Just over a year ago I turned fifty. I was overweight, and continued to gain weight through the spring of 2014 and by late summer was at the heaviest I had ever been in my life. I did not feel good at all, my clothes were barely fitting me, my joints ached, I walked at a very slow pace, I was always tired. My blood pressure was high so I went to the doctor last June and he put me on medication to control it, but he also said that I should lose weight and start walking each day.
Well June ended, July came and went and I gained more weight, in early August our fifth grandchild was born, Dave and I had our picture taken with all five of our grandchildren, I looked at the picture and was disturbed at just how large I had become, I felt upset and frustrated, I knew I needed to do something and I knew that I had to start with my diet, lots of baked goods, candies, snacks and daily overeating had taken their toll.
At first I just started eating less and avoided junk food, I lost ten or twelve pounds fairly quickly, then the weight loss slowed and a pound or two crept back. Frustration kicked in, I needed a better way to track what I was doing and to measure progress. In October we had a bonfire and invited family to come hang out. While sitting around the bonfire someone asked my husband's brother-in-law how he had lost weight. Bill was never a heavy man but over the past few years he had gained about twenty pounds, he started feeling unwell and went to the doctor and they diagnosed him with type 2 diabetes, his doctor said if he would commit to losing 15 pounds he would probably be able to reverse the diagnoses. Bill found an app on the Livestrong website and started using it, it tracked his food and helped him stay on track, he lost thirty pounds, he looks and feels great, but best of all when he returned to the doctor his blood sugar had normalized and he no longer has type 2 diabetes. My son-in-law's father, Conley, did the same thing, he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, followed the doctors orders to lose weight, and low and behold he no longer has type 2 diabetes. I was inspired by both Bill and Conley, they both decided to take control of their health and are all the better for it.
After the bonfire I downloaded the Livestrong app, I used it to track all of my food and kept within my calorie allowance each day and by Thanksgiving I had lost almost twenty-five pounds, although still heavy I was feeling really good. Unfortunately the Livestrong app had many issues working on my phone and when I contacted their tech support they told me it wasn't supported on my device. Thankfully I found another app, MyfitnessPal, and to say it has been a lifesaver is not an exaggeration. It helps me track all of my food so I can stay within my calorie budget, and it sort of retrains you to eat better, I always get plenty of fiber each day, enough protein, eat my green leafy vegetables, and enjoy a treat here and there, but I can plan my day to make sure I don't overeat.
Over thanksgiving my sister and brother-in-law were visiting from England, both are in great shape, they run, they bike, they eat healthy foods and both are lean, trim, and energetic. Each Thanksgiving they have done the Turkey Gobbler run, a Fort Wayne tradition on Thanksgiving morning, when they returned from their run they encouraged me to start training so I can join them on the 2015 run. I felt encouraged by my sister and brother-in-law.
My sister Marika has also been an inspiration on my weight loss journey, she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in January of 2013, she had a partial mastectomy but refused further traditional treatment of chemotherapy and radiation. Marika instead did research on diet and natural approaches to treating cancer, she visited a doctor in New York and followed his regimen, she follows a very strict diet for optimal health but my goodness she is the picture of health and two years later remains cancer free and is living her life to the fullest. Another person who decided to take control of her health and is all the better for it.
Well after Thanksgiving I found another app, MapMyWalk, an awesome app, it does what it says, it maps your walk, it times your pace and tells you how fast you walk and kind of challenges and encourages you to compete against yourself. I have gone from walking slowly and painfully last summer, to taking five to six mile walks daily at a pace of fourteen and a half minutes per mile. As I march around the countryside I feel alive, pumped up, good. Last week I did a 9.8 mile walk, I was tired when I returned home, but felt wonderful when I thought back to where I was a year ago. I incorporate some running into my walks, one day I jogged two and half miles without stopping, but the running is coming along slowly, I will persevere.
Now it is April, I am down sixty pounds. Sixty pounds! That is a bag and a half of softener salt, six sacks of potatoes, that I am no longer lugging around. No wonder my joints ached, no wonder I moved slowly. I still have around twenty pounds to go, but I feel absolutely fabulous, and my first major goal was met two weeks ago.
Remember the blood pressure medication? Well doing what my doctor recommended, walking each day and losing weight paid off. My blood pressure started getting very low on the bp meds, 93 over 60, those sort of readings, so I called the doctor and they said halve the dose and come see them in a week. I did that and they said to STOP taking the medication and keep an eye on my bp, it has been two weeks and my bp has remained in a normal range all of that time and I feel so happy to be off of the medication as this was one of my main goals when I started my weight loss journey. My next goal is to reach a healthy BMI, I am two pounds from the high end of normal weight BMI for my height, so the goal is almost reached. My third goal is to get twenty more pounds off so that I am in the mid-range of healthy BMI for my height. And my final goal is to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of my life by eating a good diet and daily exercise.
