-Timbers-Raised-Garden-Bed_11.jpg

And that buried treasure I mentioned? I put a protective layer of chicken wire over it to keep pesky thieves from digging it up, and I have great hopes of a beautiful garden of crocus, narcissus, daffodils, and tulips blooming from early spring into early summer.  

https://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2019/10/squirrels-stealing-your-bulbs-heres-help/

https://newengland.com/today/seasons/fall/keep-squirrels-away-from-fall-bulbs/


These sites say squirrels don't actually eat bulbs, but believe me, they've taken and/or eaten every single tulip bulb out of planter boxes before. Gophers like them too. One year all my bulbs came up in a cluster, and I dug down--and down--about 12-15 inches--and found them all gathered in a gopher burrow.  On the California ranch where I grew up, Mom always thought it was the deer!  I bet it was gophers! There were plenty of them out on the ranch. The dogs would chase out deer anyway.  Either way, she found better luck with things like Vinca.

I'm back.

As my husband would say, I'm also front.

I'm sides, and middle, and back and front...and there's plenty of all of it to see.

I've had a couple of health scares which I won't detail right now, but I have decided it is once again a priority to take care of my body. Not just to get thinner, but to be healthy, to be fit.

More to come.

Baby, I've Been to the Beach in Boston

We went to Boston for the weekend, where we got to visit with our son's family. One of the children is a baby we had not met for the first several months of his life.  We were so delighted to become acquainted with him, as well as spending time with the rest of the family.

Because they rely solely on public transit, we walked, rode buses and trains, and took a couple of Uber rides.  I am thinking of walking to work from now on if the weather is nice. The only problem is that it will require rising a half hour earlier than I do now. I have to fight Mr. Night Owl even more if I am going to do that.

We went to the beach. I decided not to be self-conscious in my Hawaii-explosion swimsuit that I picked up at Walmart recently.  I just went right out in the water and hung out with the kids, helped build a sandcastle, picked up a few shells, and had a great time.  At the end of the time, I stood there in the warm ocean breeze with the sun on my shoulders and the sand under my feet, and I felt good. I felt genuinely good, and happy inside.  Some things just feel right, you know?

I didn't even know there were beaches in Boston, though in theory I did know that it was a harbor city...I only wish one thing. I wish that the beach name started with a B, because I could have added it to the alliteration in my title.

No, Offense, Grandma...

When I was visiting family last month, they all came over to the hotel for a get-together and swim. After I changed into my swimsuit, my 11-year-old grandson looked at me, and said, "No offense, Grammy, but I'm glad you're working out."

Out of the mouth of babes...I took no offense, but merely said,

"So am I! And I've lost 30 pounds so far!"

He was suitably impressed by that, but obviously I still have a way to go, as if I didn't know it already.  Meanwhile, I think it's perhaps time for a more flattering swimsuit.

Ashes

My burning commitment to get up at 5:00 and meet some of my daily goals fizzled out during a night of poor sleep, until upon awaking there was nothing left but ashes and a small ember of hope for another day.

Coming Back after Ten Days

Whew!  I got a cold and it knocked me flat!  I'm over the worst of it at last, but still have little energy. I come home after work every day and collapse.

Yesterday I decided to work out no matter what. I had awakened in pain, but I figured lying around all day wasn't going to help, but I ended up taking a nap for about 3 hours of the afternoon.  Finally, around 4 p.m., I selected a one-mile gentle walk DVD and started in.  It was hard! I did feel better afterward, and was looking forward to a shower.

My husband came in and said, "Let's go for a walk."  Okay, my shower can wait. This sounds serious, like he has something to talk about or something.  So I grab my keys, and we head out the front door--where I see friends waiting in their car. Husband tells me, "We're going out to dinner with friends." I waved at the friends and dashed back in the house to change my clothes. No way I'm going out to dinner in my workout clothes.  Time for a quick "sponge bath" and a fresh, pretty outfit, and off we went to a delightful dinner at a Japanese place.

I woke up much more pain-free today and I'm enjoying my Sunday and looking forward to a good yoga workout tomorrow to limber me up.

TGI--3 Day Weekend!

I enjoy my new job, but my body has not adapted well to the schedule.  I still have a cold that won't quit, but I am taking advantage of the weekend to rest a lot. That's all.

I'm a professional

I got a job as a learning resource center manager at a private college. It's somewhat of a cross between a librarian and a gofer, with some tutoring and IT thrown in for good measure.

