May 2026 Most Recent Posts:
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May at the farm turned out to be mostly food and hiking along with the Google mess, bothersome doctor appointments and unwelcome visitors.
The Google mess was a total aggravation that took nearly a week, too many hours, too many phone calls and a visit to the T-Mobile store in Charlottesville to resolve. One perfectly normal day, I watched as my phone did a reboot I hadn’t asked for. From then on it would not come back to the home screen. Thus it was useless to me. I spent HOURS googling what to do. I did everything suggested and nothing worked. So I took the phone in to the store where the technician redid all things I’d already done and declared it would have to be replaced. WHAT?? I didn’t do anything and I have to replace my phone?
The speculation was that google had done an update that went awry. Thus it was Google’s fault but is there any way to contact google to force them to make it right. Not that I could find. So T-Mobile kindly ordered me a new phone, or at least new to me, exactly the same model I’d had, Google Pixel 6 and charged me $5. I should have up graded to a newer phone but I really don’t want all the AI on them and was leaving town shortly and didn’t want to have to deal with potential problems in the outback of Vermont.
On to the food.
Most common breakfast: spinach, banana, oatmeal, flax seed, chia seed, umla, frozen fruit and oat milk. It really is delicious and keeps me satisfied for hours.
Sample lunches and dinners. Sometimes I make enough for both meals.
Beautiful skies.
Wild flowers blanket the fields.
The grass has to be mowed. Not sure why I look so happy about it.
The hiking is always wonderful and better now that I have mowed a path through the grass to hopefully decrease the tick possibilities.
Some days the weather is wonderful and I eat outside at the picnic table. Other days it is in the 90’s HOT and HUMID and I wonder how that can be in May and if I should have moved north sooner.
But once I went with my friend Pam for Mexican food and margaritas. Actually hers was a pina colada and even better than my frozen strawberry margarita.
Despite my attempt at heart healthy eating and my daily hikes or kayaking, my blood pressure is too high so I got to wear this gadget for 24 hours. It confirmed, my blood pressure is way too high. So now what?
Last post I showed my lovely Peony in bloom. I put 3 in a vase and and this is how they looked when they wilted. I think they are still beautiful.
We’ve had enough rain to encourage the mushrooms. This one is bigger than my hand.
The woods are beautiful. Wonderful for hiking.
Delicious easy dessert, cored apple slices with nut butter and chocolate granola sprinkled on top.
End of the month wildflowers in the field.
One of my very destructive, very fast moving neighbors that I cannot catch in a Have-a Heart trap. Here he is brazenly walking into the yard. Picture is fuzzy because I’m taking it through the window. I am getting so frustrated I wish some one would shoot them. They are living under my house and shed.
The thing in Winnona’s air vent is a beginning wasp nest which was much easier to get rid of than the groundhogs.
Time to move away from the heat. My last view of the flower filled fields on May 28 as I leave for Vermont for the summer.
Hopefully your Vermont weather will be just perfect. News reports show it all over the place for our Vermont friends
ReplyDeleteCrossing my fingers. It's cooler than Virginia
DeleteUgh, groundhog are a pain! Thankfully we got rid of a few by using a solar vibration contraption. Our local park has so many gopher, we see them popping their heads up a lot!
ReplyDeleteLaurie I'd love to know the name of the thing you used that actually got rid of them and how long it took it to do that.
DeleteI'm thinking a nice helping of JMC would go a long way in lowering your blood pressure. ;c)
ReplyDeleteWith all the sugar and fat I'm not sure but I definitely have one if there was a Bruster's anywhere nearby
DeleteIt is so peaceful at the farm. I understand why you love it. Thoroughly enjoyed our Mexican lunch! Refried beans- yum! Have a great time in Vermont.
ReplyDeleteBeans and rice has become a staple of my diet lately and I really do like it. Wonderful to see you. Wish it could have been more. Have fun at the beach!.
DeleteI love the path through the field. I am so scared of ticks now that alpha gal is a thing. Ugh. “Ugh” also to the groundhog. My latest Mother nature menace is a crow rinsing things in my bird bath. You don’t want to know… Hope the groundhog “moves on” while you’re gone. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm scared of ticks too. And like you I don't have anyone to check my back so that worries me. I don't think I want to know about your crow. The groundhogs have been there for several years. I seriously need to get rid of them but I don't know how.
DeleteBeautiful green out there at the farm with that mowed path! The food looks very healthy. If only it could keep the blood pressure down!! Could it be stress? Or maybe that’s just a non medically backed reasoning. Both the pina colada and the strawberry margarita look delicious. Tech these days…they do whatever they want, whenever they want to..I’m glad you only had to pay $5.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why my diet doesn't keep the blood pressure down because I don't put salt on anything but I suppose it could be stress or anxiety or who knows. But I need to get it controlled that's for sure.
DeleteCan't believe Google fried your phone and has no responsibility. But a $5 new phone sounds like a pretty good fix! I still love my Pixel but sometimes it will do something weird. Your meals all look delish and hardly a menu that would elevate blood pressure unless there's lots of salt. We are nearly sodium free in our house these days. The farm is beautiful with all the green and flowers. There's got to be a way to get rid of the dang ground hog/gophers. It's one thing we don't have in our desert, just field mice that can be destructive too :-(( Excited to see what you're up to in Vermont!
ReplyDeleteYou hit it right on the nose Jodee. How can they have any responsibility if they make it so they are impossible to contact. It was seriously infuriating. It took 3 days before I had a phone back. I like the phone fine, although it's a bit too heavy for my taste but the company is quite another thing. I have pretty much eliminated salt from my diet except when eating out where it's impossible to avoid. So the high blood pressure must be something else. It's quite concerning. Thanks so much for such a great comment!.
DeleteHave a wonderful summer in Vermont! Hopefully it will be a peaceful, relaxing time for you. xoxo
ReplyDeleteSo wonderful to hear from you Laurel! I hope things are great and fairly cool in North Carolina for you this summer.
DeleteBe very careful with that BP issue … hope it settles for you sooner than not!
ReplyDeleteOh! I missed this post and am just now seeing it! What a beautiful place to live, Sherry! It is just stunning!
ReplyDeleteI only have one groundhog that I have seen. I call her Geneva and she tends to mind her own business. She does climb on the bird feeding table occasionally and grab some seed, but thankfully she leaves my garden alone.
Great photos! I love all the healthy meals you are making. Looking at the pictures is making me hungry! :) I particularly love the last photo - looking back over the fields.
I am sure it is frustrating and puzzling as to why your blood pressure remains high in spite of your healthy diet, daily hikes, and kayaking. It is equally puzzling to me that although my blood pressure is in a healthy range, you can run circles around me - even though I walk, exercise daily, and eat a healthy diet! And you have a few year on me! Whew! Hats off to you, Sherry! You are a force!