Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a religious person. I was raised Anglican, but I never had any concept of God or after life or miracles. Just the way I was, always surprised when people around me had faith, or believed. I didn't resent it, I just didn't have it. Until I found horses I did go to church every Sunday with my parents. I had lots of friends in Sunday School. I knew everyone in the congregation. I knew and loved my bible stories. Church was a big part of my social life as a youngster. But when horses came into my life my parents said I could make up my own mind about what I wanted to do with my Sundays. I chose horses, the stable and riding.
Now that didn't mean that I could erase parts of my religous up bringing. I think it's important to help others. I follow most of the ten commandments, at least the ones that leave out God as I have no concept of God so hard to follow what I don't get. And I'm big on the golden rule, "Do unto others a you would have them do unto you"...I like that one because it usually stops me from seeking revenge. I'd never want me as an enemy, so the Golden Rule has kept me out of a lot of trouble. Time to get to the point of this blog, why blather on about my lack of religious beliefs. I lack faith, but I can't erase my upbringing. I celebrate Christmas and Easter. I also feel that it's important from time to time to do without something I'm rather fond of, which brings me to Lent. The days between Shrove Tuesday (pancake day) and Easter Sunday. As a kid I gave something up during Lent just because it was Lent. Now I like to give something up every once in a while just to remind myself how very lucky I am. So, this year after eating my stack of pancakes I decided that living the life of a couch potato was something that I should give up for Lent. I have been spending too much time inside watching things on the tv this winter. So the deal for the next 6 and a half weeks the only way I can watch tv is if I've gone to the gym and have ridden a horse, or worked in the barn for at least 2 hours. So to kick off Lent today I spent an hour shoveling shavings into bags at Lanark Cedar. Then back home to do stalls and put away shavings another hour. Then off to the gym for 5k on the treadmill. I have to say all this is made easier by the weather today. A balmy -10 degrees out. Who would ever think that -10 would be a lovely day. Oh well it's just day Easter Sunday is a long way off yet. As long as I can remember, and that's a pretty long time. Shrove Tuesday has been one of my favourite days of the year. Christmas is still my favourite, I like the lights, I like the food, I like the presents, I like getting together with family and friends. Easter and Thanksgiving are next as one requires I eat pumpkin pie and the other involves chocolate, bunnies and eggs. But I think Shrove Tuesday comes in next...I like it way better than Halloween because I don't have to get dressed up and I like pancakes better than candy. So today I let the diet fly out the window and I ate a big stack of flax pancakes....with lots of syrup and butter...I liked it...in fact I loved it...and best yet I don't feel guilty. Not one bit.
Now part of the reason I don't feel guilty is I managed to fix a number of problems around the farm. Yesterday the truck wouldn't start. It actually decided not to start on Saturday but John and I didn't try to boost it until yesterday. We wanted to get the heated water buckets we'd bought at TSC installed into the barn. After two weeks of being sick with the flu and struggling to look after the horses as well as ourselves we bit the bullet and bought heated water pails. I didn't want any cords in the stalls, I don't think electrical cords and horses mix. So we borrowed Jack Hinton's 2 inch drill bits and drill and got busy drilling holes in all the stalls so we could pull the plug out of the stall. We then had to attach to the appropriate weight of power cord to each bucket and the attach all the cords up and out of the way from horses and me. We got a box of metal brackets, a bizillion of little screws and got to work making sure all cords were secure and safe. Of course it was very cold that day and we had to take many breaks to warm hands that would stop working after about 20 minutes. Needless to say the job of putting up two buckets took us two days because of the extreme cold. On Monday we still had to carry water from the house because we noticed that the hose left in the barn had enough water in it to be frozen and blocked. So we brought the hose up to the house and felt good about the heated buckets working and no frozen buckets to smash on the driveway to clear out the ice. That done we decided to boost the truck and drive to the gym. The truck wouldn't boost. Too cold, it wouldn't start. John had to go into Ottawa to make sure garbage got out at the apartment and tenants were ok. I sent him off saying I could get the battery out of the truck and I'd bring it into the house and put the charger on it over night. I promised him if I couldn't fix it I'd call him to come back to the farm and rescue me. So off went John....and I went in and reviewed on youtube how to take a battery out of a truck. It was easy to get the battery out, a bit heavy to carry but I managed. Actually I was lucky that Jack and Glennis dropped by in the middle of the battery extraction to pick up their drill and drill bit. Jack told me what I had done was ok and out came the battery. I brought it into the house. I found the battery