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Saturday, May 30, 2020

Remembering THAT Girl


Look at that girl!

This picture was taken not even 2 years ago.  It'll be two years this summer.  I have no make up on.  We were camping as well so, hair not styled and got my play clothes on.  We were in the middle of a hike; a hike of a moderately steep trail, and hubby decided to take a picture.

I love this picture.  You'd think I would've been embarrassed with the lack of grooming, but I wasn't.  I love this picture because of what it represents.  I was 63 pounds down from my starting weight, not my highest weight, but my starting weight.  You can see me at my highest weight below.



  At 51 years old I had finally figured out how to be healthy.  I was feeling good.  I'd go shopping for clothes (cause it was fun now), find something I'd think I couldn't wear yet, try it on anyway, and find it fit!  I moved easier, had more energy, wore comfortable clothes because they fit!  I was chomping at the bit to be active.  I wanted to move. The girl in the first picture had it all together.

Then the heart attack happened barely 2 months later.  A heart attack with no visible reason why.  For 2 weeks I was told to not do anything.  I couldn't even lift a gallon of milk, they said.  Then I couldn't workout unless cleared with a stress test and I needed to go thru rehab.  That wasn't for another 2 months.  Rehab told me I was to never get my heart rate above 124, so while my muscles were like "Hey we got this", the rehab folks (party poopers) would slow me down, and I wouldn't even be breathing hard!  In the midst of all that I was on two meds that had a side effect of chest pain.
 What?

 I spent a lot of time talking myself down off the ledge.  Rehab was the only place I felt comfortable exerting myself because I was on a monitor, but the exercise I was getting there was no where near what I had been doing.

Another side effect of one med was a panicked feeling.  That med went the way of the dodo after Christmas, but while on it, the least little twinge and I was panicking.  Since the other side effects of both meds were chest pain, well yea, not a fun combo.  Hubby wanted me to stay on the second med( the non panicky one) until my labs were done that following Sept ( as in this past Sept).  This med was supposed to lower cholesterol (but I never had a blockage?)and reinforce me artery walls.  So, okay.  I'll stay on it.  My OBGYN told me later that Magnesium would reinforce my arteries as well.

 Really? Hmmm.

So, I got my labs back that September and my cholesterol was up.  Still normal, but up from what it was.  So was my weight; not much, about 5 lbs.  In came the Magnesium, out went the cholesterol med.

During all this, Pre-Menopause showed up.  With that came sleepless nights, crazy carb cravings, and three day long head splitting headaches that no med could touch.  I would get back on track eating wise only to have one of these hit and disable me for 2 or 3 days.  Now we have the pandemic, quarantine, and items out of stock at the store.  Wild ride.

Are these excuses?  Some, maybe.  But in all honesty it's the only way I can explain the toil the past almost two years have taken.  I've had good times too, some milestones I wanted to hit I did, But the woman I am now is not the woman in that picture.  At least not yet.

I saw the above picture the other day and I thought about that girl.  Who she was, how she felt, and decided I want her back.  At this point I'm up about 15 lbs.  I look at my clothes and some I know I can't wear, and others I hope I can still wear.

Still in the Pandemic, pre-menopause is still a factor.  In fact, just had one of those headaches 2 days ago.  I've got to work my way thru this.  I want her back.  I know she's there inside probably rolling her eyes and tapping her foot waiting on me to get my act together.

I had a glimpse of her today.  I got a good nights sleep last night.  I awoke refreshed and raring to go.  My hubby thinks it was too much caffeine, but it wasn't.  Maybe a combination of morning coffee and sleep gave me energy I haven't had in a long time.  On the heels of that thought came the realization that I've been existing for a while on 4-5 hours sleep, carbs, caffeine and nerves.  Not a good combo.

That's about to change.



Thursday, May 28, 2020

The number one thing to cure a black thumb

I love to garden!  While raised by parents who gardened extensively, as a kid I hated to get in the garden.  I would've rather cleaned house than have to work in the garden.  As an adult that changed.  My mom once told me of all of her children I was the last one she thought would garden, and at the time I was the only one who did.  It all started with two tomato plants, and now?








I'm telling ya, once the garden bug bites, there's no going back!  There's always one more thing to try, one more experiment.  Volunteer garden plants love my garden so much they come every year.  My garden is The Place To Be.  I'm just sayin.

 In the past, I've had people tell me they have a black thumb, not a green one.  "I can't grow anything" they tell me.  Well I'm here to tell you the secret to curing your black thumb.

Are you ready?

Are you sitting down?


Time.

That's it! Time.

I know right!?  It really is that easy.  Plants already know what they need to grow up and produce, but it takes your time with them to make sure they have everything they need.

We don't have children, just ignore them, and say "I can't raise kids".  Now I'm not saying my plants are as important as my children.  But the premise of raising both holds true.

