WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR AUGUST 2014

I have a chicken-dog story. We do not have a fence for a dog, but somehow a few years back we ended up with a dog who showed up in our yard with a gunshot wound. We called the police who came out and took a report but would not take the dog. Well, somehow it survived; we started feeding it and it became our dog. We live kind of in the country in a subdivision where houses sit on 2 to 5 acre lots, no restrictions. Well, one of the neighbors pulled up in our yard and told me that our dog was getting into his chickens. I explained about how it wasn't really our dog but had adopted us, we didn't know who it belonged to, I'm sorry, etc, etc, when the dog comes bopping up with one of his chickens in its mouth! I was mortified and went into the house to get a $20 bill to give the man for his chicken. Meanwhile, he got the chicken out of the dog's mouth, said it seemed to be okay, and would not take my $20.

We eventually got the dog shots and gave her a name, but she also must have been adopted by another family close by because she showed up one day wearing a flea collar that we did not put on her. Or perhaps it was her original family because eventually she quit showing up. She was a sweet dog, though, except for the love of playing with the chickens!

Just stopping by for a couple of minutes.

Work is more hectic than usual since I’ll be out of the office for 2 weeks beginning Friday. :grumble:

I made it to the gym this morning and tried a new piece of equipment in place of my elliptical trainer. This kinda looks like the elliptical trainer but you stand up pedaling. I could only do 5 minutes. It whipped me! My heart rate was up in no time.

Storm is raising Cain each morning with these chickens. So the neighbors are getting a symphony of rooster crowing and dog barking around 6 a.m . I am going to have to do some training tasks….. DeeDee: I am pretty sure he would enjoy have a chicken breakfast, lunch, or dinner.:laugh:

Gloria: Unless someone in addition to the SO is there, the bra comes off as soon as I walk in the door. :ohwell: I don’t even care if I have to put it back on later to go out. The SO always gives a sign of relief when I take it off. He says it just looks painful to him and he is glad men don’t wear them. He is also of the opinion that if I spent more time working out on the butterfly equipment at the gym I might be able to build up enough muscle that I wouldn’t need to wear one. :bigsmile: I don’t bother responding to some of his opinions. I could live on the machine and the H Cup girls would still need a bra!:laugh:

Meg and Joyce: The SO is well trained in doing what is best for his body, but he has decided his best course of action is to have the doctor write him a note with instructions for me to implement. :happy: He does whatever I say most of the time with just a little bit of grumbling. Most of the time I say if you do that this will happen and I don’t want to hear a word of complaint about it. We are still working on the salt intake, he says his blood pressure is now in the acceptable range so he can have salt. Although sometimes the salt shaker does get lost somewhere in the kitchen…..:blushing: With encouragement he has developed a love for cooking and clean eating and that helps a lot.

Have a great day!

Tere in RVA

Happy Wednesday to all!

I've been just kind of floating the past 2 days---the cold settled in my chest and the cough med w/codeine makes me so drifty, sleeping strange hours, gorging on Netflix, and surfacing now and then; well, I'm "up" at the moment so I'll chat a bit. Not getting any exercise but not at all hungry either yet.

Welcome newbies!!

I used to go to a city park for exercise.........I'd stretch and then walk. There was a woman who ran there who would do her cool down walk with me on days when we both showed up and, of course, we'd talk and solve all the local and world problems.......had kids the same age too. I knew her with messy hair, nose running, and wearing a DD's old h.s. letter jacket. Very down to earth. She moved away with her family for her husbands political job.........and, I always had the impression that she adored him and was in awe of him. For those who follow the news, I'd like to make a decidedly personal observation that the person I knew was not anything like the person now being vilified daily in the media reports of the trial here. I know it's been almost 10yrs. and people change but my heart is hurting for the person I once walked and talked with.

Joyce...........I love my Tracphone; I have an LG smart phone and get triple minutes............due to renew soon, will let everyone know what kind of deal I get. I don't text if I can help it and if it rings when I'm home I call the person back on the house phone so my mins. last all year.

Michele..............I used to follow the bus the first day of school and I remember coming home and crying every first day of school. It does seem very strange that this is the first year in many that DD is not getting ready to go back to school

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I keep looking at the store displays before I remember!!

Kim........Your yard project sounds like it will have a gorgeous end result!

Anne..........I am both amazed and impressed by your milage..........I think I'm great if I do 7mi!!! Check out your local running club; a lot of them have very active walking members and competitions of various distances..........I know the walkers in the running club here are some of our most active members.

Mimi.........Ahhhh..........Walnut Creek sounds sooooooo reastful to me for some reason.

