Duck Day

My focus this week is having a "normal" kind of week. Focus and energy back to the things I know make me feel good.

I went to my aunt's house to learn about watercolors. She does a variety of techniques using all sorts of things (gave a a few to use). Great information. I'm not planning to be a "painter" but I want to make note cards for gifts, etc. It's fun to customize for people.

I want to add a little detail
but I needed it to dry.

She had a cheese (technically a bi-product of cheese) called Ski Queen from Norway. It tastes like a less sweet caramel. So interesting and would be really nice on a cheese board. Whole Foods sells it apparently.

I also got a bunch of goodies. An antique chair that's been in the family with an interesting history. More on this later. A bunch of picture frames she was giving to the GoodWill -- I want to spray paint and make a grouping for the carriage house in Asheville. Adding to my craft list.

On the way home I chatted with one of my besties. I needed some connections and it felt really good to laugh and chat with both my aunt and my girlfriend.

Today is an early (poor planning because the juro spiders arrived) hike with another friend. She's my outdoor, garden buddy so I'm looking forward to chatting plants and gardens while I try my first hike back.

Tomorrow I'm volunteering with the farm (I have 2 obligations to be a member). It's a flower picking and arranging session -- the flowers get sent to nursing homes, group homes, etc. I'll start nosing around with questions about a picking garden (goal for next year) and fall veggie planting timing. These sessions fill so fast, but it's the first day of school and there was a late opening. It should be fun.

Friday hubby and I are doing an all day grandson babysitting since his daycare is closed. Can't wait to spend the day with him.

Saturday is a webinar about El Camino de Santiago with a man I know through a charity event. He's very good friends with another friend of mine. Focusing on this for our big trip next year -- fingers crossed. I also have a garden task list to work on -- fall garden begins.

I'm back to reading -- slowly. This is the longest slump for a couple of years. So strange that COVID gave me an aversion to reading. Still having some other symptoms. It's frustrating, but I trying to ignore it.

That's all from here. Later gators.

Sunday Flowers

I seem to be feeling better today. I tried a Peloton workout yesterday and had to cut it short. The COVID symptoms were acting up again.

Today's outlook is better so maybe that means a better day. No amount of thought work turned yesterday around -- I need a little better circumstances.

We're dropping the dogs off this afternoon, seeing our grandson and bringing take-out to our DIL. Coming home to only our dogs, watching a movie on our new sectional and (hopefully) having a peaceful night's sleep with no middle of the night wakeup calls (and carpet cleanups). It sounds like a dream.

I picked a few wildflowers to press tomorrow. A little craft focus this week. One of the helpful hints to lift my mood is leaning into things that I enjoy. Sometimes that's hard to remember when I feel out of sorts. I haven't read a book at all since the dogs are here -- dogs on my lap, dogs needing attention, dogs needing complete dark room to sleep. Tonight will be different.

I have an expected nice week ahead -- more on that later, but I'm ready for Monday and hopeful for the week.

I started this yesterday after my workout. I'll see if it helps with workout recovery. More research is showing benefits for women during menopause -- muscles, joints, brain function. It takes about a month to see results. Side effects are GI (gas, bloat) related, but this one says it's easier on your system. If I suddenly sound really smart in about 30 days, we'll know :)

That's all from here. I'm going to get an arms workout in before we pack up. DIL called and has a broken milk pump so we might be in for a different afternoon. 

Fingers crossed. Hope you had a good weekend. Later gators.

Unexpected Turn

Well, things have changed. I won't go into all the nitty gritty, but I had my gyn appointment and lab work come back yesterday and something might be up.

I need to have follow up tests in August and first available was during the hike trip, next was late September -- so I canceled the hike trip yesterday.

I'm a bit worried (particularly about the labs), but it could be absolutely nothing. 

I'm disappointed about the hike -- and relieved to have the challenge off my plate.

My mood took a deep dive yesterday. I'm discouraged and stuck with dogs all weekend and am worried and confused about medical choices. Geez. It's overwhelming enough that I'm letting myself feel crappy and not trying to turn it around today. Gloomy weather, gloomy mood. Can I feel the feelings and not eat those feelings?? Probably not lol, but I'll try.

There's also some family drama -- when isn't there these days. 