My motivation to walk each day is that it is my daily dose of medicine for my bp, I would much rather take a brisk walk than a pill. My children have encouraged me and for my birthday this year, I turned 51, they gave me a FitBit, and I love it, it tracks my steps each day, my heart rate, my sleep, it links with MyFitnessPal to track my exercise and calories, it is a great little motivator, you really, really want to make sure you get the 10,000 steps in each day. (about five miles).
Another inspiration is a post that was shared on FaceBook about a lady called Ernestine Shepherd, google her, the seven minute YouTube video is well worth watching. Ernestine is the worlds oldest female body builder, she will be 79 this coming June. Ernestine takes no meds, is lean and strong as can be, she runs, yes runs, 10 miles each day, she eats a healthy diet, she does weight training for two hours a day, and she teaches exercise classes at her church, in addition to competing in body builder competitions and giving motivational speeches. She is 78! And, Ernestine looks FABULOUS in a bikini when she is competing, and did I mention, she is 78! When I don't feel like exercising I think about Ernestine getting up at three each morning to run 10 miles.
In closing it takes self-motivation to make a life change, but it also takes encouragement and inspiration from family and friends and from people we don't know who share their stories. I hope my story helps someone move off of the couch to start taking those first steps towards changing their health and their life. Not only do I feel better, I look better, I have energy, I have strength, I move quickly, I feel twenty years younger, taking control of your health is about the best thing you can do for yourself.
Thank you for reading to the end of this very long post :)
Bean
Friday, April 3, 2015
Friday, March 6, 2015
Knitting and Bread Making - What else is a girl to do on cold winter days?
Well as the title to this post suggests, I have been busy knitting and making bread. We had such a cold February, and March began with five inches of snow and very cold temperatures, but today is the last day of super cold and boy am I glad to know things are warming up. Even with the cold, cold weather it is nice to see the day light hours lengthening, and my thoughts turn to the garden, what we will plant, where we will plant, I can't wait to get outside to play in the mud.
Anyway, back to knitting, I have been on a roll lately. First I made myself a new cardigan knitted in a bright and cheerful variegated yarn, I love the way the colors knitted into stripes and I very pleased with the end result. This must be my winter of variegated yarn, I knitted Alivia a very colorful sweater in a primary color variegated yarn and will be making Charlie a matching sweater next. Next week I will see my mom and will borrow from her a pattern for a zippered, hoodie sweater, I plan to knit one for myself in the same variegated yarn I am using for Alivia and Charlie's sweaters. Henry asked for a sweater too, I may end up making all grand babies the colorful variegated sweater, boy will we look a riot of color if we all go out and about together.
I really love browsing the knitting books at our library and found a gem of a pattern book recently, Baby Knits Made Easy, I am LOVING this book and will order a copy for my very own. I knitted baby Aubrey a ballet wrap cardigan and am working on a matching one for Alivia. I then made a long, striped cap for Emily's new baby, grandbaby #7, who is due on August 8, (Dave's birthday, which he already shares with our son Ben, and our grandson Peter!!).
It was nice to bake bread on Wednesday, I decided to do a double batch and ended up with 9 loaves, the grand babies devoured the first loaf and the rest went to the freezer. Kneading bread is very relaxing, the aroma of baking bread is awesome, the taste of fresh baked, warm from the oven bread is amazing. And along with all of the delights of the bread making, baking, tasting is the cozy warm kitchen.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Some Memories From My Mother
Recently I was listening to an interview on BBC Radio 4 with author David Lodge. It was an interesting interview and David sounded as though he is in his thirties rather than in his early eighties. Anyway, I thought to myself if the author is so interesting what must his books be like? I did a quick search on our local library website and wowsers they own many titles by David Lodge. I left work that day and headed to our fabulous downtown library, (we truly have a most wonderful library service in our county, I think one of the best in the country), I quickly located David Lodge in Readers Services and selected four of his books to read.
I am reading the first of the four David Lodge books, I am most of the way done, I seem to have very little time to get reading in, but it is very good. In fact, I thought to myself, self your mother would really, really enjoy this book, so I emailed good old Mumpy and said you have to read this book. Wow, when I speak Mumpy jumps and she looked the book up on Amazon and ordered it. Mumpy read the book in about two days flat, she sent me email updates, to say she enjoyed it is a bit of an understatement.
The author is five or so years older than my parents, but they all grew up while World War II waged on, and all were impacted by rationing and the austerity of 1950's Britain. In the book the author is lucky enough to take a trip to Heidelberg, Germany and to experience the American way of life at an American military base, my parents moved our family to America in the late 70's. For the author, and for my parents, the American lifestyle was something unimaginable in England and life changing for all of them..
By now your are wondering to yourselves what has all of this to do with the title of my post, well a lot. As I mentioned my Mom emailed me several times as she read the book, it so resonated with her, it resonates with me too and I was born way after the end of World War II. So below I will, with my Mom's permission share her memories she emailed to me. I just loved her emails and want to keep them forever, and posting them on my blog is a great way to keep them available for many years to come.
