i would walk 600 miles

I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 hundred more - do you recognize the song by the Proclaimers? I'll do my own version, substituting 500 miles with 600 miles as that's how far I've walked on the treadmill so far this year! I've done some calculations (I made a spreadsheet!) and would have to walk almost 4 miles a day from now until the end of December to make it to an even 1000 miles… I don't think that's achievable but I'm on a mission to see how close I can get! I love a challenge and goals get me up in the morning!

Yesterday was Pat's birthday so we took her out for supper to the local restaurant in the village and then we came back here for cake and bubbles… and a few more episodes of the show she and Carm are watching together (a bit too much violence for me so I just watch out of the corner of my eye while Doom Scrolling FB).

The days have been zooming by… it seems impossible that we are already ⅓ of the way through September… pool use has gone way down but we were both in for a few nanoseconds this afternoon after cutting down a tree. We were hot and sweaty and the crystal clear waters beconned… thankfully no iceburgs but it was a chilly 17.5C/65F! Yikes! That is really my limit.

The harvest from the garden has pretty much slowed down… there's still all the butternut squash to harvest, a few more tomatoes, and we haven't had zucchini for ages. I still have 2 on the counter waiting to be turned into ribbons for a salad or chopped to be roasted. Last week I made 3 chocolate zucchini cakes for the freezer as well as a few bags of roasted zucchini… the freezer is filled to the brim, and that's after a giant garbage bag of ancient food was tossed. I've got lots of tomato sauce, a bit of roasted zucchini, some cakes, and hopefully some zucchini that can be transformed into scarpaccia on a cold winter day.

I had a few days on my own at the villetta last week for a 'girls' night. Kirsten and I walked a few times a day, I did a long overdue deep clean of the trailer, we played tennis with Nissa. And by that I mean I tried to hit the ball in the general direction of the other person… it was a big excitement to even hit the ball let alone get it over the net!

Last Friday we drove down to the St. Lawrence past some of our old camping stomping grounds. Lots of fun memories! I think we'll plan a few trips back this fall, with the dogs as there are some nice walks along the parkway. We had lunch at a (new to us) bakery in one of the villages. I had a Thai peanut chicken wrap which was delicious. Carm had an equally good Philly cheese steak sandwich. We finished off with butter tarts… our first ones this year. It brought back fond memories of 'buttertart' summers camping at Presquille. Oh so many buttertarts!

We've had some rain but the ground is still dry and cracked in some areas.

Today I'm actually cooking food! There's a soup in the instant pot with the last of 2024 butternut squash (yes!), mushrooms, kale, romano beans, etc… We've had lots of tomato sandwiches over the last few weeks which has been a great vacation from cooking!

Awesome!

"heaps of tomatoes in the freezer"

"birthday cake"

"spending time in the villetta"

"feeling confident driving to Kirsten's and back - I've come a long way with my confidence in the last two years!"

"no cooking for weeks"

the start of better days

Let's give this another chance… I wrote a few paragraphs a week ago but haven't had the mental accum to write any more since… my brain is still not working at full capacity though!

Sunday, Aug 24th…

Well, it's been over one and a half weeks since I last took up the logical pen… It turns out that my immune system was not working well and I ended up with an infection which brought me to my knees for a few days before I finally called the doctor… he took care of the problem and then prescribed 5 days of antibiotics…

I've always been a bit sensitive to medications and this antibiotic was no different as it caused days and days of fatigue and nausea… some of the days I barely moved around the house but gradually I was able to start getting busier. By late last week I was almost back to normal - just in time as there were heaps of tomatoes and zucchini to process and preserve.

Our harvest has been on and off again… the brutal heat of July and the first half (or more) of August slowed down the garden, but with a few cooler days lately it seems to be flourishing… that is, if we can keep enough water on it. It's been a long drought and no relief in sight yet 😞 

I had my last appointment with the radiation oncologist last week - hurrah… now I'll just have regular checkups with my family doctor and annual mammograms. Meanwhile, I'll keep up with a mostly healthy lifestyle and keep my fingers crossed that stopping tamoxifen was the right decision!

Thursday we had Pat over for supper and a tv watching night, then Friday we packed up and went to the villetta for the weekend. 

Carm and I decided Saturday was a perfect day for a drive and lunch out so we headed over to Chaffey's Lock for lunch at the Opionicon, a grand old resort from time past. Sadly, they closed all the accommodations 10 years ago, but 3 restaurants remained on site. We lucked in with a table on the porch overlooking the grounds (sadly not the water though)... I had arancini which are fried balls of rice and mushrooms, an Italian street dish, while Carm continued his quest for the best club sandwich in Eastern Ontario. We took back roads that wound through the wilds of the Rideau Lakes. I would have loved to have been on my motorcycle (oh so many years ago)!

