As of today there is almost 19 pounds less of me. (18.8) I’m hoping I can get to 20 off soon, as that will motivate me to put less in my mouth and move more. :0)
I was under the weather yesterday, so didn’t do my yoga. Happily, that doesn’t happen often, so I should be on track for a good bunch of stretches this afternoon. I’m also doing laundry, vacuuming, cooking, and general cleaning up, so that may help, too.
I’m using MyFitnessPal.com again, as well, trying to be accountable for all ‘going in’ so I can tweak things, if needed. My husband is happy with our eating plan, so that is very helpful.
I just recently found this artist on X (formerly Twitter). I think he’s wonderful.
This is more of his work. I wish him a great 2024 and much success.
We are having a quiet day, and we’re about to fix some lunch. We just gathered our trash and drove it down to the bottom of our driveway for pickup tomorrow. We got our mail and came back up, thoroughly chilled. It’s supposedly 40 outside right now, but it seems much colder. A great day to stay inside.
I’m going to do two things this afternoon –
Thing One – do more experimenting with my wood-burning tool. I’m changing the nib on the tool each time so I can get a feel of what each one does. It’s exciting to be doing something completely new.
Thing Two – I’m going to do at least 30 minutes yoga stretching. Yes. REALLY. I know I often intend to do it, but don’t actually get down on the floor with the mat and DO it. Today I will. REALLY. (I have an encouragement thing going with a much-loved friend. SHE is going to peddle on her exercise thing and I am going to do my yoga stretches. We’ve both been making excuses and are trying to do better.)
I went out to see the partial eclipse yesterday, but only saw lots of clouds. I finally came in, disappointed. Later, I found some images on 5 News of what others saw, so I’m posting this to give you an idea.
Greenwood Arkansas Art Guild Show – October 14, 2023
Yesterday afternoon I spent some time at the show. I saw one good, long-time friend, visited with a couple of others I knew, and met a good number of new people. Lots of talent in one room, and I was pleased to be able to see what others have created.
Cat Yoga – Medium
I did my yoga stretching for the 2nd day. I didn’t do much better, but I’m determined to do the best I can. Yesterday both Amber (97 lb. yellow lab) and Abby, (? lb. stripy cat much like the one above) tried to HELP me with my practice, either by outright stomping on me or trying to nuzzle me. I think my laughter relaxed me almost as much as the stretches. :0)
Today I’m doing lots of laundry. Along with changing the sheets on our bed, I’m exchanging our velour blanket for our electric one, at my husband’s request, plus will change comforters – getting into cool to cold weather mode.
6″ x 4″ inspirational life saying sign – “Collect Beautiful Moments.” $13.99 with FREE SHIPPING to the contiguous U.S. HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy
It’s cloudy and 58 degrees here now. Good night for chili.
This is probably a yummy cupcake, but if I had it, I would simply try to keep it. It’s just too cute to eat. HEY! Maybe THIS is the key to my losing weight! If all my food is ‘too cute’ to eat, I’ll quit stuffing my face!!!! :0)
__________
I’m hoping that we will at least be able to see a partial annular solar eclipse here in Arkansas today. I got some special eclipse glasses quite awhile back when the eclipse in 2024 was being discussed and they were giving the glasses away in several places on the square in Greenwood, so we have those ready. We’re not in a direct line, but I hope we can enjoy at least the idea of it around noon our time.
_____________
I’m looking forward to attending this afternoon. I used to be a member, and am hoping to see some good friends as well as impressive art work.
_____________
Tenor
I finally made myself get down on my yoga mat yesterday afternoon. I hadn’t done anything since I strained my back weeding recently. Wow. Could I feel a difference! In what I consider a short time, I lost a lot of ground. It took me at LEAST a minute or so to relax enough to quit hurting just trying to lie flat on the floor. I did several slow stretches, having to quickly stop some due to cramping.
SO – I will redouble my efforts to drink more water, since dehydration can be the cause of muscle cramping, and I’ll get my body down on the mat again this afternoon to do as much careful stretching and relaxation as possible.
I just LOVE this guy. He’s so ugly he’s beautiful. :0)
____________
Plaque – Heart-Shaped Solid Wood – “Love” – $41.99 – ready to hang – 10″ wide x 9″ tall. FREE SHIPPING to the contiguous U.S. HandmadeHavenbyLinda on Etsy – Etsy is having a special sale starting tomorrow, October 9th and running through Wednesday, October 11th, where you’ll save $10 when your purchase is $40 or more – automatically. And you can do this over and over for the 3 days. GREAT time to get things for the holidays. Sale is website-wide.
