Hello, thanks for visiting and reading my very first blog entry. For those that don’t know me I would like to start by introducing myself, my name is Laurie Buehler. I’m going to be contributing to this blog, in a section I have named Fitness Fridays.
I have worked at the Woolwich and Wellesley Community Health Centres for the past 15 years in varying roles. I was working as a Physiotherapy Assistant, and taught 10 different exercise classes a week. Then I found myself in the same boat that many of you are in; working from home.
This started out very challenging and after a few weeks of settling, I managed to get into a routine but found that I was missing my physical activity. I wasn’t used to looking at a screen and sitting for so long.
I was walking my dogs and trying to fit in mini workouts wherever I could but I started to use many of the excuses that I have heard throughout my years of teaching. (ie. I have no time, I’ll get to it tomorrow). As well as adjusting to a new routine and workspace, I was also dealing with some ongoing and new family mental health issues.
I decided that I needed a plan. This plan would include more exercise to help me process and stay focused, enabling me to help my family and myself. I thought about it and found an answer. Since I’m vegetarian, I thought why not try a garden again. We had tried to have one in the past but we were unsuccessful. We realized the amount of hard work that is required, keeping 3 dogs out of it, plus the furry tailed critters that decided to enjoy the all-you-can eat salad bar. What would we do differently this time to make it more successful?
Well one, if I would be working from home for some undetermined amount of time with some greater flexibility in my day, including an hour less in the car for travel, I would be around more to tend to the garden. One point to the positive.
We would only have 2 dogs this time (sad face) but as some of you know we added a little 2 legged addition to our family ❤ (happy face) and she will be referred to as the energizer bunny or as most of you know her as Sophie. She’s a go-goer (I don’t know where she could possibly get that from lol 😂.) So this could qualify as another positive point but maybe a giant learning adventure as well. Keeping a toddler out of the garden aww!! Next project sandbox!
And lastly the other furry critters? We have since fenced in our backyard so this may or may not help. So maybe a positive or negative I guess we’re on the fence with that one. See what I did there? On the fence!! Ok, I’m not a comedian. I’ll be looking for any critter advice anybody has.
So with more positives then negatives our plan was put into motion. I started with a little research, one of the first things I read was not to start too big, keep it small and basic. Well that became our first oops. We bit off a little too much. One garden turned into a mini backyard makeover.
We took over a week creating a plan for our new garden. It started by picking a location then rearranging and relocating various items, building a raised 16 x 8 foot garden out of 4x4s. Moving an existing yard of compost from one side of the yard to the new garden. Emptying a compost bin and relocating it. Moving 3 yards of dirt by wheelbarrow from the front yard to the backyard. Picking rocks and rototilling.
While next discovering we had ordered too much dirt, we decided to make a second garden16 x 6 foot which required repeating some of the previous process plus removing sod and finding a home for it. Filling in some uneven patches and removing some old patio stones which then also found a new home. Moving another yard and a half of dirt. For those that are curious it was approximately 77 wheelbarrow loads. More rock picking and again rototilling.
Thank goodness for my very strong and supportive husband, Rob, who helped assist me with this project and turn my backyard into a workout area. So overall I guess it wasn’t an oops, it was exactly what I needed. So to some, this may sound like a lot of work or even a nightmare, but for me it was what I required. It helped me get the exercise I needed and kept my head clearer so I could help those that needed me! Looking forward to planting and lots of tasty produce!
Stay tuned for more ways that I’m going to be staying active, tips on how you can stay active and motivated and gardening updates throughout the season.
Take care and keep moving.
Laurie Buehler
