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boogieshoesSo it’s mostly good news at Chez Boogs. Abbie and I had our vet appointments recently, and health ratings are up.
Abs gained 15 lbs, I lost 2 lbs from the last visit, for a total of 10 lbs weight loss – slow and steady wins the race. I also realized I lost two pants sizes, from size 24 (US) to 20 (also US). First time I’ve enjoyed shopping in a long time.
I have a heart rate of 78 BPM; Abbie’s is ‘hey, wait, I’m not finished taking your pulse yet!’.
My Blood Pressure is 123/81, Abbie’s is ‘yeah, whatever.’ (It’s so hard being a dog).
And I don’t have heart worms, and am up on my rabies, shots, and Abbie’s had her flu shots, so that’s all good, too.
I’ve been trying to focus on sticking a little better to my low-carb high-fat diet, and I can see and feel a difference.
Especially around my period-days, which I didn’t really expect. My periods are lighter on this diet, and they don’t actually last as long. I’m not sure why that is, as one doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the other. Still have cramps like a ****, though.
The house updating is going well, mostly. Over July 4th week, I took a ‘staycation’ intending to do a lot of stenciling, and I did get some done – then I had to clean the stencil, which takes forever. I’m still cleaning it in fact. In the midst of said cleaning, I spilled acetone on my laptop… yeah, the keyboard is banjaxed, although the rest of it seems ok. 1 cheap keyboard and mouse later… still cleaning the stencil, but now I’m keeping the computer higher than the acetone bottle… spills won’t be so bad this way, hah.
The other frustrating thing that’s happened recently is that my a/c unit’s drain pipe backed up – AGAIN. Turns out I didn’t do the French drain correctly. I have two options right now – re-do the French drain, hopefully correctly this time, or bring somebody in to re-route the piping out of the wall above grade. I like this last idea, but I’m still checking on things regarding that as I usually make calls at lunch at work, but it’s been hecka-busy lately and I haven’t had time to do that.
The upshot of the a/c thing is that I bought a box-fan capable of cooling a garage/shed to dry the carpet, with the intention of putting it in my room afterwards. I can report that the fan kept me much cooler even than just the a/c recently. (Basically, we do not have a ‘smart’ A/C, and my room gets a lot more heat than the other side of the house. I have to freeze the roommate out to cool down in summer.) This is good, because we should be able to cut the power bill a bit now that we have 3 fans going in the main living spaces – my bedroom, roomie’s bedroom, and the living room. We’ll see if/how well it works.
So onto the garden: the take this year has included small carrots and parsnips, a major haul of radishes, and a decent amount of turnips. Those root crops were all finished by the time May came around, and I was really happy with it, although I also learned a lot – like things that grow down usually need more than 6inches of soil… The sugar peas also did well, but I think I planted them rather late, and didn’t get much out of them. I won’t be able to plant early this year, but they need to be in the ground in mid-to-late fall, I think. (Growing seasons are backwards around here… so very, very backwards. It messes with my head.)
I also planted beets, which aren’t having any luck at all, other than they’re not dead yet. And the 2 bags of potatoes are… questionable. I’d like to grow potatoes for my roommate, because he loves potatoes, but I’m never using the grow-bags again. Barrels only, please.
The above-ground crops were tomatoes and squashes. The Better Boy tomatoes never did grow – the Jet Star tomatoes grew 1 plant that set 3 tomatoes. Then the rabbits finally discovered the garden (specifically the tomatoes), and it seems to be dying the Heat Death of the Tomato Universe. I keep watering it on principle, though. Of the Squash, the Zucchini, which was late coming up, won’t stop producing, the butternut fruit (singular) won’t get bigger, and the acorn squash produced 2 lovely gourds and has appeared to give up. Entirely possible the squash likes cooler weather.
After pulling the root crops, I decided to re-sow with herbs and flowers. The ‘mixed flowers’ Mom got me some time ago never came up, but the second round of marigolds are really robust now. Mammoth Dill is gangbusters, the fennel is getting enormous, the sweet basil is firmly established. Lavender is finally starting to come up underneath the marigolds, and the sage is working on it. I’m seriously thinking of getting those little baby-food jars and doing dried herbs for Christmas presents this year – I’m trying to decide how to decorate them, because anything with embroidery involved is an instant no-go, but I’d like them to be cute-if-ied somehow.
In the house, the roomie is having some pretty amazing success the snapdragons and my rhododendron plant. Harvey (mother was Ivy, brother who lives at work is ‘Roe D. Endron’) is taking over my kitchen table, and I’m pleased with that. I’m not nearly as good with him as I should be, but he’s been around for a while, and I like the guy.
