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All Things EARTH... part 2


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Anita, I can totally relate to the way you feel. I've been going through the same thing for quite some time now.   I have parts figured out, and other things, not so much.

 

It's a lengthy process to go through Ll the emotions and address them.  I just take one thing at a time.  Vacations really help me, as I often feel consumed by my job.  

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Nuts...yesterday we had a heat index in the upper 90s...but the arctic blast is supposed to hit us Friday and the high shouldn't be above 80...I think 75-77...which will make for very good camping and fishing weather. The low will be the 60s so that should be really good for enjoying a campfire. Last winter I remember reading about the arctic air and something about the way that the currents aren't as strong as they used to be...the swirl of air up there doesn't stay as tight as it used to...the earth looked like a globe with a broken egg slipping down it's sides...which used to happen infrequently but now they say is happening more. It's the reason why the hurricanes are becoming so much worse too...they aren't traveling as fast and something about the water temperature...the report was all about how we can expect colder winters with more precipitation and more powerful hurricanes...or at least...more rain associated with stalling hurricanes.

 

Today is all about food prep. I have two backpacking cookbooks and I didn't ever get as into the food as I wanted to. When we moved to Kansas from Colorado, there really wasn't anywhere to go backpacking like there had been...so we didn't. Then DS came along... I'm dehydrating two different things right now. One is the puree base for a curried butternut squash soup. It's basically getting reduced to a powder that we will reconstitute at camp. I ordered some powdered coconut milk...normally coconut milk and water is usually added to the soup. A major experiment as I am adapting techniques to this recipe to see how it goes. 

 

I also have a southwest style bean, corn, tomato, zucchini like mixture...like a wet stir fry or drier stew...that I'm drying out. The plan is to cook quinoa at camp and then add the bean mixture to the quinoa. 

 

Oatmeal for breakfast.

 

I'm super disappointed that one of the items I ordered from Amazon won't deliver until tomorrow (we'll be gone already). I ordered biodegradable tea bags...I read about how you can basically steep coffee...it takes longer to do than a normal brew but it would work. We were going to have a whole experiment on how much coffee to add to the bags for the size travel mugs we have and how long to steep. DH is the coffee drinker. He'll have to make do with instant again. I was really hoping to figure out the coffee bags though because I thought we could cruise with them. The coffee on the ships is normally so bad...at least it was on Enchantment when we last went years ago...so I figuring out a portable way to brew happier coffee would will make the Mariner cruise happier for DH. We still can figure it out...but I was just hoping to do that this weekend in camp when we will have so much more time to just play.

 

Lunches will end up being very snack like. It's hard to do 3 full meals...it normally works out better for an active day to have a hearty breakfast...snack throughout the day with no cook food...and then have a good hot dinner. I'm be making GORP and we have beef jerky. Fruit. You're never as hungry as you think you will be. Food always seems to taste better but somehow the portions are much smaller than normal. IDK...this could definitely work in my favor.

 

We set up the backpacking tent for the first time in forever last night. The white is now a bit yellow...and it doesn't smell awesome...but not moldy or in any way mildewy...just stale, really stale...I should get it in the sunshine...but all in all our 20+ year old tent looks great. The last time I remember sleeping in it was in Moab...but I know we used it another time with another friend...I just don't have the memory for some reason. 

 

Melody...do you have a big polish collection? Do you have it catalogued? Mom uses an app and I think I'm going to get mine into the app...I keep my polishes in a treasure box shaped keepsake box that I got on sale or with a coupon from Hobby Lobby years ago...It's fun to open it and have all my supplies in there but it does lead me to repeat since I can't really see all my colors easily.

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1 hour ago, awhfy said:

More snow, & below zero temperatures, sigh. Guess I’ll go thru my nail polish collection today too, been meaning to. Melody

 

News reports on the California fires say that the winds that are complicating the fire fighting are the result of the snow and cold that they are experiencing where Melody lives. I’m not sure just how that can be but I’m not a meteorologist so have no idea how that works. I think I’d rather have the snow and cold than the fires and in so many cases the lack of electrical power. We don’t live anywhere near the fires but we are getting the smoke and hazardous air quality so inside activities only here also! I too have been meaning to go thru’ nail polish so will add that to my list of things to do. Worked on one side of our walk in linen closet yesterday. I, like some of you, need to really par down all the accumulation. Already did my closet, the Christmas decorations, some decorative things but have a lot more to go. For me, it would be easier to let go if we were moving but we aren’t so it easier to just put things back. That’s the part I need to work on.

