Tag Archives: yard work

Sleepy Tuesday 9-10-2024

Harvard Health

I’m struggling to wake up fully this morning. I feel tired and blurry.

Yesterday I had a productive day outside. I finished weed whacking the yard, front and back, weeded the rock bed in the back, then used the leaf blower to blow the debris off the back and front sidewalks, the front porch, and the driveway pad. My husband mowed, so we look pretty civilized – for us. :0)

Today I plan to gather the last of the tomatoes and then pull the plants for the season. My tomato sucker plant got pretty large and actually produced some blossoms, but with the lowering of temperatures, it won’t produce fruit, so it goes, as well. Good experiment. I also plan to mix up a two-gallon container of Killzall and spray the areas that need it. The weather people are saying we have today with lower temperatures and lower humidity before a warm-up, so I’ll try to take advantage of that.

In the art room, I painted the finished wood-burned piece with a coat of varnish for protection. I’ll bring it down sometime today, take pics, and see if I can get it listed on my Etsy site. I also worked on another piece, making a good bit of progress. A third is outlined.

I fell in love with these, bought them, and received them yesterday. I’ve never seen any like them before and look forward to wearing them.

I wish you a happy Tuesday.

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Monday 9-9-2024

woodstownwhimsies.blogspot.com

I love this little guy.

I did a LOT of weed-whacking yesterday. We had ‘weed-trees’ under the deck which were too much for the weed-eater, so I ended up pulling them up or cutting them off with a handheld cutter and THEN weed whacking. I’m going to try to finish the back yard today, plus weed the rock bed in the back that runs along the house. Then I’ll spray needed areas with Killzall.

I’m trying to get outside right after lunch each day the weather is cooperative. By then the vegetation has dried from the heavy morning dew we’re getting, but the current heat isn’t oppressive. GOOD situation for trying to get things under control outside.

We will gather trash and drive it down today, plus get our mail. I don’t know if we’ll do anything in town today or just do things another day.

I hope you are well and happy today.

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Saturday 6/1/2024

Pinterest

My SIL wrote this morning, telling me about a ‘cat door latch’ that can help solve some of our problems trying to get Amber and Jet to co-exist. We’re researching the various options (I didn’t even know these existed) and we’re excited about Jet being able to go in and out from the back bathroom (and her food, water, and kitty litter) whenever she would like without Amber being able to go in and wreak havoc.

My husband immediately wanted to cut a cat door in the bottom of the door, but I would really rather not. We don’t have anything to go over the door and the optics would be less than great. I’m hoping that my husband can look at the options, decide which one would be sturdy and easy to install, so we can get one ordered. I would still need to shut her in there – without egress – when Amber (or we) are eating, but that’s a minor detail.

IT’S NOT RAINING! I’m thinking about spending some time in the yard this afternoon, weed whacking, spraying, pruning, etc. I’m hoping that the man who specializes in greenery removal will call sometime soon and come to give us an estimate we can afford for clearing up the driveway. The trees on both sides are attempting to merge…

UPDATE – My husband has chosen a cat door latch that will be easy to install and use, plus still gives me the option to actually prevent Jet from coming out when it might be dangerous for her. He is ordering it now. HOORAY!

Have a good first day of June!

Leave a comment

Filed under Challenges, Changes

Wednesday 5-29-2024

TikTok – @ricosnappin – Rico – 2023-9-4

In about half an hour, I’ll be leaving to get my hair cut. While I’m out, I’ll run several errands. When I get home, I’ll check for mail and see if the good trash people have emptied our can yet. If so, I’ll drag it up to where it lives before I drive up.

If I ‘hold-my-mouth-right,’ tomorrow MAY be the day we get our driveway repaired. So far it looks like Mother Nature is calm for today and tomorrow. We’re supposed to get rain much of the day Friday, so the guys may decide it’s better to do it next week, when it’s supposed to be dryer. I’m just happy that we are on the list to get the work done.

Yesterday I got out and watered our tomato plants and sprayed them with EIGHT for bugs. So far, I’m only seeing grasshoppers, but the worms are always hard to see and do their damage before you can blink an eye, so I’m trying to stay ahead of them.

I’m also planning to do a bit of weed whacking and spraying with KILLZALL to treat the non-mowable areas in the yard, as well as edges today.

I lost pound #28 this morning, so I’m feeling good about my efforts lately. May this continue!

Jet and Amber are still managing detente. Jet hisses when Amber gets too exuberant and I hold my breath, but so far, things are workable. My husband is still cooperating on trying to make sure Jet stays in the house until she really understands where ‘home’ is.

I hope that today is a nice one for you.

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Moving the Lard

I am currently doing three things to move the lard in an effort to keep all my parts moving in as pain-free a manner as possible for as long as possible.

THING ONE– Senior Online Exercise Videos by Mike from More Life Health Seniors – There are a whole series of these. If you’re interested, click on the link above to scroll through the offerings. I’m trying to do at least two different ones daily.

