Operation Healthy Balance

Last week I finished quilting and binding my quilt. I'm very pleased with the final result. It was definitely a labour of love. Thankfully it was only the lap-sized quilt. Here are some pics.

I had a revelation this morning when I awoke.  It was 6:00 am and I was stumbling to make myself a cup of coffee.  It was at this point I was talking myself into going for a run as soon as I could see the tiniest glimpse of daylight and then it happened.  I looked outside and the ground was covered in snow and an epiphany came to me.....I need a treadmill!!!!

Remember last week, when I said "for the upcoming week I have three tiny goals.  They are:   1) Run twice  2) Workout with Sarah twice  3) Do 3 days of pushup sets". Well 2 out of 3 ain't bad.  I did manage to workout twice with Sara and to do my 3 days of pushup sets.  My total pushups for the week was 327 which seems insane but spread out over 3 days not so much.  Didn't get any runs in....booooo! I had some weather excuses on Saturday and on Sunday I was "busy" computer tracking my friend's husband on the computer who was running his first ironman in Arizona.  Very cool to watch his interval times pop up and to see him cross the finish line (OMG 11 hours later).   I definitely have to reevaluate this running thing.  I hate cold (cold early morning runs) and I am scared of the dark (after work runs).  If I start running at 6:30 am it is almost daylight.  I could easily get 5 km in or so I think  So...tomorrow....if...

Since I haven't completed two runs in the same weeks since um....early July, this past Monday I set myself a small goal.  The goal this week was to run twice.  Didn't matter about distance or speed, just run twice.  Sometimes smaller goals work best for me because then I don't get overwhelmed and when I complete the goal it feels good.  Not great, like a bigger goal would feel like, but good nonetheless. So, my two runs consisted of a 3 km short run and a 8.5 km longer run.  Two outings complete.  Done.  The longer run was done with Alyson and as much as it was nice to have a little company, it reminded me that I really prefer to run solo (however, this may change as distances increase and I get sick of being alone).  Time will tell. In other updates, I haven't been keeping up with my "100 pushup challenge" routine but I retested myself yesterday (so I could restart) and I can now do 40 consecutive pushups.  Before, I could make it to 26....

Grandma Bryan has been gone for 6 years now and honestly I think about her everyday. All of her quilting stuff has sat untouched since her passing and after checking with the other members of the family, I've begun sorting through her glorious quilting stash. To my delight I found an entire quilt top, some completed blocks, and tons of fabric scraps. I felt like I struck it rich. I grabbed a couple of totes and headed home. My goal is to be able to make myself a quilt out of Grandma's stash. As I started to iron, fold and organize the pieces of cloth, I came up with my quilt idea. There was a quilt block that Grandma had made surrounded in light green fabric; this will be the centre of my quilt. I then found a tutorial for a starflower quilt block on Ellison Lane Quilt Blog , which I thought would be great at displaying the stash. I pieced together one of these blocks and I love the result; these star blocks will make up the rest of the quilt. I already love it!

The boys watched this truck being loaded for at least an hour. Very cute to see their excitement....almost excited as their father:)

This morning, while Larrin took the boys for some farming adventure I decided to take advantage of the alone time.  So I laced up the ol' running shoes and headed out. The last time I was running was October 10th and the last time I ran 10 km was July 28 so I wasn't expecting much.  I did however, want to run 10 km, for whatever reason I'm not sure.  Surprisingly I felt great while running and  I totally noticed that my legs and core are stronger from all of my workouts with Sarah; I was so impressed. The first couple kilometres went by so fast and easy, but then the hills of Devil's Door Road kind of kicked my butt but the burpies and mountain climbers that I have been doing at the gym helped me conquer them.  Once I got to the 7 km mark I knew that I could beat my personal best time for running 10 km.  The around the block run only resulted in 8 km so I had to run past my house to get my desired distance in; not going to lie, stopping at my house wher...

