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Cured and Happy

22 Aug

Recently, I went for several therapy sessions to address my plantar fasciitis problem. It turned out to be a pinched nerve on my spine, causing pain in my right heel. My spine? I never suspected this at all!

Initially, I thought it was plantar fasciitis because the pain occurred almost daily – in the mornings, throughout the day, and especially after playing golf. I even thought my golf shoes were not right for me. Well, this is a thing of the past now.

Immediately after the treatment, my recovery was spectacular, with an eagle shot on a Par 4 the next day! If I had understood my pain better to address it correctly, I could have avoided my recent golf downward trend. Oh well, better late than never, and the Eagle achievement has made up for all the past performances.

The lesson learned: always be aware of your body if something is wrong. Being a dinosaur, we cannot take things for granted. If there is any physical pain, take the proper measures to address the issue immediately to avoid months of suffering. I’m glad I am now cured and happy.

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An Alarming Uptrend

15 Aug

The golf game downtrend has continued. My handicap has recently gone up at an alarming rate! It’s disheartening and embarrassing. Have I been playing so bad? Reality check here to relook at my game performance.

I should not focus on putting stats only because it does not reflect the whole game. I should look at all aspects of the game and see how to play better. I recently resolved my approach shots, but unfortunately, not helping to return with better scores. Then again, I do find lately, even in Jakarta, the passion to excel at the game is not quite in me.

Separately, my weight is also on the uptrend, like my golf handicap! It’s just as disheartening and alarming. I have not been eating a lot nor binge drinking beer after my golf games. Something is causing an imbalance, thus the uptrend.

I have to do something to tackle these two issues because they are bugging me to the core. Perhaps a little more disciplined with food and well-being to manage the weight, and be more focused to improve all aspects of the game and rediscover the passion again.

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Back and Forth

18 Jul

The golf game has been up and down for various reasons. I had a fungal infection on my fingers two weeks ago, affecting my nerves; it was not a pleasant sensation. I could not feel anything on my index and third fingers of my left hand.

The infection stems from my moist golf gloves because I hardly wash them after my games. How could I when I had so many games lined up? Well, now I know I should clean the gloves of unwanted yucks.

So the putting and gripping of all my clubs were affected by my medical problem. Thankfully, I had some antibiotic cream to apply, and resolved the predicament. These days, I don’t wear my gloves to golf as I can do without them just fine, thus reducing the chances of another infection.

In the meantime, I reverted to my TaylorMade Spider Mini putter because the Scotty was making too many errors. When I did 37 putts, I knew it was time to change. And thus, the back and forth with the putters. When will I master the skill of putting? Sigh.

My fingers are recovering, and the last two golf outing results were much better, as is putting. Another lesson learned here: always air the golf gloves or wash and rotate them more often; otherwise, you may face the problem I encountered with icky gloves.

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Up and Down, Part 2

11 Jul

I have figured out the reasons for my recent up-and-down trend. Firstly, I picked up a new injury! Silly me, how could I overlook this? I have had plantar fasciitis on my right foot for the past few months.

I will be fine if I play at courses that allow buggies on the fairways because I can minimize walking. Sadly, this is not often, and my foot hurts to high heaven even before completing the game. Ouch, indeed.

Secondly, the wedges that I have in the golf bag. I took out my Cleveland CBX2 52-degree wedge and had a Cleveland Smart Sole 50-degree Gap wedge instead for the last few games. Because of the swap, the short game has not been very sharp. You could say I wasn’t used to the Gap wedge.

Well, I put the 52-wedge back for the buggy-on-course game this morning. And I am pleased with the outcome because the short game improved. Also, being buggy on the course, my foot pain was manageable because I walked less.

I need to be more aware and know where the problem lies. Once I can manage the situation well, be it my short game or physical pain, the up-and-down trend should be a thing of the past.

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A Special Thirty

26 Jun

I started DIY project number 30 last week. Thirty! That’s how many I have done since the pandemic broke three years ago. The first year, I crafted so many; the second year, lesser; and this third year, I have slowed down so much. Oh well, there is a valid reason for this decline.

During the first year, when we had all those lockdowns and MCO (Movement Control Order), I was speed-building miniatures to pass the time at home. In the second year, when the restrictions were lesser, I was back to playing golf, going out, and traveling, and my hobbies – carving and building miniatures, took a backseat. Hence, not that much craft work to show.

