Chrome, Chickens, & Turning 50

01/23/2023

Seasonal affective disorder is a real thing. It's particularly troublesome for ADHDers who are already low on serotonin. ADHD can make days challenging and these seemingly endless gloomy days are no help. I can totally see why folks go south in the winter.

This type of depression is related to changes in seasons and begins and ends at about the same times every year.

05/24/2022

I've never been a fan of lawns, and we have a big one. It takes a good 90 minutes to mow ours with a ride-on mower. I'd like to be able to do it all with my push mower (the no-gas-required variety). I think this will be the year for change. We want to put in more fruit trees and I'd like to have some native species of scrub to plant in garden beds around the yard, to encourage bees, butterflies, and hummers. Do you have a lot of law? Did you get rid of some lawn and replace it with gardens? I'd love to see it.

Tired of mowing the lawn? Watering the lawn? Thinking about how the grass is always greener? Maybe it's time to consider leaving the grass behind! Wren takes...

02/23/2022

Society places a huge weight on women to be that superwoman: mother, wife, lover, money maker, housekeeper, chef, chauffeur, and we are expected to look good while were doing it. Its a multi-billion dollar a year business as companies push crazy expensive products that are purported to keep us forever young and vibrant. Are all of those big dollars really necessary? Why does it have to be so complicated? I just bought this product last week, it was $18 (yes, my husband choked a little). I like it. My hair is thick, heavy, and long, and I detest products that make my hair crunchy. I process minimally as I just can't bring myself to spend copious amounts of time on styling. I am determined to keep it wash and go, regardless of length. (P.S. I can use this product daily, even without a wash, and not have buildup.)

I had an extensive talk with my stylist, Jake, and his boss, about what goes into keeping hair looking good, and the list is long. Later posts will go into what I've found and how there are forces beyond our control in our effort to keep our bodies healthy.

REF Leave In Conditioner ingredients explained: Aqua, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Chenopodium Quinoa Seed Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Sclerocarya Birrea (Marula) Seed Oil, Camelina Sativa Oil, Olus Oil, Tocopherol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Amodimethicone, Glycerin, Butylene...

08/16/2021

Day 2...left Salisbury, Aunt Jeanne, Pixie, and Lady Jane, to continue on to the next leg of our Journey. It was a leisurely ride up 1A, 1B, and Rte 1, where we crossed over into Maine. It got really rural pretty quick and speed limits were 45-55 in most places. We're having a late lunch, we'll stash our stuff in our room, and go play. 💕 Adventure awaits!

08/15/2021

Whoot, whoot! Its day one of our anniversary ride. Here's the plan.
- heading north out of Franklin on 87
- cutting across Kickhill Rd and pick up 203 out of Windham to Rte 6.
- at Rte 6, we will pick up 198 and take that up to Sturbridge MA where we will pick up Rte 20 east.
- We will stay north of Lowell and away from the Boston suburbs
- from Lowell, we will head to Georgetown and then east some more to Rte 1A.
- we'll go north just a bit and that will take us to Aunt Jeanne's house.

Hope you follow along!

07/05/2021

Sorcha and I are out and about with my hunny, heading to Torrid for party cloths! 10 days for the big day, 12 days for the party. Bring it on!

06/15/2021

Have not posted in over a week. Lots of stuff happening. Enjoying just living. Last day of his sophomore year, for my youngest. Hubby will be picking him up and taking him out to lunch. Oldest had work cancelled due to rain but it has yet to actually rain. Feeling happiness down to my soul. 30 days to the big day. I'm ready. 💕 (photos are captioned)

05/28/2021

A lot goes into cutting hay. Mowing, raking and either chopping or bailing. One local farm uses multiple pieces of equipment, mowers, a couple rakes, a round bailer, and multiple tractors to pull all of it. There's trucks for collecting the chopped hay and manpower to drive them all.
Sadly, wildlife can get involved. Turkeys are usually pretty easy to flush out of tall grass but this hen wouldn't leave her eggs. She had 10 eggs but only 7 were intact. After a conversation with a licensed rehabber, I was given permission to incubate them. I started them last night and will hope for the best. Baby turkeys (called poults) are very frail. Only about 10%-40% of nests will hatch (due to predation) and only about a quarter of those that hatch will survive beyond their first month. The rehabber will take any that hatch.