Alison.........Why not get your reno done as soon as you can so you can enjoy it before you have to move?

Meg...........Nikita.......I've heard lots worse, I like it, bet she gets called Niki. We knew back in Feb that DD was wait listed (she's #9). Out of over 1400 applications they only take 120 and of the 120 only 50 are from our state; so the odds of getting into vet school here are not good for anyone............that, being said, we really need the instate tuition rates.........

Pat...........I was the only book reader in my house growing up. I only remember my mom reading the church mag. or her little daily devotional book............my dad, his Bible.

Gloria..........Congrats on your new job!

Katla...........Hope your plans are coming together smoothly for the trip to your DDs and your worry for your DH is lessened by the plans made for him too; given his history, I can see why you worry about thim.

Lesley.................YUCK, a cold! Hope it's shortlived!

Diane.........Thanks for the La femme Nikita mention; I was trying like mad to remember that show........I loved it!

Teri.........If you are going to be Philly center city, and are so inclined, there is a super Rodin museum...also take a look at Moshulu, a fabulous flotaing restaurant

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had one of the very best meals of my life there!!!

Has anyone else noticed the ebola outbreak is growing??? Yes, I know I obcess about this kind of stuff.......

On family trees.........I was working on my DH's...............turns out the family is Dutch!..........possibly German, but the evidence is more toward Dutch..........and they were among the earliest of the Philadelphia area settlers. This is really odd because he always said he was Polish............ Still can't top the surprise of finding out that both my Lutheran mom and Methodist dad both have Jewish roots..................but it does explain my love of Jewish food and humor!

Off to feed my face..........
Stay strong!
yanniejannie
mid-Atlantic

Thank you, Carol!

Well, to introduce myself, my name is Monika, I did not have weight issues for most of my life, I'm sure many of you can relate.
Then the mid 40's put a damper on it, but ok, I just worked out a little and avoided an ice cream here and a pie there.
But then the 50's hit out of nowhere and I gained so much weight! I have over 20 lbs to spare - gained it in a little over a year! And to the best of my knowledge, I didn't do anything to deserve this!
I have absolutely no experience in dieting - and very little patience for that.
I am finally reaching the point where I realize that stomping my foot and screaming how unfair this whole perimenopause thing is, won't get me anywhere. So here we go, counting calories. I have a Fitbit for the last 3 years and enjoy competing with myself.
I do work out, but I could be more consistent with workouts and with my diet. Right now I am at that dangerous spot where I am about to have to replace my entire wardrobe, cause I don't even fit in the "fat day" pants.
My hormones are going wild, I need a revolving door kind of blanket at night, I get hot, cold, hot, cold - ugh.
And by day I blush sweaty like a bad bad schoolgirl that just has been caught smoking. But what am I telling you all....first one to raise the hand and say they love menopause symptoms gets a weird stare!

On the up side, I am happily divorced for over 10 years. I found somebody new, but he had a motorcycle accident over 8 years ago and is severely brain injured. I am his legal guardian and caregiver. He lives in a nursing home, and I visit him daily.
I live with my 2 rescue dogs, Puzzle (hound mix) and Donar (Doberman), I work a fulltime desk job, I love country dancing and my crazy girlfriends.
I am German, live in the US for 11 years and love my new hometown, Houston and I look forward to getting to know you all!

I was thinking the same thing!
I figure I have to read the posts with a notepad at hand, so I can remember names and what they said....

Monika & Pearlie: Those of us who respond to many individuals typically have a word document open on the computer screen beside the Women 50+ page. We write our responses into the word document as we read people’s comments. Then at the end, we copy our word document and paste it into MFP. I came to this habit after taking notes and writing extensive comments and then having a computer hiccup that wiped it all out. I lost my post several times before I changed to this system.:grumble: :flowerforyou:


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



August 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 three glasses of water daily, preferably more!

Losing weight at a certain age
Phase I
First you find out that your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is so low that you practically have to eat like a rabbit to stay within it.

Then you realize that due to your small stature and the fact that you do not have to lose so much weight that nearly any activity only burns very few calories per hour in comparison to taller and heavier persons.

So you in this case I decide to eat like a rabbit and make up for low calorie burn by being active for hours and hours doing my favorite thing, ie. cycling and eventually the weight starts dropping off.

Enter phase II

The first pound seems to come off your face and makes you look haggard.

Then your breasts shrink rapidly resembling more empty bags than something feminine, let only sexy.

Followed by a derriere looking suddenly deflated .

The saddle bags start to disappear, finally something you like.

And last not least that little roll on top of your stomach and that ugly backfat dissolves.

You are left with areas of empty skin, which looks fine as long as you are dressed , not so good in anything revealing.