______________
pexels
I’m about to go do a session of slow, stretching, relaxing yoga to see if I can get my poor body to stop complaining. I’ll plan to do one session now, and another right before dinner. It would be fun if Amber wanted to practice with me, but if she notices I’m down on the floor, she usually wants to come snuffle me, and then try to SIT on me…
Yesterday I went out and did about 20 minutes of pulling up small “weed trees” beside the shop. I’m trying to get these pulled by hand because they are too much for the wire in the weed whacker. Even though I only did that one session, my back hurt so badly when I was cooking dinner I had to ask my husband to come stir the chicken I was browning.
I’m going to redouble my efforts today on my yoga. It’s taken a back seat to my yard work, and my body is apparently telling me that is a mistake. I need to make time for both. I have to learn this lesson over and over – being a bit slow-witted – learning that the stretching and relaxation is essential to my well-being. :0(
My scales are outright snorking at me lately. I’ve been eating ‘rocks,’ it seems, and I’ve changed from trying to go day-by-day to hour-by-hour now. The stress level around here has been a bit high, but that is becoming the norm now, so I need to quit using that as an excuse to stuff my face.
I’m going to try to shed 2 pounds a week, cutting back my portions again and trying to drink more water. I had stopped using MyFitnessPal.com, but I’m starting up again. Maybe that will direct my efforts more effectively and see where I’m messing up.
Gfycat
We’re going to Lunch Bunch this morning, although my friend Kay called and said she and Bud won’t be there. I don’t know if the others will be, so we’ll go ahead, grab a bite to eat, and then hit the grocery store before coming home.
Bill Miller Associates
We’re starting our “cut-something-down-each-time-we-go-down-or-up-the-driveway” project today. I have the loppers in the truck and the weather is supposed to be cooperative today. If we do this each time we can, we should be able to make a difference in a reasonable amount of time.
(The picture above shows a ‘pretty’ version of what we’re dealing with. We have trees on both sides of our 650+ foot driveway. During the last winter ice storms, the trees’ branches were weighed down. Some broke off, some just hung down. Now we have almost a low-hanging tunnel across parts of the driveway to the point we’re ‘ducking’ inside the truck when we go through one. :0) My husband hurt his back, so we’ve been waiting until he felt better to tackle this. It’s a two-person job, with me pulling down each branch as far as I can and him lopping it off so I can then haul it to the low side of the driveway and throw it down as far as I can.)
Other than helping to clear the driveway a bit today, I’m planning to start moving the Mel’s Mix (soil alternative) from the other raised bed planter box whose bottom is ready to fall out. I want to get both of these boxes completely cleared out before I talk to my husband about making new plywood bottoms for them.
I’ll round out my exercise today with a session of yoga this afternoon. (After clearing tree branches and digging Mel’s Mix, I’ll need a good stretching session to try not to stiffen up.
I hope that if you’re traveling this long holiday weekend, you do it safely and smoothly. Whatever your plans, I wish you a happy day and fun weekend.
I AM making slow, steady progress in my efforts to not eat in-between meals and to practice my yoga daily. I’m down 5.4 lbs so far and my yoga stretches are getting a BIT easier. I’m still getting cramps on some of them, so I’m moving slowly and carefully, breathing into each move, trying to listen carefully to this old body.
Earth.com
We’re due for rain off and on most of the day and overnight. I’ll try to get out and check my tomatoes on one side of the house and my veggie garden on the other side. I’m really pleased that my husband got out and mowed before all this rain started. The forecast is for a rainy week next week, so we probably won’t be able to mow again until the week AFTER next.
So far this morning I’m fighting the ‘lazies’ and losing.
You can almost HEAR all the cracks and pops as I move slowly and carefully through my yoga poses. I have to move carefully because AGAIN I’ve been lazy and using excuses, rather than practicing, so I’m stiff and sore.
I’ve been doing the practice daily again for about 4 days now. I’m feeling a bit better, but I still have to MINDFULLY get myself into the living room and get my mat each afternoon.
