Electrified

Adam persisted and in the last minute before I left for Marge Lewis's house this afternoon he achieved successful electrification of the trailer lights.  The trailer is now done, although today I ordered a wheeled jack for easier attaching to the car and I am still working on a box to hold all the spare equipment on the tongue such as wheels, ball combination, cargo net and wrench for changing tires.

Dreams of Forbidden Food

I have decided to put certain foods behind me.  On the other hand, I took a nap today and began to fantasize about Haagen Daz Almond Ice Cream Bars.  I have been fasting, first a water only fast for 24 hours and then a dry fast for 24 hours and water fasting again.  I thought I would fast for 72 hours total but I decided to end at 55 hours after having successive dreams of various chocolate and almond and ice cream treats.  I banned such foods from my life for health reasons.  But a recent post by one of the regulars in the "Lion Diet" group has weakened my resolve.  I had become very concerned about the effect of oxalates but he cast shade on the intensity and dangers of foods containing the substances.  Now I wonder if my revulsion against the potential dangers of oxalates, and my sacrifice of the chocolate stores and almonds I had on hand were another folly I committed.  At any rate I took a t-bone steak out of the freezer and plan to end my fast.

Almost Finished

Today Adam and Calvin came to my house and worked for hours building the rest of the fence around my trailer.  They bent pipe for a secondary support, helped me make a back gate that can be removed easily, and screwed the pipe to the vinyl railing material with conduit fasteners.  I put together a box from assorted pieces laying around the yard, including a couple of railing structures that were intended to make another garden box, but since gardening is no longer a concern, I happily cut and repurposed them. The box is meant to hold various items concerned with the trailer such as the balls for the hitch, the cargo netting and possibly a tire.  I doubt there is room for two tires. 

Rudy hugged me

It was a strong, spontaneous hug after he ran to meet me today. 

Woolen Sock Redux

It has been a year since I began this blog.  Some amazing things have happened in the past year.  I am back to wearing warm socks to keep my comfort level, but I have revised some important areas of my life.  The most important is my weekly visit with my grandson, Rudy.  In terms of lifestyle my decision to eat a carnivore style diet is the major change.  I am nearly halfway through a month of eating only ruminant meat and water along with electrolytes, slightly flavored with fruit flavor. 

Transition

Although I had other plans for today, I decided it was time to transition my wardrobe.  I have lost almost 50 pounds since the last time I put my cold weather clothing in storage.  This mostly affected casual pants.  I tossed a pile of 'work' pants away along with a beaten up heavy black sweater that I seldom used.  I purchased three pairs of corduroy pants when Winter Silks had their closing clearance.  I believe I can reduce their size enough to make them acceptable.  Otherwise I can wear most of my skirts and blouses with a few tweaks.  My dresses were mostly purchased when I weighed less in the period after my surgery almost 5 years ago and my favorite coat was purchased in New York City to replace a coat that had become baggy.  I have worn it for the past few years but it fit me less and less well.  Other than completing the outfit I started in 2017 in homage to Melania Trump's magnificent inauguration day outfit I plan few additions.

Sacrificing, Giving, Receiving

Today, although I sabotaged myself with too much sorbitol, thus experiencing my due satiety as abdominal distress, I decided to try for a few more rib eye steaks while they are on sale at Macey's.  I went to the Orem 800 north Macey's on a hunch and bought more than 3 and a half pounds of rib eye which had been marked down after being mislabled.  I bought some additional packages at the sale price I expected.  On the other hand I threw away a lot of very expensive sugar free chocolate candy and lots of almonds when I learned about the high oxalate content.  That was a sort of sacrifice, but my reasoning was, if they are bad for me it isn't a fit gift for others.  I also purchased 8 lbs. of burgers to share with my neighbors for a tail gate party and added additional burgers from my freezer when the 8 lbs. was used up.  This liberated space for the rib eye steaks.

Rails

For some time I have had a pile of vinyl rails at the side of my house.  Some of them have never been used.  Others were used as part of a garden scheme I reduced by half.  I decided to use some of them to construct the box of my new trailer.  As it turned out, I have barely enough to execute my design.  There will be some railing left over, possibly enough to make a garden seat around my tree.

Rare

I baked ribs for lunch today and found that the well done meat really didn't satisfy me.  I got some good fat but I couldn't eat the last rib and still felt hungry.  Later I decided to go ahead and fry a ribeye.  I made it medium rare and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I realize that if I roast meat I should stop the cooking process while the meat is still quite pink.  I have enjoyed a roast cooked medium rare and sliced thin when it had cooled. 

