A Day in My Life...

Yesterday I went to K-town (commonly used nick name for the larger city about 45 minutes south of the city I live in) with my friend Phil. He had an appointment with a medical specialist down there and I went along to keep him company as well as 'just in case' he needed someone to drive on the way home. I know some of my way around that city, but not nearly well enough to insure we'd find the address he had to go to, so the day before I looked it up on my computer to insure I knew how to get there with ease. I am grateful I have computer and internet connection so I can do this, yet I still see that it would be wonderful to have a nuvi gps. With the gps I wouldn't have to look it up ahead of time and either commit it to memory or if more difficult, print out a map, etc. Anyway, all went well. We left early and stopped at Millennium Metals on our way. Phil loves doing metal work, making fancy shiny bits and putting them on his Harley Davidson motorcycle and he had run out of brass so went there to get another piece. I bought 2 nice pieces of aluminum so I too can make some of those fancy shiny bits and put them on my trike. Phil will teach me how to do it.

We got to the Doctor's office early so were happy to find there was a coffee shop in the same building so we could each have the hot drink of our choice before going upstairs. I read one of the books I took along while he was in the inner office and when he came out he told me I'd have to drive. Part of the procedure included putting drops in his eyes and his vision was too blurry to drive. He sat fairly quietly on the ride back and I could tell he was nervous about having me driving. I am a good driver, but I know it's hard for a man that is used to being the one behind the wheel to be able to give that up to anyone, especially a woman.

These photos show some of the things Phil has made for his Harley. They are done out of aluminum that he cut to shape and hand sanded and polished. As great as these look on his bike, since I took these photos, he's put brass pieces on the aluminum and WOW!! I will be taking some new photos one day soon and will share some here.

Veganism Suits Me

The other day I went to visit my Mom, about a 25 minute drive north of where I live. I took along the ingredients for a vegan dish I wanted to try making and we enjoyed Spanish Rice for our dinner that evening. I brought home the left overs and last night I fried up some Vegan "hamburger", Ground Round then mixed in the Spanish Rice. It made for a very nice meal with some still left for another time.

This evening I am going to my monthly Vegan Pot Luck Dinner (and health video) so I plan to take Spanish Rice along for my contribution. I recently found and purchased a small cookbook in a 2nd hand book store and am so delighted with it and the recipes which are pretty much simple ones and all vegan. I've never been one for doing much cooking and certainly not for reading recipe books. Veganism must be agreeing with me, LOL. I was hoping it would help me to loose some weight, though so far it hasn't. What it has done for my health is lower my risk of heart disease!!

A1C (blood glucose reading for a 3 month period, important for diabetics): Oct. 6.3 ... Now 6.1 (desired <7.0)
LDL Cholesterol "bad stuff" : Oct. 4.4 ... Now 4.1 (desired <2.0 For non-diabetics I think it's <4.0)
HDL Cholesterol "good stuff" : Oct. 1.4 ... Now 1.54 (desired >1.0)
Total Cholesterol : Oct. 7.0 ... Now 6.4 (desired <4.0)
Lipid Ratio (risk factor for heart disease): Oct. 4.9... Now 4.2 (desired <4.0)

Even as a meat eater I was keeping my A1C at a good level as well as my Blood Pressure which is 120/80. As you can see, over the last 3 months, my risk of heart disease has dropped a lot, though it needs to come down more yet. After being Vegan for 6 months I'm sure it will show even more positive change. My next test will be early April.

Winter has Arrived!

This winter has been very warm and any bit of snow we have gotten has melted away in a short time, leaving behind only the odd bit of snow or ice in shady spots. That is until the last few days!! It has turned cold and we had a bunch of snow today which will not be melting away any times soon!! It would seem that winter has finally arrived!! I guess this is good as we do need it, though I so much prefer warmer seasons. I know many people love winter and love doing winter sports such as skiing and snow mobile riding, though I love riding my trike (3 wheel motorcycle) which I only do in warmer months. I will do my best to enjoy this season as I always like to enjoy each day and find the good in it... and still I look forward to spring and the start of riding season!!

I am grateful for my friend Ray and for his new job plowing people's driveways and such. I am no longer able to shovel my driveway due to physical challenges, so the last few years I've just packed the snow down with my truck, thanking God for 4 wheel drive on this hill. Now Ray has surprised me twice by coming by and plowing me out on his way from one job to another in the truck with the snow blade.

