It is Day 149 of my Daily Food Diary and it is shaping up to be another beautiful sunny day in Saskatchewan.
I just got back from a nice walk around the neighborhood with Dan and Molly.
I wanted Dan to take this picture so I could show off my new handy-dandy dog walking fanny pack. I was laughing because Molly was looking at everything except Dan and the camera. She is photogenic but she will not pose. 😂
We are on a great round of visits from the grandkids. Last night it was Prim’s turn. We had monster chicken salads for supper and she finished hers off no problem. After supper, she polished off a bowl of ice cream with fresh fruit. She helped me with dishes 😊…. and we played cribbage. Prim had never played before. I have played a bit but not for at least two years. Fortunately, Grandpa Dan was here to help us with the first couple of rounds.
And yes, Prim WON. At least I got past the skunk line. 🙂
Yesterday, I wrote about my efforts to embody my core values. I have been making a list to use in my daily “I AM” meditation. I don’t expect everyone would agree with the values on my list. I know some of these words could be questionable as values, but they are ‘valuable’ to me. I know some are considered obsolete or a weakness in our society. I don’t. 🙄 I know some would think there are important values missing. I do keep adding to the list and some values are just not my values.
I’m always open to suggestions, if anyone has values to share in the comment section, please do!
Daily Food Diary – Day 149
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) tsp olive oil (40) (.7 grams)
(2) slices back bacon (100) (1 gram)
(2) potato patties (240)
Snacks:
(72) oz water (it was very hot and dry outside yesterday)
(3/4) c French vanilla ice cream (208) (6.6 grams)
It is 148 Days since I began posting my Daily Food Diary. 148 Days without ONE MISS! 🔥🎉🔥
It has been 5 Years since I retired. At the time, I was in poor health. I had no idea what I would, or could, do with my retirement. AND… I went through an identity crisis of sorts.
I was no longer the work that I did. My parents were gone, so I wasn’t engaged as a daughter (as I had been). I wasn’t actively parenting, or even grandparenting (due to COVID and family dynamics at the time). With Dan working 13 hour shifts, I was on my own A LOT. And I spent much of the time trying to figure out who, or what, I was.
Throughout my life, I have come to know a handful of rare and wonderful people who stood out. They were people who were always so consistent and solid that I KNEW they NEVER doubted who they were – anytime or anywhere. But I couldn’t put my finger on why – or what they did differently. I just knew that I wanted to be one of them. 🤔
Recently, I finally figured it out. These people who always stood out to me embodied the core values that I had been raised to value.
I was very fortunate growing up because my parents did stress core values that would help me to appreciate and enjoy the good times in my life. They also stressed the core values that would help me to get through the challenges and the difficult time.
I always knew these core values were important, and I valued them, but somehow I thought they were rules about how to treat others. If I treated people a certain way, it would keep me out of trouble, it would make them like me, it would make people validate my self worth. I always wondered if I was being sincere, or if others believed I was sincere, because I was using these values as bartering tools.
Five years into my retirement I finally get it. Core values are not something we have or something we use…. Our core values are who we are. 🤦
*** I need to make a retraction or a clarification to an earlier post where I was talking about my drinking (or non drinking) history. At one point I said I started drinking more (at least more regularly) once my husband Dan came into my life. I did not mean to imply that Dan drove me to drink… We were just at a place where we had the freedom, means, and motivation to socialize more than was ever typical for me – with each other and with his hockey team.. etc.
Dan, holding baby Cason. Very much the man I married. 💞
Daily Food Diary – Day 148
Breakfast:
(1) coffee (2)
(1) tsp olive oil (40) (.7 grams)
(2) eggs (160) (3 grams)
(4) slices shaved ham (54) (.5 grams)
(4) mushrooms (11)
(2) green onions (16)
(3) asparagus spears (15)
Snacks:
(60) oz water
(1) mango (135) (.1 gram)
Supper:
(1) potato (163)
(2) tsp butter (69) (4.7 grams)
(7) jumbo shrimp (140) (1.2 grams)
(1) tsp olive oil (40) (.7 grams)
(15) asparagus spears (49)
(4) mushrooms (40)
(2) green onions (16)
(5) oz beef strip sirloin (225) (3.8 grams)
(1) Lemon oatmeal cookie (68) (.6 grams)
Total net calories: 1089
Net calorie goal: 1243 – 1089 = 154 under 👍
Total saturated fats: 15.4 grams
Saturated fats goal: 13.75👎
That’s it for today. Take care and have a good day! ☺️💕
It is 147 Days since I began my Daily Food Diary. That is a full 21 Weeks ! 🎉
Yesterday, Dan went golfing at Katepwa, so having completed Molly’s walk and my aerobic workout I was looking at taking a day off.
