Winds of change

   Gosh how the summer has flown by!!  I have hardly had the opportunity to even consider organizing my thoughts here! 

   Well started the summer off by sending Sahib back to the trainer's farm so I could continue with my lessons and he could as well!  Had the chiropractor out for him and he also had some accupuncture done.  Now, I am/was quite the skeptic regarding non-western medicine, but this has REALLY helped him!  Amazing!  I realize this is the condensed version, but there is so much to blog about!!!

 

   I am continuing my dressage lessons and finally think I understand how posting feels while riding!  Never knew how to "feel" it.  I hope that my lightbulb moment  continues to be effective!  I am also continuing my workouts at the club, and now my heartrate hardly rises when I am walking @ 3.2 miles per hour on the treadmill!  This is progress!!!  I invited my friend to accompany me a couple of times, and boy did she feel she got a work out!  We both did!  Dripping in sweat!  That is a great feeling! LOL!

   

    My bees are doing well, had a slight mis-step when one of my hives lost the queen, I was afraid I was going to lose that hive!  But as nature intended, the hive created a new queen, and all is well.  They are getting another box this week.  My other hives already have their new boxes, I am hoping to have a honey harvest by the middle of August, just in time for a local celebration, called Garlicfest.  My mentors had a booth there last year, and we actually extracted honey right there in our booth!  Gave people a chance to see what goes into ( or out of ) the honey they purchase!  People were quite curious and eager to see the mystery surrounding honey unveiled.   Honey production, prior to my becoming a beekeeper always seemed like a secret society to me.   There was always some magic surrounding the whole thing, I mean, you saw bee hives out in the countryside, but never saw anyone tending them.  So, how DID that honey become so?  It was so revealing to me to find out!   I have had the opportunity to watch bees place pollen in the cells from there back legs positively packed with pollen.  I have watched the share nectar with their tongues, I have watched newly hatched bees pop out of their cells, I have watched the bees do their "nectar dance" which precisely tells the other bees where the nectar and pollen are located from the hive.  So many things I have learned!  So many more things to learn!  What a powerful gift this learning thing is!  How humbling to learn from a creature as small as a bee!

Back at the ranch... my 5 year old gelding Handsome got quite badly injured 3 weeks ago.  He managed to put his leg through the metal wall of the run in shed, and gave himself a degloving injury.The injury was to the bone, but luckily he didin't bag any big nerves, arteries or his tendon ( I have no idea how he managed not to do it like that but I am counting my blessing he didn't!)   Several hours and many hundreds of dollars later, the vet says, " complete stall rest".  Those who know me personally, know I have no barn, hence no stall... So I call my trainer and ask her if she has room for my injured fella for as long as he needs stall rest.  Without any hesitation on her part she allows us to haul him up there for his convolescence.  Now Handsome has not been off my farm that often, ( last year when I was injured, a good friend took him and 2 others off my hands), so he didn't really want to get into the trailer.   We tried all kinds of tricks, but without forcing him, since he already had enough stress in his life with the horrific injury to his fetlock.  Then I grabbed a handful of cracked corn, the big bugger stepped right into that trailer for his corn!

  The 1/2 hour trailer ride was uneventful, he is a good hauler once he got in.  Then the adventure of getting off the trailer at the trainer's farm.  Since I don't have a barn, Handsome had no idea what a building like that looked like.  should have seen his face when I asked him to follow me into that barn!  And the sound his feet made on cement!  He had no idea who in the heck was making those clopping sounds, but he didn't know if he liked it!  Then his pop, Sahib spoke up,  he was like a puppy rushing over to be comforted by the elder.HIs introduction to a stall was also an adventure, he took one look at that dark hole and you could see his brain thinking: "She wants me to go in THAT?!  Well, being the good sport he is, and trusting that I will not bring him to anything that will kill him ( I think he trusts me like that anyway, I have tried to be consistant with him), he entered the stall without much more ado.   Turns out he likes a stall,...  To my knowledge he hasn't had any meltdowns, and is being a good boy for my trainer. He is healing nicely after almost 4 weeks at the trainers, thanks to her due diligence and care.  I imagine it will be a while before he is healed enough to come home.  Here are some pictures:

This last picture is from last week, the 15th to be exact.  The wound is healing nicely ( thanks to Jean's ministrations and Wonder Dust!).  We were able to even get his hooves trimmed with him standing sound on that leg!  My only concern is for his fetlock and the possiblity he won't be sound on that leg, but for now we will take it day by day.

