Day 260 - In Remembrance

jazz pots

Having bought some memorial plants for Bluez, today we went shopping for something similar for Jazz...

We wandered around our local gardening centre looking for inspiration, and in the process discovered that, for some reason, in our heads, where Bluez was blue and green, Jazz is red and orange...warm colours for the endlessly loving being that he was.

I'm not generally very interested in flowers, but Fuschia is one I know and like...when we happened upon them they immediately seemed right to both of us...

And curiously, I don't know many trees either, but Rhus is one I'm both familiar with and fond of...its leaves turn a glorious orangey-red at certain times of year...and when we found a few small ones in pots, we were both immediately happy to have one to match Bluez' Rowan.

So we found a couple of nice pots in warm earth colours and brought them home.  We'll plant them in their new pots, complete with a sprinkling of Jazz-ash, when we have a little ceremony for the old boy in a week or so.

With Bluez we had our funeral ritual within a week or two of his death...with Jazz, it's taken a lot longer...I'm not going to analyse that to work out why - it is what it is, and these things happen in their own good time. 

For now, suffice to say that we still miss him keenly, every day...the plants (both Jazz and Bluez') will come with us when we move home, and we'll plant them as a permanent memorial to two of the best friends we ever had. 


In other news, it's the end of August!

I've been thinking about how the fitness training and Font preparation has come on, especially since realising how tired I've become as the month has drawn to a close. 

I had a look back at how much I've done over the last 31 days:

• Number of climbing sessions = 6
• Number of Pull-up Challenge sessions = 11
• Number of Push-up Challenge sessions = 4
• Number of Tai Chi sessions = approx 15.
• Number of non-rest days = 26

I don't think I've lost any weight, and I may even have put some on (although I don't trust my scales at all, so I'm not really sure)...but I do feel that I'm stronger and overall in much better shape. 

I'm fairly pleased with all of that, and I reckon I've earned a bit of an easier time over the next couple of weeks...I certainly won't get an easier time at work, but I'll ease up on the exercise and let my body recover a little.

Recovery certainly takes longer than it used to, as you get older...I probably shouldn't have waited until I was in in my mid-40's before I started doing any sort of exercise!

Still, I think I'm in reasonable shape for a 50 year old...I'm even considering doing the Insanity Workout 60 Day Challenge in the New Year...more on that in due course!

Otherwise, it's been a somewhat dramatic and fairly stressful month:

• Traumatic times for my nephew and his family...
• The constant frustration and disruption of the drainage contractors saga...
• Dealing with the loss of Jazz, and missing him every single day...
• Learning to live with no dogs at all, and realising how wrong that is...
• Busy and difficult issues at work for both of us...
• Skateboarding accidents...
• Annoying telecomms supplier issues...

But alongside all that, there's been lots of good stuff too:

• Learning Tai Chi...
• Meeting random dogs here and there...
• Sticking with the Pull-up Challenge...
• Chris making miraculous strides in his recovery...
• Bouldering lots...
• Meeting some very old trees...
• Fun on skateboards...
• Deciding to buy a new house...
• Getting fitter and stronger...
• Receiving a bunch of cool new 2117 clothes (absolute bargain!)...
• Starting to look for a new dog...
• Paying off all my debts...

On balance, it's been a typically hectic, mournful, active, stressful, chilled, engaging, sore, positive, sad, frustrating, painful and happy month!

Here's to a new one, starting tomorrow...

Do you remember?

;-)