Winter Holidays

My Hanukkah is in the mail (per Jackie's frustration).  Mine for Jackie is wrapped and next to a small tree. 

I had a good Hanukkah - no drama, depression at levels lower than previous years. Lit candles on all the nights, had fried potatoes and the cats dined by electric candlelight with my electric menorah in the window. LOL

I decided to do a little for Yule/Christmas and put up a fake white tree Jackie had and put her gifts next to it and my new nutcracker, a favorite nutcracker (the Rat King), the Christmas Yeti guy, and Snoopy and Woodstock (both play the Charlie Brown music) and, of course, a turtle.

Now if this stupid sinus infection would ease up, it wouldn't be a bad day.

Continuing Mom's Quilt

I finished the lower straight line in this row on the quilt, the one Mom had done a little on.  My stitches are getting better too.  Maybe we can finish this.

Reboot Reboot - Plan day 1

We went off the plan because of availability of food (i.e. we paid the entire year of property taxes and relied on what we had on hand in the freezer and pantry before we had gone on The Plan).

We went off the plan and we have paid for it. Jackie and I are hurting really badly after 2 week of being off and there's really no physical reason why my pain should be higher other than change of weather/colder temps.  We also had a bit more energy before.

So, we're going back on the Plan.  This morning I had rice for breakfast, lunch will be salad and broccoli soup with salad.  Tonight will be chicken and salad or pollock and salad.

Gotta start feeling better again. These pain levels are really hard to deal with. 

Sleeve Kitty!

Alannah decided the jacket that Jackie had pulled off was a perfect bed and that the sleeve was quite cozy.  She stayed in the sleeve for over an hour and curled up in the jacket for hours.

Grady decided my military satchel is a perfect bed. If he fits, he sleeps, I guess

Ugh fricking Ugh

Okay, we're back on The Plan.  We got back on a few days ago after a frustrating week.  I'm down several pounds from where I started.  Not the very quick loss of weight as highlighted in the testimonies of the Plan but I'm not surprised.  The Plan suggests not having any food or drink 4 hours before sleep.  I need to eat a graham sized cracker or something when I take my codeine, stuff makes me sick to my stomach.

Yes, a glitch that I have.  I could never become a heroin junkie.  After my first back surgery I was throwing up for 3 days.  I couldn't keep water down.  Mom asked what pain meds they were giving me, morphine.  She suggested changing to demerol. Viola! The opids make me sick.  I've been on codeine for decades - I take 1-2 at night with a little bit of food and try to go to sleep before the nausea hits.  So, about 8lbs down in 2 weeks. 

We also had our first major reaction to food.  Yesterday we had grilled hamburgers (patties, no buns) and eggs for breakfast.  We've tested beef and it went fine but the Plan suggests not to have well-done meat - to avoid extended high heat - the chemical makeup of the food changes.

We're not sure if we reacted from the burgers or eggs.  Shortly after having the eggs and hamburger (breakfast and lunch) I began to be down. By nightfall at 7:30 I was in a major depression and my muscles were hurting more than usual.  I was in a bad place last night and today has been kinda hard.  We've avoided any new foods today but I've had more sugar than usual.  I feel off, unbalanced and blah.  Jackie's legs were killing her today and she hadn't done anything yesterday.  Enough so that it has to be noted as not ordinary aches and pains.

So both of us had extreme reactions to either well cooked meat or eggs.

We're going to test eggs again and see how it goes and I'll know what's happening if I start a down slide.  My psych is really pleased with my progress and how I've developed tools to handle things coming our way.  So much so that my PTSD symptoms are way down (Thank G-d!).  The depression last night was horrible!

We'll see if this Plan keeps working.

Day 0

we're going to have to redo the Plan at this point. Jackie is reacting very very badly to something and the only thing new in the meal plans was romaine lettuce and crimmi (sp?) mushrooms and we don't think she'd be covered head to toe with a welt-like rash that started out small and spread over the last 24 hrs.  I'm going to take her into the emergency room at the VA in Atlanta tomorrow.

Worried as heck

Day ?

Yesterday was almost a disaster as far of the healthy eating went.  We were out of Cream of Rice cereal and I didn't want to test something new. Okay, I had some blueberries and the errands shouldn't take long. Right?

Got tobacco for Jackie and then headed to AT&T right across the street.  Jackie's phone is stuck in an Apple software glitch - which AT&T can't fix.  We have to go to Marietta to Apple and get it fixed.  Oy humbug.  Jackie has been wanting to get me a decent phone since my charity given phone's battery is going out.  So we got me a rugged basic phone.  It does some higher tech stuff than mine including coming with a camera and since I don't get new phones every year, this one should last a long time.  We also got 2 tablets for $1 each, $10 service fee a month.  Okay, that's a nice deal!

What's a tablet/I-Pad/whatever?