THING TWO – a 30 – 40 minute session of old lady stretching yoga daily. I have made my own series of stretches and positions now, but I started with a “Gentle Yoga ” DVD I purchased through Sixty and Me by Kat Kabira. She got me over my intimidation of the whole yoga idea, stressing that stretching toward, and breathing into, stretches and poses was as good for beginners as ACTUALLY being able to bend over and touch your toes, for example. I do a lot of “stretching toward” and “breathing into”, and I can tell you that I really feel the difference if I don’t take the time to do my practice.

thumbpress.com-boredpanda.com

THING THREE – And finally, I try to get outside daily (if Mother Nature is feeling cooperative) to get some fresh air, walk around, and do something good in the yard. It may be half an hour harvesting veggies, weeding flower beds, weed whacking, spraying bug spray or weed control spray, etc.

The combination of these three things plus watching my carbs and sodium is all working together in my efforts to lose the lard. MyFitnessPal.com is a free website where I can list my exercise, my weight and measurements, and the foods I eat daily to make sure I’m staying on track. I believe I have finally found a good, healthy combination to accomplish my goal of staying as healthy as possible as the years pile on. :0)

Leave a comment

Filed under DIET!, exercise, taking care of yourself

SUNNY Thursday 5-9-2024

Andreas Roeth – Pinterest

It’s almost like a ‘wonder-of-the-world’ thing to see the SUN shining this morning. It’s BEAUTIFUL. We came through some really pervasive yellow and red blobs on the TV screen weather warnings of ‘severe thunderstorm warning’ and ‘tornado watch’ with some heavy rain and LOTS of lightning last night, but no damage we’ve found yet. We’re very lucky and very thankful.

Since my energy level has been really low lately, I was happy when our doc saw that my blood test showed that my thyroid replacement hormone dosage was too low. She increased it, so I’ll get another blood test in 6 weeks and we’ll decide if any further increases are needed.

I was expecting my electric meat slicer to be delivered tomorrow. It was just delivered by our wonderful mailwoman today! She is a really nice lady and drives up our driveway as if it isn’t a mess. AND she brought the slicer! I’m going to rearrange things on my counter so it can live and be well-used on a regular basis there. I’m thinking I’ll see if I can order a cover for it, as well.

I MAY have a line on a father/son team who can repair our driveway. I got their name from a friend, plus the name of the chat that is used on streets that my friend said we should put on the driveway.

Today we’ll go to Stu’s Clean Cookin’ in Greenwood to get some frozen dinners. My husband has always liked their dinners, but they didn’t meet our needs a while back, so we stopped going. I discovered last night that they have new low carb offerings that are also quite reasonable on sodium. HOORAY! Soon I’ll be able to cut my intake of salt in my food by at least half, if not more.

I plan to harvest lettuce and spinach from the garden and finish cleaning up in two brick planters today. Then I THINK I’ll be ready to go buy some flowers to plant. :0)

I hope you’re doing well and can make this a very enjoyable day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Sunny Sunday 4-21-2024

I’m having a small “moan-and-whine” session over our coming weather. I got outside yesterday when the light rain stopped and managed to weed one brick planter. The weather was PERFECT for weeding – cool with a light breeze and cloudy. Today through Tuesday of next week is supposed to be nice, as well, so I’m really happy about that. I need to spend a lot of time in the yard trying to get things weeded and pruned, plus tending our veggie garden.

Wednesday, though, things fall apart big time. Showers and thunderstorms start then and continue through Sunday, May 5th, with only one day showing sunny. ONE!

UGH. Hopefully this rain won’t be non-stop, and I’ll be able to get out there and get things done in-between, but the forecast as a whole is pretty grim.

I’ll try to work around the weather, getting things as under control as possible. I’m going to walk around the yard now and take some pics to share with you.

Happy Sunny Sunday!

Leave a comment

Filed under Mother Nature

Welcoming Spring 2024

leahbelle-thePixMix

Somehow I forgot to send Happy Spring Wishes yesterday. My apologies. I DO send them to you. :0)

I finished planting my spring garden yesterday afternoon. We got the rest of the plants yesterday morning and I waited until it warmed up to actually plant. Yesterday I planted 6 more spinach plants and 8 tomato plants.

This is the 8-foot planter. I planted Butter Crunch leaf lettuce, iceberg head lettuce, and spinach. Due to space, I just spread the plants out as best I could, changing from one type of plant to the other, rather than planting the spinach 4-to-a-square, and the leaf lettuce the same way. I’m hoping the plants will do okay like this.

This is a closer view. The plants have a bit more room to spread out than in traditional square foot planting.

This square planter has 4 tomato plants around the center pole with supports tied to the pole for sturdiness. Then I planted some of the lettuces and the spinach around the perimeter.