56? Wow!

It was a quiet day for my birthday. I would have liked a bit more excitement, but oh well, not a big deal. I'm too old to worry about a thing like that anyway. Not that I'm saying I'm old, just too old to worry about silly things. I went to an Eckankar study group in the morning, then had tea at the mall with my friend Art who I haven't seen in ages. When Art left, I went into a store right beside the food court and bought myself 2 pair of black stretch pants, 2 pair for $15 plus tax. I then went shopping for some food items I needed and phoned another friend. I was planning to go visit Phil for the evening, but he wasn't feeling well, so I came home and watched TV curled up in my chair with my laptop and my cat, Mewsic. Yes, it was a quiet day, yet still a pleasant one. I was born in 1956 so I just turned 56 (wow, it's hard to believe I'm this old already) and I know that 'living my birth year' is going to be a very incredible and wonderful year!!!

Carob Peanut Butter recipe

Last week when I was 'out and about' I ended up buying a bunch of books... one 2nd hand book store on Thursday and another one on Friday. I got some really terrific deals at the one of Friday and great books at both. Several of the books are Vegetarian Cookbooks as I need to learn more about preparing meals now that I no longer eat meat or dairy, eggs, anything from animals. Well, most of the time I don't anyway, only maybe 5% of the time when eating at a pot luck or someone else's home I end up eating something with dairy in it or perhaps eggs in it. At home I am full Vegan and around 95% Vegan when out.

One of the new books I bought is called Of These Ye May Eat Freely and it has lots of great recipes that are pretty easy to make. This evening I made Carob Peanut Butter. It sounded too good and too easy not to, and wow, very yummy!! I ate some on bread and ended up eating some by spoon. Still some in fridge for tomorrow!! Here's the recipe:

Carob Peanut Butter
2 bananas or 3/4 c. apple sauce
1/2 tsp vanilla, optional
2 TBSP carob powder
1-2 TBSP sweetener, optional (I didn't use any)
1/2 cup peanut or other nut butter
Blend or stir until smooth.

Health Journal

I need to get my cholesterol levels down as well as loose weight. I have been working on this for some time now and just haven't had much success. About 3 months ago I went mostly Vegan which will help, I'm sure, and I have been taking supplements that apparently help to lower cholesterol, as well as eating more fiber rich foods. So far I haven't lost weight and tomorrow I will find out if there has been any change in the cholesterol levels as I had blood tests done Friday for my every 3 month diabetes blood sugar test as well as the cholesterol. Tomorrow I see the health nurse about my results to those tests. I know I have to drink more water and get more exercise as well as watch how much and what I eat... so I started the year off by starting a Health Journal where I will be keeping track of all I eat and drink as well as my daily blood glucose test results, exercise, how I'm feeling if that is effecting what I eat, etc. I haven't used my treadmill for several weeks and finally have started again... 15 minutes yesterday and 20 minutes today. Not a lot, I know, but it is a start and I will build up to longer. I weighed myself today and wrote that in the book too and each Thursday when I go to my TOPS meeting do the weigh in there I will record that 'official' weight in my Health Journal too. I am determined to get slim, trim and healthy!!

Today's weather, etc.

Today was amazing, weather wise. It was 10°C (50°F) and sunny, clear blue skies!! It was a pure delight at this time of year to be out and about without a jacket and be totally comfortable. I wish every day could be like today!! Of course, there is a draw back to this in that we had a small amount of snow the other day and today it did a lot of melting, now will freeze and be very icy. Not only could this be dangerous out on the highways, but I live on a hill so have a very steep driveway that can be very dangerous when glare ice as you can't stop and end up on the highway, risking hitting or being hit by oncoming traffic. So if it's going to be sunny and warm I want it to melt all the snow off the driveway and let it dry enough to avoid the buildup of ice. I wish everyone a safe and joyous winter!!

