WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JUNE 2014

Good morning beautiful ladies:flowerforyou:

Katla Love the pic of your granddaughter !!!

Meg YUM!!!! Wow, you saved a lot on gas!!!

Rori Ouch...hope you`re feeling better soon:flowerforyou: !

Eileen I know about water leaks, I`ve had 3 in my basement over the years ! Hopefully I have everything repaired now! Hope things will go smoothly for you:flowerforyou: !

Cheryl You look lovely and happy on your horse:bigsmile: !!!

Heather I`ll even bring flowers:flowerforyou: along with the wine and smelly cheese:bigsmile: ! Your travels sound amazing!

I have no men in my house this morning:bigsmile: !!!! The painters wanted to work today but I told them NO, I have to be at a conference today, plus I just need some time for myself ! I told a friend last night, my house is smelling icky, must be from all the men being in here:laugh: ! Tomorrow I will have the windows open and the fans going to air it out!

Welcome to everyone new:flowerforyou: ! This is a great group of supportive women !!!

Have a wonderful Saturday!!! Drink your water:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: and log your food!!!

Hugs,
DeeDee in gorgeous NC:glasses:

Morning all,

Just finishing up my Greek yogurt, date and banana smoothie before heading out for a walk to get the day started. The little bit of pure vanilla my friend brought me from Mexico makes the smoothie PERFECT!

Meg, we're going to Florida, to the area I used to live. My first time back in 9 years, since before Aaron was born. Going to see some friends, stay in a condo on Clearwater Beach, day trip to Disney, etc.

Oops, just found a bunch of dates in the bottom of the smoothie that didn't grind up. Boy they're stubborn.

Cynthia, Zumba is actually Latin dance. Most instructors mix in some of their own style and I've done a few African dance songs over the years but it's primarily Hip Hop, Salsa, Samba, Merengue, Mambo, etc.

Got to fly. Hope everyone has a great day!!

xo- Gloria in SUNNY (and cool) Metro Detroit

Gloria: yep, I know (that's why I said "too").
Hope you're doing OK and getting some rest!

Cynthia :flowerforyou:

Sorry read your comment too quickly. Now that I slowed it down I see there are two separate statements. I HAVE done a few African dance songs in Zumba over the year however :ohwell: :laugh: :frown: :flowerforyou:

Happy weekend!

Cheryl, striking photos, fantastic horse, fabulous you. I did quite bit of riding at one point in time. A friend rode often in Ride & Tie events, I would help her train, we'd go off trotting on trails for 10 miles without a break, which I never did get in shape for. I recall being quite sore, but loved the riding just the same. I notice I hold my dog's leashes just like reins :laugh:

Rori, thanks, consider yourself added to the chorus :flowerforyou:

Welcome Margaret I hear you loud and clear about what happens when we lose a love. Happened to me, too, I lost my first husband to suicide. It took me 3 years to get myself somewhat straightened out mentally, then I continued to eat and drink like mad for several more years. I've had a great time with MFP, good friends, good fun, and learning about good foods. I do hope you'll stay with us. We have another wonderful Margaret here, too.

Meg, oh my gosh, mushy home-frozen vegetables, blech! I've had all too many trial and errors. :grumble: Certain things just do not freeze well unless you have a commercial flash freezer which I do not. I do use a FoodSaver for vacuum sealing. Things that I freeze with success by blanching, then immersing in ice water (for twice the blanching time) include kale, spinach, sliced parsnips, sliced carrots and shelled peas. Things I freeze raw include sliced bell peppers, chopped green onions, leeks, corn kernels, whole tomatoes. Things I roast first include poblano peppers (for chili relleno casserole), red peppers, winter squash, pumpkin and sliced eggplant. I also freeze batches of my pasta sauce in quart zip-locks. I despise mushy frozen green beans, so I always can them. I grow edamame, too, and completely failed with trying to freeze them. Insert flash freezer here, lol. Too bad we don't live closer, we could have a canning party or two. :bigsmile:

Renny, the coughing, ugh. I still have a residual hack. Hope you'll be feeling better soon. :flowerforyou: Baby arrive yet?

DeeDee, :laugh: turning on the fans to clear out the man smell? Hahahaaaaa! Oh that made me giggle :laugh:

Many chores on my Saturday agenda. First thing is to attack the weedy corner out front, then get the rest of my summer flowers planted. Need to stop by the garden and pick greens for salads. I've got to tidy up the house as well, we're having friends for dinner and cards this evening.

