Summertime: the weather is hot and the eatin’ is good.
Here in my part of town, if you’re going to splurge calorie-wise, or money wise to have a sweet frozen treat, the best place to go is Calder’s Dairy or Bob-Jo’s Frozen Custard Stand. They are the local favorites and each place has been around for decades. Thinking back … the only frozen sweet treat better than these two places, was sharing a grape popsicle with my best friend Linda Crosby while we sat in the two-ring wading pool back around 1960. Yup, those were the best of times … you’d get one whole popsicle and have to break it evenly down the middle. We’d be dripping popsicle juice into the wading pool and walking around with wide grape smiles until Mom washed off all the evidence.
Even more Summer delights are on the grill – burgers, hot dogs and ribs. It’s a wonder we can fit into our clothes by Summer’s end, and that’s why we have to have plenty of fruits and veggies to balance our iced confection habits.
Today’s destination was a trip to beautiful Elizabeth Park followed by a short visit at the Lincoln Park Farmer’s Market
I left early to beat the heat because it was wicked hot once again (75 degrees and 89% humidity). One more day of this sultry weather and we will have a short cool spell (thankfully).
I prefer trekking in Trenton’s Elizabeth Park on Sundays as there are less people, so the critters are usually more abundant. On Saturdays there are kids with soccer practice and lots of parents watching them, so the parking spaces fill up fairly quickly.
As I said in one of my last trips to this venue, I vowed the next time I was here, that I would tote along some crusty bread to spread on the picnic table that is nestled in a woodsy area. You may recall I watched a boule being broken up and placed onto the wooden table slats and the squirrels and birds just went crazy for it. I had some errands yesterday, so was out and about and stopped at Meijer to buy a couple of fresh baguettes.
I thought it was only fitting to get French bread since yesterday was Bastille Day, and, even though our eyes may be focused on world sports events like Wimbledon tennis and World cup soccer, with France’s victory, I think everyone has forgotten all about the Tour de France!
I parked the car and set out, first walking along the River on the Boardwalk, always a treat, especially on a hot and sticky day like today.
I didn’t discriminate and just bring bread; nope, I brought some oyster crackers for any ducks along the shoreline and peanuts for the squirrels.
But, either the ducks were lying low this morning, or the heat had them hunkered down somewhere cooler, as they were nowhere near the water.
I headed up the incline to the footbridge and saw a cute squirrel in the trees. He was eyeing me very suspiciously as if I might reach in there and grab him.
What I did reach for was my Ziploc bag of peanuts, hoping to entice him out of the tree and onto the bridge area.
He studied my every move.
Then finally, his eyes traveled along the bridge where he saw me place some peanuts. I guess he figured I was trustworthy, because off he scampered along the top of the footbridge to get some treats.
I did one trip around the entire perimeter of Elizabeth Park, and it was shady in most places. That sure was welcome. I saw some squirrels and there were geese as well, so there were opportunities to tender some crackers and more peanuts.
I had broken up the baguettes at home. The smell was just delightful as I was tearing them into bite-size chunks, so, I just had to sample a chunk of bread slathered with peanut butter to ensure it tasted okay for the critters. It tasted fine (more than fine), so I hung the bag of bread, along with some oyster crackers and peanuts, onto my fanny pack for easy access. I am sure I was listing to one side as I walked, but hey – I aim to please (plus I wanted to get a few pictures of the food fest). I located the spot where some kind souls have set up a feeding station for the birds adjacent to a wooden picnic table. Here the feathered and furry friends come to gather and munch down.
I emptied the contents of the bread bag on one side of the long table, plus put some on the ground. The oyster crackers and peanuts were scattered at the opposite end of the picnic table. It was time for me to hang out under the shady tree to watch what happened next.
I had a ten-minute wait before the first munchkin came a’callin’.
Then the squirrels went to investigate the opposite end of the table.
I got my pictures taken, then had to move on to get some more steps in before heading out of the Park and to my next destination, the Lincoln Park Farmer’s Market.
Our local Farmer’s Market is a weekly pop-up affair that is located on a busy corner here in Lincoln Park. The vendors gather each Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., from May through October. Here they set up tables to sell flowers by the flat or basket, fruits and veggies fresh from their trees and/or fields and a variety of wares like candles, candy, honey, kettle corn and trail mix. Something new this year was a catering service with steam tables offering hot food. I usually try to stop at least once a year to visit.
