 |
ConniebytheSea's Journal, 30 June 2012
|
 |
|
My last day in Spokane, WA...........I woke up early again (4:30AM) and spent some time with all of you while still upstairs in the "guest apartment" at my dad's house. I never tire of the views from the windows upstairs in their house! They live on a bluff with farm land as far as the eye can see, and this year in particular they've had alot of rain in the month of June, and everything is so lush and green. Mountains in the distance is just an added dimmension of awe for me.
I eventually made my way downstairs and out the back door so I could hear and smell the beautiful scenery too! I strolled through their vegetable garden, and found one ripe strawberry! Then I walked the property line and took pictures of the beautiful wildflowers growing in the fields. Remembering my comment to you about the humming of the yellow jackets, and smiling as I recognized that buzzing as a background noise.
I offered to make omelets for everyone for breakfast, and they were happy at the idea. I used lots of fresh veggies, green onions, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, tomato and avacado, plus some lean ham and cheddar cheese. Everyone thought they were delicious and they were totally "on plan" for me! ;-) I love when that happens.
We then went to a neighboring farm who was having a moving sale because they sold their farm and were moving into town. The husband had been born on the farm and living there for 60 years. I'm not sure how long his parents were there prior, but they had some really neat old stuff! There was one of those old washing machines with the ringer (rollers) attached. Really old wagon wheels, old milk cans....just alot of interesting "antique" type stuff. But what I liked the most was in a sun room on the back porch. There was a mama cat and 4 baby kittens (probably about 6 or 7 weeks old), when we went into the room the mama cat decided to leave and one of the babies ran over behind another door. I walked over and looked behind the door and there were 7 more kittens all laying in a pile behind the door sleeping!!!! AWWWWW!!!!! Too bad I'm allergic to the darn things. I'd have been holding all of them! My son was taken by them, and said he'd never seen kittens before. Although I'm sure he's seen kittens in the pet store before. Maybe he meant the first time he ever held one or saw them nursing with their mother.
We said good-bye to my dad and stepmom around noon and packed up the car and headed East for Idaho! After stopping at the local supermarket for some cheese and meats (for lunch and snacking) we hit the drive-thru of Taco Time (one of my all time favorite places to go for their mexi fries. Because my mom loved them so much!) I got a large Diet Dr. Pepper to go with my meat and cheese selection, but my son decided this would be his one splurge for the day and got some delicious looking burrito type things, and a large order of mexi fries!!!! It did NOT tempt me! EVEN THOUGH the lunch I bought that looked like sliced smoked turkey turned out to be cured in SUGAR, and I took one bite and spit it out!!!! I just opened the turkey lunch meat we were planning to bring out to my stepdad's and ate that instead. ;-) Rolling with the punches!
We arrived in Hayden, Idaho about 1.5 hours later and off we went to the ranch where we had our horseback riding reservations. It was just the 3 of us (my stepdad, son and I) with 2 trail guides. The weather was perfect, probably in the mid 70's. I was actually debating on whether I should bring a "sweat jacket, or sweater" but decided against. I'm glad I did because it felt nice to be just a little cool. My horses name was "Bucky"......ACK! But it was because his coloring was buck skin, and not because of any behavioral issues! :) It was beautiful riding around through the woods. We saw 3 deer, well actually I saw 2 deer but my dad saw 3. I took alot of pictures because everything was so beautiful and I didn't want to forget any of it! Because of the unusual amount of rain they've had in the month of June, several areas of the trail were washed out, and the horse had to go tromping through the puddles. It was a little bit exciting when the horse leading us refused to go through one of the puddles and kept backing up right into my horse, but we finally encourage all the horses to muck on through! :-)
The second we got back to my stepdad's place my son wanted to go immediately out to his "fort" that he's been building for the last couple years. So off we went hiking through the woods! I always feel like a kid again when I'm off "playing" in the woods, because my grandfather lived on this property before my dad moved back, and we would come to visit grandpa and I would spend the entire day out playing in the woods having great adventures!!! We got to the fort and sat inside for a few minutes admiring how well it made it through the winter. We then found a few fallen trees and added them to the walls of the fort, in sort of a lincoln log fashion. I am the expert fort builder from my day! So my son was lucky to have me working with him! :-) We may go back again today to do some real work, yesterday was really just "checking it out". We walked back further on the property and were headed for the back pond, when the cows that are living on the back 20 acres of the property (someone pays to keep them here to feed on the grass/hay fields)started walking out from the woods and staring at us. They were all bulls with horns! They were staring quite intently and although I grew up being exposed to farm life, my grandpa raised sheep not cows so I'm not real familiar with how cows react to people. If they didn't have horns I think I'd have felt more comfortable. BUT.....since I was wearing a flowered shirt that was mostly pink and RED, I was a little concerned that one of those horned bulls would come charging at me!!!! We decided to turn around and go back. We will walk to the back pond when my stepdad is with us. :)
My son (Jack) and my stepdad went fishing in the front pond later in the afternoon and caught 4 or 5 trout for our dinner, so once again I had fresh trout and salad for dinner. Sometimes when I'm here at my stepdad's house, we eat trout for breakfast too!
