End of August Heat Wave

It’s been really hot the past couple of days, record highs for this time of year. I went out right after work to get some oregano and when I came inside I was laughing at just how ridiculously hot it is out in the yard.

Not that I’m complaining. It’s too hot to move, but I sort of feel like I need to store up all this heat to get me through the winter months. I just hope it cools down enough that I can sleep tonight.

While I was out snipping oregano, I also found a few more ripe tomatoes and a miniature cucumber. The cucumbers are just starting, but I’ve been getting a handful of tomatoes daily since Saturday (check out the garden blog). Soon I should be getting a whole lot more.

The oregano was to go in a pasta dish for supper. We certainly don’t want the stove on any longer than necessary when it’s this hot, but we had not remember to defrost anything for BBQ. So, Mediterranean Pasta was the plan.

It should have had fresh basil, but I don’t have any.  I figured oregano would be fine (which it was because I love oregano). Then I also discovered that our Feta had gone off, so we ended using parmesan instead. But it was still good.

The secret ingredient?

Our favorite Balsamic Vinegar. This stuff is thick and syrupy and very smooth tasting.

And this post has taken a whole lot longer than I planned because I was sure I had posted the pasta recipe at some point, but if I did, I didn’t label it and I can’t find it. It’s hot and it’s late and I’m not going to type it out now. I will say that it was a good dinner and it hit the spot!

 

Now I think I am going to stand under a cold shower and see if I can get cooled off enough to sleep.

Hello Healthy Living Bloggers

Yes, I do remember that once upon a time I used to blog about food and exercise and weight loss. It has been on my mind that I should get back to it. I’m always waiting for the right time. Waiting for that magical day when I have the time and the head space to sit down and get my thoughts in order. Which, of course, never happens. So maybe I’m better off just sitting down at the keyboard and spewing out whatever is on my mind.

Like tonight.

I’ve been a bit off my routine for the past few days. Never a good thing for me. My in-laws were coming on Saturday to stay over night on their way to Ottawa. I said to Husband on the previous weekend that we should get the house cleaning out of the way so that we weren’t rushing around at the last moment. He said, oh, it’s not that bad, it won’t take long. That’s what he always says. Probably because I do most of the work (my own fault, I’m not good at asking for help).

So of course we were not ready. Then, somehow, getting into the car after work on Friday, Husband did something to his shoulder (don’t ask me, I don’t know. He doesn’t know) so I felt bad enough making him do the amount of cleaning that he did, and I tried not to ask for much extra. Which leaves me rushing around like a crazy woman right up to the time our guests arrived, fantasies of a Saturday workout dashed (unless you count housework).

We went out to dinner and I had chicken nachos and black bean quesadillas and a margarita. Not complaining, but a workout that day would not have been amiss.

Yesterday, I have only myself to blame. I had good intentions to get in a work out. But I was feeling tired and not disposed to do much, likely due to the rushing around all day Saturday and then not sleeping well Sunday night. I don’t sleep well when we have company, isn’t that weird? Neither do the cats because they kept jumping on me and poking at me all night.

So no exercise yesterday. Except more house work. Laundry anyone?

The plan for tonight was BBQ. We are getting a new fridge tomorrow. (Yay!) So we’ve been in clean out fridge/use stuff up mode. I was looking forward to coming home to a simple BBQ meal. I had my calories tracked for the day, figuring I had room for supper and that I would have time for at least a short exercise session of some sort. I was also looking forward to minimal dishes to clean up, since BBQ does not involve dirtying up pots.

Then we were late leaving work. Then Husband decided that he wanted to do something different for supper.

I don’t like to discourage Husband when he gets the urge to experiment in the kitchen. It’s always nice to have help, plus we do have fun spending time together in the kitchen.

But the end result is more calories than I planned on, and my evening pretty much gone.

I enjoyed spending time with Husband, but at the same time I find myself feeling like the evening I had envisioned got stolen away from me.

Does anyone else ever feel that way? Or do I sound completely nuts?

If you made it to the end of my whining session, I now reward you with a few extra photos from yesterday….

 

If you haven’t seen yesterday’s garden post yet, click on over and check it out.

Thanks for listening/reading.  :)

Tomato Watch 2010

New post on the garden blog. Thar be tomatoes! Also sunflowers, green beans and cats.  :)

I would insert a picture, but blogger is being a pain. You'll just have to click over to the other blog to see.

Quick 1-2-3…

Point 1:

Finally made it to the mailbox on Sunday afternoon and found a package waiting for me.

Thanks so much to Lynn for the fantastic giveaway. Coffee, chocolate & Chai – three favorite things! Husband is quite impressed that my blog reading leads to treats! He is wondering if I should start buying lottery tickets.

