Kicking and screaming all the way....

 

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Saturday is my weigh in day.  I have lost 12 lbs in 5 weeks.  I would have loved it to be more but despite doing everything I can it feels as though each pound lost has had to be dragged from me kicking and screaming all the way.

I am not sure what is different this time round.  I have walked over 100 miles since October 3rd.  It is getting easier doing the walking.  I walk up and down hills, to elevate my heart rate.  My food intake is pretty good; it's not perfect but it's a whole lot better than it was.

My diabetes numbers are improving greatly, I guess I just have to be patient.  At the end of the day it's getting those diabetes numbers under control which is the number one concern.  I have blood work done the middle of December so that gives me another six weeks to try and lose another 12 lbs.  That should make a big difference to those diabetes numbers I am hoping.

I am having my physical at the end of November, so my goal there is to have another 8 lbs off by then.  That's with the nurse in the doctor's office.  I will then have a telephone appointment with the doctor just before Christmas to go over the blood work and the physical's results.  

So until then I just have to keep on doing what I am doing. At the end of the day I have lost over a bag of potatoes, plus a bag of sugar.  My clothes don't feel as tight and I don't feel as though I will die trying to walk up the hills anymore😊

Slow and steady wins the race as they say!

Wednesday is a bit busy for me........okay.....

So I pick up this little guy after daycare once a week. He comes back to our house and stays for his supper:

The first week I picked him up on a Tuesday.  The next week it was Wednesday, because I had a dentist's appointment.  That day we walked to the pond, and this was how the conversation went:

Me: "I'll pick you up next week on Wednesday."

Liam: "No you need to pick me up on Tuesday."

Me: "Why?"

Liam: "I am a bit busy on a Wednesday."

Me: "Okay; so Wednesday's a busy day for you?"

Liam: "Yes."

This from the mouth of a 3 year old who generally doesn't know what day it is!!!  So Tuesday it is then!

Then this little guy is already 4 months old!!

He's going through "I love Mommy the best of all," stage!!  We all love him to the moon and back; even when he is grumpy!!

Teaspoon Fairy

Will get to the teaspoon fairy in a minute.

Been busy with trying to get the outside all "put too bed," for the winter this week.  Have to say I am nearly there.  The one major thing that still needs to be done is all the leaves raked up.  There is only one problem though, due to the weather being unseasonably warm, the leaves are still on the tree!

We finally got a little bit of frost on the ground the other morning, so they are starting to drop.  Had the sprinkler guys round yesterday for 20 minutes to blow out the sprinklers.  $113 later, but hubby's compressor isn't really big enough to blow them out in one fell swoop.  Also paid for next years feed and weed lawn service, $350 later.  They are supposed to be coming round with a Fall fertilizer application that I got for free when I pay up front for the next year.  Also got 10% discount for paying before the end of October.  Every little helps.

Now for the teaspoon fairy.  I was talking to my mother the other day and she had just come in from grocery shopping.  I was telling her I had just popped to the store to pick a couple of things up and had spent $40 and had only one bag of shopping to show for it.  Though one of the things I had bought were some teaspoons.  It turns out I am not the only one who has the teaspoon fairy visit their house and take a few teaspoons with her when she leaves.  My mother has the same one visit her.  

Teaspoons seem to disappear in a poof of smoke around here.  My mother was agreeing as she has the same problem.  When I was looking for an image to add to this post I came across this book:

I would have bought this book, but it's in Spanish and only on Kindle over at Amazon.  I neither understand Spanish, nor have a Kindle.  

Do you have a teaspoon fairy visit your house?  Or is it a knife, fork or other utensil fairy?

Busy bee, but with nothing to show for it!

Isn't it always the way, you feel like you have never stopped, but honestly have nothing to show for it?

One thing I was doing today was putting together a box of food to send up north to a food bank.  During the month of October, Canada Post has had a special where a business can send a box under 5kg anywhere in Canada for free on a Tuesday.  So the last couple of Tuesday's I sent a box of Evan's new born clothing up that he had grown out of.  They were in perfect condition; in fact a couple of the pieces I am sure hadn't even been worn.

