Monthly Archives: May 2022

Adapting

Tenor-GIF-Keyboard – The Pet Collective

Because I’m older-than-dirt and have no gallbladder, I’m having to adapt my eating program to lose the lard. Even with taking all the suggestions I could find on making it work and trying several meds, it’s with regret I’m changing my eating regimen once again. I had done a good, conscientious job, turning the keto stick dark purple. I was losing weight gradually, but my digestion wasn’t being cooperative.

I’m still avoiding any added sugar, trying to keep it as low as possible. I’m still trying to keep starches to a minimum. I’m concentrating on veggies and fruit, with meat as a flavoring, rather than the focus. I’m adding fiber, trying to get my system working the way it should again.

I’m not worried about the scales or the measuring tape until my system is under good control again and my normal energy is back.

I AM continuing my exercise program as much as possible, though my cleaning-and-re-organizing-the-pantry-program has been a substitute the past three days. I’m getting all the exercise I can handle pulling and hauling things around, scrambling up and down the ladder for at least an hour each day.

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One Reason I Have Hope

Rio Samba Rose Bush

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Here

cheezburger.com

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A Dog’s Advice

fineartamerica.com

Don’t be afraid to try something different.

fineartamerica.com

Take time to indulge yourself every once in awhile. You deserve it!

Be a megafan.

Maria Z-dailypaintworks.com

Make sure the people you care about know it.

Slideshow Bruce-Two Dogs in a Fence-flickr.com.

Get into mischief.

scontent-gru2-1.xx.fbcdn.net

Give hugs.

suburbanmen.com

Protect what’s yours.

Take naps whenever you can.

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“Pretty-as-a-Picture” Baskets

ravenwhimsy.tumblr.com
redrockbaskets.com
felted wool-Micaela Losada Fieltro-instagram.com

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It’s Wednesday

Hello!

L. Roche Art-via Karen Miller -Pinterest- The Rose Gallery-“Happy Hoglet”

I hope that Wednesday is being good to you.

Ours is starting off quietly – a thing for which I am very grateful. My husband is still having technical issues with his Kindle going wonky. He is trying to find someone in support he can understand and who might be able to help him get it back on track. Otherwise, we’re waiting for a deposit to show up on a thing we sold so that we can box it up and get it shipped.

Yesterday I finally felt well enough to actually get started re-organizing the meds in our pantry – a project I told you about several days ago, but never actually did. I made a first pass and improved things a lot. We can now easily see what we have, things being divided into labeled trays and open boxes, such as, “cold and flu,” “digestion,” “current meds backup,” “pain,” “supplements”, etc.

Today I’ll continue making my way around the “supplies” half of the pantry, trying to figure out the best place for things, continuing to throw out and re-organize.

We went from “winter”-to-“wild-thunderstorms-spring”- to “full summer” in the space of several days. We’re still kind of in shock, amazed that we need to turn on our a/c. This is the quickest change I can remember. We just got our snow tires off and the regular tires on in the shop the other day! I’ll need to switch to being out either in the morning or late in the afternoon on working outside now. I would like to check on our veggie garden and our tomato plants very soon.

MoreLifeHealth.com/Seniors

Today I’ll plan to do the 3 short exercise videos: ‘warm-up,’ ‘stretches,’ and one of two ‘weights’ videos from Mike at MoreLifeHealth.com plus my yoga stretches this afternoon. I’m happy that I’m feeling well enough to PLAN for that today!

Make this a wonderful Wednesday.

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Filed under Challenges, DIET!, exercise, Organizing/DeCluttering, Thoughts on a ________

Sometimes…

Jennifer Priest-thechive.com

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Goal

Janine Demorest Ransom – CreativeSteph13

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Terrific Totes 3

ciing.com

etsy.com

Frauen Filz Dragonfly-de.newchic.com
Frauen Filz Esel-de-newchic.com
Saritaale-flickr.com

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More Todd Gladfelter Chainsaw Art

Todd Gladfelter Chainsaw Art

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Ugh

quickmeme.com via thriftyniftymommy.com

I had trouble getting out of bed this morning. I wanted to just pull the covers up over my head and stay there until further notice. I haven’t felt well for about 3 weeks now and it’s taking its toll on my ‘normally-bubbly’ personality.