Such was not the case when granddaughter Genie pedaled up on her bike. 💖😊💖
An older photo of a bike trek to Grandma’s with sister Maddy.
We headed outside to spend some quality time in the garden. At one point, Molly leapt over the strawberry plant in the corner planter to stay close to her favorite human. 🤦
About three hours later, we came back inside. While we continued our visit, Genie painted a couple of little yard ornaments.
I bought the angel one last year as a tribute to our beloved Kat. Genie touched it up to give it a bit more pop. The frog is the one I picked up at the Dollar Store last week.
Genie stayed until Grandpa got back from golf, then headed home before it got dark.
We had a quick supper and that was a wrap for my day. I forget if I mentioned it in an earlier post, but I have been sleeping like a rock! On multiple days I have been out cold by 8 or 9 pm and sleeping until 5:30 am (which is now Molly’s time to start our day)!
It’s hard to lay around once Molly decides it is time to get up.
Daily Food Diary – Day 147
Breakfast:
(1) coffee (2)
(3) 4″ pancakes (259) (2.4 grams)
(1) tbsp corn oil (120) (2 grams)
(3) sausages (405) (21 grams)
(2) tsp butter (69) (4.7 grams)
(3) tbsp Maple Syrup (165)
Supper:
(48) oz water
(1) cheese tortilla wrap (170) (1.5 grams)
(2) Low sodium Top Dogs (180) (5 grams)
(1.5) oz marble cheese (170) (8.5 grams)
(1) tsp olive oil (40) (.7 grams)
(12) Barbecue chips (135) (.8 grams)
(1/5) Red onion (13)
Total net calories: 1473
Net calorie goal: 1243 – 1473 = 230 over 👎
Total Saturated Fats: 46.5 grams
Saturated fats goal: 13.75 👎
WELL! We won’t be having pancakes and sausages again any time soon. 😵
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day!
This is my 146th consecutive day since I began posting my Daily Food Diary! 🎉😳
Molly is waiting at the back door for our morning walk so I have to make this one really quick!
I lost some time this morning making pancakes and sausages for breakfast. It isn’t the healthiest breakfast, especially for someone who is working to be mindful of what I am eating. But… I used vegetable oil in and to cook the pancakes in, rather than melted butter. I used one tablespoon of sugar rather than two in the pancake batter. I went very light on the butter on the pancakes I had, and we used Pure Maple Syrup – which is supposedly the least unhealthy option for processed sugar.
Yesterday, we spent much of the day outside working in the yard and garden and enjoying the beautiful weather.
That Tiny Tim Tomato plant looks pretty tiny, but it is double the size it was when I planted it in this grow bag. And the flowers seem to be happy in their new flower bed. This little petunia burst into bloom overnight.
I have to run or Molly might leave without me. I’m pretty sure she could scale our chain link fence if she wanted to. So far we have been lucky that she hasn’t been that motivated.
But she could be – motivated that is!
Daily Food Diary – Day 146
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(1) plain paratha (240) (1 gram)
(1) tbsp peanut butter (90) (1 gram)
(1) tbsp raspberry jam (50)
Lunch:
(2) chicken drumsticks (160) (3 grams)
(6) Hint of Lime tortilla chips (150) (1 gram)
Snack:
(1) peach (51)
(20) raspberries (20)
Supper:
(3) oz BBQ pork tenderloin (125) (1.1 grams)
(1) garden salad with lettuce, tomato, green onion, red pepper, radishes, sunflower seeds, olives, dried fried onions, and Vidalia Onion salad dressing (168) (4.2 grams)
Total net calories: 1000
Net calorie goal: 1243 – 1000 = 243under 👍
Total Saturated Fats: 10.3
Saturated fats goal: 13.75 👍
Weekly Avg Roundup :
Saturated fats: 18.6 grams
Sodium: 2639 mg
Processed sugar: 25 grams
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💖☺️
Yesterday, Rory returned to work up our garden planters. He helped Dan move one of the new planters to the front yard and Dan levelled it and filled it with fresh dirt. I got flowers planted and helped as required.