Phase III in the past

I start eating more to fill out these empty areas, because skin surgery is out of the question and of course end up at Phase I again because I cannot stand carrying too much weight.

Why do they always tell us that we get wiser ?


Anne, grateful that the weather frogs were wrong and it is not so hot at the moment

Hi, new and old ladies. I mean new and old to MFP of course.


Wanted to report that I finished that book from Deborah Moggach on which the movie “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” is based.

I liked the book too, though it is quite different from the movie and many of the characters are switched around in the movie, so it is a little bit confusing reading the book after you saw the movie.

The book seems a little bit more realistic, the movie being more sugar coated, streamlined and humorous. For example the Marigold Hotel in the book is in Bangalore, which is the Silicone Valley of India and not a particular interesting town, while in the movie the Marigold Hotel is in Jaipur in Rajistan, which is much more exotic. There is no charming, good looking , young manager of the hotel in the book and there are more characters with all the detriments of old age to follow. I am now reading another book of the same author “Tulip Fever”.

I am also on my way to the movies again. This time I am going to see the yearly offering in August from Woody Allen. I was not a big fan of Woody Allen in his earlier years, but I like the movies he makes now. I particularly liked “Match Point” , “Vicky Christina Barcelona” and “Blue Jasmine” and I find even his movies which are not so good, well worth the money and entertaining and thought provoking..

Diane in TX

Yeah, my bedroom has a southwest exposure and the late afternoon sun really hits it. I did already everything you suggested and more. I planted trees to shade that wall. I covered the whole house wall with mosaics in the futile hope that this would give it more insulation. But you know our summers, if it stays 100 degree Fahrenheit at night, it is pretty hopeless.


Sylvia


I always forget to ask you if you are a ceramist? I got that impression because you mentioned kilns?

I am a hand-builder. Never learned to throw.

I know Kansas has a fantastic Ceramic Art institute, I wanted to apply there at one time, but could not figure out the logistics. .


Carol
About the evenings.
I am retired. And somehow I seem to be busy all the time. I read a lot. But I also make sculptures. I have to keep my hands busy so that I cannot eat. I used to knit a lot and loved it. But I really do not need sweaters here in Nevada. I must have about fifty of them, I barely ever wear.


Craftergin

Welcome to the group. I used to live in the Valley, but then moved to Nevada.


Kitty

I would go to South Africa in a heart beat. I have never been there, only in Kenya and more northern African countries, but I hear South Africa is breathtakingly beautiful.

YannieJannie


Thanks for the tip. I will. I need to move my legs in a different way than only biking.


Pearlie

I usually like to cook, but lately I do not want to spend too much time in the kitchen because I get too tempted. I bought a rice cooker and make very simple, fat free meals with it. I had a Japanese student renting a room from me once and I watched him cook his meals with a rice cooker. Looking at his slim figure, I could see that he was doing something right.

You need to use brown rice . Brown rice cooks very slowly but they give you measuring cups , so that it comes out right every time. Brown rice is much better for weight loss than white rice. After the rice cooked about ten minutes, I add chicken or turkey and vegetables in the steam dish. Add some spices and after twenty minutes and no work you have a nutritious, low fat meal without much clean up. I buy frozen turkey patties and hormone free chicken breasts and big bags of frozen vegetables. Or mostly I use fresh vegetables.
But the best way for me to lose weight is to eat huge salads, I throw in everything I like and munch on it all day. At the moment I very rarely eat meat.


Anne

Ann, yes, I make pottery. Mostly wheel thrown but some hand building. I've actually taken a lot of time away from pottery after I had a year of heart trouble, but yesterday I threw several pieces just to see if I still remembered how. I have a little studio and gallery that has been sadly neglected. I'm hoping to get back to it now.

