There are no words for the tiredness of my bones. I don't think I even combed my hair because I hit the ground running this morning and never stopped. I worked in my basement and in the garage and moved mountains. I am not finished but I made a major dent. The bee above is feasting on one of my milkweed flowers. I haven't seen many butterflies this year. Wonder why? See you tomorrow. xo
I ordered two DVDs recently: Season 11 and Season 12 of CLASSICAL STRETCH | ESSENTRICS on PBS. Here is the website. Each box has 4 discs and 30 sessions so I am all set for two months of daily stretches. I am on the second disc of Season 11 called FULL BODY MOBILITY. Yesterday she mentioned that our calves are often called our second heart because they pump oxygenated blood to our heart above. I never knew this. She had me doing simple calf lifts -- up on your toes and back down again. Each daily stretching exercise is only 22 minutes long. I am enjoying them and feel that my posture has improved and other things too. Her program is on the PBS CREATE channel on Saturdays at 6am Sunday mornings twice at 6am and 6:30am if you want to check them out. I have always been strong and healthy but these exercises are mainly for connective tissue and creating long strong muscles for balance. The second DVD is entitled Aging Backward. I am not very fond of the floor exercises because I don't have a Yoga Mat and my space in front of my desktop computer isn't ideal. The exercises with a chair are okay but I love the sessions with just stretching the best. All of the exercises are slow and don't seem very hard but I work up a sweat by the end. I got my 2 sets on eBay from one seller for about $25 w/ free shipping. On PBS each set costs about $65.00.
I did some research on my own about our calves and found out she was right. I have new respect for my calf muscles now!
The website for the above photo is here. The video below is on that link too.
The link for this video on YouTube is here. This is also an ad for compression stockings at the end. Sorry about that but I really liked the animation about how the pumps in our calves operate to pump blood back to the heart. I never knew how important our calves were until now.
This is a photo of my two DVDs.
The rain has stopped and I was up and down all night while it was coming down hoping my basement would stay dry and it did. I have only had water down there twice, once during Irene in 2010 and I can't remember the other time because it was minor. Sandy was not one of them in 2012. The one in 2010 was terrible because we had 17 consecutive days of rain and when Irene hit with her winds and downpours there was no place for the water to go since the land was already super saturated. Luckily, we did not lose power and I was able to pump the water out myself. My basement doesn't have a sump pump. Anyway, I hope everyone is safe and didn't have anything catastrophic happen in the way of Hurricane Season and Henri. xo
UPDATE: I added two links for you to watch and try at home if you are interested in improving your balance and posture and getting strength through gentle stretching. xo
UPDATE: I got up early today (Saturday) and discovered Miranda's program Classical Stretch is on PBS Create at 6am. She is on again on Sundays twice, at 6:00 & 6:30am. If you have a DVR you can record and have 3 classes for the coming week. xo
This is a corner of my kitchen, snapped this morning, that backs up to my attic staircase. My refrigerator is to the right and above that is a lookout window from my attic into the kitchen below. There are interior shutters if I want to close it off for any reason but I usually leave them open. It helps with the airflow when the central air is running and in the winter, the rising heat helps keep it warmer up there. Last night's rain from Henri wasn't too bad and for that I am so very grateful. Be safe if you are in the eye of the storm today. xo
Don't you love them? I first discovered this artist on Instagram and just had to find out more. At first, I thought the realistic work was photography but learned she was a talented artist and did realistic oil paintings. See more of her work here. Her website is amazing and has many links within to see her work. Enjoy and have a great weekend. xo
This photo is practically live since I just went outside to show you the storm clouds over my cottage. My weather app doesn't call for any more rain so I suppose they will burn off. It's not that hot outside but it's very stuffy so I am still running my central at a high setting. I didn't wake up during the very heavy rain last night, probably because my all the windows were closed and I didn't hear it. xo
I ran across an empty card box in my attic office today, and look what I found. I knew I liked this artist and had some of her artwork already. I used my scanner to show you this clever birthday party invitation. I don't remember ever sending out this card so maybe it was always an empty box filled with buttons or other smalls at a garage sale. Anyway, I will keep it in one of my sewing drawers and find a use for it. xo
I worked outside almost all day yesterday and was amazed at how much I accomplished. I got a good photo at day's end of a dahlia for those of you who aren't tired of seeing them. I am glad to have something personal to offer since time is limited this morning because I have to look like a real person today instead of a farm hand for an office meeting. The latter is my preferred mode of dressing. I donate lots of my things on a regular basis but never old clothes because I wear them until they are threadbare and then they go in the rag bag after I remove the buttons. You can't get any real work done in good clothes and I was trained as a child to change into play clothes so I wouldn't ruin my good things and I still do it. On the days I stay "dressed up" I accomplish nothing constructive once I get home. So now I do the opposite; I wear work clothes at home and change into better things to go out. xo