Sharon

 

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Anita, I would be shocked if you weren't going through an emotional crisis . Your life has revolved around your son for a long time and now He is moving on . I had a hard time when my daughter went to college but I still had my job so that really helped me .

I had been feeling sluggish recently and coughing a lot at night . Well it turns out I have a mild case of pneumonia . That stopped my cleaning out project for awhile . I don't feel terrible just blah .

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Anita, last May  when we did the Norwegian Fjords Cruise, our DS and DIL, who love really good coffee, brought their traveling bean grinder and pour over cone. They also bought an inexpensive carafe(left this they left behind at the end of the cruise) and each morning we had fresh brewed, really good coffee. Of course we got a lot of strange looks in the buffet at breakfast! 

 

Sally, I hope you feel better soon. Glad that it’s a mild case. 

 

Sharon

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1 hour ago, Anita Latte said:

 

I'm super disappointed that one of the items I ordered from Amazon won't deliver until tomorrow (we'll be gone already). I ordered biodegradable tea bags...I read about how you can basically steep coffee...it takes longer to do than a normal brew but it would work. We were going to have a whole experiment on how much coffee to add to the bags for the size travel mugs we have and how long to steep. DH is the coffee drinker. He'll have to make do with instant again. I was really hoping to figure out the coffee bags though because I thought we could cruise with them. The coffee on the ships is normally so bad...at least it was on Enchantment when we last went years ago...so I figuring out a portable way to brew happier coffee would will make the Mariner cruise happier for DH. We still can figure it out...but I was just hoping to do that this weekend in camp when we will have so much more time to just play.

Anita, my grocery stores used to carry Folger's and Maxwell House coffee singles.  They look like tea bags but were single brew coffee "bags."  I've never been a coffee drinker, but before my DH started drinking coffee regularly we would have those for when family came to visit.  My memory is that they didn't find as good as fresh brewed but close - and miles above instant (instant might have gotten better though.

 

I hope you feel better soon, Sally.  I'm fighting the second day of a migraine and the start of a stomach bug.

 

Daughter has been checking in more ❤️ She won't be able to catch a ride home for Thanksgiving like we thought (different schedules), but might be able to get a ride back.  I'll drive out to get her but pick up the in-laws on the way to help with the driving (DH has to work and DS has school).

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Sally, get well!  You have had the pneumonia shot, haven’t you?

 

Anita, sounds like a neat app, can you share?  Have a great time kayak camping. I, too, have used the Folgers coffee bags, they are a huge step up from instant, but isn’t same as ground coffee. I take them to a SILs house who only ever has tea (I’m very popular with the rest of the group). I think I will get the travel grinder & cone tho...our next cruise is a b2b in an aft cabin, it’ll be a l.o.n.g. Walk for coffee; great idea!

 

pacruuse804, road trip!  I was the designated roadie for both of our girls when they went away to school (we had a van). I’d drive to the school & load it up. One year I pulled up playing “the wheels on the bus go round & round”, even daughter laughed. Miss those days. You probably have a weather-related low pressure headache, not a true migraine...I’ve had one since Sunday when this front blew in. 


wow, November!  Melody 

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4 hours ago, Sailor_Sally said:

I came down with Pneumonia a week after my shot . How is that for weird ?

So sorry. Imagine how bad it would’ve been without the shot!  Get well quickly 

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Well, I just booked another cruise!  Celebrity Constellation out of Tampa!  It’s called a Touch Canal, goes into Panama Canal thru a couple of locks & turns around in Gatun Lake, 11 day cruise in March 2021. So for anyone in the Tampa area maybe we can actually meet IRL & have lunch!  I know it’s 16 months away!  Melody

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On 11/2/2019 at 8:45 AM, awhfy said:

Well, I just booked another cruise!  Celebrity Constellation out of Tampa!  It’s called a Touch Canal, goes into Panama Canal thru a couple of locks & turns around in Gatun Lake, 11 day cruise in March 2021. So for anyone in the Tampa area maybe we can actually meet IRL & have lunch!  I know it’s 16 months away!  Melody

I cruised that route several years ago . We really enjoyed it .We may do it again next year on HAl or Norwegian .