These were some of the offerings:
I perused and took photos, but didn’t buy anything and it was mighty hot by then and I had parked far away, so I hustled to the car, switched on the A/C and just relaxed a few minutes.
Suddenly it is Sunday evening as I’m writing this post after coordinating my photos – where the heck did the weekend go?
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Wow everything looks so good I think it was a sort of peanut butter and fresh baguette though that was the killer for me
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Ha ha – you know Michael, I didn’t come home with anything because I was bad with that baguette. I only eat whole-grain bread now and have for years, and can’t remember the last time I had a baguette in the house. Not only that, I have been eating this boring Jif peanut butter that has no sugar, lowfat and reduced sodium. It tastes like it too. And, while reading some healthy food article recently, I saw that you should not scrimp on peanut butter – buy the one that has nuts and is full fat because it is healthier (thought it would seem to be contrary to good health). I went and got a big jar last time at the grocery store. I love crunchy peanut butter. So I was bad with sharing the baguette with the critters. My mom and I did the South Beach diet about 12 years ago. She needed to lose weight and had orthopedic issues so could not exercise. Doctor recommended the South Beach Diet which is low carb done in three phases to eliminate carb cravings. I went on it with her so we didn’t have two different meals. One thing you were allowed to eat was peanut butter on celery sticks. They are tasty. I can hear my mom looking at them sitting on a plate and saying how excited she was to eat them and could hardly wait and she was not being facetious. The first phase (2 weeks) was just a killer.
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All there is something so delicious about creamy Nutty Peanut Butter on soft white bread that makes you want to completely drop on any side of diet and shove it down my face
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I just love bread – a produce market used to make these parmesan sticks, which looked like a baguette, but much smaller. I’d go get them on Saturday morning, fresh out of the oven, and get home, split them open and have them just with butter… people would be lined up at the market to get them when they came out of the oven. I don’t go there anymore – it is better. I want to try Nutella after hearing about it when the Thai soccer team wanted Nutella on bread or toast as a treat as their first meal after being rescued.
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You’ve not had Nutella? Oh my goodness it’s a thing absolutely beauty you need to get some of you need to get some real soon you can spread it on anything
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WordPress is wonky this morning … typed something and it went into cyberspace. No, I’ve not tried it and perhaps I should reward myself the next time I treat the birds to baguettes or maybe sooner. That sounds like my kind of treat.
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Works well with peanut butter too..
If u mix nu tell a with weetbix u get ferrero roch. I kid you not .. Same company makes both..
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Really? I did not know that and I love those – haven’t had them since my mom passed away. They were a favorite of hers and we always had them in the house. I have to go grocery shopping this week so I will get some … we have a kind of tea biscuit here which would be similar – at least we used to … maybe even an Arrowroot biscuit like babies chew on.
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The ones you our milk on for breakfast…yum.yum.
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There’s enough food on those picnic tables to feed people! 🙂
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I know Tom, but I do help out the hungry people too. I walked in the Fish and Loaves Food Pantry 5K last month … it was to raise $$ for the local food pantries, plus I always give to the “Stamp Out Hunger” campaign. There would have been more bread had I not had a sizable chunk of that baguette – first time I’ve had white bread in ages, as I only eat whole-grain bread, but it smelled heavenly! It was a special treat for them since I don’t get there every week. I figured with our drought their natural fruit and berries may not be plentiful. Must look out for the underdog. 🙂
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So sweet that you give to the Stamp Out Hunger campaign and the critters. I donate to the Eastern Illinois FoodBank.
Yes, look out for the underdog! 🙂 I have been feeding the critters extra too lately!
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The Stamp Out Hunger campaign is such a good idea and practical – they should do it twice a year, not just in May. For some reason the Fish & Loaves Food Pantry does not help our city, nor two nearby cities, but it does help to feed a large amount of people. I understand someone is trying to organize another food bank for those cities not under Fish & Loaves’ umbrella.
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The Eastern Illinois FoodBank is a never-ending day to day thing, thank goodness! 🙂
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It is a good cause – food is a basic human need.
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MMmmm those all look so yummy… (mmm squirrel)
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Can’t believe you didn’t buy anything!
