yardwork – Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie

June 5th – Weekly Health and Fitness Update

June 5, 2023June 5, 2023 by annemariedemyen, posted in Health and Fitness, June 2023

I’m kicking off the week with some positive vibes here! I have three chronic lung conditions – asthma, COPD, and bronchiectasis – all of which have kicked into high gear since I developed a lung infection a couple of weeks ago. Forest fire smoke will do that for me, as will excessive heat, and super high humidity. We have been dealing with the trifecta and my lungs are not dealing all that well.

So, it is fight or die AND we all know which direction I am going. 😁

That’s about it for my Health and Fitness Update this week, other than continuing to research yeast intolerances and finding substitutions for some of my favourite foods on the ‘yeasty’ list, like soya sauce, vinegar, anything containing soya sauce or vinegar, sauerkraut, wine, black pepper, breads, breadcrumbs, and the like. The good news is… digestion wise, I am feeling better than I have for YEARS.

The rest of my life is under control. Our garden is in. It isn’t photo ready yet as we have some cleanup to do. It is slow going as I am not a lot of help these days and Dan had to make it Molly proof as we go.

Our front lawn is coming along. Between our monsoon season and Dan’s diligence, it actually has a chance this year to beat out the weeds and bald spots.

***My little flowers are just peaking out. This area of the lawn struggles on.***

***I love my stepping stones after a fresh mowing. This flower bed has a chance to make something of itself with the addition of Peonies from daughter Jen.***

I hope to have the garden area and large patio photo ready within the week. Dan lost his Bleeding Heart over the winter but I replaced it with a super pretty plant that I am anxious to share.

I also got my June fridge inspiration sign up a couple of days ago. So far the inspiration is more mental than physical but that’s okay. It all starts with our mindset – and my mind is set to come back STRONGER!

That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 🌞💞

Grooming and Gardening

May 25, 2022May 25, 2022 by annemariedemyen, posted in May 2022

We are back home so it is time to get to work around here. There is always plenty of yardwork to do in the spring. This year there is twice as much since I wasn’t in shape to get much accomplished last year. With Molly’s help, I don’t know how much I will get done this year. 🤦

**The birdbath is cleaned up and our little flowers are starting to take.**

**Grandpa’s Bleeding Heart and ferns are coming up. He cleaned out this flower bed and put up new fencing to slow Molly down.**

**…And the Roma and San Marzano tomatoes planted.**

I also started cleaning up the front yard flower bed and thinning out the dandelions in our lawn. I think this year will be all about the WeedNFeed.

I am also trying to keep on top of grooming Molly and taking care of the house. When I was researching Pyrenees pups, there was not much to be found regarding grooming. I read that despite their long, thick hair, grooming is not a serious issue as they only shed much in the spring and their hair is ‘self cleaning’ for the most part. Supposedly, it is a matter of weekly brushing and semi annual baths and they are good to go!

In case you didn’t catch it, the ‘self cleaning’ is the issue here. Everything that Molly sits in, lays in, rolls around in …. works its way into her fur. Then she comes into the house where this ‘self cleaning’ takes place. Grass, tree branches, leaves, dirt, toys, car parts, small tools – you name it – Molly smuggles it into the house, where her fur ‘self cleans’. This morning I found a dead, bald, baby bird in the porch. 😢

Of course, most of what Molly drags in does not shed in the porch. It drops off gradually from one end of the house to the other. I dust and I sweep several times a day. Molly likes to help – which is not terribly helpful.

All in all, Molly’s **‘moderate grooming needs’** take up a LOT of my time.

I took a bit of a break from my daily workouts while we were gone on the weekend, but I started back up yesterday, so that is something else to keep me occupied.

That is it for today. Time to grab a quick lunch and get back at it. Take care and have a great day!💞

Working It!

August 27, 2020August 27, 2020 by annemariedemyen, posted in life

As summer winds down and Dan has returned to work, things are coming together.

Kat is grounded for a few days with a sore paw (seems to be a bit of a sprain). As long as she is limping, even a little bit, I think it is better for her to stay home and rest when I take my daily walk.

I miss Kat on my walks but it gives me a bit of freedom to pick up the pace and extend my walks. This morning I went 5.5 kilometers! YAY!