I’ve been trying all the suggestions I can find about how to continue following the keto eating plan with my lack of gallbladder. I’ve found lots of suggestions, and I’ve tried every one I’ve found. The first time I tried keto years ago I found a wonderful medicine that was really helpful. I asked my doc to send in a prescription to our healthcare provider a couple of weeks ago. Finally, yesterday a representative called and said that the med wasn’t on the formulary anymore and that my part of the cost would be $181+. That was it. I can’t afford that, and I can’t afford not to be in control of my digestion, weight or no weight.

My friend Susy pointed me to an article on various diets and their ratings. I have decided to move toward the Mediterranean eating plan, with lots more veggies and fruit (a direction in which I was moving anyway to get more fiber). She then asked me why I thought my calorie limit should be 1200 calories a day. I discovered that I was stuck in the old food pyramid crap they’ve been spouting for as long as I’ve been alive and decided to research calories, carbs, protein, fats, sugars, etc. all separately and see what I could find.

This will be a work in progress, for sure, since my husband is NOT a fan of veggies, but hopefully, I’ll start feeling better soon and can find the combination that results in continued, albeit slow, success in my efforts to lose the lard. I’m enjoying some fruit for the first time in a long time, plus carefully chosen Healthy Choice frozen dinners for me while I’m researching.

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Stuff I Like – Odds n Ends

m.ok.ru
fBarbie the Welder – flip.it- Welding Projects Ideas Arc
hare – Etsy.com
jar idea – Pinterest

littlethings.com – lifecreativelyorganized.com
liveinternet.ru

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Fabulous Fire Pits 3

thefirepitgallery.com

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Blankets as an Art Form

Butterfly Balloon Blanket- rubytical.com- Nurse Clothin
Dragonfly Time -rubytical.com- Nurse Clothin
Leopard- Nurse Clothin – rubytical.com

Owl- pikunclothing.com

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Sweet Acorns

She loves me, she loves me not…
Trip

Play it!

Petr Vaclavek – Dubanci.cz

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Thoughts at the Start of the Week

A6605247-flickr.com

WOW! Last week I was still checking to see if we would have a freeze overnight and needed to cover up my plants. Today our high will be 90 degrees F. ! Mother Nature is anything but subtle. We ran the a/c last night for the first time. We woke up freezing early this morning and turned off the system and snuggled in while it warmed up. Now I’m turning on the ceiling fan here in the office. We have the doors open, but may need to close up and turn on the a/c downstairs this afternoon. Mother Nature’s middle name is ‘Abrupt.’

Spoon University

I’m inching toward my next incremental goal in weight loss. I’m trying to only look at 5 pounds at a time. That’s a “doable chunk” as my friend Maria encouraged me to do. It’s wise advise, particularly when the whole goal is super intimidating. Two more pounds and I can toast my efforts with a glass of water and a dance around the living room. :0)

I tried a new recipe for bread, sent to me by my friend, Susy. It’s called, “Bagels with Fathead Dough (Keto and Gluten-Free) by Maya at Wholesomeyum.com. My friend Susy said she baked them as ‘rolls’ rather than bagels, and I did the same, doubling the recipe. Maya made this quite simple. I just changed ‘6’ to ’12’ and the quantities of the ingredients magically changed on the recipe page. NICE! I found them quite interesting. Nice and chewy, satisfying to eat. I sliced one in half, eating the half, rather than the whole thing last night, cutting down on the number of carbs to stay under my limit. I’m a happy camper.

I have a complication on eating keto. I had to have my gallbladder removed several years ago and that changes digestion. Thankfully, the keto people are addressing this issue, so I’m working now to follow their suggestions, hoping they work for me.

We have no exciting plans for the day. I’m still working on re-organizing our medicines in the panty.

I hope this is a safe, happy day for you.

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Filed under DIET!, Keto Eating Plan and Recipes We Like, Mother Nature, Organizing/DeCluttering, Thoughts on a ________

Terrific Totes 2

DamenFilzKatzeMuster-de.newchic.com
sumki-online.livemaster.ru
Lynlee Grahams-mungfali.com

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Wire Sculpture

Anna-etsy.com
Robin Wight-estou-sem.blogspot.com.br.