Altogether, we accomplished a ton of work, which was only made possible with Rory’s welcome assistance.
Garden planters worked up and topped up with fresh dirt. Our new front yard flower bedThe gazebo ready for patio furniture and another (one of many) planters.
This week I hope to get the rest of the garden in, run to Unique Gardens for plants around the pond, pressure wash the patio furniture and get it in place, get the second new front yard planter in place, and get the lawn trimmed and mowed. A lot of the work will fall on Dan – or require his assistance, but it is all doable. 👍
After, we finished up yesterday, I sat down to enjoy my 2nd alcoholic beverage in two days.
First off, I chose an Absolute Ocean Spray cran-Raspberry vodka premixed drink. I cannot eat dried cranberries. I can drink cranberry tea. Apparently, I cannot drink anything (possibly anything alcoholic?) that contains cranberry juice. My abdomen swole up like a beach ball, pushed my hernia out, and the result was excruciating pain. 🤦
Second, I am not now nor have I ever been, a drinker. I grew up in a home that was generally pretty much dry. Dad had a bottle of Rye around. As he got older, he would take one straight shot on cold morning, before heading out to shovel the walks. Other than that he had a dozen beer – which he passed around on Christmas and Easter. Mom had a bottle of wine to serve with dinner – again on Christmas and Easter. There was a bottle of Lemon Gin that someone left behind after a visit. It lived there as long as I can remember.
As a teenager, I went out drinking. In Saskatchewan that meant heading out to the backroads with a case of beer. If I ever drank half a beer, it didn’t stay down long enough to be memorable. (No doubt due to the yeast content which I had no idea was an issue for me back then).
Throughout my first marriage – seventeen years of unholy matrimony, I seldom had a drink. It might have helped, but I was too busy having babies and raising them, to sit around drinking.
Since I met Dan, I have drank more alcohol – not regularly and not much more. If you rounded up every ounce of alcohol that I have drank in my lifetime, you wouldn’t have enough to keep an alcoholic happy through a long weekend.
Funny story (as in peculiar – it wasn’t really funny)… In 2012 I was in the hospital for a solid month with pneumonia and a fully collapsed lung due to empyema which is an infection outside of the lung. The doctors tried to treat it, drain it, and finally sent me to a cardiac specialist who used clot buster treatments to clear it up.
From the emergency room to the specialist, I saw several doctors. Going over my history, they all said that I am a very heavy drinker. It wasn’t a question and every time I said I wasn’t, I am pretty sure they noted that I was in denial on my permanent health record. 🤦
I finally asked one doctor, point blank, why they all thought I drank and he said because the only people who get empyema are the extremely elderly (I was 57) and those who abuse alcohol.
If I had been aware of my severe intolerance to yeast, I may have steered them in a different direction, but that was not the case. 🤔
It is 144 Days since I began posting my Daily Food Diary. 144 Days without one miss! That says a lot for my tenacity – or the amount of free time I have in retirement.
Yesterday was relatively eventful, as our days go.
We had a hearty breakfast and set out for a walk with Molly. Dan’s hips were done after a few blocks, but Molly and I persevered on our own. Other than a couple of dog encounters that set Molly off a bit, it went well. She was on a mission to cruise and to stop and sniff every blade of grass, tree, and sign that we passed. One of these days, I will go head over tea kettle when she makes a sudden stop right in front of me. Fortunately, yesterday was not the day.
When we got home, I did my workout, did my sinus rinse and meds, put away the groceries Dan brought home, and had a short rest before heading outdoors.
