I just spent about an hour outside, getting two more rose bushes pruned, cleaning up the elephant ear planter a bit, and hacking down a bunch of stuff overgrowing our trio planters. It will take several days to get things under a semblance of control, but I can handle the heat for awhile in the mornings now. I don’t know what these sweet blue flowers and greenery are called, but they sure are happy right now.
I thought the elephant ears would croak in all the heat. Even with the irrigation system, they look really unhappy in the afternoons. I got things looking a bit better, though there is more work to do.
We did take our trash down this morning – on our trash people’s holiday schedule. I’m HOPING the trash actually goes away, not strewn all over. I will be glad if I ever have confidence in this new trash company. So far, I feel jubilant when I don’t have to re-gather trash from the ditch and the road at the bottom of our driveway and call them…
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I’m going to TRY to get outside and prune more rose bushes this morning. I got snafued by strong sun yesterday, making me feel as if I were on a griddle. Hopefully, getting out there earlier will help.
Giphy
Today is DAY 54 of my daily yoga practices. I’ve added three new-for-me poses to my original practice, and I’m feeling progress on some of my poses. I’m stretching a bit farther, holding the poses a bit longer, differences no one but me could tell, but satisfying, nonetheless. NOTE: See the way this young girl is sitting? THAT is something I’ve been trying to do for about a year now. I could sit TOWARD my feet, but my knees would hurt too badly to even think about actually sitting that way. YESTERDAY, my bottom touched my feet for the first time. I was only able to hold it for a couple of seconds, but… :0)
With the rain we’ve enjoyed recently, the roses on our Rio Samba rose bushes burst forth. Now they’re sad, needing to be pruned. I just went out to see what I could do and gave up after a cursory amount done on only one bush.
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I felt like the sun was literally burning through my skin! I decided to be prudent and not actually allowing myself to emulate a fried egg sandwich and came in. I’ll try it again late this afternoon or tomorrow morning.
There is a LOT that needs to be done outside, but I’ll need to time it more carefully.
Today my dad would have been 104. I can see him in my mind’s eye and heart, laughing and being thankful he didn’t get to be that old. I wish he could have lived longer, though, to see what a wonderful grandson he has. My dad gave me the priceless gift of a sense of humor, and our son got it, too. When he gets into the ‘zone,’ I literally have to beg him to stop so my stomach will quit hurting from laughing and I can catch my breath.
I let my husband sleep in this morning, trying to do things quietly so he could get some extra rest. I try to do this quite often, but he usually hears me and gets up. This morning he apparently needed the rest, so I just stopped writing this to get him up so he’ll have time to wake up, have a cup of coffee, etc. before it’s time for us to leave for an appointment.
I hope you’re enjoying your Labor Day today. I always think of my dad on this holiday because he was born on Labor Day, September 6th, 1918. He always took great pride, saying that it was ‘appropriate’ that he was born on “Labor Day.” :0)
All my life the holiday meant that I had at least a 3-day, sometimes a 4-day weekend, a luxury to be sure. We cooked out, and the smell of meat cooking on charcoal is one of the greatest aromas in the world.
We have our front and back doors open, enjoying a cool breeze this morning! Ahhhhhh! I don’t know how long it will last, but it’s a beautiful way to start the day.
I’ve enjoyed being a sloth lately, listening to very talented people singing on “The Voice,” and reading a series of books. It’s good to let down every once in a while and not feel I have to ‘accomplish’ something.
I hope you’re in contact with people you care about today.
Our Sunday started off with a bang with Amber barking early this morning, waking us up. When I got downstairs, my husband was making coffee (thank goodness) and announced that ‘something’ had gotten into our garage overnight and gotten into the trash bag of stuff I had gathered Saturday.
Lowes
I got that gathered again and am considering whether we should close off the dog door we have in our garage door. Amber doesn’t use the door. When we’re awake and it’s not actively storming, our garage door is up. Amber sleeps on her bed in our utility room at night. I’m not exactly sure what we would need to do to close it off, but it looks like something we should at least consider. I really don’t want to regather trash in the GARAGE daily and THEN have to re-gather it AGAIN at the bottom of the driveway if the trash people don’t pick it up…
damndelicious.net
On a nicer note, I got the makings of beef stew into our crock pot first thing this morning. I put extra veggies in it and I’ll fix some garlic toast to go with it tonight. We’ll have enough for a meal or two after tonight. :0)
InstaShot – BoredPanda.com
Today is DAY 51 of my daily yoga practice. Yesterday I added “The Boat” Pose. Today I’ll add “The Cobra” pose and “Supine Leg Switching”
The BoatCobra PoseSupine Leg Switches
My basic practice is about 30 minutes. I think I’ll be fine with eventually spending 45 minutes to an hour.
I hope you’re enjoying your Sunday and that you have Labor Day off.
With all the awful things happening in our world today, our hearts are ripped out of our chests on a daily basis. Hate seems to reverberate from the walls, causing defensiveness, if not hostility, in return.