-bs, free and easy on the road I go
Abs gained 15 lbs, I lost 2 lbs from the last visit, for a total of 10 lbs weight loss – slow and steady wins the race. I also realized I lost two pants sizes, from size 24 (US) to 20 (also US). First time I’ve enjoyed shopping in a long time.
I have a heart rate of 78 BPM; Abbie’s is ‘hey, wait, I’m not finished taking your pulse yet!’.
My Blood Pressure is 123/81, Abbie’s is ‘yeah, whatever.’ (It’s so hard being a dog).
And I don’t have heart worms, and am up on my rabies, shots, and Abbie’s had her flu shots, so that’s all good, too.
I’ve been trying to focus on sticking a little better to my low-carb high-fat diet, and I can see and feel a difference.
Especially around my period-days, which I didn’t really expect. My periods are lighter on this diet, and they don’t actually last as long. I’m not sure why that is, as one doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the other. Still have cramps like a ****, though.
The house updating is going well, mostly. Over July 4th week, I took a ‘staycation’ intending to do a lot of stenciling, and I did get some done – then I had to clean the stencil, which takes forever. I’m still cleaning it in fact. In the midst of said cleaning, I spilled acetone on my laptop… yeah, the keyboard is banjaxed, although the rest of it seems ok. 1 cheap keyboard and mouse later… still cleaning the stencil, but now I’m keeping the computer higher than the acetone bottle… spills won’t be so bad this way, hah.
The other frustrating thing that’s happened recently is that my a/c unit’s drain pipe backed up – AGAIN. Turns out I didn’t do the French drain correctly. I have two options right now – re-do the French drain, hopefully correctly this time, or bring somebody in to re-route the piping out of the wall above grade. I like this last idea, but I’m still checking on things regarding that as I usually make calls at lunch at work, but it’s been hecka-busy lately and I haven’t had time to do that.
The upshot of the a/c thing is that I bought a box-fan capable of cooling a garage/shed to dry the carpet, with the intention of putting it in my room afterwards. I can report that the fan kept me much cooler even than just the a/c recently. (Basically, we do not have a ‘smart’ A/C, and my room gets a lot more heat than the other side of the house. I have to freeze the roommate out to cool down in summer.) This is good, because we should be able to cut the power bill a bit now that we have 3 fans going in the main living spaces – my bedroom, roomie’s bedroom, and the living room. We’ll see if/how well it works.
So onto the garden: the take this year has included small carrots and parsnips, a major haul of radishes, and a decent amount of turnips. Those root crops were all finished by the time May came around, and I was really happy with it, although I also learned a lot – like things that grow down usually need more than 6inches of soil… The sugar peas also did well, but I think I planted them rather late, and didn’t get much out of them. I won’t be able to plant early this year, but they need to be in the ground in mid-to-late fall, I think. (Growing seasons are backwards around here… so very, very backwards. It messes with my head.)
I also planted beets, which aren’t having any luck at all, other than they’re not dead yet. And the 2 bags of potatoes are… questionable. I’d like to grow potatoes for my roommate, because he loves potatoes, but I’m never using the grow-bags again. Barrels only, please.
The above-ground crops were tomatoes and squashes. The Better Boy tomatoes never did grow – the Jet Star tomatoes grew 1 plant that set 3 tomatoes. Then the rabbits finally discovered the garden (specifically the tomatoes), and it seems to be dying the Heat Death of the Tomato Universe. I keep watering it on principle, though. Of the Squash, the Zucchini, which was late coming up, won’t stop producing, the butternut fruit (singular) won’t get bigger, and the acorn squash produced 2 lovely gourds and has appeared to give up. Entirely possible the squash likes cooler weather.
After pulling the root crops, I decided to re-sow with herbs and flowers. The ‘mixed flowers’ Mom got me some time ago never came up, but the second round of marigolds are really robust now. Mammoth Dill is gangbusters, the fennel is getting enormous, the sweet basil is firmly established. Lavender is finally starting to come up underneath the marigolds, and the sage is working on it. I’m seriously thinking of getting those little baby-food jars and doing dried herbs for Christmas presents this year – I’m trying to decide how to decorate them, because anything with embroidery involved is an instant no-go, but I’d like them to be cute-if-ied somehow.
In the house, the roomie is having some pretty amazing success the snapdragons and my rhododendron plant. Harvey (mother was Ivy, brother who lives at work is ‘Roe D. Endron’) is taking over my kitchen table, and I’m pleased with that. I’m not nearly as good with him as I should be, but he’s been around for a while, and I like the guy.
-bs, free and easy on the road I go
