A photo taken by my dad... but it was on my camera, so I'm gonna use it! ;)
 |
| Bee on plum flowers |
Monday, February 29, 2016
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Chainsaw On A Stick
I spent a total of 3 hours today trimming fruit trees with long heavy tools. Let's all have a moment of silence for my arms.
.
.
.
Last year we took out a bunch of branches that were crossing each other inappropriately, and took out a lot of the width and thinned the inside. This year's goal is to chop off the top completely (ugh, so many non-fruiting watersprouts!) to mostly achieve the final shape. It's been a long process because you're not supposed to remove more than 1/3rd of the tree's mass at once.
The neighbors did their plum tree last week, so I measured its height (11ft) and am making our plum tree the same. Hey, their tree always looks fantastic and their fruit is within reach.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
11 feet high is just about at the bottom of the dish there, where the red line is. The goal is to cut off everything above that line! My dad and I packed the green waste bin full of branches, and there's still a pile big enough to fill another bin.
Yeah, so, I still have like 1/3rd of the work to do. My dad helped too, and I may need to ask my husband to do some later, since my arms may actually fall off.
Here is a bonus pic, since you made it this far.
I usually feel vaguely guilty whenever I trim trees... but this time it was just kind of peaceful under the snow of plum petals. There's hope for fruit this year, since the best branches will have access to much more sunlight after the trim.
.
.
.
Last year we took out a bunch of branches that were crossing each other inappropriately, and took out a lot of the width and thinned the inside. This year's goal is to chop off the top completely (ugh, so many non-fruiting watersprouts!) to mostly achieve the final shape. It's been a long process because you're not supposed to remove more than 1/3rd of the tree's mass at once.
The neighbors did their plum tree last week, so I measured its height (11ft) and am making our plum tree the same. Hey, their tree always looks fantastic and their fruit is within reach.
BEFORE:
 | |
| Star added for point of reference. The nude tree on the left is an apple... it'll be next. |
AFTER:
 | |
| Red star is on the same branch tip. |
11 feet high is just about at the bottom of the dish there, where the red line is. The goal is to cut off everything above that line! My dad and I packed the green waste bin full of branches, and there's still a pile big enough to fill another bin.
Yeah, so, I still have like 1/3rd of the work to do. My dad helped too, and I may need to ask my husband to do some later, since my arms may actually fall off.
Here is a bonus pic, since you made it this far.
 |
| Me, using my dad's badass battery-operated chainsaw-on-a-stick. The geobin watches in disapproving silence. |
I usually feel vaguely guilty whenever I trim trees... but this time it was just kind of peaceful under the snow of plum petals. There's hope for fruit this year, since the best branches will have access to much more sunlight after the trim.
Friday, February 26, 2016
The joke's on me.
Lately when Torin wants to switch sides when nursing, he pulls at my
shirt or points to the other breast, so I've been saying "Do you want to
switch to the other side?" Today he's been saying "side" very clearly
whenever he wants to switch. But just now he popped up, pointed at my
chest, and yelled at the top of his lungs "UDDER SIDE!!!"
Hahaha... udder! The kid cracks me up.
Hahaha... udder! The kid cracks me up.
 |
| A silly toddler doing a silly dance. |
Sunday, February 7, 2016
My Motivational Catfish
I found something really motivating.
Do a Google image search for "X pound fish" where X is the number of pounds you've lost.
Here's my fish! Evan Martin caught this blue catfish:
Holy crap, that's a fish.
This fish represents the weight loss I started in 2003 but stalled at in 2009ish.
The stall has been for various reasons. It started as an ankle/hip injury, then continued as silent acid reflux (unreasonable hunger even immediately after eating), stress, a year or so of pointlessly steeping in fertility treatment hormones, having a baby, plantar fasciitis, etc. Oh yeah, and mostly I have stalled because of laziness.
