And so it begins…

And so it begins but I am hopeful that with some planning it will have a better outcome. Not a passive hope but one I have put some thought into.

I love to be outside in the summer which is good because we have a large farm garden, a significant sized flower garden and various other green spaces that require attention. The truth is I could act as a full time garender and put in 40+ hours/week and not keep it as I want it to be.

So… that means I need to accept less than perfect as a mission statement. There is always going to be something on the list to do and if I can’t do it all then I need to prioritize and accept the it’s not going to be perfect.

I think it’s a combination of age and my back issues that I’ve finally come to accept that I can no longer spend 10 hours in one day at the end of a spade digging weeds and moving rocks.

Cold weather seeds planted. Trust me the dog was no help but she did sit for the picture.

#WorkSmart Guidelines

• Ask for help when needed
• Listen to my body
• Set a timer and respect it
• Take time outs to ice and rest
• Downsize a few veggies (but…. what if they don’t grow well??)
• Accept empty spaces instead of putting in a more flower annuals
• Alter activities more
• Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day
• Ask for help (yes I repeated that one because it’s the hardest part for me)

This poster on the side of the fridge really does help me remember.

So much of social media seems “staged” and perfect. I get sucked in to believing no one else has weeds or dirty hands or dead plants because it never shows up in feeds. Our flower garden at this time of the year looks like h_ll. I thought the mulch would make a difference but it just still looks ugly. There are more dandelions, 2 spreading perennials that grow like weeds and a nasty weed than there are perennials returning to life. The mulch isn’t thick enough and where it is too thin the cats still do their business. Add to that two brand new flower bed against the house and there is more work to do. So there will be 10 yards of mulch and a lot of money in plants spent.

How will my body react to this. Well…. I will cross my fingers that I listen to the worksmart rules above and not get sucked into making it perfect for the photo or finishing so I can tick it off the list.

I started the post 4 days ago and never hit publish so I can tell you that I actually followed my worksmart rules yesterday. I cleaned out the raspberry patch in 3 sessions. I left the wheelbarrow farther away so there was more walking interspaced with kneeling, bum sitting and leaning over. Altering how my body was being used seems to be key and I did it. Then I sat back and enjoyed a glass of nice cold raspberry vinegar on the verandah while icing my back.

I don’t want to admit how long it took to find this photo in my media files!

On the #Justkeepmoving front I then hit the highway/city roads and did about an 18 km cycle in (my phone died so I can’t tell you exactly). I have a schedule (heavens to betsy as Little C says) that it keeping me on track with weights, cardio and walking. I think I need it to help me be accountable but it seems foreign to the concept of being semi retired.

Bernie