Basil to keep flies and mosquitos awayDan planted the rhubarb plant he bought me a few days ago
After minimal effort to help Dan put the covers on our gazebo, I spent a couple of hours transplanting seedlings into planters around the yard. I could have done a few more but we had unexpected (but ALWAYS WELCOME) company arrive.
Molly’s favourite human, granddaughter Genie, stopped by with an elephant and a few lady bugs (for Grandpa & I) and a buffalo ear (for Molly).
I didn’t get a chance to get a pic of the buffalo ear. 😂
Genie was able to stay for a couple of hours so we had a really nice lengthy chat. She played an audio file of her and a friend working on a song that they are co-creating. Genie has always had a nice voice and has always loved to sing. Her and her friend harmonize so perfectly that it is incredible. I cannot wait for them to finish their song so I can share their work here – and they can start attending open mike events around the city so they can share it with live audiences.
We also talked about ongoing health issues – hers and mine. A few weeks ago Genie quit eating yeast to see if it was at the root of a lot of her health issues – as it is with her mother and with me. She has been doing well but realized she wasn’t doing quite well enough, so she decided to avoid processed sugar as well. That did the trick. She is looking and feeling great!
It annoys me no end that it took me well over sixty years to figure out that I was poisoning myself with yeast and processed sugar. (Who knew that I shared my daughter’s allergy to yeast?) But it is heartwarming to see that this discovery led my grandchildren to find their own issues, while young enough to change the course of their entire lives.
Genie with her fiance Alec (who was still at work when Genie came by)
143 Days ago I began my mindful eating practice by tracking and posting my Daily Food Diary.3 years and 3 months ago I began my current Health & Fitness Journey.
By far, the most gratifying result of this journey is realizing the incredible difference it has made to my overall strength and stamina. My best days, are those in which I complete a household or yard task that I know would have been difficult, to impossible, for me three years ago.
Yesterday was NOT one of my best days.
Yesterday, it was still too wet outside to have grandson Rory come over to work up our garden planters. But, it was nice out so I went out to start setting up a few planters that I have around the yard.
I started by planting the portulaca that I grow in the planter on the garage wall. (Portulaca is the only thing that survives here.)
I also started cucumbers in two large planters that Dan bought me this week. (They are larger than they look, and mobile enough to be moved around should they need more, or less, sun.
Dan worked up this one planter – around his Bleeding Heart, so I planted strawberries and a couple of little flowers. (Molly, stood by ready to help).
Finally, I decided that I wanted to try some ‘planting bags’ alongside the house. I didn’t want them right on the ground, so I figured the sections of tree trunk that were stacked at the back fence, would make ideal bases for them.
Since Dan has been having painful issues with his shoulders, this was to be a ME project. I do not want him to make the pain in his shoulders worse! The antibiotics and prednisone from my recent bronchitis should be out of my system by now, so I felt GOOD to GO!
I went into the garage to get the furniture dolly. It was at the back of the garage – behind the new planters that Dan has been assembling. I managed to lift it, roll it, and stumble my way through the first planter. When I got to the second planter, Dan took it from me, stopped at the compressor to top up the tires, and handed it back over.
I rolled off into the back yard. There was one section of tree trunk that was sitting on the ground. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I managed to get it on the dolly. I pulled it between the two tables, around the wheel barrow, and off the back yard into the side yard. (There is drop there the height of a railway tie. In fact there is a railway tie there to hold the backyard in place.) With one mighty tug, I got the dolly over the tie. A small bounce knocked the tree trunk off the dolly, but I got it back on, and headed around the corner to the side of the house where Dan helped me to set it in place.
Dan went to the back fence to set the next section of tree trunk on the ground and I repeated the process of getting it to its destination.
The third section was notably heavier. Dan got it to the ground, I picked it up with the dolly and moved it to the railroad tie. I gave one mighty tug and it sat there – up on the backyard level. I was at the side yard level. I got a death grip on that dolly and gave a mightier tug. It bounced down – and bounced right back up to the back yard. I went with it. In an elegant move that only another Martel could relate to, I stumbled around until I was back on my feet. My third attempt was successful.
I got the fourth section across the backyard and over the tie without incident. I didn’t even pretend to help Dan set it in place. By that point, I was just ready to accept defeat.