Yesterday my dog, Amber (yellow lab) and cat, Abby, BOTH joined me when I got down on the floor. My husband finally started to laugh and then encouraged the animals to give me a break, rather than keep trying to lie down beside or ON me.
I’ve lost a lot of ground with all the excuses, so I’m trying to be patient with myself and just keep breathing into the stretches, waiting for my body to finally ‘give’ a bit in the right direction.
“Dorky Dogs” – BoredPanda.com – Liucija Adomaite and Justinas Keturka
This picture made me laugh out loud. I have no clue what’s on the other side of the fence, but they’re sure interested. :0)
I have a new lease on life this morning. A package arrived from Amazon with new jeans and a top. This is usually not a cause for “celebration,” but I’ve gained some weight recently and my jeans have become too tight for any comfort at all. I now have some with elastic at the top, rather than a zipper and button, so I’m sitting here comfortably for the first time in quite awhile.
Giphy.gif
I told you, though, that I’m trying really hard not to eat anything in-between meals. I’ve lost 4 of the pounds I gained so far. I’m determined to keep doing this. We were up in the middle of the night (Imagine that!) last night, and my husband asked if I wanted him to make us hot chocolate. Oh, wow. I said, “Yes, but no thank you.” I’m patting myself on the head just a bit. :0)
Giphy.gif
I’m also doing my yoga sessions daily, albeit more slowly and carefully than I was previously, in an effort to try to relax, stretch out, alleviate some pain and stiffness, etc. I’m putting silver sparkly stars on my desk calendar, earning two stars per day the last few days. If I can keep this up, I’ll be delighted.
I’m heading out to my tomato planters now to see what they need. I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday.
I’m going back to an ‘old faithful’ for me – rewarding myself with a sparkly star on my desk calendar when I achieve one of my goals.
I’ve been stress eating and I’m really trying to stop that.
I’ve been liberally sprinkling salt on everything, plus eating salty snacks
I’ve been making excuses for not doing my daily yoga session
Otherwise, I’m a reasonably nice person… :0)
SO
I started yesterday (DAY 1) in a serious effort to mend my ways. I got one star for not eating in-between meals and not putting any extra salt on anything. I made an excuse for not doing my yoga, so I only got one star yesterday, but put that silver sparkly star on my calendar a couple of minutes ago.
Yesterday we loaded the back of the truck with metal trash plus regular trash. We left the regular trash in the can and left it ready for emptying today, then drove to the recyling place and left the metal trash. We got a flat of spinach plants and a flat of head lettuce plants on the way home. I planted those before lunch. After lunch we changed our snow tires for regular tires on the truck.
I was stiff and sore by the middle of the evening. I SHOULD have done yoga to try to stretch things out, but I was exhausted and just didn’t. I’m paying the price this morning, feeling as if I were run over by a truck.
Thankfully, we don’t have any big errands today. We’ll get our mail, maybe hit the local grocery, and tether the emptied trash can to the pole toward the bottom of the driveway on the way home.
123RF
We’re due for severe weather this afternoon, tonight, and tomorrow morning. I have all my appendages crossed, in spite of the creakiness, hoping we come through the storms intact.
Meanwhile, I’m glugging coffee, trying to wake up.
I found this and walked with them yesterday. I was reminded how much I need this by my hips talking to me a couple of times, but I think this will do me a lot of good. It’s short, gets me moving, and I like this mother and daughter.
I also did a careful, abbreviated version of my yoga practice yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks. I have no clue why my right upper arm is hurting, but I’ve decided to try to work through it very carefully and see how it goes. ONE DAY AT A TIME.
I’m also being more successful in NOT eating in-between meals. This week has been a good start. If I think I’m hungry, I’m trying to drink some water and see how I feel later. If I’m STILL hungry, I have some dried fruit to eat. 2-1/2 pounds down for the week.
Our weather is nice today, so I’m planning to at least walk around outside this afternoon. It’s hard to believe it’s January. The high will be around 62!
I’m thinking about at least spending some time in my art room today. I have ideas rattling around in my brain during the day, and am dreaming about them at night, so it’s time. :0)
I’m patting myself – and my husband – on our heads right now. THAT -while typing this – is quite a feat! :0)
Because my husband found a new MP3 player and loaded some of my favorite music on it for me last night, allowing me to charge it overnight and have it ready for my elliptical trainer session today, I just finished 30 minutes of good exercise.
