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"