—--------------

And wait! This was yesterday…

so that was 5 days ago and not much has improved. Monday I thought I was getting better so did a bit of resistance exercise and then a walk… well, that wasn't such a great idea as I was still struggling with nausea and fatigue but I thought maybe I could force myself to get better! Alas, it didn't work out that way and I just ended up still struggling…

I also thought it would be a good idea to cut out my sleep aid for a few nights to see if that would make a difference, but then I was just exhausted from lack of sleep and constant hot flashes!

And then, just because my body wasn't assaulted enough, we had our first twinrx vaccination on Tuesday… cue more fatigue and nausea. 

I can't say I'm much better today except I will tell myself that I'm feeling stronger every day and try to focus on the improvement! Goodness knows, I've probably been making it worse by whingeing about my woes ad nauseum!

We did get a day of rain yesterday! Thirty six mm of rain was enough to soak the ground but probably not enough to end the drought…

This morning I walked with June - logically that is! She lives in Basal, Switzerland but with a video chat as we walked it was almost like being in person :-)  It was fun to see more of her neighbourhood. And we managed to chat each other up instead of just complaining about our woes for the win! I did feel better and more energized after our chat - just goes to show how much our thoughts affect our bodies.

Wednesday was a horrific day for the dogs… first they had their teeth cleaned and then their nails clipped - I wonder how excited they will be for the next car ride!

Yesterday I made 3 more containers of pureed tomato sauce - my new method is to roughly chop the washed tomatoes until the instant pot is filled, then 10 minutes at high pressure and a natural release. I strain the liquid out, which at that point is basically tomato flavoured water (I'll call it juice). The rest, pulp and skins is whizzed with an immersion blender and voila! a simple sauce ready to be turned into anything. The only waste is the stem!

I also made Pat's recipe for chocolate zucchini cake - yum! I'll make a few more on the weekend so the freezer will have a cache of desserts.

Oh yes, Monday I also had a great visit with Christina :-) We drank heaps of tomato 'juice' while we enjoyed a cooler day on the deck. Alas, I believe the heat of summer is over and certainly the days of lazing around in the oppressive heat are over as well - boo hiss!

Today is going to be the start of better days… today is going to be the start of better days… today IS the start of better days…

Awesome!

"tomatoes every which way"

"heaps of zucchini, but somehow not enough"

Lindsie's Beginner's Glossary of Horse Riding Terms

I got an email today from a woman involved with a children's project. One of her charges, Lindsie, found my skjennagard.ca website about our horses and used that as one of her resources for creating an amazing web page with lots of information that people, (not just kids), would find informative. I was thrilled to hear that she enjoyed our ponies :-)  I'd love to add a link to her page on my website, but gosh, it's been over 10 years since the last time I made updates and will really have to put on my thinking cap to do so. In the meantime, I thought I'd link to it here so maybe it will get some views. 

Lindsie's Beginner's Glossary of Horse Riding Terms

Please check out her page.

inferno

We must be setting some sort of record this summer… it's been another stretch of blistering hot weather! Today looks like another scorcher… Carm golfed yesterday afternoon - it was 34C - but used a cart so he managed the heat well.., meanwhile, I relaxed on the back deck with occasional dips into the rapidly warming (again) water!

I say I was relaxing… but I felt like a damp wash rag wrung out until nothing remained. I had a really good run of energy and mood but yesterday I crashed in both. We had guests both days on the weekend (more about that later) and had a great time. Lunch both days was easy and mostly made ahead of time so it wasn't stressful, in fact I felt great… until Sunday morning after I got through my exercise… I don't know why but I was totally drained of energy - usually I feel tired but energized after I'm done (I know that doesn't make sense but trust me!)...

Yesterday morning I felt so weak that I couldn't even get through 5 minutes downstairs and forced myself to do a slow walk on the treadmill - if I hadn't been talking to Kirsten I'm not sure if I would have made it! Thanks Kirsten 😀 I wanted to do it as it's a big mood booster and I always feel like I've done something really good for myself… but perhaps yesterday I should have skipped it as it turns out that an injury that I have started to get infected and was spreading quickly, triggering a fever in the afternoon. 

I'm not sure what I did, but by bedtime the fever was going down and the spread of the infection seemed to slow. This morning much of the swelling is down and I have no fever so I'll hold off on going to the doctor. My immune system is working well for me!

I don't know if it was the infection but my mood also crashed, triggering a cascade of unwelcome thoughts… If I'd had more energy I would have made some black bean brownies or some such treat but there's the crux of the problem… no strength to do the things that would get my brain behaving again. Luckily this morning my brain is back to behaving itself! I'll take a day off from exercise but will get some things done instead of just being a lump on the sofa (outdoors this morning!).

Oh, so back to the last few days… we had lots of lazy afternoons doing nothing much last week (hummm - Carm played golf 3 times so he wasn't that lazy!)... the forecast for the weekend showed two more hot days with no storms on the horizon for the afternoon so we sent out a few invites.