Robin Wight-pixel77.com

Robin Wight-tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica.com

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More Wondrous Watercolors

artbyrachel.artweb.com
Irises-Artbyrachel-redbubble.com
Jeux De Lumiere-corinne-izquierdo.fr.
watercolourfanatic.blogspot.com

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“My Weight is Like a See-Saw, Baby”

“Yo’ love is like a see-saw
Love is like a see-saw baby
Your love is like a see-saw
Goin’ up and down, all around
It’s like a see-saw, hmm” ~ “See Saw” ~ Aretha Franklin

Tenor

Since I started my latest push to lose the lard, I’ve lost the 8 lbs I gained during the pandemic, plus another 2, so now I’m down a bit over 32 pounds and 29 inches since my heaviest.

I’m doing a combination of the Keto eating plan, aided by MyFitnessPal.com to make sure I’m eating within the parameters I set, and my exercise is a combination of MoreLifeHealth.com and Mike, an exercise guy who specializes in exercises for ‘seniors,’ my elliptical trainer on alternate days, and a session of gentle yoga stretches everyday. Things are slowly becoming more of a lifestyle change and more routine. Today is the end of Week 6.

My largest difficulty at this point is the need for extra consideration and modification because I don’t have a gallbladder. I found an article today on Hip2Keto.com on what modifications I can make to have the keto diet work best for me. I feel so lucky that knowledge is only a few clicks of the keyboard away!

I’m ‘see-sawing’ less and finally seem to be on my way toward significant progress on my goal to get to a healthy weight plus get, and stay stronger and more flexible as I add to my older-than-dirt status.

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Happy Mother’s Day 2022

Republic World

Motherhood is such a gift.

“Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials.” Meryl Streep

My personal path to motherhood has been a rocky one – story shorter – two miscarriages, then our son, Brian, then two more miscarriages, then our daughter, Jade, and then we lost our daughter to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in 1979.

We are lucky to have a grown, intelligent and caring son who not only loves us as parents, but also seems to genuinely LIKE us as people. Although he lives across the world from us, we are very close. Before he left, he set up a secure chat program and a conference call program. We chat several times a week and we do the conference call thing whenever we’re all awake and functional at the same time. (There is 12 hours difference half the year, 13 hours the rest because of daylight savings time here.)

My sweet sister-in-law wished me a Happy Mother’s Day this morning, sending one of our favorite photos taken some years ago when Brian was visiting a zoo in China, I think.

When we married, I hoped that we would have a large family. In my head I figured 5 kids would be a good number. That wasn’t in the cards, but we ended up with a close family, nonetheless – so lucky to be on the same planet as the son we both admire and love.

“When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” ~ Sophia Loren

Happy Mother’s Day to all those lucky enough to have children and grandchildren – the greatest gifts in the world.

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Terrific Totes

Kristel Hogbin
m.ok.ru
vinted.fr
en.louloumagazine.com-Flare

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Sculpture That Makes You FEEL

aprildesignsstudio.weebly.com
Balancing Act-randolphrose.com
dailymail.co.uk
Friends in Life-sorrelsky.com

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Good Morning!

imgflip.com via thriftyniftymommy.com
thriftyniftymommy.com

I’m hoping that my coffee will wake me up. For some reason, I’m really groggy this morning. I’m never a ray of sunshine first thing in the morning, but I’m not usually so aware of my less-then-perkiness.

Senorgif.com – KnowYourMeme

Two hummingbirds put on quite a display for us this morning. :0) Things have been slow in the hummingbird world because of our cooler-than-normal, wetter-than-normal weather, but we had seen we had two of them before. Today it was almost like the Blue Angels, with them flitting together across our view, then splitting off in arcs, then dive-bombing each other as one or both would try to stop at the feeder. Truly joyful display.

No plans for the day yet. I hope yours is good.

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In For the Day Now

Sylvester and Tweetie Pie

We changed our mailbox decoration and got our mail as we left the house to go to Lunch Bunch. This decoration makes me smile. I had forgotten how hard we worked to get Sylvester’s whiskers and Tweetie Pie’s hair welded on. Everyone seemed pleased with the bags of lettuce from our garden. We had a nice time catching up.

Afterwards, we stopped at the grocery. We just finished putting everything away.

I think the weather people were optimistic when they said the high would be 71 today. It’s almost 1pm and it’s still only 58 and overcast. It’ll have to hurry if it makes it. So I’ll wait until tomorrow, when it hopefully warms up some, before I spend more time in the yard.