This week I decided to put together a box of food.

Now it may look like an odd combination of items, but there is a reason behind the things I popped in.  I had the cake mixes and frosting in the cupboard.  I won't be using them before they expire next year.  They cost a small fortune up north; I think around $9 each, so they are classed as a luxury.  I popped some sprinkles in, because who doesn't love a cake with sprinkles!!  They always need spices, and sugar.  Due to the weight, I just popped in the small packets of sugar.  I also had a can of condensed milk, that I know some people put in their coffee, so figured that should go as well.

If anyone has a business account with Canada Post and wants to send a free box up north and would like a contact address please let me know.  You will have to print out a shipping label tomorrow to take advantage of the deal.  I will give you details of where to send too and what they would like.  Tea and honey are things they love.

Pretty cute.....

I see this caravan on my walking route.  It sleeps two, but can sleep three.  One thing though in this photo and the following one makes me shake my head.  Can you guess what?

People are decorating for Halloween and a number of people put these fake spider webs on their houses and bushes.  Yes it looks nice, but how on earth are they going to get it off those bushes after Halloween?  Unfortunately a number of people won't bother removing them and then I think it looks tacky.

No idea what the title should be of this post

you can decide.

I was out walking on Wednesday morning and on one of the streets were two police cars parked.  In itself that was unusual.  A guy was stood on the sidewalk so asked him what was going on and he said the house was empty and he thought it was an attempted break in.  I said okay and went on my merry little way.

A bit further on I met a woman walking her dog and I knew she lived on that street, so asked her the same question.  Now her answer was a six cd length answer, so I will give you the condensed version!!

Yes the house is empty; it is rented.  However the gist of the situation is someone who does not own the house is advertising the house for rent on various social media sites and scamming people out of money.  They are also opening bank accounts using that address.  Now the story got very convoluted at this point and led me to believe there is more going on than she knows about.

However, we both agreed on a couple of things.

1. How do people come up with these sorts of scams?  I would have never have thought of doing something like this?  As I said to the lady, these types of people have too much times on there hands!!

2. One thing that is all over social media in our area (Barrie, Ontario), is the price of renting a house/apartment.  It is as pricy to rent somewhere here as it is in Toronto and people are complaining about it and rightly so.  It is not unusual to see a whole house for rent for over $3,000+ a month.  To rent an upper part of a house $2,500+ and the basement apartment $1,800+.  If you click on this link you can see what various places look like to rent.

For those of you who don't know, our basement's are not the dark and dingy places, they can be lived in.  Our home has as large family room, a bedroom, a bathroom and a large storage/laundry room.  It is not a separate apartment; it does not have a separate entrance ours is a one family home.

3. We couldn't decide how on earth the younger folk are able to get on the property ladder?  Unless you want to live in a condo/apartment there is very little under $600,000 where we live.   Also if folk are having to pay stupid amounts in rent, how will they ever be able to afford a deposit for a house, without the help of the bank of mum and dad?

Worrying times ahead for the younger folks that's for sure.

Afternoon Treat

 I have a sweet tooth.  I love cake, cookies, muffins, candy & chocolate.  However with being a diabetic I have to watch what I eat.

One way of getting around that sugar craving mid afternoon is to have a cup of this:

I know it has 7g of sugar but in the scheme of things I can live with that.

A steaming cup of coffee to sip on while reading my book!

What is your afternoon treat?

Lesson Learned

I decided to make some bean and vegetable soup on the weekend.  I forgot to get my soup beans out the night before and soak them.  So I put them in a pan covered with water; brought it too a boil and then took it off the heat and let them soak for an hour.

I drained and rinsed them and went on to make my soup.  I simmered on a low heat for the rest of the day.  I had a dish for supper on Saturday and it was so good.