To add insult to injury, I noticed that between all the recent rain and the returning sunshine, the lawn I worked so hard to mow last weekend needs to be redone. 😢🤦
Daily Food Diary – Day 143
Breakfast:
(1) coffee (2)
(2) classic Eggos (180)
(2) tsp butter (69) (4.7 grams)
(1) tbsp Maple Syrup (55)
(2) sl. Low Sodium ham (104) (1)
Snacks:
(48) oz water
(1) pear (103)
(1) peach (51)
Supper:
(12) air fried chicken wing flats (397) (5.8 grams)
(2) egg rolls (380) (2 grams)
(6) Gyoza (200) (2.5 grams)
(2) tbsp Frank’s extra hot sauce (0)
(1) tbsp Gyoza dipping sauce (15)
Total net calories: 1319
Net calorie goal: 1243 – 1319 = 75 over 👎
Total saturated fats: 13.75 grams
Saturated fats goal: <13.75 grams 👎
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day. 💞🌞
Today marks 142 Days since I began posting my Daily Food Diary.
Today also marks what would have been my Mother’s 107th birthday! There are two things that make time fly by as we age – having grandchildren and losing parents.
Mom with Rory and Genie.
It has been 12 years since Mom passed away and about 20 years since this photo was taken. It never seems possible how many years have passed.
I always knew, but it is only since Mom is gone, that I fully appreciate how hard she worked to provide a home for us. I see posts from young mothers talking about how hard parenting is. My Mother didn’t really talk about it that much. She probably didn’t have time. 🙄
I am the youngest of six siblings, spanning fourteen years. My Mother first had indoor plumbing when I was SIX years old. I remember boiling water to do dishes. I can’t imagine the work involved in filling her wringer washer, processing each load of clothes, and hauling it out to the line to dry. I will never forget the smell of frozen laundry being hauled in during the winter and the sight of Dad’s long johns – stiff as a board and leaning against the sofa to defrost. Our clothes were always clean and fresh. Our socks always matched and much of our clothes and household linens were ironed – every week.
The laundry was only one of multiple herculean tasks that my mother performed on a regular basis. She sewed, knitted, or crocheted much of our clothes and household linens.
Our home was always full of fresh baking and bountiful meals. Always! And come fall, she spent her days canning, pickling, and preserving.
My Mother never stopped at the basic necessities. In the spring I am reminded of her so much. As I am out working in our yard and garden, I remember her huge garden – rows and rows of corn and peas, lettuce, beets, cucumbers, tomatoes and the like. But it didn’t stop there. From the ‘rock garden’ to every nook and cranny and corner of the yard my Mother grew flowers. Gorgeous flowers! And nary a weed to be found.
Our home was ALWAYS clean but on holidays it shone! (And Mother never met a holiday she didn’t love). Obviously Christmas and Easter were the BIG ones, but every birthday, Thanksgiving, and Canada Day was celebrated. I think she may have made up a few holidays just for the opportunity to decorate and celebrate.
I don’t remember my Mother ever being in any particular rush but she had hard work and efficiency down to a science. Even on a shoestring (and that shoestring got pretty thin at times) our house ran like clockwork. And she ran it with classical music playing in the background on our cabinet phonograph. I have no idea how she managed to stow away enough money to buy that phonograph or the racks of records she played, but she got her money’s worth out of it!
Anyway, I know it’s a few years late, but thank you Mom. For everything. I may not have always noticed all you did for us, but I sure appreciate it now. 💞
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day! ❤️☺️
Happy Birthday, Mom! If you need me I will be out back trying to transplant a pansy without killing it!
*** Funny story – one year I had Genie and her stepsister helping me transplant lettuce seedling (don’t judge – I cannot grow lettuce from seeds). Apparently, I cannot ‘teach’ gardening either. Genie had a perfect little row of lettuce plants. Brook had a perfect little row of lettuce plants deep in the ground – with roots topside up, swaying in the sunshine. 😂
It is 141 Days since I started posting my Daily Food Diary and this is the 1st Day that I almost forgot to do it!
In my defense (no excuses):
1) Yesterday, was a ROUGH day. We had one more day of cold rainy weather and my lungs decided they were done. I did get my workout done and laundry. Dan made supper and did the dishes. I went to bed at 7 pm and woke up at 5am to a much better day.