I attended my weekly TOPS meeting and found I gained 1 1/2 pounds over Christmas. While this is not good, it also isn't terrible. Apparently, the average weight gain over Christmas is 5 pounds, so I didn't do all that bad. The worst anyone in our group did was a 3 pound gain. Time to get busy and get rid of that along with lots more. After TOPS, I got gas in my truck, then went to lunch with the ladies, as usual, and had a Veggie Burger with side salad, took the top half of the bun off before I ate and left that on my plate, also using a lesser amount of the Italian salad dressing 'on the side'. I went and got some pellets for my stove (I heat my home with these pellets), then to the Bargain Bin to meet friend Pat and picked up a few items, including some nice sheets for my bed. After that Pat & I went to Dairy Queen where I broke my diet both as a vegan and a weight watcher... I had a Mini Blizzard... so could have been much worse. It was yummy!! When time to head home, I went to the used book store to look for some books I've been wanting. I got one of the ones on my list... and 4 that weren't on the list. This evening I browsed some in the book Cook With Tofu, it looks like some good information and recipes for a new vegan to learn from and enjoy.

Count Down to Spring

Well, Christmas is over and New Years is very nearly here. So far I have no plans for New Years Eve and will likely stay home to cuddle with my cat and watch TV, likely playing games on the computer as I do so. Or perhaps I will go to friend Phil's to watch a movie, though that would probably still see me home well before midnight, so time to cuddle with the cat while on the computer and watching TV, or even go to bed and read a book. A week after New Years is my Birthday. Yup, I get them all over with at once, more or less, with Christmas, New Years and my Birthday all being within a 2 week period. After that, nothing until Valentines day for which I would look at personalized valentines gifts for him... if I had a 'him' in my life, which I don't unless you count some of my animals. I am happy as a single woman, for the most part. There are times I would like that to change, then I give my head a shake. I enjoy my freedom and can't imagine being happy without it. After Valentines there's April Fools Day (nephew Jeremy's Birthday), then Easter... yes this is the count down to something. The May Long Weekend when we celebrate Queen Victoria's Birthday, is the latest I plan to have my trike back on the road. It of course will depend on the type of weather we are having at the time, and if the paint job is done as it will be done outside so must be warmer weather so not a winter project, but early May is when I plan to insure and start riding my trike again. Yes, I am counting down to what I so much look forward to.

Making Cookies... Again!!

I posted about making cookies the other day. Since then, I looked up Vegan Oatmeal Cookie recipes on the internet and found one that sounds really great so today I got what I need to make a batch or two of them, also for Christmas gifts. I'll bake them tomorrow or the next day. If you are interested, here is the recipe for you to check out! This fall I started eating about 95% Vegan. I have become very interested in eating healthily... and that sounds like something for another post.

Albert Einstein, physicist, 1921 Nobel Prize recipient:
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."

Food Bank Today..... Vegan Potluck This Evening

All my days lately seem to be very busy and tiring as well as wonderful. Today I had a medical appointment then went to the Food Bank to do another 2 1/2 volunteer hours. This month so far I have put in 11 1/2 hours there. With 818 Christmas Hampers going out this year, we have a lot of extra work to do putting those hampers together. Today my job was working on part of those Christmas Hampers. Ginger was putting 2 bags together so Iris and I could 'double bag' the veggies, so we would take a double bag and fill it with a 3# bag of onions + a 3# bag of carrots + a 5# bag of russet potatoes, tie the bags and stack them. In the 2 1/2 hours I was there, we did about 150 bags of which I know I did more than 50% as I was working at it by myself before Iris came in to help. It's a good thing I had a chiropractor appointment after that today as my back was not being kind to me at that point. As always, though, I enjoyed being at the Food Bank, doing what I can to help out.

After the Chiropractor all I wanted to do was come home and lay down, I felt so tired. However, my day was not yet over. I went to the Bulk Barn to pick up "a few things" and ended up picking up a LOT more than planned. YIKES!!! It came to $63!!!! Dang, groceries sure have gotten expensive lately!! I came home, used the washroom, packed up some Bean Soup I had made and off I went to my monthly Vegan Potluck and Video evening. GREAT food, WONDERFUL people, INFORMATIVE video on heart/artery health. I am so glad I went... and so GRATEFUL for being involved in this.

Food Bank

I put in many volunteer hours each month at the local Food Bank, run by the Salvation Army. I really enjoy going there to help out with all the work needing to be done and I so enjoy the people I get to work with there. December is always a very busy month around the Food Banks with all the Christmas Food Drives happening as well as donations coming in from schools, stores and so many other people walking in to bring donations. My TOPS club also donates a bunch of food at this time of year. Donations are needed at the Food Banks all year long and December is when most of the donations are made. When donations come in it means a lot of work sorting through all that mix of various kinds of food items, filling the shelves and boxing the rest to be stored for refiling the shelves as needed through the coming year. All the standing and bending is a real killer for my low back, but I persevere and get lots done. I am grateful for the opportunity to help where help is so needed.