I think a part of why I've been up against a mood these last couple of weeks is that I haven't had enough people interactions. Friends are MIA right now, hiking is a no-go, family is occupied and we're stuck at home for 5 days with dogs (after 3 weeks feeling crappy with COVID) and the weather has been miserable. Add these worries and such -- recipe for a big old pity party with the headliner, "Why can't I catch a break." 

So I'll leave it alone for today because I'm looking at everything through doom glasses. Maybe I'll be ready to rally tomorrow. Later gators.

Outnumbered

We have our grand-dogs until Sunday -- outnumbered, but so far not outsmarted. They're old ladies. One grumpy chihuahua and one confused poodle (advanced dementia). Add our little crazy dogs and it's a challenge. First day finished -- 4 more to go.

I went for a massage yesterday morning before the dogs arrived. It was a July special at the place I enjoyed last month -- but I had to use a different therapist. She was awful -- like really, really awful. The owner asked about the experience and I told her it wasn't good. She said she's gotten mixed reviews about her and appreciated the feedback. She gave me over a 50% discount. No point in hashing the details, but it almost felt like I was getting punked that she was a professional. Next massage is booked with the therapist I liked.

I tried watercolor from the book that my friend gifted me. Apparently there IS a learning curve. It didn't turn out like I envisioned. I think I know some of my mistakes. I cut the picture and will use it as a card for a gift. I'm going to my aunt's next week and she's going to show me some techniques. I'm painting like it's acrylic and that isn't working. I actually added some acrylic over the eyes to correct them -- the black ran and they looked like demons lol.

Dog outline on the page.
You add collars and paint.

The garden is in transition and FULL of pests. It's awful, but this is a natural garden so no pesticides. I need to remove a cucumber plant that's finished, but it's entwined with another, younger plant and I don't want to upset the bees. They sleep in the garden overnight -- it's the sweetest thing. I woke him up and he went right to work.

We needed the rain, but this stretch has been awful. Humidity like I've never seen and so much rain. We're still in the pattern. 

I'm picking up soil today to start the grow room soon. I'm still not sure about the timing. It's confusing. I guess I'll do a few staggered planting. At a certain point, you HAVE to plant the grow room outside and if it's still too hot, everything will burn up. It's a race against the first frost and plant maturity on the other end. So much to learn.

That's all from here. Hope you're having a good week. Later gators.

Martha Beck Rabbit Hole

I mentioned I've been going down a Martha Beck hole lately (I think I mentioned it). She has a new book coming out and her name is popping up on podcasts and such. The new book is about anxiety and her thought is the opposite of anxiety is creativity. That sparked my interest.

Anyway ... lots of free stuff available on her website and I'm down the rabbit hole. 

I listened to a class on finding your purpose and it really hit for me for where I am right now. Lots of gems, but I want to mention one specifically. 

She says one path to your purpose is the Path of Mystery. Basically if something feels tense or icky, it's not aligned with your purpose. Notice it and then try to align it -- use your imagination (mystery) to see how this could feel like aliveness. Maybe that's not doing something or maybe it's about thinking of something differently.

Her example was going to the dentist. Instead of thoughts about how much she doesn't want to go, she asked, how could I look at this differently. Listen to an audio book. Learn a new route (she's in a new area). Take pictures on the drive for her landscape painting ideas. Now she feels excited, alive. Now going to the dentist aligns with her purpose -- things she's fascinated with, things she's curious about (this is another path BTW).

Anyway, back to me lol.

I asked this question about the hiking trip. (Yes, still in "painful" indecision.) I've been looking at this as a physical challenge. Hiking 3 days, etc. After a little meditation -- it came to me. What if this is a STILLNESS challenge? How to be unplugged for 3 day with some people I don't know (and some I don't like). How to tap into my creativity for three days. Sort of a mind wellness retreat. 

I really like this idea. I thought of a number of little ways to make this a mindful exercise and suddenly I'm excited about going -- like really excited. 

Of course, this is me, so now I'm worried I'm not well enough to go (back and recovery from COVID). But I know if I don't go, it's not BS and I'll try again next year. 

I love this exercise. I do something similar, but this is such a concise way to look at finding FS in everything. Things that align with who I am or who I want to become. 

This is a good rabbit hole. Later gators.

Out With the Old

I took out most of the tomato plants yesterday. So many pests eating them and they had a really big case of blight. The weather is causing everything to burst too. Best to get diseased plants out. I have more than my share of good tomatoes and still have some growing on the shadier side. Getting ready to bring the grow room back for the next batch -- broccoli and greens. Working out the timing -- not sure when it's cool enough to support fall plants. Still, feels kind of sad to take them away.