The ‘niche’ planter (because it is sheltered by the back of the house and our screened porch) has the other 4 tomato plants. I’m going to TRY not to allow the plants to spill over the side onto the ground this time. I really hate cutting healthy vines, but I’m telling myself that all the energy goes to the vines, rather than producing tomatoes…

Today I’m planning to get there this afternoon when it’s warmer (it’s 47 now) do some weed whacking, fertilizing, and soil-enhancing.

This yard work PLUS my yoga practice PLUS my normal other activities is really making me welcome the bed at night. Probably good for building my character, as well. :0)

Are you growing a garden this year?

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds

Saturday 11-25-2023

Tenor

A quick “hi” before I leave for a much-needed haircut. After, I’m HOPING to get two macaroni-and-cheese-with-chicken-chunks bowls from the deli/bakery at our local Harps. This is my new favorite thing, so fingers, and all other appendages, are crossed that they have some today.

I’m hoping the stars will align so that I will get outside to do a bit of work this afternoon. A cold front is coming in, so the high will drop about 10 degrees tomorrow.

My husband is making a stainless steel cup holder to go on his TV tray in the living room. This is because he has become a MASTER at spilling whatever drink he has at the time. I warn him – he says he’s being careful – and then down the drink goes – all over the carpet – AGAIN. It’s not cute anymore. He worked most of the afternoon yesterday on it and thinks he can finish it today. I don’t know if the plan is to anchor something to the tray table or just put the glass in it. We’ll see and hope for the best.

I hope that today is a beautiful one for you, too.

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Saturday 9-30-2023

VinePair

I don’t actually have this hole in our back yard, but one about half this size is what I mentally picture from time to time when my husband and I are having a disagreement…

I won on the latest ‘discussion’ of whether Amber should be wearing her cone or not. Her surgery was Wed. This is Saturday. She’s supposed to wear it at least a week, if not two, so she doesn’t mess with the stitches on her arm or paw at her eyes. End of discussion? NOOOOOO. Just the beginning. After I went outside to contemplate the hole, my husband finally relented, so Amber is protected from herself again. Fighting over things that shouldn’t be issues is exhausting.

________________

The 8 Hour Diet by David Zinczenko with Peter Moore

I read Intermittent Fasting for Seniors by Norah Halstead recently, since I’m trying to put together things that will help me lose and then keep off my lard. Norah’s book made me want to learn more – specifically, more details of what to do and how to make it work.

I’m now reading the 8 Hour Diet. It expands on the idea of intermittent fasting, zeroing in on the time I had chosen from Norah’s book, where you fast for 16 hours and then eat during an 8 hour time window. I’ve been doing this for several days now, even without more information, and the scales began to notice this morning. The smirking was less, enabling a small smile to appear on MY face. I’ve been bouncing around about 10 pounds off lately, and this morning I have almost 12 pounds off. I feel that I’m working a 1,000 piece puzzle, but the pieces are finally beginning to come together.

I’m about half way through my first reading of the book. I’m dog-earring pages to read later (like success stories) because I’m already convinced that this might help me in my efforts. I’m digging for the meat – the details these two men are providing – that may lead to success for me. I’ll share more as I go, but thought I would go ahead and recommend this book in case you are considering intermittent fasting.

_______________

Craftsman – Lowe’s

We have a push weed whacker similar to this. I’ve been planning to use ours to do a major clean-up around our garden. It’s WAAAAAY to wet to do it now. I was just walking Amber and came in with not only my shoes wet, but my jeans about half way up to my knee! Waiting till afternoon seems good, but the temperatures have been climbing into the 90s – too hot for me to do much. I’ll give it a try, but I may have to wait until the afternoon temperatures moderate a bit more.

I hope that you enjoy this last day of September. I’m hoping that October brings us some good fall weather.

Leave a comment

Filed under Book - Movie - TV Reviews, Challenges, Gardening

Other Thoughts on Monday 9-11-2023

Phyllis Harris

I love Phyllis Harris’ work. She has several books and coloring books on Amazon. :0)

STUPID MOVE OF THE DAY –

I won this contest hands down (pun intended) yesterday. I needed to open a box of baking soda in order to pour it into an over-center container I use. I was using the scissors to open the top more and ‘suddenly’ the handles of the scissors snapped shut, pinching my hand just below my thumb. It happened really fast, hurt like crazy, and had me bleeding all over the place. Thankfully, I was in the kitchen where it could be wiped up, band-aids found, etc. I only have a little bruise today. It isn’t even very sore. The intense feeling of stupidity remains.

My outdoor to-do list for today is 4 planters around our garage pad. (There are two small ones and two regular-sized brick ones. ) If I can get them done, I’ll post pics later.

Nursery World

If I finish those, I’ll try to get to my art room this afternoon. I’m still practicing with the pen type engraver. It’s a good thing I have a lot of practice time. The jury is still out on whether I can actually do well enough to create the Christmas presents of etched glass I’m envisioning. I’m also having a great time producing some signs with sayings I like.

