Striking Out to New Turf – A Joy(ful) Live – 3/18 – 3/25, Western Caribbean

[laudergayle]

36 minutes ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

Thank you @cruiseny4life for sharing with us your joyful cruise. Hope you will bring us along on your next cruise with family. That could be entertaining on another level. 
 

Enjoy your hike. Reminds me that I am due a trip to Sedona to balance the yin of cruising with the yang of hiking. 
 

Have you seen Robert, the reiki flute player in Boynton Canyon.  On our visit to Sedona we planned to hike out to see him…and the day we arrived they closed all state parks due to wildfire.  We plan to revisit someday.  Here’s a link to a YouTube about him. 

 

[cruiseny4life]

On 4/5/2023 at 6:58 AM, Sailing12Away said:

Now you're talking my language. I'm a medical laboratory scientist - this is my bread & butter. With an A1c that high those fasting levels are actually great (the 100 at least). Anything less than 120 for you is 'fine'. If you actually dip too much lower than that despite being 'abnormal high' (for 'normal' people) - for you it would actually start to fall in the range of 'abnormal low'. 

 

For non diabetics, fasting glucose is usually <100. For diabetics though, their bodies have gotten used to the higher sugar levels and when you guys start to dip below that you can start feeling the symptoms of hypoglycemia. So despite being normal for us - it's abnormal for you. And your fasting level of 125 for example is abnormal for us, but quite normal for you. Did I get you all spun around and confused yet?

 

If you're willing to share I'd be curious what you're down to in 3-6 months when you get it next checked. If your fasting levels have been consistently less than 150 your A1c will definitely drop quite a bit.

 

/nerdy science divergence

And, y'all thought this thread was over!! But, in the name of science:

 

I had my A1c checked yesterday. Results came in today. Definitely better than that 9.6 I reported from my last lab visit. The results that came in today showed my A1c at 7.8, so averaging 177. The time period should include the cruise. I've noticed that my "normal" fasting levels have been between 160 - 200, so I'm not surprised. I'm not pleased, but certainly am doing better than I was in January. Now the summer is here so I really have no excuse not to lower it even more. 

 

It is amazing what exercise can do. On Monday my fasting blood sugar was 98. I haven't seen that number in at least a couple of years!! I attribute it directly to the walk I took that morning prior to eating. Anyway, now I know it's possible to have a lower, maybe not normal, but better (for me) blood sugar levels. 

 

(Also, y'all, please don't take medical advice from me.) 

[Red-Sol]

18 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

And, y'all thought this thread was over!! But, in the name of science:

 

I had my A1c checked yesterday. Results came in today. Definitely better than that 9.6 I reported from my last lab visit. The results that came in today showed my A1c at 7.8, so averaging 177. The time period should include the cruise. I've noticed that my "normal" fasting levels have been between 160 - 200, so I'm not surprised. I'm not pleased, but certainly am doing better than I was in January. Now the summer is here so I really have no excuse not to lower it even more. 

 

It is amazing what exercise can do. On Monday my fasting blood sugar was 98. I haven't seen that number in at least a couple of years!! I attribute it directly to the walk I took that morning prior to eating. Anyway, now I know it's possible to have a lower, maybe not normal, but better (for me) blood sugar levels. 

 

(Also, y'all, please don't take medical advice from me.) 

 

That is good news! Trending in the right direction is always something to be proud of. Keep on Keeping on.

[laudergayle]

@cruiseny4life whatcha growing in your hydroponic garden?

[cruiseny4life]

21 hours ago, laudergayle said:

@cruiseny4life whatcha growing in your hydroponic garden?

Oh, a variety! We've got a few tomatoes. Then there's some herbs (savory, thyme, basil, and mint). We have a few flowers, just for pollinators. And, far too much lettuce. I could have salads for days! I pick some and more just keeps on coming. It's a good thing, but gosh.

 

Might I mention this garden was my husband's idea. And guess who has abandoned me during the week since he has to work 12 hour days, with a 3 hour daily commute if he were to come home. But, he doesn't eat rabbit food, so ya know...if I want salad!

[laudergayle]

Gotta love a garden. We (hubby…lol) tried hydroponics in Florida as we couldn’t get anything to grow traditionally due to salt air and heat.  Now back in Georgia, we have lots of tomatoes and herbs…and hummingbirds.  Oh, and the Japanese Beetles have just taken up their summer residency. Enjoy your summer.

[Sailing12Away]

Not to keep derailing this thread further, but our hydroponics garden worked so well we had to transplant our jalapenos the other day. You can see the little hydro setup in the back, but these suckers grew so quick they were tipping the whole thing over so into separate pots they went. 

 

Still have my baby lettuce and mint in there, and the lettuce is perfect (Tom Thumb variety) - just a few leaves each week that go on my burgers, tacos, sandwiches, etc and keep coming back.

 

 

We had actually started the hydro garden 2 weeks before our Panama canal cruise (see.... I got us back on track) and had some small sprouts before we left. Came home to nearly ready to eat mint and lettuce after just those 2 weeks. I'm a fan of lazy gardening.

[cruiseny4life]

On 6/1/2023 at 9:14 AM, laudergayle said:

Gotta love a garden. We (hubby…lol) tried hydroponics in Florida as we couldn’t get anything to grow traditionally due to salt air and heat.  Now back in Georgia, we have lots of tomatoes and herbs…and hummingbirds.  Oh, and the Japanese Beetles have just taken up their summer residency. Enjoy your summer.

Oh, we haven't seen the lovely Japenese Beetles yet. I'm sure they're on the way. Perhaps they'll use this week to bring on a dramatic entrance. We've had smoke from Canada drifting down for the last three or four weeks. It's finally enough that people who don't know what smoky skies look like have noticed. Here was our lovely morning today:

 

 

Now throw a swarm, or five, of Japanese Beetles into the photo. It would be worthy of an apocalyptical feature. Welcome to the future, eh? 

 

Oh, I'll have to ask my aunt if she's had any beetles yet. She lives just outside of Newnan. 

On 6/3/2023 at 9:46 AM, Sailing12Away said:

Not to keep derailing this thread further, but our hydroponics garden worked so well we had to transplant our jalapenos the other day. You can see the little hydro setup in the back, but these suckers grew so quick they were tipping the whole thing over so into separate pots they went. 

 

Still have my baby lettuce and mint in there, and the lettuce is perfect (Tom Thumb variety) - just a few leaves each week that go on my burgers, tacos, sandwiches, etc and keep coming back.

 

 

We had actually started the hydro garden 2 weeks before our Panama canal cruise (see.... I got us back on track) and had some small sprouts before we left. Came home to nearly ready to eat mint and lettuce after just those 2 weeks. I'm a fan of lazy gardening.

We went through and bleached our system this weekend, so nothing's growing except the tomatoes that we disconnected as the bleach runs through. Every three to four months we replace every thing, then bleach to prevent root rot. It's the only way we've been able to figure it out. 

So now, I have a pile of mint to use....and, I'm so glad we're all talking about this. I have several trays of dried herbs in the oven that I need to take out when I get home tonight. Oooops! They were supposed to be taken out last night. 

 

Enjoy your peppers! 

[YVRteacher]

May I recommend a salad made of arugula, watermelon, feta and fresh mint?  It’s amazing!

[Dorhead1230]

21 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

May I recommend a salad made of arugula, watermelon, feta and fresh mint?  It’s amazing!

Just a couple weeks ago, I sliced up a watermelon and grilled it a bit, and then cubed it and topped it with feta, fresh basil (not a fan of chopped fresh mint on many things) and balsamic glaze…oh lord, it was so good! Attaching non-NCL food porn photo lol.