It's going to be interesting to grow the garden next year. I've learned a lot, but probably had some beginner's luck too. The pests found the garden -- does this mean more next year (because they often lay eggs in the soil)? Guess I need to do some digging (figuratively and literally).

I got some of the "stuff" off my plate yesterday. Some is still in progress. Today is more of all of this.

My friend gave me lots of vintage books yesterday. A big stack of Nancy Drew from the 1960's. I'm reading one of the stories now.

I took Duke to the park and ran/walked as I try to acclimate to the weather and physical activity. It was humid and miserable so we kept it short (mainly for him -- dogs can overheat easily and suddenly).

I'm doing some things related to peri this week -- new supplement coming and I have a gyn appointment to discuss HRT. More on both soon.

That's all from here. I finished hunting hornworms in the garden this morning. Big, adorable Disney-looking caterpillars, and awfully destructive. Half eaten cherry tomatoes are the first sign. They are so hard to find -- big, but perfectly camouflaged. I'm going to look in the dark with a black light -- they supposedly glow.

Later gators.

Back to Monday Again

Mixed bag yesterday.

I worked out (still hard) and baked for the family (banana bread). We went to the kids' house and the baby is sick. So no loving Granny -- poor sweet boy has a cold and only wanted mama and daddy, of course. 

My youngest and DIL-2-B came over too and we were all together for the big announcement. This feels like hope, not a final win, but a step toward maybe. That took some weight off my shoulders.

Home to relax because that's all the energy I had for the day.

I have a bunch of "office" things on my to-do list today. Booking rehearsal dinner, booking spa event for my DIL-2-B, volunteer work emails and phone calls. It's funny when my mood is out of sorts and I'm leaning toward anxious, these kind of things have a disproportional dread. It'll feel good to get them off the table today. Logically, there's no reason to dread any of it.

I have a friend who is cleaning out decades of a storage area and is giving me some vintage books -- she's coming over today. She's already given me a box -- from 60 to 85 year old books from her family. If I don't want them, she's dropping at the GoodWill. I tried to talk her into another thrift store or sell them, but she just wants everything gone -- hence the dropping off to get them out of her house.

The weather is still soup and awful to be outside. Not any relief on the 10 day forecast. Ouch. 

I had a focus to feel more myself by today (new Monday) and I'm partially there. Stomach issues are resolved. Head fog/congestion/whatever this is -- still lingering. Energy is slowly coming back. 

I still don't know about the trip because I can't get a practice hike in this stormy weather. My inclination is to cancel, but that's STRONGLY driven by dread, not my ability to hike. I'm worried I'm dropping out to easy the stress of a challenge and not because of lingering COVID symptoms. That's why a few hikes are important to weed out my BS. There is a real possibility I can't hike that level yet -- won't know until I know though. 

The dread isn't the 3 hikes, it's the rest of the experience. Here's what's out-of-the-box for me.

No a/c in GA in August.

Family style food -- lots of gluten stuff. Strict rules on portions and waste.

Community bathroom in another cabin -- planks to walk to the cabin.

Open showers.

No plugs in room.

No cell service.

No phones allowed -- texting or calls (no service in rooms)

Barebones, tiny, tiny room.

Spiders.

The hiking group (lots of opinionated people) and strangers.

2 nights.

Only way is to hike in and out.

Must hike everything in and all trash out too -- can I carry it?!?

I realize a lot of the list is pampered pup stuff which is why I signed up -- get of my box. But, there are some real issues. What if my back is bad? What if weather is bad? What if I get hurt on a hike? There is a service road for emergencies. 

So the decision comes down to if I can hike the hikes, I'm going (assuming my back is doing well). I'm 50-50 on wishing the outcome. What's driving the desire to go is how good I'll feel having accomplished it and the added challenge of finding a way to enjoy the experience too. It's not prison, it's a vacation destination. Good lord, get a grip lol!

I leave with this little bubble butt -- my little shadow. He's such a sweet boy. Later gators.

More Heavy Rains

My poor garden is a mess. Tomatoes bursting, slugs, mildew. Eeek. All rain, no sun, super humidity. 

But there's a sunflower from the wildflower mix. This little bee was happy.

