Author Archives: Lori

Weekend mish-mash

The weekend started around here with taking Pixie to the vet on Friday. She was feeling poorly for the week and had tummy issues, which doesn’t happen much with indoor cats. However, we did take her out on her harness last week and she ate a lot of greenery. She loves being out in her harness:

The vet thinks she may have ingested a tiny mushroom since it has been so rainy around here lately. Any way, with being off her food, diarrhea and vomiting more – hairballs being pretty common – Pixie got put on antibiotics  and probiotics. Did you know they make special probiotics just for cats?

She is definitely feeling better now and eating her food.  We are waiting on a stool culture result just to make sure she didn’t ingest a parasite (ewww).

Unfortunately, there was no true cupcake ride this weekend. Saturday it kept raining on and off, which makes it too hard to go a long distance. Unless we wanted to ride in the rain, which I don’t LOL. We actually did end up having cupcakes anyway. We were down in Albany and stopped in at the new Rivers casino down there.

It’s quite nice, really, if on the small side. John has a players points card with a lot of points on it, so we got free food at the bakery, which is the reason we stopped in there! I should have taken a picture. Not sure why I didn’t, probably because I was overwhelmed with the sugar. It was a big cupcake and one that would really be only for a 40-mile ride.

My appetite still seems all over the place. I had gained a little from my Ireland weight last fall, then I took off a few pounds and then last week I was just eating too much. I generally ride 80-90 miles a week, plus walking, which is really a lot of activity. With that comes the boomerang effect of the appetite. It’s kind of hard to actually lose weight over the summer months, although I did that last year. It’s also a challenge not to gain – but when is that ever not a challenge for me 😀  I note that last summer, I actually cut down how much I normally exercise because I wanted to take off some weight.  It’s just hard not to be super active when our warm weather outdoor season is kind of short.

On the track of warm weather, I found this little guy/gal in the yard yesterday:

I think it’s a cicada and I’ve never seen one up this close. I know we have them around here, but I’ve just never seen one.

It was flailing around upside down and when I touched it with my glove, it just grabbed on and sat on my hand. I put in in a potted plant on the patio.  I had no idea that there were so many species of cicada and they do come out every 17 years, but with so many species every year has them – just not always in huge numbers.

Speaking of patio, we are certainly enjoying Radiance Falls, which we installed last year.

We need to cover it over the winter as the cedar trees left a ton of junk in it that was  a pain to clean out. We removed the pump over the winter just to keep it safe. It looks a little more naturalized this year. I have a few planting around it, but not much. It’s a tough spot for growing with dry shade.

It’s another busy week coming up. Hope you all had a great weekend!

What’s Blooming!

Welcome Friday! This was a weird week. It was like we had two Mondays (I worked Monday) and now I don’t even know what day it feels like today. 😀

Lots of stuff going on in the gardens right now. This is Liatris.

Also called Gayfeather. It comes in white and purple. This purple one is named Kobold, which always reminds me of my old Dungeons & Dragons days many eons ago. Not that I want to show my age or anything…

Balloon flowers:

It does look like a hot air balloon festival, doesn’t it? I have one white and two blues. The white one isn’t even close to blooming yet and it’s right next to these two. Go figure.

Closed:

Open – same flower the next morning:

They are just so much fun!

This is Supreme Cantaloupe coneflower:

It’s not quite as robust as last year. I moved it last fall and I’m not sure it was really happy about that. Hopefully it adapts better.

The Cheyenne Spirit coneflowers are going gangbusters:

I love all the different colors from the same plant. These are putting out a ton of baby plants, too. I’m going to let some grow and see if they look like the parent plant or not. Many times seedlings don’t look like the parent, so it could be interesting.

Speaking of seedlings, I had a Jacob’s ladder plant last year and it didn’t survive the winter. However, I notice that I have probably 6 baby plants!

I’m hoping that since these self-seeded they will have a better chance at making it through the winter.

I picked up some more Astilbe to fill in the shade bed:

Here are some that I planted a couple years ago:

For some reason, they aren’t very bushy. They grow very low to the ground and send up a couple of flower spikes.

