Happy first day of Autumn 2022. I hope your autumn is crisp and cool with good gardening weather.

If you'd like to see where we've come from, please go to: The thread "Support for a Healthy Lifestyle in Summer 2022" in Sandbox forum

Edited to add a nice Autumn picture I came across today.

Happy autumn! Mid day rain here with a weather front, now cooler air and sunshine. Took the day off, doing garden cleanup and making pasta sauce and drying tomatoes.
I went to Sprouts one day and picked one of the multitudinous crazy supposed super healthy alternatives to soda. It had 20,000% daily value of B12. Crazy. Someone said that's water soluble anyway, so what good is so many many times more DV than you'd use?

I'd really like a lovely autumn day all day. It's pleasant here now, but was cloudy and threatening rain earlier in the day and has been quite cool and windy all day.

My husband tested positive on Tuesday; So far I'm negative and continue to feel good. I moved to the guest room and we probably both sleep better. I have lots of gardening that needs to be done. I guess if it's nice tomorrow and I still feel good, I'll get into the garden. Can't go to aquafit or the massage appointment I had. Had to get someone to cover for me at handbells both tonight and on Sunday when they play as I've certainly been exposed. I DO go out shopping a bit with a really good mask.

Thank you, Ann, for the Autumn thread. The weather has been lovely, 65 to 70 during the days and sunny, nights are very cool, 35 to 40, we have had quite a few frosts already.

Ann, I am sorry that your DH has covid, I hope it isn't too serious, and hopefully you won't get it.

Thanks for the new room, Ann. Sorry your DH has covid. Hope he springs back quickly.

We might be getting some fall weather next week. Low 80s in the day, and 50s at night. I wait all year in anticipation of fall here, often the best of all the seasons. Biggest problem now is that we are so dry. I just hope we don't have wild fires.

Ann, adding my hopes for a quick recovery for DH and no COVID for you.

I spend at least part of most nights in the guest room. We both snore, Jim is a very light sleeper, and I often have insomnia. That's not a good combination, especially when he needs to be at his desk at 8 am.

His retirement plan has been delayed (justifiably nervous about economy), but he is still at 30 hours a week rather than 40 (or 50-60 most weeks), so that helps a lot!

I've been meaning to comment about my Fitbit. Got the Charge5 at the end of July. The steps and movement reminders are helpful (too easy to sit for 3 hours at the computer!), but I think the biggest thing for me has been that it tracks heart rate and gives me "active zone minutes" for aerobic activity. Now I'm more aware of whether I'm strolling or walking briskly, and my weight is gradually heading down. I've lost 12+ pounds in 2 months.

Sometimes it recognizes if I'm taking a "brisk walk" and counts it as the exercise it thinks I should be trying to do 5 times a week... other times, my walk just registers as "activity." Not a big deal, since if I'm getting 45 minutes a day (my goal) or more of "active zone," I know there's some "exercise" in there!

It also tracks my sleep, which is useful for me, since I can check to see how much sleep I've had and how restful it's been... tells me if I really should roll over and get another hour (schedule permitting).

I previously had Amazon's much cheaper fitness tracker (until the strap broke and I lost it). That one did a terrible job with things like calories (I could have a "couch day" and it would tell me I'd burned 3800). This one gives me a number that seems reasonable and correlates with my losing some weight.

I know that reads like a review on Amazon, but I thought it might be helpful to anybody wondering if a fitness tracker would be good to try, especially with holiday sales approaching (Black Friday sales start earlier every year, it seems!). The Fitbit does have a monthly fee (first year is free), and it loses a lot of the above functionality if you don't continue the subscription. If it's working for me, I'm willing to pay.

Good to know, Jill! and on fitness!

I still get reminders for my back stretch and core exercise every morning, but.. dedication is waning

Ann, I hope hubby wasn't too ill and maybe feeling better by now. I've suffered much worse colds/flu than I felt with Covid in June.

Way to go, Jill, on the weight loss, keep up the good work.

DH is much better today. Was up before me (which is usual, but hadn't been the case this week) and acting more like himself. His sore throat is improved. I still test negative, but am isolating just in case, at least for now. I'm thinking I shouldn't go to orchestra on Sunday evening as the director had a liver transplant last summer. He's recovering amazingly well, but doesn't need to get ill. I also think I'll let the music director at church direct the bells when they play on Sunday (first time in person since Feb. 2020) as there are quite a few in my age range at church. But I'm going out for a few items this afternoon, well masked.

Good precautions, Ann. Distancing may be more important than masking. Glad DH has hopefully turned the corner.

My aunt was diagnosed with COVID a week ago and is feeling better but still very weak. She's in her 80's.

I considered getting the Oura ring, but from what I've been told most of the "important" readouts would be unavailable to me unless I was on the monthly subscription. Don't care to do that so I'll just go on as I have been. I should use the FitBit again, I guess. I've not worn it much this summer.

I got a Fitbit for free through my medical insurance, and never set it up. Stuff like this I don't really need, specially after reading the previous posts and finding out I have to have a monthly subscription.

Lynda, you can still access the "necessary" stuff without a subscription. Don't let that stop you from setting it up. I plugged mine in earlier today when I was reading this thread and will probably put it on again.

My phone has a basic steps app, that's enough for me.
Took a drive out to Jill's part of the country, took a walk at a state park with man-made lake, getting the

lay of the land if we want to camp there sometime. Pretty day. Had to get cool weather clothes out of storage.

I checked after posting, and they may have decided to include more of the features without a subscription, or I just misremembered. Looks like the activity minutes and sleep score aren't subscription, so I may be good to go without spending the extra. It's harder than it should be to figure out. I may have to let the subscription lapse and then see what no longer works!

Lovely day today and milder than it has been but still windy. DH continues to improve and we got in a bike ride this afternoon of about 9.7 km. We went west on city streets and then with the wind on our back for the longest distance on the Parkway. Turned around and took the path through the woods to shield us from wind and had a relatively short stretch straight into the wind. Only a couple more weeks before they stop closing down the parkway on weekends.


Sipping a cup of coffee now and then I'll change into gardening clothes and go dig up a host that needs to be divided. It's supposed to be streaked and parts of it are solid green. Probably my favourite streaked hosta; so it's worth doing the division.

Hm. I guess the hosta will be losing it's leaves soon anyway, so, ok to cut them up and replant?

some gadgets and software have so many features, only the developers really know what all's in there we use Microsoft Office at work now, and we're all struggling to know where to look for posts and chat. Then there are a host of 'apps' for who knows what features and functions.. I really don't think I know how to use it best. But one thing I may be learning is to more often use the search function to dig up something you remember reading about but can't remember where.

Gorgeous hosta, Ann.

Ann, I have one hosta that has grown so much the past 2 years it must be 3 or more feet across, they all bloomed beautifully this year. I would like to divided it but I am afraid it will be too much work for me.