I was doing pretty well and managing my sleep fairly well, and still managing to exercise at least every other day, until

WHAM!    

pixabay.com

Major allergy exposure has pretty much knocked me off my feet. I think it lowered my resistance enough that now I have a cold. So this week all I have done is go to work, read and play computer games.  As soon as I start feeling better, I will pick up on exercising more.

Maybe having a three-day weekend will help.  We were going to go out of town on Saturday but between my sickness and some unfortunate circumstances concerning the party we were going to meet, we had to cancel.  So I plan to work tomorrow and then shut off my alarm and sleep as late as I can, until I can breathe freely once again.

Sudafed is helping. It drains me like no other cold medicine will, but it can also make it hard to sleep.

August Book Reviews: Family Relationships in Literature

Dewey 800 appears to be a combination of literature and books about literature. Among them I found these two books which are oddities for the category. They were an interesting contrast.

Good Talk, Dad: The Birds and the Bees...and Other Conversations We Forgot to Have; Bill Geist, Willie Geist; Grand Central Publishing; Reprint edition (May 19, 2015)

This was a lighthearted memoir--a double memoir really--of a somewhat famous father and his somewhat famous son.  Okay, maybe both of them are famous, if you watch TV. I don't watch much TV, so I did not recognize their names. The title intrigued me. Bill has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame, so I guess that means he is famous.

It is basically a book of shared memories on specific topics, seen from the points of view of both father and son. It's a fun, sometimes serious, occasionally irreverent romp through their relationship as father and son. Although I disagree with a number of their opinions, the opinions themselves are well-expressed. The language is clean, the book well-written by both father and son.

I suspect they gloss over the rough parts of their relationship, but they seem to be loving and well-balanced, a family that on the surface would have been wonderful to grow up in.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Letters from My Sister: On Life, Love and Hair Removal; Eve Lederman, Faye Lederman; Skyhorse Publishing (September 30, 2014)

This book is equally lighthearted, as the sisters write back and forth on various topics.  Unfortunately it is neither as well-written or as clean as the book above.  Both sisters come across as promiscuous, though also appearing to be well on the way to misandry.  They want men; they want to date; yet they present men in an extremely negative light. The very first sentence describes a soccer group consisting of "the whiniest, wimpiest men" and sets the tone for their opinion of men in general.

I stuck with it until page 77, which was about 77 pages too many. I had enough of discussions on toilet paper theft, crotches and their issues, and what is wrong with their mother, of whom they speak quite disrespectfully. Not to mention, oh yes, the horrible wimpy men they meet, and the possibility that one of their friends, Jacob, is gay. They think their dad is homophobic, but their attitude seems to lean in that direction as well.

If a man wrote about women in the same disparaging way as these two write about men, I can only imagine the uproar it would cause.  I'm for feminism in the positive strides it has made to give women rights over many things. I probably hold my job, and definitely the right to vote, because of feminists who have gone before me.  However, I am for the promotion of women, not for the denigration of men. There is a distinct difference.

I said one of their friends might be gay. I do not remember which sister had that particular friend. To tell the truth, other than location, I had trouble distinguishing their writing from each other, so making the transitions back and forth between letters left me feeling disoriented.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Disclaimer:  I checked out both books from the library, and wrote this review with no financial incentive.

Life is all about change

Next week I will start a new adventure. I've been offered a full-time job.  When I think about the fact that I've never worked full-time in my adult life, it's a little scary. My husband reminded me that when I was in school it was like more than full-time. I was in classes 12 hours a week, working 10-15 hours a week, commuting 10-12 hours, and doing hours of homework on top of that.

This job means that in my off-time I really have to prioritize and focus on what's most important. Keeping up with fitness & health goals is one of those things. However, I will cut back on how often I post here, probably to once a week. I've about reached the point where there is not a lot to say anyway. I just keep plugging away from day to day.

Wish  me luck!

July--Dewey 700!

The books I checked out were about art, design, crafts, and more. I have a pile of knitting books I've thumbed through, looking for a pattern for my next project. I think I have the idea of what I want to do. I just need to work out some details--and finish the one I'm on!

I got off on a real fiction tangent--maybe it's just summer reading!  However, I have been reading Dreaming Green.

Dreaming Green: Eco-Fabulous Homes Designed to Inspire  
Lisa Sharkey and Paul Gleicher, Photographs by Linda Bell Hall, Clarkson Potter 2008. 

As you can tell from the picture on the front, this is not a book about cheap-looking recycled junk.  Sometimes when I see how cleverly they use "distressed" stuff on HGTV, I find it amusing. Put that distressed stuff in a rich home and it is decorative.  Put it in my home and it will just look like more old stuff. It's all a matter of perspective and comparison.

