Kitchen / Garden / Sanctuary - Urban Homesteading to Nourish Body + Spirit

Author: Lindsey (Page 16 of 88)

Gratitude Sunday * October 21, 2012

~ I’m once again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots in her Gratitude Sunday tradition. ~

Gratitude Sunday is a time to slow down and remember those thankful moments that graced our week. One reason I love keeping a daily gratitude journal is because it helps keep things in perspective for me. Each Sunday, I open my journal and share some of those moments with you here. If you’d like to join in, just leave a comment!

Gratitude is powerful energy. I love hearing others’ gratitudes!

***

– That F is okay and more damage was not sustained in a bike accident he was in (which was the direct result of poor workmanship by a technician in a local bike shop). He has a broken bone in his elbow but thanks to his helmet, no head injuries. While sitting in the ER with him, I kept being so grateful that he was walking, talking, smiling… the way it all happened, it’s amazing it wasn’t much worse. He’s a tough cookie and I love him so.

– Writing gratitudes each night; it redirects my sometimes-wandering gaze to the good things around me. The past several weeks have been rough. There’s a lot I haven’t been grateful for and sometimes it’s really hard to stay positive. But at the end of the day, I remember again just how thick with blessings my life is. Everyone’s is… you just have to reprogram you brain to see them all. I really love picking them out because it’s such an uplifting mental activity.

– Special one-on-one time with my Dad last weekend. We went to our favorite nature spot and it was a gorgeous day and were treated to a rare and special sighting of hundreds of sandhill cranes! (deviating for some reason from their normal migration route)

– Feeling lighter after being in nature that day. In nature don’t you find that your worries and fears that seem so real and all-consuming… just sort of shrink into the background.

– Getting my studio finally FINALLY unpacked and cleaned up and set up! It took hours because there was crap strewn everywhere. And now instead of averting my eyes every time I pass this room, I actually want to be in it (matter fact I’m in it right now). See it in the photo below?

– Finding the sweetness in convalescence. This is a really hard one sometimes when I’m so flipping sick of “still recovering” (evidently it’s a looong process), and the constant worry and fear that I never will be back to my old self (ooo that’s a big one). Sometimes I desperately repeat “find the sweetness find the sweetness” but I can’t. And then other times when I slow myself to the appropriate pace, and embrace whatever’s going on at the moment, and look around at where I am, and who I have around me, I can find the sweetness and those moments feel so good.

– My evening walks. I love them. And the other night I brought tea along with me in one of those paper coffee to-go cups with the plastic lids. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?! Tea on a dusk walk in the Autumn. Three of my favorite things rolled into one.

– Gorgeous sunsets. I love dusk anyway, and the fiery sunsets have been such a nice bonus. I love the silhouettes of the bare trees, and the crows flying home to roost, and the slow crickets, and the mug of hot tea in my hands, and the closing of the day and the quieter, cozier, more inward energy of the evening.

– The warm weather we’ve had. I love still being able to virtually live outside each day. It does a spirit good!

– Going to the health food store with F. He walked while I slowly rode my bike alongside. I loved this so much. I also loved the slow pace and getting to see all the autumn colors in slo-mo.

– Homemade applesauce, warmed, with nutmeg and plain yogurt.

***

And what about your week? What has been good about it?

***

*****

Los Angeles Sunset

A couple days ago my sister Julie was in the right place at the right time, and took this incredible photo of the sunset, the fingernail moon, and a huge owl that swooped in and landed on a nearby eucalyptus branch!!

I love it.

*****

Homemade Arnold Palmer

***
Iced tea and lemonade — it’s a great combination!

I’ve been perfecting my AP recipe over the summer and I’ve got it just the way I like it. You may want to make slight adjustments according to your tastes of course.

(I find myself craving and making Arnold Palmers when I’ve got some extra nausea goin’ on and plain water doesn’t appeal. So keep it in mind for hydration during times of illness, too.)

***

Lindsey’s Homemade Arnold Palmer

1 tsp good quality black tea OR 1 teabag (for APs, my favorite happens to be Mountain Rose’s bulk Nepalese Black Tea)

3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (~ 1 medium lemon)

2 Tbsp honey or maple syrup

1 cup cold water

1 cup ice, OR an additional 1/2 to 1 cup of cold water

***

Boil water for brewing the tea. (Decaffeinate the tea first, if you like.)