The bees sleep in the cucumber flowers overnight -- when it's raining in the morning, they're still sleeping. I end up waking them up when I start picking. It's adorable.

Trip to Asheville is canceled. Heading to see the grand baby this afternoon. Hopefully this little puppet will distract him from crying when I hold him lol!

I'm working on getting myself back together. The election has me stressed like never before. I need to find a way to handle this -- ever since the debate.

I'm focusing on what I can control and taking Eckhart Tolle's advice -- right now, in the moment I am okay.

I've also been leaning on Martha Beck's work -- podcast and books. It feels hopeful. 

That's all from here. I thought I might start a watercolor book a friend gifted me, but the day seems to have filled up. Still more rainy days this week so maybe I'll break it out. Later gators.

Rain (!!)

The rainy weather for the southeast might be canceling our plans to go to Asheville. Looks like nothing but storms and such for the next few days. No sense in traveling to sit and do nothing -- and the internet and power goes out frequently in Asheville because of overhead utilities.

Dang.

I did a little tiny run and walk with Duke yesterday. It felt good to move and now I'm so sore I can't move lol. Progress. I left 2 rocks in the kids' LFL at the park -- someone had set it up. The rocks fit right in (fish and cats).

I'm hedging toward GOING on the hike trip. If I can get a couple of hikes in and all is well, I'm going for it. Might be 3 days of hell, but as long as I don't do any damage to my old body, it's worth the challenge. I feel like I'm improving now.

We're going out to lunch with my youngest and DIL-2-B today to figure out the rehearsal dinner. We were going to go to the local farmers market too, but it's storming all morning (and day). I wanted to look for local honey and overnight oats -- I'm out of both. 

If we stay home, I have 3 "found" days to figure out. We'll make the decision this afternoon. Looks like some organizing (the bathroom) and maybe some crafting (watercolor and/or a journal) are in my future. 

Stay dry. Later gators.

So Many Vegetables (!!)

Abundance of veggies right now -- but slowing down. I'm pulling a bunch of plants next week and starting the second summer planting.

But how to use the veggies? Everyone I see gets some and still too much for me to eat.

Jalapeño hot sauce with honey. Easy, not too hot and a little sweet.

Coriander for spice and to plant more cilantro. I got a lot of seeds.

Roasted cherry tomato salsa. Great flavor, but a little too much tomato skin and seeds for my liking. A fellow gardener suggested salsa to use up some of the tomatoes. I had it on fish yesterday. I wonder if I puree it more if I'd like it better ... hmmm might whirl it in the blender today.

Garden veggie chop -- tomato, herbs, cucumber, pepper and added watermelon and feta with lime. I don't normally mix watermelon in a salad because I'm a watermelon purist, but a friend suggested and she was spot on. I might need to make this again.

Bees are working ...

The couple flower seeds I planted finally bloomed.

Garden in a nutshell. I planted new cucumber varieties yesterday and then we had a rainstorm to end all rainstorms. Hope the seeds survived. 

I'm feeling a bit better. Some of the strange symptoms are going away. That's the good news. Bad news is I'm neck deep in anxiety again. Good lord. Story (pity party) for another day. Working on this too. I hope today takes a number of things off my worry (not actual worries) list.

Happy Friday. Later gators.

Inch Worm Progress

Making progress on my to-do list (not on feeling better), but it's a big, worry-filled list so getting it going feels good.

I'm adding "feel best" things to my day, but still keeping a lot of "feel bad" things (eating like crap). So it's a wash. That's the main focus today. Eating well. Frozen pizzas are finished, soup is ready (after a few delays). In with the good, out with the crap.

Did I mention that the primary doctor recommended I don't hike the 3 day trip? She thinks I'll be under the weather for a few more weeks -- not enough time to get ready in this heat and it's a recipe for disaster (her words). 

It's a bit of a relief. First because this has always been a "scary" push for me. Second because I felt too pushed to be ready and that wasn't letting me recovery gently. But, it's also a disappointment. I wanted this challenge under my belt and something to add to my brag book lol. I'll officially decide by Monday after a "week of getting better."

I made another box from a birthday card. It's fun and nice to see the writing. I use them in my desk to hold little bits.

I ditched this book. It's me, not the book. I was reading it when I got sick and still have associations. Why struggle through it. Saving my struggle energy for other things.

New library read -- it's good so far.