At any rate, the photographs and explanations in this book show that eco-decor can be absolutely fabulous. I suspect that using reclaimed wood and sustainable forests may be more expensive than building the usual way, but that's not the focus of this book.

The focus here is on what you can do to build or decorate an eco-friendly house, either using reclaimed and recycled materials, designing for the best energy conservation, or both.  I believe the earth is a gift, and while meant to be used, it should also be maintained and preserved for the future, so I appreciate the many ways the book shows that it can be done.

I think it's a bit like farming, especially the old way. You plant and harvest seed, but you don't eat or sell it all; you save some for seed for next year. If you don't do that, you cannot sustain yourself and support others.  I am not about stopping housing development for some rare tiny insect, but I am about taking care of what we have and carrying it forward for future generations. If we use up the earth, what are we leaving for our descendants?  That is the question to ponder as we fill our landfills, drive our cars, choose between oven, toaster oven, or stovetop, and choose light bulbs and toilet paper, and more. 

July Book Reviews

July--Dewey 700!

The books I checked out were about art, design, crafts, and more. I have a pile of knitting books I've thumbed through, looking for a pattern for my next project. I think I have the idea of what I want to do. I just need to work out some details--and finish the one I'm on!

I got off on a real fiction tangent--maybe it's just summer reading!  However, I have been reading Dreaming Green.

Dreaming Green: Eco-Fabulous Homes Designed to Inspire  Lisa Sharkey and Paul Gleicher, Photographs by Linda Bell Hall, Clarkson Potter 2008.  

As you can tell from the picture on the front, this is not a book about cheap-looking recycled junk.  Sometimes when I see how cleverly they use "distressed" stuff on HGTV, I find it amusing. Put that distressed stuff in a rich home and it is decorative.  Put it in my home and it will just look like more old stuff. It's all a matter of perspective and comparison.

At any rate, the photographs and explanations in this book show that eco-decor can be absolutely fabulous. I suspect that using reclaimed wood and sustainable forests may be more expensive than building the usual way, but that's not the focus of this book.

The focus here is on what you can do to build or decorate an eco-friendly house, either using reclaimed and recycled materials, designing for the best energy conservation, or both.  I believe the earth is a gift, and while meant to be used, it should also be maintained and preserved for the future.

I think it's a bit like farming, especially the old way. You plant and harvest seed, but you don't eat or sell it all; you save some for seed for next year. If you don't do that, you cannot sustain yourself and support others.  I am not about stopping housing development for some rare tiny insect, but I am about taking care of what we have and carrying it forward for future generations. If we use up the earth, what are we leaving for our descendants?  That is the question to ponder as we fill our landfills, drive our cars, choose between oven, toaster oven, or stovetop, and choose light bulbs and toilet paper, and more. 

Pre-Diabetes Changes, Part 2

The doctor said I should have no more than two fruits a day. Even though they are chock full of nutrients and fiber, they also have a lot of sugar in them.  So for Week 2 I am working on that. For this week I am cutting down to no more than three fruits per day, and only one of them juice. (Not counting lemon juice with a bit of Stevia in a glass of water.)

The trick here is learning what an actual fruit portion is.  An apple may be a portion, unless it is very large. Then it is two portions.  I had blueberries for breakfast. They are supposed to be a good choice.

Eventually I will cut out the juice entirely, probably in Part 3, but for now, I am just getting used to limiting fruit. It is such a lovely and easy snack. There is very little preparation involved in having a piece of fruit or a bowl of berries for a snack.

I need to look at vegetables, staying away from root vegetables except for beets, and find some that make healthy snacks or additions to a meal.  The trouble is, I am not a big fan of vegetables, and two of my favorites are currently on my "do not eat" list for food sensitivities.

Rainbow chard, raw. pixabay.com

I bought rainbow chard a couple of times. I like the flavor much better than spinach. It can be strong, and I haven't cooked it for year. I think my children didn't like it much.  With just the two of us, it's easy to steam up a batch for supper.

Rainbow Chard, sauteed with garlic.  Photo Credit: A Sweet Life

Yesterday I added Kale to a brown/wild rice blend, cooked in the rice cooker with skinned chicken thighs on top. This made for a nice, one-dish supper that was actually quite tasty.

Photo Credit: rosemarried.com

Today I made quinoa tabbouleh. It didn't call for cucumbers and tomatoes, but I added them in. It was really good, a nice light summer salad to serve with salmon fillet.  It called for fresh or dried mint. I did not have any, but I thought of a substitute. I opened up a Bigelow Herbal Tea bag filled with Mint Medley tea, cut open the bag, and measured out just the amount I needed. I saved the bag in the outer wrapper with a clothespin to hold it tight. It worked very well.  Now I wonder about using other teas as substitute herbs. It might be fun to experiment a bit.