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Hi Kate – I behaved myself – it was that large hunk of baguette with peanut butter AFTER I already had breakfast and that kept me from splurging!
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Baguettes for the creatures ? I love you, Linda. You are a kind soul. Those squirrels’ tails are so beautiful- spread out like peacocks’. The Farmer’s market pictures were awesome- I commend you on avoiding temptation and not buying anything. I think I would have loved a pound cake, all to myself( that is my low carb thing talking, don’t mind me). I am sad there is no news of Parker any more.
Peanut butter, without sugar or with is heavenly and one of the things I can die for. The park is all green and not brown as one would have expected with all this scorching heat.
Susie
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They love that bread Susie. This was at Elizabeth Park which has many more geese than at Council Point Park, plus many squirrels as well. Their ducks are everywhere, along the shoreline and in a big pond, all out in the open, so you can feed them, so I usually take oyster crackers which they love.
As to the bread, in Elizabeth Park, someone set up a feeder station near this picnic table. It is awesome as they have multiple bird feeders and suet holders and people fill them up. Maybe someone who likes the birds but cannot have a feeder at their home or apartment? And I was in this spot in the Park a few month ago and someone came along with a huge boule and broke it up for the birds and left it there. I wanted to get a boule, but they were so hard and crusty that I thought I wouldn’t be able to pull it apart, let alone take a piece for myself. So I got baguettes instead. 🙂 They loved it.
That Jif peanut butter (“Simply Jif”) I have been using for several years, but after reading it is actually healthier to have the real peanut butter or the “natural” peanut butter, since the nuts and oils are good for you, I just bought a jar of crunchy regular Jif recently. I was in Heaven – I love peanut butter and that other stuff was the creamy variety but seemed tasteless to me. I’m not a fan of the natural peanut butter either – too oily tasting. I want to try Nutella after hearing the Thai soccer team boys who were trapped in the cave, wanted bread or toast with Nutella on it as soon as possible. I should have bought that when I bought the bird bread.
I am sad not to see Parker, but more squirrels have returned, plus a group of young ones as well. I can tell by their attitude toward me. They don’t recognize me, don’t gravitate toward me and, if I lay out peanuts, they don’t know what to make of it. They sniff, but don’t eat them right away, sometimes scampering back to wherever they came from.
The Park is green there because there are many trees – my lawn looks brown and crispy right now. We are scheduled to have rain and a thunderstorm tonight, (it was already rumbling just as soon as I got on ‘Reader”), but tomorrow we’ll get torrential rains and several rounds of thunderstorms. I was going to go grocery shopping, but after losing all my food to the last power outage, I just ran in and picked up a few things.
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When I read your posts and about people who still look out for animals and treat even those in the wild as their own, my faith in humanity is restored. Thank you for sharing such stories- the table, the bread put out etc..,
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Susie – [I was typing a response and WordPress flipped out on me and went into a comment area I’ve never been before … a split screen look … sigh.] I do think that animals can bring people together, whether they are domesticated animals or wildlife. Look at all the people standing watching the turtle laying eggs. Many of them I pass in the Park and say “good morning” but here we all are having a group conversation about turtles and their young. And, on social media, I often read the comments on news stories … people can be venomous toward one another sometimes, but, when there is a story about how a fireman rescued ducklings from a storm drain while Mama duck stood by anxiously awaiting the outcome, people … the same regular commenters, all mellow out and are in agreement how nice that was as opposed to when people sometimes intentionally hurt animals for sport … these same commenters rallying for the cause of the animals. It is interesting to watch human behavior like that. I see it with babies and children as well, but more so for animals.
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Looks like a wonderful Farmer’s Market!
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It is nice but small TJ, and they set up on a busy street corner. I think I usually go in mid-July and there is much more fruits and veggies there, but I guess the crops are probably slow this year due to the cold Spring. You and I like the Fall and I have passed by in the Fall when they had bouquets of sunflowers and pumpkins sitting out. I almost wish it was Fall after this hot day. We have heat tomorrow but torrential rain and storms tomorrow, then three days of cool weather, then a whole lot of rainy days. You’ll get a break from the heat and from watering at least, if you get similar weather to down here.
