Hubert Robert – Title: “Le Pont Sur le Torrent” – visualelsewhere.wordpress.com
Monthly Archives: June 2018
Celebrating My Husband’s Health
I told you recently that my husband and I just celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary. We ‘renewed our option’ as we usually do at this time, but I told him that I wanted him to live healthy and happy so we could one day celebrate our 70th.
He has Type II Diabetes. We’ve been trying to get his blood sugar down for awhile now with varying degrees of success. He’s been doing better since we started Nutrisystem toward the end of April. We started monitoring his blood sugar twice a week after starting a new medication a couple of years ago. His blood sugar was in the 500’s when we discovered he had diabetes. When we started monitoring with the new meds, it was still at around 350+. (normal is below 100).
This morning it was 96!!!!!!!!!!!
He also complained of some dizziness about two weeks ago. We’ve been monitoring our blood pressure, so we noticed that his was low. We decided to have him stop the blood pressure medicine, taking his blood pressure daily and watching for any more dizziness. His blood pressure is now normal without medication and has been for a week or so now!!!!!!! No more dizziness, either!
I am SO happy for him. He is a HUGE sugar lover. (He even calls ME ‘Sugar.’) He was kind of in a funk having to give up so many foods and drinks he loved. We were able to find some substitutes so he has a hot drink he likes and a cold drink he likes. (He will only drink water to take pills, and occasionally when he’s been out working in the yard.) The Nutrisystem choices so far have been at least “edible” and some are ‘really good,’ he says.
He only has about 12 more pounds to lose to get to a healthy weight, but the blood pressure and blood sugar differences are life-altering-for-the-better. He used to have pain in his feet, but that is all but gone now. He still has a bit of trouble wearing certain styles of shoes. (We found good sandals for the summer and good boots for the winter. He’s still having trouble finding tennis shoes that are comfortable for his toes, but he’s functional.) He had double vision for awhile, but that’s gone, thank goodness. Restless leg is still bothersome, but not often anymore.
Food and drink changes are never easy. He knows more than anybody (he thinks) and so pooh-poohs what experts say. He is having to admit that he is much better now, feeling better, sleeping better. We are both delighted to see the blood sugar and blood pressure numbers.
I hope our new primary doc will see that we’re serious about trying to take care of ourselves when we see her the first week in August. :0)
Filed under Challenges, Changes, DIET!, Encouragement, Healthy Eating, quality of life, taking care of yourself
“Simply a Beauty”
“Simply a Beauty” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Gutter Covers?
LeafFilter Guard
The first of two people coming to give us estimates for covering our gutters is coming today.
As I’ve told you before, we have a two-story home. The guttering, of course, is along the edges of the 2nd floor roof. (Imagine that! :0) ) We are definitely too long in the tooth to be cleaning out the guttering – balancing on the two-story ladder, cleaning out the gutter, and then climbing down, moving the ladder a couple of feet over, then climbing up again….
We’ve seen the ads for the nice gutter covers on TV. I went to their website and they said their service wasn’t available in my area yet. I was disappointed, but decided that we could just continue to ignore our gutters.
Suddenly, two people called to talk about gutter covers! I found out later than they had been referred to us by HomeAdvisor.com. I didn’t remember going there, but I must have in my quest to find someone in our area.
Our information was given to three companies, two of which called and made appointments to come out and give us an estimate. The first one is coming this morning and the second is coming tomorrow afternoon. The second one asked me for an estimate of the number of feet of guttering we had. After I finished laughing, I told him I didn’t have a clue.
I’ll make sure I have an apples-to-apples comparison of the cost of this, including cleaning out the gutters, sealing the gutters (whatever that means – but it was in the ad on TV), warranty information (the ad said, “Lifetime warranty.” OUR life? The installer’s life? The gutter covers life? What does that MEAN?), clean up of all debris, cost of the project, and when they could do it.
I’m afraid, since I would really like to do this, we can’t afford it.