June Book Reviews--Dewey 600.

Ha ha, yes, I really said June.  And now it's the end of July.

The thing is, I never really finished a single non-fiction book in June, though I started several. The 600 category had a lot of health and fitness books, as well as a few others about specific hobbies like gardening.  I took back the whole huge pile, so I can't even specifically review titles.

I started a book about pre-diabetes and diabetes, and one my doctor recommended about Lyme disease.  I looked at a book about plants in the house, which made me think about cute plant containers and not much else.  I started a book about a "new" exercise program, which boiled down to the same old advice--do this exercise, and oh yeah, by the way, eat right, and you will soon get so slim and strong.  I did a few new workout videos, which I probably won't buy but I enjoyed incorporating a change now and then.

So that is June.

Bike Adjustments

Photo from Pixabay.com

On my last bike ride, I had a little knee soreness, so I raised the seat another inch. This is great!

The only problem is that I now find the handlebars a little too low.  I started looking at YouTube videos on bike adjustments, and none of them quite fit the way my handlebars attach. Perhaps this is because I have a cheap bike.  I did learn more about how to fit a bike, including moving the seat back or forward if needed--and how to know if it's needed. I don't know if my bike seat can be adjusted like that.  If not, I'll probably go buy a new seat. This one is pretty much worn out.  

I may just take my bike to a bike shop to adjust the handlebars and get a proper fit. It would be worth a few dollars just to have future rides be so much more comfortable, and not to get neck soreness from having to look way up.

6 Days into Workout Program 3

It took me until yesterday to get my goal sheets reworked, and I already had 5 stickers to put on!

I'm doing much the same as last time around; the goal is 40 days of yoga and 40 days of aerobics, with a few small changes. I will ride my bike a little more often. I'm doing 30 days of Yoga Camp (still Adriene) plus other yoga programs interspersed at regular intervals.

Yoga Camp is a little more intense than 30 Days was, but I think I am ready for it.  I can do all the basic moves; I enjoy the variations she puts in now and then.

Cutting Out Sugar

I thought I had a pretty low-sugar diet, but when my doctor told me what I need to do to fight off impending diabetes, I nearly panicked. It's overwhelming. It's too much to do all at once on top of all the other changes I need to make.

Well, it really is too much. I decided to break it down into weekly, manageable steps. This first week, I am cutting out adding sugars to drinks or food. Smoothies? Use stevia. By leaving out sugar, I am discovering the actual flavors of the foods. No more sugar to mask sour blackberries--just be very picky when buying them.  No sugar to sweeten up my bowl of quinoa.  No sugar in a glass of lemonade. That's kind of tough. And herb tea?  Discover its original flavor if it has any. Take time to drink it slowly and let the flavor sink in.

Maybe it's a good thing I already had to cut out chocolate, because I can't imagine chocolate without added sugar.  Yuck!  But this makes it that little bit easier.  So, that's week one.

Another Small Goal Reached.

I went below a magic number today!  It's not an official goal, just one of those multiples of things that sticks in your minds.

Hurray!  I had stalled out for a while, and then this week I finally broke the barrier.

Paleo Diet or Heart Diet? Why not both?

The doctor went over my recent heart screening and there was a lot of warning red ink on there!  She also said I am pre-diabetic.  And this after  six months of exercise and eating less. I hate to think what they were before.

Now she wants me to make over my diet even more.  The official name of the diet is the "IFM CARDIOMETABOLIC FOOD PLAN."

From the cover of the "Comprehensive Guide for the IFM Cardiometabolic Food Plan."  

She said it's really quite a bit like the paleo diet.  I do have to cut back sugar almost entirely, and fruits to no more than two a day.  My poor sweet tooth is going to feel awfully deprived until I get used to it.  And my poor husband has to deal with all this as I adapt to one food change after another. This is a crazy journey.

In addition to the heart issues, my cortisol levels are not dropping in the evening like they should, which is why I can't fall asleep at night, so I've got a new supplement that may help with that.  If I can start getting decent rest, that should help me regain my energy.  I'll let you know...

Bike Ride

I aimed for 5 miles today, but when I mapped it I was at 4.79 miles.  It got hard a couple of times but I kept telling myself "You can do this."  Until finally, I was far enough out that I told myself, "You can do it. You have to. It's the only way home."

And I cheerfully found my way home. I did walk the last bit as a cool-down, but hey, my legs are moving. That counts, right?