I DID IT!!!

   Just getting home from ... *drum roll please... my first 5K!!!!!!!!!  yep I did it!!  I am thrilled and pleased as punch for me!!  This blog began as part of my weight loss journey, and it continues in that vein with a few forays into the rest of my life.   I never thought I would possibly be interested in attending let alone competing in a running(walking) race!   I have a goal now, and that is to complete an 8K in 2 years, this should give me plenty of time to train and condition myself for that kind of running.  I watched the 8K competitors, and man, did they have an incredible pace going!  It was poetry in motion to watch them run.  I love to watch superb athletes perform.  And to have an idea of the conditioning and training that goes into any competition is simply astounding!
    Speaking of watching poetry in motion, I announced my second show of the season last Sunday.  It was our annual Arabian Community Show that my friend and I have put on for the past 4 years.  We had some really lovely horses and horse/rider teams competing !  I have to mention this one gal since I saw her last year, and am totally in awe of her.  Last year when she competed the whole summer, she was also enduring chemotherapy, AND riding a green horse!  This is the level of commitment this woman had for the Arabian breed!  What a role model!  I can only hope to aspire to have half the courage and perseverance this person has!  Had the opportunity to speak to her this year, and let her know how much I admired her  quite modestly this person acknowledged my admiration, another point for her!  Humility is a humbling trait to see in others, I hope to learn from them.
   At this same show, I always have  at least 60 people telling me what to do and how to do my job of announcing.  My son was helping me in the announcer's box, and says, " Mom, you should say this, like this!"  I look at him ( with a Mom look no doubt) and say" Matt, I already have 60 people telling me how to do my job!"  His reply?  "Well, make that 61!".   Hmmmmm, wonder where he gets his sarcastic sense of humor from!??   Minutes later, a voice floats up from the entry booth, ( remember, I am already kind of tense about the announcing thing and everyone telling me what to do and how to do it!)  and it says," That has got to be the WORST announcer I have ever heard!"  Let me tell you, I whipped around in my chair to blast them both barrels with what they can do with their opinion.  My secretary is openmouthed, wondering what the heck I am going to do.  and lo and behold, there stands my brother and sister in-law grinning from ear to ear~!  He only thinks he is funny...  Well, family CAN tell me I suck, doesn't bother me, especially when I know they really don't mean it~!  Their girls (my nieces) competed with their QH in the open classes, they did quite well, I was very proud of them for the fine horsewomen they are becoming!  They are also quite competitive on the WSCA show circuit in the game events.  It is fun to watch them compete.  My brother enjoyed living vicariously through them so much that he went out and purchased his own game horse, and now he is quite competitive also!  Poetry in motion...  Superb athletes... Bet I could beat him  in a running race though...

training

   Well, both my horse and I are in training, ( I as you know from this blog have been working on improving my physical well-being for several months now.)  Sahib has been at the trainers for a month, and I am signed up for my first 5k coming up here in June.   Yes, you read that correctly, I am running/walking ( mostly walking I bet...) a 5 k!!!!!!!   Never ever thought I would even be interested in participating in something like this!!! I don't care if I am the last person over the finish line either, this is about challenging myself to try something new~!!!!!  More in depth conversations with myself to come!

