I slept in a little this morning. I know from experience that the mower won’t start if it’s too cold, so there wasn’t a reason to get right up and going this morning. I took my time. I ate breakfast and then did my Move U exercises for the day. I figured after a lot of mowing, I’d be in no mood to exercise.
I started my first mowing session before 10 am. While I was mowing near the raised beds, I found a shed antler. The mower ran for a little under an hour on the tank I’d filled. I parked the mower in the shade to let it cool and set myself a 30 minute timer to take a break. I had a glass of water out on the porch and then played some video games. The next session was about the same length, but my ear protection was starting to really hurt.
I took an hour break for lunch, and I tried using the loop earplugs instead of my over the ear mufflers. After lunch, the sun was hidden behind clouds, so I didn’t get as sweaty. I’m not sure if the loops worked just because I wasn’t that sweaty, but they worked well enough that I’m going to use them again. They are so much more comfortable than the over the ear ones. I’m just a bit worried about losing them if they fall out of my ears.
The third mowing session was about 75 minutes. The mower runs longer if it’s warmer outside, and despite the lack of sun it was warmer in the afternoon than it was in the morning. It was about 3 pm when I finished, and I decided not to go for a fourth round today. I still had to prep breakfast and figure out dinner. And clean. I did water my tree before I went inside for the day.
Showering first though, since I was pretty dirty from my mowing sessions. And I brought the antler inside for safekeeping. After showering, I had a snack because I felt like my own tank was down to fumes. Then I got to work on the week’s breakfasts. Yesterday at the WinCo bulk section I’d picked up fancy raisins, dried cranberries, and dried cherries. I did two of each with my oats. I got my weekly cleaning chores done, and boiled my eggs for the week.
And then I agonized over what to do about dinner. After much deliberation, I tried out this new mac and cheese that I bought yesterday, Power Mac, with more protein and fiber. It was fine, but probably not something I’d get again. Maybe as a recovery meal after a backpacking trip. Calories-wise, the whole box is too much for a single meal, but not really enough for two meals. I ended up splitting it in half.
Instead of soups, this week’s lunches will be sandwiches. I bought deli meat and cheese, more of the killer bread, and I’ve got mayo. I’ll have that with a side of fruit and I’m good to go. I’ve got a pound of pinto beans soaking overnight. I’ll get those cooked in the morning and make rice cooker rice tomorrow night when I fry up my veggie medley. It’ll be beans, rice, and veggies for dinners this week.
The new Xero boots are working out really well. I wore them for the mowing sessions, and I found them to be light, grippy, and non-constricting. I wish I’d gotten a pair sooner, but I didn’t realize they sold the men’s boots in my size – on Amazon, they don’t, I had to go to the Xero website to order them in size 7 men’s. Worth it. These are going to be my new work boots, and I might even hike in them, though I still love my Softstar Switchbacks for backpacking. I might not get as much backpacking in this summer with the time I’m taking for family trips. I wish I could just take the summer off of work and backpack every other week. Do fly-in trips on the postal plane, and a double Queens trip with a resupply waiting in the car.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Ambrose today. Remembering him. Talking to him. Wishing he was here to share the load. He did at least half of the mowing, if not more. I wish I could snuggle up to him.
My tree’s making new leaves!