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Miss Linda…………………………..actually I’m saying that to myself right now too…………………….where did that weekend go?…………………….thanks for the tour of Lincoln Park’s Farm Market………………………..I used to take another lady to visit it every Sunday………………….we always came home with something because it looked good
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The weekends seem to flit by way too fast Ann Marie. Not only do weekends go by quickly but Summer is speeding by (even with this incessant heat). I took a picture of the hot food but it was too dark so didn’t use it. That is something newer – looked and smelled good though.
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What a nice spread you laid out for the critters! I’ve also read that they are finding that fat (within reason, of course) can actually be good for us so enjoy your peanut butter! The important thing is to make sure it doesn’t contain added sugar. Isn’t it crazy how what used to be “good” is now bad, and what used to be “bad” is now good?! Fortunately, the birds and squirrels don’t need to worry about such foolishness.
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Yes the birds and squirrels don’t worry about cholesterol or their weight – lucky them! Remember when we ate red licorice for years, then were told it was bad for us? Then eggs are good, then bad, and now it is okay to have eggs once a day … and whole fat dairy is fine too. Now it is okay in moderation, after drinking skim milk that tastes like water for years. Last week I heard that Sucarol, a sugar substitute, is very bad for you and can cause onset of diabetes – regular sugar is bad for your teeth. I don’t know how we lived so long already Janis!
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Wait… red licorice is bad for me?
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I think they say it is safe now, but many years ago, and I was fond of Strawberry Twizzlers, all of a sudden a health report came out that said red licorice and red lipstick contain a dye which can be bad for you. Now, I never hear that anymore, but I do know that black licorice, not just twizzlers, but the real black licorice that is brown when you bite into it (like the English candy “Licorice Allsorts”) is bad for you if you take blood pressure medications: https://www.livestrong.com/article/505055-is-red-licorice-bad-for-you/cancer
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I think it’s great that you spread out treats for the critters and wait for them to pose for you.
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I really like to see them there on that table coming together, doesn’t matter whether it is squirrels or birds, the jays will fly down and grab something and take off again, a woodpecker as well, and the other birds and squirrels will linger. They don’t bother one another on that table … in the backyard feeders I used to see the squirrels terrorize the birds by hopping onto the feeder and the birds would sit nearby with sad faces and watch the squirrel gobbling up their seeds. I should put this into a blog post, because it as if they forget they are different species, and are just there to fill their bellies, tolerating each other’s presence.
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My squirrels don’t jump on the feeder often. I’ve put the feeder away for the summer, so the only fights are the aerial ones by the hummingbirds.
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Didn’t know hummingbirds fought … they seem so cute and docile. Who knew?
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We have a bully or two around our feeders.
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Interesting … I guess I never thought of hummingbirds as being anything but dainty and perfect little beings. You have access to watching them from your window overlooking the feeder so I bet you were surprised to see this.
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I saw hundreds of hummingbirds feeding peacefully together at a lake in Tennessee. Our neighbors here have commented on the feistiness of the local hummers.
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That would have been a beautiful sight to see in Tennessee. Amazing about their feistiness. They seem so peaceful. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there for everyone apparently!
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Here in Sweden the farmers lost up to 50% of theirs harvest. The government must help the farmers and they have also asked EU about help, but I wonder if they give us some… Sweden and Germany is the 2 countries who pay most to the European union so I hope we will get something back. It’s much money.
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I hope that the EU helps out … if the farmers cannot salvage their crops or feed their livestock, not only will they not be able to sustain their families but do you think it could be a recession there in Sweden? I wonder if the U.S. would help out? Likely not this administration.
It is a very sad situation for your country… we had a big freeze in the Spring a few years ago, all the flowering fruit trees, especially the cherry and apple crops for which Michigan is a big producer, were damaged. The buds came out and opened, then a killing frost killed off the buds. The farmers lost a lot of their crops that year and cherries and apples were expensive and were brought in from other states until the following year when the crops stabilized again.
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Love the photos of the squirrel “eyeing” you. What a nice way to spend the day, even if it did pass quickly! I really enjoy Farmer’s Markets.