We can simply turn off and be numb to all going on around us, or we can LOOK for positive things that help us deal with the bad as well as possible. Being happy is a deep-down choice you make. It comes from within you, recognizing all the good you have around you and filling your heart with it.
When you decide to be happy, it flows outward, affecting those around you. All you have to do to test this is to smile at people you don’t know when you’re out in public. Most of the time, people may look surprised, but they smile back. Not a word has been said, but you’ve communicated and both of you feel better.
This blog is a place where I can share the good things I find with you. I hope that some of it lifts YOUR spirits, too. :0)
This may not seem like ‘happy dance’ territory for YOU, but for me, it’s HUGE.
I FINALLY found a holiday schedule for our trash service online. I’ve been looking for weeks and weeks without any luck. The powers-that-be were looking happily down on my head today, though.
I have bookmarked and saved the schedule now. I learned that our trash service for Tuesday will actually happen on Wednesday next week, due to Labor Day. THAT I can handle.
Now – if I can just get to the point where I’m not ‘jubilant’ each UN-holiday week that our trash has been picked up and we don’t have to re-gather our trash strewn all over the place…..
My dog, Amber, doesn’t ‘yog’ with me, but she snuffles and nuzzles me each time I start my practice now, getting as close to me as possible, turning over on her back with her feet in the air, cavorting around, biting one foot, thoroughly delighting in yet another chance to be loved, make me laugh – and possibly get another cookie.
I can’t say I’ve built a ‘habit’ of daily yoga practice yet, but I’m definitely automatically making time for my practice each afternoon, choosing my yoga over other activities if I’m running short of time. If my husband is in his chair, I automatically bring him a throw as I flip the switch that starts the ceiling fan, turning it off when I finish.
Boat Pose
Yesterday I added another pose to my practice. It’s another pose that focuses on the core – or abdomen – specifically, called, “The Boat.” There are some other poses in that article that I’ll add as I go, but one new one at a time is enough for now.
I’m hoping that my daily practice will allow me to move as freely as possible, with as much flexibility and balance as I can without a lot of pain as I age. I would like to increase my stamina. Since I hope to live a lot longer, this is a really important goal for me. I want to be able to do what I’d like for as long as I can, enjoying freedom without a lot of fear of falling or breaking bones.
I’ve improved a lot on my stretching since I started my goal of daily practice 50 days ago today. I haven’t gotten any younger, but I’m able to stretch farther in each of the poses and hold the poses longer now, or do more repetitions. I’m able to do my ‘normal practice’ plus now look for a bit more to add. Good progress.
Okay. We came home from Lunch Bunch and, instead of messing around, I went upstairs and FINISHED going through the books on my shelves in our bedroom, cleaned the shelves and reorganized the books. So that mini-project is finished.
I also, while I was up there, put away the laundry I did yesterday.
I came down with a load of books from the project above, listed them on my donation sheet and put them in one of the bags going to the library soon.
SO –
my dilemma is –
do I dive into another project, since I’m finished with the other stuff early, or
do I reward myself and read my book for awhile, and maybe even take a short nap?
boredpanda.comHand-painted, One of a kind Memory Box
Yesterday I spent much of the day listing memory boxes I’ve painted on my Etsy site, HandmadeHavenByLinda Today I’ll try to finish the clean-out-and-reorganization of my bedroom bookshelves, fold and put away laundry, and other equally exciting stuff. :0)
Today is Lunch Bunch. I know that two of our friends won’t be there because of needing to see a doctor. I’m hoping that Kay, and her husband, Bud, will be there. We finally got some rain overnight and are supposed to get more today. It would be nice if it holds off until we’re back from Lunch Bunch, but I won’t complain if it doesn’t. My flowers are saying, “ahhhhhhh!”
Glenning Welhan-Yoga Journal
I’m feeling more in control lately. Our eating in a more Mediterranean fashion, with lots more veggies and fruits, using meat as a flavoring, rather than the main focus of our meals, is working for us. I’m continuing to find ways to sneak veggies in, since my husband is hyper-sensitive to that, already deciding the veggies or the recipe featuring them will be ‘awful’ before he even tries it, but I’m getting better at it. :0) Some of the meals are getting rave reviews! I’m still kind of on my own, since there are very few ‘Mediterranean Recipes’ as such, that DON’T feature things I KNOW my husband will throw up his hands about, but what we’re doing seems to be in the right direction.
I’ve discovered that either cottage cheese or almonds is a good, filling snack for me in the afternoons. I’m trying my best NOT to be up in the middle of the night, when NOTHING deters me from stuffing my face. I’m on DAY 49 of my daily yoga practice today. Although I’m still an old, stiff broad, the yoga stretches really help me feel better. Our yellow lab, Amber, looks forward to my practices now, running over to smile at me, snuffle me, and try to push me off the mat before I sternly order her to get in her “PLACE.” (Can you STERNLY order anything while laughing?)