Seriously, I've never played or worked with one.  And the company figures you know what you're doing so they didn't include a manual.  Thank Adonai for the internet!

So I get to learn a new phone and a tablet. 

Anyway, we got stuck at the AT&T shop for a long time. By the time we got out of there after signing contracts for the phone and tablets it was mid afternoon and we were starving.  We went to Kroger for groceries. 

Man oh man! Every damned craving was hitting both of us hard and heavy! 

We resisted. We got out groceries and a rotor chicken, rushed home and had chicken and salad.

I didn't have enough water during the day and drank water until late at night so I had a gain of a couple of ounces.

Today is Yom Kippur, the most holy day in Judaism.  I caught several services in synagogues online - very enlightening and wonderful since I wasn't up to a drive to Atlanta. Now I feel a bit fuzzy and tired. 

Today for lunch I had a salad - mixed greens, craisins, sunflower seeds, goat cheese and raspberry dressing.  Nothing new there.  A snack was a rye cracker with almond butter.  Nothing new. 

Dinner will be roast chicken with carrots and zucchini and mushrooms with a salad (see above) - the new item will be mushrooms.

The Plan - Day 8

Was sick last night (still "off" today) - got hit with a migraine that lasted for hours. I took a hot bath by candlelight and then laid in my room in the dark.  I don't know if it was eye strain, a food reaction or if I'm sick.  Today my stomach is still upset with a very slight headache.  We didn't try any new food yesterday.  The only things new the last 2 days was rye and beef.

I'll retest beef in a couple of days.  Today we're going to try wild caught Pollock fish.

Day Eight: Optional Test Chickpeas or Test New protein

Breakfast Smoothie Or  Test new cereal with 2 tbsp chia seeds & sunflower seeds- approved fruit 

Lunch Grilled vegetable salad Leftover vegetables on a bed of greens with goat cheese and sunflower seeds 
 
Snack Carrots with 4-5 tbsp homemade hummus -TEST Or Watermelon   

Dinner Protein that has been tested on a bed of baby romaine  OR Test new protein Roasted, Sauteed, Grilled or steamed vegetables that have been approved with 2 tbsp grated manchego

cats and more cats

alannah - she fits!

Alyssa - she hates to be photographed

Oscar has a new bed. We came in to find this

LG - Little Guy

The Plan - Day None

We're going to do leftover steak and salad from yesterday for lunch or dinner. Basically repeating yesterday's menu.  I've had no reactions other than when I drink a bottle of water 4 hours before sleep.  Jackie has had a reaction to rye.

My energy is still a little low but my base morning temp is 96.1 and colon concerns are still looking positive. 

My arm is worse - now the bulge just below the elbow is looking bruised.  So, no typing today.  I chatted with Steph and wrote last night using Dragon and was horse after a few hours. LOL

I am NOT accustomed to talking so much!

The Plan - Day 6

Energy is still a little low and I had a hell of a time getting to sleep last night.  Still had a loss so I can have rye at this point.

Jackie hasn't been doing well with apples as snacks, they kick off cravings for carbs so we're switching her to pears which don't seem to trigger cravings.

Day Six: Protein day  Breakfast Flax with choice of ½ cup berries, ½ apple or ½ pear  Or Blueberry pear compote  

Lunch Baby romaine with radicchio , apple, ¼ avocado, pumpkin seeds and goat cheese  

Snack Rye with raw almond butter Or Watermelon – only have if weather has been above 75 degrees for 2 weeks  

Dinner – choose your proteins to test Grilled wild white fish, STEAK, lamb, venison, duck, chickpeas or egg white  Grilled vegetables- zucchini, carrots, onion, radicchio, garlic Carrot beet salad  

The Plan - Day 5

Feeling better today, not like I have the flu.  I think my taste buds are waking up - my morning tea mix tasted bitter, left the bags in the cup too long.  1/2 lb down and temp is up 1/2 a degree.

Tonight we get chicken with an apricot sauce and we try rye crackers.  I'll use those in place of my challah tonight for Shabbat. 

Feels like I haven't done much at all this week and it's true.  I'll call this either sick days or vacation. LOL

The plan – day four

By 7 o'clock last night I was feeling miserable, it felt like I had a bad case of the flu. Today I'm feeling okay not as tired as I was yesterday. I also don't feel like I have the flu. My bodily functions are changing for the positive. The only other thing out of the ordinary is a lump near my elbow which is probably a bursitis inflammation of my elbow, golfers elbow, and I have never played golf a day in my life.

Today we get to try goat cheese, and I'm pretty excited, I've been dreading having to give up cheese altogether so if we can have goat cheese yay.

For today I am giving my elbow and hand a rest. So I'm getting to use my Dragon out here in the living room. I am really impressed with the Dragon professional individual addition of Dragon voice recognition. It is recognizing a lot more words than the previous edition 12 did.