Email #1
It arrived in the mail today. Good golly does that not bring back
memories. Of course, I was five years younger being born in 1939 - But
I surely remember the anderson shelters, the mickey mouse gas masks and
the morrison shelters. And, just when I thought he had forgotten about
shrapnel collecting, there it was. I remember so well, going into the
street after an air raid and finding the warm twisted pieces of metal
laying in the road. Just got as far as the buzz bombs! It is
extremely readable and brings back a lot of memories. House across the
street from where my mom and I lived was bombed just after we left to
stay at Auntie Edna's for the rest of the war.
I am reading the first of the four David Lodge books, I am most of the way done, I seem to have very little time to get reading in, but it is very good. In fact, I thought to myself, self your mother would really, really enjoy this book, so I emailed good old Mumpy and said you have to read this book. Wow, when I speak Mumpy jumps and she looked the book up on Amazon and ordered it. Mumpy read the book in about two days flat, she sent me email updates, to say she enjoyed it is a bit of an understatement.
The author is five or so years older than my parents, but they all grew up while World War II waged on, and all were impacted by rationing and the austerity of 1950's Britain. In the book the author is lucky enough to take a trip to Heidelberg, Germany and to experience the American way of life at an American military base, my parents moved our family to America in the late 70's. For the author, and for my parents, the American lifestyle was something unimaginable in England and life changing for all of them..
By now your are wondering to yourselves what has all of this to do with the title of my post, well a lot. As I mentioned my Mom emailed me several times as she read the book, it so resonated with her, it resonates with me too and I was born way after the end of World War II. So below I will, with my Mom's permission share her memories she emailed to me. I just loved her emails and want to keep them forever, and posting them on my blog is a great way to keep them available for many years to come.
Email #1
It arrived in the mail today. Good golly does that not bring back
memories. Of course, I was five years younger being born in 1939 - But
I surely remember the anderson shelters, the mickey mouse gas masks and
the morrison shelters. And, just when I thought he had forgotten about
shrapnel collecting, there it was. I remember so well, going into the
street after an air raid and finding the warm twisted pieces of metal
laying in the road. Just got as far as the buzz bombs! It is
extremely readable and brings back a lot of memories. House across the
street from where my mom and I lived was bombed just after we left to
stay at Auntie Edna's for the rest of the war.
Email #2
How well it resonates. I am in Heidelberg now. The visits to the
American stores reminds me of when we first came to America. We were
overwhelmed by the variety of goods, food, et al and the inexpensiveness
of it all. Not that we had any excess of money by any means as you will
well recall. But we did eat a lot better and it certainly was reflected
in the waistline. Our very first bedroom set I believe is the one that
you and Dave sleep in was on sale of course. Unbelievable. You will
remember how we rushed out to every sale at 25% off. Sales only occurred
in Uk in January and August and then it would only be 10% off. When I
worked at Clement Jocelyn in Bury they would trot out the remnant fabric
and offer it at 10% discount and any that did not sell went back into
the store room to be trotted out six months later at 10% once more.
Also I remember Jim Miller here, in America. We were invited over for
July 4th, he placed an enormous steak on my plate which was great and
when I was half way through and struggling he threw another steak on to
my plate. "Oh no I cried, thank you but this is great and is far too
much". He did no more than lift the steak from my plate and put it into
the dog's dish. The dog really appreciated it. I had not eaten steak in
at least three years......I was horrified. Also, I had not had a glass
of wine in three years either!
After Marika was born, things went downhill fast in UK. Inflation went
to 28%. Our mortgage was linked to the bank rate. That went to over
17%. Every month a letter came indicating that we could pay the same
which would mean we would never ever pay off the loan because it would
go to infinity or, we could pay the stated amount and stay on track. We
agreed we would stay on track. Each month we had to pay more money which
meant less money for other things like a bottle of wine on a Saturday
night and a steak. That was why we invested in the digging machine and
were planting potatoes and growing green beans. We severely rationed
our intake of meat. The reason I knitted everything and made as many
things as I could was because that was the most inexpensive thing to do.
Clothing was expensive. I saved the family allowance for your new
school uniforms each year - I did not dare spend it on day to day stuff
because the start of the school year was expensive and I did not want
you guys not to have new stuff for the new school year.
America was a wonderful opportunity for us and I remember when I was
first in Fort Wayne, all be it in the blizzard of 78, I felt a sense of
freedom more than I had ever known. It was down to us. We could sit on
our behinds and starve, or, we could stand up and make a life. Our
choice. It was a great feeling. And, by golly we sure faced a
challenge when Pete lost his job at Bowmar. Thank goodness for the $2000
rainy day fund I stored in the bank. Thank goodness for my sewing
machine in the basement - I think I shortened every guys pair of pants
in the neighborhood at $4 a go. It was a tough three years. Pete, lived
out of his car in Florida since we could not afford for him to live
anywhere. He could not get a job in his field of expertise because he
was not a citizen and had to take what he could. But you know all of
this and I am chattering on. But, not once did we want to return to
UK. We were determined one way or another we will make this work and we
did.