I have finally pieced all of my quilt blocks, sewed them into rows, completed the sashing and voila....here is what I have so far. Blocks from the top down: friendship star, flying geese, 4-patch, paper-pieced trees and a house, more 4-patch, more flying geese, pinwheels, and lastly a row of 9-patch and shoo fly.  I've decided to place appliqued hearts in each corner with a keyboard border connecting the hearts....sounds fancy doesn't it? I only have one more quilting class, in which I will make a "quilt sandwich" with my pieced top, batting, and the backing and then we will get to the quilting business.  It is going to be a little bittersweet to be done with my first quilting class; the instructor and all of the ladies in the class have been super nice and it feels like they are my comrades.  We all started with nothing but a bunch of fabric and big expectations and what we each ended up with is a beautiful unique creation and great new friends. I just might h...

We had another great Halloween. We did our traditional wagon ride which resulted in record numbers; I think my last tally was 29 kids, 18 adults and 25 neighbourhood stops. It was our best year yet. The day before Halloween, Lara and Erin, our neighbours and cousins, came and helped decorate the infamous wagon.  It was so neat to let them think of ways to decorate and all the kids helped with the decor.  We had goblins, spiders, bats, lots of caution tape, and even orange lights.  The kids were a huge help and let me tell you it sure beats decorating by myself:)  Here is a picture of them when they were done. As soon as the boys got off the bus from school on Halloween, they put on their costumes and waited outside for our wagon guests to arrive.  I didn't even force them to eat supper....they were too excited anyways. We ended up having lots of newcomers for the wagon ride.  It was great to have such an enthusiastic turnout.  One person br...

One of the reasons for starting to put my thoughts into a blog was to attempt to organize my brain and come up with a way to find some 'healthy balance' in my hectic life.  Well folks, I think I am getting close. In the last week, I have felt my energy levels skyrocket.  I am sure it is due to many things that have changed or been added to my life in the past couple months but seriously....I have energy and it feels great! Definitely the drop from three nursing jobs to one has made a huge impact on the balance in my life.  My brain is focusing on one set of coworkers, policies and procedures and working schedule and over the last 3 months I have released quite a bit of stress.  Plus, no nights, weekends or holidays for this girl.  Makes a huge impact on my family and I don't feel like I am letting them down anymore by not being here which equals less guilt. At home on the farm, we have started a new 'chore' rotation in that Larrin and Dad have every other ...

Where has September gone?  It seemed to fly by probably due to a number of things; boys back to school, working full-time, start of hockey season etc.  At the end of the month I usually add up my running mileage and record it.  I am a bit of a numbers, charts and graphs freak.  Well September was a bit of a low....to put it mildly. I find it so hard to believe that I did not do any running in September.  None.  Zilch.  Zero.  Well, I did run 1 km with Karson but really does that count?  But I'm not going to panic.  I am not going to say that it's because I am working five days a week or that I haven't run because the weather is getting colder, or that it gets dark too fast.  Nope, I'm not focusing on the negative.  Truth is, I accomplished a heck of a lot in September and I'm proud of it. I love my new job and I am taking on new challenges everyday.  I was promoted to be the Pandemic Planning Nurse (a task I do not tak...

What to do when your baby chicks that live in your flower garden can get out but can't get back in.  Check out my construction expertise. Sometimes I wonder about myself....

Last week was my first quilting class.  I was oddly very nervous at the start of the class.  Worried about my sewing abilities, the 'cheapness' of my Wal-Mart sewing machine, messing up my beautiful new fabric etc. etc.  The class consisted of seven women including myself; I was the youngest...go figure? There was one particular woman who sat in front of me that caught my attention.  She was so insecure and anxious which made me kind of sad.  I immediately felt the need to make her feel better so I commented how nice her fabric was and she began to talk a bit more.    She said that she used to sew when she was 'younger' but then got too busy with family and work that she hadn't sewn in quite a while.  Turns out she is a retired home-care nurse.  At one point she turned to me and said that she couldn't wait for 9 o'clock to come so she could be 'allowed' to leave.  Which got me feeling that her situation was quite sad; how could a woman...

