Thrive Diet

I've just finished reading Thrive Fitness, and have started reading the Thrive Diet, and this was my first recipe from the book: coconut curry chickpeas and greens. It was so simple to put together, and very tasty.

I'll do reviews on the books once I've finished the Thrive Diet.

More bird feeders?

I put up a hummingbird feeder near the patio. I was a little unsure of the location, so I moved it to a nearby rhodo bush.

Sure enough, I was sitting on the patio one evening and a hummer flew up to where the feeder use to hang, and then immediately spotted it in the rhodo and whizzed over there.

So I don't think the hummers mind coming so close to the patio afterall. However, since returning it to its original spot, I've yet to see a hummer.

Too bad the clematis isn't pink or more of a reddish colour for them.

***

This was taken one rainy morning.

We put up the bamboo for the clematis to trail along (it's not really obeying, but I've got to try).

The chickadees have been coming quite close to the windows when I'm there. I think they want me to put  a feeder out.

I don't want the chickadees to think I'm favoring the hummingbirds do I?

Last night was my last shift at LV tools. Since starting my job at kv (the little vegan haven), I cut my hours at LV down to 2 days, and then finally 1 day a week. I knew the day would come when I would have to leave, but it arrived sooner than expected when kv offered me full time. Working for a small business has been much more rewarding than the big company. I feel like I'm part of the success that we're having at kv, and that's very rewarding to feel like you have a direct impact on how the business functions. 


It's a big change for me because I can feel my life going in a direction I hadn't expected. I knew I wanted to leave LV, but I was never really certain how that would happen, or when. When I landed the job at kv (actually, thanks to a former LV employee who heard about the job and thought it would be a great fit for me), I saw possibilities, but the owners didn't want to commit to anything permanent because they were a new business and were not sure if a vegan shop would fly. Well it's surviving, and now I have a permanent place there.

Even though I knew I wanted to leave LV, I still felt sad leaving. Once I cut my hours to one shift a week, it was fun to see everybody and get caught up on the latest news. My one day a week was more of a social event sometimes than work, but the downside was that I felt a little scattered working in 2 places, and then going to the Wildlife Rescue on Tuesdays. Some mornings I'd wake up and ask myself, "where am I going today?" The older I get, the more I find I need a steady routine.

Yesterday I was overwhelmed when the staff surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers in a vase that one of the women engraved for me. One friend baked a vegan chocolate cake, with a chocolate icing that was to die for. Sliced bananas were layered in between the 3 layers with the chocolate icing, and they also decorated the top. (I'll have to post a picture if someone ever sends me one). This was a very decadent treat since I don't really eat cake very often. I think the sugar rush was a bit intense, but it was worth it. To top it off they gave me a gift card that I had spent by the end of the evening.

They did everything right to make me well up with tears. Thanks everyone at LV for the fun that we did have over the last 3.5 years. I always had a lot of laughs there that's for sure, and that's what I'll miss the most.

Remember these morels? We made a pasta dish with them that was a success, and then decided to do something a little more unique with the rest of our morels.


The Artful Vegan a cookbook from the San Francisco restaurant, Millenium, is a book we usually use for special occasions since there is often many steps, and other ingredients to prepare.

However, we came across a recipe using morels that seemed manageable for a Saturday night.

 The morels are inside the phyllo with a mashed garlic potato layer. The morels were cooked with caramelized onions.  The sauce is a pinot noir & beet reduction (that took far longer to reduce than we had hoped, but I think we were not simmering it properly to begin with). The phyllo rolls were served on a beet & carrot salad with a little truffle oil, and a horseradish cream on the side.

What a treat. I love that cookbook.
Thanks again for the morels, pw!

Track motivation

Usually the track at the gym is quiet. There might be 1 person walking it, but most of the time it's just me running those short laps around and around. However, yesterday the track was packed with seniors. I felt like I was intruding, but it is for everyone to use so I went ahead with my short run.

There was 1 guy moseying in a shiny green tracksuit, talking on his cell phone. I'm glad I was wearing my ipod! However, what stood out the most for me was the various postures; some were slouched over more, and others were very straight. I know as we age, we can become more slouched and seeing this group really made me aware of how I maintain my posture now could affect how it is later in life.

I know that I certainly straightened up as I ran.

Run Vegan?

The run:

25 minutes (that's the time limit for all of the cardio equipment) on the treadmill, and then I headed upstairs to the track for another 10 minutes of running (that's all the time I had for running).

The mantra:

"If I don't have the time to stretch, I don't have the time to run."


Achilles update:

A little achy Achilles for the first 5 minutes on the treadmill, but then it faded. It was tired by the end of the day (after 4 hours at Wildlife Rescue tending to at least half of the 92 ducklings we now have there).


Physio update:

I went to physio for the last time, and she emphasized again that I cannot run any hills for a while. She did a little massage, ultrasound, and concluded with 10 mins of the muscle stim machine.


How to avoid the boredom of a treadmill? (Remember when I loved the treadmill before I started running outside?)

With this type of running, I will definitely need my ipod shuffle to keep me going. I've started listening to CBC's Ideas podcasts when I run. It's almost an hour long, and it gives me a chance to listen to something a little more interesting. It doesn't always have to be music to keep me going.

My running season:

It's on hold. There's so much I want to run (Scotiabank end of June, Portland in October, Rubber Ducky 1/2 marathon, also in October), but I have to wait and see how my Achilles responds to the treatment. I'm sticking to my marathon training schedule though, with some modifications.

Treatment: 

• Ice, ice, baby (as my physio always says).
• Perhaps a massage in a couple of weeks to really give those calves something to cry about.
• Calf raises with a goal of 20 per calf (It burns at 15!). 
• No hill running (i.e. treadmill, track, flat Poco trail only). Maybe I'll explore some of the various tracks around my neighbourhood and rate them.
• Easy hikes only. No long hilly hikes. Those seem to really aggravate it.

Sorry db, I guess that means that we won't be foraging for morels in Pemberton this weekend. :-(