Another view of my shade  bed:

This is a fun surprise plant:

In the summer of 2015, I bought some lily bulbs from a big box store. They were supposed to bloom that summer. Well, nothing came up at all, so I planted around them with other stuff. In fact, I kind of forgot where they were. Well, 2 years later and now they came up and bloomed. Right by my Baptisia and irises. 😀

Here are the tall old-fashioned daylilies:

Just to the left where the red flowers are is my neighbor’s yard. Our garden borders define the property since the fence came down.

For the pollinators, Butterfly weed:

Here is Audrey all grown up:

Doesn’t quite look so monstrous now. Interesting shape, too. That’s a Shasta daisy.

Closeup of a normal bloom:

This drumstick Allium isn’t quite blooming, but I thought it looked really cool like this:

Garden is in full swing here at Radiance Manor!

Here’s hoping for a good cupcake ride this weekend. The weather should cooperate, hopefully!

Snippet of Lake George

One thing about living in our area is that during the warmer months, there is sooooo much going on. You could do some sort of event pretty much every night if you wanted.

Each Wednesday night now through August is music at Lake George. These are free evening concerts held outside.

We took the trolley from near our house to the lake. That way we didn’t have to find parking and deal with the tourist traffic.  It costs $1 each way, which is really a bargain I think. It also gives us a chance to see a route different than what we see on our bikes.

Here are shots of our gorgeous lake:

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These are a new thing. You can rent this little tiki bar and take it out onto the lake.

The concert was Latin jazz this week.

It’s a nice venue. Very informal and you just sit wherever you find a spot or put your chair. I felt a little sorry for the band at the start because the sun was coming in at an angle right in their faces!

After listening to music, we walked around being a little touristy and checked out shops. I also admired the landscaping work done by the village. They do a good job.

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All the rain we have had lately and things are just so lush.

Sunset on the lake and time to take the trolley back home!

We are very fortunate to have such beauty around us.

 

What’s Blooming!

Happy What’s Blooming Day everyone!  I have some before and after shots I’ll post at the end, but first the new stuff.

Petunias in the tippy pots:

I really love the color of these. I took this picture near dusk, which really accentuates the color of them.

Snapdragons a poppin’:

Again, those are all babies from what I planted in 2015. I’m actually going to have to thin some.  Maybe I will try transplanting them. I don’t know how well they take to transplanting. I guess I have enough to give it a try 😀

My agastache are blooming:

These were ones I bought in the spring. I don’t know why I have such bad luck with these. They are supposed to be perennials through zone 5, so they should live, but I’ve tried twice now and they won’t over winter. I’m just going to have to treat them as annuals. I do love them.

Another allium:

I can’t remember the name of this one and I’m too lazy to look in my garden folder to see what it is. It’s about 6 inches tall. I planted about 10 of these, but only 2 bloomed. They were itty bitty bulbs, too.

The Star of Persia allium:

The dried heads look like 4th of July sparklers, don’t they?

My shade bed is plunking along slowly. I bought some $2 clearance astilbe last year and they look pretty good now:

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I have some other astilbe as well. I don’t seem to have the luck with them that I had at our old house, where they put on quite a show. I’ll give all of them more time. Patience is hard…

My spilled bucket plants:

I hope these fill in more. Last year I did impatiens, but I wanted to try something different. These won’t flower. They are just foliage annuals, which again I can’t remember the name of. What kind of gardener am I?

I’m pleased that my baby Joe pye weed is coming on strong:

It woke really late and I actually thought it might have died, but it is pretty happy now. It’s almost 4 feet tall and it shouldn’t get much taller like the wild Joe pye does.

Remember Audrey from last week? She has bigger teeth:

I’m just so amused by this bud. Doesn’t take much, really.

Now for some before and afters of the front beds. This was taken in the summer of 2014 when we got the house:

Can you say overgrown? I can and remember digging all that out (John, too).  We kept nothing from that bed. This is that section now:

Just a little different. I would say in 2 years this will be nice and mature.

This is the other side:

We didn’t do anything with this until last year, so it is pretty bare now, but certainly a lot cleaner looking!

We kept one rhododendron out of all of that. Then put in the path. This side will take another 3 or 4 years to really be mature, but it’s coming along very well.

The house went from abandoned to loved — and loved very much!

Thursday things

I’ve been trying to pull together a post, but my blog thoughts are about as scattered as the rest of my thoughts, so here are some of those random things.