It had been quite awhile since I had been on the elliptical regularly, and the last two sessions I had to do it in complete silence, except for a squeak on my machine, making it just awful time. It seemed as if I had been on there forever, and it had only been a few minutes when I gave up each time. Just too boring and tedious. This old broad doesn’t need many excuses not to exercise…
So today, listening to songs I hadn’t heard for quite awhile playing on my MP3 player I had clipped to my shirt, was truly a pleasure. Doing my elliptical practice with my eyes shut, keeping time to the music, felt good almost all the way to the end. (Remember, I’m NOT an exercise nut and it had been quite awhile since I had done any real time on the machine.) I started peaking at the timer between the last three songs and then breathed a sigh of relief when I finished.
I thanked my husband again and put a sparkly gold star on my desk calendar. I giving myself one for the ellliptical trainer session or the warm-up and weights videos I’m doing in the mornings on alternate days, and a second star, this one silver sparkly, for my yoga session in the afternoons. Any other exercise I manage will be gravy.
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).
So says Lynn, my wonderful massage therapist who saves my life once a month. I’m kind of in “assessment” mode this morning, looking back to gauge lifestyle changes.
This is DAY 162 of my effort to make daily yoga practice a habit. I’m definitely one of the hard-heads on how long it takes to make something a habit. I looked it up and found, according to some estimates, that it takes from 18-245 days to make something a habit. Day 162 finds me consciously making myself practice each afternoon – still finding myself quietly trying to make excuses for ‘missing-a-day’ and then just slogging around getting my mat, pillows and just doing it. It HAS become a normal part of my day, and I AM seeing some differences.
I’ve added some new poses to my practice: Cobra, Downward Dog, ‘Basket,’ Boat, the Plank, and some abdominal exercises thrown in. My practice is about 45 minutes now, but it varies. Sometimes I concentrate on exercise numbers – other times the relaxation and stretching.
I am listening to my body more since I started doing the daily practice. I’m aware when my shoulders and neck are ‘hunched,’ and I’m able to concentrate and relax more. I tell myself, “relaxing jaw, relaxing face,” and I can FEEL my shoulders GIVE, when I wasn’t aware how tightly I was holding myself. I’m able to stretch a bit farther now, breathing into the poses, holding them longer or doing a few more repetitions.
I’m still putting the gold or silver glittery stick-on stars on my desk calendar. I guess I’ll never outgrow that being a motivator for me, but the emphasis is changing in my actual practice. I’m doing it for ME.
I started trying to do the plank pose at the end of October. The first time I tried it, I held it for a quick count of 10. I worked up to holding it for a quick count of 45, but many times I couldn’t do much the next day, having strained myself. I found an article that said for for a woman of my ‘mature years,’ it’s actually more effective if I do the pose multiple times, holding it for a short while each time. Yesterday I held it for a count of 20 seven times.
Since it’s too cold to work outside most days now, I’m going to try to add two things: (THING ONE – a short time on my elliptical trainer in the garage. It’s cold, but I think I can do several minutes out there every other day. THING TWO – I’m going to start doing the seated exercises with weights from Mike at MoreLifeHealthSeniors.com again. I’ll alternate these with the elliptical.
Know Your Meme
________________
I’m definitely making some kind of progress. It’s definitely slow, but it’s steady, and I’ll drink to that. :0)
We did our errands – checking the mailbox, going to Walmart and Harps to stock up on supplies in case we’re snowed or iced in, then stopping at the restaurant to see if our waitress, Mikey, was there. (She isn’t going to be there for our Lunch Bunch celebration tomorrow and I wanted to give her the present I made for her.) She was there, but said she was planning to stop at the restaurant tomorrow, even though she wasn’t working, to bring presents. I made her PROMISE she would do that, and then gave her a hug and left. We put our humongous, empty trash can in the back of the truck when we got back home and brought it back up to the garage.
We indulged in fish dinners from the grocery deli. They were delicious, as usual, and then we both took naps. We checked around outside when we woke up, making sure all was ready for the bad weather. We’ll also watch the low temperatures and drip water overnight from two faucets inside that have given us problems in the past. All is good for tomorrow, but the bad stuff is supposed to come Thursday and beyond.