We ended the day by sitting in the living room looking out the window and watching 3 deer munching on grass at the edge of the lawn. Life doesn't get much better!
I'm currently sitting on the back porch with my lap top, and a cup of coffee. I'm still wearing my pajamas and I'm barefooted. My feet are freezing but the air is so crisp and cool, I'm willing to sacrifice cold feet. ;-) I've watched the sun rise up from behind the mountain, watched a mama cow walking across the field with her calf playfully running around in circles along with her, admired a little hummingbird feeding at the feeder about 10 feet from me, on the other side of the porch and have made a video of all that I see, in hopes that I might capture the sounds of the morning. The many different birds singing, the crickets chirping, the roosters crowing, the dogs barking, even the occasional cow mooing. You just don't hear sounds like this in busy old Southeast Florida. When I'm here I'm always the first one up, and immediately OUTSIDE so that I can enjoy as much of the day as I can fit in! My soul needs this.
I'm not sure what our day has in store for us. We never really discussed it yesterday. I know my son wants to do some manual labor back at the fort, and I'd like to walk out to the back pond. Other than that we are going to take this day nice and slow. :)
Diet Calendar Entry for 30 June 2012:
|
1500 kcal
|
Fat: 114.06g | Prot: 104.54g | Carb: 12.69g.
Breakfast: egg, cheddar cheese, green onion, spinach, red pepper, pepperoni, olive oil, bacon daily's. Lunch: swiss cheese slices, deli select turkey. Dinner: green salad, ground beef, bacon, blue cheese dressing, cheddar cheese slice. more...
|
|
 Comments
You write wonderfully. i swear I was right beside you while i read what you wrote. The cows would have shaken me up a bit too. I live on a small lake(big pond) and the loons at night put me to sleep with their calls and wake me again in the morning. I too understand the feeling you have of peace and tranquility when you are there.
30 Jun 12 by member: 83JEN
|
What wonderful time! So beautiful!
30 Jun 12 by member: jessabridge4444
|
Beautiful narrative of your day! Definitely food for the soul :) It's such a change of pace when you get out of the hustle and bustle of the city with all it's background noise and unnatural sights and smells. Enjoy it while it lasts!
30 Jun 12 by member: evelyn64
|
Nice depiction of your nature trail. Your journal reads like a genuine travel blog today and I enjoyed it so much. I really relate to the agrarian-rural images you describe. So colorful! I didn't realize your trip to see your dad was a short jaunt. You are determined to stay "with the program" in what you are eating & I commend you for that discipline! So proud of you. Much Fat Secret Love!
30 Jun 12 by member: wiener4
|
Oh No!!!! My son and I were out on a home-made raft in the back pond and it flipped over and down went my camera! :( All my pictures gone in an instant. Oh well, I still have the memories......at least for the next few months. LOL!
30 Jun 12 by member: ConniebytheSea
|
Oh, no! This isn't me making light of your situation but the first thing that came to mind when I read that was a saying I got from my daughter: "Pictures or it didn't happen!" LOL. Quick! Snap some more before you leave! Or is your camera DOA?
30 Jun 12 by member: evelyn64
|
My camera is MIA!!!! It's at the bottom of a very cold pond that has a clay like bottom. We tried and tried to see if we could find it but it was just to murky and cold to swim around at the bottom looking for it. My stepdad has a friend locally who is a dive instructor and he does recovery jobs for people so he might come over and try to recover it. It IS a waterproof camera so maybe there is still hope.
30 Jun 12 by member: ConniebytheSea
|
Oh no! So so sorry about your camera - for SELFISH reasons. Now WE don't get to see your pictures. I shouldn't tease you. I know they are not exactly the same but you will have to go back soon & take more pictures. I amused when others show me their pictures & insist, "It ( a mountain, a horse, a sunset, a palm tree, or a pond) looks better in person!" You will always have the story about the home made raft!
