Marsia's Diary
- Thread starter Marsia
- Start date
Thanks everyone! We have bottlenose dolphins that strand-feed here, which is unusual for dolphins. This page has a nice video https://www.seabrookisland.com/news-and-events/news/strand-feeding-on-seabrook-island/ . I hadn't heard of pink river dolphins before, and looked them up. Wow, are they magical!
I ate the rest of the fried chicken with a lot more moderation, and my weight didn't go up thankfully, but that's enough of that!! I am going to get some wine and try having a half glass every once in a while instead of the silly ice cream which I know is keeping me at maintenance weight. I've been concentrating on my body and if it feels relaxed or tense, because my frozen shoulder got worse with the last bout of stress. Previously,I had gotten my shoulder mobile again maybe 6 months ago when it suddenly got awful, and it wasn't injured or anything. I was getting it more mobile this time, too, but it went back to being a lot less flexible again. I am thinking this is just due to stress, and that I really want to start feeling what my body is feeling all the time, not tuning it out. Then I can tell if I need to de-stress, and the body just gives you so many cues that I am ignoring because I am not tuned into it.
Yesterday we figured out how to repair the roof of the screen house which has a lot of ripped screening on it. We only have a little material to fix it with, and I have no idea how we would find more matching material - it looks like a plastic mesh that mimics metal screening. So it was a lot of measuring and seeing how to reuse the parts that we can salvage from the existing roof. We got a row of the old screening re-secured and were so sweaty and exhausted. So we went to our bookstore because K's last theater class was supposed to happen and was close to the bookstore. It had been canceled and they hadn't notified K, but going out to the bookstore was still a nice reward. It's still relatively cool, so I want to keep working on the screenhouse and get it done. I really want to plant my tomatoes in there and leave the doors open a crack - then the pollinators can get in, but the deer can't. I missed giving away some strawberries and some berry bushes came up in the yard near where their pots were, so I have to figure out where to put these where the deer can't get them but they can pollinate.
I ate the rest of the fried chicken with a lot more moderation, and my weight didn't go up thankfully, but that's enough of that!! I am going to get some wine and try having a half glass every once in a while instead of the silly ice cream which I know is keeping me at maintenance weight. I've been concentrating on my body and if it feels relaxed or tense, because my frozen shoulder got worse with the last bout of stress. Previously,I had gotten my shoulder mobile again maybe 6 months ago when it suddenly got awful, and it wasn't injured or anything. I was getting it more mobile this time, too, but it went back to being a lot less flexible again. I am thinking this is just due to stress, and that I really want to start feeling what my body is feeling all the time, not tuning it out. Then I can tell if I need to de-stress, and the body just gives you so many cues that I am ignoring because I am not tuned into it.
Yesterday we figured out how to repair the roof of the screen house which has a lot of ripped screening on it. We only have a little material to fix it with, and I have no idea how we would find more matching material - it looks like a plastic mesh that mimics metal screening. So it was a lot of measuring and seeing how to reuse the parts that we can salvage from the existing roof. We got a row of the old screening re-secured and were so sweaty and exhausted. So we went to our bookstore because K's last theater class was supposed to happen and was close to the bookstore. It had been canceled and they hadn't notified K, but going out to the bookstore was still a nice reward. It's still relatively cool, so I want to keep working on the screenhouse and get it done. I really want to plant my tomatoes in there and leave the doors open a crack - then the pollinators can get in, but the deer can't. I missed giving away some strawberries and some berry bushes came up in the yard near where their pots were, so I have to figure out where to put these where the deer can't get them but they can pollinate.
Cate
Long term member
That was a lovely article, M. I must go for a cruise around the south of Tasmania when there's a good chance of seeing whales or dolphins as I have never seen them "in the wild".
You are getting so handy with repairing & making do. They are such great skills.
That would have been disappointing for K, but well done turning it into a pleasant outing. You are such a good Mum.
You are getting so handy with repairing & making do. They are such great skills.
That would have been disappointing for K, but well done turning it into a pleasant outing. You are such a good Mum.
No, but it has double wide doors that I can put string or something across and keep the deer out of, and I have watched the bees find the doors - they are very smart bees here. Butterflies take a while, but they find their way out, too.
Thanks Liza! We just got one row attached again, but there are 3 more to go. We're happy it looks good again where we fixed it. Even though the last class was cancelled of K's theater class, the teacher invited us to go see the last play. So we'll get to go see a nice musical soon!
Glad you liked the article, Cate. I love seeing the dolphins. They are so playful and joyous. Thanks, we're getting ok at repairing things from helping a lot on our endless house remodel in CA. I was never handy, but I am getting more so, and K has a natural knack for fixing things, which is really nice. It was a nice coincidence that I wanted to study in the cafe while K went to her class, so it wasn't a wasted trip.
Today I planted some tomatoes, garlic, and a few little things in cloth grow bags in the screen house. I was only out there an hour and my arms are so sore from hauling bags of soil around and buckets of water. It'll be great when my arm heals and I can do normal amounts of physical labor again. It was satisfying having a little garden project to do. Can't wait until the rest of the roof is repaired so I can finish planting. I can't at the moment because the ladder needs to be able to get into the places where the permanent garden beds are in the screen house.
We made a yummy steak dinner because I found some on-sale steaks in the freezer bought back when meat was still affordable. We made coconut basmati rice and summer squash to go with it, and had a really good, filling dinner. I just read Llama's diary where she meditated today, and I forgot to, so will get to that now!