We have a wonderful family and we built a successful business - what
more could anyone want. Even today, apart from visiting there is no way
I would want to live in UK. Our, "out of the shelter" is definitely here.
I just love these emails, I remember our life in England in the 70's but never realized that my parents were pinching every penny until it screamed, I remember a pleasant childhood, a wonderful garden, cool dresses my mom made for us, and one time some really cool pink fur parkas, and lots of lovely knitted items. I certainly have no negative memories of this time at all, because as an adult, I sew my own clothes and sew for my grandchildren, I knit all the time for myself and grandchildren, my husband and I keep a large garden. One of my favorite shows from the 70's is The Good Life, a show about a suburban couple who decide to become self-sufficient in Surbiton, a suburb of London, I liked it because my parents kind of did the thing, except my Dad worked and did everything else in his spare time. Maybe a lot of people in England did this sort of thing in the 70's, even if they didn't, it was a great experience for our family and has given me many good memories.
Anyway if you want to read a good book check out, Out of the Shelter by David Lodge.
Blessings to you,
Bean
How well it resonates. I am in Heidelberg now. The visits to the
American stores reminds me of when we first came to America. We were
overwhelmed by the variety of goods, food, et al and the inexpensiveness
of it all. Not that we had any excess of money by any means as you will
well recall. But we did eat a lot better and it certainly was reflected
in the waistline. Our very first bedroom set I believe is the one that
you and Dave sleep in was on sale of course. Unbelievable. You will
remember how we rushed out to every sale at 25% off. Sales only occurred
in Uk in January and August and then it would only be 10% off. When I
worked at Clement Jocelyn in Bury they would trot out the remnant fabric
and offer it at 10% discount and any that did not sell went back into
the store room to be trotted out six months later at 10% once more.
Also I remember Jim Miller here, in America. We were invited over for
July 4th, he placed an enormous steak on my plate which was great and
when I was half way through and struggling he threw another steak on to
my plate. "Oh no I cried, thank you but this is great and is far too
much". He did no more than lift the steak from my plate and put it into
the dog's dish. The dog really appreciated it. I had not eaten steak in
at least three years......I was horrified. Also, I had not had a glass
of wine in three years either!
After Marika was born, things went downhill fast in UK. Inflation went
to 28%. Our mortgage was linked to the bank rate. That went to over
17%. Every month a letter came indicating that we could pay the same
which would mean we would never ever pay off the loan because it would
go to infinity or, we could pay the stated amount and stay on track. We
agreed we would stay on track. Each month we had to pay more money which
meant less money for other things like a bottle of wine on a Saturday
night and a steak. That was why we invested in the digging machine and
were planting potatoes and growing green beans. We severely rationed
our intake of meat. The reason I knitted everything and made as many
things as I could was because that was the most inexpensive thing to do.
Clothing was expensive. I saved the family allowance for your new
school uniforms each year - I did not dare spend it on day to day stuff
because the start of the school year was expensive and I did not want
you guys not to have new stuff for the new school year.
America was a wonderful opportunity for us and I remember when I was
first in Fort Wayne, all be it in the blizzard of 78, I felt a sense of
freedom more than I had ever known. It was down to us. We could sit on
our behinds and starve, or, we could stand up and make a life. Our
choice. It was a great feeling. And, by golly we sure faced a
challenge when Pete lost his job at Bowmar. Thank goodness for the $2000
rainy day fund I stored in the bank. Thank goodness for my sewing
machine in the basement - I think I shortened every guys pair of pants
in the neighborhood at $4 a go. It was a tough three years. Pete, lived
out of his car in Florida since we could not afford for him to live
anywhere. He could not get a job in his field of expertise because he
was not a citizen and had to take what he could. But you know all of
this and I am chattering on. But, not once did we want to return to
UK. We were determined one way or another we will make this work and we
did.
We have a wonderful family and we built a successful business - what
more could anyone want. Even today, apart from visiting there is no way
I would want to live in UK. Our, "out of the shelter" is definitely here.
I just love these emails, I remember our life in England in the 70's but never realized that my parents were pinching every penny until it screamed, I remember a pleasant childhood, a wonderful garden, cool dresses my mom made for us, and one time some really cool pink fur parkas, and lots of lovely knitted items. I certainly have no negative memories of this time at all, because as an adult, I sew my own clothes and sew for my grandchildren, I knit all the time for myself and grandchildren, my husband and I keep a large garden. One of my favorite shows from the 70's is The Good Life, a show about a suburban couple who decide to become self-sufficient in Surbiton, a suburb of London, I liked it because my parents kind of did the thing, except my Dad worked and did everything else in his spare time. Maybe a lot of people in England did this sort of thing in the 70's, even if they didn't, it was a great experience for our family and has given me many good memories.
