Tag: reactivity

Day 8

'A Poetic Potter & A Potting Poet'Leave a comment

Writing again

There was no Qigong today so I’ve just been to yoga this afternoon.

Lydia reacted when she saw two other dogs this morning, despite the distance between us. After that she struggled to settle down for the rest of the walk, and I struggled a bit with yoga.

I know I’m tired at the moment and, though starting to sleep better, have still not had a deep sleep that will, I think, make a difference.

I’m keeping up with caffeine-free afternoons and concentrating on doing constructive things when I can, so I’m hoping that I will eventually fall into that elusive deep sleep.

Lydia has already settled down for the evening. She’s had her tea and is curled up in her armchair. She’s presented her tummy to me for tickling twice since I got back so I think its fair to say that she’s relaxed at home even if she isn’t always when we’re outside.

I’ve finally found something to binge-watch on the telly and I did a bit of reading this morning. So I’m starting to relax a bit too.

 

Day 2

'A Poetic Potter & A Potting Poet'Leave a comment

Writing again

Photo by Klaus Nielsen on Pexels.com

It wasn’t an uneventful walk for me and Lydia this morning as we saw several dogs and a horse from a distance, all with owners – or, in the case of the horse, with its rider.

I thought at one point the horse and rider were going to be heading our way, which would have meant me seeking a quick diversion from their path, down into a ditch, then up and out the other side.  Thankfully, they turned in a different direction, perhaps after having heard Lydia’s initial reaction of barking on sight of them.

Lydia still struggles on sight of dogs as well as horses and I still struggle to find a way of reassuring her.  She gets the principle of not reacting but just finds it hard to put it into practice. I think this is something that many or most of us struggle with, one way or another.

Putting Buddhism into practice was a key theme of the weekend course I’ve just been on.  So, I’ll just keep doing what I can, reflecting and hopefully learning.

As it’s Tuesday I went to visit my friend who used to live in the village but now lives in a care home. As usual, she greeted me with a warm smile, leading me to feel very welcome.

Coming home, I do a few things that I need to do in the kitchen, give Lydia her tea, then start preparing ours.

I’ve made up a sauce based on a pasta dish that I enjoyed when I visited Rome quite a few years ago.  I remember it had mushrooms, ground pistachios and, I think, bacon.  I’ve also included garlic and onion.

I used a food processor to chop the mushrooms up very very finely so that they are almost ground like the pistachios.  I’ve seasoned with lots of freshly ground black pepper, a good splash of Worcestershire sauce, some soy sauce and half a stock cube.

It’s tasty and I’m hungry so time, I think, to start boiling some water for the pasta.

I don’t think we have enough spaghetti so I’ll use fusilli which should also help to absorb the sauce and flavour.