Making Cookies

I packed up the ingredients for 2 kinds of cookies I wanted to make for Christmas gifts for a few of my 'guy friends'. I could of course make them at home, but wanted to go visit my Mom so decided to do both at the same time. I should have just come home after TOPS and gone to bed, or visited Mom for a while and come home early to bed. I went on to 'overload' in tired and in pain. However, I managed to get it done in the end, and still drive the 25 minutes home.

First I made Shortbread Cookies using a recipe given to me by my friend Cat Gee. They didn't turn out as great as Cat said they would be, so obviously not as great as hers turn out. Firs, they took a lot of mixing to get them 'smooth and creamy', then I could only put 1 pan of 12 cookies into the oven at a time. The recipe said bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes until golden on bottom of cookies. Well, Mom swears her oven is right so I don't know why, but it was taking around 25-30 minutes to get them to golden on the bottoms. When baking the 2nd dozen I was checking to see if they were done and WHOOF, the pan fell and there were broken cookies all over the inside of the oven!!! I was not happy!!! I cleaned up the mess and got the 3rd dozen in to bake. Mom was gone to get us some dinner from Subway when this happened and came home to see me cleaning up the last of the mess. She said stuff like this has happened to her too, so that helped a lot. It helped me to see I'm not such an idiot as I was feeling like until then.

Shortbread finally done, I started the Peanut Butter Balls. These ones don't get baked and though a bit fiddly, they are easy to make and are very healthy. Ingredients include flax meal, oat bran, carob chips and powder, honey &/or maple syrup... stuff like that. When all is mixed together, you roll it into little bitty balls that you roll in chopped nuts, or chia seeds, or coconut, or quinoa, or sesame seeds, or whatever else you can think of like that. They are so YUMMY and well worth the work to make them. I think I'll make another batch to give to my brother and his wife.

Another Full Thursday

Today I didn't make it to my every Thursday TOPS meeting. I had answered a post on Freecycle for 150 feet of baseboard being given away and the fellow needed me to go pick it up in Coldstream between 10am and noon on Thursday which is when my TOPS group meets in Armstrong. Once it was on my truck I had to bring it home and unload it. Some of the pieces are so long that I had to open the sliding back window of my truck and put the boards through, resting one end on the dash and the other end still sticking out so far I had to hang a red flag on my 'over length' load. The boards are anywhere from 2 feet long to 15 feet long. Once it was all unloaded I packed up a bunch of baking ingredients for making cookies and headed out for the rest of my day.

I drove to Armstrong for the usual Christmas gift exchange and mini party with 3 of my friends from the TOPS group... Pat, DJ and Pauline. I got there around 2pm and left at 4:30pm off and running to Mom's in Enderby... some days I put a lot of kilometers onto my truck. At Mom's I visited with her as well as made 2 kinds of cookies for giving as gifts to some of my friends this Christmas. Exhausted and in a lot of pain from my back, I left there around 11pm and made the 25 minute drive home again. I thought about stopping to gas up the truck at 2 1/2 cents per liter (1o cents per gallon) cheaper then here, but felt I just couldn't face it, needed to come home and end my day.

Ahhhh.... 'Tis The Season...

'Tis the season for social gatherings when there are oh so many pot luck dinners to attend which means oh so many dishes to cook and take along to share with friends, and oh so many photographs to take of people and food at the parties. Christmas is a hard time of year for many people for many reasons, including so much over eating makes us gain the pounds when what we want to do is drop weight and inches for a slim, trim body and improved health. All the excess photographs I take can be put on my portable hard drives, yet the excess food I eat goes straight to fat that gets stored on my body. I need to make sure I get more exercise as well as do my best to refrain from the over eating thing!! Wish my luck!!

Food Bank

Oh my aching back..... That is what I've been saying all day today and part of yesterday. You see, I did my volunteer hours at the Food Bank yesterday and I over did it a bunch. I was helping put together food hampers for people in need as well as sorting and putting away some of the food that has come in recently. At this time of year, there is a lot of food donated and it all has to be sorted through and put away on the shelves as well as boxed and stored to feed people throughout the coming year when there are not so many donations. I knew I was on my feet too long, bending down too much, and still I kept doing it as there was just so much to be done. We sure could use more help at this time of year. I really love being involved in this. I don't love the pain, and yet it's almost worth it in this case.