I like to think that I am a "crafty" person and I have successfully taught myself how to sew, crochet, knit, draw and paint.  Before I was a nurse and before I had children I used to sell my wares at a local craft market with a friend.  We were mildly successful in our first year but then both of us were pregnant and well time was scarce so we stopped. A fond memory I have of my Grandmother Bryan is that she always was creating a quilting masterpiece in her living room.  I remember handing her pieces as she sewed quilting blocks and helping her roll the quilt on her quilt stand.  She was a very talented lady and I bet she made over 100 quilts in her lifetime; for weddings, anniversaries, new babies or whatever people asked for. I've tried my hand in quilting as well.  I've started piecing a "friendship quilt" and I think I managed to finish 5 blocks.  I loved sewing the fabric together to create a pattern but never really could fit my hobby into my day....

The boys said goodbye to their buddy, Lucky the Hamster last week. Chase wanted to make a grave for Lucky so as I left for work I handed this task to "Daddy".  I think he did a wonderful job.

There has been a hen sitting on eggs in my flower bed for quite a while.  Whenever we walk by her we always peek in and see if there is any hatching going on. We had just come back from visiting a neighbour and Chase checked in on our hen.  He screamed for me to come quick.  I grabbed my phone and caught this scene.  Not sure how the video will look but it shows a tiny, wet chick just hatching out of an egg. It is times like this that make me appreciate the life that I have.  Not too many people get to experience moments such as this one.  Times like these give me an extra breath of fresh air and allow me to overlook the fact that my kitchen smells like manure and that there are thousands of flies in my house on any given day. This farm has always been my safe haven and little piece of my personal country perfection.  I can still remember the feeling I had when my parents introduced me to my childhood horse.  How I could ride all over the f...

This is my fourth week of working a full-timejob; Monday to Friday, 8:30-4:30.  I know!  Sweet hours and weekends off so I'm not complaining.  I'm just struggling to fit everything in that I want to and it is only going to get worse with hockey season starting for the boys in a couple weeks.  In August I may have run 3 times and biked twice which results in me feeling mediocre. I've been trying to run/bike when I get home from work.  Unfortunately this is also the time when I should be making supper not to mention the time that Larrin usually asks me to "look at a cow", "doctor a cow", help with milking, or AI a cow.  Needless to say....not working.  I used to wait until after chores to go but for a run or bike but after working all day, cleaning up after supper and it getting darker earlier this isn't working either. Which leads me to....getting up earlier to exercise.  When I think about this I see a huge mountain and I quickly think of why ...

I've started to do pushups in an attempt to keep my arms from developing "lady wings".  A blog that I follow had this website posted a while back and I've decided to rise to the challenge. http://hundredpushups.com/ You basically do an initial test which informs you of where to start in the training.  You then do pushups 3 days of the week following the handy dandy little table.  I could do 26 pushups during my initial test so I got to start on week 3.  So in just 4 weeks I should be able to do 100 pushups without stopping. In other news, my husband laughed at me when I couldn't do 30 pushups.  I bet him he couldn't do 40 and then he proceeded to do over 50.  How's that for motivation!!

As I mentioned before, our pair of ducks, Bill and Sandra, had three ducklings.  They are super cute and growing like weeds. Bill and Sandra I think we have two boys and one girl.  There is one that is noticeably smaller than the other two so I have dubbed her the female.  We won't know for sure until they get bigger and their markings come in. Carl, Gerald, and Petunia Having ducks and chickens in the backyard has been a real educational experience for the boys.  Just the other day Arlen came out of the bathroom and proclaimed, "Mommy, I know why you don't pee standing up.  It's because you lay babies." I told him that idea was "close" and I'd explain later.  Oh boy!

