Gardening response......

Apropos of the previous post on gardening....I feel I should post this little bit of wisdom which arrived in my email box this morning from Real Simple.....

“Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity.” ― Lindley Karstens

I've just come in from the garden and agree totally....:-) 

Slainte!!

Gardening

My arms ache! For two days now I have seriously worked in my garden and it needs a lot of help. Yesterday I worked in my favourite spot, the northwest corner. Here I have three raised beds of vegetables to keep up but the really great thing about this corner is that it is so private. Tall fences close in two sides and shrubbery and trees lay about the other two sides. There is a stone path into this area and a tap to use for watering the plants. From this spot, no one can really see me and I could sit here and read or paint or just listen to the birds all I like. Today I'm going to lay down some black cloth to keep the weeds down in-between the beds. As I age, it is getting harder and harder to do this kind so serious gardening but I don't want to give it up. Now I need to learn all the tricks I can to make gardening easier.

To sleep or not to sleep.....

So I have come to the conclusion that I almost dread going to bed at night.....and not for any other reason except I have sleepless nights more than I have sleepful nights....(is that a word....??)

There is nothing worse than lying in bed on your back with your eyes wide open totally unable to drift off. I would much rather wake up early in the morning because then I can at least DO something without causing too much disturbance (like watering the garden or just sitting on the patio...we're talkin' summer here). However, at night, you're pretty much limited to reading until you're so uncomfortable you can't do that anymore, working at the computer, which revs up the brain even more....or just lying on the couch or whatever, hoping that sleep claims you eventually. I stay up as late as I dare, hoping to be tired enough to drop off....but that doesn't always work.  I read in bed before I turn out the light to kind of slow me down a bit....but if it's a good book, you always lie there wondering what was going to happen next after you turn out the light.....at least I do...then my mind starts working and devising possible scenarios.... at which point I get up to find out what really happened!!

I know it's an FM (fibromyalgia) thing but it's intensely annoying and frustrating. I try to empty my mind from all things stressful before I hit the sack, but somehow they all start sneaking back once the light's out....and THEN...if you're awake when the peripheral noise starts (read snoring from both DH and dog!) then it's game over.....time to vacate the bedroom and find something else to wear out your mind before you sleep. I have been known to stay awake for entire nights and the following day and then literally fall into bed and sleep the night through. Funny thing tho'...when I have a sleepless night before a symphony concert, I tend to play better because I'm forced to concentrate to the max. I hurt like the dickens afterward but hey.... it was great concert!!!

Doctors will tell you that you should regulate your sleep patterns.....I will tell you....let them try it. Sleep medications are not on for me....I go for a cheese snack or vanilla almond milk or yogurt or Rooibis tea, chamomile tea, catnip tea, and even Horlicks. Sometimes they work, but I think when push comes to shove, it's the time element that essentially works. The longer I stay awake, the easier I'll eventually get to sleep.....
Goodness...just writing about this makes me yawn!!

Sigh.....such is life!!
)
      >     0..zzzzzzzzzz
)

Slainte!!

Mammograms.....

So I had my bi-annual mammogram yesterday and all I have to say about it is:
1. It's not nearly as painful as before
2. The machine is much smaller and less intimidating
3. You use your own clothes instead of the paper or cloth wrap thingies that you either throw away or put in a laundry hamper.
4. It's fast

So all in all not the entirely unpleasant experience it's been renowned for...
Such is progress....
... so ladies....put it on your schedule if you haven't already!!

Slainte!!

Some interesting reading......

I have recently read a book called Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon. There is a lot of science involved in it, but there is a message and an idea that I have taken away from it.

Diets don't work, never have, never will. Healthy eating, listening to your body's signals and keeping moving is the key to being comfortable with your body.

I am weaning myself off dieting and it's a challenging task. I'm listening more to my body and how it feels, eating slower, savouring and enjoying my food,  exercising regularly and in general being a more comfortable and happy person.  I may not ever be a skinny person, but I will be a content person without the stress of worrying about my body image.

...and as I get older, the less time worrying about that...the better!!!

Slainte!!