More changes

    I sold my Ortho-flex saddle, it was too small for my butt.  Found a girl who fits that 14 1/2" saddle just fine, and I gave her a great deal!  I was happy to do it too.  Found myself a new Ortho-flex, put an offer on it, ( half of what they were asking...) imagine my surprise when they accepted my offer!!!  Needless to say, called tha bank today for a "little loan"  I am excited to see if this saddle fits me better!   Love the Ortho-flex saddles though!!  My trainer/instructor has been letting my ride in her stitchdown... heavenly!!!   I am learning to post correctly, I am really enjoying my dressage lessons!!  Thanks to my instructor!!    Hopefully next year I will have the funds to also purchase a western Ortho-flex as well as the English equitation I just bought.  I am still not looking forward to getting back up on Sahib, but I know the time is nearing.  I am stronger in my core, and my balance and hopefully my balance recovery is faster!  I did ask the trainer to see if she could work with  Sahib and objects next to his side, ( when I fell last year, he got scared at seeing this object falling next to him and he ran.)   Her response?  LOL Well, she says to me, so you want me to prepare him in case you fall again??  it was funny at the time, my wording is no longer verbatim.
   Speaking of strengthening, I graduated from the 12 week weight management course put on by our hospital this evening!!!  Yay!!  I dropped 4% of my bmi!!!!    This is exciting for me!!! I am on the right track!  I knew my shape was changing,  just didn't know how much!  I have dropped at least 1 size in clothing, and that is also exciting!  I am not a clothes horse by any means, so I am not much for shopping, but I am going to celebrate by buying some new work out clothes!! 
   Our 12 week program celebrated tonight by having a potluck.  We all were to bring healthy recipes using the skills we learned over the past 12 weeks.  I brought homemade organic cracked wheat bread, and some of my honey!!  It was a definite hit!   Funny how in this heat, the yeast really rises quickly!!  I had that bread made from start to finish in 3 hours! I also have made some ( hopefully ) lasting friendships within this group of positive role models!!  As we got to know each other, we really had fun!  It was rather uncomfortable at our first meetings to try to do things together, but as time passed, our rapport strengthened.  Now, I am comfortable ribbing one of my new friends in the hall at work or just even saying hi out in the world...  ( in my opinion, the act of greeting people out on the street, even total strangers  is becoming a lost art...)  There were some delicious foods there tonight.  a few examples:  sandwiches with sliced turkey, apple, spinach and mustard,  whole wheat tortillas spread with natural peanut butter and sliced strawberries,   a wonderful potato salad with italian dressing instead of mayo, a vegetable salad with green beans, red onions, cherry tomatoes, Italian dressing and feta cheese, an orange salad with cottage cheese mandarin oranges, sugar free jello, and whipped cream, and this terrifc torte with angel food cake, layered with butterscotch pudding, whipped cream, and sliced almonds.Quite a feast!! I can't wait to try some of these foods here at home!
     My honey was a hit also, and several people from the group asked me to let them know when I will have more available this year!
   Some day I will get back to writing my funny tales, but until then I am suffering from boring writer syndrome, so all my faithful readers are reduced to reading my boring drivel.  But hey, at least I am not lying!!!
   

Beekeeping

           The bees are here!!   My second year as a bonifide beekeeper ( maybe last year shouldn't count since my mentors did all the heavy work for me!).  I was able to add one more hive this year,  my original intention was to add 2 hives but sadly, my bees didn't survive the winter.  It is very hard to keep bees in a hive alive through a Minnesota winter, esp like the one we had this past winter.  I wasn't even able to get to my hives until the end of February, and even then the usual 5 minute walk took me like 20 minutes because every step was a struggle, I was hip deep in snow, and so I had to pull each leg out entirely to make the next step, it was truly exhausting!  A great work out though...  I thought I was going to have to give up before I even got to the hives though, I was just whipped!  And quite disappointed to open that first hive and find a whole mess of dead bees in there.  Then finding the same thing in the second was quite devastating.  I knew I wasn't going to give up, but it did put quite a damper on any grand hive expansion I might have had in mind.
      Happily, my mentor was with me this time for homing my bees, and so I actually have pictures to help me tell my beekeeping story.  I don't have a camera, since mine took a swim in the Atlantic on our vacation to North Carolina in April of 2008.  Hence the reason my blog isn't filled with pictures... Someday, it will be but right now a new camera just isn't the priority.
    So, I have 3 2 lb packages of bees to place in their respective homes.   Last Monday, that is exactly what my mentor/friend and I did!

  Here is a picture story of putting bees into a hive:

   This is my beekeeping getup, I am wearing 2 pairs of pants to try and protect my legs from getting stung, my sting repellent beekeeping jacket with hat and veil attached ( we discovered wearing a baseball cap under the hat helps hold the hat and veil in place better).  Last, but not least are my trustly leather gloves,  I don't have the sleeve length ones because it is easier for me to pull these on and off.

