Ultimately, as of Monday evening … less than an inch of snow.
But COLD and windy … wind chill. Temp at 6:40 p.m. Monday evening is 8F. Wind chill is -12F, although at my house, a bit of wind shadow makes it not as bad as in the valley.
Still, it is a 1 dog, 1 kitten night for sure!
And to add to the fun … my new windows are supposed to be installed tomorrow and Wednesday…
I ordered a style similar to above in late October and they were to be done and installed in March.
The company has been absolutely wonderful. They called me once a month with progress. Despite a prognosis of “we are running behind”, they are running ahead and last week tentatively scheduled installation for tomorrow and Wednesday.
I have had 3 calls re tomorrow’s hoped for install. I am not optomistic as it was 9F this morning at my house and as of this writing (6:42 p.m.), it is 7F and falling … clear skies… meaning it will continue to get colder with a forecast morning low of -5F … but I think it might get colder than that!!
So, per conversations with the installer, I am doing no prep. If by some miracle, he thinks it is ok to install, we will work together for moving furniture and window coverings.
Meanwhile, I worked a full day on this “holiday” Monday so as to have some time leeway for the install if it happens. My office is not getting new windows, so if/when … Emmett, Oscar and I will be in the office and all the commotion will happen otherwise!
Saturday pre-storm prep = long walks and firewood replenishing.
Firewood on deck and in a bag outside the door AND inside by the woodstove.
You can see the bare ground today…
And the icy puddly areas – yuck and thank goodness for snow cleats on my boots and double poles when walking. My recently purchased headlamp is very much appreciated on our dark o’clock walks!
I am very much hoping for a good snowfall to cover up the ice!
Lovely Emmett is also! He has 4-leg drive, but still …
Inside (photo is via my laptop so not stellar … ) Oscar is a snuggle kitten.
I am writing this Friday afternoon and at the time of this writing, it does not look anything like Wednesday morning…
RATS!
It is 43F and I think it will stay above freezing tonight and tomorrow another 40 something day.
However …
The future forecast says that we will return to Winter late Saturday, early Sunday … early next week at the latest – YEA!! It is mid-February. It should be Winter!
Back to Wednesday: lovely overnight snow. The clipper from the north that is now creating havoc in the mid and east of the U.S. brushed by my area Tuesday late through early Wednesday…
Lovely, lovely dark o’clock walk in newly fallen snow.
Then inside for coffee (for me) and belly scratch for Emmett.
Snow day bake of seeded spelt and whole grain fruit and nut loaves.
First daylight walk.
And then to the late morning long walk on the State Land…
It was a stunningly, beautiful morning.
We enjoyed!
Today, Friday, it is not so visually stunning, but a good work week, many excellent walks and play, the pantry and freezer are full. I will replenish firewood tomorrow and we should be set for the forecast cold.
If you read blog post comments, this is a repeat, but some have told me that they do not read comments. Additionally, there are some comment items that I think are worth repeating :)
Long time blog friend “SuzieQ”, commented with a link to a new book relevant to food as medicine: Fix It with Food: Every Meal Easy: Simple and Delicious Recipes for Anyone with Autoimmune Issues and Inflammation : A Cookbook: Symon, Michael: 9780593233108: Amazon.com: Books. I have several friends who either they or a child/children are dealing with Autoimmune issues. Inflammation from food and life is a common, current theme also. I have not purchased this book yet (on my list). I liked the information in the synopsis and reviews about the 10 day reset meal plans and additionally, instruction on how to add back foods to identify triggers. THEN, there are recipes that work around the trigger foods. The book listing includes Chef Michael Symon’s Introduction and at this writing 452 reviews, many including detail on reader experiences with the reset and after-reset recipes. Thank you, Sue!!
Both Dr. Lustig and Dr. Flass bemoan the lack of nutritional knowledge included in medical training. It is a bit ironic when you consider Hippocrates words as well as the Hippocratic oath based on Hippocrates words…
Finally, my own comment response. I felt that I might have vilified some food and drink items without adequate explanation about my own personal issues: willpower-wise! So … on that topic, from my response:
Another of Dr. Lustig’s mantras is that it is not the food, but what has been done to the food. And I think that is a horrific issue in U.S. processed food.