A couple of hours later, my stomach began to cramp up and the flatulence began😮  I went to bed with a horrible cramping stomach, believing that I would be fine on Sunday.  Nope, just the same.  Went on two walks on Sunday thinking, things would "move."  Nope, woke up on Monday still had a cramping stomach.  Went on a walk and this time things "moved," when I got back home.  As I am writing this on Monday evening, my stomach is still not right.

So raw beans contain compounds known as lectins. These are glycoproteins found in all kinds of plant foods. Although some glycoproteins are not harmful, others can be toxic, including the ones found in raw beans.  Now my beans weren't raw, but I have a feeling that the larger ones may not have been fully cooked, though everything tasted fine too me.

Now my stomach has become more and more sensitive the older I get.  So in future I will soak my beans!!

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P dot S: I so hope by the time you read this everything is back to normal!!

To dye or not to dye?

When Paige started school back in September of 2020 she was 4 1/2.  She came home one day and said to her mother, "where are the eyes in the back of my head?"  After a discussion it turned out her teacher had said she "had eyes in the back of her head."

Her mother told her that only grow up's had eyes in the back of their heads!!  Honestly these kindergarten teachers also need the patience of a saint, and have arms like an octopus.  It must be like herding cats trying to control 20 odd 4 & 5 year olds!!  Rather them than me.

Now why I bring this up, is I went to get my hair cut the other day.  After they have finished they hold up a mirror at the back of your head to make sure with how it looks at the back.  I got quite a shock when I saw how much grey hair I had at the back.  As I don't have eyes in the back of my head, I never see what's going on there, hence the Paige story.

Now back to the title of this post.  I normally dye my hair on a regular basis, as I am not fully grey yet.  For some reason I didn't do it after I got it cut in September.  As my hair is short, the dye will be fully out of my hair by the time it is cut twice more.  Maybe even the next time if I get a good chunk cut off.

So I am thinking of biting the bullet and not dying my hair and seeing what my "real" head of hair looks like?  I am just concerned that as it is not fully grey yet, I will look old, washed out and tired!!

For the more mature ladies out there, what age did you stop dying your hair?  Or do you just keep on colouring it?

Garbage, recycling etc.

 For us garbage day is on a Thursday; unless there has been a holiday and then it's a day later in the week.

One week we have garbage, recycling and green bin pick up.  The next week we have yard waste (though see what I write about that further down the post), recycling and green/organic bin pick up.

This week it was the yard waste, recycling and green bin pick up.

In the blue bin we can place:

Acceptable items for blue containers box:

• Empty aerosol cans.
  Remove the lid and dispensing nozzle (if possible) from the empty can before placing in your Blue Box. Aerosol cans that are not empty must be taken to the Household Hazardous Waste Depot.
• Empty, dry paint cans.
  Remove the lid to allow the remaining paint to dry & place both can and lid in your Blue Box. Can sizes are limited to 4 litres & under. Paint cans that are not empty must be taken to the Household Hazardous Waste Depot.
• Plastic retail and grocery bags.
  Bags must be clean & empty. Remove any receipts or materials from the bags, put all bags inside one plastic retail or grocery bag or a clear plastic bag, and tie shut before placing in your Blue Box. Please do not use dark garbage bags as the collectors cannot identify if the bag contains recycling or garbage.
  
  Tip:Do the stretch test! If the plastic stretches when you pull on it, it's acceptable in the Blue Box (exemption: plastic – clingy / film / Saran – wrap is not accepted).
• Aluminum trays, pie plates and clean aluminum foil
• Tetra Pak boxes Juice and milk cartons
• Plastic food and beverage containers, bottles, jugs, tubs, styrene trays and lids
• Glass food and beverage bottles and jars
  No need to remove labels
• Food and beverage cans
  Push lids down inside, no need to remove labels
• Spiral cardboard cans
  The plastic strip around frozen juice cans is not acceptable but please include the metal portions
• Bulk packing styrofoam providing it fits into a standard size blue box
  No styrofoam peanuts

In the grey bin we can place:

Acceptable items for grey (paper) box:

• Telephone books and magazines
• All household paper including newspapers, photocopy paper, hardcover books (without the cover) envelopes, gift wrap, cards and paper bags (without foil or plastic coating)
• Boxboard and egg cartons
  Remove all plastic wrap and food liner bags, flatten box, place inside another box
• Cardboard
  Flattened and bundled no larger than 75cmx75cmx20cm. Place in or beside recycling box, limit of five bundles per week for each business establishment, no limit for residents

In the green/organic bin we can place:

Acceptable items in the green bin:

• All food scraps and leftovers
• Meat, bones, rice and dairy products
• Vegetables and fruits
• Pastas, breads
• Cooking oils and grease
• Coffee grounds and filters, tea bags
• Microwave popcorn bags
• Dryer lint, dust
• Hair, pet hair
• House plants
• Soiled newspaper, paper towels*
• Paper plates, napkins, tissues*
• Paper egg cartons
• Fast food drink trays
• Paper cups
• Popsicle sticks, toothpicks
• Wood wine corks
• Wood ashes (cold)
• Dried flowers
• Pumpkins, garden fruit & vegetable waste
  
• Eggs and eggshells
• Muffin paper cups

We are allowed 2 garbage bags/bins every two weeks.  We are lucky if we fill one bag/bin.

The yard waste has to be put into yard waste bags.  As you can see mine are from Home Depot.  Now just to confuse everyone depending on the month we have a variety of times when yard waste is collected:

Weekly Collection	January, April, May, June, September, October, & November
​Every Other Week Collection	​July, August, & December
​No Collection	​February & March

I will say when I go walking, especially on garbage day a lot of folk do not understand the rules of recycling?  You have to have your garbage out on garbage day by 7am.  We seem to be first on the route for our subdivision, so I tend to put out the night before.  Mind you there is no rhyme nor reason about what time they are going to turn up.

All the info came from our local city website.

Do you have garbage pick up?  Do you recycle where you live?

Mugs

Dh and I were in Chapters/Indigo the other day and we were looking at a shelf of mugs and discussing what was written on them.

The first one we saw was the father one.  We decided number 2 isn't his thing and number 3 is definitely not dh's thing, as it's always me getting rid of the dead mice in the shed and all the spiders!!

 

We then moved onto the mother mug and I decided it fit me perfectly😜

Of course I thought the grand mother one was written just for me 😁

Then I saw this one and thought, they have spelled this wrong, Nana only has one "N."

I have enough mugs to start a shop, but I think I could possibly make room for some of those.  You can see more of what they carry here.

Same everyday

 Are you like me, I eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch everyday.

For breakfast I have my overnight oats with a cup of herbal/fruit tea.  I am drinking ginger tea at the moment.

For lunch I have hummus and rice crackers, along with a cup of coffee and an apple sauce cup.

I buy the hummus from Walmart.

I love how it's pre-portioned, so I don't over indulge!

Although the fat content is a little high, I do enjoy the taste.

I eat half a package of these rice crackers everyday.  They come in different flavours, these ones just happen to be cheese.  By the way they are not "New," I think the packaging is just a little different.  They are Wal-Mart's own brand.

It would be helpful if the sodium was a little lower, but it's not too bad.

With the applesauce I prefer the name brand over the no name brands, so pick up Motts Fruitsations whenever possible.

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I always buy the unsweetened despite LOVING the apple sauce with pears 😋

Do you eat the same for breakfast and lunch everyday?  If so what is your food of choice?

Tupperware Fridgesmart Containers

I have been a fan and have owned Tupperware for donkey's years.  Technically I am a Tupperware rep, but I never sell it and have no interest in doing so.  I just joined Tupperware to get a good deal.  I did however have an "online party," at the beginning of the year as son wanted some Tupperware for his birthday.  He had used some of mine and loved it, so I figured I would have a party and see if anyone else wanted some Tupperware at the same time.

I picked up some of the Fridgesmart containers and I love them.  So in case some of you aren't familiar with them I thought I would show you mine.

