The Warrior's Garden

[Marius_Ursus]

A retired warrior, no longer interested in fighting and making war, bought a house in the country and decided to grow his own food. He brought his family along with him, and together they learned the properties of their soil and what would make their food thrive and their flowers beautiful.

One of the old warrior's family members was a little girl cat he and his wife had rescued many years ago. She was the runt of the litter, forgotten in the back of a shed, left to starve to death. She was found crying during a thunder storm when the warrior and his wife were having a last cup of coffee and cigarette before bed, enjoying the Texas thunder and lightning.

When they heard the cries, the looked at each other and climbed over the tall wooden fence surrounding their yard to get into their deceased neighbor's yard and break the lock of her shed to find a tiny, two-week old baby on the brink of starvation.

They adopted her.

When the old warrior and his wife bought their house in the country, they had their sons and their two cats, both rescues, with them. Both cats were runts and left for death in the back corner of old sheds. Maybe that's why they stayed so close with their love/hate relationship. The girl never got over six pounds, but the boy got big and strong and looked after her, even when they were fighting over cat treats in the kitchen.

The girl cat was a great mouser, able to catch anything from a moth to a rat as big as she was. Fearless.

A warrior like the old man who loved her.

Last Friday, the girl, little Abigail, passed away. She breathed her last breath surrounded by people who loved her, succumbing to a sudden kidney failure. Tuesday she started acting funny. Wednesday she was taken to the vet, and Friday morning, weak, broken, and unable to move, the little baby warrior...the old woman in a baby's body, breathed her last.

I've lost my little girl.

I love you, Abby...in your death you have taught me life's greatest lesson.

My whole life changed in an instant as I felt your body finally rest in eternal sleep.

[Marius_Ursus]

3/9/2015

Front Squat
1x5x95
1x5x115
1x5x135
3x5x155
1x5x125
1x5x115

Press
3x5x135

Straight Leg Deadlift
1x5x225
1x3x225
1x2x225

KB Clean
3x5x24 kg

1H KB Swing
3x3x40 kg

- Nothing makes you organize priorities like losing someone you love with all your heart. What makes me most sad about her passing is that I didn't even know how much I loved her, how much she meant to me until I saw her dying before me. She was a pretty girl to the very last. Her death gives me new life.

[shaneinga]

Sorry to hear about your cat Abby Marius. You starting a new journal?

If so, In.

Good work put in today. I am sorry you lost something that meant so much to you. It sounds like you have found solace and meaning in all of it though. Good luck man.

[Marius_Ursus]

Sorry to hear about your cat Abby Marius. You starting a new journal?

If so, In.

Good work put in today. I am sorry you lost something that meant so much to you. It sounds like you have found solace and meaning in all of it though. Good luck man.

Yeah, new life, new journal.

Thanks very much for the kind words.

[raynerd]

Sorry about your loss Tom! I have loved and lossed many pets throughout my life, and each one hurt like hell. Glad to see your positivity in a time of loss. Awesome workout man. Life is short and we should make the best of the time we do have!

[Marius_Ursus]

Sorry about your loss Tom! I have loved and lossed many pets throughout my life, and each one hurt like hell. Glad to see your positivity in a time of loss. Awesome workout man. Life is short and we should make the best of the time we do have!

Thank you. She's the first one I ever lost. Long story about my mom's neuroses about animals, but suffice to say, this was a traumatic experience, and I learned some pretty big life lessons from it.

[mirroroferised]

I'm in. Sorry for your loss Tom. I've been there and it's heart breaking.

[SteveWright1]

sorry for your loss Tom

good session back in the squat rack today , channeling those emotions positively is a great way to get over periods of sadness in my experience

[Marius_Ursus]

I'm in. Sorry for your loss Tom. I've been there and it's heart breaking.

sorry for your loss Tom

good session back in the squat rack today , channeling those emotions positively is a great way to get over periods of sadness in my experience

The family's recovering slowly.

Thanks for your support.

[Marius_Ursus]

3/10/2015

Kettlebells

KB Farmers Walk
40 kg for 50m, Left Hand
40 kg for 50m, Right Hand

Single KB Press
2x3x32 kg - Had to push press every rep...hard.

Double KB Row, Unsupported
3x5x24 kg - Slight dip to cheat...hard.

KB Goblet Squat
2x5x32 kg - Easy

1H KB Swing - Done as one set Left, one set Right
2x12x24
2x11x24
2x10x24
2x9x24
2x8x24
2x7x24
2x6x24
2x5x24
2x4x24
2x3x24
2x1x24
2x20x16
2x10x16
2x5x16
2x4x16
2x3x16
2x2x16
2x1x16

Winded, tired, well worked. I have an appetite...a big one. Glad I'm controlling today by bringing the food I'm going to consume.

Estimated 1000 calories burned.

[MooseTequila]

Animals are family... IN

[Marius_Ursus]

Animals are family... IN

Yes, they are...In this experience I'm coming to understand just how special and sacred life is. I may be a vegetarian before this is all over.

Only kind of kidding...

I love your sig.