-Why do people use “continue reading” for their blogs still? I’m having trouble keeping up with blogs and personal social media as it is. There is a reason I have a blog reader – so I can read the blogs! I’m not clicking and going to a site to read the rest. Sorry. Not sorry.

– Baby bunnies are the cutest things ever. I hate the damage they do to my garden and I yell “Stay out of my garden!!” and then “But you are so cute!” I’m a sucker.

– Misogyny masquerading as a compliment is still misogyny.

-I have always hated hashtags. For whatever reason, they annoy me to no end. With growing our business social media accounts, I  have had to use them. Kicking and screaming I’m being forced to use hashtags.  And of course it’s working in growing the accounts (which annoys me). Still not doing Snapchat, though.

-I wrote my first word of Portuguese. A customer sent an email that said “Gostei muito dos produtos !!” , which I thought was Spanish until I tried translating it. Turns out it is Portuguese. It says “I really like your products”. So using babelfish, I translated “thank you”, which should be “Obrigado”. That’s what I wrote them, so I hope it’s correct! 

-Allowing others to help me is really difficult. I’m so independent that I really struggle with not doing things. With my shoulder issues, pulling on the lawnmower cord is a big no-no. I really hate the fact that when I want to mow the lawn (we alternate), I have to ask John to come and start it for me. It’s for my own good, but the stubborn independent in me is having a hard time accepting that.

Maybe all this stuff in my head is from insomnia, which has come into active phase again.

That’s when I start contemplating stuff like this:

 

Lots of stuff rolling around the noggin 😀  Good thing tomorrow is a garden post!

Graduations and the lake

All the area schools had their graduations this weekend. School officially out!  My niece graduated high school from Saratoga.

I think there were about 500 students graduating. That made for a loooong ceremony LOL!  My niece getting her diploma!

She is off to college this fall and going to my alma mater! SUNY Potsdam. I went to Crane school of music there. Logan is going to be a biology teacher.

There was a nice little party afterwards. We picked up some cute cookies to bring:

Very proud of Logan and hope she loves college as much as I did!

With everything that has been going on and poorly timed weather, it’s been a couple of days without biking. Lots of walking, but it’s not the same 😀

Sunday was picture perfect. Sunny, not too hot and no humidity. Our ride this morning took us to Lake George. I know I post a lot of pictures of the lake, but it just is so beautiful.

The only problem is no swimming right now at the beaches because of E. coli in the water, which is usually the result of too many ducks and geese on the lake. Looks pretty inviting, though!

I do so love this area. Never get tired of this view.

We have missed our cupcake ride lately. Hopefully we can get one in soon!

What’s Blooming!

Yay Friday. It’s been a tiring week. Shortly after posting this, we will be walking downtown for our Friday night beer, which is most needed.

With all the rain that has been coming, green abounds. This is more of the Fair Bianca:

I caught those blooms a little late. There are plenty more buds, though.

New hardscape:

The house across the street from my parents put two of these planters out at their curb. I asked my folks to fetch them and they would be my birthday present 😀  Turns out these are dang heavy! I think they have to weigh about 50# each. One had some pieces crack off during transfer, but I used epoxy to put them back. I’m not quite sure where these are going to go, but hey – free!

My multicolored snapdragons:

The colors are different every year. This is my favorite one so far:

The front bed is a sweet spot for the snaps. I’ve never had so many babies!

I’m still enjoying the allium:

That was the purple sensation. Allium are such great plants. They come in a huge variety. Here is another allium, the little blue flower:

They are tall with small flowers at the top. This picture has a lot going on it, too. There are coneflowers, a butterfly bush (mini) and some self-seeding cosmos. I’m not sure if I will keep the cosmos there or not. I might move them somewhere else.

Then there is the star of Persia allium:

It’s definitely my favorite and the flowers are huge! They grow about 2 feet tall. I have these in several spots in the front and the back.

When I was working on a project for making some light posts, I had extra cement and pulled out an old stepping stone mold I have for the extra mix. It came out really nice:

It’s a big stone. I have another mold and I might make some more stones at some point. I forgot how pretty they were. Tack that onto the never ending project list, I guess.

This is a weed:

I just took a picture because the flowers are pretty. 😀

In the back, I’ve got several potted plants. This one is million bells:

This is an annual and will bloom all summer long.