Burgers

For the first time I decided to volunteer to host the Maple Lane 'tail gate' party associated with home games of BYU.  I had Adam's assistance getting the driveway and front patio cleaned up and weeded.  I moved my trailer, turning it around to camoflage the various items David had stashed next to his car, moving some of them.  I planted some chrysanthemums  I bought on sale from Home Depot several days ago.  I borrowed Lucinda's round grill and arranged tables and chairs around the front yard.  Nine families attended, the Grahams only briefly.  I had satiated myself on a very nice ribeye steak late in the morning and felt no temptation to eat any of the potluck offerings of other families.  I grilled over forty burgers.  I used cheap hamburger and that meant that they were juicy.  I received many compliments.  It was a success.  Afterwards Alden and Calvin helped me with the clean-up, bringing in the chairs and taking the serving tables to the side of the house.  Jane Dalley inquired what the party had been about and I learned that her name had been left off the e-mail to the other neighbors.  I will include it, although this would have been the best opportunity for her to attend since it was next door.  I had erected a temporary barrier to keep children from wandering into my back yard using a section of fencing.  She admired it. 

Ribeye

I have always liked prime rib roast which I only indulged in at banquets or when they served it baked with a rosemary and garlic crust at the Provo Temple.  Recently I have heard a lot about ribeye steaks which are supposed to be a nearly ideal form of beef in terms of tastiness and balance between protein and fat.  I purchased a pack of three ribeye steaks for what was supposed to be a very good price by still seemed quite pricey at $7.99 a lb.  They are the steak form of prime rib and quite delicious.  For the past two days I combined the steak I ate with lesser steaks on the first day and with some lamb breast today.  I think that more than one ribeye is too much for me to handle.  Tomorrow I will eat my last ribeye in solitary splendor and see if it will suffice.  I suspect it will.

Jobs

My grandson, Calvin, started a job today.  For a couple of years he has worked for me for a pittance along with his siblings doing jobs around the house like mowing the lawn.  I began to think of my own job history.  Like many girls I began babysitting very early.  I had a regular appointment to watch the little boy of the lady in the house in front of ours when I lived in Bountiful.  She actually treated me more as a friend and a peer and spent at least as much time visiting with me as I did looking after little Max.  In high school I worked for a brief time at the bakery near my high school but my mother insisted I quit when a rape happened near the bakery.  I colored in home backgrounds for an architect, worked a temp job and did housekeeping and baby sitting for two very different families.  It was a good way to see how other people lived on a fairly close level.  My older brother went away to work on a turkey farm in northern Utah for the summer when he was fifteen.  I don't recall either of my little sisters having jobs when they were teens.  I observed that young people who worked for their education usually valued it more and wasted less time partying.

Fence Rails

I made an alteration to the design of my trailer fence.  There is not enough steel fence left to cover the subject and just the other day I was musing about the large supply of vinyl fence rail for which I seemed to have no use.  It should make an attractive enclosure and has strength in itself.

Habit

I have overcome or subdued several habits in the past year.  I have developed new habits and ways of thinking.  I no longer seek out puzzles and games on my devices.  It almost puzzles me that I spent so much time dropping colored jewels or blocks and feeling a sense of accomplishment.  I maintain my home in good order and have gradually extended my areas of control.  The one remaining area of concern that is within my grasp is my back yard.  I am completing construction of a trailer that will effectuate cleaning out trash.  I have resigned myself to waiting until David moves out before I do anything significant about my carport or rear downstairs porch area.  The ongoing habit that persists is using my phone after lights out and casually wondering what might be tasty to eat.  I'm not really hungry.  Most of the time I believe I misinterpret thirst as hunger. 

Woozy

I had hoped to fast for 72 hours but I neglected proper hydration and had to quit at 50 hours.  As soon as I took in a proper amount of water with minerals added and ate a fair amount of beef including a steak I'd made the other day and tongue left over from my initial 'nose to tail' venture, I recovered my clear mind and energy.  It has been a relatively busy and productive day.  I woke in the early morning and made some internet purchases that are somewhat silly but which I don't regret.  I bought a pin-dot sky blue dress, a fluffy petticoat, a patent leather belt that closes with a cluster of white enamel flowers, and a pretty white sweater.  I slept in late to make up for my night indulgence but was able to complete a full schedule of errands with Jacqueline by my side.  Adam and Calvin installed the plywood floor of the trailer in remarkable style.  I had a pleasant evening with Marge Lewis.