As my husband says, “Soon we will know.”
Filed under Housekeeping - Maintenance
A Committee of Vultures
“A GROUP of vultures may be called a ‘cast,’ ‘committee,’ ‘meal,’ ‘vortex,’ ‘venue’ and even ‘wake.'”
My husband and I were surprised to see something we’ve never seen before on the way to shop for groceries today – SEVERAL buzzards or vultures in one area NOT because they had found something to eat on the road. There were some sitting on the ground, others sitting on a fence nearby, still others on a big boulder – all at the entrance to one home that is down the hill from the road.
They were just sitting there. They weren’t flying around, playing in the wind currents, squawking, or anything. It was really strange.
Stranger still, on the way HOME after we had finished shopping, we saw them AGAIN, still sitting there…
As the sentence at the top says, one can call a group of buzzards or vultures by several names. I like ‘committee,’ of vultures, in that I’m reminded of politics….
Filed under Amazing Animals
New Recipe (Flex Dinner)
The rain has stopped, so we’re about to go grocery shopping. I’m getting the ingredients for a new Leaf Nutrisystem Flex Meal Dinner called, “1-Pan Rice, Chicken and Vegetables.”
I’ll make this when we get home. We eat ‘lunch’ at 2:30, so I’ll have plenty of time. “Why in the world would you fix a dinner in time for lunch?” you ask, having read the title of this post.
I’m trying to break through a plateau in my Nutrisystem adventure. One of the suggestions the Nutrisystem Chat counselor made was that I should try swapping ‘dinners’ and ‘lunches’ for one week and then get back to her. I’ve been doing this, plus the other things she suggested, such as being sure my ‘Powerfuel’ and ‘Smartcarb’ snacks were 80 calories, cutting down on the salad dressing (extras), and eating everything I was supposed to eat for the day, rather than skipping anything.
The result is that it seems to be working! I’ve lost 1.4 pounds this week, so I’m encouraged.
So, I’ll prepare our ‘flex dinner’ for the week and I will eat it for lunch, while my husband will have a serving for dinner, and I’ll freeze the remaining two servings.
Wish me luck?
More of Timothy Gallihan Art – Pencilworks
Filed under Creativity, drawings
An Owl Always Makes It Better
Loralee Lewis and Covia JeffJett
I love owls. There is something about them that speaks to me. I collect them. I try to draw and paint them. I have owl earrings and a necklace. I’m drawn to them everywhere I go. I realize this might be weird, but seeing one lifts my spirits. This lovely owl created with feathers by Loralee Lewis and Covia JeffJett I think is simply stunning.
Filed under Amazing Animals, Encouragement
Purple!
“Purple Flower” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Lavender and a White Butterfly” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Exotic Purple Flower” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Pet Peeve – “True Fact”
funny-sign.s.blogspot.com
A pet peeve of mine is misuse of the word ‘fact.’
fact
/fakt/
noun
- a thing that is known or proved to be true
Too many people say things such as, “This is a true fact.” What rubbish!
The word ‘fact’ is much like the word ‘pregnant.’ Either you are or you aren’t.
End of rant. :0)
Filed under Attitude, Pet Peeves
Mother, May I?
Healing with Art via Cathy Ruggiero
I planned to make glorious mistakes in my art room yesterday, since it was raining and I couldn’t work outside. Somehow, I couldn’t give myself permission to ignore some of the things that were staring at me inside our home that have been needing my attention. I ended up cleaning up the kitchen, getting the filing under control in the office, playing with the dogs, and the afternoon was gone.
I have a lot of fun in my art room. Much of the time I just enjoy looking at the nice supplies I have, thrilled at the potential! Sometimes I simply play, trying some new techniques, stirring the pot, getting my juices flowing.
