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

Tag: around the house (Page 11 of 27)

A Resting Day

My plans for yesterday involved the doing of many things needing to be done, but the day unfolded on its own into something so much different — nicer and more appropriate for this moment in time. I woke up awfully tired, so instead of going back to bed, I transferred outside to the front porch with a blanket to rest in the cool morning air with some nettles tea. And as it ended up, nearly the whole day was spent lounging on the porch. What a shift from my usual! And how delicious to just let go and allow myself the time to rest.

I’m feeling quite good but I still tire easily, and my antibiotics do contribute to that (they contribute nausea too). I’d overdone it the day before (and the day before that, and I’m sure the day before that, too), and my body was forcefully insisting on a rest. I’d been needing to get some moneymaking work done, but it just wasn’t happening and I couldn’t focus. So instead of struggling, I gave in and decided it would not be a work day, but an all-around rest day.

I savored being in the lounge chair, hearing the morning begin — finches singing, clinking dishes from a neighbor’s open kitchen window, the whir of a lawnmower, blue jays calling in the distance, a dad jogging by with a stroller, a car passing now and then.

How peaceful.

And then later in the afternoon when I was feeling more alive, I packed up a picnic of nausea-friendly foods and met my parents at an outdoor venue for a little concert that was happening. After treating my body to a whole day of nurturance, I treated my spirit too.

Homemade Arnold Palmer, cucumbers and vinegar, peaches, and pasta with tomatoes and basil.

What a gift to give oneself!

I did nothing that was on my list, but who cares anyway because it was a very-much-needed pause.

I hope you’re able to do the same for yourself, to rest outside in the summer air, and to take a picnic to a local outdoor concert. Do! While it’s still summer!

I hope you’ve been enjoying your week~

*****

Around the Garden – July 19th

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

*****

And a Few More…

Here are a few more garden pictures that I wanted to show you, since I was over there yesterday. It was a brilliant weather day — not too hot, not windy, and just humid enough to make the air delicious and soft. Mentally and physically however, it was a total bummer day, so being in the garden felt vitally important! It’s such a grounding and life-affirming space, that wild and abundant garden. There’s some really intense energy flying around right now to put it diplomatically. Can you feel it? Intense situations, frustrations, and pivotal decisions abound! Nature spaces are the antidote — I’d make time to visit one if I were you.

***

So what you have here are the first tomatoes of the year — Black Cherry, and the orange one further down is Jaune Flamme, both heirlooms, and both really awesome. The Jaune Flammes are always my earliest and most reliable tomatoes; Black Cherry is a new one this year, but so far I’m definitely impressed.

I put up this bean trellis on Sunday; I really love it. It creates the feeling of a cozy outdoor room, and maybe if the beans get big enough they’ll provide some welcome shade from the afternoon sun.

And here this is our living room right now. In flux you might say!

As I write you this, I’m eating a beet that I pulled out of the garden yesterday. Steamed whole and eaten plain with just a bit of sea salt, how can something BE so delicious!?

Writing to you!…

Wishing you well on this beautiful, summery night!

*****

Today…

Today, I am:

…enjoying that sweet bouquet of flowers plucked from the garden…

…noticing that Queen Anne’s Lace was probably not the best choice for an indoor bouquet because it’s dropping stuff all over the table…

…enjoying a very delicious breakfast salad of lettuce, green onions, cucumbers, avocado, and fresh pineapple, with salt and cracked pepper, lemon juice, orange juice, and balsamic vinegar…

…drinking a hot mug of pu-erh tea even though there’s 90-degree air breezing through the open window next to me…

…glad that Mountain Rose got pu-erh back in stock! I’ve missed it very much and just ordered more…

…noticing how good it feels to place an order the old fashioned way and send a check to Mountain Rose, instead of paying via credit card online…

…packing up treasures…

…taking time out to get re-inspired by this book, Lillian Too’s 168 Feng Shui Ways to Declutter Your Home. It gets me back into the mindset I like to be in when attacking piles of possessions: “Do I love this and absolutely want it? Does it pertain to who I am now?”

…looking at messes and piles that seem to breed in the night…

…glad that my Honey has the day off from work today; he deserves it…

…remembering that I have some soaked & solar-cooked quinoa in the fridge, waiting to be made into tabbouleh

…thinking it’s nearly time to close up the windows in favor of the comfort of our little air conditioner. It’s gonna be another hot one today…

***

♥ I hope you all have a relaxing holiday today ♥

*****

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