Squash bugs have descended on the garden. Worse than the beetles. Geez. Once the big tomatoes are ready to pick, I'm clearing most of the garden and starting a second summer planting. No more tomatoes. I have so many cherry tomatoes, I can't keep up -- sharing and making recipes and eating off the counter. I'll start the fall grow room by the end of the month.

We had cows walking thought the neighborhood yesterday. Someone called the farm to get them home again. They're like big dogs.

That's the quick update. Hope you're having a good week. Later gators.

Hello, Monday

My friend, Monday. Hope she can give me a boost. I'm not feeling it, but I'm going to try and fake it.

I was very undone yesterday and woke to a realization that I'm probably having a depressed moment. I don't have depression and I don't want to undermine those with a clinical diagnosis. But, I'm depressed right now. It makes a lot of sense. 

I'm not going to explain it all because I'm lazy -- but very classic symptoms. For me, the key symptom is not wanting to get out of bed in the morning -- wishing I could lay there for hours (and sometimes I do). That's not like me. I'm a quintessential morning person and morning are my absolute favorite time of day (especially early mornings). Somedays might be hard to wake up (because of sleep), but I'm always happy to start my morning. Not lately.

COVID, state of the world, hormones, family drama, lack of exercise and good diet?!?! Who knows. But it's got a hold on me. Actually, maybe it's that I haven't been doing the "things" that make me feel good because I haven't been feeling well. Hmmm.

This week I'm going to try and turn it around. Starting with not giving head time to any of my "worries" and upset over some family stuff. Now is NOT the time to try and figure out that stuff. 7 days of working away this feeling (because it's a moment, not a diagnosis as many suffer from).

Next Monday is the goal. 

Today's anti depression slurry is a few things. Peloton ride (moving my body), meditation (stress relief), making a veggie and quinoa soup (good food), reading (whatever feels good) AND taking care of some insurance stuff ahead of a bunch of appointments (eat the frog first to stop the dread). Bed early, up early for Tuesday. 

I also have a coaching call this evening. I want to talk about the 3 day (2 night) hike I have in August. Stay tuned. Maybe not the time to make a decision, but I want to decide by the end of July because there's a waitlist. 

Okay peeps. Enough for this morning. Time to tackle insurance. Later gators.

Struggle Bus

I'm kind of a mess still. My body isn't right. I feel sick at night (like I have a cold) and my GI is messed up during the day -- those strange associations with stomach upset and non-food items as well as oscillating between stuffed and starving when nothing has changed.

I'm craving anything but vegetables. I have to force myself to eat something green. Not like me at all. I know eating this way is probably not helping to feel my best either. 

Exercise is spotty. One day on, 2 off. No hiking, just an easy Peloton ride. 

To say I'm frustrated is an understatement. For a healthy person, I can't seem to catch a break -- back, shingles, now COVID. 

Looking to Monday to have a strong regroup and essentially ignore the problems. Do as I normally do regardless of how I'm feeling. Not sure if that'll work, but I'm going to try. 

Heading to the aquarium with our grandson today. Looking forward to seeing everyone, not looking forward to crowds. I'll be masked with fingers crossed. I don't want to catch a cold too.

I did more rock painting with the stack of rock I prepped many months ago. I'll take a few fish today.

I read this sweet book while getting a pedicure -- super short and quick read. A little twist at the end. I loved it -- felt like a bedtime story.

I also took a few library books off hold. The other 2 big summer reads weren't working for me right now so I tabled them. I swear this is COVID related. I have such feelings of distaste for some things -- like the thought of reading those other books is too much to handle. Geez, it's weird. Not just with books -- everything seems to be I MUST HAVE IT or I CAN'T STAND IT.

Started this on kindle on the trip.
I'll see if I can read it now.
No kindle reading yet.

Started this yesterday.
Almost finished - fun suspense.

Tomorrow is back to basics. Do what I know makes me feel best. I have a list I made in 2020 and it still holds true. A few things a day. Rinse and repeat. I'll see how I feel by the end of the week.

Happy Sunday. Later gators.

Week Recap

Hello. I didn't plant to be MIA for the week. Here's a little recap.

Lunch with my HS friend was nice -- stayed all afternoon. Tums helped the stomach upset. I shared some garden love -- my favorite thing this summer. I had sorted some Parisian bear marshmallows for her, but I ate them lol.

Tuesday I finally had a much delayed visit for my 11's and a catch up call with a good friend. Then a quick visit with my grandson who cried when I looked at him or held him -- eeek, but so good to see them. 