Plants take time.

Time to walk among them and see how they're doing.  Do they need water?  Are they thriving?  Are there weeds taking nutrients that are meant for them?  Do they need harvesting?  You know there are a lot of books and websites that can help you trouble shoot any problems that might arise.  That's all I do.  If I see a problem I don't have an answer for, I look in a book or surf the web.  The answers are readily available.

Time to pull weeds, give them water, give them nutrients as needed, loosen soil so they can breathe, and address any other situations that arise.

I understand people have busy lives, and can't have a big garden.  There's no rule that says you have to have a certain size garden.  It can be one plant or hundreds.  It's up to you.  Just don't have more garden than you can handle.  Start small.  There's no greater feeling than to see that first plant breaking thru the ground, or that first bloom, or even that first tiny veggie.  Nothing tastes better than something you picked that day to eat.

So start small, but start!  Don't let this be something that intimidates you.  You won't regret it.  You just might find out you enjoy it.  Fresh Air, sunshine, good workout, the sound of bees buzzing and birds singing.  It's a wonderful combination.  Well worth your time.  And when the time comes(cause, fair warning, it will) that your garden is producing enough to put away for a rainy day, you'll look with satisfaction at those jars lined up on the shelf, or in freezer bags in the freezer.  You'll have a little smile on your face as you casually stroll past the canned vegetable aisle, or frozen vegetable/fruit aisle.

Umm speaking of getting bitten by the gardening bug.


Friday, May 15, 2020

Herb-a-palooza!

I've had herbs as part of my garden for years now; Mint, Oregano, Lemon Balm, Lemon Thyme, Parsley, Basil and Cilantro.  Plus, now thanks to a very nice neighbor /distant cousin ( Dad's side of the family) I just met, I have Rosemary.  I've pretty much spent my time moving the herbs around and keeping them under control; all but the Parsley, Cilantro and Thyme.  FYI, Mint and Lemon Balm spread!  I just couldn't think of what to do with all of it!



Well that is changing.  I'm making the most of everything in my garden.  Nothing is being taken for granted.  These are the things I've learned about all of my herbs.

Mint- Can help with upset stomach.  Although it can exacerbate GERD symptoms so don't use if you have GERD or really bad acid reflux.  Mint helps with getting a good nights sleep.  It can also help relieve stress and anxiety.  It can help reduce inflammation as well.   Members of the mint family include:  Rosemary, Lemon Balm, Oregano and Thyme.  I didn't realize they were related when I planted them, but, there ya go.  While each one of these are related, many of them have their own uses aside from the obvious culinary uses.

Lemon Balm- Is the closest in appearance to Mint.  In fact, in order to tell which is which I need to pick a leaf and smell.  Not a bad job.  Smells good!  Lemon Balm has antiseptic and antibacterial properties.  It also can help increase appetite, and sleep.  It's known primarily as a relaxation herb.

Oregano- Can help for coughs, asthma, and other respiratory ailments, UTI, Menstrual cramps, and even rheumatoid arthritis.

Thyme-  Any type of Thyme can be used, but what I grow is Lemon Thyme for my cough medicine.  It can also help with sore throats.  It has Antibacterial properties.  There are some that say it can help with hypertension and even yeast infections.

Parsley, Cilantro , and Basil; I'm growing primarily for culinary reasons. The Cilantro and Parsley I can dry, but I have yet to find a good way to store Basil.  For that reason I have a plant in my kitchen that I'll use fresh, hopefully all year round.  I have 9 other Basil plants I need to do something with.  Probably give them as gifts.

Most of these herbs are being used by me primarily for culinary reasons, but I also plan using them for medicinal uses if need be.  It's nice to have the option. For that reason I've been drying herbs as they're ready.  I'm getting a little behind on Mint.  It's growing faster than I can dry it, so I need to be doing larger batches of Mint.

FYI:  Mint tea with milk and sugar is REALLY GOOD!.  I've also made a small batch of Mint extract.  Last time I made Mint Extract I made a huge batch!  You can see how I did it on my "how to's" page.  That was too big a batch, so I'm tempering it down a bit.  I also really packed those mint leaves in the jar.  I used a jelly Jar this time.  Perfect amount.  So far I've also made one batch of mint jelly.  Looks pretty in the jar.

You don't need a dehydrator to dry herbs.  All you need is an oven with a working oven light.  You lay out your herbs in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Place the cookie sheet in the oven with only the oven light on.  Some herbs will be done over night, some take a little longer.  You'll learn which ones are which.  Just check them after about 12 hours.  If they need more time, put them back.




Once the herbs feel crispy and crumble easily, remove them from the main branch, and crush them til they look like what you would think dried herbs would look like.  I'll remove all of mine to the cookie sheet I placed them on originally, then crush them and place them in a jar in my cupboard.