Three in a Row

Another glorious Winters day in Queensland. A very mild maximum of 24°C with a pleasant breeze, clear skies, birds singing and free time to kill.

While Adoring Husband was getting organised for golf and BGWLBH left for the bay, I made myself presentable and took Ruth to introduce her to my art girls at the Lions Park.

That’s three days in a row!

I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying Ruth. She makes exercise much more pleasant than my old girl. Even though I don’t have to put too much effort into pedalling, my legs are still aching from riding 3 days in a row. It shows how I haven’t used these muscles in a while.

There were only three of us in attendance this morning, but The Author and The Stylish One were super impressed with Ruth and made all the right noises when I pulled up to join them.

We all chatted for about 90 minutes before saying our goodbyes and I rode along the river to the supermarket, where I made some small purchases, including a lactose free latte which I enjoyed very much.

I arrived home to an empty house and plonked myself in front of the TV to catch up on Australian Task Master. I enjoyed 2.5 solo hours before BGWLBH arrived home, followed closely by AH who’d had a successful day of golf.

Dinner was baked jacket potatoes and sour cream, accompanied by a tuna salad (tinned tuna, sugarloaf cabbage, parsley, diced cucumber, diced tomato, diced avocado, diced red apple, shallots, toasted pine nuts, crumbled goats cheese, salt pepper and lemon juice).

An hour of trivia and all in bed before 8am.

I watched Manly defeat Souths in the football - good for my tipping.

Now I’m watching The Memorial Golf Tournament in Ohio USA live.

All of the favourites are out of the French Open tennis and I believe that none of the finalists have EVER won a grand slam tennis tournament, so that’s pretty exciting.

I will now fall asleep to the sound of club on dimpled ball!

Nite all.

Day Tripper

THINGS THAT QUIETLY HEAL YOUR BODY

• Bone broth

• Turmeric

• Blueberries

• Kefir

• Pumpkin seeds

• Sardines

• Green tea

• Garlic

• Sauerkraut

• Tart cherries

• Ginger

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Dark leafy greens

• Walnuts

• Mushrooms

• Dandelion tea

• Sea moss

• Walking outdoors

• Sunlight

• Deep sleep

Today was a late start for me.

I slept a solid 8 hours. Midnight til 8am but I didn’t rise until 10am.

30 minutes playing with Harley, hung out my washing, made myself presentable and took Ruth out for her second outing.

I pedalled through a couple of the new estates, then rode along the river bank, sat down to admire the view, visited The Motivator to return her special glass jar and took the long way home. 

I was gone for 2.5 hours!

I made myself a late lunch and sat down to watch my quiz shows.

Harley got another play before I prepared dinner. Beef goulash from the freezer served with a garden salad, followed by home made apple strudel and custard for dessert.

An hour of trivia and all in bed by 7.30pm.

I did a stocktake of all the natural products and supplements that I have beside my bed, in the pantry and in the fridge. All 38 of them!

Here are just a few …

I do not take all 38 every day. Some I take only when I feel that I need them. Some are for specific ailments. Some are preventatives - like if I inadvertently come into contact with a contagious sick person.

I am 66yrs old and take no medications. I have gut issues which I am attempting to fix myself.

I take probiotics every 2nd day.

I rub magnesium oil infused with frankincense on my torso every night.

I take a couple of good mouthfuls of home made colloidal silver three times a week.

I dip my wet pinky finger into the basin salt every day and suck the salt off that finger.

I sit in direct sunshine for 20 minutes every morning baring as much skin as possible.

I prefer bare feet for grounding whenever possible.

I drink about 1 litre of specially filtered water every day.

I drink soursop tea with half a teaspoon of raw honey every day.

I rarely eat more than one meal a day because I’m just not hungry.

I drink 3 x 600ml bottles of Wimmers Double Sarsaparilla every week.

I use home made chicken bone broth in all of my cooking, I use it as a base for my soup and I drink it as is, so I have it ‘in some form’ pretty much daily.

I use natural, organic make up, deodorant, shampoo/conditioner, soaps, toothpaste and all cleaning products are non toxic - clothes washing, dishwashing, floor cleaner, bathroom cleaner, window cleaner etc. 

The reason for ‘nontoxic’ is because when Adoring Husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, I was told one of THE most important things I could do for him was to remove all chemicals from the house because the brain is highly susceptible to them.

I rebound for 5-10 minutes almost every day.

I aim for 7-8 hours of solid sleep every night, but sometimes my body just won’t co-operate!

I meditate every day. Sometimes 5 minutes. Sometimes 30 minutes.

I have a gratitude journal that I write in every day and I have MANY other journals that I write in regularly. They are stored IN and ON my book case bedhead.

