A crown! and counting breaths

Need to write this before I forget! Last Thursday I had an appointment to get an old crown removed.  Decay was evident below the metal of the crown in the xrays.  I was quite anxious. But it was NO BIG DEAL.  Note to self, don't bother getting anxious about this kind of stuff.  Afterwards I went over to Raley's and bought myself a nice bouquet.

On the weekend we went to a  party given by a colleague.  His wife is a very interesting person.  To bad we don't live closer, as I would love to have her for a friend.  She told me she has started walking and she counts her steps, to turn her walk into a walking meditation.  She walks between 5,000 and 6,000 steps a day.  I was flabbergasted that she could concentrate enough to count up to 6,000. 

I decided to try this on my bike ride.  I quickly decided that counting my pedals was a non starter, but I did decide I could count my breaths. For beginning, I decided to just count my breaths on the ride up the hill, not the whole trip.  I start at the gate at the bottom of the hill.  I bellow breath, otherwise known as back breathing.  First time up I counted 560 breaths.  Second time 590, but I was ticked about something and kept getting distracted.  Third time (today) I counted 550 breaths.  Ted also counted his breaths today and this is the really interesting part- he counted 415 breaths.  So even though my time up the hill is faster, and Ted is 6ft 5 compared to my 5 ft 4, and about 80 pounds heavier, he had over 100 fewer breaths.  I don't know enough physiology to totally get this.

Catch up post

It seems like so long since I wrote in this blog and that so much has happened that catching up is impossible, but I see that my last post was Nov 3 and this is only the 28th, so it hasn't even been a month. Wow.

At the end of October we went curling at the local skating rink. We had a lot of fun. Not something to do on ar regular basis I'm afraid, my knee hasn't been the same since.

Squinting at the skip

We also have been doing a ton of fieldwork, went to to three different Frances performances in Sacramento, and had a computer fail. And the chain on my bike fail.
Slowly putting things back in order now.

Gulf Fritillary and Warm Weather

I was enchanted to see this Gulf Fritillary on my zinnias when I got back from Wisconsin!  I'd never seen one before, but I recognized it right away as being in Common Butterflies of California by Bob Stewart.  I think one of my neighbors has a passion flower vine.  We had a nice week of warm (80F) weather for the week after we got back.  It was just like summer!

Oct trip to Wisconsin

Arch 0, Ambulence 1

We arrived Wednesday in time for dinner, since Mom and Dad ordered Chinese in Minoqua and we picked it up on our way through. Early Thursday we were awakened by Dad on the phone to 911. Mother couldn't catch her breath. Mom was hospitalized until Sunday afternoon, when she was finally able to bust out. Needless to say I spent a lot of time at the hospital, including Saturday night in a nice comfy hospital bed they brought in for me.

Plenty of seasonal chores

Ted did most of the raking by himself the first day while I was at the hospital, but I was able to contribute on a couple of the other days. Eric arrived Saturday evening, stopping off at the hospital on his way through while I was there. Ted brought me dinner and he and I ate with Grandma.

Liz and Grand-dad enjoy the view

The lake was beautiful as always, and I really enjoyed getting up each morning and seeing what it was up to. 

The tamaracks and poplars were at peak color.

Ted and I got a couple of walks in on the local nature trails even with all the hospital time.

Eric finds the walleyes.

And I am happy to say that Eric got in some fishing too.  Unfortunately Grand-dad had a return of the amiodarone lung poisoning while Grandma was hospitalized, finally going to the emergency room at 3.30 in the morning on Wednesday (the day we left).  Ted and I stopped in at the hospital on our way back to Minneapolis. Grand-dad was released Thursday or Friday.
The parents, with Eric's help, moved back to P.E. on Oct 30.  Eric will stay till Nov 4, and Sue and Al plan to come for the weekend.

Whitecrowns Arrive! And Trip to SoCal

Whitecrowns arrive Oct 7 2011, a week later than last year.
We've been down to SoCal for the big wedding!
Drove down w F on Friday. She flew back up on Sunday evening and we drove home on Monday.
The wedding was very fun and we sincerely wish the bride and groom happy.

Stephanie and Thomas

Pyramid Lake from visitor center

Halloween fun in the US Forest Service display

Stopped at the Pyramid Lake visitor center on the way home. They have a very nice visitor center. Found out this morning when I stepped on the scale that I managed to gain five pounds in 3 days! According to the scale in the visitor center it could have been mostly water, but maybe I just ate too many candy corns and sat around way too much!  Time to get back on the bike.

My water weight

The times they are a changing...

...and I don't like it.  We've past the autumnal equinox now, and the days are getting shorter.  Where are my little white crown sparrow buddies? The orb spinners seem to have already disappeared.

At this time of year I wonder how summer can disappear so quickly. Last weekend I made a big batch of quince sauce and I plan to make the last batch today.  The quince harvest this year is lighter than last year. But my green beans are still producing! Variety Improved Tendergreen- these have been the best green beans yet.

Reflections

Sept 7 2011

Sept 7 2011

Sept 7 2011

July 8 2011

July 8 2011

It has been such a lovely summer.  We've been biking in the morning all summer, and there have only been these two mornings when the wind didn't blow and the lake was like glass.