Saturday Julie and Peter came for lunch. Carm worked with Pete 'back in the day' - they were married on the same day as we were so we have met for dinner to celebrate our anniversaries a few times and they've been here for parties, but I think this was the first time we had them here with just the four of us. It was a perfect (if a bit hot) afternoon for getting to know them better. 

Sunday it was Tina and Bruce's turn for lunch. As usually happens, they visit on the hottest day of the summer! In previous years they've come only once, and always around the beginning of August, often in hopes of seeing some meteors. This year they came in June as well - also a scorcher! I love having people over on these hot days - as long as they are swimmers! No hanging out in the AC for me on these hot days - they'll be over soon enough…

Awesome!

"picking food from the garden"

"eating food that we've grown"

quietly content

Carm was off golfing yesterday afternoon so I blasted the music blasting while I twirled around the house from distraction to distraction, leaving a trail of destruction and half worn clothes behind me. Half worn clothes? I've been trying on everything that I've purchased this summer for our trip! And since I really have no where to store them, they end up draped over chairs and beds! The spare room is a disaster, but only needs 30 minutes to be guest ready :-)

Today his golf game was early in the day so I slept in and then after a long leisurely cup of coffee, got walking… I felt good with barely a twinge in my back - hurrah!

I know that I go on about plant-based eating and trying to keep up with healthy eating but it's such a big part of my life that it's hard not to talk about it! I'm not trying to be superior or holier than thou… I don't feel that way at all, in fact I feel very much the opposite… but it's a daily struggle for me… and not a one and done thing! 

It's like if you got a new car… you'd talk about it for a bit then forget about it… unless you were having to deal with issues all the time in which case it would be a regular topic of conversation 🤣 pretty lame analogy!!! It's getting late 🫩 

I find it easy at times to just say to heck with it but then I remind myself that this is for long term health and vitality and get back to it. I've got lots of motivational videos saved to inspire me! Of course it helps that I feel great so it's hard to defend sitting on the sofa all day!

I read something about passion and discipline yesterday that really hit a chord - it's discipline that gets me to show up for myself everyday, even when I really don't feel like it. Oh sure, there are days when I can't get it together for much at all or maybe even manage just a walk, but I really want to try to limit those days. The last 2.5 weeks have been a setback but I'll pick up where I left off and get going again… soon.

"Discipline is what gets you out of bed when motivation is gone.

Discipline is what makes you practice when you don't feel inspired.

Discipline is what turns an amateur's dream into a professional's reality." unknown 

A few days ago I was feeling really great mentally and more like myself than I have for ages… it was wonderful but I didn't fully trust it which makes me a bit sad… it lasted for a few days then faded back to normal but I've had a few glimmers since… 

But what is normal? I've been medicated for over two decades and don't remember what it was like before. I do know that the meds flatten me out so that sometimes I barely feel anything but it's better than feeling like death! Hmmm, I'm going to rephrase that… I sometimes feel nothing but when I'm in a good space I feel quietly content which is actually pretty awesome and I'm grateful for that.

The weather has still been dry but has been a bit cooler. I'm sad to say that I didn't get myself outside at all today, it was breezy and a bit cool for sitting around outside… so other than a few trips out with the dogs I didn't venture out… oh, that's wrong! I did dunk myself into the 70F water this morning after my walk and other exercise.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm running out of zucchini! Yesterday I made 3 lemon zucchini loafs, today I roasted a bunch that I'll freeze to add to pastas in the winter, which has left me with just two small ones left! I might roast them tomorrow and hope that there are a few hidden out in the garden.

A few weeks ago I started following this fitness guy on FB - he's pretty fit and has some amazing fitness routines set to music which is all fine… however, the women that drool over him on his page are disgusting! Like have some self respect for goodness sake! And don't say gross things like 'he cured my menopause'... ugh… If he was a young woman that older men were gushing over everyone would be up in arms, but for some reason there's a double standard going on here!

Awesome!

"a full on walk"

"sunny summer days"

"freezing swim"

"a few days of feeling good"

"being happy with my life"

getting more mobile

Today I managed a full intensity hour long walk! The first in over 2 weeks. I even managed some extra weight bearing exercises as well! I feel like I'm almost back to normal… hurrah and finally, although I do have to protect my back a certain amount still. I just have to watch that I don't overdo it as I can push myself too hard at times… I don't know exactly what I did, but it sure put me on my back foot for days and days…

Yesterday I managed some time in the kitchen and came up with a few new 'recipes'... Pat was coming for supper and I wanted to zoosh up the black-eyed pea burgers that I already had in the freezer. I'd seen some things on FB that were basically a bit of grated cheese, some thin ribbons of zucchini, topped with a bit more cheese and then baked in the oven till crisp. That worked well so I stepped it up a notch and added some thinly sliced tofu that had been marinated in teriyaki sauce and then roasted with a bit of garam marsala sprinkled on (I'd skip this and use a different spice instead - maybe smoked paprika). I spread some chopped sun-dried tomato, red onion, garlic, la bomba spicy sauce, with a tiny bit of zucchini just to thin it out. The spread was pretty spicy so I didn't use much of it - next time I'll slather it on as the heat got lost in all the other ingredients.