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Rebecca – at least I have luck getting squirrel pictures because when you are seeing them eye to eye, they seem to freeze in place sometimes. This guy kept eyeing me like I was invading his personal space – it was really funny. I like Farmer’s Markets too. They did not have as much as they usually do yesterday, and I’m thinking this is because it was a cool Spring and the farmers did not sow their seeds as early as usual. My mom used to love new potatoes and beefsteak tomatoes and we would drive out into the country to the roadside stands to get them every August and September. Then they started the Farmer’s Market in our city, so by August they were plentiful and I’d go every Sunday. They don’t sell beefsteaks or new potatoes in our grocery store. When it is Fall, they will sell pumpkins, and some gourds and also sunflower bouquets – I will have to go back again. All the bigger farm markets are only open on weekdays and only during the day.
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I bet your furry friends could reduce that Pound cake to crumbs in a few minutes!
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I’ll bet they would! I need to treat them to some oatmeal cookies with raisins sometime or baked goods instead of boring bread the next time I go. I got those miniature “Nutter Butters” for the squirrels and they are sandwich cookies with peanut butter in between. They loved those and they’d finish them off and come scrambling back for more. We have no-brand oatmeal cookies and they are inexpensive, so that will be my next treat. The squirrels are starting to come back and there are young ones in the bunch … I’ve taken some pictures but I been very busy at work and having to stay later in the evenings, so I’ve not had as much time to write posts and keep up in Reader and do comments/replies. We were slated for a stormy night and I shut my computer early and went to bed last night.
One of the walkers who feeds the squirrels has suggested to me that the squirrels were not hiding from a predator bird at all, but enjoying the mulberries and other berries in the Park right now and so not as “needy” for peanuts yet. I did point out “Stubby” though and told him you suggested it could be a dog since it might have been a ground attack judging from the way the tail was missing. He agreed with you and said not to worry about hawks or eagles and perhaps the squirrels are also attending to their young who were about to leave the nest. I have some pictures of young squirrels to write about … they don’t know me and don’t understand what peanuts are … I set them out, they run away. I’ll have to work on those critters a bit to get them used to me and what peanuts are for. 🙂 Skinny bodies and skinny tails … youngsters.
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try to give them natural foods as possible & leave any processed or sugar foods at home.
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Yes, I do except I treated them once to Nutter Butters and Parker last year got a bag of M&Ms. I take apples that get withered as well. I have some safflower seeds I bought for the cardinals at the Park. Years ago I had a cardinal at the house who loved them. She had a nest in the barberry bushes and every night when I got home from work I gave her a Dixie cup of safflower seeds on the patio and she enjoyed them. She’d see me coming up the sidewalk, then come out of the barberry bush and wait there ’til I went in the house and got her treat. I tried to treat the cardinals at the Park, and they turn their nose up (beak up?) at them, preferring to scam the squirrels’ peanuts instead.
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oh oh…….A Cardinal gang causing trouble! Next thing you know they’ve moved in & your suitcase is packed by the roadside!
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Everything at that Farmer’s Market looks delicious. The only way I eat natural chunky peanut butter, is when I dip dark Belgian chocolate in it. The best combination! 🙂
I’m not a fan of wildlife feeding, because it makes those critters dependent on humans. Their ability to find their own food will diminish and they might die because of it. When feeding bigger animals in nature (like bears), they might become aggressive and might have to get killed.:-(
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Liesbet – the Belgian chocolate and chunky peanut butter does sound wonderful and dark chocolate is good for you, so nibble away on that combination.
This is a bigger park than I usually walk in and people set up multiple feeders and suet holders to cater to various birds. I hope they do this all Winter at this Park when food is scarce and there are no grubs or berries that the birds can find. I try to get to Elizabeth Park at least once a month and it is not that woodsy to have bears, or even deer, so no worries with feeding them “people food”, but I would not do it at a state park which is a more heavily wooded area. We have had incidents where I live, (which is not rural at all), where coyotes are coming into the city and attacking small dogs. This has been happening the past few years, but there has been much construction of new freeways (one such project nearby began in February 2017 and goes through November this year). The new expressways go through formerly wooded areas and the animals are scared and come running out. Very sad for the animals as humans continue to ravage their territory.
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They look so fresh and good!
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Yes … I was good and didn’t bring anything home with me – too tempting Sharon!
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Another day of you sharing your kindness with the wildlife, you are so thoughtful. I absolutely love it. The farmers market food sounds lush too.