Anyway if you want to read a good book check out, Out of the Shelter by David Lodge.
Blessings to you,
Bean
Monday, February 2, 2015
Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow...... Okay glad it did finally stop!
On my previous post I mentioned that we were expecting snow over the weekend. The forecasts at first were vague, but by Saturday afternoon we were under a Winter Storm Warning for 10 to 15 inches of snow. Snow started falling Saturday night and by Sunday morning we had around 4 inches of wet snow on the ground, the temperature was around 32 degrees and the snow had stopped. Dave shoveled the driveway and I went for a brisk walk. It was wonderful outside, the wet snow clung to the tree branches and power lines making everything stunningly beautiful. The snow muffled all sound and it was amazingly peaceful, I stopped along the way to take pictures some are below.
When I returned from my walk I decided to play in the snow and built a snowman and snowkitty, it was fun and I was pleased with how they turned out.
By lunchtime it was snowing again, we never had blizzard conditions, we just had a steady snow all afternoon throughout Sunday night, this morning we awoke to very cold temperatures, twelve degrees, and brilliant sunshine, it looks spectacular outside. We will be off to shovel the driveway in a bit, it drifted heavily overnight, but it will be a joy to be outside and enjoy the sunshine and work together to dig out. I took pictures throughout the day to track the snow accumulation, and cannot believe we ended up with 11.5 inches!
Friday, January 30, 2015
Reading and Knitting and Knitting and Reading
Almost to the end of January, halfway through winter, boy am I ready for spring! More snow forecast for the weekend, we have had some very dreary days, cold temperatures and ice, everyone is looking forward to the longer days, sunshine, and warmer weather.
My knitting this week is going gang-busters, over halfway up the back of my cardigan, and I just love the yarn I am using. When I popped into our local branch library earlier this week they had a special display of knitting books, of course I picked some up, I enjoy browsing through knitting books.
Yesterday I while listening to BBC Radio 4 I heard an interview with author David Lodge, he wrote many books through the 60's, 70's and early 80's. David Lodge is now in his eighties, he has been with his wife for over 60 years, has written many books, and was a super interesting interviewee. It was hard to believe he was in his eighties, he sounded like a man in his thirties! Anyway, I looked up a few of his books, thought they sounded interesting and then looked to see if our library had them and I was in luck. I checked out four books, the cover synopsis on each sounds good and I am looking forward to getting dug into them this weekend.
Last week on another quick trip to library I picked up a book by Spencer Quinn, The Dog Who Knew Too Much, a Chet and Bernie mystery. It is a pretty fun read. Bernie is a private investigator and Chet is his partner and dog. Chet, the dog, tells the story and it makes for a good read hearing the story from a dogs perspective. Good bedtime reading :)
Little grandson Henry started Kindergarten this year, reading is a subject he picked up quickly and he can now pretty much read anything.. His new skill makes it fun to take him out to buy a book, he likes chapter books and really likes the Lego series of books, last weekend I was amused as he lay sideways in the recliner with his nose buried in his new book. I ordered him another Lego book this week and it arrived in the mail yesterday, I am looking forward to giving it to him when I see him later today. Henry is also quite the artist, I like this Star Wars Christmas picture he drew recently.
This winter I have inadvertently been collecting up cat t-shirts, not sure why, except they amuse me to no end. Yesterday I found a Rasta Cat t-shirt that made me laugh out loud, so of course I had to buy it ;) It goes well with my little dancing cat earrings.
I have spent a lot of time this winter working on collecting music for our MP3 player, this has involved many searches at the library, they have an excellent music collection, and the purchase of some harder to find CDs. I would say that the bulk of the music is from the seventies, lots of good stuff, and we have collected a lot of disco. I can't say I was a huge disco fan way back when, but it is sure fun to listen to now and we always end up dancing. It is great to have on when working around the house and you can be sure that you will be dancing all the way as you clean and vacuum and it just makes you feel cheerful and alive on a dreary winters day.
Well that is about that for today.
Peace be with you,
Bean
My knitting this week is going gang-busters, over halfway up the back of my cardigan, and I just love the yarn I am using. When I popped into our local branch library earlier this week they had a special display of knitting books, of course I picked some up, I enjoy browsing through knitting books.
Yesterday I while listening to BBC Radio 4 I heard an interview with author David Lodge, he wrote many books through the 60's, 70's and early 80's. David Lodge is now in his eighties, he has been with his wife for over 60 years, has written many books, and was a super interesting interviewee. It was hard to believe he was in his eighties, he sounded like a man in his thirties! Anyway, I looked up a few of his books, thought they sounded interesting and then looked to see if our library had them and I was in luck. I checked out four books, the cover synopsis on each sounds good and I am looking forward to getting dug into them this weekend.