01 Jul 12 by member: wiener4
|
What a great journal entry my friend. I love your ability to capture the richness of each breath and the excitement of each step. It's sounds beautiful there. Your words call me to slow down and absorb all the gifts that God so graciously surrounds us with. As I type this at our kitchen island .... I stopped and listened to the morning birds express their feelings about it being morning. Your words ... Allowed me to appreciate last night as we were invited for the first time into a home of people who may become close friends. Life continues to crack open. I guess we can choose to join it or ignore it .... And this morning I'm grateful that you reminded me that it really is a choice.
01 Jul 12 by member: glen
|
PS: don't bring your computer with you on the raft!
01 Jul 12 by member: glen
|
I agree with Glen! He-he-he-he-he!
01 Jul 12 by member: wiener4
|
I'm glad you guys enjoyed my journal entry. I guess I can go home and journal each day really good in the word processor and then save those files to my photo album! To jog my memory in years to come! :) I have to be careful because I WAS really upset yesterday when it happened. Just my son and I were up at the pond, and he really wanted to go swimming so we walked back to the house and I borrowed a bathing suit from my stepmom, and wore a pair of my son's shorts because I didn't even bring shorts knowing that it wouldn't feel "warm" to me here, but delightfully cool! We knew there was a homemade raft hidden in the trees that someone who had snuck on to my dad's property had left behind. It's been off in the trees for a few years now. So we decided we would haul it up and into the pond. It was heavy! Two large plastic barrels on each end and then a wood pallet type thing wired down on top of the barrels. We got it in and my son got in the water, and this is a clay bottom pond so it's really squishy and hard to move your feet from place to place, especially since the cows go in it to drink. There are deep cow prints all along the bottom so it took some delicate maneuvering to get over to the raft. My son hollered from where he was holding the raft waiting for me to get in the water "Bring the camera!" So I got the beach towel and camera and into the water I went. I laid the beach towel out on top of the splintery wood raft covered with pine needles (and probably spiders too!) and then I set the camera on the towel, and then I also got on the towel. I laid on my back closed my eyes and enjoyed the sun shining down on me. My son started to navigate us out into the water, and the next thing I knew the raft started to lean to one side and over I flipped! Talk about shocked! The water is still pretty cold, remember the high here on Tuesday was 54 degrees! So my heart was racing being dumped into cold mountain water, and trying to clear myself of the wood pallet that flipped over with me, and by the time I was treading water and breathing well enough to speak I said "The camera!!!" We couldn't see anything, it was almost impossible to even see your feet beneath you. I couldn't touch the bottom, and it was colder as you went down! I tried to hold my breath and get down to feel around but it was so cold. We lost the beach towel and the camera. At least the beach towel was bright colors so maybe if my dad's friend is able to come and look for it with his dive gear and light, maybe the towel will show him where to look. Anyway, back to why I need to be careful.......In the heat of my shock that the camera went down, I said to my son "Why did you tell me to bring the camera!!!!" and I said a few more things like "All my fishing pictures, and the horseback riding pictures are gone!!!!" I know he felt so bad because a little later he said that he would buy me a new camera with his allowance ($20/week) because it was his fault. At that point I was calmed down and I told him that it was NOT his fault that I should have known better. That it was just an accident, and that we would have the memories of all those things I said earlier that I lost when the camera sunk. So all that said I do feel bummed that I lost the camera, but I'm trying really hard to truly believe that it was just a couple days worth of pictures and the memories spent WITH my son and my dads, is what really counts. I don't want my son to feel badly. He did say the same thing W4 said "At least we'll have a good memory of the raft story!" LOL! My husband said "Oh you got the waterproof camera, but it's not floaty, eh?" And then he said "At least it wasn't your phone!" as Glen said "At least it wasn't your computer!" LOL! I had JUST bought this camera this week before I left. So I guess I wasn't too attached to it since we only belonged together for a few days. I'm moving ahead from the camera incident. If my dad's dive buddy finds it then I'll be happily surprised but if not, that will be okay too. :)
01 Jul 12 by member: ConniebytheSea
|
| |
|
|
| |
submit a comment
You must sign in to submit a comment
|
|
|
Other Related Links
Members
Other Journals for Atkins
|
ConniebytheSea's weight history
ConniebytheSea's Recent Activity
ConniebytheSea's own activity
No recent activity.
ConniebytheSea's Buddies
Other Member Diet Recent Activity
|