Author: Lindsey (Page 22 of 88)

Gratitude Sunday * July 22, 2012

July 22, 2012 / Lindsey / 5 Comments

~ 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!

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– Cool, fresh night air after a rain storm.

– Crickets close to the open window.

– A bath.

– Finding freshly fallen apricots on the sidewalk to satisfy my hunger during an outing.

– Slow mornings when I need them. Sometimes it takes a while to get my energy going. It’s so nice not to have to force it in order to show up at a job.

– Stumbling upon a fascinating documentary on PBS called “Summer Pasture” about a young, nomadic Tibetan family with an infant daughter. We were riveted.

– A nice week. Fairly chaotic with all the packing and details associated with moving, but still a nice week.

– Making good headway in packing up everything and cleaning this place. I’m especially thankful for the coincidental discovery of a bunch of good moving boxes and packing material in a nearby alley, and my mom for transporting it to our apartment. Thank you Mom! They have been invaluable.

– My garden and how it’s doing so well…

– Those incredible garden tomatoes! Sliced garden tomato, organic avocado, sea salt. OMG!

– Seeing, again, a family friend from New Zealand who my mom has known for 40 years. It was so nice to see him again, even for just a short time.

– Birds singing. It was eerily quiet this morning when I awoke, and I realized how much I cherish the constant background of birdsong, even if I’m not always consciously aware of it.

– My family’s great appreciation of my garden produce. It warms my heart that they all love it so much.

What about you? What has been on your gratitude list this week?

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Around the Garden – July 19th

July 20, 2012 / Lindsey / 7 Comments

Yesterday was a special day. July 19th is the official death date of my best friend Sonja. It will forever be “that day.” It’s been eight years since her death, and finally it doesn’t hurt anything like it used to. That awful pain has released its grip on me. I acknowledge the date with sadness, of course…but the sting of it has largely gone. If I pause to remember that terrible phone call, and the sequence of it all and how I felt, it still hurts very much. Of course it does. I’m sure it always will. But it doesn’t clutch me and drag me to the underworld like it used to; I feel so much more in control of the memories and my emotions about it all.

If you are currently toiling through grief, it is a very hard path. And it will get easier. It doesn’t seem like it ever will, but it will.

When I was in the middle of that searing grief, I was convinced it would never end. It did. You will never be the same person after a journey like that (you’ll be stronger, for one thing), but the pain will let up.

So yesterday I spent my July 19th working in my flourishing garden. What an uplifting, life-affirming way to spend that day! It was very hot, in the upper 90s, but the clouds moved in which made it much more bearable. And my strong, healing body held up so nicely, even in that heat… even through six hours of hard physical work. Instead of feeling miserable in my body, I felt strong and healthy and agile. After more than two solid years of feeling like absolute shite, I had sadly forgotten what “normal” feels like. I’m getting re-acquainted with normal!! It was so enjoyable!

Anyway, here are some pictures:

[left to right] Jaune Flamme, Black Russian, and Black Cherry heirloom tomatoes:

The peach on my 3-year-old tree is getting bigger!

I grew some Black Kabouli bush garbanzo beans this year as an experiment. It was a success, and it told me what I needed to know. They’re very easy to grow, even in areas of lower soil fertility and water levels. I haven’t yet cooked them up, but overall I’d rate them as ‘8.5/10, would grow again.’

***

Everybody needs… places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength…

– John Muir

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The Magical Bee Sting Cure

July 16, 2012 / Lindsey / 4 Comments

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Lavender essential oil!

It’s a shame this isn’t more common knowledge. Maybe you already know about it but if not, I want to tell you that lavender essential oil is the most magical treatment for a bee sting (or wasp, etc.). I’ve been treating stings this way for many years and it’s truly incredible. The pain disappears! As do the redness and swelling. Very soon your sting is a distant memory. Every single time I use this remedy I am completely blown away by its efficacy.

Just apply some lavender essential oil, neat (undiluted), to the bee sting. Lavender oil is gentle enough to be used neat for most folks, unlike some other essential oils.

Lavender oil is a great thing to keep in your first aid kit, if only for this reason alone.

***

Do you know of other magical uses for lavender oil? Do share!

***

*****

Gratitude Sunday * July 15, 2012

July 15, 2012 / Lindsey / 2 Comments

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

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

***

– Waking up to a morning downpour early this week — what an excitingly unusual treat that was~

– Hauling all the houseplants outside so they could have a rain bath and get all squeaky clean.

– That this particular week is over. BATTERING is the word that comes to mind!

– Watermelon! For some reason I suddenly love watermelon. It was always my least favorite, but now this year I’m stuffing my face with it. I finally get why everyone loves it now!

– Making time to visit an old family friend along with my dad. That was a really nice, different, thing to do.

– New and different experiences, which make me feel alive!

– Meeting F for a fun little lunch date this week — I loved how it was just the two of us.

– Laughing with my honey!! I really love that.

– Eating out of the garden more and more. Today for instance, a little snack of still-vine-warm cucumbers and tomatoes:

– Feeling so excited by the thought of our new house!! I keep thinking about all the things I/we can do once we live there!

– My mom’s support, and how she dropped everything to just be with me during an unusually difficult and hopeless-feeling day. She is an incredible mother, and I’m so lucky she’s in my life.

– Slowing myself down. Slowing the pace when it begins to get a little out of hand.

– Showers. I love how rejuvenated a simple shower can make you feel.

– Reading an article to F. Remembering that I want to read aloud more, because we both get enjoyment from that.

– Getting rid of stuff!

– The beautiful garden, and how well it’s doing this year. Nothing makes a gardener’s heart swell quite like seeing their gardens flourish!

***

What’s on your gratitude list this week?

*****

Soup of the Day

July 13, 2012 / Lindsey / 1 Comment

This was a delicious little lunch for today. I pulled the beef broth out of the freezer, and the rest is from my own garden! With everything cut into little pieces, it cooked up in just a few minutes.

beef broth

scallions (white part)

celery

kale

potatoes

…and at the table, I stirred in some raw homemade sauerkraut with some of its juice, which leant a wonderful brightness to the soup!

And I just remembered I have some soaked & cooked lentils, which I think would also go well in this soup.

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