Attitude Sign – 6×8 Hand-Painted Sign on Hardboard – “Attitude” – $14.99 with FREE SHIPPING to the contiguous U.S. HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy

Enjoy your day!

Leave a comment

Filed under HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy, Thoughts on a ________

It’s Monday 7-24-2023

HANDMADEHAVENBYLINDA ON ETSY –

Mosaic/Wood Picture Frame – Hand-Made, One-of-a-Kind – 8.5 x 6.5 mosaic-on-wood picture frame. This is a one-of-a-kind, free-form mosaic design on a wooden frame that holds a 4″ x 6″ picture. There is a wooden dowel attached to the back that fits into a hole to make the frame free-standing. $32.95 with FREE SHIPPING to the contiguous U.S.

Questions – contact me at lindawlewis1@gmail.com

Link to item on Etsy

______________

The Guardian

YARD WORK –

Thankfully, the weeding of yesterday’s iris planter was the last in the series. There is always something to do, but this was the last of the totally-out-of-control projects. Today I’ll gather what tomatoes I can and make some hard decisions on whether to try to trim up the remaining plants or pull them out.

______________

BRAIN REBOOT?

EveryPixel.com – depositphotos

I had to get a new watch a few days ago because the band on the watch I had broke and couldn’t be fixed. I got a humongous el-cheapo watch at Walmart. I managed to get it set correctly. It tells me the time, the date, the day, and the seconds. The biggest problem is my brain. I’m used to looking at the old watch. The new one has the date at the top and the time below – directly opposite from what my brain is expecting to see. I have to look at it twice each time to figure out what I’m looking at. I guess this is yet another perk of getting ‘more mature.’ :0)

_______________

POOR START TO THE MORNING –

Healthline

My husband and I have discussed his trying to carry everything at once, rather than make a couple of trips. Needless to say, my suggestions fall on deaf ears.

This morning he was trying to put breakfast stuff away. Suddenly, the box of Cheerios went one way, the box of blackberries went another way, and his bowl bounced on the floor with leftover milk and spoon going in a third direction. I was mainly thankful that he didn’t drop the milk! We spent the next few minutes cleaning up. Our dog, Amber, happily cleaned up the leftover milk and licked the bowl (unbreakable) clean. This is an ongoing discussion – as is his tendency to put things right on the edge of a table, shelf, or counter…. Makes life more ‘interesting;’ THAT’S for sure!

Happy Monday.

Leave a comment

Filed under HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy, Thoughts on a ________

Thursday Thoughts 7-13-2023

facebook.com-youtube.com-Liana Ribeiro

It’s 82 degrees and I THINK has just finished raining here this morning.

My husband did some mowing right before dark. He didn’t finish, but maybe he can do more this evening, if things will dry out. I finished the second flower planter weeding. I don’t know if I can do more today or not.

Before

After – though beaten down a bit by the rain overnight and this morning.

The rainy-ness of the day MAY mean that my husband won’t sneak out a work on cutting down a tree in the “Dangerous Heat Alert” for today, as he did yesterday…

He may decide to substitute that for LED tube installation in our bedroom. I can’t say I’m looking forward to that, but as my mom used to say, “Everything is relative.” This means more to me every day. :0)

Have a fun Thursday.

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

All RIGHT!

Dribble.gif

I just came in from weeding. I finished the other two planters in the trio of brick planters running between our front yard and the driveway. I’m sitting here with my sweatband still on, drinking like a camel, and trying to cool off while patting myself on the back. That’s IT for outside today.

While I was weeding, the UPS man came up to deliver a package! That is amazing in that most of the drivers now just leave packages by our robot at the bottom of the driveway. Some let us know. Some don’t. I thanked this man profusely and made sure he had another bottle of water. We laughed together when he showed me that the package had ‘FEDEX’ on the side… :0)

He brought us the replacement for our air pump for our mattress. My husband just put it in and it seems to work fine. The next step is trying to find and repair leaks in the mattress before putting things back together.

My husband went to town to return a box of fluorescents. He discovered that yet another insult to how old we are and how long we’ve been here in this house is that our fluorescent tubes and the ballast transformers that go in the fixtures will no longer be made starting in August of this year. He read a bunch of stuff and figured out that LED tubes don’t use ballast transformers. If you take out the transformers and rewire the fixture, you can then use the LED tubes in the existing fixture. So this starts a pretty big project for us, changing out the transformers and wiring in each fixture. I’m hoping that we’ll do this in a calm fashion, but I’m dealing with EverReady Man who thinks he’s still 25…

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening, Housekeeping - Maintenance

Tuesday 6-27-2023

Send by my friend, Carol.

_________________

Yesterday I waited until 5pm and THEN went out to do some weeding in the planter trio that runs end-to-end between our front yard grass and our driveway. The three planters are totally overrun.

The first thing I did the other day when I was weed whacking was take the loppers and hack back the total overgrowth of our forsythia and wisteria in the planter that is farthest from the house. Only then could I get close enough to the planter to weed whack.