Last week on another quick trip to library I picked up a book by Spencer Quinn, The Dog Who Knew Too Much, a Chet and Bernie mystery. It is a pretty fun read. Bernie is a private investigator and Chet is his partner and dog. Chet, the dog, tells the story and it makes for a good read hearing the story from a dogs perspective. Good bedtime reading :)
Little grandson Henry started Kindergarten this year, reading is a subject he picked up quickly and he can now pretty much read anything.. His new skill makes it fun to take him out to buy a book, he likes chapter books and really likes the Lego series of books, last weekend I was amused as he lay sideways in the recliner with his nose buried in his new book. I ordered him another Lego book this week and it arrived in the mail yesterday, I am looking forward to giving it to him when I see him later today. Henry is also quite the artist, I like this Star Wars Christmas picture he drew recently.
This winter I have inadvertently been collecting up cat t-shirts, not sure why, except they amuse me to no end. Yesterday I found a Rasta Cat t-shirt that made me laugh out loud, so of course I had to buy it ;) It goes well with my little dancing cat earrings.
I have spent a lot of time this winter working on collecting music for our MP3 player, this has involved many searches at the library, they have an excellent music collection, and the purchase of some harder to find CDs. I would say that the bulk of the music is from the seventies, lots of good stuff, and we have collected a lot of disco. I can't say I was a huge disco fan way back when, but it is sure fun to listen to now and we always end up dancing. It is great to have on when working around the house and you can be sure that you will be dancing all the way as you clean and vacuum and it just makes you feel cheerful and alive on a dreary winters day.
Well that is about that for today.
Peace be with you,
Bean
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Little Nothings
Well here we are almost at the end of January, it is cold, it is snowy, yet the mornings are crisp, still, icy cold and beautiful in a way only a January morning can be. We have had some warmer days giving us a glimpse of spring time, but are quickly reminded again that we are in the middle of winter. When the weather cooperates I like to get out and walk, I have really increased my speed and last Saturday did four miles in fifty-eight minutes. I need to slowly incorporate jogging, as I plan to run a four mile Turkey Gobbler Fun Run in November!
I haven't been very busy with crafts/hobbies this winter, I think I blew myself out after crocheting an extremely large bedspread for our queen size bed. The large, very warm, marigold blanket has been a wonderful addition to our bed and we stay warm and cozy all night. There is a picture of the blanket in an earlier post.
But all of sudden I have an urge to knit, I saw a lady on a tv show wearing a nice colorful sweater, obviously hand knitted and thought to myself why have I never knitted myself something in variegated yarn, and got really psyched up about knitting something. I went off to JoAnn's and found a lovely yarn by Deborah Norville, it is knitting up beautifully. I decided to use a pattern that I used several years ago to make a "barn jacket", the cardigan I knitted way back when, in a lovely blue is a favorite and I wear it often. I started my new "barn jacket" two days ago and cannot wait to finish it, it is good to be back in my knitting groove, or should I say row :). Along with yarn for my cardigan I picked up some primary color, variegated yarn to knit matching sweaters for grandchildren, Alivia and Charlie, they are both two and are best friends forever! I think they will look very sweet together in their matching sweaters, they are just so cute, they always greet each other with a hug and they play together very well getting up to all kinds of shenanigans that generally include much giggling, so sweet.
Last fall I started suffering a lot of heel pain in my right foot, I believe I was suffering plantar fasciitis, it was very painful first thing in the morning, or after sitting for any length of time. I did a bit of research and determined that the best course of action was to find shoes that provided excellent arch support and plenty of cushioning and support for the heel. I researched funky orthopaedic shoes, I didn't want anything boring, and came across a brand called Alegria. I ordered a pair of Alegria shoes, my first pair had a purple flower print, and I cannot tell you just how comfortable they are, I wore them pretty much every day for several months and my heel simply got better, so ordered another pair, neon heart pattern, and I will probably order more as needed. One issue I had with the Alegria shoes is that they squeak when you walk, it is annoying, a little more internet research and I found a remedy. Simply remove the insert, sprinkle some talcum powder over the bottom of it and then holding the insert upside down and the shoe, place the insert back inside the shoe. The upside down bit helps keep the powder where it needs to be. Well this simple remedy works a treat and resolved the squeak! Another treat for my feet, are my new Mahabi slippers that my sister Michelle gave me for Christmas, when we celebrated in November. They are simply the most comfortable slippers I have ever owned and they are my go to pair every day, light weight, well fitting, comfortable and warm, what more could I ask for?