I've decided to take the time and write another quick summary of what's happening in my world.  Last time it was 22 days in between blog postings and it's now only been 14 days so I'm way ahead! I was successful with my job interview and now have a permanent full time position at the health unit.  I am now a public health nurse on the communicable disease/infection control team in the department of clinical services.  Had my first day today and it went awesome.  I have a great feeling about this position because it combines both my science and nursing degrees. We went on an amazing "family vacay" (Arlen's words) to the Toronto Zoo, Blue Mountains Resort, Thursthill Farms and then Peterborough to visit more friends.  We had an awesome time and both Larrin and I felt totally relaxed.  Pictures to follow soon. Ducklings and chicks are growing strong; we haven't lost any to mysterious attacks.  While away, my awesome father caught the creature that was...

It's been a while since I've checked in and lots of exciting things have been happening.  We have had some amazingly hot weather so lots of time has been spent swimming in "Grandma's" pool or at on of the local beaches.  The boys are pretty self sufficient swimmers so it makes for some pretty relaxing times. I took a quick trip to see my best friends who had just brought home their twins.  That's their life and business so I won't write too much about that.  Just wanted to say it was great seeing them become parents and their babies are adorable. Our extracurricular activities are somewhat winding down; one more baseball game, three more soccer games and four mornings of swimming left.  Chase has started riding lessons once a week which he loves. The little backyard hobby farm has expanded with 20 new chicks.  I had assumed one hen had been a victim of a raccoon but was very excited when she suddenly showed up one morning with eleven babies.  Ano...

After a busy day of working, making supper, and taking the boys swimming, I decided to go for a "quick" run.  Well, the quick run turned into my first 10 km ever.  It came totally out of the blue.  I have my dog Abby to partially thank.  She was looking at me with sad eyes as I was leaving the house and I couldn't leave her behind.  She lasted about a km and then I was practically dragging her so I turned around then she decided to sprint home.  Great warm up Abby! Her slower pace saved my energy for later.  I ran down my driveway, dropped off a relieved dog, and ran back on course.  I figured I should at least run 6 km to make up for Abby's slow pace.  Then I thought maybe I'll just slowly run for an hour since I had never run for a whole hour before.  At the hour mark I was close to 9 km so I thought I should at least go for that distance.  Then I was close to 10 km that I couldn't resist. And bam.  All of a sudden, I had...

Allow me to recap July 1st, 2011. 0600 am-Wake up call by hubby.  Down cow at the barn.  After IV therapy she got up.  Definitely a bonus when they get up. 0700 am-Loaded boys in van and off to the local Canada Day Run 0730 am-Race registration for the boys 0800 am-All three boys ran in the 1K event.  They all managed to run the whole way and were quite pleased with themselves. 0830 am-After much deliberation and mild coaxing from my internal self and supportive friends, I registered for the 5K event. 0900 am-Started 5K race. 0929 am-Finished 5K race.  Yep that's right.  Achieved my goal of running a 5K race in under 30 minutes.  Unofficial time 29m20s.  Felt great! 1100 am-I was tired out from the early start and morning events so I thought we would go home, have lunch and then I could catch a nap. Other plans prevailed.... 0130 pm-Haying.  Larrin worked in the hay mow while I unloaded 3 loads of hay.  All three boys wer...

Please entertain my venting..... I have a "friend" that has applied for a new position at her work.  She heard through the grapevine that she was the only person that applied but the powers that be think she is unqualified for the position.  She also heard through the grapevine that she was granted an interview to "eliminate her" from the competition and then the job can be reposted for other applicants.  Also note that there is a union in place so the 'powers' would have to deem her unfit in order to be able to give the position to someone else.  Unbelievable? No.  Going to prove everyone wrong?  Absolutely.   And yes.  This is another "ALRIGHT" or "IT'S ON" moment.  

I admit that there are times when I say to myself, "You are so not a runner, why are you even doing this?"  I refer to this as negative self-talk and it does creep up on me every once and a while.  If I let "it" win then it results in me making excuses to not go for a run but when I don't let it win I feel empowered.  By overcoming the negative I then win and it results in a great feeling.   I have NEVER finished a run (no matter how painful or horrible I felt) and regretted it.  That's got to say something.  And for those who don't understand, well....you'll have to start running if you want to figure it out.