Yesterday I started on the OTHER end and attacked the Bermuda grass that had taken over that planter. I spent half an hour, got the planter nicely cleaned out and started cleaning up and getting ready to go in. (The sun was fading a bit at that hour and I wasn’t in the direct sunlight, but the heat index was high and I had promised myself to do a short session.) My husband came out with the dog to check on me as I was gathering things to come in.

To say he was amazed at the planter is an understatement. :0) He used the word, “Miracle” several times. :0)

I’ll try to do the same on the middle planter this afternoon.

Our day should be a quiet one today. We’ll go mid morning to get our mail, pick up a few groceries at the local store, and drag our trash can back up where it lives higher up on the driveway.

I wish you a happy, productive, safe Tuesday.

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Monday 6-26-2023

Mark Gray Photography

This man’s photography continues to amaze me.

_______________

We are home from our errands – our trash gathered and left in the humongous container from the trash company. My husband did NOT skid on the gravel today. :0) We got our mail and then drove to town to mail the memory box I sold. Even though it is ONLY 88 right now with a high of ONLY 96 this afternoon, I am grateful for good air conditioning. I have found that as I age, my ‘comfortable’ temperature range narrows considerably.

I will fix lunch soon and then will probably take a nap. (Isn’t my life exciting? – ACTUALLY, one of the best things about being older than dirt is that I can just pretend I’m from Mexico. When I visited there about a hundred years or so ago, everyone took a nap in the afternoon and then started their work day up again, stopping for the day about 9pm. I thought it was civilized then, and I really like it now. :0)

All About Gardening

After my nap I’m planning to do a couple of sessions of yard work. There are MANY things to do. We have the lawn and weed whacking mostly under control now. The weeds and Bermuda grass are trying to take over several flower planters, so I’m going to see if I can do some good out there today.

Hoping for a calm, quiet day and evening. I wish you the same.

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Thoughts on Sunday 6-25-2023

NickMackmanSculpture.co.uk

While I was sitting at the computer, trying to wake up, even before I had gotten a cup of coffee, an order showed up in my email from my Etsy site, HandmadeHavenByLinda.

I sold one of my hand-painted memory boxes. This one is called, “Woodland.”

What a nice way to start the day! I’ll box it up carefully today and put it in the mail to its new home tomorrow. :0)

http://www.parsons-health.org.uk

We’re under an ‘intense heat warning’ already, and it lasts until 9pm tonight. I need to weed whack, so I’ll do really short sessions, with lots of rest and water in-between, and see if I can get it done.

Adobe

We really enjoyed our first cook out of the season last night. We had our LED colorful rope of lights on, making the deck festive. We didn’t start the fire until about 7:30 because of the heat. My husband enjoyed a beer while he cooked. We ate around 9pm. We shared one of the steaks and each had a small baked potato. It has been about a year since we splurged like this and we savored each bite. We’ll share the leftover 2nd steak this evening with steamed veggies. YUM. :0)

I wish you a calm, NICE Sunday.

Leave a comment

Filed under Nick Mackman Animal Sculpture, Thoughts on a ________

Friends on Friday 12-30-2022

Lunch Bunch – I think I’m the one in the middle. (Final Fantasy XIV)

____________

On the way to Lunch Bunch this morning, we’ll change the decoration on our mailbox.

Here’s hoping that 2023 will be a better year than this one has been.

I MAY be able to get outside this afternoon and lop or saw down a few weed trees. Fingers crossed.

On the two other challenges that we’ve faced lately – the fact that the clothes washer died mid load and wouldn’t restart and that my MP3 player had been misplaced have shown some progress!

After finally arranging for a tech to come about the clothes washer on Tuesday of next week, we tried a bunch of things to get the machine to reset. I found a blurb online about a ‘child lock’ and the icon looked like what we were seeing. We tried the two solutions given and one of them WORKED! Everything is working again! I rewashed the half-washed comforter and it worked perfectly. HOOORAAAAAY! We saved the at least $150 we would have paid for the guy to come out and look at it.

Speaking of that, the company we dealt with was Pro-Tech. The tech’s name was Jonathan. The lady I texted back and forth with at the company was truly wonderful, though I didn’t get her name. After we got the washer running again, I texted her, asking her to cancel the Tuesday appointment. She got right back to me, confirming that she had cancelled it. I highly recommend Pro-Tech because of the good communication we had when I had no luck with the many others I called or contacted trying to fix this problem. Their phone number is 479-462-7787. I think they serve the Ft. Smith AR and surrounding areas, like us in Greenwood.

I FOUND the MP3 player. I went out to the elliptical yesterday and turned it on. It said it had NO music recorded on it! None. Nada. I finally found an FM radio and listened to a rock station that played 3/4 commercials and 1/4 music, but it was better than nothing. Talk about desperation! My husband is trying now to record some of HIS favorite songs on it. I told him I would be very grateful to have SOMEONE’S favorite songs on it when I do the elliptical again tomorrow.