Over the past week I’ve lost 4 lbs. I’m using MyFitnessPal.com to make sure I’m staying under my calorie limit for the day. The big thing is that I’m feeling more in control of what I’m eating, drinking, and doing. The fact that all seems to be coming together to result in my losing part of the lard is definitely motivating.
Happy new month! May this month bring nice, calm weather to all of us so we can spend as much time as we would like outside. Things outside here look pretty ragged. I gave up trying to get things under control since Mother Nature was trying to fry me like a piece of bacon or steam me like veggies in a steamer each time I went out. I would love to be able to enjoy being outside again, to get my veggie garden under control, and my flower planters. It’s super-humid here right now, so it’s another ‘steamer’ day – but we MIGHT finally get some rain this afternoon and evening. All appendages are crossed.
IndiaMART
I’m finally seeing some progress again. I’m being a good girl with my snacks now, unless I’m up in the middle of the night. Then I can eat the entire fridge in one sitting. I don’t know why my motivation/determination/common sense flee the scene in the middle of the night. I’m just trying everything I can to NOT have to be up, and therefore NOT having to control myself when my defenses are down. So far, the smirk on my scales is fading. :0) DAY 48 today on my daily yoga practice!
Pexels
PROJECTS UPDATE –
I should be able to finish my project to reorganize the books in my bedroom bookshelves today. I moved more books into the guest room shelves yesterday (my Robert B. Parker collection), so my shelves in the bedroom are now ready to clean and reorganize.
My husband remarks every time he gets another drink from our main fridge how good it looks. (his highest compliment in that regard comes from the fact that he’s a Marine (‘once a Marine, always a Marine’) – he says it’s ‘shining like a diamond in a goat’s ass.’ Iffy as a compliment at best, but quite colorful and heartfelt, nonetheless…
I’m taking pictures today and will try to get some more products listed on my Etsy site today.
Last week I called to get our propane tanks filled up. (We have the main tank which is large and then a small one to bring heat to our shop.) It took me a full 20 minutes to get through the phone tree and then answer all the questions of the person in the call center.
I know that these are hard-working people, but I don’t understand why the people who TRAIN them can’t emphasize speaking in a straight-forward, simple manner as clearly as possible. (My husband hangs up immediately when he figures out he’s talking with someone in another country. He cannot understand them and quickly loses his temper.) I’m better, but I still get very frustrated at the canned speeches the workers must follow. The accent is heavy – with the em-PHA-sis on the wrong syl-LAB-ble and they ‘shotgun’ the canned stuff, understandably saying it as quickly as possible to get it over with. By the time I realize they have finished the canned stuff and finally asked a question, it’s hard to tune back in. Anyhow, by the time I finished ordering a fill-up for both tanks, I was exhausted.
The guy with the propane came yesterday. My husband went out to monitor the fill up. When he came back in, he was frowning. The guy only filled up the small tank for the shop. He said he hadn’t been authorized to fill up our main tank, so he couldn’t. We would have to call in again.
I gritted my teeth and called back yesterday. I have now ordered a fill up on the main tank (I THINK) and we have to wait another week.
Something that used to be so simple – a 5 minute call once a year – is now quite a challenge with the ‘improvements’ the company has made.
We’re about to put this month to bed and I couldn’t be happier about it. I’m hoping we’ll get a cool-down soon – with more than a tease of rain chances – so I can enjoy being outside again.
IndiaMART
Even though my scales are still laughing at me, I saw improvement this morning. I found a new snack – 1 oz of Blue Diamond Lightly Salted Almonds with Sea Salt. The 1 oz is about 28 almonds. 170 calories. Filling and delicious. I’m enjoying them with a bottle of water after my yoga practice (DAY 47).
When we leave for errands today, we’ll change out our mailbox decoration. This scarecrow helps us welcome hopefully cooler weather with open arms.
Right Attitudes
I’m going to concentrate on my bookshelves in our bedroom today. I’ve moved a bunch of books out of there into the guest room, plus gathered a grocery bag of books to donate to the library. Today I’ll see if there is more to donate and then clean the shelves and reorganize the books.
I’m feeling pretty good right now. I just finished cleaning my kitchen fridge.
LG Fridge
This one looks a lot like ours, except the outside of ours is black.
I took everything out, took out and scrubbed all the drawers, wiped everything down with a bleach-based cleaner, then went through everything, throwing away outdated stuff, ‘old’ stuff, and – I have to admit – stinky or gooey stuff.
I’m now using the pull-out drawer that runs all the way across the bottom for the few meats and more cheeses that we have. I’m using the two drawers above for fresh produce – one for salad and cooking veggies and the other for fresh fruit.
It’s easy to see where things are without having to dig down, and – nicely – it’s easy to reach things and get them out without any difficulty.
My husband came in to get a drink while I was working and said, “Wow.”
creativeartworksblog 