Be well everyone, enjoy your day.

jb in cloudy Portland

Sandy in ON: Do you have a crockpot or slow cooker? It is a handy tool for those who arrive home late and hungry. You can delay cook start time if needed so things aren’t cooked to smithereens. Some have built in timers, and if they don’t, it is easy to find plug in timers like I use to turn on Christmas Tree lights automatically.:flowerforyou:

Joyce: You are so right that losing weight has to be a person’s own choice. I’m glad your daughter is working on getting healthier.:flowerforyou:

Yanniejannie: We have clouds and rain right now, so the honey moon is hidden.:flowerforyou:

Carol: Welcome to a great group.:flowerforyou:

Barbie: We can’t see the moon, either. On the plus side, we really needed this rain. It has been unusually dry here for months.:flowerforyou:

Meg: I forgot that beer is a food group. Silly me. :laugh: I tried freezing corn on the cob a year ago and the results were disappointing. Corn and snow peas were over cooked merely from blanching. :grumble: Garden peas and beans freeze well. We got a food dehydrator last year and it did a great job with tomatoes and peppers. I was able to use them in soups and stews all winter long.:bigsmile:

Margaret: Welcome.:flowerforyou:

Rori: It is lovely seeing your post. I’m so sorry about your fall; I have all too recent experience with falls and I know how disabling they can be.:flowerforyou:

Renny: I hope the cough leaves you soon and you get some energy back.:flowerforyou:

Joyce: The man who was pastor at our church when the kids were growing up left the congregation some time after we stopped attending. He moved to the midwest to become a youth pastor in a big city church, from what I hear. I think it was a good choice for him. We left that congregation because of the internal “politics.” I’m glad your brother found his calling.:flowerforyou:

Cheryl: When I needed a new doctor because mine retired, I asked all my friends for recommendations. The doctor I found is doing a good job for me. I don’t have any serious health issues to worry about and she does refer promptly when things aren’t in her area of expertise. I love the pictures of you on your beautiful horse. The pretty smile on your face shows that your horse is just who you needed to spend time with.:flowerforyou:

Heather: I do feel very lucky to have my granddaughter. I’m looking forward to the birth of a grandson in September. :bigsmile: I hope DD has an easier time of it this time. Your travels are fun to read about, and I enjoy your planning process. :flowerforyou:

DeeDee: Congratulations for a day off from house painters!:flowerforyou:



It is time to get ready for the day. Our dog has a vet appointment this morning. He needs a new rabies shot so we can renew his dog license.

Katla in beautiful NW Oregon

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Thomas A. Edison



June Goals:
1. Log every bite and swallow.
2. Cardio exercise at least 3 days a week.
3. Have fun every day.
4. Drink at least two glasses of water daily, preferably more!

Hi ladies just a quick check in; need to finish my chapter and send it in then get ready for company and bad weather! Thanks for all the tips on freezing. I haven't done the ice water bath before, so that's my next try. I do have a food sealer. Rori, sorry about your fall and injuires! Heal soon! Take care all, Meg from soon-to-be-stormy Omaha

This is an English scone. One of my recent batch.

Imagine it split open, spread with home made strawberry jam and heaped up with clotted cream. All washed down with a nice pot of English tea. :laugh:

Who is coming for tea?

Heather UK

so glad I found this group of amazing women! Happy Saturday everyone!

Kim - I've just looked, the cauliflower cake is on line. I serve it with mango chutney for DH and chilli jam or peri peri for me. And a little salad.
Your camp teaching sounds AMAZING! What a great thing to do. Can I come? Teaching the next generation to cook is a wonderful thing. Life enhancing.:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
Heather UK

Heather, I'll be there with Alison - would love a cuppa long with your scones!!

Alison - Moultonborough is a nice area! We used to go fairly near there on the lake every summer for a week when I was growing up. We stayed at a place with cabins near Melvin Village.

Meg - hope all goes well with the expected hail and you and yours are OK - heck of a way to start the College World Series.

The cruise was just wonderful - have posted pics on Facebook but don't know how to post any here. We flew into Amsterdam and went straight to the ship. Next day, we went to a small village in Germany, then to Stockholm and then on to Helsinki, Finland. IN Stockholm, they were celebrating the strawberry harvest and we bought a pretty large box of strawberries and sat by the water and ate them all! We walked and walked everywhere. After Finland it was on to St. Petersburg, Russia to see the hermitage one day and Catherine the Great's palace and gardens the second day. Both were truly impressive. The Hermitage has something like 3 million pieces of art and sculpture. There is no way you can see all there is to see even in a week, never mind a day. It was overwhelming. Catherine's palace and gardens were also pretty incredible. Everything was gilded (gold over brass), tons of mirrors and lights. The gardens had immense fountain displays, lots of flowers and plants in intricate geometric patterns. Our tours included lunch each day. Both lunches started with a shot of vodka and a glass of champagne. :drinker:

After Russia it was on to Tallin, Estonia. DH and I decided to loll around on the boat that day, since it was too far to just go into Tallin on our own. Then off to Copenhagen - saw the little mermaid and heard the original story - no happy ending like Disney!! We also spent some time in a small fishing village just outside of Copenhagen that was lovely. We do like to wander around the small villages. have some coffee or a local beer, and enjoy the culture. After Copenhagen, we went back to Amsterdam and we spent three more days there, enjoying that city. LOVED Amsterdam!! The Van Gogh museum was killer, food was great everywhere and public transportation is a piece of cake. Everyone was so friendly and helpful too. We had rented an apartment through airbnb.com for three nights and it was perfect for us. It was on a nice, quiet street just off a main street with trams stops there. We could get pretty much anywhere in 10 minutes via tram. Flew home a week ago Thursday and it's taken me a while to re-adjust to local time. There is a 2 hour difference in time zones between St. Petersburg and Amsterdam, plus six more hours to the US.

