Mentors

I enjoy finding new information on youtube.  In the past few days I have revisited Ben Bikman's presentation on the importance of taming my craving for sweets.  Today I indulged myself by purchasing crab and eating a good portion with garlic butter.  Tomorrow I plan to bake some mushrooms.  I became attracted to keto eating through the influence of another mentor, Jordan B. Peterson.  I learned that his wife is very ill and have been praying for her.

Done

Except for a small detail of some plastic on one side of the gate my gated fence project is done just in time for me to move on to renovating the coop.  Overnight I discovered roll away nesting boxes which should much improve the experience of keeping hens.

Hair Product

Today is Hannah's 16th birthday.  Last year on her fifteenth birthday she was preparing to go to a dance dressed as a flapper.  When I got to her house I saw that although her costume was in order, her shoes were a problem.  I took her shopping at The Rack which was only minutes away and we found some appropriate shoes,  fortunately they were also on a very deep discount.  As I recall they were only a few cents or dollars.  She liked them well enough and I felt satisfied that I had taken care of her birthday gift.  Hannah is blunt and she told me the shoes were a failure.  She danced and danced and the shoes grew painful.  In order to avoid another blunder with a gift that didn't suit her I called her aunt about the process she has been using lately to tame her thick, curly hair.  I was given several hints.  Fortunately the product was bogo.  I bought the product plus the free tube and added large hair clips.  When I presented them to her today she really liked them. 

Getting Organized

My backyard is an active area.  I have been building a section of gated fence for the front of my chicken run and today I ordered vinyl siding to put on the outside of the coop I made several years ago when I first had to face winter with chickens.  I had Calvin and Adam bring the coop to the south side of the yard where it will be close to the slide tower.  I had an idea of putting lattice panels up around the coop but now that I plan to have a layer section protruding from one side it seems even more impractical than it had seemed before.  I have quite a bit of lattice that is in narrow shapes but it is possible I will be able to integrate it in the surrounds of the run beyond what I've done so far.  Meanwhile the chickens are inhabiting a temporary run that consists of my swing pavilion which Richard and I put up nineteen years ago for Eliza's wedding reception in my backyard.  There were no buildings in my backyard when I moved here but there will be four or five by the time I put up what I am calling my 'bug out' shed. 

Fences and gates

My computer has a nasty habit of eating my lengthy compositions.  I just wrote at length about my history with making white vinyl trellis items, particularly a wedding arch and several fences.  My computer ate it.  I am not going to try and recapitulate.

Living for the Best Result

I bought a package of Haagen Daz bars again today and consumed them while driving through the foothills above my house in the ritzy neighborhood.  I had made a list of foods that I enjoy.  All but one of them are permissible under the eating plan I have adopted of low carb semi carnivore eating with intermittent fasting.  I fasted breakfast because I got up late and today was the day I weigh in each week.  I had lost a couple of pounds since last week, which was likely due in part at least to fasting breakfast.  For lunch I had burgers cooked with onions and mushrooms with Swiss cheese melted on top.  It was delicious but I was soon sated and left most of one of the two burgers for Richard to eat.  Eating the Haagen Daz bars was counter to my desire to live for the best result.  It was a childish impulse.  I have been able to establish a number of beneficial habits during the past nine months since July of 2018.  First came meaningful actions to organize my home and maintain it.  Eventually I addressed other issues.  For the past two and a half months I have been  following a stringent diet that has resulted in the loss of more than 27 pounds.  Midway through my effort and exercising I injured my hip, possibly a crack in the bone.  I didn't seek medical treatment but over a period of several weeks I used supported motion as a means to heal.  It has been successful. 
One of the primary reasons I began my diet was to change my prognosis of the possibility of mental deterioration in the form of dementia or Alzheimer's Disease.  My reading and viewing has convinced me that continuing to eat a standard American diet would almost guarantee eventual mental and physical deterioration because of insulin resistance.  Giving in to the impulse to indulge in a favorite ice cream treat was folly.

Challenges

My hip has healed.  Most of the time I forget which leg was affected.  I have begun exercising in the morning again and on Tuesday I climbed the grand stair case at the Provo City Center Temple after avoiding it for the past two months.  I also chose to come down the staircase.  I decided to go to the temple an hour later than my usual time in order to use the south ordinance room and see the lovely murals.  I made good progress on my fence and gate project with the help of Adam and Calvin.  I helped Ralph put the finishing edge on his glass project.  Challenges continue but often they are the basis of blessings.