  Now we are ready to place the bees into their home.First, we give them a good squirt with sugar water 1:1,  as you can see, I have removed 2 frames from the box that is going to be the bees' new home.

Removing the sugarwater can from the package of bees, you can see the hive tool in my left hand, this is the beekeepers "do it all tool", Anything  from removing burrcomb from the frames and top of the box, to loosening the frames from the boxes during the honey season ( bees LOVE to glue everything together with a substance called "propolis"), and there is a curved end that makes it look kind of like a crowbar for lifting items up, very handy tool.  You can also see the bees are at the bottom of the package, this is because I have already pounded the box onto the ground to drop the bees to the bottom of the package.

Shaking the bees into the box, you can see the bees tumbling into the hive.  This can be quite intimidating if you have a "hot" bunch of bees.   This is also the point where it is vitally important to make sure you have your suit completely sealed, those bees can crawl into any opening!

Most of the bees have been released into their hive, and I am going to try to shake a few more out before leaving the box in front of the hive,  waiting for the rest of the bees to leave the package.

This small cage contains the queen,  this is the most important bee in the whole package, without her,the hive will not survive.  She is packaged separately from the rest of the bees, first to prevent injury to her, and secondly to release her pheremones into the bees, so they recognize her as their queen, otherwise the potential is there for the bees to kill this queen.  We marked all the queens this year, it is much easier to find a marked queen  than not.  I helped mark some of the queens this year, but it is quite nerveracking, because the queens are so valuable, I like to leave the marking to my mentors. Our queens were marked with green this year.There they are!!!!  All happy and homey in their new hive!!  It will only take about a month for this hive to become a large hive of  60,000-100,000 bees.

For the first few weeks the bees will need to be fed, so I am placing a pollen pattie and a bag of sugar water on the hive, the frames are all put back into the hive, and I am ready to close up this hive.  If you count you can see nine frames on this box, this is called a "deep box", and it will only contain brood ( which is the young bees), and some food for the brood, the queen will continue to lay eggs in these frames until they are filled, then I will add a second box, as she fills this one to 80-90%.

That is an initial very incomplete lesson in beekeeping.  I am loving it!! This is such a fascinating hobby, and it is good for the planet~!  We are slowly but surely losing our natural pollinators, and I am just trying to do my part to be a responsible conservationist!  Hope you enjoyed the pictures~!  Thank you to my friend Harmony for taking them!