I've been super ridiculously tired for the last 6+ months, like... scary, can't-even-walk-around-the-block, can't-form-thoughts tired. I'm sure I could fill 5 whiny blog posts about it, but after discovering some bone loss it was finally diagnosed as a calcium deficiency. Well, hypocalcemia plus hitting sleep-deprivation rock bottom... 'cause hey, it turns out you need calcium to make enough melatonin to stay asleep. A few days after getting the diagnosis last month, just because the universe thought I hadn't actually hit rock bottom yet, I got shingles too. Yay!
It's been a month of supplementing so far and my energy is finally starting to come back, and I can walk around the block without feeling like I might pass out. My never-ending shin cramp is even gone! It's pretty nice.
I'm officially out of excuses.
It is time for me to tackle this hardest part of my 100-pound weight loss journey.
My allies in this quest are:
71 pounds down, 29 to go.
Time to catch me another fish.
If you've lost weight, show me your fish!
Do a Google image search for "X pound fish" where X is the number of pounds you've lost.
Here's my fish! Evan Martin caught this blue catfish:
 |
| He released that fish, by the way. He's awesome. (not my photo) |
Holy crap, that's a fish.
This fish represents the weight loss I started in 2003 but stalled at in 2009ish.
The stall has been for various reasons. It started as an ankle/hip injury, then continued as silent acid reflux (unreasonable hunger even immediately after eating), stress, a year or so of pointlessly steeping in fertility treatment hormones, having a baby, plantar fasciitis, etc. Oh yeah, and mostly I have stalled because of laziness.
I've been super ridiculously tired for the last 6+ months, like... scary, can't-even-walk-around-the-block, can't-form-thoughts tired. I'm sure I could fill 5 whiny blog posts about it, but after discovering some bone loss it was finally diagnosed as a calcium deficiency. Well, hypocalcemia plus hitting sleep-deprivation rock bottom... 'cause hey, it turns out you need calcium to make enough melatonin to stay asleep. A few days after getting the diagnosis last month, just because the universe thought I hadn't actually hit rock bottom yet, I got shingles too. Yay!
It's been a month of supplementing so far and my energy is finally starting to come back, and I can walk around the block without feeling like I might pass out. My never-ending shin cramp is even gone! It's pretty nice.
I'm officially out of excuses.
It is time for me to tackle this hardest part of my 100-pound weight loss journey.
My allies in this quest are:
- My Fitness Pal - for easily counting calories, macros, and making sure my calcium is perfect.
- Happy Scale app - to keep you sane, it shows you trends even when your weight fluctuates, and it also visually breaks your big goal up into 10 little ones for better motivation.
- Fitness trackers - the Bellabeat LEAF and the Fitbit One. Yeah, I decided to wear both for now... the LEAF is gorgeous and was working great, but has been crazily under-counting my steps lately, so I changed some settings and am trying to see if I can improve accuracy while still wearing it as a necklace. It's still kind of in beta, so they keep making changes with the LEAF's algorithms and such. The Fitbit is, as always, perfectly accurate for step-counting.
- Folding magnetic exercise bike - this thing takes up so little space and is silent compared to the old recumbent bike. It's hanging out in the living room for a while as a reminder to bike while Torin is asleep on days that we can't hike. So far it's been working.
- YOU?! Does anyone want to join me on the social side of My Fitness Pal or Fitbit?
71 pounds down, 29 to go.
Time to catch me another fish.
If you've lost weight, show me your fish!
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Lucky number 177777
After pulling into the driveway to see this number, I feel like I've accomplished something.
I have accomplished... something. Yes. Exactly.
I have accomplished... something. Yes. Exactly.
Friday, February 5, 2016
Need more beans.
Once I was out of coffee and offered to brew some more for my guests... one of them said I could just run some water through the old grounds and that'd be fine. I just made a fresh pot, 'cause there's a subconscious social rule that if someone wants coffee enough to say it out loud, then there's always at least 1 other person who secretly wants coffee too.
Anyway... so I ran out of coffee yesterday, but I'm headed to Costco today and will pick up more. I was dismayed to discover that there was not enough cold coffee from yesterday to fill my mug, so I decided to try running more water through the old grinds from yesterday. BAD IDEA. So gross. Don't try it. It's a trick!