After months of running without stretching (very bad thing to do) accompanied by a lot of time spent at my desk at work, I have developed some tight, inflexible hamstrings.  To counteract this I remind myself at work to attempt to fit some walks outside or around the building into my daily routine.  I also do dynamic stretching pre-activity and static stretching post-activity and of course I am noticing dramatic changes in my flexibility. While on my cruise vacation the trainer at the gym showed me this awesome hamstring stretch and I thought I would share.  You need a towel and a comfy spot to lie on your back.  Assume this position... A variation is to keep the non-stretched leg bent but I prefer it lying flat.  As well, using your hands twist the towel onto itself and use your two hands to "walk" up the towel towards your ankle while pulling your head and shoulders off the ground.  Remember to try not to bounce and the goal is to achieve a slow and ...

I had a great run tonight.  The whole run I focused on my posture and keeping my abs (I know, even I find it hard to believe I have them) "engaged". I tried to start off slower since I always start too fast and it all seemed to make a difference.  I had to stop myself at 7.1 km because I didn't want to risk injury but I seriously could have kept going.  What a great feeling?  Guess the pain of my last agonizing run paid off. 7.1 km in 46:32 avg speed 6:33min/km

Karson was filled with pride when he arrived home from school.  Today was the day he finished his "marathon" and was congratulated with a t-shirt from his running coach at school.  He was tickled pink and beaming at his accomplishment. "Nice dimples" As mentioned before in a previous blog post, o ne of the teacher's at the school organized a running group.  Each child in the running group had a goal of completing a "marathon" by running one kilometre each day for 42 days.  Due to rainy weather it actually took longer than 42 days but nonetheless it was completed resulting in a kid filled with confidence and a huge sense of achievement. It should be noted that other kids initiated the marathon but stopped for whatever reason.  These kids were still verbally recognized for trying and encouraged to attempt the marathon again next year.   I am thankful for our little school and the great teachers and role models that are found there.  What a great...

I have had a very busy week so far.  Two days of regular, normal work at the health unit, a day to prepare a letter to disagree with a GST/HST audit for the farm, teaching a night prenatal class, and facilitating a two-day in-service for my colleagues on Promoting Maternal Mental Health.  To go along with this, a night of coaching my sons' baseball team and a weekend ahead of working nights. This morning when I was trying to rush out the door I was very mean to my boys.  It was not their fault I was late but I blamed them anyways.  I knew I was wrong as soon as I said the words and am sorry for the burden that I placed on them.  When they get home from school I will explain my actions and apologize.  At times like this, I tell myself it is time to regroup and do better. I have an extremely bad track record for piling my plate too full.  As part of my strive for healthy balance, I vow to never do this again.  I have learned that I can't do it a...

Ran 6 km for the first time ever tonight.  Felt horrible but "no pain no gain".  Kept an even pace throughout running 6:53 min/km.  My hope is that eventually running 6 km will be as easy as running 2 km now.  Until then I will keep plugging away.

I have to admit that I am usually the person around here that advocates for setting caught animal pests free but my cage has been rattled one too many times.  Something has killed my female duck and her eight ducklings, a hen and her chick, two other hens and one rooster.  My neighbour has now lost 9 laying hens; six were killed in last night.  That being said....no more Mr. Nice Guy....IT'S ON! Larrin has successfully caught and disposed of 3 raccoons in the barn but I'm not convinced they were the culprits of my raids.  They were definitely not responsible for the neighbours losses because the remains that were left resemble the work of a weasel of fischer; seemingly untouched dead chickens.  My culprit takes the kills somewhere else because there is no trace of anything.  Not even feathers or blood. Today I plotted and prepared.  Chicken coop reinforced so there are no small crevices for predators to get in.  A night camera was borrowed and...