Today is “warm-up” and “weights” videos online and then yoga. (DAY 168).

Have a wonderful Friday.

4 Comments

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Cold, Sunny Saturday 12-17-2022

Woman’s Day

It’s 29 degrees F. right now and sunny. Mother Nature caused too much wind yesterday for me to brave even a few minutes outside. I felt like I was freezing for the few minutes it took to put sacks in the truck and take the cart back, much less stand outside trying to lop weed trees. I’ll look at things today, hoping I can get something done.

Two young guys came to the house yesterday, instead of our regular guy, to check over our geothermal heat and air system before hard winter hits. My husband showed them around. Our filters are in the attic and in the basement. My husband told me after they left that one of the guys had come to him and told him that he broke the wallboard piece that fits in the attic entrance upstairs. My husband, being the handy man that he is, went out to the shop and cut a piece of plywood to fit in the space. This is probably much better than the wallboard that has been there for years.

IndiaMART

The MyFitnessPal app told me that I ‘likely wasn’t eating enough’ when I input my meals and snacks for the day about a week ago now. I decided to add something in the morning to be breakfast and a snack later in the day to get closer to the number of calories they said was a healthy amount in order for me to try to lose the lard. As of this morning, I’ve lose 3.6 pounds since the change. Who knew? So, I will be very happy if this trend continues. I’m on DAY 155 on my yoga practice, but still am only able to hold the plank pose for a count of 30 three times. Maybe I can add a fourth time next week.

As far as I know, we don’t have any projects for the day – unless I can cut down some weed trees this afternoon. I’ve texted my friends, Carla and Nora, to see if I can visit for a bit today. Hopefully, they’ll have some time.

Enjoy your Saturday!

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

A Bit of Light

Giphy

I’ve finally lost a couple of pounds over the last few days. My scales are still smirking at me, but not so widely.

I’m fasting from dinner until lunch the next day. Typical lunches are a slice of turkey or ham, a piece of cheese, a hard-boiled egg, and some fruit. Sometimes we also eat a very small ramekin of potato salad.

Dinner is a frozen dinner or individual portions of leftovers from meals I’ve cooked, a side veggie or salad, and a roll.

steve cole images-Getty Images

My yoga practice is going well. I even forgot to give myself a glittery silver star on my desk calendar for yesterday until this morning. (I’m on DAY 137 of daily yoga practice, but I’m getting to the point I almost don’t need to keep track anymore. Yesterday, since my back was sore from working outside, I held the plank pose four times at a count of 15 each. I don’t know if that’s equivalent to one longer session, but I do what I can do each day and don’t worry about it.

123RF.com

I also worked in the yard, and that gave me more exercise for the day. I finally got the deck planters cleaned out for the winter. Since we have 8 or so planters out there, that was a good amount of work for the day. Today I plan to cut the rose bushes way back. I’m not sure what else I’ll do, but the weather will be 75 and quite breezy with lots of sun this afternoon.

We’ll leave for errands in a couple of minutes. We have our Christmas mailbox decoration in the back of the truck, ready for us to put it up as we leave. On the way back, we’ll put our trash can in the back to drive it back up.

Have a wonderful day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Frosty Wednesday 11-16-2022

Country Living Magazine

Right now I’m trying to hold onto my sanity because our driveway pad detector keeps going off and there is no one out there. There is one good thing about it – when there is an actual vehicle, the alarms are more frequent and longer than the one at a time beeps we’re getting now. It gets on your nerves, though, kind of like water dripping on your head, one drip at a time, but relentlessly.

iStock

We were out first thing this morning to get lab work done for our routine doctor appts Monday. Hopefully, our health will be such that we won’t have to go back for six months. To give ourselves something nice after being good little people and getting the work done, we went to The Dari for a sumptuous breakfast before coming home. I had a really nice veggie omelette. YUM.

There was frost on everything this morning, but the sun was shining, so it seemed things were sparkling. It’s 38 degrees now, and it’s supposed to get to 49 this afternoon. If it actually DOES get that warm, I’ll try to get outside and get something done in the yard.

Santa Cruz Sentinel

As we approached the top of the driveway, a couple of deer leaped across in front of us. Such a beautiful sight!

Have a beautiful day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Happy Thursday 11-10-2022

Good morning!

Mother Nature is testing our mettle this week, with sunny and 81 today, and rain, a freeze, and high of 53 tomorrow. I have enjoyed roller coasters in the past, but I prefer them in an amusement park…

Shout-out to Marsha – continue to stay safe and dry from the hurricane today.

Shout-out to Cathy – I hope you’re recovering well and will feel sassy soon.

Shout-out to Susy – Thinking of you and Bobby, and hope things are going well.

Shangarey Julia

I’m continuing to try to neaten up the yard, but I’m taking it easy a bit after all the potting soil I moved recently. Making sure we’re ready for the freezes starting tonight and then weed whacking are the priorities for the day.