OMAD

My right eye seems to have fewer or less dense 'floaters'.  I have decided to proceed for the rest of the month, ending officially on October 14, with beef and lamb and salt and water.  I plan to give extra eggs to Lucinda's family during this period.  At the end of the strict carnivore period I will reintroduce eggs and cream to test my tolerances.  My first meal after I end my ruminant, salt, and water routine will likely be lamb with tziki fixed with cucumber.  If that seems to be a problem I will test lamb with tziki made without cucumber.  I confiscated the almonds I had given Jacqueline and informed her that I felt uneasy about giving her such a quantity of something I knew was bad for her.  There is a lot of misinformation abroad.  One of the popular youtube fasting advocates posted a video about foods she recommends to hasten autophagy.  They include chocolate, coffee, green tea, cicumin, and olive oil.  The first four she lists are relatively high in oxalates. 

Hitch

I got a trailer hitch from U-haul yesterday.  I worried that there might be problems with the order so I stopped by ahead of time to check.  Sure enough, although an installation was scheduled, the record for the purchase was harder to recover, but the quote that I was given was still available after some checking.  I didn't push the issue of the difference in price but the vendor gave me the same price that I had anticipated, giving me a good discount to accomplish that aim. 

Threes

There is a superstition that good and bad things come in threes.  Today started earlier than I wanted when Richard said the chickens were making lots of noise.  Since they are hens they don't make a ruckus at dawn like roosters so he went to investigate.  I think he interrupted an attempt to steal a chicken.  Unfortunately the chicken was dead when I went out a few minutes later to investigate with the light on my phone.  I put a net over the hen entrance to keep them in until I got home.  I fed them crushed lamb bones that were covered with a fair amount of gristle fat and meat and they ate it down entirely.  I also had a project of making a batch of cupcakes for the Art Exhibit at the SCERA tomorrow evening.  I am going to Salt Lake in the afternoon for my usual visit with Rudy Voss and afterwards I spend the night with Nancy and hope to use my new trailer hitch to take her boat up to Deer Creek Reservoir on Saturday.  When I started for the temple after securing the chickens my left front tire had a warning sign.  I stopped at the Maverik on 300 South where they have a coin fed air machine and set it to 33 lbs.  The tire was about 5 lbs. low.  I don't know the cause.  However even though the day started out with a dead chicken and a low tire, it concluded well enough with my chickens tucked up relatively safe behind a 'door' I put up to block their entrance and their main access door secured against simple intrusion. Jacqueline and Diana came over and made the decorated cupcakes I plan to drop off at Sandy Whitby's house tomorrow morning.

Bone Broth

I've been hearing more about 'bone broth' as a part of carnivore WOE.  Today I went to Walmart by the freeway to search for lamb breasts.  They are not a cut I would have purchased in former times, but the wealth of fat, connective tissue and bones small enough to become part of a broth are pluses.  The breasts were less than $3.00 a pound.  I slow roasted them covered in the oven to begin with then separated out the relatively meaty portions from the bones and connective tissue and put them in the same roasting pan on the stove top to simmer for hours.  I only ate one meal today, chopped lamb cooked in fat rendered from a piece of one of the breasts.  I covered it with tziki and it was very good.  I am down to eating one vegetable.  Cucumber is very low in oxalates and it make a lovely sauce to go with lamb.  It turned out that celery is high in oxalates. 

Brush with Fame

On several different occasions through my life I have had a 'brush with fame'.  These include when my name appeared in the major newspapers in our city when I was a Merit Finalist.  My full name, Margaret Patricia Heywood, took up the entire column and appeared more prominent than shorter names of other students who were equally or more qualified for distinction.  My various children have had similar or better opportunities at a time in the public eye, but I will only list those few times when my name has had more than local distribution.  When my portrait of the children of a friend was in a 'feminist' art show in Virginia it was the featured image on a TV broadcast about the show.  My first stained glass panel was shown in the Ensign at least twice after it appeared in the LDS Church International Exhibit and was also featured at a Bicentennial family reunion in honor of Joseph Leland Heywood.  Today my post on 'Don't Eat That' a facebook group started by Mikhaila Peterson, the daughter of a mentor, Jordan Peterson, received a personal 'Thank You' comment by Mikhaila.

