Joining in with Skywatch Friday this week. Thank you for stopping by!
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Snowy Sky and Snowy Scenes
Joining in with Skywatch Friday this week. Thank you for stopping by!
Sunday, January 14, 2024
What I'm Doing During the Cold
Hi friends,
As I mentioned in my last post, it's been very cold where I live. Actually it seems to be very cold everywhere but we aren't used to these low temperatures in my city and I can't get it warm enough inside.
So during the cold days of winter, I usually don't do a lot besides sit under warm blankets with a hot drink and read.
I just completed Barbra Streisand's very long autobiography, My Name is Barbra. It's a very detailed account of her life in theatres, movies and in song. She tells us everything we might want to know. She intersperses these details with snippets about her family and personal life, her activism and her love relationships and marriages.
In an earlier post I mentioned that my theme word for 2024 is "Create". I hope to make or bring new things into existence more frequently this year. It can mean new dishes in cooking but more likely in my case, it will mean new things I've sewed or crafted. I've been giving some thought to a few projects I'd like to make and have collected a few supplies. Some of what I hope to create is new to me so I'm just learning what I'll need. It seems I'm not quite ready to get started on one of my projects because I need more materials. It's okay because it's too cold for me to sit and make things right at this moment. I have time to collect what I need. Here are some of the materials I've been collecting.
I've already sewn these strips of fabric together. |
I bought the fabric strips (bubble bees, daisies and solid yellow fabric) at the dollar store just before Christmas and sewed them together before the new year. There isn't a lot of fabric but I have an idea for what I'll make with it. The Star Wars fabric will likely be for a cushion or two for my niece. I'm always looking for items for here with a theme I know she will enjoy. The items in the top photo are for surprise projects which I'll unveil along the way. I've got lots more I want to make but these are some of the projects I have in the top of my mind.
Speaking of cooking, I did in fact make one new to me dish during these cold days. It's my version of a a rice noodle and prawn soup with broccoli. It was quite good and warming but the noodles took forever to cook and soften. Next time I'll probably use a different brand of rice noodles.
My "baby" brother has been away in Thailand and Japan. I'm looking forward to him returning tomorrow. When my loved ones travel, it's hard for me to relax until they are safely home even though I do pray for them. On this journey there was the large earthquake off the west coast of northern Japan just before my brother was expected to arrive there. Of course I was praying a lot and all has gone well with his journey this far. He seems to really be enjoying his time in Tokyo despite the fact it is winter there too.
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
It's Cold & Dark
Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2024 will be a great year for you wherever you may live.
Since it still gets dark so early it's lovely to see the lights at night. It's been cold for a few days and is expected to get much colder Thursday night (minus 17 Celsius then warming a bit) for a few days. I took the opportunity to go out today and run errands in case I don't want to go out later.
How is the weather where you are?
Monday, January 8, 2024
Food & Health ~ Tuesday 4
Food and Health
Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4.
How we eat, drink and exercise are important to our health. Let's talk about it.
1. Do you believe you eat a healthy diet and what makes it healthy?
I try very hard to eat a healthy and varied diet but I'm not very disciplined about doing it every single day and some days and weeks are better than others. I don't actually enjoy eating a lot of protein so that is probably a weakness in my diet. I do try to get a variety of proteins (meats, fish, chicken, dairy, eggs, nuts, beans and legumes). When I don't eat enough protein it means I eat too many carbs and that is another weak spot in my diet. I've been working on a varied diet now for many years and health issues, especially chronic fatigue make it difficult for me to be as consistent as I'd like to be. I've purchased an Instant Pot, and more recently an air fryer/oven combo to help me make healthier meals when I haven't had time or energy to do meal planning and preparation.
2. What sort of drinks do you have with meals or between meals. Does it include enough water?
I always drink water between meals. Early in the day I have coffee and late at night I drink decaf tea. Sometimes I have watered down juice or occasionally a soda, carbonated water or flavoured carbonated water (San Pellegrino or something like it). I always check the carbohydrate count and try to avoid a higher carb drink on days when I've had a higher carb load.
3. Do you enjoy snacks throughout the day and what kind do you enjoy?
I do enjoy snacks. I love all kinds. Sometimes fruits like orange, apple, berries and less often watermelon, pineapple, mango or papaya. I also like cakes or pastries but my real weakness is ice cream. On a lesser occasion, I might have chips and chocolate bars though this only happens when I haven't been eating a varied diet and making sure I get adequate food intake during the day. I usually only have one meal a day and it isn't enough to get adequate nutrition. From time to time, I try to substitute dark chocolate for the chips and chocolate bars but I find the taste very strong. These days I wear a continuous glucose monitor and since I've been using it it has really helped me to make better eating decisions. If my blood glucose level is too high, I know I have to postpone eating something with higher carb content. The monitor is a wonderful tool and since I've been using it, my blood glucose levels are improving.
4. How do you make sure you get enough vitamins and minerals in your diet?
I'm never sure if I'm getting enough vitamins and minerals but chances are I am not. I don't think most people do from food alone. I aim for a large variety of vegetables and also a large variety of fruits so I can get as many vitamins and minerals as naturally as possible. I tend to eat more berries because they have a lower glycemic index than most other fruits. From time to time, I take multi-vitamins or specific individual supplements like Vit. C, A, B Complex,D3, CoQ-10 etc.
Sunday, January 7, 2024
A Slow Start
I found a series on Netflix called Wild Wild Country which was very interesting. It's about the Rajneeshpuram, a international religious community headed by it's guru, Rajneesh from India who later changed his name to Osho. I recommend it if you are at all curious. The other film I watched was a documentary on Warren Buffet called Becoming Warren Buffet. I really enjoyed learning more about him and his family.
Tuesday, January 2, 2024
New Word of the Year 2024
Happy New Year once again everyone. 🎉🎉🎉. The beginning of 2024 saw me spend a day in the Emergency Room. I'd been very sick since Friday and my DH and I wanted to be sure I was going to be okay. All the tests turned out fine, for which I'm grateful but I will have to take it easy for several days. I'm at home recovering.
This incident put me back from the plans I had to get a good start on the New Year but health is the most important thing, isn't it? I realize as I get older that each and every day is a gift. I know some of you have been sick as well and I hope and pray that you are now feeling much better.
I'd been mulling over a theme word for 2024 and I've settled on "Create". It's broad enough that I will have the flexibility to do a lot of things I'd like to do in the coming year.
Last year, I chose the word "Start". It was a perfect word. I started (and completed) so many things that were on my list so I'm very happy about that. Since creating usually also involves joy in the creating, I'm not pressuring myself to reach particular objectives. I'm looking forward to 2024 being a creative and joyful year. Much love to you all. ❤️🎉💯
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Good Morning Tuesday - Tuesday 4
It's time for T oni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 ... just four questions each week for you to ponder and share your thoughts, likes and dislik...
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After some glorious sunny days, it started to rain again as is the norm in our Winter on the West Coast of Canada. It rained qui...
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This is a lovely gospel song sung in Swahili and has special meaning for me. It is special because on my first trip to Kenya a gr...
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"Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world." -- GEORGE BERNARD SHAW Cli...