charger, not an easy feet given the state of our downstairs, and plugged in the battery charger, attached the battery and hoped for the best. Fast forward to this morning I put the battery back into the truck and blessed be the F150 started. I went into the barn with the now unblocked hose and hooked it up. No water at all now out of the hose. Then I noticed with all the plugging in of the new buckets I had unplugged the heated strip to the tap. It got plugged back in and I cleaned stalls. I tried the tap again after stalls were done but still no water. So back to the house and filling up buckets again to carry to the heated buckets in the barn. That done back up to the house to warm up and hope that the tap would work later. At five I went back to the barn. A little nervous about the water situation. I tried the tap with the hose and thankfully it worked. So carried on with feeding the horses, topping up hay and shavings and when all that was done went about bringing in the horses for their supper. They have a routine. I open the stall doors, open the barn door and gate to their paddock. I snap the lunge whip and the three boys trot into the barn and into their stalls. They have an order. Rolo almost always first unless I snap the whip a little too loud in which case Derby gets into his stall before I can get too handy with the whip. Floyd always waits outside the barn until I go in and close Rolo and Derby's stall door. When all is safe from Rolo and Derby's teeth and hooves, Floyd walks in stands in the aisle until I give him a cuddle and then in his stall he goes. So everything was fixed. Truck working, buckets working, water working. Me, working but exhausted. I felt like I had a right to a stack of pancakes with butter and syrup so I had my stack and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the fact that I was able to handle and solve a number of problems, and that I got through all the hiccups along the way without tears. Again another big achievement for me. Life is looking pretty good even though it's been bloody cold for over a month. Monday is the only day I get on the scales. I refuse to spend every waking minute fixated on gaining weight or losing weight. This morning I got on the scales and unfortunately the needle didn't move, not even a whisper of a movement to the left. I had a moment where my heart felt heavier in my chest, just a moment mind. I know in my brain that I won't see losses every week no matter how much I want them, but you know what they say...the heart wants what the heart wants.
I would like this journey to be over the moment I made the decision that I was tired of being unfit and overweight. But really when I think about it, what would be the fun in that. If it was immediate, where would be the satisfaction in the hard work. I momentary heaviness of heart was lifted rather quickly when I realised I've made my decision, I will be fit I will be slim, this week wasn't a step back, it was a step forward even though the scales didn't move to the left. On the subject of health. I seem to have finally gotten over this horrible flu. I still cough like crazy when I come in from outside, but my head is finally clear and I can think and move around without having to lie down or slump in a corner. This week I will start a painting. I haven't done that in a very long time. I think acrylic on board. I've never really been that gifted with acrylic but for whatever reason my gut wants me to do a painting with that so I will. Winter continues on, I think the worst of the cold is over now. You begin to think that it will winter forever. But spring will come no matter what. In the meantime I think it's about time to start enjoying this lovely carpet of snow. This flu has hung on far too long. It has out weighed it's welcome, not that it was ever invited or welcome. I can honestly say I have not been hit by such a nasty bug in a very long time. But it's now been a week and a half and while I'm still coughing and still weak I am feeling stronger today. Unfortunately John has been hit by it too. I actually think he had it first then seemed to get better for a week and then had another relapse. Today I actually felt this boring story will be over soon.
John and I managed to pick up a large round bale of hay for the horses yesterday. We weren't out completely but with snow in the forecast and no tractor on the farm we wanted to make sure we got the new bale out while we could still drive the truck into the paddock. That trip alone was exhausting. We left the truck parked with the round bale parked in the lane yesterday so we would have enough energy left to do chores. Today we got the hay our and the horses in their paddock and while we were tired we aren't as weak as yesterday so it's been a happy day. What has been nice has been to be quiet and watch old black and white movies. Sleep during the day without guilt and drink a lot of herbal tea. To have some time to be quiet and reflect is always good. Meanwhile I look forward to being out and about enjoying this winter and actually doing things that are worth writing about. This flu seems to be putting up a bigger fit than my body. While I'm feeling some better I am still not able to do anything much before coughing and carrying on like a TB patient. Sleep has become my best friend, a close second is my extra strength Robitussin cough syrup and Life Brand Nighttime Total Cold and Flu tabs. I says this to give anyone else out there unfortunate enough to get this bug to stock up on drugs.
