Spring has definitely arrived

In the park, people are starting to jog again, snowbells, daffodils and purple crocuses are blanketing wooded sections and I am wearing less and lighter gloves, scarves and hats.

My raspberry twigs are also starting to put on new branches so I asked Nico to pick up the planters with lattice work backs so we could get them in the ground, so to speak. And Saturday, Nico assembled them and we planted the raspberries adding hydrangea, marigold seeds from my mom and, in separate containers, strawberries. All were from my last garden.

Today, after coming home from therapy, I relished the sun arriving warm and inviting on the deck. I stepped out to feel what 60 degrees felt like again. Spring has definitely sprung here.

Sunday was a take-it-easy day. Ahh.

Maandag therapy
I went in early to get in some fitness and Rabin surprised me by increasing the weight on all the machines I'd been working on. Apparently, there was an indication that I was supposed to be upping the weights all along but it wasn't clear to me.

We also checked my heart rate again. Rabin wants to get multiple readings before he sets a cardio plan down for me. So far my heart rate is getting up only as high as 154 - average is around 180 for women my age. I have some work to do. That and reducing the amount of fat (but isn't that true for everyone these days?).

In fysio, I did some more lifting with proper knee bends. It's getting better, every week I can tell a difference. It's not just about being able to do it but doing it for longer, squatting lower and holding it longer and being able to do things while I'm squatting.

In ergotherapy, we worked on another schedule for my "perfect" day off. What would that look like? I ran through it once already last week so today we worked on optimizing that schedule. This is one of the things I really wanted to do after moving home. So I'm really glad to be working on this.

Nordic walking is still going every morning and some evenings. Tonight, I walked a lot (almost 2km) even after having a really heavy day at Blixembosch. This shows real progress is possible - I just need time and a beautiful sunset to keep me interested.

Hope you are having a great day and thanks for keeping in touch.