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It was a a fun day Zena – I do like catering to those birds and squirrels, especially since the squirrels at Council Point Park have not been around as much as usual, although their youngsters are around, but not sure who I am and don’t like taking peanuts from me; they turn around and run away. In time, they will learn I’m treating them and come around and the magic will begin with them as well. 🙂
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Dang, now I’m hungry! Mmm, let’s slather some o’ that homemade jam on that French bread, with strawberries afterwards, and… yeah, I could do with half a popsicle. I’ll split it with you!
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Now this is bizarre because I know I wrote you back Ellie, so likely it went to SPAM at your end. Was it me calling you a “berry girl” that did it? I know you said you loved berries so figure you liked those strawberries in the photo. I did respond saying that the bites of baguette were delicious, despite me eating only whole grain and rustic bread for several years now … it smelled so fresh when I opened the wrapper. They had boules, which is what I wanted, however, they were quite pricey and not that large, so I went with baguettes instead. I wonder if they still make the twin popsicles … if you tried to split them, occasionally they would split badly with one person getting 3/4s of a popsicle and the other a measly 1/4 portion.
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It looks like the same squirrel! I like the gray and black ones too. Wish it was farmer’s market season again – I blogged on that last year too. I have found it a bad winter to buy fruits in the grocery store – haven’t had a decent orange or tangerine all winter – sour and dried up. The grocery store clerk told me they had been finding it difficult to get good produce in.
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I like going to the one in Lincoln Park that they have every Sunday, but they really don’t get much produce until August. My mom loved their new potatoes and we used to drive out to the country to buy them, then the local produce market began. I bought cornbread though once – my mom would make cornbread twists, then Pillsbury quit having them, so she’d make muffins and I thought it was easier on her if I bought some – they were as hard as my head! I’ve not had any good clementines and when I went shopping the other day I didn’t even get any – same with mine, very tiny, wrinkled and no taste. I don’t like to buy the clementines from South Africa or Chile, preferring the Southern California variety –
I figure they’ve already lost some of their goodness in transporting them from afar. I’m sticking to canned mandarins which I had on hand … have to keep the Vitamin C in me as they expect another flu wave to hit shortly.
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Thanks for the tip – I like the canned mandarins on salads with raspberry dressing, but no reason why you can’t eat them out of the can. Yes, flu season usually does a last hurrah in March.
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That’s a good idea too with the salads – I don’t get salad ingredients too much anymore due to all the listeria and other issues/outbreaks … we have a hepatis A outbreak here in Michigan and deaths as a result of it (not intravenous drug usage … eating in restaurants where people do not practice safe hygenic food handling) and I’ve not eaten anything outside of the house in years now. Neighboring states are advised to get hep A shots before coming to Michigan. The shots are a two-part series and I think are $125.00 apiece. Insurance does not cover it and because I am not really out and about anyway and going out to eat, I just don’t go out to eat, or buy anything handled by workers at a deli, bakery. I got the shingles vaccine about 4 years ago after my neighbor had a horrible shingles episode in her hair and eye and decided to get it, even though I know it is not contagious. Not covered by insurance – cannot remember if it was $200 or $250 and now they have a more effective shingles vaccine – grrrr.
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It’s a nice spring-type salad, esp with raspberries or blueberries plus the mandarins. That’s true re the shingles vaccine – I’ve wondered what all the people who got the first brand think now that they say the second brand works better! The old brand is covered under our drug plan but only for 70 year olds. I never got the shingles vaccine as I had shingles when I was 50, painful enough but I lived through it, and even though I know they are promoting it for people who have already had it, I figure I’m probably immune. I was really stressed and busy at the time and take better care of myself now. Shingles is bad though if it’s on your face and near the eyes. I’ve never had the Hep A shot, although my doctor gave me a prescription for it once, as I don’t travel now, but I if I did I think it’s a good idea to have it if you travel to other countries. We had to have Hep B shots for work. We couldn’t even get Romaine lettuce here for awhile…..but it’s back in the stores and I do buy it sometimes. Two friends of mine got really sick after eating salads at a teaplace here, and I encouraged them to report it to the Health Unit, so they will send inspectors out…..and it doesn’t happen to someone else. They were reluctant to cause trouble for the owners.