It’s 51 and sunny right now -starting to get dark. It’s hard to believe we’ll have such a change in weather.
lifestyle.livemint.com
Today is DAY 158 on my daily yoga practice. I held the plank for a count of 20 four times today. I probably could have done one more, but I’ve learned the hard way that ‘one more time’ sometimes does me in for a day or two afterwards. Better to be able to practice EVERY day.
Cold, gray rainy Sunday here – 39 with a high of 42. Ugh. We’ll have ‘breakfast’ for dinner tonight and spaghetti tomorrow.
Suave Yards
Yesterday I did Pass #2 on blowing leaves from the front yard. I got almost finished and the leaf blower started making bad noises. I looked, but didn’t see anything caught anywhere, anything loose, etc. My husband came out and looked at it, saying it sounded like “bearings were giving up” and that we would probably need to buy another one. This one has lasted a long time. We’ll probably take a look tomorrow and see what we can find.
Yesterday was DAY 142 on my daily yoga practice. I have changed to multiple short plank poses, rather than trying to hold one longer pose. I did six 10-second holds yesterday. I can increase either the time, the repetitions, or both, trying to get the most benefit from the pose on trying to get stronger. My husband and I share the same exchange each day – When he says, “Are you going to ‘yoge’?, and I answer, “Yes,” – he says, “Good on ya.” (Still not a ‘habit,’ or something I feel I NEED to do, or an activity I would MISS if I didn’t do it, but it has definitely become a ‘determined effort’ each day.)
Scottsdale Pet Hotel
Other than cuddling, playing on the computer, listening to music on YouTube, reading, cooking, etc., my plan is to vacuum the first floor tiles and carpet. My husband did this in our truck the other day, replacing the seat cover with a new one, and says he vacuumed up the equivalent of two dogs. :0) I’ll probably do the same today. If there were an award for shedding, I think Amber would definitely be in the running.
Stay warm, safe, and dry today with someone you love.
I just came in from 1-1/2 hours in the front yard leaf blowing. And that, apparently, is just the first pass. (The lady is this picture is PLAYING compared to what I’ve been doing.) Since the wind was blowing and I’m not stupid, I blew in the same direction as the wind. I was still getting blow-back and swirling, so I just decided to try to get rid of the big PILES of leaves, particularly on the steps around our front porch.
By the time I got to a reasonable stopping point, I was thoroughly pooped. Unless my husband ASKS, I’m not going to bother telling him what I’ve been doing. To an untrained eye, he might not be able to TELL how many billions of leaves I blew off the civilized part of our front yard. The wind is such that it now looks like we have a “lot of leaves in the front yard,” and I would get angry if my slaving away couldn’t be noticed with at LEAST a WOW!”
This morning we got two days of mail from the mailbox at the bottom of our driveway. On the way down, I told my husband about my idea of lopping off some encroaching branches each time we came up. We found an area pretty close to the bottom of the driveway that needed work, so started there. It will also make it easier for us to see if traffic is coming down the road now. We attacked one more area on the way up and then called it a day. I think, if we do that each time we drive up, we’ll have the driveway under reasonable control by the time we’re facing ice and snow. (The evergreens are awful about grabbing every snowflake or ice pellet that falls, and then drooping down into the driveway and finally making it impassable unless we’re proactive.)
So, with the lopping and hauling of branches this morning and then the leaf blowing I just finished, this old lady has been ‘movin’ it’ today. AND, as soon as I rest a bit more, I’ll try to do a good session of yoga.
“Foggy Morning Sun Rise” – photo by Warren Birge – FineArtAmerica.com
Fog lay like ribbons between the ridge lines when I looked out the window while dressing this morning. Surreal. Magical. It’s supposed to get WARM this afternoon – 65 degrees F. – and I should be able to get some things done outside. :0)
Yesterday was a lazy day for me, since the weather was yucky. About the only thing I did of any note was my yoga session and holding the plank pose for a quick count of 45. Today we have several errands, plus laundry, gathering and putting out the trash – all kinds of exciting stuff. As I rest between chores, I’ll enjoy more of my book.
Nice way to spend a Monday. I hope yours is good, too.
So far, I’m more able to WALK a plank rather than hold this position.
“The plank strengthens your spine, your rhomboids and trapezius, and your abdominal muscles, which naturally result in a strong posture as they grow in strength. Developing your posture can improve on a number of ailments, and prevent the onset of other ones. Good posture means you’re keeping your bones aligned.”
