The end is near

miss hummingbird enjoying the cigar plant. We have a few more weeks of these before they make the long trek across the Gulf of Mexico

we have been having storms and sun almost every night

multiple sunflower heads

lots of Shanna's friends turning 40

while Daniel turns 10

elaborate candle opens up, spins and sings

after yet another storm

cousins met up in Cedar point

I found this never used bicycle in the trash. It was missing a pedal which I scavenged from another bike. Maya likes it fine

Glad to have glads

I got the dreaded phone call yesterday from my friend's father saying she is too weak to have visitors or even speak on the phone. Getting the strength to get up to use the toilet takes everything out of her. She can text though. The last time I saw her was the day before I had surgery and I spent most of our time on the phone dealing with my useless insurance trying to figure out why there was no record of them approving the surgery. She had just gotten news from hospice that things were progressing after a period of stagnation. So not a good visit.

I am sad.  Life can be so unfair. She is 9 years younger than me. Breast cancer7 years ago and its treatment resulted in leukemia which was successfully though painfully treated but ultimately led to lymphoma which she refused treatment for. She had enough. Her hips are broken due to avascular necrosis due to steroid usage which could not be repaired as her lungs were too weak withstand surgery. She is in pain but narcotics make it difficult to breathe and her lungs were already only at 30%

It has been hot and humid making my reintroduction to running difficult though I am still biking and resumed lifting my weights. On one of my bike rides, I saw a perfectly good bike out for trash along with a bag of professionally framed photos (complete with price tags totaling over $200) Went back with the car. Didn't notice the missing pedal until I returned. Well I have plenty of junked bikes though it was quite an effort to get a pedal off of one of them. Finally successful today just in time to watch Maya and go for a bike ride with her. She is too big for the other bikes I got for her which need to be repaired. But now I can trash them

I am cooking 5 spaghetti squash as I type and will freeze the contents. I am awash in zucchini too.
Leaving for California in 2 days for some cool air.

intermittant fasting

On a beautiful not too hot sunny Sunday afternoon, we went to a winery

One of Allie's games. Do I look like this granny? I do have my own teeth

As she is still a puppy, we were asked to walk her in the middle of the day. As it is almost a 40 mile round trip, I said make friends with the local teenagers or preteens

sunflowers bloom all over the place

at our cancer cooking class, the local hospital donates its farms vegetables

I grabbed as many of the peppers and eggplants without being too greedy

more of the veggies. They can keep the kale Tomatoes and basil are nice

Fibonacci pattern 

every few months we go to the local theater A fun night

I have glads and dahlias of various colors all over the place

I have been finally cleared by my doctor to resume my activities not that I was completely inactive as I recovered as I biked close to 400 miles.  But I limited the weights I lift and didn't run  so I gingerly resumed that.

Recently there was an article about intermittent fasting as a weight loss method and a cancer deterrent. Ideally there should be a 16 hour period each day. Let's say you dine at 5pm. Your next meal should be  9 am and light at that. Biggest meal should be lunch, then a light dinner. Presumably the same amount of calories concentrated in these 8 hours led to weight loss versus the same calories consumed spread out over a longer period. As for preventing cancer, cancer cells are much more dependent on sugar than normal cells and thus they starve. Some clinicians use metformin, a diabetic drug to lower blood sugar levels below normal to starve those cancer cells.

When I was on my 'big diet' I pretty much did this (no metformin) I would have a cup of coffee to wake up but I didn't eat a light breakfast until after I exercised which sometimes would be as late as 10 am. We eat dinner early and I try hard not to snack between meals. Somehow I am 4-5 pounds more than I was a year ago. This will go now that I can move freely.

Time is flittering by. I had been biking very early in the morning but daylight is coming later and later.