But for me, the issue is one of awareness and mindfulness regarding my own eating/drinking. I realized that I was fooling myself with regards to my personal wine/sugary drink/sugary snack habits. My 1-2 glasses of wine were often “just a bit more” into 2-3-4 glasses. My “I made it from scratch” ginger syrup … WITH sugar … and when I thought about my sugar purchase amounts … :( and similarly, the licorice: 1-2 pieces for a treat ok, but I was again doing “just another 1-2”, etc. Kind of crazy since I am very disciplined about my bread consumption even though I LOVE my homemade bread.
Bottomline, it is all about what I know about myself and my ability to be sensible about quantity of wine, ginger drink, candy.
Hippocrates … maybe … there is some conflicting information.
There are good reasons for the quote. Hippocrates considered nutrition one of the main tools that a doctor can use. More than that, dietary measures play a lead part in the original oath of Hippocrates. In modern translations of the oath, the central importance of diet is often somewhat hidden. English Wikipedia for example turns it into: “I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrong-doing.”
But the original Greek oath, literally translated, says: “I will apply dietetic and lifestyle measures to help the sick to my best ability and judgment; I will protect them from harm and injustice.”
So … Hippocrates who lived 460 BC – 370 BC and whose words are the basis for the Hippocratic oath that physicians take … ascribed to “diet and lifestyle measures to help the sick”.
I have done a lot of reading and research in the past years on what foods do what in the human body as well as in cats and dogs. Because I do absolutely believe that food … the “right” food can be curative or more importantly, preventative. But it is difficult to wade through all of the information, much of which is conflicting.
Two or so weeks ago, a work colleague shared a video with our work group … 5 of us: coders, technical support … information technology professionals. The video was a University of California TV video: “Sugar, The bitter truth”. It was originally posted to YouTube in 2009 and has had over 16 million views. We all watched at least some of it and as a group were absolutely astounded. There is a link at the end of this post, but the 2009 video is 90 minutes and there are some recent videos of shorter duration and perhaps more watchable … two that I particularly liked are also linked at the end.
The video presenter is Dr. Robert Lustig. His credentials are more than I want to write in this post. The short story is that he practiced as a pediatric neuroendocrinologist (child hormone issues), devolved to research and education … based on his clinical experience as well as peer research became an iconoclastic voice in regard to processed food and the food industry AND how physicians are trained. I cannot begin to give justice to all that he has done in his career: clinic work, writing, teaching, research …
A primary mantra from Dr. Lustig: “Protect the liver, feed the gut”. Dr. Lustig writes and speaks of the biochemistry that puts forth the evidence that sugar (in excess) causes insulin resistance which causes metabolic disruption. An eye opener: sugar contributes to obesity, not from calories, but from its causation of insulin resistance and damage to the liver … akin to the damage caused by excessive alcohol, hence “protect the liver, feed the gut”.
There is no way that I can write in this blog post the information that Dr. Lustig shares based on 40 years of clinical and research experience. I do hope, though, that I can motivate any readers of this post to listen to what Dr. Lustig has to say.
More nuggets for me … over the years, so much conflicting info on food. One of the takeaways for me, from the scientific discussions in the videos (and also the book): correlation vs causation. WOW!
So many food/nutrition headlines are actually based on correlation. For example: say you have 20 women over 65 … and say you are looking at how many have wrinkly skin on their face. And the data shows that of the 95% who have facial skin wrinkles, 80% of them drank 3 cups of coffee every day. So, there is a correlation between coffee drinking and skin wrinkles. But does that mean that 3 cups of coffee every day “CAUSES” skin wrinkles. Unknown!!
BUT! The “headline” snippets regarding “good” and “bad” food and/or the correlation between a food and some outcome is presented as causation when the reality is that it is a correlation that might or might not be an element of causation.
Whoohh! Color me a whole light enlightened about nutritional news! AND, no wonder we are a bit jaded about “good food/bad food”.
Regarding the videos and the book: there is biochemistry discussed and written about. And while I am very accustomed to reading technical documents regarding programming languages, I am NOT a medical professional! Still, I was able to follow Dr. Lustig’s speaking and written biochemistry information. He is very adept at explaining complex biochemistry information in a way that I could understand … or at least grasp enough to feel comfortable.
I am halfway through the book … through the biochemistry and into the “fix it”. The biochemistry of the book, like Dr. Lustig’s talks is comprehensible to the non-medical person … me.