“Planks are perfect for burning belly fatbecause they engage multiple muscles at once, boosting the metabolic rate and benefiting core strength. All in all, a plank is an excellent choice to stimulate the whole body.“
What I’m HOPING at this point is that holding the position for ANY amount of time works to strengthen my core. The second I get into this position, my whole body starts to tremble, moving to shaking before I have to stop. (AND, the most embarrassing part is that all this happens within 15 seconds.)
The only good thing I can say about my efforts is that the 15 seconds is up from the 10 seconds I started with. I will continue trying this every day, HOPING that my poor pathetic muscles will get stronger in time. I’ll compare it in my head with the fact that when I started yoga, the hardest part of everything was getting down on the floor and back up again! It also took several months for me to be able to bend over and touch my toes. This is a strength issue – rather than a flexibility issue – though, so I’m not sure what to expect. I’m not getting any younger, though, so the time to be doing this is NOW.
Now that my practice is becoming a routine part of my afternoons, I’m trying to add to it a bit. Recently I added the cobra pose (above), and another that I call, “The Basket” where I’m on my back with my feet up in the air. I hold onto my legs with my knees bent, then hold my ankles and try to hold it. I’m doing a pose called, “Downward Dog,” where I’m on my stomach, then push up to an inverted “V” and hold it, trying to push my heels down toward the floor.
I’ve added some abdomen exercises – one where I’m on my back. my arms are on the floor stretched out behind my head while I do a modified bicycle motion with my legs for as long as my back doesn’t hurt. The other is where I’m again on my back, arms beside me, legs bent. I push the middle of my body up using my legs and abdomen, kind of like a push up, pushing my abdomen up as high as possible and then letting it back down again as many times as I can.
When I was at Lunch Bunch recently, my friend Patty (Linda’s daughter) was talking about her exercise. She looks GREAT, so I was eagerly listening. She said the biggest thing she did three times a week was THE PLANK. She said she held the position for 4 MINUTES! My mouth dropped open. That’s impossible.
lifestyle.livemint.com
I’m now doing two versions of this – one with my arms like those above, but knees down (that’s the easiest form of it you can do), and then a second version, as you see above. Remember, I’m old, so I hold the positions as long as I can, but it’s laughable. I can hold the version with the knees down for about 1 minute. The position above I can hold 12 SECONDS. I KNOW, but at least I’m TRYING – every day. Also remember, I’M the lady who used to congratulate myself for getting down on the floor, AND back up again!
Ahhhhhhh! This woman is READY for a massage this morning. My yoga sessions are keeping me functional, (today is DAY 97) but my monthly massage is golden. Lynn Moody, my miraculous massage therapist, 479-629-7601 finds and fixes all the places I didn’t even know I had places. :0)
Today I’ll try to get a bunch of iris planted in the niche planter, as soon as I add the soil we have left on a pallet we ordered a couple of years ago. We’ll need to put in an order for another delivery before the winter.
We enjoyed a comfort food dinner last night of chili mac with onions and cheese, one of my husband’s favorites. It’s been really chilly in the mornings and the late evenings, so it was a welcome change from what we usually eat. I had enough left that we can enjoy a couple more dinners sometime. (He wanted to have frito chili pie, but our local grocery is having a problem getting regular fritos. Like other companies, they’ve gone on a tangent with honey barbeque fritos, hot style fritos, and bubble gum fritos (not yet, but probably soon), but no regular fritos. I’ll try to get them today after my massage.
We’ve been having some calm days, so things are good here. I hope you’re smiling, too.
It’s Monday, the beginning of another week in the middle of the fall, the night before a freeze warning here. It’s clear, sunny and 52 degrees F. here now.
beforemid-clean-out project
IRIS PLANTER CLEAN OUT – Yesterday I spent about 2-1/2 hours trying to clean out our iris planter. I made good progress. I got out almost a full big trash can full of iris and rhizomes, and pulled out a BUNCH of Bermuda grass. Today I’ll get a larger shovel and get more serious about digging as deeply as possible, dealing with whatever I find. I’ll also weed whack around the outside.
I would LIKE to finish the clean-out today. I’ll bring the trash can full of iris into the garage due to the freeze warning. I’m planning to add some soil to the niche (old tomato) planter before I plant a lot of the iris there. I’m planning to distribute the rest of the iris to planters all around the yard. Before the project is finished, I’ll put tomato plant supports in and see how securely I can anchor them both to the center pole, and each other.
