Have you ever wondered why sometimes you work hard to go
out the door to an obligation or to wonder why your health
is failing as you age. Here are 3 things that impacted me these last 6 months!
Dear Food
I know that I am not your best friend and I am not going to say that you and all your food groups and tastes and texture are hard for me to digest into my stomach. So let us make a truce . I love you food and I have a challenge as when I encourage my body to eat more of you than it can handle.
So I am practicing the art of small portions and slow eating, like chewing slowly and pausing after a few bites. This may sound easy for some but it is a challenge for me.
Then I can appreciate you food and we can get on a more like minded relationship.
I am not feeling any connectedness at my church and I attend once a month. I took a progressive Christian course for 10 weeks this last fall. It was hurting my brain, or helping it, I'm not sure which.
Part 2 of this course is on now and I declined to re-join after Christmas. So this is the first time I am writing something about it. I can't make a stance (yet) or maybe I just did.
"It is for those who have stopped taking the church seriously at all. Many people of deep spiritual integrity simply cannot suffer the shallow message of the churches of their birth any longer. They have an intuitive sense that there is more to Christianity than the rigid rules and theological constructs of the past." (Excerpt from Rev. David Felten and Rev. Jeff Procter-Murphy)
I am open-minded about my faith and this must have been what I required to fuel my belief. Some interesting things came up but it challenged my belief and I liked my faith before I took the class and I did get educated on the bible stories and what they mean in our words today. It was deep and our Minister said it would bring questions up and it is all about having those questions and not definite answers as the bible is stories written to teach us how to live. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Gym/Team Training
This is my like-minded place. The trainers and the gym owners are there for ME. I put in the effort
and they make sure I do my training safely. Here is a great post on the trainers.
The people I train with are fun and very much in the same place I am.
I read these a few years later and they were somewhat helpful but I know
there are many many more books published about grief , but suicide grief,
if written well are extremely helpful.
We think about Graham longingly and what we have learned
since 2004 and how healing is a very individual process.
(just make sure you eventually heal as best as you can)
"My dearest Graham we have learned so much and wish we knew then what
we know now".
I always needed a stool mind you, to get up onto his back, and hope
when I am out riding that we don't stop and have to get off
and then get back on; out where there is no stool. I have looked for many
boulders and bumps when this happens so I can leg up and get back on
(LOL)
Motherwell Homestead in-between Yorkton
and Regina.
This was an experience and scary to see these men
get this thresher running. How dangerous it was for
those farmers to operate this. They did get it running too!
My cowboy boots (Ariats) I bought in Bozeman, MT
in 2007 got an overhaul and I bronzed them with bronze spray paint
and painted
a bit of the design. I will keep these forever, and hopefully someone will
throw them in my coffin (morbid but thats what I want)
this Christmas season I realized that
Tom is a genius with puzzles he did this 1000
piece puzzle in 5 days - it is glued together now and we will
frame it! this was such a gift I had no idea it would
be put together that fast and it is a beautiful picture.
Thanks son!
We live 5 miles from a world renowned Strawberry
farm called Prairie Dome Strawberry Farm (look it up it is worth a trip) and they take you for a ride on the big
open ended wagons to your area of picking. Was enjoyable!
My dad gave me this letter that he found in one
of his photo albums as I wrote this to my
Grandma when I was 10 years old while at a summer camp.
(I think I was homesick a bit. I was only away for 7 days)
My husband (Brian) made a new bed frame for our
master bedroom bed. It was a new challenge and he
worked at it diligently. I am staining it here in this picture.
I was impressed!
One of my most dearest moments; Tom and I and Brian went for
a ride through the back hills at our Swift Current acreage during the holidays season in (guessing maybe 2009)
Tom can ride but his interest is not really that developed but he has gone
on a few rides with us. He rode Rocky and I must of been on Ben and Brian on
the colt at the time maybe Leroy.
Good Spirit Lake in April 2016
beautiful white sands and a lovely
clean lake for swimming and it has barely
changed since we used to go as a family
with my mom and dad. We always treasure
this spot and attend it several times in the summer!
Oh my this was so thrilling to see a sea turtle while
we were walking around the rocks at the Big Island in Hawaii
Special moment for me. They are so big!