I have three sizes of containers, but there are four sizes available.  The one with the carrots is the medium deep, there will be close to 5 lbs of carrots in there.  I normally keep romaine lettuce in it.  We buy romaine hearts in packs of three and that holds a pack of three.  It will also hold four to six bell peppers.  The one with the bell pepper inside is the small deep.  I generally keep bell peppers in there.  The one with the cucumber in it is the small shallow.  I generally keep radishes in them and they store wonderfully.

In the photo above you can see pictures of various fruits and vegs on the sides of the containers.  It indicates which position you should slide the slider for that particular product (photo below).  It's a venting system to keep the produce fresher.

My kids buy a lot of fruit for the grands and they have had varying success with storing fruits in them.  I tend to keep veggies in mine as I don't buy a whole lot of fruit.

There is more information on the products here.  I know you can buy cheaper products from Rubbermaid etc.  I am very happy with these though so far.  They are dishwasher safe.  I have been using the Ziploc Veggie Bags for years, but prefer these containers.

(photo credit)

However the downside to the Tupperware containers are that they take up a lot of room, whereas the Ziploc produce bags squeeze in smaller places.

Are you a fan of Tupperware?

earworm

 noun

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ear·​worm | \ ˈir-ˌwərm  \

Definition of earworm

1: CORN EARWORM

2: a song or melody that keeps repeating in one's mind

(credit for above)

I cannot get this song out of my head!

You're welcome 😏

Blogging.......

 I have started reading a book by Maxine Morrey called "#No Filter."

"Popular lifestyle blogger, Libby Cartwright, is being boggled by business when help shows up in the shape of gorgeous but shy, Charlie Richmond. Libby’s determined to keep it at ‘just good friends’ – she’s dated someone from ‘Corporate Land’ before and it didn’t end well. As she and Charlie begin spending more time together, Libby is starting to waver – until she discovers something which makes her question if she’s ready for love.

Still reeling, she suffers another blow as her blog is attacked in a national newspaper, for promoting unachievable perfection. Libby knows it’s not true – but the only way to prove that is to strip off the armour she’s been wearing for years.

Is she brave enough to show the world she’s far from perfect? And will Charlie be by her side if she does…"

Our local Indigo sells three paperback books for $10, and this was one of them I picked up last time I was in.

As you can see it's about a blogger.  It got me to thinking about my blog and one thing that niggles me about my blog is that I can not reply directly to peoples comments.  I can only reply by doing a regular comment that isn't attached to the persons comment; if that makes sense?

So again I was trying again to see if I could make any progress on that problem, but got no where again.  Other people's blogs can do that, but not me?

As blogs go mine is very basic.  I will never be like a lifestyle blogger.  I don't understand Instagram.  Tik tok is beyond me!!  I am on Facebook and do like that.  Twitter is something I don't understand also.  Maybe I am getting too old for all of this technical stuff.

Are you happy with the way your blog looks?

Happy Thanksgiving

 (photo credit)

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, from our family to yours!🦃

Back walking........

I am back walking again.  I managed just under 24 miles last week, which wasn't a bad start.  I just got a new fitbit, the Inspire 2.

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It's one of the low tech one, I have no need for anything high tech and so far so good.

Despite having new walking shoes I am suffering with extensor tendonitis which is a pain, literally😒  

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It's because I have just started walking and I suffer from tightness in my calf muscles.

The only problem with all this walking is how much I notice around the subdivision where we live!!  Gosh some people need to tidy up there places.  We are lucky our immediate neighbours make an effort.  It would drive me potty living next to untidy people.

One new thing I am seeing with walking is the amount of discarded masks.........I counted 5 the other day on my walk.  Not sure if it's from the kids or the adults.  As they are not just discarded where the kids get on the school buses?  

When the weather is bad I go on our treadmill.  At the moment I am watching Glow Up on Netflix while on the treadmill, it makes the time go faster!

Both kids have bought Peloton bikes which look really neat.  However as I am not a huge fan of exercise at the best of time........I am not going down that path and investing that amount of money!!

What is your preferred form of exercise?