When Gaining Weight Is A GOOD Thing...

Retired life... What a ride it's been!  Let's see... I am three or four weeks in - I'm not sure which and I have not stopped long enough to even come up with a plan for the future.  And I don't even know what I've been doing!  Little trips here and there.  Visitors.  The garden.  Well... I did spend the entire day on Monday on the couch being sick.  :(  Bummer!  But I'm on the mend and have a full day planned.  Canning and preserving season has really just begun.  Today I need to dehydrate some more herbs, decide what to do with the yellow summer squash taking over my life out in the garden and make sure the new lettuce and spinach seeds I scattered last night for a fall crop stay moist.  Yesterday after mowing the grass I decided I better get out in the garden and prop up all the heavy tomato plants that have exploded out of the tomato cages that always seem so big at the beginning of the summer.  I swear I'll never buy another one.  Better to just pound in 6' T posts to stabilize the monsters which is what I did as darkness fell last night.  I'm still waiting to taste my first ripe tomato but it's getting very close!  I've got lots of cherries (my favorite) and big tomatoes turning yellow.  Pear shaped tomatoes.  I don't even remember planing them.  They may be volunteer from last year.  Along the sides of the garden lots of volunteer tomato plants sprouted and I didn't have the heart to pull them all.  They are growing up all intertwined in the chicken wire fence.  I finally ripped out the pea vines and gave then to the cows.  Then I tossed out about 15 giant squash that are too large to do anything with.  They shoved those around for a while before finally realizing that they are pretty tasty.  Even Red Bull got in on the squash action after satisfying his eternal itch by rubbing his neck so vigorously on the stabilizing wire of the power/phone pole that the entire pole was waving back and forth.  That was a little freaky!

But... on to the topic of fatness.  Why is it I always end up here?  :)  On Monday while laying around on the couch I was forced to admit that I was taking up a good deal more space than a few months ago.  I thought about what could possibly have caused the change in girth and what I would be willing to quit eating to reverse the circumference, I mean circumstance!  How depressing was that?!  Very, let me tell you!  I then began lamenting about the fact that I was going to have to find something to wear to my brother in law's wedding this weekend.  Hhmf!  Well... I started digging around in my closet and was delighted to find a couple of nice outfits that I bought when we went to Europe.  I was even fatter than so they still hang just slightly giving me the appearance of having lost weight.  Ha ha!  Now that's really sick!  But...that's when gaining weight is a good thing.  Now of course I'll come directly home from the wedding in Oregon
 and put those clothes away to never be worn again!  I do have to say though that the entire diet has not been a train wreck.  Just too much celebrating.

Here are some pics of what retired life has been looking like...

Last weekend we spent a couple of days at the beach in Ocean Shores with Jeff and Andrea.  We had a great time.  We were blessed with a perfect no fog day on Saturday.  Even though it was 80 degrees at at the house, just a short walk through the dunes it is always windy on the water so you almost always need a coat.  Even in August.  I was thrilled to find a whole sand dollar :)

Jeff and Andrea perched on driftwood by the trail head

Fresh seafood!  Salmon with lemon butter and prawns

Herb bouquet that I brought to the beach



We took the long way home via Chinook Pass.  Beautiful views of Mt Rainier!

Long drives call for long naps.  Kitty's always game for a nap!

Upcoming this weekend... wedding in Oregon.  Thought I would make some road trip snacks using the over abundance of squash and beets in the garden.  "Bacchini" bread (zucchini with banana added) and baked parm  beet chips.

 Now... since I can't decide which pic to insert next I'll just be done now.  :)  Have a great weekend everyone!

Ciao!