Eating Vegan

Yesterday I went to visit my Mom, taking with me some groceries I needed to make our dinner. I don't usually cook... for myself or anyone else, but since I've been choosing to eat Vegan, I am more interested in reading recipes and cooking meals. This is the first time I've taken groceries and cooked for my Mom and I think she was pretty happy. Hey, she even took seconds and that's unusual as Mom is a very small eater!! I have been going to a Vegan group to eat and to watch movies on health and why it is healthier to not eat animal based products. They not only fed us very well for 4 evenings, and showed us very interesting, informative videos, but they also gave us recipes and a great deal of health information handouts. What I cooked last night was one of those recipes.... Cuban Black Beans and Rice. I used brown Basmati rice. Mom had some spaghetti squash she had just cooked, not knowing I was planning to feed her, so we had some of that and spinach salad as well. A bit later, after playing a game of Tri-Onimos, we had tea and a great Tofu desert I buy in my favorite grocery store. A healthy meal, filling, and it stayed with me all evening.

NO TO SMART METERS!!

I've heard that connecticut electricity is fairly reasonably priced and I guess ours here is too, though it keeps going up and up as does the cost of all other things. It seems cost goes up more than income does and it sadly is hurting a lot of people. Now, the hydro company here is putting in what they call 'smart meters', which I and many other people feel are a violation of our privacy. Many people even believe they are dangerous to our health due to radiation!! Yesterday I noticed one of my Mom's neighbors had posted a sign beside her existing hydro meter stating that a smart meter is not to be installed there. I am going to post one beside my meter too. I was hoping to find one on the internet to print out, but haven't yet though I've been to several sites. I took some photos last night of the one I saw, so can use them to make up my own sign.

NO TO SMART METERS!!

My Thursday This Week

Being Thursday, I went to TOPS this morning (down 1/2#), then for lunch with 'the ladies'. As often happens, I also went to the Bargain Bin (2nd hand store) with some of my friends. I've been staying away from there a lot lately as I am working at getting rid of stuff, not wanting to bring more home!! Anyway, I've been wanting a duvet cover (queen size) as I was recently given a duvet that didn't have a cover (thank you so much, Cat, I love it!!) So guess what I found at the Bargain Bin!! Yup, a queen size duvet cover... BRAND NEW, STILL IN THE PACKAGE!!! Regular price $186.99.... It was priced $20.00 and being all the stuff in that area was 1/2 price today I got it for $10.00!!!! WoHOOO!!! I love a good deal!!! I also got a pair of short leather winter boots, 2 pairs of earrings, a set of 3 small canisters (very handy for various bulk foods), a blouse, a large bed sheet, an eagle patch (Harley style, says Ride Free and Motor Cycles) I'll give to a Harley friend at Christmas.... total cost $19.00!! Not bad!! While there I should have checked to see what they had for breeches, but didn't think of it then, so maybe next week. Anyway, I already have the duvet into it's cover and my bed looks great. Can hardly wait to slide into it tonight.

Issues Signing In

I've been finding Blogger harder and harder to sign into lately. It is a real run around to get in here each and every time. Oh well... at least I finally find my way from web page to web page and finally get into my blog!!

My day today:

Planned to do: 30 minutes on treadmill.... laundry... clean chinchilla & rabbit cages.

Actually did: 3 loads of laundry - washed/dried/folded/put away... cleaned all 3 chinchilla cages and 1 rabbit cage, gave the chins their dust baths, topped up water bottles... talked on phone to George for 4 hours while I did the laundry, talked on phone for 1 hour to Ray, talked on Messenger with Dan for undetermined time twice, thought about Mark and wondered if he'll be coming over this way any time soon and if he has bought another truck yet. (I have one I will sell him, lol)

All that is on top of 'every day stuff' like feeding birds & cat (rabbit & chinchillas get food dishes filled every few days as needed). My dog, Indaway, is inside now and just finished eating his dinner or raw turkey. Oh ya, including feeding myself, haha.

Doing dishes was something I should have done and would have done, though didn't get to. They'll still be there tomorrow. I am disappointed that I didn't get on the treadmill today, just couldn't fit it in. Guess I could have done that while on the phone, if only I had thought to do so.

So... my 'To Do' list for tomorrow will start with 30 minutes on the treadmill and do the dishes. Fold more laundry tops the list too. Then work on cleaning the kitchen.