Carm picked up some brioche hamburger buns which fit the burgers perfectly. All layered together, with a bit of ketchup, they were awesome! And much less work than the sandwiches that I made for Pat a few weeks ago… although the black-eyed pea burgers were already made, but I sometimes make a huge batch of them to have handy in the freezer…

Some zucchini salad with a lemon dressing and roasted radishes rounded out the meal. It was a good one and even better cause we could eat outside! Yesterday was a beautiful day, not too hot with low humidity. Unfortunately there was a smoky haze that blocked out some of the glorious sun.

We've had the sun shade up for a few days now!

Awesome!

"even more summer days!"

"black-eyed pea burgers"

"slowly getting more mobile"

zucchini 3 ways

I'm taking another day off from walking… my back is still giving me lots of trouble unfortunately :-(  The last few days I have walked a full hour but then end up gimping around the rest of the day so today I'll try another full rest day. It's gotten a lot better than it was almost 2 weeks ago but still isn’t great… I'm not sure what I wrenched but it was something bad!

Today is overcast and cooler, but the last week has had days and days of hot, sunny weather! It's been glorious, at least for those of us with AC… I pity the people without and especially those that have to work outside. We were able to have the shade cover up for several days in a row so I've been able to convalesce in paradise!

I did pry myself off the sofa on Friday to do some prep for Saturday's afternoon visit with Olaf & Steph. I kept it pretty simple but it still seems that everything took ages to make, especially when I had to lie down to rest often. 

Friday after his golf game, Carm dashed to Costco for a package of their awesome wings which cook up ‘real good’ in the actifry. I made Greek potatoes and popped them in the fridge giving the potatoes a chance to convert its sugars to a resistant starch which doesn't spike blood sugars as much. Saturday, I just heated them in a frying pan with a tiny bit of olive oil, and yes, more garlic! The leftovers have seen a few incarnations, including with lentils and roasted zucchini last night 😀 

I did an experiment with the focaccia… instead of just garlic and rosemary, I loaded it with sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta, and thai basil flowers. It was good and a definite do-over!

Olaf and Steph arrived sometime past 1pm on Saturday, just as the focaccia came out of the oven, so we had a quick snack and then went straight outside for the rest of the day! It was a gorgeous day and I was determined to eek every last moment of summer… 

Monday Carm played golf in the afternoon and the weather was still fantastic, so I sent a last minute invite to Mom and Kirsten for a ‘girls’ afternoon on the deck. It was another lazy day in the heat of summer :-)

Aside from those two social afternoons, I've done nothing… we've eaten a certain amount of take-out and easily made meals… I just can't stand at the kitchen counter for long, especially by the end of the day. It's incredibly frustrating! I was just getting back to my workout routine before I hurt myself… now I'll be back to square 1 (well maybe not 1 but not where I was!). I can't even imagine lifting a weight at the moment :-(

Yesterday I forced myself to walk for an hour, with a few breaks for stretching, which I think was a mistake… then after a stint outside and a bit of a rest I tackled a pile of zucchini. Some I made into a sort of fritter which I can heat up for supper one night, the rest is in ribbons ready to make the lemon zucchini salad, I just have to make the dressing which seems insurmountable at this moment… At the end of all that I could barely stand, let alone walk, so I just read in bed for a few hours. Ugh!

Over the past few days I did manage to get some garlic chili crisp made with the rest of last year's garlic, and sliced some lemons for the freezer. Carm got me another bag from Costco today, so I'll slice a bunch more, but also make some lemon zucchini cake for the freezer! Lemons and zucchini are a great combination!

Tonight we revisited an old favorite movie… ‘Moonstruck’ never fails to bring a few laughs as well as some tears… Carm's got some arias playing now - one of these days we must go to an opera in person!

Awesome!

“more summer days”

“focaccia with extra toppings”

“lunch with Mom and Kirsten”

time passes faster

As was forecast, last Thursday was unsettled with dark clouds marching across the sky, keeping me mostly inside. With more moderate temperatures, it was the perfect day to get the clippers out to sheer Lupa. She's sleek and shiny again! 

In the afternoon I met up with Mom & Dad at liquidation for a little shop and then coffee at Tim's. I bought a linen’ish dress which can be dressed up or down. I think I have everything that I need for our trip this November! Oh, and on the way home I popped into a little thrift store that I'd never been to - and scored two tops to go with the beige striped linen pants I bought a few days ago. One is dressy, perfect for dinners out, and the other is a simple tank top. 