Make today a wonderful day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Potting Soil Done

One Green Planet

I finished emptying and distributing the six remaining bags of potting soil this afternoon, so that part of the yard work is finished. My husband started rounding up leaves with the leaf blower, which is another big project. I did manage to get him to come in, rest a bit, and drink a cold drink. I’m not sure if he’ll do another session in the yard or not, but it’s time for me to do my yoga practice.

I was already pooped physically. Now I’m pooped mentally, too. He has always been the technical guy, having worked as a computer analyst for much of his life. Since he has had a couple of strokes, though, “I” am now the go-to on technical things. BOY! Are WE in trouble!

Today’s problem was that he wants Google Authenticator on his phone. The first thing he does when he gets a new gadget is to delete anything that he thinks he doesn’t need. This time it was ‘apps’ on his phone. I finally got to Google Authenticator on his phone, but it wanted him to verify with a finger or thumbprint. He insisted he had done it, but when I looked, he hadn’t set that up on his phone. We got out of Safari and into settings and fought about what he had to do to get it to take his thumbprint. When he finally tried something I asked him to that he insisted wouldn’t work, it did. Then we got back into the place where we could install authenticator. They wanted his apple ID. He didn’t know it. I fumbled around and it said we could use the passcode we use to get into his phone in order to reset his apple ID. I tried to put that in, but it wouldn’t take it. We’ll go to the AT&T store tomorrow and see if they can help us…

Leave a comment

Filed under Challenges

Terrific Tuesday – 11-1-2022

Marmotte-Stephane Alsac-stephane-alsac.com

FALL

Good morning! We’re actually having ‘fall’ here for one of the only times I can remember. I’m shocked and delighted. Usually, it’s hot, in the 90s, followed by a big storm, followed by 3 days or so of wonderful weather, followed by winter. I couldn’t be happier that Mother Nature is smiling on us right now.

ERRANDS

We’re going to run some errands soon, getting my husband’s hair cut, etc. We actually left our trash can out yesterday MORNING at my husband’s suggestion, so I’m hoping that the trash will have, indeed, been picked up early this morning, leaving no mess. The trash people have done really well for two weeks in a row. I’m still anxious as we head down the driveway on Tuesdays.

YARD WORK

Work is continuing on the trio of brick planters that separate our front yard from the top of our driveway. Cleaning them out is a huge job this time, as the super-hot summer and unusual weather we had resulted in my not getting out to maintain them the way I should. Now I’m paying the price. I’m starting by cutting everything way back. I won’t even start weeding until that is done. Hopefully, I can get that done this week.

Make YOUR Tuesday terrific.

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Achieving Balance

crescentmoon066.tumblr.com

I am finding some good answers on what will work best for me as far as eating and exercising, getting healthier, more flexible, and feeling good.

Last night we were simply heating up individual portions of things I had cooked before and frozen. Cooking another veggie seemed too much, so I just got out some of the raw veggies I cut up recently and have been eating with dip for snacks to put to the side of the plate. I asked my husband if he wanted some, and he said, “Sure.” Later, when we were eating, he said they tasted ‘good.’ :0)

So, I’m consciously eating more veggies every day, less meat (used mainly as a flavoring now, some fruit, nuts, avoiding added sugar, salt, most white things, except for one dinner roll – a thing to which I look forward. I’m trying not to eat snacks, or anything after dinner. Many times I’m successful.

I’m consciously more active. Right now I’m in a cleaning mode. My house keeps asking, “Who IS this?” I’m working on really deep cleaning our master bathroom. It’s large – with a room that has a double lavatory and countertop, a whirlpool tub, and my walk-in closet. Another room has the toilet and a shower. I’ve been doing the minimum for a while, so I’m trying to DEEP clean it this time.

I’m adding some new poses to my yoga routine in the afternoons, though late afternoon is the best time to be outside working in the garden or my tomatoes or my yard, so I’m having an internal fight over this one. So far I’m doing one or the other, but I would LIKE to do both. I’m working on it.

The result of all this is I feel better. I’m sleeping better. I’m starting to lose some of my lard. Win/Win/Win.

Balance is all.

2 Comments

Filed under Challenges, Changes, DIET!, exercise

I Wish You a Happy June 2022

Matt Dixon – Thank you, Susy. :0)
Ah, Ben. Happy June to YOU, too! Australian Firefighters Fund-Raising Calendar

Our Mindful Life

__________________

I wish us all a happy June. We can certainly use it, can’t we.

Twitter.com

My husband and I will celebrate our 53rd wedding anniversary on the 14th. Last year we threw caution to the winds and ‘renewed’ our option not only for the one year we usually do, but for another 50-year hitch. We’re totally addicted to each other, though I have to remind him every once in a while that I have a backhoe guy ready to dig a hole for him in the back yard for me….