Unsplash
TRASH- The seed I planted finally germinated on the subject of trash. My husband and I have had a running ‘discussion’ on how to handle the trash since our trash service changed and the new people brought us a really large trash can to use. Since the paperwork that came with the can said to have the receptacle out for pickup by 5am, I told my husband I thought we should put the trash out the night before. He nixed this immediately, listing several reasons for being adamant. This resulted in our trash being missed and our having to bring it back up into the garage to hold and add to the next week – TWICE now. We gathered the trash this morning, and as we squashed the bags to add them to the already fairly full can, my husband asked, “What do you think about taking the trash down tonight?” I looked at him and said, “I think that’s a GREAT idea!” (Hooray – shhhhhhh!)
BoredPanda.com
DAY 94 of my daily yoga practice – yesterday I was really tired and stiffening up after working on the iris planter. I thought about just considering the work in the yard my exercise for the day – just sitting down and resting instead of doing my yoga practice. I thought about it as I drank a bottle of water, and finally thought, OK. I’ll just do a few basic stretches and that will be it. Once I got down on my mat, I just started doing my regular session. Even though I was stiff and sore, some of the stretches ultimately felt good, once I was able to relax and breathe into them. I ended up doing the whole practice as usual and felt good afterwards because I actually felt better, and also because I tricked myself into doing what I want to become a habit. :0)
Halloween remains one of my favorite Holidays, even though celebrating it these days bears little relation to when I actively participated as a child (in 1492) or even when I struggled to carve jack-o-lanterns with our son. Ray Villafane has brought carving pumpkins to an art form. He seems to have endless ideas for new faces and has the talent to do a spectacular job of carving. I’m awestruck when I see his work, having worked to NOT slice my arm off while trying to carve a ‘basic’ jack-o-lantern.
Iris Planter
Today it’s supposed to get to 92 in the afternoon, but a cold front is coming through this evening, hopefully bringing us our first rain in over a month now. We are under threat for wildfires, so a good rain would be more than welcome. I plan to work on cleaning out my iris planter – currently a complete disaster – overgrown with stubborn Bermuda grass. The grass is delighted to be there – and thriving – because it gets water from our irrigation system, where the poor grass on the ground is brown and crunchy. It amazes me that it finds its way into the planter through the bricks. You can see the mallard duck we made from a used propane tank “flying” atop the pole.
Between yard work and my daily yoga practice (DAY 92) I should get a good bit of exercise. :0)
My husband has gone to an auction here in Greenwood this morning. He wants to look at the guns, plus ‘garage stuff’ for sale. I absolutely hate auctions, so he’s going alone. I would rather go to garage sales, where you can see the prices and buy things or not quickly, rather than standing around waiting – sometimes for hours – for what you want to be auctioned, only to be outbid.
It’s overcast and a bit cool this morning – perfect for a session of weed whacking or two. I’ll try to concentrate my efforts on the garden and surrounding area.
Other things on the list are bookkeeping and filing catch-up and gathering trash. If I can either do – or make headway on – these three things, I’ll be happy.
shewearsmanyhats.com
My husband requested one of his favorite dinners for tonight: chicken chunks with onions and mushrooms in chicken/mushroom soup served over rice. We’ll have a side salad with this and I’ll freeze the leftovers in individual containers for other meals.
I’m still trying to get up to my art room, but keep running out of time and energy. Maybe one day this week.
India Today
DAY 87 of my attempt to make daily yoga sessions a habit. Yesterday I felt a bit of progress in a couple of things I do to strengthen my core – 1) kind of a horizontal bicycle move and 2) a lifting of my torso with my legs while lying on my back.
Today is DAY 82 of my efforts to make a habit of doing a daily session of yoga.
I will need to be particularly mindful in my practice today because I have pain on the right side of my back in particular today. I think I hurt myself yesterday evening trying to get the empty new trashcan in the bed of the truck by myself at the bottom of the driveway. My husband and I had a ‘discussion’ about it on the way back up the driveway. He agreed – since he doesn’t want to leave the new can at the bottom of the driveway – that he will get out and help me get the can in and out of the truck.
I discovered that the addition of another small pillow allows me to stretch the stiff part of my back safely. I actually felt better – much looser – after my practice yesterday.