I had my five year old grandson Dominic for a few hours yesterday. His father (my son) wanted his middle name to be ‘Danger’ when he was born. There are days when that would have been so appropriate. Yesterday was one of the days! He was full of energy and bad ideas from the minute he arrived. Fortunately, I was able to channel most of that energy into creative and slightly messy activities.

I finally fertilized and soaked all of our cedars. That was a two or three day project but I am glad that it is done.

I scrubbed the deck on the kids’ playhouse, wiped down the railing and polished the lites. I usually have that done much earlier in the season but it was one of those things that I just did not get around to. 🙄

I trimmed and mowed our lawn last evening after Dan went to work. I even got the grass clippings bag hauled to the back gate and into the trash bin! I was so proud of myself. 🤗

I also cleaned all the branches and debris off of our neighbours lawn, mowed it, and swept her driveway. Our neighbour lost her husband a few years ago and a couple of years later suffered a serious stroke. She is in a rehabilitation/longterm care centre. They took a lot of pride in their home and took such good care of it. I do not know why there is no one to maintain it or check up on it now. They both had family living around here. 🤷 We take turns with the neighbour on the other side of it doing what we can – making the lawn looked taken care of. We are just trying to make it look somewhat lived in until someone takes it over.

Hope everyone is having a great week! Take care out there💓

Random Moments

July 2, 2020July 2, 2020 by annemariedemyen, posted in life

Dan had the day off to celebrate Canada Day yesterday. We did not do anything too earth shaking but we (mostly he) got a few things accomplished and we got caught up on a few holidays.

Dan got the water pump/fountain on the pond so the birds could drink safely.

We popped the cork on our New Year’s champagne and toasted my retirement at the beginning of June

And we feasted on Dan’s Father’s Day supper of steak, shrimp, corn, mushrooms and baked potato.

Wishing everyone a particularly special day today🌞

Productive Weekend

June 8, 2020June 8, 2020 by annemariedemyen, posted in family

Dan was home this weekend so we got more than a few things accomplished.

Dan cleaned the pond. Looking forward to repainting the planters and trim boards in our yard. They are looking a little too rustic for my taste.

I did all the laundry, plus all of our bedding including our pillows. I made up the bed nice and fresh. I gave Kat a bath. I scrubbed down the entire bathroom because it smelled like wet dog. Kat got into our room, jumped on our bed, and went into some psychotic whirlwind of a thing. ALL of our fresh bedding – including the fitted sheet, ended up on the floor smelling like wet dog. Do over!

Dan mowed the lawn again – it needs a serious watering!

Hope you all enjoyed a good weekend!

I Was Right!

May 31, 2020May 31, 2020 by annemariedemyen, posted in family

For years I have been doing battle with a typical retractable water hose. I would wrestle the miserable thing out to our front lawn while it would try to retract every time I got a foot further.

When I eventually finished watering, one quick tug and the hose would retract at a manageable steady pace – theoretically. In reality, one quick tug and either nothing happened or fifty feet of solid hose would shoot back to the reel at a hundred miles an hour. If it was the latter, I had my choice of holding on for dear life or letting go. Letting go was not the best option.

Years ago, we started seeing advertisements for an expandable, lightweight cloth hose.

My husband and I would go to the garden centre every spring and I would see these expanding hoses. I would reach for one and my husband would say “you don’t want that do you?”. I would assure him that I did want that – at least to give it a try. At this point, I would get his whole speech extolling the virtues of our sociopathic retractable hose – with a bonus speech on operator error.

On Friday, we went to a discount store to pick up some economy (disposable) paint brushes that I can use for painting our planters. I saw my dream hose – on sale – in a discount store! I snatched it up and stormed the til to pay for it before Dan could talk me out of it.

My ‘Amazing Hose’ is amazing! It is lightweight, manageable, easy to extend, and easy to put away. The nozzle on it is equally amazing. I have purchased half a dozen nozzles in the past twenty years – some cheap, some stupid pricey. I did not love any of them. I love my new nozzle. My new hose and nozzle are perfect! I do not get to be right very often – but this time, I nailed it. (We won’t discuss the ‘Easey Peazey jar opener’ 🙄)

I had so much time left over from watering plants yesterday that I cleaned up our bird feeder and put fresh seed out for the birds. 🐦