Today I did the 2023 Inktober prompt “Angel”. It feels good to be done with another painting and to be doing something different. I need to mix it up a bit to keep myself interested. This drawing was done on my iPad using Procreate. I’m really due for a new iPad soon, this one’s battery life is not great. Perhaps I’ll just get the battery replaced if that’s possible. Everything works fine besides the battery.
I ran a 5k with my friend this morning and managed under a 10 minute pace (it was 9’47”). Tomorrow I’ll do a 5 mile run and then on Saturday I’ll jog 10 miles. That should add up to my goal of 21 miles for the week when you include Tuesday’s 5k. My next goal once I’ve achieved my October and September goals (one thing at a time), is to introduce resistance training. November would be a good time for that because I don’t have any races that month so if I’m a bit sore, it’s okay to take some days off of exercise to recover.
I’m on day 4 of my September and October challenge. So far so good. I’ve done art every day, I haven’t touched sugar, and I’ve limited my ultra-processed food to just a few items a day (yesterday I didn’t have any UPF at all). Dinner was cooked at home yesterday and I plan to do the same tonight. I realized on the 29th I have to eat out at a restaurant because it’s my Uncle’s birthday and we are celebrating at an Italian place. 13 days out of 14 is still okay for making sure I eat at home. It saves a lot of money too!
My Lady’s Slipper is in bloom. That’s always exciting. My moth orchids are all starting to lose their flowers but hopefully they bloom again after shedding their current flowers. One of them started a spike while it still had it’s old flowers. I recently re-potted one of the moth orchids because it was in the wrong kind of soil. It was in orchid soil and not bark and moth orchids prefer bark. So I waited until it was done blooming and had lost all it’s flowers to transfer it to bark. It’s not good to re-pot while an orchid is in bloom as it’s traumatic for the plant. Currently I have five moth orchids and one Lady’s Slipper. I also have an elk horn fern, a fern I don’t know the name of but which requires excessive amounts of water, a massive snake plant (4 and a half feet tall) that is blooming right now, and a vine-like plant I don’t know the name of (it was a gift and didn’t have a tag) but it seems happy enough and is taking over two of my living room windows. I’m not a very good gardener when it comes to my outdoor garden, but I seem to be able to keep indoor plants happy enough. My orchids are my favorites of the indoor plants.
I’d like to get hydrangeas for out front next spring, but that’s my only plan for the garden outside. The people before us planted stuff that stays alive regardless of wether it’s watered or not and seems to grow without help, so nothing in my garden has died since we moved in 6 years ago despite me not doing anything at all to help. Every 3 months I have a landscaping team out to tidy things up and take care of the weeds so that it doesn’t get completely overgrown.
Fingers crossed but we haven’t had many giant house spiders this season. They live in the ducts of our house and make an appearance every once in awhile. Their bodies are about the size of a quarter and with the legs they are about the breadth of your palm. They aren’t venomous thank goodness. I feel like writing about not seeing any is going to jinx me and I’ll see tons this fall, but hopefully it’s a bad year for them and we don’t see any. One time I was on the toilet and looked over and one was on the wall about half a foot from my head. That gave me a jump. I sprayed the hell out of it and it wouldn’t die, so I had to basically stun it with the bug spray and then squash it with my shoe. No I’m not the kind of person who takes spiders outside. Spiders are my nemesis and I destroy them on sight. Centipedes are equally repulsive to me but I’ve been hoping they take on the giant house spiders and kill them because I read they eat spiders and they are smaller than the giant house spiders in our home and thus a little less scary. If I see one I still kill it though.
I weighed 122.2 this morning which I was happy with. Yesterday I ate according to my calorie goal and my persistence these past few days has paid off and I lost a pound. Hopefully I can shed another and be 121 by Saturday morning after my long run. When I reach 118 I am going to get myself something nice to celebrate being under 120 again. It might be a little difficult to reach 110 by October 24th (the day before we leave for Chicago), but let’s aim for 115. That seems more realistic.
Day 4 no sugar
Day 4 limited ultra-processed food
Day 4 painting or drawing every day
Day 2 cooking at home every night for the next two weeks
Weight 122.2 lb. (1.6 pounds out of 8.8 pounds lost)
Drawing Prompt Goals for September
September 19: Angel, September 20th: Spiders, September 21st: Fire, September 23rd: Dagger, September 24th: Sparkle, September 25th: Frost, September 26th: Drip, September 27th: Toad, September 28th: Demon, September 29th: Chains, September 30th: Beast
The Art & Poetry of Mary Coleman 
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