Friday I got up at the crack of dawn so I could do my exercise and then get some food made to take to the villetta. I got everything made ahead of time that I could, but would have to make the lentils when we got to the villetta…. in the end we settled for take-out fish & chips for dinner Friday night as it was just Kirsten home. I only had the lemon zucchini salad to contribute on Saturday as we were out all day…

Saturday we putzed around all morning, taking the dogs for a longish walk, coffee with Kirsten and Shawn, then we got ready to go to Kingston for my friend June's father's Celebration of Life. I've written about June's father, Mr. Jenkins, during the Write Your Life class that I did at the library years ago… he hired me out of high school for a temporary job that turned into a 29+ year career in IT… a turning point that influenced my whole life.

https://youtube.com/shorts/7eCjar2ZfkU?si=wahJ8bz2TOL6C7cI  My contribution to the memorial video.

It was a lovely gathering in the garden of a glitzy club in downtown Kingston. The weather was perfect with a cloudless blue sky, and not blazing hot! A week ago would have been another story all together… 

I'll segue back to Saturday morning… Shawn is big into fitness and cross-fit so I thought it would be a good idea to get some tips from him… I'm hoping to be able to do a few pushups someday but my form was all wrong so we got that straightened out (I can barely do 1 kneeling pushup) and then there was another plank with shoulder tap which was also very hard… one or both of those totally F'd up my back and core as I seem to have over strained a few key muscles. So I've been gimping around, barely able to move or stand since. I thought that by today I'd be back to walking on the treadmill, but I'm still having a hard time walking to the kitchen sink! Obviously I have some pretty big weaknesses… more goals!

Sunday we came home in the morning and did the usual Sunday stuff… then yesterday, despite being barely able to move, I perched on a low stool washing the dirt from the garlic as Carm pulled it. We managed to get the whole 150+ bulbs harvested and stored away in the garage to cure. Most were pretty decent sized bulbs, possibly better than last year's.

Our garlic from last year is on its last legs so the harvest is just in time - I should try to rescue what I can and make garlic crisp oil… maybe tomorrow when I can stand at the counter for longer... I also have a bag of lemons to slice and freeze. My experiment with freezing whole lemons was a success, but I'd like some pre-sliced to pop into my water jug :-)  We can get lemons from countries other than the USA right now so I want to stock up!

Do you ever wonder if time passes the same way for all the creatures of the earth? How does time pass for a fly? How long does a minute seem? When I squashed the horsefly on the window, did it seem like a minute or hour to it or did it die in an instant like it was for me? When your lifespan is 30 days (which I was surprised to learn - I thought maybe a few days at most!), does a minute seem like weeks? A human's lifespan is about 29,000 days longer than a fly's!

Awesome!

“fish & chips”

“those damn mini carrot cakes from Costco - we will never buy them again as I could not resist their siren call in the middle of the night - who am I fooling? They called me 24/7 as if they were made with heroin and not just plain sugar…”

“great garlic harvest on a beautiful day”

melting brain

 It's another scorcher! I think it's the hottest day yet and here I am, freshly out of the pool and clean from my outdoor shower. I had a good workout today - I felt stronger than I have for a while…  I'm in bliss! Peaceful easy feeling washes over me whenever I take a moment to be grateful for life. It's hard to be unhappy these days!

Yesterday was our 36th anniversary! We went out for supper with Julie & Peter, Ken & Francine, just to the Works for burgers. Somehow the Keg seemed like too big of a slab of meat. Julie & Peter got married on the same day we did, all those years ago! 

Looking back over those 36 years, it seems like it's been a very gentle rollercoaster ride and as the years pass, it just keeps getting better and smoother. Every obstacle that we've faced together has strengthened our relationship - I feel lucky to go through life with someone who has my back and is there when I need him most. He never fails to show up on my dark days. 

I think the heat is melting my brain and making me maudlin! 

I just recently discovered k.d. lang and I feel like I've missed out on her beautiful voice all these years! I saw a youtube video of an opera singer watching her sing ‘Hallelujah’ for the first time - he was blown away and went over some of the highlights and how they show such tremendous talent. I believe Leonard Cohen said that she sung it best!

okay… it's f'n hot out today! I'm sweating already and am not sure if I'll be able to spend the afternoon outside 😱  Maybe I need to get the fan out. The crazy thing is my body does not like the heat and I can start feeling sick pretty fast if I can't get cool. I've always been like that but some of my medications made it worse, however,  I love the heat and there are only a few things that feel more awesome than getting hot and cooling down in the pool… summers would suck pretty hard for me without it. A lake or ocean would be nice too :-)

So while I'm ‘suffering’ in the heat, Carm is suffering in the dentist chair - which is downtown in the city, so not only does he have to endure a filling, he also has to battle horrendous traffic to get there and home.