2) Today is grandson Lucas’s birthday. We won’t be seeing them for a few more days, but when I got up I was focussed on sending him birthday wishes and a few dollars to spend on a gift from us.
Lucas (L) with his brother Cason – Happy 10th Birthday Lucas!
3) This morning I had an 8:30 appointment with my respiratory specialist. I still have a lot of infection to clear up – especially in my left lung, but with better weather and the new sinus meds I am on – it should happen! Also chances are slim to nil that I will drown in my own mucus when I am under anesthesia for my hernia operation. I am still on the waiting list (since February) but that is ok. It gives me longer to clear up my lungs and a better chance of recovery from the anesthetic and the hernia.
4) On the way home, we stopped at the Dollar Store. I hadn’t been to a Dollar Store for ages, so I may have gotten a bit carried away. I put together a new bouquet for Dan’s parents’ grave, got a new solar frog for our garden (and some green paint because it is just pale grey), a new hair clip, and a new book to make notes of the Buddist wisdom that I have been studying this year – core values, breathing techniques, and the like, plus a few odds and ends.
My new notebook & frog.
5) Finally, tonight is granddaughter Maddy’s last band concert of the year. So, she called me about some last minute changes to the plan, I have to do my workout and my sinuses, AND take Molly for a good walk so she won’t destroy the place while we are gone tonight.
Maddy’s School is just a few blocks from us, so very convenient for attending concerts and such.
All in all, just more going on than I am used to! I was about to start my workout and remembered to do my blog. 141 Days and still counting!
It is 140 Days since I began posting my Daily Food Diary. That is TWENTY solid weeks of mindful eating and accountability! 🥇
It is one year since my daughter and I headed south to Nebraska to celebrate my sister’s birthday.
Happy Birthday, Jeanne – with friends & family
On the way back to Canada, Jen and I spent a day exploring the Black Hills of South Dakota. It was our long anticipated ‘Thelma & Louise’ trip. (Minus the driving off the cliff scene. 😂)
Driving THROUGH the Black Hills of South Dakota
It was an excellent trip all around. We were gone for five days, but we made memories that will last a lifetime.
Yesterday, I did get my x-ray done and the results were posted last night. The only NEW note of interest was some possible issue with the lower left lung.
“mild increase in density in the left lower lung, suggesting a possible atelectasis (collapsed lung) that is slightly more prominent than in a previous image.” I have a follow up appointment with my respiratory specialist, so I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. To be honest, I expect it is residual damage caused by my lung extravaganza of 2023.
On our way home, Dan and I stopped at one greenhouse to pick up a few seedlings – herbs, flowers, and peppers. They did not have the rhubarb plant that I wanted, but in typical Dan fashion, he went on a mission after dropping me off at home to do my aerobic workout. AND – he scored at Canadian Tire. (Also in Dan fashion he got it on sale for half the price that I would have paid at the Home Depot garden center).
Rhubarb Torte in our future. 🤗🙌
Daily Food Diary – Day 140
Breakfast:
(1) c coffee (2)
(2) Eggo classic waffles (180) (1.5 grams)
(2) tsp butter (69) (4.7 grams)
(1) tbsp Maple Syrup (55)
(3) sl. Bacon (130) (3.3 grams)
Snacks:
(24) oz water
(1/2) oz dry roast peanuts (81) (1 gram)
(2) c air popped popcorn – no butter (62) (1 grams)
(1/4) c bbq corn nuts (115) (.5 grams)
(1) pear (103)
(1) peach (51)
Supper:
(1) lg serving of spaghetti with ground turkey meat sauce (no cheese 😢) (628) (2 grams)
(1/2) c broccoli (30)
(1/2) c cauliflower (14)
(2) tsp butter (69) (4.7 grams)
Total net calories: 1243
Net calorie goal: 1411 – 1243 = 168 over 👎
Total saturated fats: 17.8 grams
Saturated fats goal: 13.75
* I totally skimped on the hydration yesterday. I am so waterlogged from this weather, it was just off my radar. 🙄
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 😊💕
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 