As follow up to yesterday's blog post. 1) Umbrah the cow is better.  She is up and her left abomasum is no longer displaced thanks to two vet calls.  We had her recuperating outside for a bit but moved her back into the barn where the temperature is more tolerable for her.  She is eating and drinking so those are great signs. 2) Two day health promotion training is complete.  During mingling at lunch I learned that there is a permanent full-time position in Communicable Disease coming up.  A permanent job where I can accrue pension....wow.  Cross your fingers on that one;)  Turns out the job with the school team is not available just yet but that's okay. 3) Antibiotics were retrieved from pharmacy at 8pm last night.  Starting to feel better. 4) Boys baseball game was awesome.  All players hit the ball and we even had outs at first and second base.  Chase pitched and the team got 3 outs in 4 batters.  Karson learned to not sw...

It's definitely going to be "one of those days" where I am pulled in all different directions and many story lines are developing.  Here's a snapshot of what I have to look forward to for my Thursday. #1 Home-"Down Cow" Umbrah (Very Good 85 by the way) has hypocalcemia and a left displaced abomasum (Larrin and I's diagnosis).  Intravenous calcium and dextrose was given this morning at 530 am but she has yet to get up.  Her front leg muscles are twitching which makes me think she needs more calcium.  Intradermal calcium was given for slower absorption and hopefully she will get up but a message was left for our herd veterinarian because even if she does get up we will need him to fix the 'twisted stomach'.  This will be done at some point today. (note to self, call home and check on cow and Larrin) #2 Work-Skills for Health Promotion Workshop This 2-day workshop starts today at work and it would be very valuable to my public health career.  ...

Just take a look at the picture.  Either Larrin needs longer arms or his wife needs to take care of him a bit better.  This is what happens when I'm not around:) I just want everyone to know that SPF 60 was applied before I left for work today.

The last few weeks have been hard to swallow on the home front.  Our precious baby duckling passed away and Karina our 'prize' cow's fate was determined with a negative pregnancy check.  And of course,  too many consecutive days of rain halted the progress of crop planting.  I do realize that things could be a lot worse and believe me Larrin and I tell each other that on a regular basis; it reminds us that 'such is life' and our problems are quite small in comparison to other peoples' in this world. Over the years Larrin and I have tried to anticipate the good when things are not quite going our way.  When we are on the down swing of our life rollercoaster I always try to look to the future weeks and imagine how good they will be.  And well, my dreams have come true and a good week is upon us. Yesterday on my morning trek to feed my 'hobby' animals, I found this. Eight beautiful, healthy ducklings.  Their proud 'mama' was keeping close watc...

To clarify, I didn't completely partake in "Ottawa Race Weekend" but I did have an "Ottawa Race Couple of Hours".  Larrin, Chase, Karson, Arlen and I arrived in Ottawa around 4 pm.  The 5K race was scheduled for 5 pm so we had plenty of time to park, find a Tim Horton's, search for a post-race meeting point, and for me to find my starting coral. I had watched the starts of previous Ottawa 5K races on the internet so I was prepared for the drones on people lining up to race.  Everything was going as planned until I realized I totally miscalculated the number of people that would outright lie on their registration form.  During registration, runners had to report their expected finishing times.  I had placed myself in the 35-40 minute category because at the time of registering that was pretty much what I was running.  So I was standing in my self-assigned coral and looking around I could tell that I should have moved myself up a coral or maybe even two. ...

This time when I took the boys to get their haircuts, I thought it would be a good lesson for them to have the responsibility of telling the hairdresser how to cut their hair.  While waiting I gave instructions to ask the hairdresser for "a number 3 on the sides and blend in the top".  Everyone agreed with rolling eyes as to say "yeah, whatever Mom". Chase got called first.  He politely stated "a number 3 on the sides and blend in the top".  I sat as the proud mother whose child is taking one more step towards independence (I know it is a stretch but that's how I felt).  He was so polite and respectful.  I love that about Chase. Karson then got called and repeated, "a number 3 on the sides and blend in the top".  Again I sat with pride and of course Karson was elated that he too had remembered my instructions and was able to pass them on by himself.  He looked at me for approval and I gave him a smile and a wink.  I love how Kar...