On our trip to rescue Josh's dog, we did go out for a change for lunch at a Polish restaurant. Dill pickle soup, It actually was quite tasty as were my pierogis (not on my usual diet of minimal carbs)

My former boyfriend has a chronic form of leukemia that requires a transfusion every 5 days. A stem cell transplant could cure him but that is fraught with problems such as my other friend has. He was put on an experimental drug 6 months ago which initially caused more harm than good but it gradually started working to the point that he hasn't needed a transfusion in 10 weeks which is very good news for him. My friend with lymphoma caused by the stem cell transplant to treat leukemia caused by the treatment of breast cancer is gradually getting weaker and weaker. Still she was told she'd not make it to July and it is nearly September

Aside from the veggies I got from my class which I roast, I have been awash in zucchini (one monster weighs 6 pounds) and spaghetti squash so we eat lots of vegetables here. My tomatoes are being stolen by rodents and not sure why my yellow squash don't go past the blossom stage. Still it is fun watching them all grow along with my flowers

The Dunning Kruger effect

I liked t light patterns in my new glasses

A friend made this neklace for me from her shell collection

Early morning on the patio

Lots of spaghetti squash  I like how it sends out tendrils to wrap around my deer screen

one of my baskets

they put a piano in Graffiti  Alley

Happy Hour with the Chosen Sisters

It turns out there is an official term for people who have absolutely no idea how incompetent they are. And it is not a rare syndrome either. Almost everyone has a blind spot in which they think they are really good at something  and they really suck at it. This term has been heaped on our clueless President. Does he know that he is not suited for the job? Does he really believe he is a genius?

I continue to improve. Most of the surgical pain is gone. I get very tired towards the end of the day and feel nauseated a lot. I also get hot flashes and cramping. I try to lift smaller weights and do nothing that involves my abdominal muscles. I have been bicycling early in the morning quite a bit. Hopefully it will keep me fit though my heart rate is much lower  biking than running. Maybe I will slowly return to running next week. The other day, I got a flat tire 5 miles from home. It was especially hot and I really didn't want to walk home. Steve however refused to answer the phone. He has a watch that alerts him to texts and phone messages but he chose to keep it off. Fortunately Naomi rescued me. The bike repair person was puzzled at the tear along the seam of the inner tube. How did I do that?  Could it be from over inflation? Yes it could.

While I was on the long bike ride, a man convinced me to put 100 psi pressure in my tires. Tires are rated for 60 psi. He said my ride will be so much easier. Dumb, dumb, dumb. And of course he did it to both tires. I am hoping that the older inner tube just didn't hold the air long or I am just waiting for the another flat. I guess I was lucky to get 300 miles in with a tire ready to blow.

Our hybrid has too small of a trunk so I couldn't take the whole bike in, just the rear tire. I sliced my finger good trying to get the chain back on the gears. Our other car was being lent out.

Summer is zipping by.  I do love sitting outside amongst the flowers sipping my coffee.  I converted some of the zucchini to noodles which I served several ways.  Went out one afternoon for Happy Hour which was fun. I continue to learn German which much of it is review. Never learned to speak it though so I am working on that.

recovery

A good portion of my day is spent yelling at rodents.  This little bugger, fortunately rare around here is a red squirrel. Half the size but twice as annoying as the more common fox squirrel. He can not be scared

Naomi with her black and blue hair. Wish she'd go back to her natural red

glads all over  

black eyed susan and one of the many varieties of day lilies I have

Kaya at 9 weeks came home to Josh's

Naomi and I and Kaya

Northern sky the other night

dahlias darling

mish mosh in the front garden

butterfly plant

lots of hydrangea blooms this year

one of 3 hand blown sun catchers

I was dreading this surgery as I hate pain and being relatively inactive. Although I  am too afraid to hop on  the scale, my appetite has been poor so hopefully if I gain anything, it wont be much I have been able to bike 120 miles this week and today lift weights although only a small fraction of the usual workout.  Still battling the insurance company just to pay for my consultation 4 months ago. Can't wait for the big bills to come in. It is a relief not to worry about ovarian cancer though.  

I still get tired way too easily and feel foggy headed even though I haven't had narcotics in a week. Now I need to stop ibuprofen as my stomach feels all eroded. The pain is less but if I move a certain way,ouch. I drank too much wine the other night. It was if I never had it before and I ended up very ill.

Although I had some visitors, I feel sort of isolated. My nieces sent me separately much appreciated goodies.  I  have done some gardening and going through my German lessons much easier than the Dutch lessons. I've been picking my vegetables but don't have enough energy to prepare them. Hopefully this too shall pass.