The cold of January continues so I suppose it's as good a time as any to be sick. It's not that I'm really missing any great outdoor riding weather. The horses are doing well even in this cold. I'm pleased that they have kept their weight on this winter. It makes all the trips from the house with beet pulp and cooked barley worth while. If we do get some milder winter weather and I can get rid of this bug I will enjoy riding in the lovely footing I have in our front paddock. I will have to do some digging to get through to the gate but that's a minor detail. Now for my rant of the day, and remember I'm cranky because I'm really still under the weather. So here goes, when did the service industry forget it was in the business of providing a service and not just accepting money. I had to call a company and complain that a service wasn't being provided when it should. I was even more annoyed because this was the second time in two days I had to call and complain. As I was put on hold while I had to wait for the appropriate person to handle my concern I heard a very long infomercial on how wonderful a company is, how they provide individual custom care for their 5 star clients. Words I noted in my head and got ready to repeat to the manager who finally came to the phone. Our conversation was to the point, direct I did not raise my voice but made it clear I did not appreciate having to spend my time making sure they did their job. At the end of the less than 5 minute conversation my concerns were addressed, an the appropriate apologies were made for the lack of service. So the problem was addressed, But inside of me I'm steaming mad. I know the person I was speaking to solved the problem for me, but will probably ignore the terrible service for many of their other clients who don't bother to pick up the phone. I think I'll have to fume away on this for a while longer. Ground Hog Day starts with a snowstorm. Not that I am going any where any time soon. While I think I'm on the mend from this flu I'm far from healthy enough to be out in public. I did venture to the barn this morning to feed my horses. John has been looking after them the last few days. Honestly I don't know what I would have done if I was on my own. The three boys were fine tucked into their breakfast so I got back up to the house as fast as possible. The cold is very hard to deal with when you have the flu. I can see how this kills the vulnerable.
It's Monday and that means weigh in. It was hard to make myself eat properly this past week. I seem to only want citrus, tea and then supper. I had made a huge crock of baked beans on Thursday and John and I have been living off that for the last few days. I look forward to feeling well enough to actually do something to burn off calories but for the time being I have to get better and worry about fitness later. Weigh in though was today and I'm down 5lbs. I'm glad to see the numbers go down. But wish it would have happened another way. Nothing I can do about that. I've now lost 8lbs and my journey will continue in sickness and in health. 200lbs now still a long way to go but I'm on my journey now and I won't turn back. Last Tuesday night I woke up with a bad sore throat. John had been sick the week before he slept for two days and seemed to come fight the bug off. So I expected to do the same. I had my night time Tylenol which I planned to take around the clock. I had lots of tea and juice in the house and some Halls to fight off that horrible scratchy throat. Well the sore throat only last 24 hours so I was sure that was the worst of it over. Not so, my chest felt like there was a 50 lb weight sitting on it. I had no energy and every evening the fever would strike.
John and I were to have our monthly dinner club over on Friday. Thursday I thought, if I move it over a day Saturday we should be fine, I'll be back to my old self by then. On Friday I realized that wasn't going to be possible as the coughing had started and the bug was not leaving any time soon. Actually it's not really coughing it's this lovely bark that hurts like hell and stops you from sleeping at all. Now it's Sunday morning and still no signs of this virus going away. I read on facebook and hear from friends that this virus is going around. It lasts at least one week and really plays you out. Thankfully John is here to help with the horses. Chores are always more difficult in the winter, with me sick it's been pretty tough. It is frustrating because I felt like my fitness regime was really starting to click. I was getting into the groove of a healthier way of life and then "the virus" moved in. I am so looking forward to my week of this bug wrapping up. So my advice, wash your hands, carry hand sanitizer, put your dishes through the dishwasher if you have one or put a cap of bleach in your dish washing water if you don't. Try to avoid this virus if you can. |
Elizabeth HayI've been a journalist and producer with CBC Radio for over 27 years. I now focus my time on my horses, my art, my fitness and my garden. Archives
June 2018
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