Four days until I run my first official 5K race.  Since February I have been plotting training regimes and tracking distances and times.  I have gradually improved my running technique and speed as evidenced by the following: February PB 38:22, fastest km 7:09 March  PB 35:58, fastest km 6:02 April  PB 30:51, fastest km 5:24 May PB 29:49, fastest km 5:39 My goal for the Ottawa 5K was to run it in under 30 minutes.  I thought I was well on my way to accomplish this but my right hamstring may have other plans.  Turns out that in all my time dedicated to planning and plotting training I purposely overlooked a very important piece of the training puzzle.  I know it sounds silly but I haven't been warming up, cooling down or even stretching for that matter.  I know.  Dumb move. Anyways, probably for my last 3-4 runs, my right hamstring begins screaming at me to stop at the 3 km mark.  My last run was on Saturday and I could not complet...

Haven't took the time to write anything lately.  Usually means, I've gone into hiding.  This phenomenon always happens when I am feeling the walls closing in; when life is a bit overwhelming and I have too much on my mind.  Sitting down with my thoughts is therapeutic but I "fight" it for some reason. So what's going on?  Rain, rain, rain and I leave for a one week Alaskan vacation with my mother in 14 days.  Before my departure I wanted life here to be somewhat organized for those that I am leaving behind.  The biggest obstacle to organization is crop planting.  It was my dream that the crop planting would be well on its way to completion and well....not even close. To put it into perspective, we usually plant approximately 265 acres of barley, corn and soybeans.  Currently there is 55 acres planted.  Barley is done, with 35 acres planted.  I guess you can say corn is started with 20 of the 165 acres in.  And the 70 acres of so...

With Mother's Day around the corner the boys are busy making treasures at school to give to glorious me.  So here is the latest..... "Your the best mom I ever had" Okay seriously, I know what he means.  I told him that he is the best middle son that I ever had.  He said "I know".  Glad we cleared that up.

"The only kind of chicken I like is ham." Alright then....

I was busy with appointments and errands all morning and when I finally had time to go for my scheduled 5 km run, it was raining.  Not pouring but a steady rain.  I talked myself into just going for 3 km. I decided to head out facing the rain so that it would be at my back on my way home.  The first km it felt like I couldn't get into a running rhythm and it was pure torture.  Much to my surprise I looked at my timer and I had run the first km in 5:55 min.  Usually my 1 km lap times are around the 6:20 min mark so I was surprised I was under this benchmark because my body was not in it's groove. By the second km the rain had soaked through my three layers and I am sure I resembled a drowned rat.  It felt like vehicles passing by were looking at me like I was nuts but I plugged on.  I finished the second km in 6:26 min, my body felt more coordinated.  My mind also changed its tune and instead of focusing on the rain and how bad I felt, I began ...

"Mommy!  We should just eat lunch when we eat breakfast so we don't have to do it later." Hmm.....

Among my menagerie of animals is a pair of muscovy ducks.  This spring the female started laying eggs in the chicken coop.  Once my hens saw this mound of eggs they couldn't help themselves but to "brood" on the nest.  It's very interesting how hens are mesmerized by these tiny oval creations; natural instincts and mother nature truly are remarkable.  The female duck began to lay eggs somewhere else so I decided to let the hen "adopt" the nest and just see what happened. Everyday I would gently kick the old hen off the eggs and collect any new chicken eggs that were laid.  Well today I went out and found this...... I tried to put the little creature back under the hen but she wanted no part of it and even started pecking the poor little thing.   I've heard that hens will go as far as kill deformed chicks so maybe this was also the hen's uncontrollable instinct. The duckling was probably only a few hours old and would die if left outside so obvi...