Tenor

I’m making progress on switching gears on my efforts to change my eating program and continue to lose the lard. I’m now moving as close as I can to a full Mediterranean plan, increasing our veggies a LOT, plus including fruit again, and continuing my exercise regimen, though I’ve been working outside almost every day lately, substituting the yard work for more formal exercise. Today I’m going to make an experimental casserole, with kielbasa, lots of veggies, and a bit of pasta. Hopefully, my husband will like it and not revolt. :0)

A bit later I’ll hose myself with Deep Woods OFF! and go out to check our tomatoes, our garden veggies, our elephant ear plants, and see if I can do some more hacking down of things around the yard with my loppers.

Have a wonderful first day of June!

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

A.M. Weights – P.M. Yoga

Medical News Today

A.M. – I’m doing weights exercises daily now, using a video created for seniors. He is recommending 1 lb weights, but I’m using my 3 lb weights at this point. It’s a short video – about 10 minutes or less – and is easy to follow. At some point, I’ll switch to 5 lbs weights.

crazybonezskeleton.com

P.M. – I’m doing about half an hour or so of senior yoga stretching every day now. After doing the weights in the morning and yard work in the afternoon, the yoga really helps me relax and stretch things out again.

I won’t say I’m looking FORWARD to exercising. I’m a died-in-the-wool sloth. But, I will say I feel better now that I’ve been doing this every day. I think it takes 3 weeks or so to build a ‘habit.’ I’m on week 2…

Leave a comment

Filed under exercise

Awww

source: email from a friend

It’s 38 and rainy here in Arkansas today, but no ice or snow, and I’m grateful.

Seal – Wikipedia

I’ve been listening to music a lot lately and am newly in love with Seal. He’s magnificent physically; I love his voice; and he melts my heart when he coaches contestants on “The Voice”. He is really supportive and changes lives.

I’m delighted to tell you that my friend Kay is MUCH better after her procedure yesterday morning! She is almost pain-free!

Vertebroplasty procedure Vertebroplasty is an outpatient procedure for stabilizing compression fractures in the spine. Bone cement is injected into back bones (vertebrae) that have cracked or broken, often because of osteoporosis. The cement hardens, stabilizing the fractures and supporting your spine.”

The only way it could have been better is if they had cleared the red tape sooner so she didn’t have to suffer for so long. I’m going to try to see her today. :0)

If the weather people are correct and it gets to the low 50’s here this afternoon (and the rain stops) I’ll try to get some work done in our planters in the yard. I would like to get at least one planter under better control for the winter.

I hope you’re having a wonderful Saturday.

Leave a comment

Filed under Friendship, music, Thoughts on a ________

Fitness

debbiehipster-wordpress.com

I’m still doing my old lady yoga stretching, but I’m finding it harder to do my elliptical trainer now. It is in the garage, the only place with a hard, bare floor. It’s 38 degrees F. outside right now. I’m TRYING to do my elliptical in the afternoon, when it warms up a bit, but am not having much luck convincing myself yet. I’ll keep trying.

Right now my ‘moving more’ efforts are concentrated on cleaning up planters in the yard before winter settles in. I’m going to try to do one planter each day. (We have 14 brick planters around the yard, plus pots on the deck.) Once these are done, “I’ll get more serious about the ellipitical,” – (she said…. :0))

Leave a comment

Filed under exercise

Thoughts on a Tuesday 12-21-2021

TheFrenchBulldog-boredpanda.com

Highs in the 50s today here! Woo HOO! And lots of pretty sunshine. I’m hoping to spend some time outside this afternoon. I have lots to clean up and winterize in the yard. It looks like I’ll have a GREAT week for it. :0)

I go for a haircut this morning, so Michael will make me look like ‘someone-had-a-plan.’ My hair is thin and fine and ONLY does what it wants to. Michael understands that and works WITH it. He’s wonderful.

Nothing exciting going on today – that I know of – so I’ll look forward to getting the planters around the yard in better shape when I get back.

Have a wonderful day!

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening, taking care of yourself, Thoughts on a ________

A Good Day

Pinterest

I love this painting. Sorry, but I am unable to read the signature to give credit.

I have told you that we are having to have our ceiling replaced on the porch due to an invasion of squirrels who ate wiring and chewed a hole through the ceiling. The painter is out on the porch today, finishing up the project! Their company name is Safe Elite Transformations 479-849-0520, but I secretly call them the “Band of Brothers”. Cliff Harden is the owner, and his brothers, Jared and Cameron (among others) work with him. They are honest, hard-working guys. I trust them. They do what they say they will do. They will work with you. I am waiting to give feedback on Home Advisor until the job is completely finished, but I will give them the highest possible rating.

Yesterday I stared mixing up KillzAll Weed Killer. My container with a sprayer holds two gallons. I filled it up and sprayed things 6 times yesterday. At that point I was pooped and stopped for the day. I hope to finish the job today.

Our weather is beautiful. I hope that you are having a great day, too.

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening, Great Companies Who Deserve Your Business, Housekeeping - Maintenance