07242020 Getting my steps, exercise, Bridgette

Yesterday evening I spent some time at the quarry lake. It was almost too hot to go fishing, but I need a break and a low impact way to get my 10k steps in for the day. There was enough of a breeze blowing that the heat was not oppressive, but it was still unquestionably hot – especially since there was nowhere to fish in the shade. I only spent a couple hours at the lakes because I needed to make sure I had time to water the trees and bushes before dark. In that time, I caught four small bass. None were large enough to keep. Since the lake level in the upper lake was down a good bit, I was able to step onto the barge in the lake and fish from there. If I had been looking for brim, I could have brought home dozens of them. They were thick as minnows under the barge. The larger bass were making themselves scarce, however, when I was at the quarry lake I watched as a smaller fish popped out of the water three times trying to escape being eaten by what looked like a very large bass. The hunter bass never broke the surface, but he sure did make a large swirl in the water a he pursued his prey.

When I got into the house after watering the plants, I had 9978 steps recorded for the day. I crossed the 10k mark easily from there and was showing 11,622 by the time we went to bed. I used to poo-poo the whole counting steps thing, but I have changed my mind, realizing that it is helpful to have some constant measure of activity. When we got Mama a Fit Bit, I was amazed at how many steps it recorded for her in a normal day. She averages about 10k steps per day. Pretty amazing considering she spends hours per day reclined on the couch tending to her business via smart phone. With my days spent on the computer, I average only about 7,500 steps per day. To get to the 10k mark, I have to work in the extra steps on purpose. But at least I can measure that activity.

I felt better yesterday evening than I have in a long time. It may be in part to getting out the exercise straps I have not used in a while. The straps are for passive resistance exercises. When I replaced the laundry room door, I attached the board to the door that I can attach the straps to, but I never put them back in service. Mama did not like them hanging over the door as it faced the kitchen, so I left them bundled up on the backside of that door. Wednesday I got them restrung over the door so I could start exercising again. I only spend about fifteen minutes doing the exercises, but it really seems to help me feel better. Especially doing the deep knee bends. That has minimized the leg cramps I have every night when I lay down in bed. When I was at my last doctor’s appointment, she asked how I was sleeping. I told her it was hit and miss, but I was generally able to get seven to eight hours of sleeper night. That seemed to satisfy her. What else she may have been looking for I do not know.

Bridgette is going to the dentist this morning to get some work done. I am under the impression that she will be anesthetized for the procedure, but I am not sure. Becky let us know so we could be praying for her and Bridgette.

We do not have a lot on our list for this weekend. We are planning on selling three of our little boy goats at an auction in Bowie. We will keep our smallest boy out of the group and give him time to grow a bit. That will leave us with Midas, Julian and the little one in the boy’s paddock. That will help with feed over the next few months and it will give us a little income. We are not expecting to get a lot out of the boys, but at least we will get something out of them. As sad as it is to see them go, we need to move them along so we can limit our herd size. Having Julian and Midas will give us two breeder males. That will be enough for us for a couple years. On the female side of the farm, we have four nanny goats and four little girls. The nanny goats are all bred. Due to kid in September and October. The little ones will be bred in March or April. Or we may breed all eight in May or June. We have not decided yet, but there is time to pray about that.

Other than making it to the auction, we will be busy around the farm with our normal weekend activities. I will be teaching classes Monday and Wednesday next week…the last week of July. Wow. That came quickly!