I love it when I get an order for custom handmade cards, note cards, or stationery. I can combine my love of art supplies – all the colors – and smells – and FEELS – with the joy of playing, coming up with designs I hope my customer will love. When I have an order, I drop everything else and concentrate on creation, my customer’s wishes foremost in my mind.
At times like THIS, when I don’t have an order, it’s harder to allow myself to take time off. I almost feel I’m playing the old childhood game of “Mother, May I?” I’m trying to convince myself that playing is essential, that no one cares if the living room has been vacuumed yesterday, today, or tomorrow, and that I get no ‘points’ for crossing everything off my ever-growing list. There is a strong inner voice, though, that keeps repeating what a slob I am – that I should have a clean, well-organized home at all times….
I think I will try to SQUASH that mean little voice – maybe just for a while this afternoon – and let the joyous part of me play in the paint!
Mother, May I?
Filed under Attitude, Childlike Fun, doing what you love, Hobbies
Mother Nature is Smiling on Us
otthrive.com
This morning about 1:30 a.m. we had flickering power and a new thunderstorm. I stayed awake long enough to make a trip to the bathroom and then turn on our fan again before sleeping through the rest of it.
It was raining (still – again?) when we got up and had breakfast. Both doggies have been out and are back in – TWICE – both wet and happy from playing out in it. The cats are staying firmly in their cube beds on top of the woodpile in the garage, shaking their paws at even the THOUGHT of getting wet. The fish in the aquarium are unimpressed and bewildered by all the hubbub.
We usually shop for groceries on Sunday mornings, but we’ll hold off, not wanting our groceries to get any more wet than necessary. I’ve been on the front and back porches, though, a couple of times, enjoying the cool and the wet, the rumbling of the thunder, the blowing of branches, and the glorious smell of the rain.
Once this is over, we’re back into the oven that is Arkansas this year, so I’m soaking up all I can get.
Ahhhhhhhh!
Filed under Arkansas, Greenwood, Mother Nature
I Ate a Mangosteen!
Source Unknown
I told you a week or so ago that our son arranged to send us some Mangosteens from a place in Miami. He lives in Thailand, and this is one of his favorite things. I had never heard of them, but found out that pharmaceutical companies are going nuts making supplements from the powder. I actually bought a bottle and am taking the supplements, but I haven’t felt any difference, and don’t look a thing like Julia Roberts yet, so I probably won’t order another bottle.
The mangosteen fruit came really nicely packaged in a styrofoam box with a dry ice type thing in it. We looked at all the fruit, but all of them were really hard, like billiard balls. We put a few on the island in the kitchen to ripen.
I’ve been testing them each day, eager to try one. Finally, two of them ‘gave’ a tiny bit when I pressed them, so I followed my son’s video, sticking my thumb in just under the green leaves at the top and pulling the top off. I then pulled all the purple part off, exposing the nice, white fruit inside. It looks just like this photo! The purple part is fairly hard to get off, but I think this is mostly because I was hurrying things a bit, anxious to try the fruit. The first mangosteen I opened didn’t have white fruit, so I threw that away. The second one looked JUST like the one above, so I carefully separated the white sections, which are remarkably similar to an orange.
They are, indeed, delicious. I ate three sections – which were very small – and took the other three to my husband to try. He said, “These are nice, but not something I would travel far for.” I can’t wait for more of them to ripen. I put six of them in a paper bag, taking the suggestion from Marsha, a good friend of mine. We’ll see if that works. The rest are still in the fridge in their styrofoam box. I certainly don’t want them all ripening at once!
What a fun experience!
Filed under Delightful Surprises, DIET!, Healthy Eating
Inside Plans for the Day
ABSTRACTS by Sabina via Cathy Ruggiero
I’ve been fighting with my to-do list – it seems like for weeks now – not making much headway. Since today isn’t a good day to spend outside in my veggie garden, weeding my flower planters, or weed-whacking, I think I’ll take at least a bit of time this afternoon and play in my art room!
