Home Depot; Exercise

Home Depot was the place to go this morning, and I was a little shocked when I heard the total of my purchases.  First of all, I bought an inexpensive screen "door" that is hung on a tension rod to the door frame.  It certainly won't be better than a proper screen door, but I want to wait and replace the door with a new one that comes with a screen.  I hung the new one in just a few minutes and it does provide some cross ventilation.

I couldn't find my box cutter so I bought a new one - now I'll be sure to find the old one but you can never have too many box cutters!

I got a rake to help with my gardening efforts - a shovel will be necessary but for now I bought a trowel.   The bougainvillea looked so pretty, but I just am not sure where to put it, or even how many to get.  I have cuttings rooted from oleander but they look pretty bad, and I will no doubt have to buy a couple of plants if I decide on oleander.  The one plant that Home Depot has is still there, it's a beautiful white oleander, but the pot seems heavy and the plant is just more than I want to deal with by myself.  

What I got was a bunch of marigolds - they are so easy to plant and I have several places in mind.  I pulled off a couple of spent blossoms and pulled them apart to expose the seeds - after drying them thoroughly for a day, I'll throw them into the ground and see what happens.  A lot of plants sold today are not meant to reproduce.  My mother in law loved marigolds and used to give me a qt mason jar every spring containing marigold seeds.  She kept plenty for herself, so you can imagine how prolific those little flowers can be.

"What Makes Olga Run" is an amazing book, not exactly what I thought it would be.  It goes deep into the various tests that have been done to assess probable longevity.  Olga was 94 at the writing of the book and still going strong.  So far what I get is that we can all avoid some of the worst of the aging process as well as keep our minds intact, by EXERCISE!  A couple of quotes from the book are worth repeating:


"Every minute you push yourself beyond your comfort zone is redeemable as a unit of bliss, and you can coast at least a whole day on it, as locked in as a Zen master on ritalin before it starts slowly wearing off".    I can attest to this!

"The good news is that the effect of exercise does not diminish as we age.  The same level of endorphins is produced, the same high is felt.  Thus does exercise loom, for seniors, as a tantalizing outlet - a reliable pleasure source in a world of diminished pleasures, the keys to the hooch cabinet." 

I love this book, and would recommend it to anyone who thinks getting old is the beginning of the end.  There are a lot of factors involved in our life expectancy, but there is also a lot we can do to increase our chances of living to a good old age and being capable and productive while we are doing it.

I know how good I feel after every workout, and the feeling lasts beyond 24 hours most times.   It's like a runner's high without having to run, although if you prefer to run it is fine - just do something and do it regularly.

Off my soapbox.  The breezes created by having the screen up are pulling it outward and away from the frame.  I will maybe get the duct tape out or I might as well not have a screen at all.  Most of my window screens have holes in them and I'm not bothered by flying insects - an occasional fly gets in, and we've been too dry to worry about mosquitos!

I think I've run on long enough for today.  I want to take a photo of the back of my new dress - I have the dress hanging on a hook on the bathroom door, and it looks so elegant it almost takes my breath away.  I'm not sure I can do it justice.  My sister Julie is getting married in early August and I'm thinking of wearing this dress.