I often feel that big benefit of renting is being able to just call the landlords when stuff needs repairing, but yeah I imagine you would learn a lot of new skills just out of necessity when you own!
Before I had a screen on my window, I used to have wasps come into my place every spring. But I was always impressed at how they flew in on a mission, and flew right back out the window, seemingly knowing where they flew in from! Not like flies who just seem to get stuck trying to get out through the glass..
God, that dinner sounds so good. I really have to get back into cooking again. I've been subsisting on porridge and shop sandwiches. Not great.
Enjoy meditating! I think if you need to mediate, you have to meditate! Hahaha.
That sounds like such a nice set up having fresh meat from hunters! I skimped today and bought cheap chicken and was sorry. I am always so disappointed when meat's low quality. I would rather eat more tofu and put in a little good quality meat with it. I think about getting a house with a swimming pool and converting it into a fish pond with fish you can eat. I also think about getting a big enough property to have a little fishing pond dug. It's nice gardening again. I love watering my newly planted plants.
Thanks, Llama! I think you are right about hauling dirt. It took my arms another day to recover, but they are really happy now.
It's funny how much different even the bugs are here. The bees seem to have super-natural abilities to find their way out of enclosed spaces here. They notice if you show them the way out. Back in CA, they weren't anywhere near as good at this!
Thanks Em! I started making more things from scratch after going to the market and only being able to afford the raw ingredients for things. (The expensive market had baby lettuce for twice what it cost 2 years ago, and watermelon for about 3x the old cost.) It's nice. My freezer is full of home cooked meals now. I like to make a big batch and freeze some for later. The meditation has been so nice. I am amazed at how much calmer I can be even after a short 15 minute meditation!
Today was a nice food day. We found lots of wild blackberries on our walk and had a nice little feast, then ate the new tendrils of a vine that we learned about on a foraging walk some time ago, and that tastes like asparagus (which made me happy because I gave away all my asparagus right when I could have started harvesting it.). We went to the rather expensive market for milk and didn't find good veggies, so I harvested a volunteer cabbage from the garden and made a delicious salad. I'll make smoothies with kale for our fresh greens this week and get some kale planted for later for baby kale salads. I got the cheap chicken to taste good with enough spices and made coconut chicken soup with my coconut rice in it and shredded the spare chicken to make chicken pot pies.
We should finish school sometime this coming week and then can concentrate on getting the house ready to sell. I'm really excited to get everything done. I really hope we can move soon.
We were surprised about the blackberries already, too. It's been hot here on and off all spring, and these berry bushes creep along the ground along the marsh where it's sunny all the time, so I guess the berries are way earlier than elsewhere. There are lots of wild elderberry bushes everywhere here. I hope to go pick enough for a pie this year.
Today we went to the play that the organization that K volunteers for put on. It was a wonderful musical about a 70s singer/songwriter and was so good - almost Broadway level, with a live band in the basement and we got a backstage tour from the sound director. He was so gracious and wonderful. Then we went out to have a Cuban sandwich and iced coffees and walked around looking at all the lovely architecture in the city. We parked in free parking a long way from the theater, so got a lovely walk each way before and after the show. It was such good timing - we were just having a bunch of conversations on how K can get her songwriting back on track, as J was very involved with her music, and she associates it with him and it makes her not want to do it. So we are brainstorming on how to get back to the music just being for her. So we saw a whole play on a songwriter the very next day, which was so great!
Today we went to the play that the organization that K volunteers for put on. It was a wonderful musical about a 70s singer/songwriter and was so good - almost Broadway level, with a live band in the basement and we got a backstage tour from the sound director. He was so gracious and wonderful. Then we went out to have a Cuban sandwich and iced coffees and walked around looking at all the lovely architecture in the city. We parked in free parking a long way from the theater, so got a lovely walk each way before and after the show. It was such good timing - we were just having a bunch of conversations on how K can get her songwriting back on track, as J was very involved with her music, and she associates it with him and it makes her not want to do it. So we are brainstorming on how to get back to the music just being for her. So we saw a whole play on a songwriter the very next day, which was so great!
The show really perked both of us back up. We both love stories about people's creative processes. I found a really good songwriter who teaches on youtube and K listened to some of her lessons and took notes. She really liked her and got inspired again!
Thanks Liza, I think she will. She's so inspired by other creative people. If I just keep exposing her to supportive people's processes, I think she'll be ok. I am a berry lover, too!
We had trouble kickstarting school today, so went out and studied. I had a weird feeling about how fast my computer drained the battery and sent the school schedule and course write-ups to K via email just in case. When we got home, I discovered that my computer has something really wrong with it where it won't stay turned on and keeps trying to reboot, and I managed to get the most important stuff backed up and made an appointment to get it fixed. We have an old computer I can still work on, so all's good. But that was so lucky I could back up recent stuff before it became fully non-functional. I really hope this isn't something non-fixable though. I love my computer.
Otherwise, we had a good day. My tomato plants and summer squash look happy and we got a lot of English done. I ate pretty well, too.
Yay for happy vegetables This talk about songwriting reminds me that I went through a song-writing time, where songs seemed to come so naturally to me. I processed a lot of stuff that way...and then at some point, I just seemed to quit and was no longer inspired. I think I wrote only 2 songs after that. Now the whole process seems sort of mysterious to me...
Anyway I hope K can find her inspiration again!
I hope you can get your computer sorted...computer issues are never fun.
Anyway I hope K can find her inspiration again!
I hope you can get your computer sorted...computer issues are never fun.