Wednesday we did cake tasting with the kids -- so much fun and DELICIOUS cakes.

Thursday was a furniture delivery for hubby's den room -- sectional that the dogs are scared of because they are crazy little dogs. Monti sits and shakes. Duke pouts on the dog bed. Geez.

Today is a lunch and learn with the judges for my volunteer position. Then a coffee with my girlfriend I haven't seen in so long. This time it was me who canceled twice (kids in car accident and COVID). I don't expect we'll meet for long though -- Friday afternoons usually means she babysits. 

Garden is still going nuts. I'm transitioning to new plantings. Quick pickling some of the extras -- even with sharing, I can't keep up. Fun problem though.

Tried something new with peppers.
Hopefully, they stay more firm this time.

Did a little rock painting ahead of the aquarium visit on Sunday with our grandson.

Still waiting on my energy to return. I can do a modified Peloton ride every other day. Progress, I guess, but way more slowly than I expected. No hiking yet. 

Reading is at a standstill. I can't seem to get into the 2 other big books. It might be me and not the books. I'm not going to push it while I'm still recouping. I might switch to a fluff, quick read to get things moving again.

Hope you had a good week and are set for the weekend. Later gators.

Summer Sammie

I'm not doing very well today. I'm planning to go to lunch with a HS friend -- we meet about once or twice a year, but I'm so nauseated I can barely function. I hope it passes because I don't want to cancel again. I'm negative and not contagious, but I can't seem to get over the lingering symptoms. They wax and wain -- I felt good on Saturday. Congested on Sunday. Nauseated today. Probably fine tomorrow. Rinse and repeat.

I don't have a lot to report. I don't feel like recapping a dinner out or my garden veggies because of my stomach, but here is a picture of tomato sammie with thanks to my garden. It is the taste of summer -- tomato, basil and mayo.

I'll end with a picture of Duke -- he is such a character. 

Hope you're set for a good week. I'm off to track down some Tums and see if that helps. Later gators.

Carrots

I harvested the garden carrots this morning. I sprinkled seeds, didn't thin and didn't care for them at all. Easy as you can get -- and I got a pretty good picking. Some stayed really small because they had no room. The variety is a smaller carrot so the "bigger" ones are full grown.

I shared with a neighbor -- carrots, cucumbers, basil and tomatoes. I gave peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes to the kids and my aunt yesterday. It's fun to share and this year I've been able to really share from seeds, seedling, to vegetables. 

Did I mention I finished this book? Read the day I was resting -- so much for not rushing lol. It was really good. Not scary, but a well thought out storyline and characters. You don't see novels like this as much anymore.

This is the library read. It's good so far so it's added to my summer reading lineup.

I had coaching call yesterday morning ahead of my plans for lunch. I took the call in the car because I didn't have time for the call and then drive to lunch. It was about relationships and navigating prickly bits related to the issues with my mother. It was a really helpful call -- surprisingly so. I cried at the end which is very unusual for me. I must have needed it.

Lunch was fun, my aunt is fun. Then dropped some things off to my youngest and DIL-2-B. I was tired after the day. 

Tonight we're heading to dinner with friends. My least favorite thing to do with friends (I prefer lunch), but we haven't seen them in too long so this was the best option. I'll have a good time, but I'll be tired because I'm still recovery energy.

Hope you're having a good weekend. Later gators.

Summer Slow-Down

I'm improving -- slowly, but daily little bits that are noticeably better.

Tomorrow begins "regular" life with socialization, etc back in play. I'm not contagious so that is fine, but I'm still not very confident in my stamina.

That leaves me with today. Home all day -- nothing needed. I'm going to give one big rest day with a little chores scattered throughout the day.

And I'm going to read. I was clearing through my TBR pile and sorting out some books that were gifted to me that I don't want to read. I have 45 TBR books and about 15 on a hold list at the library. It's crazy. It's overwhelming.

I decided I needed to ditch the overwhelm feeling and let myself have a summer (July and August) of just slow reading and enjoying some bigger summer books.

These are up first. If I have more time, then I have a couple more in the wings. No rush reading. No pressure. Just fun. I got the idea from a podcast that talked about pacing summer reading differently. For some, it means a lot more reading ... others, a lot less. One of the podcasters said she uses summer to read longer books without feeling rushed. That idea hit for me. These are all longer books that will do well to not rush.