This picture I took because it looked so funny to me:

Little Shop of Horrors anyone? Grrrrr…… LOL  This is my shasta daisy. It looks prettier when the buds are all the way open 😀

My oldest plant, which I refer to as my old friend:

Somewhere around 15 years old. It has this one tall stalk on it and the rest of the flower buds are lower down. Razzmatazz coneflower.

White swan coneflower:

More white in my shade bed with astilbe:

And lastly a foliage shot. Heuchera Spellbound:

Such great foliage plants. They do bloom, although this one may not be old enough to bloom yet. We’ll see.

Now it’s off for a beer! Have a great weekend!

Veggie fries

First, thank you so much for the nice comments on my fativersary post. Everyone’s maintenance is different and it’s always good to hear other people’s stories. 😀

I’ve been getting a lot of morning riding done.  I usually work for a while and then ride after I get the morning shipments out for pickup, although Wednesdays are the usual bagel for breakfast ride!

The coffee cup is a 20 ounce cup. This place had only 2 of the big mugs for a long time and then they broke, so we were bringing in our own travel mugs since we avoid takeout cups when we are dining in. They finally got some replacements and I overheard one of the employees say to another one “These are the big cups. We only have a couple of these because nobody gets that much coffee for here”. Well, we do.  I wobbled between laughing and being annoyed.

Anyway, on to the title of the post. Not a recipe, but a food find:

I have had veggie tots, which are pretty good, but these were new. Since they had broccoli, John passed on them LOL!  This is a serving of 3 ounces weighed out. Cooked in a toaster oven:

These were puffy and a bit crispy. They tasted like broccoli in mashed potato form. I actually think they were pretty decent and a nice change up to my usual broccoli!

Things with the soap business have been picking up speed. I’ve added 3 new wholesale accounts and 2 more have requested samples since mid May. I’ve been working with a wholesale business coaching group and it’s been helpful keeping me on task. You have to be  way ahead of the game for retail and now is the time to start working on holiday stuff, which is a little annoying since summer just started LOL!  Product design samples are done and I’ve ordered my labels to get ready for photography in July to make my promotional materials to send to stores, although full production on those products won’t begin until August. Here is one of my labels that just came:

I’ve tinkered a bit with font and logo and those will be rolling out over the course of the year.  It’s nice to have a set game plan to follow, I have to say.

Another think I can’t believe is coming up is my niece’s graduation from high school on Friday! Holy moley time zooms by.

My Fativersary – 9 years

I was going back through some old blog posts and got to thinking about hitting 100 pounds lost. That wasn’t the end goal I wanted, but that was a huge milestone for me. When I looked for that post, I went all the way back to 2008!  I cannot believe it was that long ago.

I’m standing next to 100 pounds of coconut oil in that shot for comparison.

Today, I am 10 pounds heavier than that, but that means that I have kept the majority of the weight off over 9 years. My weight has gone up and down a bit over the years, but never back up to where it was or even anywhere even close to that. Also not down to my very lowest point, either.

I thought I would do a winter coat comparison as I don’t have too many current full body shots.  This was old 250-pound me:

Then back in March or Feb of 2017:

Just a little different – even though some days I still feel really big. I would have thought after all these years that feeling would be gone, but it still pops up now and again.

My blog has certainly changed a lot. I don’t post my daily eats anymore and put more of my life on the blog. Maintaining has been a struggle at times and then sometimes not a struggle. I will always love food. There are going to be times when I overeat food. I accept that and am okay with that. I will stress eat again. That’s just me. I also will bounce back and rein things in. I’m pretty confident that I will always do that now. Sometimes it just takes me a little longer than I would like LOL!

I won’t lie and say that I don’t miss eating whatever I wanted whenever. Sometimes I get really tired of weighing the pros and cons of eating – and I do really have to think about it every day. That part hasn’t gotten easier because you can’t just not eat. It’s not like quitting smoking.

I am so much more physically active now, which is great. Now that I’m 49, I find I have gotten more injury prone – very annoying. I want to age well, though. Activity is going to be a huge part of that and I’m going to stay as active as I can for as long as I can.

Maintenance is not impossible. It takes as much, if not more work than actually losing. And it’s pretty mundane. You don’t get the excitement of seeing a loss on the scale to celebrate and keep you motivated. You just have to do it day in and day out.

Thanks for hanging around with me all this time!