Fern

 Around ten o'clock this evening I realized that I hadn't reached my daily step goal.  After much pacing around the house it was achieved so my thirteen plus month streak is not broken today by forgetfulness.  Other things I am happy for today:

• Keziah and a friend went to an SCA event yesterday and our friend crashed on our couch and not the highway last night.  This meant that she was safe and that we had a lovely visit this morning before she headed home.  
• One of the things that came up in our conversation was how the dog, Aesop, needed a bath.  He is finally out of the cone after being neutered and could use a bath.  After she left and Gideon and I took him outside, Aesop decided that rolling in what was probably turkey poop was a good idea.  Aesop got his bath.  The happy part is that the rest of us got a soft, fluffy, nice smelling dog.
• Prior to picking up Chinese food for dinner, Zed and I took Aesop for a walk near the Audubon Society.  Aesop is much better behaved when he isn't on a sidewalk or by cars.  This trail is very loud from the noises of the highway that it runs by, but that didn't seem to bother him like on a sidewalk.  Anyhow, we had a nice walk and saw a deer when we left.

Leaves are falling, but not an abundance of color yet.

Ferns are changing color.
I love the different shades in this one picture.

A side trail to explore another time.

☮

Currently reading:  Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Happy Friday the Thirteenth

 It has been about 50 weeks since I looked at my FitBit app and realized that I had reached my daily 10,000 step count goal every day for two weeks.  I decided that since I was on a roll, I should try for a month.  That goal stretched.  Since August 13, 2020 through today, August 13 2021 I have reached that 10,000 step a day goal every single day.  This was not a small achievement for me.  I have walked around in circles in the house on many, many occasions this last year to reach that 10,000 step goal.  

This is most of the last year by month.

This is most of the year before.

Will I continue to put emphasis on reaching that goal?  I don't know, probably.  There have been many days that I have not felt like getting my steps in, but I still did them.  That is when walking around in circles in the house came in handy.  Other happy things for today include:

• While mowing today I hit a praying mantis.  I think it got out of the way fast enough to be okay.

• Keziah called me to come outside to see some birds that were circling out back.  They were much higher by the time I got outside.  I'm fairly certain that they were eagles.

• Zed snuggling up to Winston.

☮

Currently reading: Backpacking: A Hedonist’s Guide, by Rick Greenspan and Hal Kahn.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Where is the rain?

There was supposed to be rain.  I mean, there were torrential downpours last night, but it was supposed to rain today.  There were some sprinkles, but not the rain I expected.  Not the rain that brought me home from the mountains last night instead of today.  I'm glad I wasn't out in the rain last night or in the tent, but I may have been more motivated to walk if I had been in the mountains today.

It has been a long day with lack of motivation and fighting with depression. I'm very thankful for the long conversation with TF today after we did our weekly goal setting. Part of our conversation was about electrolyte drinks and how they may help give me a boost at work.  Here is a website with a medieval recipe for mint sekanjabin.  Adding a little of this to water will add some flavor and electrolytes for when a person is really active to help maintain hydration.  I've had other flavors as well.  My favorite is a cinnamon/nutmeg/clove flavor.  Other happy things for today:

• It took a while to pull myself up enough to take a walk today, but I did.  It has been a little over eleven months now that I have managed to reach my 10,000 steps a day goal.  Just a few more weeks and it will be a year.
• For some reason this year I am noticing that daylilies come in many different colors.  I'm liking this and may find some other colors to add to what we have.  The following pictures are daylilies from a house down the street that I saw on my walk.  

• Gideon got a haircut.  He has had shoulder length hair with an undercut for quite a long time.  He decided that it is time for a change.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Heat is On

 Writing is hard.  Some days words flow from my fingers and others they do not.  With my new work schedule all my routines are strange.  So strange that it is 2:20 in the afternoon, I am writing before I go to sleep, and I feel like only half a day has gone by.  Things have happened though and I am happy to have these happy things to write about:

• Since I have not been able to completely close up the garden yet, I put a few of the plants into larger pots for now, rather than the ground.  They are also still inside the house, albeit the porch, so much closer to the elements.  I'm not sure when I will get to work on the fence again, things are rather busy right now.  Yay!  Some of the plants have more room to grow.  I also remembered to fertilize some of the plants.

Pumpkin.

• The area is under a heat advisory now.  Instead of meeting at a park, my friend, Amy, and I went to the mall to get in some solid stepping.  My step goal was reached, great conversation, and Amy reminded me of some very important SCA things that are coming up.
• With the heat advisory and sleep during the day, the portable AC is now in my room.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

Thanks for reading.  Stay safe.

Monday Mow Day

 Tonight I start my new job.  Hopefully I will remember all the things I need to remember.  Early this morning I took care of choosing benefits and ordering shoes for work.  It is good to have that basically done.  I may have Keziah and Zed look over it all for me in the next few days.  Other things I am happy for today:

• Keziah and Zed have been away since Thursday for their eleventh wedding anniversary.  They are home.  They shared the stories of their adventures and Gideon shared his stories with them.  Beautiful family moments.
• I woke up when I wanted to this morning.  This has been hard.
• For me to continue to reach my 10,000 steps a day goal I need to have that goal reached by the time I sleep before work.  My alarm will go off at 11:30 PM and that is too late to try to finish up the step count.  To achieve that today, I mowed the lawn.  
• The grass was tall and there were some pretty flowers that are now gone.  I used Google Lens to identify them.

Blue Toadflax.

I've seen this in other parts of the yard,
but forgot what it was, meadow hawkweed.

There was a bunch of the toadflax.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

Thank you for reading, stay safe.

Yesterday's News

  Last night, after the blog was written, midnight was close, and I was preparing for sleep. I realized that I was about 400 steps away from 20,000 for the day.   That is why I didn't get right to sleep, I paced until I got those last steps in for the day.  Another thing I realized is that all my photos hadn't backed up.  When I think back on my day to write this blog I look over the things I have taken pictures of.  Yesterday I took pictures of a bird so that I could identify it later, then forgot.

The northern flicker.

When I first saw this bird from a distance I thought of a mourning dove, then looked again and decided that it was built almost nothing like a mourning dove.  This bird has brought up some distant memory of my father and a flicker.  I imagine that he was probably pointing one out to me.  Those are happy things that got missed on yesterday's blog.  Here are some happy things for today:

• After mowing more of the lawn today I took some time and pulled out my bottle of spiced sekanjabin.  Here is a recipe for a mint sekanjabin.  This bottle was a gift when I stepped into the role of Baroness over two years ago.  It got misplaced for a little while, then I probably went through a quarter of the bottle, then about half the bottle last summer.  This leaves about a quarter of the bottle that the sugar has crystalized, but it is still delicious.  I tried soaking the bottle in hot water today to loosen it some.  Tomorrow I will just add water since it is a concentrate.

• Earlier in the spring I planted a raspberry bush that has done nothing.  The wild ones on the property seem to be doing alright though.  I expect that the birds will get them before I do, I'm okay with that, this year.  

Little raspberries are growing.

• I was lamenting with Keziah about an exchequer issue I have been having.  She doesn't exchequer.  She claims that spreadsheets break when she looks at them.  This issue though, she understood my frustration and made sure I knew it.  It is nice when my daughter 'gets me.'  It doesn't always happen. 

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan

Thanks for checking in, stay safe.