I think the other things that helped heal my heel is regular exercise, a good weight loss, and a very healthy diet. Eating plenty of green leafy vegetables each day, lots of fiber, very little sugar, limiting coffee to one cup a day, drinking plenty of water, eating lots of fish, has definitely made a huge improvement in my overall health. Another discovery I made has to do with my rosacea, if you are not plagued by this problem thank your lucky stars, I now know what the biggest trigger for a flare up is, red wine! As I changed my diet last fall, slowly, yet surely I found that my rosacea began to clear up, it wasn't inflamed and was much less noticeable. I had some red wine over Christmas and New Years and suddenly the rosacea was inflamed and broken out and burning, I didn't understand why, then realized that the inflammation was at it's worst the day after drinking a couple of glasses of red wine. I eliminated wine from my diet and the rosacea cleared up beautifully. So no more wine for me.
Today I plan to make a new skirt, I purchased some denim yesterday, I have washed it and am waiting for it dry, I always pre-shrink denim! I purchased a three tier skirt at the Goodwill years ago, I wear it several days per week, it is one of my favorite skirts. Last year I took measurements off of the skirt and made one just like it in a dark blue denim. This past weekend I was cleaning out the pantry and while kneeling on the floor I felt my skirt give, my old trusty skirt simply gave out, the fabric split in several places, I will darn it on my sewing machine and still wear the skirt, but it needs to be replaced. The denim I purchased yesterday is a nice medium blue, probably the color old faithful was many years ago, and the new skirt should last for a long time. I like three tiered skirts, they are easy to make, they look nice, and they are roomy and comfortable to wear. I like to sit "Indian style" and the three tiered skirt is very accommodating.
Well I guess that is it, a little nothings update, but it is the little nothings that make up the days of our lives.
Peace be with you,
Bean
I haven't been very busy with crafts/hobbies this winter, I think I blew myself out after crocheting an extremely large bedspread for our queen size bed. The large, very warm, marigold blanket has been a wonderful addition to our bed and we stay warm and cozy all night. There is a picture of the blanket in an earlier post.
But all of sudden I have an urge to knit, I saw a lady on a tv show wearing a nice colorful sweater, obviously hand knitted and thought to myself why have I never knitted myself something in variegated yarn, and got really psyched up about knitting something. I went off to JoAnn's and found a lovely yarn by Deborah Norville, it is knitting up beautifully. I decided to use a pattern that I used several years ago to make a "barn jacket", the cardigan I knitted way back when, in a lovely blue is a favorite and I wear it often. I started my new "barn jacket" two days ago and cannot wait to finish it, it is good to be back in my knitting groove, or should I say row :). Along with yarn for my cardigan I picked up some primary color, variegated yarn to knit matching sweaters for grandchildren, Alivia and Charlie, they are both two and are best friends forever! I think they will look very sweet together in their matching sweaters, they are just so cute, they always greet each other with a hug and they play together very well getting up to all kinds of shenanigans that generally include much giggling, so sweet.
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| Working on the back of my new cardigan |
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| Mahabis, best slippers ever! |
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| My first pair of Alegria's |
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| My second pair of Alegria's |
I think the other things that helped heal my heel is regular exercise, a good weight loss, and a very healthy diet. Eating plenty of green leafy vegetables each day, lots of fiber, very little sugar, limiting coffee to one cup a day, drinking plenty of water, eating lots of fish, has definitely made a huge improvement in my overall health. Another discovery I made has to do with my rosacea, if you are not plagued by this problem thank your lucky stars, I now know what the biggest trigger for a flare up is, red wine! As I changed my diet last fall, slowly, yet surely I found that my rosacea began to clear up, it wasn't inflamed and was much less noticeable. I had some red wine over Christmas and New Years and suddenly the rosacea was inflamed and broken out and burning, I didn't understand why, then realized that the inflammation was at it's worst the day after drinking a couple of glasses of red wine. I eliminated wine from my diet and the rosacea cleared up beautifully. So no more wine for me.
Today I plan to make a new skirt, I purchased some denim yesterday, I have washed it and am waiting for it dry, I always pre-shrink denim! I purchased a three tier skirt at the Goodwill years ago, I wear it several days per week, it is one of my favorite skirts. Last year I took measurements off of the skirt and made one just like it in a dark blue denim. This past weekend I was cleaning out the pantry and while kneeling on the floor I felt my skirt give, my old trusty skirt simply gave out, the fabric split in several places, I will darn it on my sewing machine and still wear the skirt, but it needs to be replaced. The denim I purchased yesterday is a nice medium blue, probably the color old faithful was many years ago, and the new skirt should last for a long time. I like three tiered skirts, they are easy to make, they look nice, and they are roomy and comfortable to wear. I like to sit "Indian style" and the three tiered skirt is very accommodating.
Well I guess that is it, a little nothings update, but it is the little nothings that make up the days of our lives.
Peace be with you,
Bean
Sunday, January 4, 2015
WOWSERS 85 Years!
Yesterday we celebrated my father-in-laws 85th birthday. Ralph was born in 1930 when America was in the depression, he is the oldest of seven children born from 1930 - 1938. Can you imagine 7 babies in 8 years! Life was hard for his family, his father worked in the WPA, a program that was part of the New Deal to get Americans back to work.
