Friday, June 25, 2021

Nettles & Ice Cream

Good morning (afternoon, evening), darlings!
I'm writing in the cool morning of what looks to become a pleasantly hot day. Even if it's unpleasant, I will be in a/c, . . . cooking nettles.

I go to my six-week gig this afternoon, sitting a house where nettles grow, and a garden, which I'll need to water daily during this ongoing drought.

The home owner told me that nettles are good for arthritis, knowing I have a touch of it. (Good news: mildly; bad: in my fingers.)
I looked it up and it turns out nettles have all sorts of healthy properties, heated in tea, soups, stir fry...
So, I'll try that.
(Wearing gloves to pick!)

I'm working on drinking less alcohol, and that's going well.
During Covid, I got into the habit of drinking every evening. Usually just one beer, but who needs it?

Beer is cake in a can.
(
A  5-ounce glass of wine has 1 or 2 grams of carbs.
Add a zero for
beer: 10 to 20 grams of carbs in a 12-oz bottle of (5% alcohol) beer.
Other than that, beer has some health benefits.)

Unless I'm stressed (See, Covid; also, Workplace), I crave the carbs more than the alcohol. I made a deal with myself:
I can eat or drink anything I want, as long as it's nonalcoholic.

Wouldn't you rather have a nice cup of nettle tea?

Well, no.

But ice cream?

Yes.

So that's my health plan: nettles & ice cream.

Also, I'm going to try a strength-training class this coming week.
For the past six months, I've met  with GT (the gym teacher) for
private half-hour sessions. Meeting––talking!––one-on-one helped me through the isolating winter.

Now we've got a break from the pandemic (until the Delta variant arrives?), I think I'll like being around other people.
Plus classes are cheaper, and I expect I'll work harder too.
We'll see...

GT rents a mid-century service station (below) for his gym (those cool slanted front windows!).
He and a crew of gymsters planted flowers in the packed down ground behind the building and put in raised beds. 
I want to sit at that iron table (front, right) they just added:


Speaking of Instagram, which I wasn't . . . I'm liking the IG Sew Over 50 community: "Ageism is never in style".
It's almost all clothes (and sewing tips),
not toys––and soooo many dresses––but there's quite a range of people my age, which I love to see.

(I don't really like to sew. I only do it to help the toys.)

Here're Sew Over 50's top nine posts of 2020:

Bottom right square:

"If it's a choice between not doing it at all or doing it and getting it wrong, get it wrong. Learn from it. Do better next time."

7 comments:

gz said...

A quick comment..hope to pop back in to read tomorrow.
Just use young nettle tips..otherwise they can clean out your system 😲
The older ones are good for fibres though....

Anonymous said...

Fascinating about nettles! I have never tried them especially as tea. Knox gelatin used to be the recommended go-to for arthritis.

Thank you for the sew over 50 instagram link.

One of the local mid-century service station here is going to become home to a small batch bakery and 2 blocks from my house. Way too close!

Kirsten

Michael Leddy said...

I like the advice in the bottom right corner about getting it wrong.

Milarepa eats nettles while he’s meditating. I think it’s all he eats. Eventually he turns green. When he breaks open a scroll his lama gave him, it says to eat good food. That’s where the ice cream comes in. : )

River said...

I'll take the ice cream but you can keep the nettles all for yourself.
I like the red top you are wearing there. I used to love to sew, making clothes for the kids and me, but now I have nowhere to properly set up the machine and just leave it, I may have to do some serious rearranging, since I bought fabrics to make dresses for my four little redheads.

gz said...

Love the gym garden. It is heartening to see more and more people gardening.
The 50 plus fashion is interesting..must have a look at that! Although I am not into dresses.

Fresca said...

GZ: Thanks for the tip about nettle tips!
Gardening is big here, even with our short growing season---maybe more so since Covid.

KIRSTEN: The call of the bakery!!! Hard to resist...
Great use of the old station.

MICHAEL: I love the advice too--
"If it's a choice between not doing it at all or doing it and getting it wrong, get it wrong. Learn from it. Do better next time."



Fresca said...

RIVER: I like that red smock too, but that's not me--I'm not involved in this IG community, I just look.
Looking forward to seeing the dresses you make for your little reds!