Virginia Real : Raising The Roof…

July 21, 2016

I am happy to report that the flooring for the upper floor of the shed was put down this past week. The hardest part of that project was getting the 4’x8’ sheets of flooring up onto the rafters. My poor Charming did several of these by climbing up the ladder while pushing the heavy thing up as he went. I, of course, was of no help at all. Afraid that he would pop out a hernia while he was doing this, I was constantly nagging him to take a break and brainstorm with me so that we could come up with a slightly easier way to get the flooring onto the rafters. He finally agreed and we came up with the idea of lifting a couple of sheets of flooring up onto the scaffolding. We then rolled the scaffolding to the spot in the ceiling that was left open for the ladder/stairs access to the upper level. From here, Charming was on one side of the sheet and I was on the other. We could then easily push the sheets to the 2^nd level without risking bodily harm to my Charming. Although there were more steps involved and it took a bit more time than it took Charming to heft them up the ladder, it was safer for him and gave me something to do that would keep me out of mischief. Another win/win situation!

Charming made such good progress on the flooring that he was able to start constructing the trusses for the 2^nd level. He decided to tackle the hardest one first, which was the one on the back side of the shed. It has about a 1’ overhang to help shed the rain and gives more protection for the shed overall. He designed, built, raised it into place, and fastened it to the shed all by himself. I must say that I am continuously amazed by his crafty ideas to build things this big with almost no help from anyone. He has a true gift for problem-solving on any level.

I can also report that both Charming and I are still in the weight loss mode. Yay! So far, Charming has lost 25 pounds and I have lost 14. Our exercise plan (work) and vegetarian diet seems to be working well for us. I have gotten quite creative with trying to keep fat out of our diet. Whenever something needs to be “fried”, such as a stir-fry, I simply add a little home-made vegetable broth to the skillet and quickly sauté the vegetables. These are decent when served over brown rice. I also use the vegetable broth to make different kinds of soups, such as vegetable soup or vegetable stew. I also make “veggie wraps” for Charming using fat-free flour tortillas. I mash pinto beans (or any kind of bean) that have been cooked in plain water with various spices to spread on the tortilla as a sauce, then layer tomato, lettuce, and cucumbers. I add some home-made salsa and fold the tortilla. Two or three of these for a meal gives him that full feeling without a lot of calories.

I’ve found that the key to eating vegetarian/vegan is really all about the spices and flavorings. Rabbit food certainly tastes much better if you have something to spice it up. We eat gluten-free pasta with my home-made spaghetti sauce, without meat. The vegetable soup that I make is usually served with two small whole grain rolls, layered with slices of tomato and lettuce with a touch of fat-free bleu cheese dressing. (Being gluten-free, I can’t eat these, but Charming loves them.) Now that the garden is producing, we have entire meals composed of only green beans cooked with potatoes, onions, and garlic or salads with corn on the cob or baked potatoes. We also eat lots of lightly cooked vegetables, rice, corn, dried peas and beans. All of these foods provide that full feeling that is missing in many diets. Although we don’t limit the amounts of any of these foods that we eat, we usually eat only one serving. Our attitude towards food has also changed somewhat. We find that we are now eating to live, not living to eat. Since the pounds are dropping off and we’re seeing definite health benefits, I’ll call that a win-win situation as well!