Humidex is 41 at 1:30pm… forecast to be 43 by 3pm when we take the dogs to get their nails trimmed. Yikes - two dogs in a hot car…

Oh, I have to ask you a favour… a few months ago I got a tub of creatine to add to my morning protein shake… it's supposed to be good for muscle growth, and a bunch of other good things, however! Some brief research revealed that it triggers hypomania for some people… am I one of those people? At the time I wasn't ready to risk it since I was going through so much on the tamoxifen. Well, the other day I did some more research, this time going beyond the one study. There are lots (it seems) of people that have no trouble at all, some felt just a tiny boost in mood and energy, although there were a few people that did trigger a stronger response… so… I'm giving it a try but will be on the lookout for mood changes. If you notice that my writing seems a little ‘out there’, please let me know! (I know I'm blathering on more than usual, but I only started taking it yesterday so there would be no effect yet - the people who it affected, didn't start to see changes for 2 weeks… so it’s just my normal spectrum).

I'm not too worried as I've got a strong habit of checking in with myself… but sometimes I am too paranoid and freak out at the smallest change… and surely having some days with more energy would be considered normal? I've spent so many years in a bit of a daze and struggle with energy most days, mostly triggered by my meds… I'll take it day by day and rely heavily on Carm to be a bellwether.

… past supper time… the deck has been ‘put to bed’ for the next few days - there's lots of rain in the forecast tomorrow and if I'm honest, a little break from the sun is a good thing! I'll spend the morning getting Lupa trimmed up and the afternoon with my parents 😀 

Awesome!

“36 good years”

“sweat”

“stretching out on my deck chair, feeling like a cat in a sunspot”

“peaceful easy feeling”

“burgers with friends”

“my little corner of paradise”

sultry days

Carm is out on the links this afternoon, under the blazing sun again, and again with a cart. It's not as brutal as it was Saturday and luckily there's been a bit of a haze to block the full effect of the sun. So while he's out sweating buckets, I sit here on the back deck, comfortable in the shade and light breeze, drinking buckets of cold tea and lemon water. I'm well hydrated!

This morning we took Adia to see the vet again… she's been limping consistently since we were at Kirsten's last weekend. Dr. Johnson isn't sure what's going on as the xray that they took last summer never really showed anything. The current plan is to keep Adia on the meloxicam for a full month, with 2 weeks of leash walking - no running around. Easier said than done but worth the effort if we can get her fully healed up and don't have to resort to more xrays and joint taps…

Yesterday had threatening skies all day - anytime I started to venture out I'd hear thunder or see black clouds, so it ended up being a semi wasted day inside. 

I mentioned that Saturday was a scorcher! I think the humidex got up to 42C… with no storms in the forecast for the day it seemed like the perfect day to have company - swimming company! Francine & Ken came by for a thrown together lunch and lots of swimming time. The fan kept us reasonably comfortable in the shaded sitting area. 

The new umbrella was deployed at lunch and gave good coverage, but I think we'd need something much bigger than 10’ to fully shade the table. I didn't mind being partially in the sun though. We moved the old umbrella down to the pool level table which even gave us a sliver of shade in the pool! And a comfortable spot to sit to dry off :-)

Last week we bought a little deck chair that I'd been eyeing at liquidation for a year! I hummed and hawed and finally figured that if I've thought about it this long, I must want it… I’ve stretched out on it when I get out of the pool every day since. It's great for my 5 minutes of sun bathing! I love it!

I've been making the most of this hot weather - there's usually only a handful of days like this a year so I have to soak up every last bit of heat to help me get through next winter. I don't get much done… not that I do much anyway… except for lots of doom scrolling and even more reading! Today I was bombarded with recipes on FB… which is normally great, but today I'm doing a fast 😱  Luckily I had just downloaded ‘Fast Like a Girl’ from the library so I was able to motivation myself by re-reading bits!

Awesome!

“company!”

“a quiet afternoon to myself”

“mosa blood orange”

“my chair”

“days of pef”

r&b

Seventies r&b blasts across the yard but is drowned out by the din of Carm hard at work with the lawnmower… I'm stretched out on the deck about to read something, I'm not sure what. The warm air makes me feel languid, melting all worries except for wondering what I'll make with the glut of zucchini being produced by the garden…

The air is heavy with peaceful easy feeling!

And the sweet smell of freshly cut grass.

A few minutes ago, I used the mandolin to make ribbons of zucchini that I will make some sort of vinaigrette to toss with it once it's had some time to sweat out some liquid. Or I could mix it with some eggs and chickpea flour to make little fritters. Or both!

Yesterday I had my last follow up with the surgeon and left with a clean bill of health. Since we were right next to liquidation we popped in for another fan… and came out with a big umbrella as well! It should shade the table a bit better at supper time. It's got solar lights but we are never outside eating after dark so a bit of a waste!

I'm reading a book written by Glenn Close's sister Jessie, who has bipolar. It's hard to get through at times but at the same time I feel blessed to have had an easier journey. A much easier journey… however there is lots to think about… what can I learn to apply to my own life? What insight can I get from someone else's life?

But I have the attention span of a gnat so it's slow going with lots of diversions!

