The past week in pictures!

The past week, I have spent indoors.  I didn't have anything that required me to leave, or go out and face the heat, and so I chose to remain in the cool air conditioned home, bake, cook, do my housework and read.  I finished two books this week, which is incredible for me knowing that just two months ago, reading was the furthest thing from my mind, and I had neither the yearning nor patience to sit and read anything.

But as the temperatures have soared into the triple digits, and the heat advisories have flooded in daily, I have found myself turning to things that require less strenuous activities, therefore, reading and crochet have kicked into high gear.

My blanket is coming along nicely, though I did have to rip back two rows once I realized that somewhere along the way, I had miscounted my stitches and nothing was making sense.  Having to redo a crochet row is usually not a big deal when you're working on a small project but when it is a full sized blanket, it means another full day of playing catch up.  But it was done, and I'm on the next row.

Also, speaking of crochet, remember I mentioned not finding the right color and then seemingly finding it online?  Well guess what?  It WASN'T the right color.  I almost gave up on it, but then managed to find it on Amazon (I think), it is on the way and we will only know when it's actually in my hand.  I'm praying it's right, if it isn't, I will just have to move on with the blanket, leaving out that specific yarn.  Not what I want to do, but I am not going to lose a whole project over one yarn color.  

Lesson learned though, from now, I have to keep track of the yarns, their names, their brands and so on.  No more aimlessly crocheting in the dark.

The two books I finished were A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, and Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier.  I am now starting Spindle's End by Robin McKinley.

Have you read any good books lately?

This week, I also made a big batch of Refrigerator Pickles, to use up a ton of cucumbers that I had.  It's one of our favorite pickle recipes and they're super easy to make.  These are not canned pickles, they are kept in the refrigerator and I don't worry about them going bad, because they usually don't last long enough for that to happen.

I do have the recipe on my food blog, since I've been making them for many years.  You can find the recipe here.  I also have a recipe for some Freezer Pickles which are divine as well.

I baked some Whole Wheat bread for us, mainly for me.  Though I do eat a lower carb diet, whole wheat bread or multi grain bread is quite healthy, and is my go to, and when you make these breads at home, it's even better for you.  

I made a plain Whole Wheat Loaf and a Cinnamon and Raising Whole Wheat Loaf.  They both turned out amazing.

I am still getting in my daily workouts and weekend gym sessions with my husband, and in between I'm keeping up with healthy eating.  I have however started incorporating some things back into my diet, just to see how I do, and I must say, the immediate reaction my body has to certain things is crazy. 

I will never be able to full go back to eating full on carbs, or as much sugar as I used to.  It's just not good for my overall health and my body immediately lets me know.

The biggest reaction for me, is the loss of energy and the midday sleep slumps.  It's just insane.

I am almost down 40 pounds, I started at 165 and am now 128, so just 3 pounds shy of 40 pounds weight loss.  It's been crazy seeing myself lose this weight and just by making small adjustments to what I was eating, and making sure that I'm getting those 10 000 steps a day, and at least the minimum of 10 minutes walking workouts or 20 minute cardio full body workouts.  

Anyway, that has been my past week, I apologize for the lack of posts, to be honest when it's this hot,  my energy goes down tremendously and I don't want to do anything.  It feels like the slightest of effort in anything, makes me hotter and sweatier and annoyed.  I can not wait for the fall temperatures to arrive.  I'm over the 115 degree weather, it's like living back in Phoenix, Arizona.  Yuck!

Have a blessed weekend friends, and I will be back next week with more posts, and as things cool down, no doubt more active posting.

Oh and before I forget.....craziest thing.  Remember the little baby chicken our hen Puffy hatched in April?  Remember we thought it was a hen?  Well said hen started crowing yesterday, meaning it's not a hen but another rooster.  Lord help me!!!