Recreation — Page 66 — You are in My World Now

Raise your activity level and lose some pounds

January 13, 2008 by Tricia

I was saying on my other blog that I’ve lost some weight in the last two months. Ever since we got our puppy in November my activity level has gone way up and that’s resulted in me losing a few extra pounds.

Since I hadn’t been all that active prior to getting the puppy I’d gained some weight. Also, being on steroids didn’t help either! That’s the trouble with having a chronic illness, Crohns, you can’t do much when you feel lousy! But when you have a puppy you have to go out no matter how bad you feel.

I’ve never been a big eater. In fact, in the last year I generally only finish half or less of my meal when we go out to a restaurant and obviously my portions at home have gotten a lot smaller. So food was never the problem. Lack of activity was! I can’t eat that much because of the Crohn’s either. Rice, boiled or broiled chicken, baked fish, some steamed veggies and nutritional supplements tend to make up 90% or more of my regular diet.

I’d say another month of going on several daily walks with my puppy and I’ll be back to my normal weight or better.

Have you set any goals to become more active or get in better shape this year? If so, what are you doing to achieve your goal?

It feels like Spring around here

January 12, 2008 by Tricia

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This weeks theme is Skinny

The weather’s been fairly nice hear in Toronto over the last week or so. We had a bit of a warm spell. Of course this was right after a major freeze so it was quite welcome!

The weathers been warm enough that on some days it felt downright spring like! So I guess it’s only fitting that I decided to post a photo of a lovely spring flower called Chionodoxa.

You can purchase Chionodoxa in most stores that sell spring bulbs. They come in white, pink and blue. Of course the blue – as seen above – is really more of a pale purple or mauve.

These flowers bloom in the late spring in clusters. I love seeing their masses of skinny petaled blooms each year. I think the flowers last about three weeks before the flowers and the plant begin to die down as the heat of summer begins to arrive.

I think it’s time to get a new car

January 12, 2008 by Tricia

I think that sometime in the Spring my husband and I might start looking for a new car. We’ve got a 1996 Ford Contour that we bought used in 1999. I guess our car is getting kind of old huh? It still looks good and runs fairly well though. I am however tired of the doors sticking together in the winter due to moisture and the power window motors failing!

Before the car starts having major problems due to it’s age we might as well start figuring out what kind of car we want to replace it with right?

I’m kind of partial to Smart Cars and the Prius. Anything that’s economical to drive, conserves energy and is good for the environment. Chris likes both of those cars too. In fact, if we got a smart car it would fit perfectly in our tiny tiny driveway too! We’d never ever get an SUV. It’s just the two of us and we have no need for a big gas guzzler like that. I see way too many people driving big vehicles and they’re all by themselves in the car. What a waste.

If we could each have the car of our dreams I’d get a Porche and my husband would either get a Ferrari or a Corvette. He’s actually been admiring some of the new Corvettes lately. He even visited a page with Corvette history for the years of 1997 up to 2007. The site has all the information about the last decade of Corvettes that you’d ever want to know from the color of the paint used each year to the VIN numbers. I looked at the site to see how the Corvette has changed over the years. Don’t tell my husband but I kind of like Corvettes as well. I’m not sure they’re that practical for a home that doesn’t have a garage to keep the car in, in the winter though!

Maybe if we come into some money we’ll get the cars of our dreams, but for now I think we just need to replace our current car with something practical. I’ve no idea what kind of car we’ll end up buying but I’m certain we’ll have a new car by summer.

Any suggestions?

A perennial geranium

January 6, 2008 by Tricia

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This is a delicate Johnson’s Blue Geranium. The flowers are very small at only about an inch in diameter and it’s petals are iridescent.

This perennial geranium blooms two or three times each year.

I took this photo at the beginning of October when the plant was near the end of it’s last flowering of the year.

It’s a very nice companion plant. I grow it beside heurchera, astilbe and some roses.

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Delicious Pollen

January 5, 2008 by Tricia

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This weeks theme is Delicious

I’m pretty sure this gentle Bumble Bee found the pollen that it was collecting from my New York Asters to be delicious. Actually on the day that I took the photo, October 1st, there were several bumble bees milling around the Asters and other flowering plants. Perhaps dozens!

They didn’t mind me getting close to take some photos. They were set on their business of collecting perhaps some of the last flower pollen of the year before it began to cool down here. Good thing too because winter came early to this part of the world!

I hope that all of my visitors are enjoying the new year and I wish you all health and happiness!