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I had to ask for a prescription as I was not sixty – you had to be sixty to get the shot by just walking in to a pharmacy and asking for it. Marge, my neighbor, had the postherpetic neuralgia symptoms with her eye and she never saw clearly out of that eye the rest of her life and that is what worried me … yes, I am mad as it was costly and I thought long and hard on it. I have had a terrible day here and I do not think this set up will work properly. I did not try the vertical mouse because first I had a difficult time figuring out how to set this up, then the wireless keyboard would not sync, so I set up the wired keyboard but it was a full-sized keyboard and it’s been 10 years since I used a ful-size keyboard – it was horrid, couldn’t type. So I went back and tried a different port for the “hub” and it worked.
So I am on that now but still having issues with it. Then it got cold in the house and looked at the thermostat and it was 72 (I have it at 73) and thought that odd, it stayed at 72 for an hour, finally dropped to 71, went downstairs and the furnace was offline – held my breath that rebooting it with the GFI switch would help it and it seems good so far. Came up and ate dinner, came back here, couldn’t log on and got a message that I had to repair my computer to an earlier time. So that wiped out all the software from the wireless keyboard, so had to repair computer, re-install keyboard. My friend wrote me multiple (15) messages and I am behind in reading e-mails … got through three and feel just overwhelmed as this is taking so long. Put a pillow behind my back as suggested – don’t like it and I cannot describe how I sitting now as it is much lower as recommended … I don’t feel too productive right now. I always bought Romaine lettuce for Buddy my canary – they can only eat Romaine as the others have too much water in them. I had to quit giving it to him as there were so many listeria and salmonella scares. His favorite treat and we switched to broccoli but it had its share of issues as well. I hope I can get back here not too late as I am behind here and in e-mail with Evelyn.
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That does sound like a horrible day! You’ve lost me with vertical mouse and wireless keyboards. I didn’t even know there were such things. I can never figure out how things fit together either….you need a teenager for that. I have a hard time adapting to the keyboard at the library if my laptop is down. Did your hydro go out, because your furnace and computer were offline? Fifteen messages! I don’t feel so bad now, that I message you too much, and then you have to reply and that makes your arm worse! Get some rest and go to bed early – we need to adjust to the time change too.
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I have never used a vertical mouse but in looking around at all the ergonomic suggestions the past week, I am going with this guy’s recommendations (he is from an organization called Upright Health … I am attaching the link to the video since you use a laptop too. See how the video suggests to put the laptop up higher so you have to look up and to use a wireless keyboard – they are the most similar to a laptop keyboard and also to use a vertical mouse. The vertical mouse I ordered last week – was going to try it tonight, but I totally reconfigured my area again before I left on my walk this morning – it was better than yesterday, got rid of the table and put the laptop up high. I am more used to the keyboard which is almost identical to the laptop. Still working on the pillow. My shoulders are not the only thing that hurts – now I have pain in my forearms and I am wondering if it is carpal tunnel issues as my mom had that as well. My friend had a split keyboard (full size) when she had elbow tendonitis, and this looks like a split keyboard. I just opted for this small straight keyboard for now.
I need to try things out. I had a shelf for a cupboard that I have elevated thelaptop. It is hard to get used to though but I wanted to get used to it before the new computers arrive. I was down here in my room on this old laptop and the computer guy called … more questions and is going to be placing the order … the new laptop will be 17 inch screen and that is good as I only have a 15 inch screen now – this old laptop screen is 16. I am 100 percent sure it is a posture thing and thought about a regular secretarial chair – I could even get my one from work, my boss asked me before if I wanted it when I first started working from home, but it has arms and I never really liked it. They are difficult to put together and you can have someone come assemble it but you have to have a plastic mat underneath and that wouldn’t do very well in the kitchen – a trip and fall hazard. I’m going to try this for now to see if it will alleviate the pain. I have let it go too long – I should have done this years ago as I knew I was hunching over, but it is worse as the blogging picked up. You don’t write me too much – I keep sending you old posts all the time! 🙂 I am late getting here tonight, finished a project then computer guy called after I got down here. Now it is almost 9:00 already. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgQJh-vU4hk
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Wow – that video was great – full of useful tips, and the guy was humorous too! Now I know what a vertical mouse is. I have a wireless mouse but seldom use it. And I have seen the split screen keyboards before. The pillow is useful too……especially since I often will use my laptop in bed….I like to be comfortable. It will be nice for you to have a 17inch screen. I had one on my old clunky laptop and it was difficult to downsize to a13 inch, even though the laptop is as light as a feather, more like a slim notbook. I like the idea of elevating the screen too. I guess you will just have to play around with it, but I hope the pain in your arms doesn’t mean it’s making it worse? When I had a sore right arm, from blogging too much one week, I quit typing for a week, and it went away. I now that is not an option for you as you have to type for work, but what if you took a short hiatus from blogging, for a few weeks, to see it if will ease off. Many people would miss your posts, but I often see people posting that they are taking a hiatus for a bit. I follow two regular bloggers who recently announced they were taking a short break, one for work reasons, and one for health reasons. Thanks for passing along the video – I bookmarked it.