Sylvia

YannieJannie~ If we could afford it we would, we are always flyin sorta by the seat of our pants,we hav a bit of savings, but we are paying windows off for our place in florida,we are trying to fix that up peace meal also..our home her in Ct. was built the year I was born so it is 54 yrs old.. we have done some updating.siding,rood,new kitchen counters,sink took down a few walls,yardwork..
but with me working 30 hrs a week, and my DH workin 52 we are just trying to survive and make it to his retirement, becuase for me it will be at least 10-12 before I can even think about that..
by that time who knows if we will be on this earth for goodness sake.
when Tom gets back from Florida in October we will be selling our Chevy Traverse, it is a full size minivan that we bought and traded in our pick up and our malibu, which we both miss(malibu) bought the chevy cruze and that is sitting in florida covered up, dont really need 3 cars , so the traverse will go and we will use that money to get the cabinets reserfaced, put new laminate in the kitchen and family room, we will do it piece meal,so that it is cheaper that way
ate pretty horrible today,but tomorrow is another day..
going out with my friend Doris, tomorrow so that will be fun.. have to figure out what to make the DH for dinner tomorrow..
well my DSIL spoke with my dad and my uncle and came up with a plan to save the place in New Hampshire and my dads home..
they will quick claim deed the new hampshire cottage to Sean and Jean.. which leaves me out of it, I will not get anything when my dad goes. but that is ok, DH is so close to retirement we dont want to mess our financials up..
dad will get a home equity load and pay the taxes off and get the leins off of things, and Sean will be responisble for the cottage..
I have tried to be a good person all my life, and I dont expect anything left to me from either side of the family.. but it would be nice to get a little something .. Oh well, Toms brother got his parents house,his other brother took mommy for whatever money they had and Tom the responsible one got squat..
just goes to show ya huh?
I guess our reward will be in heaven

Ann, in our little town we had a sewer pipe company, "Mission Clay" , that made enormous red clay pipes. They invited several very well known ceramic artists to come to town and use their facility to make large works. One of them was Jun Kaneko. I went to the opening party for his show and was just stunned! Here is a link to a story about the work he did there. It's amazing. As a hand builder, I thought you might enjoy it.

http://www.pittstate.edu/dotAsset/314817.pdf

Scroll down to get an idea how big they really are. This company has several huge beehive kilns that are about a hundred years old. The company is closed now, and have moved their operations elsewhere. I don't know what will happen to those beautiful old kilns. It's kind of sad. In my dreams, we make it into an art center or something, but that would take money.

I only have one kiln, takes 26" shelves. I'd love to get a gas kiln, but I have so few years left to work in clay that it hardly seems viable. Plus, I'm broke. My studio is about 1300 sq ft, and the gallery is about 700.

Sylvia

Had an adventurous day. DH and I went to the grocery store, were on the home stretch, when they evacuated us because of a bomb threat. What a mess! We finally went back to find our cart with the dry goods intact and the fresh meat and produce removed. So, it wasn't a total start over, but close. We finally got home and got it all put away about six. We first set out around 2:30.

Sylvia


This is awesome. I met Jun Kaneko once at one of the ceramic events years ago. You can only do things like this if you have a sponsor and some kind of facility with enough space and huge kilns. But this is the size I love. It is wonderful if companies do this for artists, Kohler has a great artist in residence program too.

It is a real pity if these old kilns are not being used. You do not think that it would be possible to organize something to save them?

Working in anything is getting more and more expensive. Only now I realize how lucky I was working with that professor and having access to all the facilities at the university. Most people do not realize how expensive it its to make art and time consuming.

Is it mainly health or financial reasons you cannot continue working in clay? It seem such a pity.


Kitty

I am so jealous. My mother's best friend had a ranch in South Africa and I always planned to visit her. But then they had to leave before I ever made it there. It was much easier to travel to Africa from Europe. It is just a hop.

Anne

Well I am glad I put the steak in to braise slowly after lunch as I slept on and off on the couch. It was so tender and Stan came home from fishing in time to cook the potatoes and steam the veg.
I really enjoyed Linda McCartney's leek and asparagus tart yesterday so having her vegetarian, mushroom and ale pie for lunch along with strawberries as dessert.
I slept, not well last night, until 10am this morning. Much coughing, woke with worse cold and headache. Going to have a bath shortly and ease my joints.
SO annoyed as got back into training last week, sigh. At least I am eating OK, total food at 1981 cals today
Guy came to read electric this morning so bill should be in post in 2 days time. have already paid $500 so hopefully not too much more.
Finally getting budget sorted and going to start putting money into different minor accounts for car service in December, car rego in December, and pay electric by BPay ever pension.
DGD is NEVER visiting again. We cannot afford her on the pensions we are on

Anne, it's both health and money. My son was diagnosed with a severe lung and liver disease that is genetic, and life threatening. I was tested recently and found that I have it too, although so far no symptoms aside from a little shortness of breath. But it is made worse by environmental issues - like dust. My son was a welder. So, if I can't find a way go work much cleaner in my studio, I will have to give it up at some point. And my advancing years don't help. I figure that I have another five or six years to be active in clay at best. And my studio costs a fortune to maintain, meaning the utilities and taxes, and there is very little return. To be honest, I'm rarely there to try to sell anything. I do two or three shows every year, but that's getting harder and harder, with carrying all the boxes and tables and stuff. But it feels so good to sit at the wheel and feel the clay come to life. And I love making and testing glazes. I've been doing it for 20 years now. It would be sad to lose that completely.