Tuning in and turning off

     Just got home from my weekly weight management meeting.  Tonight along with some heavy duty working out, the dietitians grilled some delicious food for us.  The funny thing about food is, it ALWAYS tastes better when someone else prepares it!  Even a peanut butter sandwich is so much better when someone else has made it for me!  What does that mean?? 
   Tonight, they grilled Tilapia with fresh herbs, parsnips and carrots seasoned with lemon zest, some Mrs. Dash, olive oil and after grilling topped with cilantro!  It was delish!!And the crowning touch was grilled fruit!  I never imagined mixing Mango with blueberries and grilling them!!  But, it was quite a taste sensation for me,  I though, love Mangos!  Blueberries, not so much... I am learning though to like them as well. 
   The workout was a killer and it was all done with items one has around the house, no need for a gym membership!  And I have to say, I was sweating with the best of them in that 25 minute workout!  I feel so good though, cuz I can keep up with the fittest people in our class!  I know my voyages to the club are paying off in spades!!!  I am still trying to work out at least 5 days a week, often I find my week days are too busy to fit in a visit to the club, so then my weekends have to take up the slack.  I had originally intended to work out all 7 days per week, but realistically even getting in 5 is sometimes a struggle.  My hardest days are when my son also has a lesson planned for that day.  For instance, Tues are really impossible since he has guitar lessons @ 4 pm, and I don't like to make more than one trip into town per day,  this means, I have his guitar with me at work, and then need to get him to guitar by 4  and since the lseeon is only 1/2 hour, there isn't time for me to get to the club and even get my cardio done before it is time to pick him up from guitar.  Sadly, this gym doesn't allow children under 16 to have a membership so  Matt can't even work out there while I am exercising...Next year when my contract is up, I am switching to the other gym in town that DOES allow children to exercise...  Until then, Tuesdays will continue to be a struggle I guess.
     Love my personal trainer though, what a great guy!  Totally motivating!  I have not found working out to be fun yet, but he has promised me I will.  Until then, it is a necessary evil...
    On a great note, my fitness level increasing has made a difference in my horsemanship ( I think),  and last week during my lesson, I got to work on posting!!  I was always told I suck at posting, so I never really did it much, learned to ride a sitting trot ( probably not well, but I did it...)  I was quite pleased to hear my instructor say, I could be posint with no stirrups in no time!!  I know, killer but I love hearing that I can do things I never thought my obese shape could possibly do!  This is a comforting thought!
       On another note, my bees arrive next weekend!!! Yay!!  I have added one more hive, and am keeping that in another location, first to spread the pollination around, second, because one of my neighbors has expressed an interest in keeping bees so hands on is the only good way to learn about beekeeping!  Last year, I had around 8 gallons of honey from my 2 hives, this year, the bees have a head start since they don't have to build the comb, they can instantly start gathering nectar and pollen to make honey with!!  How exciting!!  Oh yeah, I am definitely NOT allergic to bees, contrary to another blog statement...  I have had my Dr prescribe an epi pen though, just in case.   My mentors are very helpful and always willing to answer my questions.  We have been busy building bee boxes, and painting them!  This time my third hive is going to be white,  so I have a pink hive, a green hive and a white hive!  Next year I hope to  add a couple more hives again!  Keeping the bees alive is the challenge here in Minnesota, most of the beekeepers I have visited with lost at least half of their hives most of us lost all our bees, no wonder there is a definite shortage of pollinators in the world!  We have to figure out a way to keep these bees alive through a Minnesota winter!  My mentors are working on breeding a hardy queen that can withstand the rigors of a harsh winter here in MN.  I hope they are able to develop such a queen!  Anyway,  I am just tuning in to working out and turning off the junk food channel in my brain!  Celebrating and wanting to share my victories, and my joy!

Yeah Baby!

   Finally my health filled changes are starting to pay off!!!  I had my bloodwork drawn yesterday, and today I called for the results.  I am back within normal limits on my blood glucose levels!!!!!  I have been quite worried since my last blood draw (Jan 2009), showed me to be prediabetic, that scared me into starting this blog, since this is a place for me to formulate my plans, vent and rant a little, entertain ( some...), and just generally journal about my every NORMAL life.
   I am quite satisfied with my progress so far, as these are changes for life, this is an ongoing process,  it didn't take me overnight to get to the size I am now, I am aware that it won't happen overnight for me to lose this weight and be back to more normal sizes.  At my age, the difficulty has significantly increased for me to lose weight, sadly  I am really struggling with that at this time.  I AM down 10 lbs since I first started working out at the club,not an incredible number, but one I can live with, the best part of the whole fitness thing is my increased flexibility and increased core strength!   I am so excited about that!  I can do crunches into next week if I had to now!!  Thank heavens I don't, cuz I really hate crunches!  I can also now jog for at least a mile, but I have always liked slow jogging, I used to run quite often, but that was like 22 years ago. I have enjoyed going to the club more and more.  At first, it was quite intimidating for me, but I realized the people going there had no interest in pointing fingers and laughing at the far person trying to work out.  They are all there for the same reason I am, to increase or keep the current physical fitness level they are at or want to be at.
         The personal trainer who is working with me has showed me so many exercises that include my stability ball, that I should never ever get bored working on that thing!  I am so happy and grateful to this guy for encouraging me and showing me that I can do anything for 3 minutes!!!  Thank you Scott!!! He is also a certified athletic trainer, so he understands my limitations regarding the life changing injuries I sustained falling from Sahib last summer.  He has been careful to make a routine that doesn't tax the prosthesis in my right elbow, and he has showed me great exercises for the partially torn rotator cuff on my left side! in addition to those first noticed injuries,  last fall, my right knee swelled and got incredibly painful,  and in a few days ( as any orthopedic person will tell you), the quad strength in that leg was all but gone.  I couldn't even climb the steps into the house with that leg, bending it past 45 degree was next to impossible, so I really struggled getting in and out of the bath tub.  But I LOVE baths!  So, with the help of my son, I was able to get in and out of the tub.  the MRI showed a meniscal tear, and moderate degeneration of my medial and lateral cartilage.  I knew I was in serious trouble...  Had a cortizone injection done, and that took down the swelling but, didn't help the pain much, and certainly didn't make the weakness any better.  Joining the gym has taken away all the pain in my knee!!!  I was bracing myself for some more surgery this summer ( when I wouldn't have to do chores), thankfully, this is not going to be necessary!!!  Yay for me!!!!  My arms are both much stronger, and although I still have some tendonitis in my right arm ( probably always will, but it is tolerable), I can do things now!  I dismounted from my lesson horse to the ground last Saturday!!!!  I didn't know if I had the strength to support my body with that arm to a ground dismount, hurray I can!!   I am celebrating my return to fitness!!!  YES!!!  Abd as an added bonus, I get to watch some really beautifully muscular bodies around me work out!! I admit having a weakness for a chiseled muscular body,  anyone with sculpted muscles gets my admiration!!