After supper… I finished making the zucchini salad with a lemony garlicky dressing, putting some ribbons aside to make fritters. I mixed up 2 eggs, about ½ cup chickpea flour, some spices and fresh basil and tossed in the ribbons of zucchini that I'd set aside. They fried up into flat disks perfect for piling on the leftover sandwich stuff from the other day - no bread required! It was delicious. 

Awesome!

"a summer day" 

"a nap"

"as it turns out, zucchini!"

shades of pink

It's almost 3:30 pm on a sunny and hot (but not boiling) day… I tried to eek every last minute that I could outside until the storms hit us, but as it turns out, I could have delayed much longer. Oh well, a quick check in the mirror shows that I'm already a certain shade of pink even though I've mostly been in the shade, except for a few dashes to the pool which then meant stretching out on my new chair to dry off!

I wrote a little blurb for June's father's celebration on life next week which has left me feeling a bit drained and emotional - Mr. Jenkins hired me for my first serious job which then turned into an almost 30 year career in IT. It was a major turning point in my life - who knows how things would have turned out if I'd just carried on with my summer job at the boarding kennel. I never would have chosen computing as my life's work but having been given the opportunity, I ran with it! I was luckily blessed with a brain that loved the logic and organization of my field.

Carm survived golf on that blistering hot day almost 2 weeks ago and has enjoyed a few more rounds in more moderate temperatures since - he's not getting 3 rounds in a week this year - hopefully as the summer goes on, he'll be able to add another round or two to his week.

It's been a week & a half since I last wrote but nothing exciting has happened! Well, maybe that's wrong! Last week Trudie & Leo came for supper one night, we went to the trailer for 2 nights on the weekend, then Pat came for supper on Monday night and Mom on Tuesday night. So I guess it's been busier than I thought!

I've been trying to get fully back to my workout routine but honestly, some days it takes a hurculean effort to get myself up off the sofa… yesterday I made it downstairs to my little gym for 5 minutes on the bike but only managed a few minutes of resistance exercise before I gave up - I was like a limp dish rag! I did force myself to walk on the treadmill for an hour which felt like an incredible achievement!

Today was much the same… Carm was out golfing early which should have been motivation for getting going, but I needed to trick myself. I told myself I'd only do 5 minutes on the bike  (which is my normal routine) and then give myself a break with just 30 minutes of walking… once I got going I managed the bike and then over 20 minutes of resistance exercises. Then I managed to walk for the full hour - I just needed some mental tricks to get myself going!

Some days I can hardly get through my coffee before I run downstairs, but these last few weeks have been brutal!

I made sandwiches for supper on Monday when Pat came, which sounds like a cheat sort of dinner EXCEPT the damn things took me over TWO HOURS to make! I'd seen a recipe for  a vegan reuban sandwich which inspired me to create my own version… first I used the mandolin to thinly slice ribbons of Japanese Yam (purple sweet potato) which I brushed with oil and sprinkled spices on. I roasted those in the air fryer, 5 at a time… each batch took 8 minutes and there were at least 4 of them… maybe 5. Then I did the same with a giant zucchini from the garden (already!)... Same time consuming process for cooking them… Once that was going, I made a zucchini radish slaw to chill in the fridge… then I thinly sliced some firm tofu and mixed it with BBQ sauce. This got air fried till it was starting to crisp up a bit on the corners. And then I made a white bean garlic spread to use in place of butter…

All of this got piled onto toasted pumpernickel bread along with lettuce from our garden for incredible sandwiches! Was it worth all the work? I'm not sure, but Pat and Carm raved about them so perhaps I'll do it again with a few tweaks to make the process a bit faster…

The other thing I've been making is sort of a 'Tuscan' white bean dish with cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, red peppers, onion, garlic, scapes, fresh basil and a bit of kale. It comes together quickly in the pan and tastes delicious 😋 I've been throwing white beans into everything these days!

Last night for Mom I just made egg salad on a cardamom bun along with roasted zucchini with sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red pepper, fresh basil, and a bit of feta cheese. I'll be making buckets of this salad over the summer ☀️ And honestly, an egg salad sandwich is 'da bomb!' and always a favorite, not to mention a whole heck of a lot less work! I need to make a scale of effort and effect to rate the two sandwiches! I think the egg salad would rate way way higher!

I started doing Bulgarian split squats yesterday… 3 sets of 5 on each leg (yes, just 5)... They were hard but not impossible. Well, my glutes are getting more and more sore even though it was over 30 hours ago!!! Obviously there is a lot more muscle needed! 💪 I wonder if strengthening these muscles will make it easier to walk at an incline when I'm on the treadmill?

video of split squat 

Awesome!

"remembering old times"

"sandwiches"

summer breeze

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine… today was a blessed day of summer with a hot sun, smell of clover sweetly scenting the air, and a light breeze rustling the leaves in the poplars that are still alive. The day started off vigorously, maybe too vigorously! My arms a still a bit jelly like but at least my legs feel strong!