[Marius_Ursus]

Interlude...it's going to reach 40 degrees today. It was 17 when I got up, so that's practically tropical temps.

I'll be back in my garage in a couple weeks and leaving that G-d-forsaken Smith machine to rust in the bowels of fitness enthusiast hell.

[shaneinga]

Interlude...it's going to reach 40 degrees today. It was 17 when I got up, so that's practically tropical temps.

I'll be back in my garage in a couple weeks and leaving that G-d-forsaken Smith machine to rust in the bowels of fitness enthusiast hell.

Awesome news man!

[raynerd]

Holy Kettlebellin!! No doubt you were tired after that one! Great job Tom!

[mirroroferised]

These are workouts I will pretty much copy and paste when we go camping this summer. Well I'll lower the weights though

[Marius_Ursus]

Holy Kettlebellin!! No doubt you were tired after that one! Great job Tom!

We'll see if it pays off when I weigh in on Friday.

These are workouts I will pretty much copy and paste when we go camping this summer. Well I'll lower the weights though

One of my favorite things about a KB is you can take it anywhere. It's a gym in a little piece of iron.

[shaneinga]

I actually picked me up a 50 lb cattleball today They did not have any 45's. They had a 30, a 40 and 50. I figured I would go all out and grab the 50 and try to kill myself with it. Now to do some research into what to do with this damn thing.

[MooseTequila]

Damn it... now I'm sick too... with kettlebell fever!

[shaneinga]

I played around doing some kettlebell swings last night. Those were surprisingly tiring. I only managed to do a max of 35 swings in a set. I did a total of 125 swings. Still getting the hang of playing with it. I do powder coating and I have to wait for the ovens to cool down before I can shut them off. I am always the last one at the shop waiting around for them to cool, takes about 20 to 25 minutes for cool down. I found my new standing around exercise while I wait for them cool.

[Marius_Ursus]

Damn it... now I'm sick too... with kettlebell fever!

Haha...they're just a tool. Don't get too out of alignment over them.

I played around doing some kettlebell swings last night. Those were surprisingly tiring. I only managed to do a max of 35 swings in a set. I did a total of 125 swings. Still getting the hang of playing with it. I do powder coating and I have to wait for the ovens to cool down before I can shut them off. I am always the last one at the shop waiting around for them to cool, takes about 20 to 25 minutes for cool down. I found my new standing around exercise while I wait for them cool.

Nice. Post up a video, so I can check your form.

Did you see the video I posted in mirrorofrised's journal explaining the mechanics of the swing?

[Marius_Ursus]

3/11/2015

A mix of full cleans, power cleans, hang cleans, front squats, and presses everywhere from 75 to 125 pounds for various reps and sets.

[shaneinga]

Haha...they're just a tool. Don't get too out of alignment over them.



Nice. Post up a video, so I can check your form.

Did you see the video I posted in mirrorofrised's journal explaining the mechanics of the swing?

Yeah I did, I tried to remember it all while I was over there. Swing the hips, use the arms just to hold the bell. It is a great workout.

I will get some video of it soon and let you see what you think.

Portable little gym. Now I just need to find a way to carry it around in my truck without it rolling all over the place.

[shaneinga]

Looks like a good workout Marius. Some day I will step out of my comfort zone and give some of those lifts a try.

[Marius_Ursus]

Yeah I did, I tried to remember it all while I was over there. Swing the hips, use the arms just to hold the bell. It is a great workout.

I will get some video of it soon and let you see what you think.

Portable little gym. Now I just need to find a way to carry it around in my truck without it rolling all over the place.

I usually put it on top of something soft and put heavy crap around it...like bricks. hahaha

Looks like a good workout Marius. Some day I will step out of my comfort zone and give some of those lifts a try.

They're great for throwers...don't know if you'd get anything out of it other than a good time...but then again, that's what life is for from what I keep hearing.

[Marius_Ursus]

From Dec 17th...I think the last time I pulled a real deadlift before switching over to that G-d forsaken Smith...

[MooseTequila]

N I C E... plates, kettles and bag, oh my!

[raynerd]

Thanks Tom! Running around watching sumo vids is pretty awesome! Those look great!

[RT1957]

In....Our lives would be better if we knew how to love like our pets. I too have lost quite a few pets through the years. We have 3 now 2 cats and Bene....plus I feed to feral's who have lived by our house for years. They are actually related to one of our cats that I raised after a litter was born in our garage...

[Marius_Ursus]

N I C E... plates, kettles and bag, oh my!

I gotta move that bag one beam over. One end of the one it's on is unsupported because of the way the window was put in on the far wall...which means the whole roof shakes when I hit the bag.

Thanks Tom! Running around watching sumo vids is pretty awesome! Those look great!

They felt great, too. LOL

In....Our lives would be better if we knew how to love like our pets. I too have lost quite a few pets through the years. We have 3 now 2 cats and Bene....plus I feed to feral's who have lived by our house for years. They are actually related to one of our cats that I raised after a litter was born in our garage...

I wish I could love like that. I'm trying.

You're a good man bringing in animals like that.