The ship had a great gym set-up, so I did get to work out some on our at sea days. Between that, the walking, and eating decently on the ship (food was superb, portions quite reasonable - not super large), it looks like I only gained about 3 pounds - which I attribute mostly to wine, bread, and probably some salt. DH gained 5-6 pounds :laugh:

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Jill in western MA

Jill your trip sounds wonderful. I agree so much to see in such a short amount of time. Stockholm is a beautiful city. I went there for my nephew 's wedding. Brings back good memories.

Heather sign me up,for tea. I don't know why we add other things to scones over here like raisins when clotted cream and jam are perfect for scones, Yum!

After our gorgeous day yesterday. Cool and rainy here. Everything is such a lush green now.

Today getting some deep c;leaning done, so tomorrow we will have a healthier home.

2014 word contentment

MNMargaret

Hi everyone!
I purchased a food scale today and guess what? After trying it on all of my normal daily foods I found the only thing I was underestimating was fruit!
Oatmeal. in a regular dry measuring cup weighs 2 grams less than the gram on serving size! Peanut butter? 1 tbs is exactly the weight stated as well. Humph!
I haven't really lost amy weight in 3+ weeks so I thought I must be over estimating. But that's not it. Fruit was a little lower my old way but not so much that I am going to go overboard. I. am still walking everyday 1.5-2.5 miles. I used TDEE minus 20% for my daily calorie goal so I eat 1550 without eating back calories from my walks. Hopefully, I will see results soon! Any advice? Just keep at it? Haha.

I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful n June! ????????????

PS- cityjane - omg that looks and sounds delicious! ????

Good beautiful evening ladies. We are having our annual Shriner fest this wekend, I have never gone and n't plan to this year either. They have all sorts of food booths, beer stube, bands, hydro plane races, air shows like the Blue angels. We used to have the Freedom festival and it had all those things and they kept on raising the ticket prices enough that it was no longer making any money. It was sponsored by the city of Evansville. It all culminated with fireworks on the 4th. So they kept whittling it down until it was jsut the fireworks. So our local Shriners took it over and it has now gotten to it's usual big massive festival. They brought back the hydroplane races which really took down the attendance. It is a little cooler in June than it is in July and a little bit easier on the festival goers since so many people got stupid drunk and dehydrated.

So this evening it was jsut to nice to stay in and hubbie and I took a walk. He had already done his usual walk at the mall but only walked a mile instead of 2. He has no patience for 'people' getting in his way, thinks they should all follow the rules of the road even though they are in a mall, single file, no women in strollers walking side by side, etc. Pretty regimented. They were having a day lillie sale and show at the mall with lots of tables, people slowly walking and milling about. so he cut his walk short and came home in anger. He needs to take a chill pill. He is definetely not a smell and smell the roses kind of guy. I tried to point out differnt things on our walk and he just wanted to walk, not talk, not enjoy nature, things people have done to their houses through the years, etc. I would just rather walk by myself with my Pandora to keep me company.

My sister came by yesterday with her new car. Well it's not a new car but to them it is. I told you about the fact that she inherited my Mom's terrible back and had been going through these consults to see if there was anything a surgeon could do to relieve her pain. there wasn't anything so she told her husband that she had to do something to increase her mobility and independence. She already had a power chair so she got a mini van and had a hydraulic lift put in. It works really well. When you are driving the actual lift is kind of in the sight line. She also had problems lining up her chair on to the lift part itself but she feels good that she doesn't have to depend on finding a handicap spot or leaving it to fate that a store will have a motorized chair that has enough battery for her to shop. Now her and I can got to the mall. She also wants to go to the zoo but I have to have some one push ME in my wheel chair for that. There are to many hills at the zoo and I can't walk it. Charlie tires of the zoo very quickly and feels it isn't worth the price.

Jill your vacation sounded wonderful. I like to watch HGTVs House hunters International and they frequently go to Amsterdam and it is a beautiful city. so many people riding their bikes! But the canals look so neat. A lot of people actually live on them.

Joyce, Indiana

Not into Father's Day this year. It's Okay. Hopefully, a new grand baby decides to make it into this world soon. And that is where our priorities are at the moment.

My DH also used to say that Mother's Day was for his mother and ignored me. Not wise of him in my younger years, and he has learned a bit of a different lesson since then (43 + years). But you know, everyone has a background and a story. In my childhood, I do not remember mother's day and father's day. Not until we were adults. I guess big business got a hold of it, with cards and merchandise and such, especially in North America, but Europe too. For some I realize it just means painful memories. So, I am fine to ignore both/either. For Mother's Day I told my kids the best gift they could give me is solitude. And they respected that. I do love it when people respect each other's boundaries. And DH is not expecting anything.

My birthday is coming up, our new grand baby's birth is coming up, and one of our grand daughter's birthdays is coming up. What more can a person want. I am so grateful.

Blessed be
Renny
Vancouver Island, BC