Filed under doing what you love, Favorite Quotes, Hobbies
A Tale of Two Planters
We have two brick planters on the east side of the house we converted to square foot garden containers. One of them is 2 feet x 8 feet and the other is a square, 4 feet on a side, in the nook between the back of the house and our screened porch.
The plants in the nook look extremely healthy and have some nice-sized green tomatoes. The plants in the other planter aren’t happy. I’ve had a few ripened tomatoes – all with blossom end rot.
According to what I’m reading, this is caused by uneven watering, too much fertilizer, or a lack of calcium. We have an irrigation system, and everything seems to be thriving with the once a day watering they’re receiving, except for this planter, so I don’t think this is the reason. I fertilized with some tomato food when I first planted, but none since. I suspect a lack of calcium. I sprayed the plants with “Rot-Stop” a couple of days ago. I then worked some bone meal into the soil around each plant yesterday morning. I’m not sure if there is anything else I can do, so I’ll just watch and wait a bit to see if this helps.
One of our favorite things in all the world is fresh sliced tomatoes, so I’m hoping that we end up with a good crop!
Filed under Gardening, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
It’s a Dawg’s Life
Amber took advantage in the rain let-up for a minute to take a swim in her clean kiddie pool, thanks to my scrubbing it out yesterday and refilling it. She is now wet and happily sprawled out in the foyer, taking a nap. I took some pics last night that I wanted to share. She has taken to sleeping upside down, back legs sprawled, half-on and half-off her bed n the evenings while we watch TV or a movie.
She won’t let you come up to her, no matter how soundly she seems to be asleep. I even had to turn on the camera in the office and get the flash ready before I came out to the living room to get these pics, but she will stay like this for a LONG time, very comfortably sleeping.
She has such a hard life. Don’t you feel sorry for her?
Filed under Amazing Animals, Family
Paper Art – Take 18
Filed under Creativity, paper art
Interesting Day
historythatsfake.blogspot.com
The weather alert thingie in our bedroom woke me up early this morning – about 2:45 a.m. – flashing red. I got up to see what it was warning us about. A severe thunderstorm. That started about 3 a m. There was an impressive amount of thunder and lightning, along with a good amount of rain – just perfect for feeling grateful we had a roof over our head, a strong house, and good windows – and then turning over and happily going back to sleep.
It was still raining, or raining again – though without all the fanfare, when we got up for breakfast. The dogs didn’t seem to mind going out to take care of business, but they were barking at the door only moments later. The wind was whipping trees around, so I closed the garage door for at least the morning.
We’re due for severe weather – rain, gusty winds, hail, possible tornadoes, possible flooding, and flying hair balls – this afternoon and evening, so the whole day will be interesting.
Both doggies have been out again and are happily playing. The cats are curled up in their ‘cube’ beds on top of the woodpile in the garage. The fish are happily swimming in their still-clean water. The people are happy they don’t have to go do a bunch of errands today. We might drive down quickly and get the mail at the bottom of the driveway, but today will be a nice inside day for us.
Hold onto your hats if you’re in our area today. If you aren’t, I hope you’re enjoying the weather where you are.
Filed under Mother Nature
“Valley of the Olt”
“Valley of the Olt” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
Charles Krauthammer 1950-2018
Chalres Krauthammer – photo credit – charlierose.com
AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM
“America is the only country ever founded on an idea. The only country that is not founded on race or even common history. It’s founded on an idea and the idea is liberty. That is probably the rarest phenomena in the political history of the world; this has never happened before. And not only has it happened, but it’s worked. We are the most flourishing, the most powerful, most influential country on Earth with this system, invented by the greatest political geniuses probably in human history.”
“I leave this life with no regrets. It was a wonderful life — full and complete with the great loves and great endeavors that make it worth living. I am sad to leave, but I leave with the knowledge that I lived the life that I intended.”
I always wanted to hear Charles Krauthammer say what he thought about an issue. He spoke clearly, calmly, and many times with humor. If he disagreed with someone else, he told them, but with respect for them and their opinion.