Harley is my ‘pets as therapy’ dog and is the perfect medicine for all ailments!

With all of that, my food choices are not always as healthful as they once were and I could definitely do better in that department.

I also have a genetic gum disease that I struggle with. It causes loose teeth. My mother had the same disease and lost all of her teeth by the age of 16 and had false teeth for the remainder of her life, so I’ve done well to reach this age with more than half of my teeth still intact.

That’s all I can think of for now.

I certainly haven’t included enough movement in my routine for a few years now, so having Ruth will help me out there. She may be electric powered, but she’s ’pedal assist’ so I HAVE TO pedal to make her work. Movement is required!

I don’t want to be a frail old lady. I want to feel strong, fit and agile, so I have some work to do! I also don’t want it to feel like a tiresome chore to reach that goal, so I’m looking for joyful ways to improve my diet and lifestyle.

So, that’s me!

Nite all.

Maiden Outing

I could NOT sleep last night (Monday). My body and mind felt full of energy and wide awake until 5am and my alarm was set for 6am!

When the alarm sounded, there was no way I was capable of moving out of my bed, so I texted the three people who needed to know and cancelled my plans for the day.

The plan was to drive into the Bay with BGWLBH, who was working in the morning, and have her drop me off at The Gypsy’s unit so that I could do whatever needed to be done for her.

Luckily, The Gypsy was having other visitors today, so my presence wasn’t absolutely necessary.

I still only slept until 9am.

I showered, played with Harley, did a load of washing and took my trike for her maiden outing. I’ve decided to name her Ruth, after my X-Grandmother-in-law. 

Ruth is solid, powerful and gives me a strong sense of security and I love her! I took her up the couple of hills that we have in town, along the river path, to the shops and then along my usual path home. I got her up to 20.3kph on the flat road.

I hope to ride her often.

When I arrived home, I cooked up a decent feed of poached eggs, bacon and toast, parked my butt on the couch and watched a fluffy Netflix movie before crashing in bed for a 90 minute nap.

Adoring Husband cooked some snags on the barbecue and I made buttered boiled potatoes, roasted pumpkin/spinach/haloumi/cranberry/bacon/pinenut salad and a wombok salad for dinner.

We played trivia for an hour and everyone except me was in bed by 8.30pm.

It’s now about to hit midnight!

Nite all.

A Day Out

First things first … I found this for Adoring Husband … I hope he takes note.

10 Things You Can Do TODAY to Build Neuroplasticity with Parkinson's

(No gym required. No excuses accepted. Just you and your brilliant, adaptable brain.)

1.  Take a 10-15 minute walk after dinner. Your digestion will thank you. Your sleep will thank you. Your brain will throw a party.

2.  Put together a puzzle. 500, 750 or 1,000 pieces. Every piece you place is a conversation between your fingers and your brain. Keep talking.

3.  Smile big at 10 people today. Yes, really. Facial masking is real and so is the antidote. Big smiles, on purpose, all day long. You might just make someone's entire day in the process.

4.  Read out loud for 10 minutes. Your voice is a muscle. Parkinson's wants to make it smaller and quieter. Refuse. Read loudly, clearly, and with all the drama you can muster.

5.  Dance to 3 songs. Full commitment. Rhythm bypasses damaged pathways in the Parkinson's brain in ways that nothing else can. Pick three songs that make you feel alive and move like nobody's watching. Because neuroplasticity.

6.  Stand on one foot while brushing your teeth. Hold the counter if you need to. The wobble is the point. Two minutes of balance training built into something you already do every single day.

7.  Write by hand for 10 minutes. A letter, a journal entry, a grocery list, a love note to yourself. Fine motor control, concentration, and bilateral coordination all firing at once. Your brain loves this.

8.  Sing loud in the shower. Every single day. The acoustics are on your side. Nobody can hear you. Full voice, full volume, full joy. Your brain responds to the effort. Your mood responds to the joy. Both matter enormously in Parkinson's.

9.  Go barefoot or sockless on grass, sand, or a textured mat for 5 minutes. Thousands of nerve endings in your feet are waiting to send signals straight to your brain. Wake them up. (And yes, open toe pressure socks count too.)

10.  Juggle a tennis ball. One ball, two hands, five minutes. Hand eye coordination, concentration, bilateral movement, and just enough frustration to keep your brain fully engaged. Drop it. Pick it up. Try again. That's neuroplasticity in action.

Your brain is not done adapting. It is waiting for you to give it a reason.

Start with one. Just one. Today. Share your ideas.

