Ah Monday, you have arrived and Dh is back at work, his group had little office shuffle over the weekend, so he is unpacking in his new office, and still a bit pouty that he lost his window but at least his office is private.
Well, I have to say that my weekend was not what I expected, first Miss Piggy continues to nest, continues to develop in the teat area and I can see baby movement when she is laying down resting but no little ones to report yet and as long as she is cool about it, I will be as well.. but the extra trips up and down to the barn are starting to add up, still the walking is good for you..
The garden had lots of wonderful things ready this weekend, there was green beans, greens, lots of peppers, a few tomato’s, melon’s, and I am thrilled to see the corn is starting to make its cobs, we didn’t get near the heat they said we could, in fact saturday was fairly pleasent over all considering, and when it was very hot, we stopped and used the pool..
Then on sunday it was raining by the time we got up and it rained off and on all day long, this was wonderful for the gardens, pastures and for filling up our many rain barrels, we even transferred water into other storage and let the barrels fill again.
However I ended up lightheaded and dizzy on sunday, ended up getting my blood pressure checked, which I do weekly, and I am always in the optimal range, well not this weekend I wasn’t, I had very! low blood pressure, and boy did it show in how I felt and how dizzy I got off and on thoughout the day.
After going down the list of things that can cause low blood pressure, it was prettty clear that I was reacting to a major hormone surge, so the fix is simple, rest when dizzy, add a bit more salt to the menu, drink lots of water, have a good diet, and wait for it 🙂 Breath.. as in yoga, deep breathing etc and keep a record and check back in later this week for follow up.
Let me tell you, when you get dizzy and almost trip your way down stairs, suddenly your man gets all weird, he won’t let you go up and down the stairs on your own, he won’t let you do most of your plans for the day either.. thankfully, he didn’t take away my knife, so I was still able to help with meals/prep work etc. Anita, I will get to the butcher posts later this week, sorry that it will be a bit later then I planned.
So today, I am under take it easy orders from, well everyone really.. so its going to be a putter day.. I wonder if a short kettlebell routine is still considered easy?? Otherwise, I thought I might do some more veggie prep work for drying, clean the fridge, and see if I can get my regular daily chores all done in smaller bursts of work.
I do need to get out and take off my first batch of ready elderberries, they are dark black and full of juice, I will let them dry a bit yet today in the sun, but I need to get them off before they break the branches and therefor effect my over all yield as only about 30 to 40% are ready and I want the whole crop over the next two or so weeks..
Hope you have a great monday!
Just another Day on the Farm 
Be careful, please! I’d hate to hear you tripped and hurt yourself.
Will do, so far my putter is working, things are getting done but I am resting inbetween 🙂 Ps, I have been loving reading about your move and o, I am so sorry to read about the water issue, glad it got figured out 🙂
Hope you get some rest. I don’t know about you, but I have always had lower bp and when it gets very hot I have to be mindful to get enough water as well as mineral/electrolytes…may be something to consider.
*anna
Hi Anna
Dear Hubby was the one that figured out that our salt intake has taken a real nose dive over the past month, while I was making everything homemade, I was using salt in my baking goods, my homemade pasta, my potato’s etc etc Because I think that fresh food from the garden or market is such a rare treat, I don’t tend to salt things much that way, as I want the foods flavour to be what you tastes etc. Throw in the fact that I have been using lots of fresh herbs on the meats and without meaning to in this insane heat, I had pretty much dropped and cut out salt, the only thing that we had now and again was when I was adding pickles to meat, but as there was no wraps or sandwhich’s etc, I had not done that much as the meat was ending up in salads, and I just don’t add pickles to salad’s much..
So yes, yesterday I was sure to increase my salt intake because I have for sure been sweating it out.. so thank you, if Dh had not caught it, its comforting to know that your comment would have made me look at it harder as well 🙂
Regarding the breathe and low blood pressure… My yoga teacher always told us, if we had low blood pressure, to be sure to INHALE before sitting/standing up.
Sending a link which contains a huge list of healing foods and herbs; many of which are blood thinners or can lower blood pressure, so you should probably avoid for now. A few of which are: cinnamon, dill, garlic and onions…
http://www.bluegumtrees.com/recipes/naturespharmacy.html
Hawthorn is listed in the Physician’s Desk Reference as a blood pressure regulator. It’s past bloom time now, but you may want to check it out? (Only after you’ve eliminated any potential trouble-makers from your diet, of course).
http://www.thepracticalherbalist.com/component/content/article/40-herbal-encyclopedia/124-hawthorn-the-heart-healer.html
Thanks Deb, considering I use all four of those every single day that’s good to know! Will check out the Hawthorn, so far today, mild headacke but no dizzy yet, so I am really hope that the rest yesterday and the added salt will fix it up in no time, Good to know about the inhale before sitting or standing up..
I will admit to being so surprised, I always tease Dh about my perfect BP and give him warning glances as he tends to be high-normal, well he’s had come down a bit as well being normal for the first time in ages but mine was a true “what the heck” low for me..
Thinking that you and Anna parsed the rest of this out already – what with the extreme heatand your cutting back at the same time. No luck remembering who’s blog it was (Anna, was that you?) where I saw the really simple electrolyte replacement drink – but meantime honey dissolved in water with a little sea salt added would work. Here they recommend using sugar (NOT!! Nothing but empty calories): while honey (unpasteurised of course) is twice as sweet as sugar, so cut any sugar amount by half; plus it’s full of amazing “good-for-you” amino acids and micronutrients.
http://culinaryyou.blogspot.ca/2012/04/make-your-own-sports-drink-gatorade.html?
Meanwhile, for natural sources of potassium? “…potatoes actually top bananas in potassium content: a medium baked potato with skin has 750 mg. Other ideal sources of potassium are: avocado, yogurt, black beans, lentils, lima beans kidney beans, pinto beans, cooked spinach, swiss chard, oranges, winter squash, artichoke and skim milk.”
Hope this helps too! Hugs, D.