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Hi everyone.  Looking forward to hearing about Anita's camping adventure. Here is a link to my fun fall purchase from Marshall's. I would say it's like a blue spruce color, definitely green but with that cool blue undertone, verging on a jewel tone but a bit toned down. It looks like I'll get to wear it sooner rather than later as our temps are on a downward trend:

 

https://www.nordstromrack.com/shop/product/2913880?color=EMERALD&utm_source=adlucent&utm_medium=feeds&utm_content=google&utm_channel=shopping_acq_p&sid=545650&utm_term=545650&aid=[ADL] [PLA] [Shopping] - Categories - Brand - [Desktop]&utm_campaign=5BADL] [PLA] [Shopping] - Categories - Brand - [Desktop]&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8be77Y_R5QIVCWKGCh3jgQccEAQYAiABEgIyVvD_BwE

 

I also bought this Ralph Lauren for the wedding we have coming up in December:

 

1489710466_purplelauren.thumb.jpg.aae019c8322aadbf0850c66d54490ee3.jpg

 

I am busy with a few new things. I am now the corporate secretary for our lake's POA, so I have been learning the ropes and preparing for my first board meeting in office and for the last of our three annual meetings in December. We volunteered this past weekend for the lake cleanup, and next week I've volunteered to take photos of some of the town drainage pipes in the hope that they will repair them (they pour a lot of street garbage and winter grits into the lake). Our lake is down 5 feet for dam maintenance, so it is a good time to do these chores. Today I get to stain the dock as soon as it gets to 50 degrees. Woohoo. I'm in a rush because there is snow in the forecast on Thursday.

 

I'm also re-decorating our TV room, which has gotten the worst wear of all the rooms and needs pretty much everything. New carpet, new curtains, new upholstery. Our alarm guy is here today upgrading all our CO2 and smoke detectors. I am in a sprucing up kind of mood.

 

It is good to keep busy because we are struggling with the loss of a very dear friend who passed suddenly from a massive heart attack at the age of 60. He was one of our group of five couples who have been the closest of friends since our men were all college-age. They started as a poker group, then it became poker night/girls' night out. DH and I were the first to get married, and eventually we were a family of couples. It is so hard to believe I won't see him again. So unexpected.

 

 

Edited by MJC
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We had a great time camping! I took so many pics...and some of them are really good. I have to go through them still...but the one that fits best with the thread theme...this is basically what I wore for three days. Athleta rash guard, new Advent shorts. These shorts have a lightweight typical swimsuit fabric in a yoga pant type waist with thin, fast drying fabric for the rest of the shorts. I wore regular underwear and I tried wearing the sport bra under the rash guard instead of a swim top.

 

RIMG3481.jpg

 

The thin sports bra was very comfortable even though it doesn't do anything to help my girls be perky... I also wore my new shoes...I got Vibram Five Fingers V-Soul shoes. They worked better than the Tevas for me...but they aren't water specific...so now I want a pair of water specific ones! DH does too...he wore his Tevas and they were okay, but he's looking for more sun protection for his feet. 

 

These are our kayaks that we bought for our 20th anniversary before moving to NC. The big purple seats are our old Therma-Rest sleeping pads with the chair forms. The seats that came with our kayaks are just the molded kayak for the bottom and a dinky little black thing that doesn't really offer any support. This seat was a big improvement for comfort...not quick to dry...but definitely working for us. 

 

The mosquitos didn't get me but the noseeums did...OMG. Really awful. They are so small...if I wasn't completely covered in the repellent...like every square inch...then they could deal. So I learned the hard way about noseeums. I have since read that they are so small that they don't bite through clothing...and the best repellent for them is to just cover up, which explains why my legs got bit but my torso and arms were generally fine.

 

You can't see the little trail back to the campsite in this photo. It was a nice little campsite though...very secluded and private. On the first night, there was very little wind, so we could hear the surf. The second evening and night was very windy and the sound of the wind in the palm trees made for great white noise and a bit cooler evening. We brought firewood and had a campfire each night...which I love so much. Definitely this was a learning experience.