Just 10 More Steps. Every single day. 🤍

#Parkinsons #Neuroplasticity #MovementIsMedicine #PWRMoves #Just10MoreSteps

Today was a date day for AH and I. Not in a romantic way, but in a social, friendship connection way.

Friends who we met when we first arrived in our little town 18 yrs ago, are moving to the Sunshine Coast in two weeks, so we enjoyed a farewell luncheon with them today, at The Dock tapas bar and restaurant at the marina.

On the way there, I did a little shopping for The Gypsy, who is home bound for the next five weeks and we took it to her after our lunch.

We arrived at The Dock fifteen minutes early, so we ordered drinks. I had a ‘Sand in ya Pants’ mocktail which was orange juice, lime juice, mint and ginger beer. Delicious. AH ordered his favourite zero beer.

The Sex Worker and her Pimp (joke nicknames given many years ago) arrived right on midday and also ordered drinks. One wine and one coke.

The restaurant is dog friendly and there were a heap of dogs there including 3 miniature poodles all in prams.

A pleasant surprise was seeing an old photography friend there and we’ve promised to catch up properly in September when she is next in town dog sitting.

We ordered our lunch of crab stuffed mushrooms, rump, and pumpkin, beetroot, feta and rocket salad for our friends. I ordered the same mushrooms with rough cut potatoes and tomato relish. AH ordered the same rump with the same rough cut potatoes.

The food was delicious, the service efficient and friendly, the atmosphere energised and comfortable, the scenery delightful, the price reasonable and the company was perfect. Of course, we ordered dessert. Bailey’s panna cotta with raspberry coulis and whipped cream.

Our friends had Crème Brûlée and Waffles and ice cream (sorry no pic of the waffles)

After two hours, we bid our fond farewells and took The Gypsy’s shopping to her and did a welfare check - she is doing remarkably well, all things considered, and is healing well from her surgery AND her fall two days ago.

I swapped her ice pack for a fresh one, filled her water bottle, washed a couple of dishes and put her shopping away and after about 20 minutes left her in peace. She is expecting a few visitors over the next couple of days, so she will be well taken care of.

AH and I were home by 3.30pm and after a quick catch up with BGWLBH and Harley, I made Sunday spaghetti for her and AH for dinner. Yes! AH had some bread when we arrived home, then spaghetti bolognese and then two MORE slices of bread. I swear his stomach is a bottomless pit!

We watched the football for the remainder of the evening and I’m now in bed watching the French Open tennis.

Feeling quite weary actually.

Nite all.

An Intense Time

On Thursday, I went to work with BGWLBH and she dropped me off at The Gypsy’s home at the end of her shift.

The Gypsy had been picked up from hospital at 11am and taken home, and I arrived at her place just after midday.

My plan was to stay with The Gypsy for her first night at home after hip surgery, but I packed for two nights, just in case.

She was doing really well, with good movement, manageable pain and was doing all the right things with medication and her set exercises to maximise healing and movement, so I confidently left her home at 1pm the next day.

Adoring Husband took me immediately to inspect an electric trike at a bike shop. He had seen it when he bought some new rubber handles for his bike and because my trike is looking the worst for wear with a bit of rust and faded paint AND at my age, I’m struggling with pedalling, especially on windy days, he thought it would be a good purchase.

So I took it for a test drive and we checked out the specs and bells and whistles before deciding to purchase it.

It folds in half and we hoped that it would fit in the back of the Outlander, but it was about 10mm too tall to slide in the back. It turns out that the shop owner’s Dad lives directly across the road from us, so he is going to deliver it on Monday, free of charge!

While we were attempting to put the trike into the car, I received a text from The Gypsy asking me to return because she’d had a fall! So we rushed back to her place.

She had fainted, cut her chin and hit her cheek bone and forehead. There was a lot of blood on the floor in the bedroom where she fell, but she is taking blood thinners, so the bleeding was worse than normal. While it wasn’t gushing or dripping with blood, it took all day for the wound to stop seeping blood.

We discussed calling an ambulance to have her checked over and she asked if we could just wait and monitor her condition before making that decision, so I agreed to that. She later texted her medical support person from the hospital and got advice from him, so she was able to stay at home.

I decided to stay another night and when I left this morning, she had everything she needed, like food, cup of tea, water, medications, tissues, phone etc., at her fingertips so that she would only need to get up for the toilet and some light movement exercises.

I have checked in every two hours by text and she is safe and well.

Harley was happy to see me and we have played a couple of times. I have spent the afternoon watching the footy with AH and luckily it was ‘fend for yourself’ night for dinner, so I could just relax for the day.

Now it’s almost 10pm and while the fold out cot that I slept in at her place was surprisingly comfortable, I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.

Nite all.