Ralph's mother, Nellie was one of many children, she had an older brother Bob, known to Ralph as Uncle Bob, who was a lawyer and worked in Hollywood, CA for RKO Studios. Uncle Bob was well off, never married, a strong Christian and made sure his family back home were taken care of. He purchased a home for his sister Nellie and her family. Ralph remembers well the day they moved to their very own home, he said it looked a bit like a small barn, but was roomy enough for a family of nine.
Times were hard, life was a struggle, but the memories are all good. Ralph remembers his father coming home in the winter, his clothes that had become damp during the day and slowly frozen, were hung over the wood stove to thaw and dry overnight ready for the next day of hard work. His mother's hand so raw and chapped from hand washing the family's clothes that she would smear them with grease and bandage them each evening to bring some relief. Ralph and his brother Don would hang out by the railroad tracks and men would toss chunks of coal down for the children to collect and take home. Memories of Christmas morning, all of the children sneaking downstairs to see what Santa had left beneath the tree and their Dad yelling that they all needed to get back upstairs, and little sister Delores, who had polio, hadn't yet made it down the stairs as all the children charged back past her on their way back to bed.
Ralph graduated high school, for a short time he worked a wealthy man called Clarence Schust, who owned a farm and raised champion cattle. Ralph helped take care of the animals and enjoyed his time working for Clarence, he left to join the Marines. He went to Korea, he came back and married Sharon. Ralph and Sharon had eight children, Christopher, their fifth child, and second son, died in a fire when he was two, and their last baby and fifth son, Philip was still born.
Ralph and Sharon worked hard to support their large family, all six grew up, married and started their own families, grand children, eighteen in all started arriving in 1973 and continued to arrive for the next twenty years. Those grand children grew up, married, started families and to date there are around thirty-four great grand children, the oldest is fourteen, the youngest is one month, and three more are on the way. Sadly Sharon died in 2002 after a courageous battle with leukemia, we all know if she were alive today she would be amazed with all of her great grand children and she would be loving on all of the babies.
Eighty-five years is a long time to live, and Ralph lived an ordinary life, no different to the lives lived by many others, and yet it is an extraordinary life too, because it is his own story. Because he and Sharon fell in love so many years ago there are a whole bunch more people in this beautiful world and it was wonderful that yesterday so many of them were able to come together to celebrate with him on his birthday.
Ralph's mother, Nellie was one of many children, she had an older brother Bob, known to Ralph as Uncle Bob, who was a lawyer and worked in Hollywood, CA for RKO Studios. Uncle Bob was well off, never married, a strong Christian and made sure his family back home were taken care of. He purchased a home for his sister Nellie and her family. Ralph remembers well the day they moved to their very own home, he said it looked a bit like a small barn, but was roomy enough for a family of nine.
Times were hard, life was a struggle, but the memories are all good. Ralph remembers his father coming home in the winter, his clothes that had become damp during the day and slowly frozen, were hung over the wood stove to thaw and dry overnight ready for the next day of hard work. His mother's hand so raw and chapped from hand washing the family's clothes that she would smear them with grease and bandage them each evening to bring some relief. Ralph and his brother Don would hang out by the railroad tracks and men would toss chunks of coal down for the children to collect and take home. Memories of Christmas morning, all of the children sneaking downstairs to see what Santa had left beneath the tree and their Dad yelling that they all needed to get back upstairs, and little sister Delores, who had polio, hadn't yet made it down the stairs as all the children charged back past her on their way back to bed.
Ralph graduated high school, for a short time he worked a wealthy man called Clarence Schust, who owned a farm and raised champion cattle. Ralph helped take care of the animals and enjoyed his time working for Clarence, he left to join the Marines. He went to Korea, he came back and married Sharon. Ralph and Sharon had eight children, Christopher, their fifth child, and second son, died in a fire when he was two, and their last baby and fifth son, Philip was still born.
Ralph and Sharon worked hard to support their large family, all six grew up, married and started their own families, grand children, eighteen in all started arriving in 1973 and continued to arrive for the next twenty years. Those grand children grew up, married, started families and to date there are around thirty-four great grand children, the oldest is fourteen, the youngest is one month, and three more are on the way. Sadly Sharon died in 2002 after a courageous battle with leukemia, we all know if she were alive today she would be amazed with all of her great grand children and she would be loving on all of the babies.
Eighty-five years is a long time to live, and Ralph lived an ordinary life, no different to the lives lived by many others, and yet it is an extraordinary life too, because it is his own story. Because he and Sharon fell in love so many years ago there are a whole bunch more people in this beautiful world and it was wonderful that yesterday so many of them were able to come together to celebrate with him on his birthday.
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| A good handful of the many, many great grandchildren |
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| Twelve of the eighteen grandchildren |
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| Three of the six children, Angie, Mike and Cindy are missing. |
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