 

I have to share...maybe this will help someone. Anyway...I just about had a breakdown before we even left the apartment. I was just so nervous about this whole thing. It was really pushing on my limits and I just wasn't sure about my ability...as you can see in the photo...I'm not in the best shape. This activity is something that I associate with my mental image of myself...the person that I want to be...but it's not something that I have ever done and I was very worried about not being able to do it. Fear of failure was hitting me hard...and as I talked to DH about it...probably the first time I have ever admitted to being so concerned about the prospect of doing something. In the past, my mood would just plummet and I would become a not so pleasant person to be around. I have come to realize that my fear of not being able to do something has really held me back...if I doubt my ability I just don't do something, even if it something I want to do. So talking to DH helped me so much...I basically had permission to say if ever it was too much and I just couldn't do it.

 

Fortunately, it was all good. There was only one time in our exploring that I got concerned over my ability to get back to our campsite...but keen observation due to taking so many photographs earlier that day...we were able to navigate a water trail through our island without having to go all the way around.

 

Sally...hope you are feeling better.

 

pacruise...I had to look up hurricane headaches last year because I was getting such serious headaches with the two different hurricanes coming through our area. Those changes in the barometric pressure can definitely affect you, especially if you are susceptible, having such things every 4 weeks. So sorry. That's awful.

 

Melody...the app is called Nail Polish Book. I haven't used it yet so can't comment too much on it...Mom loves it. You have to do a lot of manual entries...you can also upload photos, I think. Mom said that she spent some time finding swatches online. So I think that it is a bit intensive to get started, especially if you have a big collection but once you get you current collection loaded, it should be easy to enter new purchases.

 

I'll have to look up that cruise itinerary...sounds interesting. I'd be up for a Tampa meet and greet!

 

Margaret...nice coat. I love that dress though! Condolences on the loss of your friend. Cyber hugs.

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Ah Margaret, our condolences on the loss of a good friend; may your memories sustain you & your group. 
 

love the coat!  I’ll look at our Nordy Rack!!!  The dress is perfect for a December wedding

 

Anita, what a freeing of the mind. So glad you had a good time. I’ll check out the app. Melody

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Margaret, I am so sorry to hear about your good friend’s passing. He was so young! We too have a close group with whom we have been friends for many , many years. We are always thankful for each get together and as we get older we realize how precious that time is. 

 

Love the dress! 

 

Sharon

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22 hours ago, Sailor_Sally said:

I cruised that route several years ago . We really enjoyed it .We may do it again next year on HAl or Norwegian .

Or Celebrity Constellation on 8 March 2021???  Melody

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Anita, I'm glad your trip went well and you didn't let fear stop you.  ❤️ the support your husband gave you.

 

We want to get Kayaks next year.  Do you recommend sit on top or sit inside?  I've seen pros and cons to both.  We have only done calm waters, but also have a major river near us (Susquehanna).

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pacruise...Like you say...there are pros and cons to both. We didn't do a whole lot of research into the debate prior to purchase because our experience let us know that we simply preferred sit on tops. On our own, for sure, we would not be doing anything that would involve rapids or fast moving water. I think the inside types are more for that type of kayaking. I like to toodle around...I'm more about spending the day on the water and going here and there...taking photos...following paddle trails...looking at the clouds. DH likes to fish...so also not necessary to have the sit inside.

 

IDK how tall you are...or your DH...but the sit inside kayaks can be very restrictive...which is probably good for more control...but that style was not comfortable for DH at 6'1". I didn't appreciate it either. I like to be able to adjust my sitting position...move my legs around...rock back this way or that...prop my feet up on the edges...drag them in the water. Once, I scooted forward on my kayak and was able to pretty much lay down with my feet dangling in the water (on a different trip...on a lake). So, for our purposes and what we like to do...sit on tops all the way.

 

From what Margaret wrote...I think she has a sit inside? Maybe she can chime in as well?

 

It all depends on how you want to use your kayaks. I would suggest renting both types to see what you like...if you can find both to rent. Also, think about where they will "live". Margaret has a lake house...I imagine that she has hers there...we have to transport ours...so that's a consideration too in how long of a kayak you can purchase.

 

One of the biggest things I remember as a purchase consideration was the tracking ability of the kayaks...that is, how well the kayak goes straight, which sounds so funny because how hard can that be? But seriously, there are kayak hull shapes that are better and worse.

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