Riding with the Top Line Trail Riding Club
at Sask. Landing and we were on the very highest ridge
I'm the second in line and Brian is the 2nd last rider.
One of our riders walked quite a ways up the other coulee
hill to get this photo.! (I was a bit nervous but I had Rocky and he
is the best trail riding horse, he is steady and sure)
Parkland Therapeutic Riding Club in Yorkton year end
party; the clients/kids got to paint this white horse
I have never seen that done before and this horse was amazing!
He was tied on each side of his bridle in the middle of the
horse barn so the kids could paint away.
My folks came up to see his exhibit
and that was pretty special for me and Tom having my parents come see his success in the
art genre.!
This was a blast and having our acreage to have a fireworks
celebration was so exciting. We bought the fireworks at Canadian
Tire and set them up down our lane. What a Hoot!
Myan Riveiria in Mexico!
This was the most wonderful
ocean I have ever swam in.
Loved this swim, this ocean....I truly
felt I was in heaven for about 30 minutes.....
will never forget! The universe was aligning up with
me at that time, I know it. I said an amazing prayer to God. It was January
last year and it can be a hard month.... (sigh)
Okay this was so cute, I helped Brian do the chores for our
neighbour back in November and she (our neighbour) had at this time 30 goats or so. We watered and
gave them some feed and I took this video. They are crazy busy and cute and
a bit noisy when excited. Our neighbour loves goats and makes homemade soap bars using
goat milk. This was a unique experience.
Horse back riding in Hawaii on the Big Island!
So loved this it was so beautiful and serene and different
landscape.
even this horse that manifested into being owned by us is
HUGE for me and VERY IMPORTANT to my balance and energy
Just when I get her in my control with the riding techniques,
she goes and has a bad day or she doesn't like being around other horses
in the arena, you know, just like humans, it is a process to maintain balance.
We are back from vacations at Cypress, Clear Lake,
and day trips to Good Spirit Lake and Madge Lake.
Will be heading to Regina Beach Saturday with my sister
and her friend.
Our son has been visiting us this week and I have always wanted a video of me riding a horse. The loping or cantering is new for me in an arena setting. I have no problem out in the open country to lope; for some reason arena riding is restrictive to me when I want to do some loping. I am practicing that here with my horse Grace.
Tom, this was a nice video of me and my Mantracker workin' it at Kirkville arena!
it was the inauguration of a biannual event honoring women in Yorkton.
The heroes in the room are all of us attending. For those days that one feels less than heroic, there is a team of women ready to help pick you up. There are the obvious women in your inner circle who you lean on often; but at this conference the circle gets bigger as we met and got to know and learn from the presenters of the passionate and compassion help available in my area.
Some health concerns and tips I picked up on:
Massage therapy helps cancer patients' and as well -touch- is important for our mental health!
eat more plant-based foods, like flax seeds, chia seeds, avocado, green vegetables. We had a discussion at my table about how tiring a lettuce salad is becoming; so at lunch a lovely vegetable mix that was steamed slightly and just dumped into a big serving dish. The veggies were not too soft and not too hard and crunchy. Simple, easy to eat and each vegetable was a different colour.
frozen fruit bought in stores is as good as fresh, blueberries are super anti-oxidants
celery is a fantastic inflammation and digestion fighter
Splenda for sugar replacement was not recommended and if you are diabetic or have high blood sugar it was suggested to buy Monk Fruit sugar (Bulk Barn carries it) if you bake for Christmas and special treats that require sugar ...use that
Sleep Apnea was talked about from a presenter at Parkland CPAP and it is a very common health issue. A questionnaire was on our table to fill out if we wanted to see if we were at risk or if we showed obvious symptoms. Sleep Apnea means apparently that you stop breathing at some point or it appears that you stop but the chest is still moving. Anyway it was super information and they talked about the small machine and mask that they carry.
Kung Fu demo was slow and boring but that is just me....we did learn some easy starter techniques to practice on ourselves. Was enlightening but I am not jumping up to sign up for a class. It does develop a great focus because in meditation you are sitting still but with Tai Chai or kung fu your focus is strengthened by the precise slow movements. Maybe it is what I need (lol!)