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This is day two of the elevated laptop and the keyboard on the table and the regular mouse beside it. The problem I noticed was interesting. Looking up at the laptop (and it is a wee bit too high right now, about four inches shorter would be perfect but the riser is sturdy, so will just use it for now), anyway … the pictures are distorted. I did not notice it yesterday as I was just doing work (I remote into my work desktop) and no problem, but today, my boss was gone most of the day and didn’t return until 5:00 … so I had no work to do (rare) so I did a post today.
I had uploaded the pics from this old laptop where I store my photos –
however, the photos from my “typing level” were almost black for the entire image … pretty interesting. So I had to stand up to ensure the picture was where I wanted it in the blog as the pics all looked like blobs on the screen. So, unless he has adjusted his screen resolution or is only typing, it would present a problem. But the computer guy is ordering the laptops tomorrow for work so I’ll have to figure out how I will do the setup permanently I guess. I thought about a secretarial chair that is ergonomic but I don’t want the plastic mat on the linoleum and it would be a trip hazard. Have to think on that a littl elonger – there’s nowhere in this house light enough or big enough to really accommodate a desk/chair, etc. I need to think on it some more. A fellow blogger decided she would take off November and December and return January 1st. She has only posted a couple of posts since returning. She said the reason was her/husband had retired and she had not done any of the things they had wanted to do, as she felt tied down to the blog.
I am thinkiung I could do less posts and that will be a start … also thinking of narration software like “Dragon” … I could use it at work as well … I often get long documents to type up. Just a thought.
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That is strange that the pictures are distorted, but it could just be the screen angle. You could cut back. Dragon narration software? sounds interesting. Is it expensive? I can type very fast (4 years in high school) but I’ve often thought it would just be quicker to dictate what is in my mind and then edit it!
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It is kind of what the court reporters used to use years ago and they had a megaphone over their mouth and they spoke into the device and it would spin out a transcript … it was a lot easier than going to court reporting school and getting up to speed with the machine they used. It used to be expensive and it is not that expensive now and you can get a fancier one where you instruct the machine to send the message to e-mail or insert commas. I was just thinking it would be easier than typing a lot – easy only in relation to any pain from typing. Yes high school typing … you had four years of high school in Canada, so it was 9th grade typing class and I did a post about it and old biddy Miss Miller. It was when the girls wore the big rings – that sat up high on our fingers, mood rings around that time I think, 1970. She went around and made us remove them so we could clip along faster on our Royal typewriters – no electric for us and we could type well as we pounded the keyboard and the carriage return. Yes, it was looking up at the screen, totally black images – like looking at ink blots! I had to stand to see what I was doing to insert the photos in the post.
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I remember typing in time to music so we would learn to pick up speed!
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There was some satisfaction to swinging that carriage at the end of the line … the rhythm of pounding away on the keyboard. Another back-in-the-day remembrance by Joan and Linda.
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My story about Ms. Miller … I meant to say in the post about 2017 that my neighbor and good friend to our family, Marge, died of COPD. This is a long post, but if you scroll down you’ll see what I wrote about Ms. Miller and I wrote it as I had to return to the immigration burea to get re-fingerprinted. I have no fingerprints from typing so many years.
rhttps://lindaschaubblog.net/2015/02/03/pounding-the-pavement-and-pounding-the-keyboard/
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No, I forgot to say I didn’t lost power but noticed it was cold and looked and saw the thermostat was down. I was engrossed in setting up the table for the laptop, etc. and I went downstairs, afraid to go downstairs to see what was wrong and it was offline so I had to fliip the GFI switch to get it started again – I held my breath. It is a high-efficiency furnace and has some oddball characteristics that other furnaces didn’t have but they check it every Fall and the A/C in early Summer on my plan with them.
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