     At the same time I am celebrating my fight back to health, my son and I are mourning the loss of Tommy our much loved and highly mischeivous cat.   Last Thursday was my son's birthday, so we decided to have a hookie day away from school and work.   We headed off to Como Zoo and the Science Museum with the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit.   Toured the zoo, and the Conservatory ( we got a taste of the tropics there!!!), and then headed over to the SM.  The Dead Sea Scrolls were quite interesting to me, but about a 20 minute jaunt for the preteen.  Of course, this meant that we left the SM at 4:30 PM, which also means we ended up in the worst part of prime time rush hour, on the most congested part of the Twin Cities!  I am no city driver, that is for sure, so this created a mountain of stress for me, but I thought I handled it well, with no profanity spilling from my lips.  My son takes great delight in correcting me here.  I apparently DID swear some, just not as much as usual when I am stressed.
    Anway, we got home and let the critters out for an outside trek around the yard.  Taz and Tommy, the 2 cats included.  They didn't want to come in  when we all came in from doing chores so I figured they would come in before bed.  At bedtime, I called and called for them and neither one came, they have done this before, so I figured they were out hunting, and would be back waiting at the door as usual in the morning.
   The next morning rolls around and Taz is waiting at the door, but no sign of Tommy,  I called and called for him but, he didn't come.  I didn't really think anything of it until I started out on the highway heading for work.  There was Tommy's body,  he had been hit by a car and killed.  All I could do was get him off the highway, onto the shoulder, I had no time to bury him and I certainly didn't want my son to see his beloved cat.  Arriving at work, I tearfully explained what had happened to Tommy, and asked if I might be able to leave early to go home and bury him.  Work was more than willing to accomodate my request, they know how much we care about the pets in our lives.    Then, I thought of some friends of mine, I would not usually consider asking for a favor like the one I was about to call and ask for, but this seemed like the time one could consider asking for this kind of help.  I called my friend Harmony, and asked if she would be willing to go over and bury Tommy for me.  Immediately, she told me she could certainly do that for me, because that is what friends do.  I asked that my son not see the body, and since I was unable to reach him via telephone ( I thought he was still sleeping, turns out, he too, was outside calling and calling for Tommy) that she break the news of Tommy's death to him.  I felt getting his body into the earth the soonest was the best measure in these circumstances, and I am so grateful to my friends for doing this for me!  Thank you friend!!


    So, this blog contains a goodbye...  Goodbye Tommy, our much loved silly cat!!  I  miss  having you sleep in front of the computer screen so I can't read what I type. I miss listening for your Siamese yowl when you have determined there is something you need ( like being let out of a closed room). I know we will miss having our tree tipped several times next Christmas time.  Tommy, we will miss you playing in the bathtub in the middle of the night.  We miss watching your antics as you play with Taz or stage a mock attack on Bailey the doxie.  Taz misses you and looks for you daily and nightly.  I miss you sleeping by my head at night, I wake up and reach for your silky fur listening for you thundering purr and then realize, you aren't there... Grief is so hard, it hurts so much... if I had it to do over, I would have kept you safely inside, and never allowed you to experience the delight of the outdoors.  I know you are in a much better place now, but that doesn't make the hurt of missing you any less.  Someday, we will see you again, pretty Tommy but until then know that we will always love you in our hearts and will miss you always.