Based on the youTube videos, I took a look at my own eating. As a scratch cook and baker, I do not have processed food in my cupboards … BUT, I was drinking a glass or two of wine daily, a glass or two of my own ginger soda, and some licorice snacks. I regrouped.
For the past week … no wine, no ginger syrup … those will be “reward” items like a special dessert. Licorice is done and I will not be replenishing. The only thing I really missed was the ginger soda. But I was rewarded by a 7 pound weight loss and a 3/4 inch waist reduction.
So.
I do not expect the weight and/or waist reduction to continue at the same level for long, but I do hope … for my health and well-being that there is a slow, steady progression to a healthier “size”. Whatever, I feel so much better … partly, the idea that I have a bit of control and understand the why.
Oscar: 4.5 months old, 8 pounds … sweet, stinker kitten … channeling Auggie who also liked to have his bath in the sink. I think it is hilarious! This sink is warm from doing dishes, but it is damp. At any rate, Oscar seems to like it as much as Auggie did.
Oscar continues to be a lot of fun. He and Emmett play chase and wrestle. After a play session I pick up pillows, re-align rugs and furniture … they do not play “gently”. I am thrilled that they love to play together. Oscar also continues to entertain himself with pretend hunting games.
And so far … I almost hate to write this … Oscar is a good sleeper … quiet all night. He likes to sleep between Emmett and me. Emmett sleeps against my upper back and Oscar snuggles in between our bottoms. We’ll see what happens as Oscar gets older and also with Springtime mouse invasions.
Outside …
We have had beautiful …
And ugly.
Ice. That was earlier this week. Since, it has snowed and then warmed and as of this writing, the walk paths are wonderful soft snow and good footing.
But when it looked like above … on Monday, I fell on the ice on our first out walk. Kind of crazy as I walked a line that had been bare ground. But it had warmed, snow around the bare ground melted and froze into a very clear frozen puddle. I wasn’t paying close attention and the ice was so clear, that I didn’t notice it was ice until I was down.
Minor ouch to elbow and some first night “whiplash” discomfort, but a fast recovery. I am always grateful if I miss some sort of rib injury!
BUT … although I was walking with 1 ski pole … 1 because I was carrying a flash (torch) in my other hand … I thought about a headlamp so that I could carry 2 poles in the dark.
I had a headlamp that was never stable on my head so did not use it much. Then I stored it badly in cold weather and the batteries leaked. The new lamp is USB rechargeable, stays put on my head and has a number of brightness levels including a “red” night vision setting.
I owe looking at this headset to:
Cecilia Blomdahl who shares her life on Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago which is closer to the North Pole than to mainland Norway. They have a Polar Night: 90 days of darkness. Hence, the use of headlamps! Cecilia has an Amazon store and link to the headlamp I bought. BUT, Svalbard and its history and the current lifestyle – I find it fascinating. And Cecilia is a very talented storyteller and videographer. I highly recommend her channel if you like to learn about little known, interesting spots on this Earth. (I included the above video because it shows and tells the phenomena that created the red-pink light during Polar Night)
I found Cecilia via …
From their “About” on their channel:
“We are Dan (From Canada) & Kika (From Haiti), Creating videos of our journey, adventures, and lessons learned, as we explore the world, One country at a time, One project at a time, One Step at a time. It all started 7 years ago when a friend gave us wise advice. He said, “…don’t buy a couch!” Long story short, we never did. Instead we rescued an old beat-up sailboat (1972 Pearson 36), destined for the scrap yard, fixed it up and converted it to an ALL ELECTRIC SAILBOAT by building our own motor, and started our new minimalist life on board.”
Dan and Kika were in Svalbard Summer of 2021. Like most adventure channels, their videos are 3-5 months behind real time. But as I watched their travels, the youTube algorithm led me to Cecilia’s channel.
Sailing Uma is a feast for the eyes and ears: Dan and Kika are also superb video storytellers.
Back to my house!
Since Monday we have had snow, wind, freezing rain and now warm days with clear, below freezing nights. So far, the snow is holding up on our walking paths … soft snow and no ice, i.e. good footing.
Inside …
Bread baking always! Above is a favorite seeded spelt sourdough loaf.
We are warm and cozy: working, playing, walking, baking and cooking.
