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Saturday, April 27, 2024

Odds and ends

Bear with me on this first odd. I've gained ten pounds. It could be the mocha or the ice cream or the thyroid, or all three, or one or two. I was pretty scrawny a year ago, after the pacemaker episode and the hole in my lung and the norovirus. The pacemaker doctor asked me to get back to 120, and I did all that by last April or so, and then paid no further attention.

Until this past week, when I realized it's getting warmer outside and soon I will ditch my elastic waist corduroys for jeans. I have not worn elastic waist trousers since childhood, and they may have seen the last winter! I put on a pair of jeans this week and faced zipping up like a teenager, flat on the bed and stomach sucked in. I got it done

But I see that heart doctor in a month or so, for the annual check up, and it would behoove me to present better. In short, a diet that does not include mocha and ice cream, for starters. It could also revert to my sister's lovely oatmeal muffins for lunch. Somehow we lost track of them this past year.

My sister just got a new kitchen. She and Tom bought a little house three or four years ago. It all worked for her except the kitchen, which had that crazy, post World War II housing type of little kitchen. She's pretty good at laying out kitchens, having done it twice at the old house. She knows what she wants, and she got it!


Small kitchen, lots of function. And more important, a new stove with oven to make oatmeal muffins.


One day last week Jan stopped to deliver a batch of muffins and catch up on gossip. And get her kitchen warming present.


I had some left overs to finish up for lunch, so it was today before I got to the new oatmeal muffins. And, oh dear, they were dryer than a bone. I manfully worked through the one I took, thinking "How can I tell her her new oven really needs calibrated. Or fixed!" I called her this afternoon, and tactfully, I hope, broached the subject.

And when I got done, Jan said "Well, that explains why I still have buttermilk left in the fridge! I forgot to add it." So, I need to lose ten pounds and hope I have a start on it.

I have been remiss about weaving this week. Each day was less productive than the previous, to the point of my doing exactly nothing yesterday. Nada. Zero. Zilch. I did get out of bed this morning feeling remorseful as well as guilty.

Fortunately, I encountered Betty and Margaret at breakfast. They are pleasant women. Betty is my table mate who I helped with her new hearing aids. And both are Tea Party, proving strange table mates can come to a truce and get along. The best part of seeing Betty so early was needing a scarf model and there she was, again.




We posed in front of the pool, in the atrium. Several women were in the pool, in the midst of their weekly exercise lesson. For the first time I am strongly tempted to join them. Eighty degree salt water sounds very tempting. I'd even buy a bathing suit.



31 comments:

  1. Hari Om
    The scarves are lovely - and well modelled! I am glad to hear you gained weight, even if it is a tad more than you felt comfy... I am sure the doc will be too. Jan's new kitchen if lovely. YAM xx

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  2. I think we all gain a bit of Winter weight. Jan's kitchen looks beautiful. Swimming in the pool is a great idea. The exercise is low impact and very good. Your new scarf looks lovely and the model wears it well.

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  3. It sounds as if you could afford to add those pounds. Do you remember what hearing aids Betty got? Asking for a friend;)

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    1. Her son bought the most expensive pair on Amazon. I see those were about 600 a pair. I may go that route when mine give up. Betty can hear again with them.

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  4. "I'd even buy a bathing suit" -- whoa, let's not go berzerk! Hahahahaha!

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  5. I agree with Boud here- Ten pounds is probably doing you a favor , except buying new jeans may be in order. Your scarves are gorgeous!! and by all means get a bikini- the water looks inviting!

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    1. I hate to invest in a new round of jeans when I have four perfectly good pair; one and a half new, even.

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  6. I can't imagine that 10 lbs would be noticeable on you, Joanne. But also think that most probably you could lose it quickly if you wanted to do so. I do notice if my jeans start getting tight... or loose. And swimming is wonderful exercise. I don't swim, but still think it's good.

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  7. Lovely scarves! I too have developed some bad habits related to sweets. I need to cut back!

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  8. A pool at eighty degrees? I would love that. I love your sister's kitchen too and the wooden spoon with a smile. I haven't worn my jeans in years because I'm just too fat and refuse to buy a larger size. I need to make more effort with my weight loss attempts. No so easy in winter with all the hearty, warming meals. I haven't put back any of what I lost though, so there's a start.
    The scarves look lovely, I like the brown one.

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  9. I love the cupboards on the left opposite the fridge....not so deep that you lose things behind others!
    Swimming will be a fun way to keep fit and lose a little of the extra.
    That's a good idea showing the scarf as a belt... versatility 🙂

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  10. Swimming is good for slimming though I would not enjoy a crowd. Your scarves are wonderful and I wish you the best with your weight loss and the hunt for a swim suit.

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  11. Love your sister's kitchen, the green is beautiful! Swimming is so good for the body and soul; a pool always makes me feel I am on vacation. I have a sister in memory care, and they allow her to swim supervised of course, and it's the only time she seems to be happy.

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  12. I tried using someone's modern oven a few years ago and realised I needed training for it. When I opened the oven to have a look, I almost lost my eyebrows in the blast.

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  13. I am in awe of anyone who can afford to remodel their kitchen. 😊
    I am also pretty impressed by a normal person who can co-exist with tea party people. 😁

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    1. Occasionally one or the other of us leaves the table.

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  14. I made banana muffins recently and forgot the sugar. They were good without it though. My husband liked them just as well as when they are done properly and he doesn’t
    need the sugar.

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  15. Your sister's kitchen is beautiful, especially the cabinets. Love that colour. You have a pool in your building? Lucky woman.

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  16. That kitchen would make me happy as can be. The cabinet color is a little darker than mine but just about the same color.
    It is so interesting that you've gained weight. I see it as a good thing. But I know you don't want to buy all new clothes.
    Betty makes a lovely model for your beautiful scarves!

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  17. Well, thank goodness that the new oven isn't malfunctioning! This made me laugh. I got myself a swimming suit a couple of summers ago. I hadn't worn one in probably 30 years. It was not so dreadful as I had it in my mind that it would be.

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  18. girl, you do not need to lose 10 pounds. just gift your jeans to someone and buy new ones. and you made me laugh with your description of trying to get them zipped up. two new scarves with different patterns seems productive to me. 80˚ salt water? I could float happily in that.

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  19. Yes, that would explain the dryness of the muffins. I like that new kitchen very much - even the colours! Lovely scarves, Joanne! -Jenn

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  20. What's good about the kitchen is that it has plenty of wall space for cupboards. In ours, the whole of one of the long walls is taken up by windows, which are nice to look out at the garden, but extremely dysfunctional for storage.

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  21. I like your sister's new kitchen. Nice colour, lots of storage space. Hopefully the next batch of oatmeal muffins will be the real deal!

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  22. I love your sister's new kitchen. It's beautiful! All the best in losing the weight. I pretty sure you'll do that in no time flat. The pool where you live sounds divine. What a treat to have a pool!

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  23. I'd take a dip in that pool!
    Love the color of the cabinetry in your sister's kitchen. She has a good eye.
    I recall taking pliers to aid in the zip-up of jeans while lying on my bed. Zipping one's belly was not unheard of as well. x

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  24. The scarves are just beautiful. Yes, go in the pool. I took water aerobics over my lunch hour when I was a worker bee. It was so much fun.

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  25. Invest in the swimsuit, I would kill for a pool like that!!!!
    XO
    WWW

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  26. I like the scarf! Get a swim suit and exercise in that nice water, the ten pounds will fall away soon enough! I gained 9 pounds when gout struck my big toe. I am hoping that more activity up and down the slopes here will take care of that!

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