With everything opened and the economy in full swing again this year, I find myself busier than ever and going out more. Staying home is only to avoid the heatwave outside. So spending time on my hobbies is much less this year. Nonetheless, however less it has been, I have arrived at number 30 for my miniatures. What a milestone!

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Oven to Oven

2 Jun

We are back in hubby’s hometown for the weekend. And it’s like from one oven to another. Sigh.

On a brighter note in this unbearable heat, I am sweating buckets and getting rid of my water retention. I’d like to think at the same time, my body fat is being melted away too. Hahaha!

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Downward Slide, Part 2

26 May

After several days of rest, I hit the golf course yesterday. It has been too hot to stay home and be a sloth. The heat and humidity bites at the skin, making it very uncomfortable.

But it was an afternoon game, and I was expecting the worse. Luckily, there was enough wind to cool down the body. Anyway, it was the company and camaraderie that I wanted to have instead of staring at the computer and having designer’s block.

Sometimes it is not the game but the people and friendship. So there wasn’t too much walking and golf, but rather, laughter and chatter.

Separately, I discovered a possible problem with my game. My driver has a gap at the joint between the head and the shaft. My goodness! It is a miracle the club head is still intact upon contact for the past several games.

A loose driver head!

Could this be the reason for my recent downward slide? Most of my tee-offs have been short lately, thus, making the subsequent shots harder. I did notice this gap some time ago but took no heed of it. However, with my recent slide, I questioned everything, and this came to light.

So I used a different driver for yesterday’s game while the problem club was being fixed and recalibrated. Hopefully, after the adjustment, I can tee off well again with my regular driver and subsequently play better golf. Keeping my fingers crossed on this. But until then, more rest to manage the plantar fasciitis on the foot.

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A Beautiful Pineapple

16 May

A week ago, the latest pineapple was almost ready for harvesting. It needed a few more days to go, but hubby was worried that the garden squirrels would get to it. So he quickly harvested the fruit. However, we had to let it sit in the kitchen to fully ripen before eating it.

The trick to ensure the fruit ripens well is to hang it upside down and let gravity do the job to aid the process. So far, it is going very well. As each day passed, I could smell the fragrance of the pineapple whenever I walked past the cabinet where we hung the pineapple. Mmm, so wonderful!

See the string?

In a day or two, we should be able to savor the aromatic pineapple harvested from our garden. Lovely.

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Do We Look Like Rabbits?

9 May

Our neighbor has two dogs – a friendly Golden Retriever and an aggressive German Shepherd. We missed interacting and petting the friendly one when the aggressive one joined their family. There is no more opportunity to stretch the hands safely for a quick scratch or tickle.

The German Shepherd is an annoying one. Sure, he’s a guard dog, but we are neighbors, not intruders. Whenever we were in the garden, he would bark incessantly at us. It borders on annoyance and fear at the same time. He has snarled and shown his teeth at me several times. Because of its aggressive nature, I have stopped doing my woodwork outside on the garden terrace.

Lately, he is at it again, barking his head off unnecessarily, a test of our patience for such an unpeaceful situation. One morning, the annoying dog was barking at hubby so aggressively when hubby was watering the plants. It was too much!

Hubby went over to complain to the owner about the dog’s unbecoming behavior. The owner defended his dog, saying it meant no harm, and was merely barking at the rabbit (the pet from the neighbor flanking their house) whenever the rabbit was out.

Wait a minute! It was barking at hubby! Me (at times)! Us (all the time)! Not the rabbit!!! Do we look like rabbits? Hrmph.

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Fig Defenders, Part 2

8 May

The Starbucks brown bags are not the perfect solution to protect our figs after all! The squirrels are getting smarter and have managed to beat us to the game. Darn them!

So we have up our defenses against them by using plastic fruit, vege, and egg containers instead of brown bags. These containers are much more effective in keeping the raiders out. We can also see the figs to monitor their growth.

A more effective protection for our figs

Previously, with the brown bags, it took more effort to monitor as we had to open each one to inspect. With the clear plastic now, there is no need for this step. So far, it’s going well with the figs thriving for us to harvest.

It is a constant learning process to be good fig defenders against those sneaky garden squirrels.

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