His book, “Things That Matter,” is one you shouldn’t miss.
Filed under Tribute
Thoughts as Summer Begins
“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.” — James Dent
forums.spacebattles.com
“The perfect summer day is with friends & flip flops.” – unknown
“Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.” ~Sam Keen
pastorchrisjordan.wordpress.com
“Dirty hands, iced tea, garden fragrances thick in the air and a blanket of color before me,
who could ask for more?” – Bev Adams
Filed under Favorite Quotes, holidays, Mother Nature
Estimates
We saw some commercials about LeafGuard gutter covers and decided to check it out.
We live in a two-story home. We don’t have many gutters, but the ones we have are important. My husband and I agree that we’re too old to get up on a two-story ladder and try to clean our gutters out, and we’ve never even gotten estimates on getting our cleaned out.
I filled out an online form on the LeafGuard Website, got all finished and hit “Get a free estimate” and then a pop-up said “There is no service available in your area.” Shoot!
I messed around, looking for other avenues and all of a sudden the phone rang. It was a guy from North Little Rock asking me about coming for an estimate for gutter covers! That’s a little scary! I talked to him and he’s scheduled to come Monday morning. I found out that he found ME through HomeAdvisor.com – a place I’d gone a week or so ago to see if there was anyone in our area who could help us. I got another call from a second company about an hour ago. He’s scheduled to come Tuesday after 3pm. There is a third place that was listed on the HomeAdvisor site, so we may get another call today.
We’ll see what happens. It will be interesting to see if they all agree as to the state of our current guttering, whether they try to sell us more, how many feet of guttering they say we have, whether they charge or not for cleaning out the gutters before they would install the covers, what the warranty is, what they would charge, etc.
When we have the written estimates in hand, we’ll go back online to see the reviews, get Better Business Bureau ratings, etc.
This sounds like such a good thing to do that we probably can’t afford it, but it’s good to dream…
Filed under Housekeeping - Maintenance
Clearing Out the Garden
Today I did a first session on clearing out the garden of bolted lettuce and broccoli plants. According to my heat index chart, 48% humidity doesn’t make the 85 degree temperature much worse. According to my old body, it’s really hot outside. I spent half an hour pulling out hugely tall lettuce and broccoli plants. The praying of the EIGHT
bug spray last week was still holding. I didn’t see ANY ants in the garden! It’ll take another session or two before I have things under control, but I got the worse of it done. The cantaloupe vines are looking good, with lots of blossoms, but no actual melons yet. I’ll take pics when things are a bit more under control.
One of the tomato planters is doing really well. The other one, not so much. The sad one had some ripe tomatoes, but they had blossom end rot, showing they didn’t have enough calcium. I sprayed them with Blossom End Rot stuff,
and tomorrow I’ll get some bone meal to work into the soil around the plants. I don’t know if that will be enough to save them or not, but I’m giving it a try. The other planter in the nook beside the screened porch is looking good with some fairly large green tomatoes. I’m hopeful we’ll have a good harvest from that planter. We LOVE fresh-off-the-vine tomatoes!
I mixed up another batch of EIGHT and got about half of it sprayed before needing to rest again. I found a big mound of the awful fire ants right next to our sidewalk in the back. There was one large mound and another smaller one. I hosed both of them down and caused much consternation among the ant population. I’ll spray them again later today and see if I can knock them out. I’m grateful that this spray doesn’t harm plants or our animals – just the bugs.
My husband is working on our small riding lawn mower, trying to solve some kind of problem with the blades. I’m going to go out to the shop and check on him now, and hopefully get him to come back and eat some lunch. Hopefully, later I’ll finish the bug spraying and get the rose bushes pruned.
I hope you’re having a good day.
Filed under Gardening, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
“White Pink-Laced”
“White Pink-Laced” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Paul Militaru Photography
creativeartworksblog 