A Little of This, a Little of That

For you few people who read by blog, I offer my apologies. It has been a month since I last confessed, er wrote. Forgive me.
I fell off the raw food diet. I was enticed by my need for variety. I still eat raw foods each day but not exclusively. I noticed a change in my fingernails, so I am continuing to experiment for optimum health.
I now swim 35 laps at least four days a week and strength-train 2 times a week. I am amazed that at 59 years of age that I can swim for 45 to 50 minutes continuously. Last week a woman in the next lane called me a "swimming machine." I was flattered especially considering I was swimming very slowly that night.
My garden is coming along well...just tiny lettuce leaves and herbs. Can hardly wait to eat from my garden.

I am posting pictures of the redbud in the front yard along with the matching tulips beneath it. One of my neighbors loves these tulips so much she took a picture and put it in my mailbox. She teases me about selecting tulips to match the tree.
The first picture is of some tiny bulbs I planted years ago; their names are so complicated that I saved the labels in case someone ever asked me what the were. Well, wouldn't you know...just this week my neighbor to the back asked me what they were. I had to trek back to the garage and find where I had hidden (stored) the labels.

Later today I am experimenting with drying cranberries. Anyone who knows me well knows I always have frozen cranberries on hand. I buy about 10 bags around thanksgiving, throw them in the freezer and use them in recipes throughout the year. They usually end up in muffins. Today, I am trying something different. I buy dried,sweetened cranberries to sprinkle in salads or oatmeal. I suddenly thought I could make my own. I bought a dehydrator a few months ago so I am going to put it to good use today. Stay tuned for the result of this experiment. I guess I am still a scientist at heart.

My next post will probably cover decorating my front porch. I have houseplants ready to go, I am planning to paint the rocking chairs and I need a new wind chime. The old one is falling apart.

Raised Beds, Part Deux

Well, the beds are filled now. I could have borrowed a friend's father's truck, gone to Con Robinson, got soil and compost, come home and made hundreds of trips between the truck and the back yard to fill the beds. I could have had 4 cubic yards dumped in the driveway and made hundreds of trips between the dirt pile and the back yard to fill the bed frames. Or I could just pay someone to do it for me. I chose the last option. It was a bargain. When I got home Monday, all my landscaping had fresh mulch and the boxes were filled with organic soil and compost. Yeah!!
Of course, I immediately planted seeds - mesculin mix, bibb and romaine lettuce, spinach, two types of swiss chard, dill, cilantro, basil and parsley. Now don't worry...I didn't plant a lot of any of these; I'm still learning how much I need to plant to feed mainly one person. Well, and some very close friends. Here are some pictures:
















The herbie-looking plastic tub to the right in the top photo is a modified herbie compost bin. The raised bed to the right in the one containing my first seeds.
















And these photos are of two of my freshly mulched flower beds. The small tree to the left of the front porch is a redbud which is just barely budding. It will be gorgeous soon. The beds in the back yard contain knockout roses among other plants; I'll take another photo after they've bloomed so you can see how lovely they are.

Life is good.

Bobbette the Builder

I completed the project last night. It took about 1 1/2 hours to complete one and a half 4' by 4' bed frames. I had already built 1/2 of a bed Sunday when my drill started to run out of power. So I finished the rest Monday. I probably could have shaved a few more minutes off the project but I had to stop to address "inquiring" neighbors. How's that for being tactful?

Just as I was pounding in the last stake, my rubber mallet broke. I suppose it was worn out, too. I didn't want to get out of bed this morning and my right bicep grew overnight. I think I can arm-wrestle any man in the office today and win. Whew! Now all I have to do is haul about 2 cubic feet of soil and compost to fill it in. Any volunteers?

Gardening with Raised Beds

Well, I took the plunge on Saturday and began to build my first raised bed. I was following instructions given by The Pioneer Woman on her blog site, using 2' by 6' untreated wood. The job looked totally simple to me but what was supposed to take about an hour took me about 2 1/2 hours, even with my brother-in-law's help.