I am down to pounds since we started this, and my baseline temperature is up almost a full degree in the morning. That tells me that my thyroid is beginning to work a little better. And that the foods I've been eating are not causing any reaction, which was the idea doing this three day detox diet. Now we will start adding a few foods at a time, and will judge if our bodies react badly to any of them.

The Plan - Day 3

A bit tired today but cooked a big batch of cream of broccoli soup.  We'll have chicken with Italian herbs and orange zest oil tonight.  Yay! Meat!

I've been trying to keep the caffeine down to one cup a day now in addition to the kelp and liver detox pills.  My base temp was up half a degree today and weight was down 2 1/2 lbs.  That will change, when we hit foods that sets off inflammation, of course.

The Plan - Day 2

Day 2 - no weight difference - probably from drinking water late at night.

A little less energy today.  I went and got liver detox and kelp pills at the mall and then went to Walmart for cat food and liver.  Went through the mall and Walmart without getting a soda or snack.  Bought water instead.

Have a headache today.

DAY 2

               Record basal body temp (do this until temp consistently reads above 97F – taper off supplements at this point

               Weigh yourself and record the results

               Drink 16oz of water with lemon juice

               Take liver supplement w/kelp and B-12

Breakfast

1 cup of flax granola 

to make it a bit more palatable I mixed it with 1/2 serving of cream of rice cereal (hope it doesn't affect the weight loss potential)

 snack

½ cup of blueberries

Lunch

Carrot ginger sop with sunflower seeds - worked on adjusting the spices - had a full serving

Baby romaine with ½ diced apple and ¼ avocado - no avocado ugh

Leftover sautéed or steamed broccoli with orange oil (used lemon juice instead of orange oil)

Snack

½ pear with a small handful of almonds

Dinner

Leftover sautéed kale with vegetables w/1 cup basmati rice with pumpkin seeds

Beet and carrot salad with sunflower seeds

               4-5 whole carrots

               1 small beet

               Peel carrots and beet.  Grate and mix together in one bowl.  – makes 4 servings

Water

Recommended amount of water by dinner

The Plan - Day 1 (yesterday)

DAY ONE – NO TEST

Awakening

               Record basal body temp (do this until temp consistently reads above 97F – taper off supplements at this point

               Weigh yourself and record the results

               Drink 16oz of water with lemon juice

               Take liver supplement w/kelp and B-12

              

Breakfast

1 cup flax granola with ½ cup blueberries

Silk coconut milk or rice dream

Lunch

Carrot ginger soup w/sunflower seeds

Sautéed or steamed broccoli drizzled with orange oil and lemon juice (make enough for leftovers)

Baby romaine w/1/2 pear, ¼ avocado, and pumpkin seeds

Snack

1 apple

Dinner

Sautéed kale with vegetables

               5-6 cups chopped kale, 4 shiitake mushrooms, chopped

               2 tbsp EVOO

               Herbs of choice

               Saute kale and shiitakes in olive oil with herbs of choice.  Let cool and add your favorite topping (pumpkin seeds, cheese, avocado, almond silvers, etc – IF TESTED), or mix in other vegetables

Water

Drink recommended water by dinner

# # # #

Hadn't seen a change today which isn't surprising - the body doesn't know that it's not going to get the usual caffeine, sugar and chips.  

Then I hit a point where I couldn't hold my eyes open and had to cut my on-line synagogue Rosh Hashanah observances a little short.  I took a short nap (about 30 minutes) with Deacon curled up under the blankets with me.  The nap helped and Lyn (the author) said naps are great, to take it easy for the 3 days of detoxing the body.

Finished a late lunch.  I over steamed the broccoli - boo.  It was edible but not the best.  Neither Jackie nor I are impressed with the carrot ginger soup and need to find a way to doctor it up since this will be a stable in our diets for quite a few days.  Was very glad to have the half of pear.

USMC Jacket Update

Finished the main part of the project.  All that's left is the fine detail work with thin black thread.

I added some patches to my sleeve - a subdued Southern battle flag, a patch that says: Infidel; a Gadson yellow flag, and a POW flag. 

I'm calling that my Freedom of Speech sleeve

USMC Jacket progress

coming along fairly well

Cat Tractors, blisters, heat and chicken wire

every inch of me hurts. Got the cat enclosure ready for paint and chicken wire.  I pushed my body too far. May not do the chicken wire tomorrow. 

Okay, no blasting my un-professional wood project. I haven't done a lot of things on this size with wood.  The bracing is making it pretty sturdy. We'll paint and then wrap the wire.  The door will then be attached and we'll cut out the doorway to match the door (of course). It's hot here and I may have lost 5lbs or so from the heat (LOL). I am drinking a lot of water and eating some chips for the salt content.