My practice lasts from 30 to 45 minutes these days, depending on how I feel. Each stretch is still uncomfortable at first, but my body is beginning to actually look forward to the stretches, relaxing into the poses more quickly, as I feel so much better afterwards. :0)
The time to fully relax, taking as much time as I want, is a good time for me. I’m calm and happy when I finish.
This is such a cute picture. I wish that the raccoons around HERE had a better idea of what “sharing” means, and “respect for property.” Thankfully, we haven’t had any more raccoons eating us out of house and home lately, or tearing up the bird feeders. My husband actually filled the feeder the other day, and the birds came in celebration, flitting around all over the place. If the raccoons would learn to be better neighbors, we could all enjoy the seeds together.
depositphotos
Today is DAY 79 of my daily yoga practice. I’ve decided that I may NEVER build an actual “HABIT.” I’m definitely on the slow end of the spectrum on how long it takes to actually build one. Maybe I’ll just have to be satisfied that I consciously make time for my practice these days. I noticed the other day that our yellow lab, Amber, definitely does the ‘downward dog’ pose and stretch several times a day. SHE’S in good shape, so I’m glad I’m taking a page from her playbook and doing this one, too. :0)
I’m feeling energetic enough this morning that I’m planning to go out and do more work on my square foot garden boxes today. I’ll take containers of both KILLZALL and EIGHT when I go. I want to use the little rake tool to get as many weeds out as I can and smooth the Mel’s Mix out as much as possible. I’ll spray things to encourage any remaining fire ants to die a cruel death (I’m becoming quite vicious in my hate for these little guys) plus spray to kill remaining weed roots. Then I’m planning to take the wheelbarrow and gather 24 bricks to take out there. I’m going to use those to hold down the weed barrier cloth we’re planning to put down in the boxes. My husband said he’ll help me cut the cloth and get those down. Not sure how much I can get accomplished on this, but it seems the weather is perfect today for my efforts.
Woo HOOOO! Mother Nature finally got the memo and gave us a deliciously cool morning here in Arkansas! It’s 62 degrees F. right now, so I opened the doors to air the house out. It’s supposed to get to 92 this afternoon, though, so it’ll probably be tomorrow before I do any more work outside. Hooray for Fall!!!!
I’m HOPING my good friend, Linda, will feel well enough to come to Lunch Bunch today. I haven’t heard from my friend, Kay, but I have all appendages crossed that we’ll enjoy a wonderful surprise today.
I had a truly wonderful massage yesterday by my therapist and friend, Lynn. She zeroed in on my back where it is sore and made it feel better. It’s like I ‘bruised’ it, though, rather than hurting with movement. I’ll modify my yoga practice (DAY 70 today) so that I don’t irritate that area any more than necessary.
I’m drinking some coffee before heading out to weed whack the front and the back yard. My husband is going to mow. So the yard will look like someone cares before it gets too hot to. The temperature for this last day of summer is forecast to be 101 with a heat index this afternoon. Oh, GOOD. I’m SO ready for some cool. My list of things to do outside is longer than my leg now…
DoYou
Today is DAY 68 in my efforts to make daily yoga a habit. I’m starting to think that yoga is essential to my ability to move without pain, stay reasonably flexible, and avoid falling on my head as I age. I still have to consciously make myself do it, but I feel much looser after my practice.
I’m going to get outside now and work before it gets lethal out there.
I’m having a bit of success with drinking more water and trying not to eat anything in-between meals – except for cottage cheese after my yoga practice daily. A couple of pounds have bitten the dust, hopefully to never return. I’m hoping that their ‘friends’ will follow soon. :0)
The Guardian
This looks very much like my cat, Abby, when I do my yoga practice. (Today is DAY 64) She either tries to curl up at my head, upset with me when I put my arms over my head, or sleeps on my feet, making it almost impossible to move them. Yesterday, she curled up beside me and kept batting at me with her paw.
Medical News Today
My husband is sleeping in this morning. I’m waiting for the coffee to be ready. The morning chores have been done.
This weekend I want to spray my garden boxes with SEVEN to kill the fire ants and then KILLZALL to kill remaining weed roots. Then we’ll cover the boxes with weed barrier cloth, holding it down with bricks, and see how it does over the winter.
creativeartworksblog 