There was a presenter about skin care from Prairie Beauty and an Acupuncture presentation; one for all about raw natural honey and so much more. We all left with a nice swag bag too!
I am going to pick up some bok choyon my next grocery store
visit and try that out.
It was a good day and the cost for this was to just show up!
......Next one is on Sept 30th.
Namaste! We all deserve good health and the support available to
High Blood Pressure is a well kept secret of the amount of pressure your blood is running through your arteries.
I had my vitals report from the doctor in January and he took my blood pressure. Everything went up my blood sugar too.
But how does one fix that when I am already on a good diet and I have been working out 3 times a week. I had also just returned from a vacation in Mexico? sooooo what brought this pressure up?
It took me some time to figure it out and my neck has been aggravating my left shoulder once again and i was worried about my shoulder and not being able to get it relaxed and all the massages and appts to possibly help me out with it was a stressor ; then my weight was bothering me I started to think I was getting very fat but it was just the muscle I developed over the last few months of swimming laps. I am doing 15 - 20 50 metre (olympic lengths) twice a week now. I walk outside alot too.
What is going on I am retired and have a good life in the country. I thought it was family and possibly it was that ? didn't make sense my family has had it's frustrations because we work at being a close knit family but really we are a respectful family. I respect my siblings and families and parents; we don't always understand how we live each others lives; I was brought up with judging people and I love my parents and the ways they cared for me to the best of their ability.
Here is what I went back to for lowering the blood pressure (IT MUST COME DOWN):
massage to relax that neck/work on that shoulder stuff - massage therapist is my yoga teacher (love that)
yoga class/sign up once a week
use my infrared sauna we have at home daily (for 20 - 30 minutes)
use energy techniques to clear my head (tapping, body talk, healing touch) Carol Tuttle had a type talk on facebook and it was about "the shoulds"?
"I should be thinner- I should socialize with friends more - I should invite people over to my house- I should be more settled - I should not be such a loner - I should... I should not....I did her tapping session (where you tap on your forehead and temples and under the eyes and under the nose and on the chin and on your chest and you say out loud the 'shoulds' and should-nots and then when that is completed just press both hands on the heart centre or your chest and breathe it all in and out.
Today my High Blood Pressure was back down to 129/84 for the first time in many weeks
I am keeping up the yoga and infrared sauna sessions
note to self is that when vitals go up it is always the mind that tells the body how to hold the craziness in as the body will hold all right and keep everything tight until you release the stuff!
I am fascinated by the way you can assess a horse by looking at his eye and wrinkles around the eye as well as shape. Here is the first of my posts on this information.
flight risk
In the pasture or in the stall, this gelding has a slightly alarmed look. His outlook on the world is one of concern, even though he is a superior athlete. RIGHT: The angular shape of the horse’s eye and the excessive wrinkles above it indicate this horse is often worried and on the lookout for predators. It takes a skilled rider to overcome this horse’s mental obstacles.
Kirkville Horses (flight risks)
Tuko - sold as a "bucker".... and new owner is thrilled with this horse
as he uses Tuko for a work horse
to train others; also the new owner is a reining cow horse trainer so Tuko gets to work
every day and owner keeps him for his own horse. Lucky Tuko!
He loves him!
Ziggy
Ziggy - is Mantracker's horse we purchased from Qu'Appelle many years
ago. This horse is athletic and has great breeding lines. He will take off
on you if you are not skilled to slow him down. So we consider him
a flight risk but a great horse when work needs to be done.
time for me because my Mom really made it magical.
As an adult I still enjoy the lights and look forward
to a present or two under the tree but it is a quieter season for me now
and I like it like that.
A few Christmas events building up to the day is
good but I now just want to snuggle in with a good read
and watch the tree lights twinkle and visit quietly
with a friend or two.
This last week....
the parents are both still functioning okay in
a senior residence and also driving us crazy sometimes
with the medical appointments but we are presenting
our thoughts on that to them as best as we can
and praying this next year is quieter for having
flus' and hoping for keeping their medications stable.
I am very fortunate to have my brother and sister
in the city where my folks live.
They assist ALOT when they can and it is
like this:
"It seems that one mother can look after
many children but now it takes all 3 of us and more to look after
one mother! (our father included)!