There was a lot of sawing (by hand) but you might notice some of the braces are jagged. I was using what I had at hand and I used door shims for the bracers, whacking off the narrow ends.

I REALLY overdid today. The palm of my hand may blister and I currently can't lift my glass of tea (unsweetened) very easily.

I know the cat enclosure looks all redneck but I think it'll work, besides, I am from the South and inherited Grandpa's inventive mind.  Not planning this thing beyond the measurements for the frame - things had to be caught on the fly as I built it.

Henry county is on alert because of a rabid raccoon and maybe a rabid fox. That's just north of us.  With the enclosure the cats can be outside (a couple at a time) and be safe but still get out in the sun and on the grass.  I'm going to put a piece of plywood over one end for shade too.

 you can see the frame where the door will go

I'll attach the door after we wrap the wire.

Cat "tractor"

Why a moveable chicken coop is called a chicken tractor I don't know yet.  I've started a cat tractor so we can let the cats out on the grass and out into the sun.

 lumber - 2x2x8 - (7)

The saw had a broken blade so I went with the classic hand saw. Fortunately pine isn't hard to saw through.  

Pre-drilled holes for the screws

 26" legs/corners (4)
cross beams (4)
door frame (4)
long sides (4) 8'
wood screws
wood nails
small pieces of wood as corner bracing (16)
chicken wire
hinges (2)
door handle (1)

sides - 8' - the side bars are placed back far enough on the long poles to screw the legs on

I didn't take wood shop in school so this will be a little primitive looking but hopefully it'll work

instead of using nails we're using wood screws.  That is NOT easy to do.  Four corners and four legs - ugh

first part of the frame - need the bottom frame and the bracing and then I'll do a support beam on one side and then the door.

To do the support/reinforce the frame I grabbed what was available. I didn't want to use a thick piece of wood so I went with door shims, breaking off the excess.  So far it works. :)  I used small wood nails.

Then I took a break and went to Home Depot for some curtain rod solutions for the living room and didn't beat the rain back. When I got home it was lightly raining - then it opened up. No more work on the frame today. 

Plants and more Plants

 Lemon balm

marigolds (annuals, I know - we have them every year ever since I was 5 yrs old), roses and the flag

mint (I need to hand weed)

 Does anyone know what this is?

 rosemary, roses, soap wort

 soapwort and roses

strawberries

Gardening stuff and Sukkot planning

Got up early and hit Big Lots shortly after they opened. Fortunately, we live in the South, there was only 1 or 2 shoppers that early on a Sunday morning. 

I now have a nice potting table (complete with faucet and small sink), the height is perfect and it's a good thick plastic. Yay! I've been wanting something to make into a potting table to help my back.

Also got two "zero gravity" lawn chair things. Might help the back and let me sit outside more. 

A real find - bamboo curtains - 48x72" for $3 apiece.  Jackie thought I was going insane, she hates the things inside the house and they can quickly become a pain in the tail.  Then I said two words: "Sukkah booth"

We're planning on replacing the wooden frame she built years ago when we first got here with PVC pipes and the curtains will be the sides of my walls. I'll pick up some bamboo fencing for the roof = no more drooping branches on my head, no more bugs dangling at eye level by day 4. 

Jacket Progress

Dogwoods, Strawberries and Fuzz Bot

the heat is starting here - high 80s this weekend.  I did too much in the heat the last couple of days so I'm taking it easy today.

I discovered while doing yard work day before that the dogwood tree we planted for Mom and Mama Marie is hanging in there with 4 new leaves.  Praying it continues to grow.  Also, the yard has a lot of wild strawberries.  Right now none of them are producing fruit yet, except one - there are two small berries right next to the dogwood.  We know how Mom loved strawberries and collected strawberry themed things for awhile.

I got a harness and a leash the other day and we got the harness on Fuzz Bot and I've had her outside twice today.  She loved it! She's not fond of the harness but is getting the idea that while it's on, she might get to go outside.  It's been a few months since she's been out.  Deacon sneaks out but we know he barely goes into the tree line.  We've kept the others in but plan on taking Fuzz Bot, Grady and Nyx out on a leash. They were raised as inside/out cats and not being out on the grass is a bit hard on them. Having them inside is much safer though.

Ugh, feel terrible today.

here's some pictures of Evie in her bed: She throws a FIT if the lid is down or someone else is in it. She has to be petted and talked to and loved before she settles down to sleep.

The golden eyes peering up into the picture is Oscar, Evie's brother. We have a large plastic tub I'm going to put drainage holes and have as a strawberry planter. It was holding bubble wrap and pipe insulators slotted to go down to the basement. Oscar decided that diving under all the stuff on top and hiding below was a great place to ambush others from, then he learned an old military saying "a cave is a grave" - once discovered, there's nowhere to go as Alyssa demonstrated to him. LOL