I drained the battery on my speaker this afternoon so had to dig out a charging cable for outside… I think I've played every genre of music except Gregorian Chants! Right now I have a 70s summer playlist cued up. Earlier it was Lady Gaga, and before that it was a jumble of high energy songs to keep my feet moving on the treadmill.

Carm had a mid afternoon golf game arranged so he's out there sweating buckets - I hope he remembers to drink his water… He did text that they are using carts today which was a relief - he's had heat stroke multiple times on the golf course 😱 so I worry like crazy when he's out in the heat.

After my herculean efforts this morning I've been chilling… watering plants, harvesting thai basil and lettuce, but mostly just stretched out on the sofa outside. Low effort tasks interspersing total relaxation.

I was listening to 'Burning' by Jelly Roll and was thinking how the lyrics were saying what I couldn't a few months ago, but now those feelings are just a dim memory that I can't even quite conjure up. I know that I was feeling bad but Nature has thankfully made my brain forget just how awful it was. Small (or perhaps huge) mercies!

Thursday I took Mom to her follow-up appointment with the Infectious Disease doctor… the doctor was pleased with her recovery especially given how sick Mom was. Dr. A. said that the bacteria that Mom had is often fatal so we feel double blessed that she made it out the other side. She's not 100% yet but seems to be getting a bit stronger everyday. She has another 3 weeks of antibiotics to make sure the bacteria is fully killed and not hanging out in her spine anymore but she is considered 'out of the woods' - thank goodness!

Friday Pat came for supper and a movie. I think they watched an old Stargate movie while I read, but when that finished we put on something about Lady Jane Grey in an alternate universe with creatures that can transform from animals to people. We just watched one episode but I'm looking forward to the next one :-)

It had been a busy day with trips to Costco and liquidation. We scored giant (and I mean GIANT) insulated mugs - they'll be great for our trip this winter, but in the meantime, I've been using mine to up my water drinking. It holds almost 1.5 litres and keeps it pretty cold through the day so I've been filling it up in the morning and trying to get through the whole thing. It's got a huge 'mouth' which makes it easy to wash… and perfect for a few slices of lemon! I'm thinking that tomorrow I'll fill it with iced herbal tea and lemon.

Okay… time to get off the Jelly Roll playlist and back onto the 70s summer music! I love his music but it is perhaps even more dirge like than Leonard Cohen!

Awesome!

"a summer day - always awesome!"

"giant mugs"

summer visitors

I've got a Marvin Gaye playlist blasting, drowning out the sound of the lawnmower, but the perfect accompaniment to the rustling of the leaves in the breeze… the temperature is more moderate and the breeze is keeping things comfortable… the shade is up so I'm enjoying some solo time on the deck before our next group of guests arrive. 

Our visit with Tina and Bruce on Monday/Tuesday was great - we sweated under the shade, braving the sweltering temps while we enjoyed some adult beverages, lots of cold ice tea, and dunks into the rapidly warming waters of the pool. The focaccia came out of the oven just as they arrived and I cooked the potatoes outside so there was no need to spend much time inside. It was a perfect summer day!

I think it was our first time eating outside this year!

The farmer cut the field on Sunday, tedded it on Monday, and then yesterday made an attempt at baling… unfortunately their machine was acting up so they didn't get everything baled before late afternoon showers. He's out there trying to salvage what is left…

Mom took herself to her hair appointment today - her first real outing by herself! Hopefully she's reveling in her return to independence! 

With nowhere to go this morning I got back into my exercise routine… well, partially! I only made it through 2 sets of resistance exercises, but did manage a full hour on the treadmill - I was beat after all that! I lost a few steps over the last month, but am pleased that I could still do what I did today. A few more days and I’ll be back to where I was. I will admit to lots of swearing to get the last one or two lifts of each exercise done but I did it and I'm pleased with myself for making the effort!

Of course, once I stepped off the treadmill and stripped off my sweaty clothes, I jumped into the not quite cool waters of the pool. A helicopter made a few high passes as I was having my outdoor shower, but I think there were trees in the line of sight… otherwise they got a good story to tell their friends about some crazy woman walking around naked on her deck! 

I am both a naturalist and a natureist!

These warm summer days on the patio are bringing me back into the present - I guess I've been in stasis for a while with everything that has been going on, but I feel very much in the moment right now and am enjoying that peaceful easy feeling a'la the Eagles! I'm not sure that I could feel more mellow 😀 

It smells incredible here with fresh cut grass, hay drying in the sun, katalpa blooms, the rose out front and all the vetch.

bedtime… Cathey and Jim left a while ago after a dinner of leftovers! We had a good but somewhat spirited visit… 

Awesome!

“breezy afternoon in the shade”

“all the shades of pink”

“roast beef sandwiches on focaccia”

“that peaceful easy feeling”