Then, in a mug or measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup of boiling water over the tea and allow it to steep for several minutes — only 1/2 cup because you’re making a concentrate.

While the tea is steeping, in a tall glass combine 1 cup of cold water, the lemon juice, and the honey or maple syrup. (If you’re using honey, you may need to dissolve it in a little bit of warm water first.)

Once your tea has steeped for at least several minutes, strain out the leaves and pour into your glass with the water/lemon/honey.

Add either 1 cup of ice OR 1/2 to 1 cup of additional cold water — depending on how cold you want it, how soon you want to drink it (waiting for the ice to melt, you know), and how strong you like it. I usually like mine not-as-cold, ready immediately, and on the more dilute side, so I add the full 1 cup of water in place of the ice.

***

It's lovely to take on picnics

 *****

Harvesting Our Apples

Well it’s been an awesome year for fruit here, since our usual blossom-killing frost mercifully did not occur this spring. And so “Make more applesauce” has been somewhat of a standing order on my to-do lists of late. What a blessing, to have so much free organic fruit! My mom’s recent comment in an email made me giggle, asking me what I’ll do with all my time once the apples are through!

The apple tree in the backyard is Red Delicious variety, but the apples are really not good for fresh eating, however they make great applesauce! So F and I harvested them all recently and I’ve been picking away at them, cutting out the wormy parts, peeling them, chopping, and then cooking and canning them.

***

What kind of fruit are you harvesting this autumn?

*****

Gratitude Sunday * October 7, 2012

~ I’m once again joining Taryn over at Wooly Moss Roots in her Gratitude Sunday tradition. ~

Gratitude Sunday is a time to slow down and remember those thankful moments that graced our week. One reason I love keeping a daily gratitude journal is because it helps keep things in perspective for me. Each Sunday, I open my journal and share some of those moments with you here. If you’d like to join in, just leave a comment!

Gratitude is powerful energy. I love hearing others’ gratitudes!

***

– Warm applesauce made with the apples off our tree, with cloves and cinnamon, eaten with grassfed yogurt that I made in my solar oven. What a blissful, delicious snack!

– Apple fruit leather, made in the solar oven. Another blissful snack!

– Sitting outside in the backyard, wrapped in a robe, with fresh ginger tea at 5:00 one morning, as gentle rain began to fall. It was so quiet and peaceful. Then, going back to bed and sleeping till I was much more rested!

– The sight of the leaves changing color.

– Seeing more and more signs of autumn. More and more pumpkins appearing on doorsteps!

– Warm, totally gorgeous weather, followed by cold, cloudy weather where we were cozy inside. I love both!

– Amazing garden vegetable soup with soaked & solar-cooked brown rice. It was incredible. It had in it: tomatoes, garlic, onion, celery, green beans, parsley, potato, cabbage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, carrot, zucchini, broccoli, and brown rice. The only things not from the garden were the carrots and rice!

– Having really good energy a couple days this week and using it to catch up with all the backed up stuff that I’d been wanting to do. I was grateful for the timing, since I had so much to do to prepare for the first frost.

– Making the house more orderly, and finding places for all the plants we brought in before frost. An orderly, clean house really is so nice.

– Before bed, unwinding by candlelight. Turning off the electric lights, and writing my gratitude list by candlelight. What a lovely thing.

– Tea. Or just hot water for that matter! Having hot water any time I want, so I can make tea. A simple luxury.

– Being able to (mostly) clear as much space in my life as is needed right now, to hang really low and allow my body to do some major purging and healing.

– Being at this house. Having our own yard — our own territory. We love it here.

– A cold but really beautiful and refreshing bike ride to the health food store yesterday with F. I love our weekly rides to the store together. And the leaves have changed color so much since last weekend, and looked particularly beautiful against the cloudy sky. Last week was so hot and we rode in shorts and t-shirts, and this week it was 32° with snow flurries in the air!

– Laughing hard at a comedy show we were streaming from the BBC last night. We love their comedy shows, in particular Live at the Apollo, but occasionally others too. Genuine, uncontrolled laughter is really great medicine and makes everything feel lighter.

– Impromptu Friday night pizza dinner over at my parents’ new pad — what a fun thing that was!

***

And what about you? What has been on your own gratitude list this past week?

*****

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