I got up a bit before the 5:30 alarm and did some relaxation in bed before it went off. I had a lot planned today, so I didn’t linger in bed. I got right into the morning routine, brushing my teeth and doing my eye drops. Then I did the next workout for Back & Core level 3. I knew I wanted to get that done and out of the way early so I wouldn’t have to think about trying to fit it in later.
Then I had breakfast and got myself going to the trailhead. On the way, I saw a small cow on the side of the road. I slowed down, and then stopped. A good thing that I did, because the cow decided to cross the road and I could have hit it if I’d kept going, even at a slow speed.
I decided to walk out two miles and then come back. That would let me get a good hike in without taking up too much of the day. The sun wasn’t shining on the trail when I started. It felt really cold. I started the hike wearing my down jacket, and kept it on for a good thirty minutes.
At my first break, a squirrel chittered at me. I must have been disturbing its peace.
My phone app told me that I’d done two miles earlier than I expected. I kept on hiking until I got to the junction, and then I turned around. At my second break, I had some lemon cheesecake flavored Frooze Balls, and it made me think about how lemon was Ambrose’s favorite flavor. I cried. It was good to cry out in the woods. To let the emotions go out there on the trail.
I got home around noon. I showered, prepared and ate lunch, and found that I had enough time to prepare my next batch of quick pickles. This time, I used the mandolin to cut the pickles instead of chopping them. I tried the 1/16 setting, but that was too thin. 1/8 was nice though. I chopped up the two cucumbers that I’d gotten from my friend, and I prepared two jars of brine. One with rice wine vinegar and one with white. I’ll see which one I like better.
Yesterday, after I got all my tools moved, I looked up ways to get rust off of tools. After being mostly left out all summer, most of my tools had rust. The simplest remedy that I found was to soak the rusty part overnight in a mixture of water, vinegar, and salt. I didn’t have quite enough salt, but I used what I had and it really did the trick. After the soak, the rust came right off my pick adze with steel wool. I’m going to have to get some more salt and make up a bigger batch for the shovels.
I got out to the transfer station. In addition to the small amount of garbage that had built up over the week, I had the large box that the shed came in and the cover that I bought for the trike last year. It really didn’t keep water off the trike, and it had gotten pretty torn up by the wind. I’m glad to have the trike inside a structure now. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, so I guess I’ll see how well it holds up to water.
Then it was time for my massage. I walked over to my neighbor’s at about 5 to 3, taking a jacket for the walk home and the 6 remaining cornflake treats to offer for dessert. I hadn’t seen the inside of the she shed since it was finished, and it is a very nice space for massage.
I really appreciated the human contact in addition to the soothing action of the massage itself. Being touched. And she used some warm towels, which was nice heat and nice texture.
Then we went over to the main house for lasagna and salad. And then a few rounds of cards, some cribbage and some rummy. I did not do well at cribbage, but I won a couple hands of rummy. It was a nice evening overall, though I did start to develop a migraine after dinner. I’ve been getting them more frequently this month, and I absolutely blame my eyes. It isn’t easy on me to have one eye with the wrong prescription.
I went ahead and took the medication when I got home, hoping to get rid of it overnight, but it still hasn’t started working. It feels like a migraine, but it’s not responding to the med. I haven’t had that happen before. Hopefully it will work overnight. I’ve got a story to write in the morning.