You see, the first problem was getting the screws to cooperate and go through one 2' by 6' and into another one. Whew! I was using a 18 volt power drill and the screws still weren't cooperating. Oh, and let me mention I had predrilled the holes.

I knew I needed help so I called Super Chuck, who arrived shortly with his own drill and two battery packs. This man was serious, y'all! He backed out the uncooperative screws, drilled larger holes and then reinstalled the screws. From that point on, the job went a lot faster. Bless him. If I had the materials to contruct another bed he would have stayed to help. Here are some before and after pictures of my first 8' by 4' bed.

This is what my garden looked like before I began the project. The "bushes" are herbs. They look dead but they aren't.

This is Super Chuck doing all the work.

Voila' - the finished project. Isn't it pretty?

On Sunday, I started building two 4' by 4' beds. The next step is filling the beds with soil. Any volunteers? Keep in mind - those who don't help don't eat.

Fiber One/Spa Giveaway

My friend is giving away a prize package on her blog site. It involves chocolate spa products and Fiber One. Go to danielledeskins.blogspot.com and register. Good Luck.

Progress Report

It's been a few weeks since I've checked in. For the most part, my life has just been coasting along. I've had a few "falling off the wagon" episodes which has led to a weight-loss stall and a return of some stiffness. One Friday, I gave into the pizza monster; on another occasion, it was the Chinese food demon. AND as if that's not bad enough, I have a co-worker who is making up cookie recipes and I am one of her guinea pigs. I keep thinking, "just step back away from the cookie."
The pool at the gym had heating problems which kept me from swimming for two weeks until I realized I could use the pool at another location. You see, when I joined they said I could only use one location but after two weeks I was about to throttle somebody so I called to seek a waiver. After initially answering NO, she then said "they" probably won't even notice. She was right. I flashed my card and went right in. The good part is I had the pool entirely to myself and it was a few degrees warmer. Anyway, I'm back up on the wagon and dropping weight again.
Concerning my raw diet, this week's lunch treat was veggie roll-ups. I bought a package of Flat-outs (a long tortilla-type of bread) which are low in points (1 for you weight-watchers) and high in fiber (8 grams per flat). I made a zucchini hummus to spread on the flat and then rolled raw asparagus, tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives and onions. Absolutely delicious. Can't get enough to those this week. I also made some dehydrated veggie bread this week in my dehydrator but I haven't even tasted them yet.
I've been volunteering to prepare taxes again this year, so my Saturdays are half-gone before I can return home to experiment with recipes. Bear with me. I promise to do better with this blog and with photographs of my efforts. After all, I now have a hand-me down digital camera and a hand-me-down Mac. All I need now is a little more time.
This spring I plan to build raised vegetable beds in the back yard. I have a small plot but I don't care much for it because it has been difficult to amend the soil (my tiller was broken last year) and it's right up against a fence which makes working/weeding it difficult. By raising the bed I can put in a couple of feet of amended soil and move it away from the fence so I can reach it from all sides. I am excited but I know initially it will be hard work hauling soil and compost to the bed. I've investigated whether to build it from lumber or to use those wall stones. I'm going with the stones. It's a little cheaper and I can just place the stones and be done with the job. Pray for me and volunteer if you like.

Just Keep Swimming

I swam 30 laps again last night. It didn't feel quite as good as before but it was still light-years ahead of what is now "the olden days." I attribute this new-found stamina to my diet change. There has been a drastic change in stiffness, or rather the lack of. It used to take me about a minute to adjust once I stood up from sitting a long time. Not so anymore. Hallelujah!! My co-workers were beginning to make old-folks type of comments.

Some of the recipes I have experimented with lately have been egg-less egg salad (with lots of tumeric to give it the deviled egg appearance), cauliflower couscous salad (bear in mind, there was no coucous in the salad; you process the cauliflower to look like couscous), tomato basil soup (yum-mo), and raw almond milk ( 1 cup of almonds made a little more than four cups of milk).

I will be learning how to post pictures along with recipes thanks to my daughter sending me her hand-me-down digital camera and to my patient friend, Danielle.

I will also be posting better pictures of me as I progress in my weight loss and improved health. Stay tuned.