Steps and More Steps

Hello, Yesterday, I walked to church twice and then had a long walk with a friend. My steps added up to 18,521. I will admit to being tired and glad to stop. I would like to take some from yesterday and add them to today. I have been on a 12-day step streak. It feels important to get the rest for today since it is over 7,000. We are getting some snow and I had thought to go out and shovel, but it keeps melting on the sidewalk. It is beautiful on the trees. With the temperature at 36 F. I am surprise that so much is hanging around on the grass. Leroy called to report that the museum is closed. He is going to stay since he figured he would have no trouble coming home. I agree as the street looks good here. He is so lucky because he does not have to clear snow off the car as it is parked in the garage at work. At least I did not have to think about coming home late in the day from work. I was out this morning before the snow came. I had both a Dr. appointment and delivered our tax papers. We like to have the tax papers in long before this, but we still needed one report. A bit of my memory is that we already had that paper, but it disappeared. Could that be that we would misplace it, lose it? I am happy to have those papers out of here. With a bit of luck and some searching I figured out how to save a photo from and email to the phone. Now I just want to get a print made. Paula

Where is … March 8, 2023 Hello, I have a booklet from our weekly study that I will take back with me to save paper, etc. Where did I put it? It was a logical place so I could find it a week later, but not have it in my way since I do not like clutter. There is a fine art to hiding something from yourself and I seem to have perfected it. After looking in the most logical places and not finding it, I moved on to illogical places. Then I moved on to berating myself for such an ill-chosen place, whatever it is. From there I had a talk with myself about beating up on me. A bit after that I looked in one more place. Oh, there it is! When I bring it home today, I will put it in the first place I looked, because it must be the most logical. Do you want to bet on where I will actually look next week? I do not. On a more positive note, I cut some of the leggy coleus that Leroy has at the museum. The cuttings look splendid in the jar as they grow new roots while soaking up the sun and the atmosphere in our house. One sprig looked quite sad and wilted. I moved it along with another that had a shorter stem to a smaller vase. Cutting the bottom of that stem seemed like a good idea. I am quite pleased with the result as the leaves keep coming back to life with the addition of water. There is rebirth and renewal. Now we could just master that for people the world would be a better place.

Paula

Spring Garden?

Hello, Leroy and I went to a talk by a Master Gardener. There was interesting information on container gardening. I learned I should be more careful about cleaning pots when I reuse them. It was also fun to reconnect with a friend who was there. Now we are both focusing a bit more on gardening. We must get some more seeds. I have been wondering about starting some lettuce in a protected area. When we lived in St. Paul, MN, I remember a man telling me that you could start onions in March in MN. I still wonder how he did that. My winter onions are just now starting to look a little green. Leroy is also turning his attention to the community garden. We did not get everything out of it before the cold was too intense. So plants are still hanging around, perhaps harboring insects of various qualities. We do deliberately leave flowers and leaves by the house to encourage some winter homes for insects, hoping mostly give a home to those that we like. It looks a bit unkempt by the house, but it is only temporary. Because, of course, in the spring and summer it is wonderful looking. No, it isn’t, again, we barely come up to the acceptable standard of weed free, etc. We know others who get seed catalogs and they are already turning to the idea of planting. There is something so satisfying about feeling the soil on my hands. This must be true of others as well. Paula

Following the recipe

Hello, I had a recipe for a crustless veggie quiche. That had a great appeal today because we had all of the ingredients and it would need the oven, warming up the kitchen. First it called for 7 egg whites. I like to use the whole egg. Leroy thought four eggs sounded like a nice substitution. That was the biggest change. After that Leroy said as he finished cutting the mushrooms, “It is a little more than a half cup so I am just going to put it in?” “Ok,” I amiably replied. Then when he cut up the orange pepper, which was supposed to be red, but no red in the house, he said, “Oh there is only a little pepper left. I am going to put it all in.” Again, I agreed. It was supposed to have garlic powder and we had chopped up garlic. It was a guess as to how much, but we forged ahead. After we had it in the pie plate, Leroy said, “That does not look like enough cheese. We should add more.” We did follow the suggested oven temperature and cooking time. Have I trained Leroy well? Paula

Competitors?

Hello, Yes, Leroy and I compete against each other. For instance, we do not like it when one of us gets ahead of the other in terms of steps taken. We are both ok with each of getting more than 10,000 per day, but we do not like to be the lowest if less than that. When we play games there is definitely a sense of competition. Generally, we can still speak to each other, but the loser is basically disgusted. We do cooperate in many other areas. Often when we eat out we share some of the meal with each other. For instance, one of us might order a salad and the other soup. The helps us not to be over fed. Plus we get to sample more things. At breakfast we often share an apple, orange, and banana. I like that because then I get more fruit variety. We also often wash dishes and dry together because we do not have a power washer, but use the old-fashioned hand method. Leroy is also very good at putting lotion on my back. I will return the favor if he wants, which only happens occasionally. We share bed and blankets, but sometimes someone will take more than their share. We do not easily share a hymnal, mostly because our eyes do not operate on the same level. I believe that when Leroy retires completely, we might have to have another computer as we often want to use it at the same time. We feel that we can manage with one car at that point, but who knows? Paula

Not the proper size

Hello, I seem to be the in between size for a number of things. First there is my new bike which is really a little small for me even after a handle bar adjustment. The seller tells me it is because I am right in the middle of what is available. Going too big does not appeal to me in a bike. Leroy is determined that I find a better fit so I want to ride more. Perhaps it can be done. Then there is clothing. I just bought two cuddle duds bottoms. One is too large and one is too small. The too small is going back and the medium size is staying because it is so comfortable. It bags a little here and there, but I can live with that. Maybe people will think that I lost weight rather than that I do not know how to find the right clothing. Should I try to gain weight? Should I try to lose weight? It is a sad question. For now, I am just going to stay the way I am and hope to find more things that fit well enough to feel good while I am wearing them. I do not do well with tight clothing, but I am learning that a fairly snug fit is warmer. Paula

Walking Into the Wind

Hello, The sun was out and it seemed warm in the sheltered area by the house. I started out wearing my packable down coat which is not so warm. It was unzipped, but it was not long before the zipper came up which was followed by raising the hood. My lighter gloves were ok. Too bad I do not get extra steps for the extra energy that it takes to keep going forward. I was going to a study at church and had just barely gotten there when it was time for the study on the stations of the cross. There was a nice group of people there, most of whom I knew. That is one of the best things about being in a place for a longer time, to see familiar faces. Then there was a concert/prelude to the mid-day service. The flutist played a regular flute, followed by an alto flute which had a curved part. She also had a sub contra bass flute. That certainly expanded my flute knowledge. It was beautiful. The service was meaningful. It was followed by a light lunch. One of the best things was having some time to visit with people. I earned over 7,000 steps so maybe I did get some credit for waging battle with the wind. I am going back to church tonight for choir practice. Leroy will go to church service before that, but I do not generally go twice in one day. Paula