My only hiccup is I didn't realize that a library hold was getting close and I have a book on hold to pick up this weekend. I might ditch the book and re-up for a later time if I don't feel like interrupting my summer lineup. It's a chubby read -- almost 500 pages but so well reviewed. It fits the theme of summer reading -- so maybe I should take that as a sign to add it in the lineup. Stay tuned ... such suspense lol.

I'm extending the summer slowdown in other areas too -- for July at least. I feel hard hit by travel and COVID and need a re-entry MONTH. The goal of July is to feel back to myself by the end. No rush. No pressure -- while still expecting something from myself. I like this idea. A little self compassion. Picking up the pieces again. Getting back to my regular self feels overwhelming (and exhausting) -- taking an entire month to get back feels very doable. 

On that note, time to get my day started. Have a good holiday. Later gators.

The Book(s) of the Summer

I'm calling it right now -- beginning of July. These are the books of summer 2024. At least I hope so. They both have so much buzz and I got both in hardback. My "sources" (aka podcasts) all give these 5 stars (they got advanced copies) and they rave about them. I'm ready for 2 excellent reads for July.

Started this one last night.
Reading carefully and savoring.

I finished this one ... parable on humankind vs animals. It was good.

I'm working on getting back to normal. I have a social calendar coming back into play starting on Friday. I'm no longer contagious, but I'm not sure I'm quite ready to get moving around. Guess I'll start where I am and see where that gets me. This kicked (and is kicking) my butt. 

Hubby leaves for Asheville for the rest of the week. Usually that excites me to be alone, but I'm so tired that taking care of the dogs feels like a lot. I'm also deep in a mood and I probably would do better having company for distraction. The strange associations that leave me nauseated continue to improve and my taste is getting back to normal too. What a weird ride.

I'm going to try an easy, short Peloton ride this morning to see how that feels. Fingers crossed. I haven't hiked in 3 weeks either, but that's definitely a no-go yet.

Hope you're having a good week. Later gators.

Garden, Books and Veggies

Back to gardening.

My garden did okay while I was gone, just by luck. I asked my neighbor to pick from the garden so that fruit didn't rot on vines (that can start turning growing season off in plants). She said she wanted fresh produce so I thought it was a good match. She outsourced to her husband who did a horrible job. I won't ask them again. There was a reason I asked her and not her husband.

Please pick cucumbers before they get big. Came home to 7 of these ... seriously?!?! I asked them to check the garden most days and he only came over once. The cucumbers weighed 3-5 lbs each. Geez. (And crappy go on some other things too -- most of the basil went to seed, etc.)

And this guy. How did you miss him??!?

I picked the sweet potato tubulars and put them in jars for rooting. I started this a bit late in the season though -- still seeing what happens. I need to get it in the ground as soon as it roots.

 

The garden needs a bunch of cleanup but I'm having to take it slowly. I'm spraying tomato plants with a hydrogen peroxide mix (3 treatments total) to treat mold/fungus. I'm pruning bit by bit to get back to an open air flow plant. I'm also slowly taking out the peas -- too hot and they've stopped growing.

Little by little. 

I'm getting a bunch of tomatoes too -- mostly cherry ones, but I have a few big ones ripened and they're all delicious.

I'm trying to get back to plant eating (which means lots of cooking). It's hard to find the stamina though. 

I don't know if I mentioned that I was having strange associations with COVID -- nausea connected to non-food items. One of those items was books -- so strange. There are others too -- my kindle, cathedral pictures, tea bags (but not tea), jewelry. It's starting to pass now. I got a couple books from the library and read one without any issue. I stopped 2 books that were mid-way because I can't pick them up without gagging. 

Up next ...

Read in one sitting -- fast,
suspense with a twist

Today is hubby's birthday. He's golfing. I'm still recovering. On the agenda today is more cooking, spraying the tomatoes and reading -- hopefully I can do all 3 things.

Lunch is a cucumber, chickpea salad with things from the garden (cucumber, tomato, jalapeño, herbs). Dinner is a stacked open sammie -- a remake from historic Beaufort cafe. Goat cheese, smoked salmon, hard boiled egg, pickled red onion and scallions. It's delicious. If my energy holds up, I'm also going to make a purple sweet potato hummus. Back to veggies ... and back to real food.

Hope you have a good day. Later gators.