Wednesday, Heat Index, No List, Crows

I have an appointment in Orlando this AM, so my list for today will be brief.  Also, it is going to be too hot to do much of anything outside. 

There were a couple of things that did not get accomplished yesterday, I just ran out of steam.  I will add those to tomorrow's list and see how it goes. 

I decided against making strawberry syrup from the tops of the strawberries.  I have plenty of strawberry freezer jam for a very long time.  Hubs tried it last night and thought it was SUPER SWEET ( it is) and made a face and added in a Yuck for effect.  

Whatever. I still like it and it looks like I will be the only one enjoying it. A little bit at a time because it is so sweet lol. 

It's the second day of Amazon Prime days, I really have not found anything I cannot live without. I do need to order more sneakers for myself and I will do that later today.  There was something else but I can't remember it right now.  

The crows came in to eat this morning.  They typically come in a group of four. The mockingbirds are still mad at them and try to attack them.  

The bird in the middle is the mockingbird buzzing by the crows. 

Not much else.  Time to hit the road and head south. 

Crows, Bad Back, and Back to the Gym

 The crows are still visiting and let me know when they are here in the morning.  It can be a bit noisy 
depending on the number.  I dutifully throw out peanuts every morning and watch them search out the nuts and take turns jumping onto and sometimes into the birdbath.

Our mower died, so June was officially "No Mow June".  In the past, this would have driven me crazy.  A messy ill-kept yard was just me.  This probably goes back to growing up in a military family where everything had to be just so.  High and tight. No room for exceptions. 

As it turns out, having grass that was a little scruffy for over a month did not bother me at all this time. It was out of my control and overall it really did not look that bad. Eventually, the mower was fixed and I was able to mow the yard on July 4th.  I sure hope that the repair holds out.  I am just not prepared to buy a new riding lawn mower at this time.  They are darn pricey. 

The hubs has been suffering with an injured back.  It came on suddenly, and the pain was debilitating. He saw his primary doc and was given muscle relaxers, pain meds, and anti-inflammatories. He was using my walker from previous knee replacement surgeries to get around the house and had to sleep in his recliner for at least a week.  An MRI revealed that he is suffering from a pinched nerve with disc compression in two of his lumbar discs. The report offers significantly more detail, but in a nutshell that is what he has to deal with for now. 

He has been on leave from work for two weeks, and may not be back to work for several more weeks.  Right now he is waiting to get in to see a pain management doc to see about pain management and whatever else they can do for him. He is able to get around much better right now, but there are still times when he needs to sit down and take a break.  Today he goes in for his colonoscopy (history of polyps) and Thursday he sees another doc about elevated PSA (prostate-specific antigen). Definitely a busy week for him. 

arriving at the gym at 6AM

I have been going back to the gym at least two days a week, with a goal of three times a week. This is
week three, so there has been continuity to this effort.  I will ride the recumbent bike for 15 minutes ( to keep my knees flexible) and then work out the upper body one day and then the lower body the next day.  I use the machines they have in the gym to accomplish the workouts but I would like to look into using more free weights.  I have also added walking a mile or so three times a week.  I definitely can walk more, but it is so dang hot and humid this time of year. 

Three weeks ago, I saw my doctor's Nurse Practioner regarding weight-loss help.  She put me on metformin to help with appetite control and weight loss.  She wanted to put me on Ozempric but insurance will not cover it for weight loss, only if I had diabetes, which is not the case. The metformin is helpful and I have been able to cut back and I am tracking calories. The NP and I have come to the conclusion that I am insulin resistant and that has contributed to my weight gain.  I go back and see her in a couple of weeks. 

June has been exceptionally hot this year where we are. The AC seems to be running nonstop. How is it where you are?  

Tuesday with Endodontist

Tuesday morning chores included watering the front bed that is being filled with the rescue plants from

The crows before the mockingbirds showed up

Lowes.  They are perennial and will hopefully come back year after year. I was only able to plant one plant in the bed, and I still have at least 5 more rescue plants to place in our yard. 

I fed the crows their morning peanuts. The mockingbirds are here as well and they are antagonizing the crows. I suspect that there are mockingbird nests in our trees and they are protecting their babies.  

The mockingbirds are determined and fierce. Divebombing and chasing the crows, but the crows are standing their ground.

I scrubbed and washed out the trash cans.  They were full of flies from rotten freezer meat that I had thrown out when both fridges died. We are so grateful that the trash was picked up today and that we did not have to wait until next week. That would have been awful.  

I have 5 eBay orders to pack up and I am committed to listing at least 4 items a day to keep the eBay algorithm happy.  So far so good,

The endodontist appt was a follow-up to a root canal on a tooth that had a crown but was severely infected.  The endo did the root canal two weeks ago but said I had to return for an apical surgery procedure.  

The infection needed to be cleaned out through the gum.  Anxiety was high but this guy is so darn good!  He is quick and effective.  The procedure took about 15 min and I go back in a week to have the sutures removed. I am so happy that this tooth will be saved.  Fingers crossed. 

Dinner was crockpot ravioli. Easy and tastes pretty good.  When I buy hamburger, I brown up a couple pounds and freeze it in smaller quantities.  This way I can defrost what I need quickly prepare a meal.  I pick up the frozen ravioli when it is BOGO at Publix.  

We are starting a new project.  Remodeling our master bathroom.  This project was initiated about a month and a half ago.  It was interrupted by the repipe of the whole house due to a home inspection to get new homeowners insurance.  We just had the repipe inspected by the county, and now we can move forward on the bathroom remodel.   Do you see all that money just flying out the door? Repipe, new fridge, and bathroom remodel. Well, it could always be worse!