... I'm drinking it anyway. Help. Send coffee beans.
Anyway... so I ran out of coffee yesterday, but I'm headed to Costco today and will pick up more. I was dismayed to discover that there was not enough cold coffee from yesterday to fill my mug, so I decided to try running more water through the old grinds from yesterday. BAD IDEA. So gross. Don't try it. It's a trick!
 |
| A single tear rolls down the side of my distraught coffee mug from Sydney. |
... I'm drinking it anyway. Help. Send coffee beans.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Spring 2016 Seedling Code
It's record-keeping time!
The first seedlings to be planted are labeled with the following numbers:
Here's the current "greenhouse" setup:
It's just the dining table covered with plastic tablecloths, with a light we found in the garage (which used to hang from chains somewhere, apparently) propped up on bricks. As the plants grow, the light will be raised by using more bricks. The table is wedged up against the windows like that to keep the light out of the toddler's reach.
You'd think that the glass ceiling of the solarium would give plenty of light, but it's definitely not enough during winter for the seedlings because they get far too leggy, so hopefully this will give them enough of a boost. In an ideal world I'd have that light fixture hold both cool and daylight bulbs which are less than 6 months old, as I did in the environmental rooms at the lab... but hey, these lights were free.
Maybe next year I can figure out a way to suspend the light from the ceiling.
A little about the seeds:
Last year I temporarily lost my key for all the seedlings, which was slightly terrifying. If it happens again, at least I will have this blog note to remind me.
All the varieties after #13 are also being planted directly into the garden right now, but I am addicted to sprouting things, and just wanted to do some extra indoor seedlings for fun.
The next batch of indoor planting in a few weeks will include squash, basil, sunflowers, and cucumbers. I've simplified the process from last year and am mostly just doing 1-3 plantings of each type instead of a new one every week, because I really didn't notice any difference between the batches of tomato seedlings that were a variety of ages.
The first seedlings to be planted are labeled with the following numbers:
- Super Sweet 100 Hybrid Tomato
- Sun Gold Hybrid Tomato
- Gold Rush Currant Tomato
- Black Vernissage Tomato
- Tigerella Tomato
- Green Zebra Tomato
- Amish Paste Tomato
- Egg Yolk Tomato
- Black Plum Tomato
- Lemon Squash
- Early Golden Summer Crookneck Squash
- Biquinho Hot Pepper
- Chinese Five Color Hot Pepper
- Wild Thyme
- Sage
- Basil, Genovese
- Cilantro, Calypso
- Purslane, Green
- Spinach, Red Malibar
- Collards, Georgia Southern
- Swiss Chard, Vulcan
- Kale, Tronchuda
- Arugula
- Beet, Bull's Blood
Here's the current "greenhouse" setup:
It's just the dining table covered with plastic tablecloths, with a light we found in the garage (which used to hang from chains somewhere, apparently) propped up on bricks. As the plants grow, the light will be raised by using more bricks. The table is wedged up against the windows like that to keep the light out of the toddler's reach.
You'd think that the glass ceiling of the solarium would give plenty of light, but it's definitely not enough during winter for the seedlings because they get far too leggy, so hopefully this will give them enough of a boost. In an ideal world I'd have that light fixture hold both cool and daylight bulbs which are less than 6 months old, as I did in the environmental rooms at the lab... but hey, these lights were free.
Maybe next year I can figure out a way to suspend the light from the ceiling.
A little about the seeds:
Last year I temporarily lost my key for all the seedlings, which was slightly terrifying. If it happens again, at least I will have this blog note to remind me.
All the varieties after #13 are also being planted directly into the garden right now, but I am addicted to sprouting things, and just wanted to do some extra indoor seedlings for fun.
The next batch of indoor planting in a few weeks will include squash, basil, sunflowers, and cucumbers. I've simplified the process from last year and am mostly just doing 1-3 plantings of each type instead of a new one every week, because I really didn't notice any difference between the batches of tomato seedlings that were a variety of ages.
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