I’m going to enjoy a cup of coffee and rest a little and then I’ll go put together the sausage, egg and cheese bake for our dinner tonight.

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Filed under Friendship, Keto Eating Plan and Recipes We Like, Lewis Art, Lewis Mailbox Decorations

Charles Schultz Philosophy


The   following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip.
You don’t have to actually answer the questions.

Just ponder on them. Just read the e-mail straight through, and you’ll get the point.

  1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
    2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
    3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
    4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
    5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
    6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?
The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.
These are no second-rate achievers.
They are the best in their fields.
But the applause dies.
Awards tarnish …
Achievements are forgotten.
Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?
The   lesson:
The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money … or the most awards. They simply are the ones who care the most.

Pass this on to those people whom you keep close in your heart.
“Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia!”

“Be Yourself.  Everyone Else Is Taken!”

  • Sent to me by a dear friend.

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Filed under Blog Repost - Wonderful Posts, caring, Family, Food for Thought, Friendship, love, making a difference, memories

Basket Freak

Crate and Barrel-zola.com

I think I’ve admitted to you before that I’m a real basket freak. I can justify why I NEED a basket at the drop of a hat. There is something about the shape and texture of a basket that gets my juices going.

etsy.com

Because of this, I have banned myself from stores which sell baskets, and force myself to only ‘look and drool and dream’ of baskets I see on the net, assuming I could afford to buy half of the ones I would like.

etsy.com

This is a garden basket. Isn’t it WONDERFUL? I already HAVE a Tupperware-type (plastic/rubber) basket that is easily washable (which this one isn’t) but isn’t it beautiful. Sigh.

joann.com

My juices flow as soon as I see one of these beauties. I can readily think of a thousand ways I could use them, where I would put them, etc. I’ve become a master at ‘how to use baskets,’ and I don’t have a BIT of modesty about it. :0)

lavenderandcompany
The Nifty Decor

I want them ALL.

wayfair.com

Maybe I could learn to MAKE them….

“A-tisket, a-tasket
I lost my yellow basket
Won’t someone help me find my basket
And make me happy again, again”
~ Nursery Rhyme

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Fun Friday

b-burnham

Things are looking up here. Things are finally drying out a bit here. It’s overcast, but it’s supposed to be 71 this afternoon and the sun is supposed to make an appearance – at least a cameo.

We’ll leave in about an hour for Lunch Bunch and a couple of errands. I’m taking lettuce from our garden to share with everyone. I LOVE being able to do that. We had a ‘main meal salad’ with chicken I made from a keto recipe previously last night. My husband remarked how good it was. :0) Tonight I’m making “Sausage, Egg and Cheese Bake” by Suzanne Ryan, Simply Keto. I’ve lost almost 32 pounds now. I’ll measure at the end of this month, but I’m hoping there will be less of me from the exercising I’ve been doing. Today I’m doing half an hour of yoga stretches, plus an hour combination of my regular 3 short exercise videos, and the “1B Workout video.” (I’m doing my elliptical trainer and the workout video on alternate days)

We had a brief note from our son this morning. I always feel good when I’ve heard from him. He sounds very busy and happy – all you can ask for.

Our dog, Amber, just caused both my husband and I to jump straight up from our chairs by suddenly letting out a HUGE sneeze – one so hard she hit her chin on the floor. Good thing it’s carpeted. I guess she must be allergic to something. It certainly jump-started our hearts!

I hope your Friday is a fun one.

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Enjoying ‘Parker Land’

Karen Bellandi

Yesterday I finished re-reading my collection of Robert B. Parker’s “Jesse Stone” series. There are 9 of them written by the author himself. I watch the movies made beyond that – having a huge crush on Tom Selleck – but don’t read the rest.

Today I’ll start re-reading his “Spenser” series. I absolutely love the combination of quiet toughness, competence, humor and wit of Spenser. He has a very low threshold for pomposity, self-importance, and lies. He also has a soft side that melts me into a puddle. You get to know him better book by book, situation by situation. I love it.

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Filed under Favorite Authors & Books, Hobbies, Reading is FUNdamental

Magnificent Metal

Jesse Meyer-jessemeyersculpturestudio.com
Thrussells Sculpture-thrussells.com

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Budget Sushi

momzdailyscoops.blogspot.com

hahahahahahahaah!

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