 

Point 2:

A friend mentioned that my favorite shoe store was having a big sale. I tried to resist, but it’s like I was hit with a tractor beam. Two pairs of flats, in 3 photos:

What can I say? Shoes make me happy.

Point 3:

Curious to see what the blossoms on a Green Thai Eggplant look like? Head on over to Frank & Zappa's garden  and take a peek!

Strawberry Jam!

I feel like I have been missing out on a lot of the usual summer things this year. Not sure why – it just seems like we’ve had so much on the go.

Last night though, we had nothing going on; we just relaxed at home. I took the cats out for a bit.

Frank looks deceptively relaxed doesn’t he? Just sitting there watching the world go by. If I was to turn my back on him, he’d likely be out of the harness and headed for the hills in no time. So I hung out with them a bit, then took them in. It was kind of a weird evening, warm & humid and kind of dark.

Later on in the evening – not sure what time it was – we had a major downpour. Husband was running around closing windows so we wouldn’t end up with puddles in the house.

Today we did one of those summer things that we haven’t been doing at all – we drove out to the farmer’s market. I thought I had missed strawberry season. I saw local strawberries in the SuperStore for a couple of weeks, and thought to myself that I ought to get some, but I was always rushing in and out. Next thing I knew they were gone.

Then what do we see in the farmer’s market today? Local strawberries! They were beautiful too. Four boxes quickly went into our basket.

So,  unexpectedly, I spent my afternoon doing another summer activity -  making freezer jam!

I was a little disappointed to discover that the lids on two of my plastic preserving containers were cracked – I haven’t even had them that long. Three were still good though, so I used a couple of glass jars and recycled an empty plastic container.

So happy to restock my freezer with strawberry jam. It’s my favorite! I asked husband if it would be bad form to scrape out the jam bowl and lick the spoon; he said I’d earned it.  :)

August

How did it get to be August already? We’ve had a fantastic long weekend. Husband and I both took Friday off and today is New Brunswick Day, so we’ve had a four day weekend. The weather has been perfect – sunny, hot, but not too hot. I kind of don’t want it to end, but we still have the rest of today to enjoy.

Yesterday and today’s exercise:

This was a blast from my childhood past. It’s been years since I stacked wood. I always hated doing it, and I remember that it seemed to go on forever. Up to now Husband and I got wood from a guy who would bring his kids along, and we’d pay a little extra to have it stacked. However, it seems that firewood is getting harder to come by; last year we couldn’t get any at all, so this year we’re stacking our own and counting ourselves lucky that we got it.

Husband lasted about an hour yesterday (without complaining, which I do appreciate, because I know he’s not used to that much physical activity). I kept going for an hour after he quit because I wanted to get half way, or as close to half way as I could, through the pile. I really don’t want to spend a week getting it all stacked. So hopefully we’ll get out and finish it this afternoon.

 

Monthly Workout Record

Normally at the end of the month I do a post with all of my exercise for the month. I didn’t do that at the end of June – workouts in June were sporadic and I didn’t keep track very well.

I think that I kind of burned myself out a bit in May/June. Not necessarily with exercise, but with feeling like I had to keep up with everything, including exercise. So this month I backed off a bit and gave myself permission to just do short workouts if that’s all I could do. I figure I am more active this time of year anyway, with the gardens to take care of, plus we’ve been doing a lot of cleaning, rearranging and sorting in the house.

July was better. This is just what works for summer and I need to remember that.

So, the summary for June & July:

July Workouts:

July 30: Yoga for Runners #1 + Cardio Intervals[55 mins]
July 29: Crunch Candlelight Yoga[40 mins]
July 27: Lunar Flow #1[20 mins]
July 26: Gentle Hatha Yoga #1[20 mins]
July 25: Moon Salutations Flow #1[25 mins]
July 24: Lunar Flow #1[20 mins]
July 21: Gentle Hatha Yoga #1[20 mins]
July 20: Cardio Intervals[20 mins]
July 18: Walk [45 mins]
July 17: Crunch Yoga Sculpt[40 mins]
July 15: Walk [40 mins]
July 13: 60+ minutes in the garden, weeding, trimming & watering
July 12: Sun Salutation Flow #1[20 mins]
July 11: Strength Training + Cardio[45 mins]
July 10: Cardio Intervals [30 mins]
July 01: Cardio Intervals + Gentle Hatha Yoga #1 [45 mins]

June Workouts:
June 29: Cardio Intervals[30 mins]
June 23: Burn & Firm Pilates[45 mins]
June 21: Cardio Intervals + Weights[55 mins]
June 9: Walk[40 mins]
June 6: Fat Burning Yoga[40 min]
June 4: 1 hr 45 min in the garden

I suspect August will be similar to July. Honestly, summer is short and goes by so quickly around here. We have to make the most of it!