Coconut Shrimp

I took my granddaughters Annie and Jacqueline up to Salt Lake to meet with other members of the family at a Maple Sunday dinner at Nancy's house.  Nancy has been attending a meal preparation course that provides ingredients and recipes and a kitchen to prepare dishes that can be saved for later meals.  She provided some shrimp for me to eat.  I ate more than I wanted to because I didn't want to tell her that the sauce on the shrimp was quite sweet.  She had gone to special effort to provide something that not many others wanted to eat.  This is not the most difficult issue I have encountered since beginning the Carnivore Diet.  I am far more likely to sabotage myself than be lured into leaving the track by the blandishments of others. 

Farewell to oxalates

Or in other words, farewell to some of my favorite foods, chocolate, strawberries and almonds.  I learned that all of them score high in oxalates, a natural poison made by plants to cause pain and destruction to animals.  I either threw chocolate away or am giving it away.  This feels good.

Jicama

The root of the jicama plant is supposed to be tasty and nutritious but everything else on the plant is deadly poison.  A neighbor joined me for the morning yesterday and she brought along a plastic bin that contained about a pound of raw jicama root which she proceeded to eat with expressions of gusto and exclaimed about how tasty it was.  I believe she hoped that I would ask her for a taste, but I was well into a 20 fast and didn't care to cater to her lure.  Later she told me that she had a colonic scheduled for the afternoon and usually had several doctors appointments weekly.  So much for the superiority of jicama.

Popular

I created a graphic to illustrate the changes to my body in the past nine months since I began doing a carnivore style keto diet.  In a normal ketogenic diet the emphasis is on getting more fat and keeping both carbohydrates and protein limited.  Carnivore diet is based on eating fatty animal products.  The strictest protocol is to eat only grass fed beef and drink only water with various electrolytes used as needed.  I found a picture of me on the mule I rode on a trip through Bryce Canyon.  I took a picture of me on my front porch.  The look on the face of the mule seemed to illustrate patient forebearancc at balancing a heavy human on its back.  I flipped the mule so its patient face with laid back ears was in the center of the profile picture I used on Facebook.  I have only lost about 50 pounds, but it makes a significant difference.  Most people post pictures wearing bathing suits, or for the men, they are bare chested.  I knew that the wrinkled skin that covers me would not make an appealing photo.  I put on my gray yoga pants, my skinny boots that I bought in New York City after my surgery, and a lavender, long sleeved t.  I put on a hat to keep my face partially shadowed.  I posted the picture to my own account and shared it with the two carnivore diet groups I belong to.  I got a great many likes and comments.  This was the most popular post I have ever made.

Ceiling

I designed a dropped ceiling for my kiln area.  It consists of sections of heat resistant plasterboard hung between doubled steel 2x4s.  The idea was to protect the wooden structure of the porch from the heat of the kiln.  It has been quite an enterprise.  Tomorrow I will work on the outer framework.  I discovered that one of the hanging straps had disengaged from the nail that was supposed to hold the 2x4s in place.  I hope this was a one off or I will have my own preview of what an earthquake might look like as the ceiling tumbles down. 

Twit War

I hardly ever get involved in contention on the internet, particularly the social channels like Youtube and Facebook.  I don't participate in Instagram or Twitter, even though I signed up for accounts.  Today I inadvertantly fell into a twit war.  Sadly my opponent is named Mindy which is the slightly unusual name of my youngest grandchild.  She is evidently very 'woke' although it seems she is a champion of some very dubious thinking about technology and populations.  She dismissed theTed talk of a environmental engineer who is returned life to desert areas after doing lots of harm with conventional methods that included destroying 40,000 elephants. When I gently rebutted her claim that populations can be easily reduced and that mankind would be better with a pre-industrial, pre capitalist system she attacked my lack of knowledge of the meaning of words.  At any rate I left the conversation at last with a simple question of how long she had been vegan. 

Obsession

I tend to get a bit obsessed about various ideas and pursuits.  I can become a formidable fan.  Lately I have spent a lot of time searching out information and participating in Facebook pages about living the carnivore lifestyle.  I am a great defender of the cause even though I fall short of a pure carnivore practice.  I am fairly satisfied with the results I have had to date.  But I still have 'floaters' which may be an indication that the two vegetables or one fruit, or possibly the dairy or eggs that I still eat are a problem for my immune system.  I will test this idea out more thoroughly with my next extended fast.  I hope it isn't the eggs.  I already have a problem dealing with the bounty of my tiny flock.