Just Breathe

A few years ago on the first warm day of Spring I felt compelled to stand in the middle of my garden barefoot, eyes closed, face toward the sun and just breathe. I later found out this is called grounding. I haven't really researched what grounding actually involves. All I know is I do this often and it gives me peace.

I was searching through Pinterest and one link led to another and I ended up on something telling one how breathing exercises can help PTSD. I honestly have no idea how I got from can your own catsup to PTSD. It was actually an interesting read. Here I am sitting in bed trying this breathing exercise. You take several normal breaths then when you inhale, a normal breath not a big one like when you go underwater, hold it for as long as comfortable. You really want 15-20 seconds. I had 11. It freaked me out at first but the writer said theirs was 7. I also had been battling a cold.

Here I am breathing and counting and I fell right to sleep. Whether it was from relaxing or lack of oxygen I don't even care. I slept great.

With warm days more frequent right now I take every chance I can to get outside barefoot. I do keep this practice in my yard where I know there is no broken glass or dangerous things. If barefoot isn't your thing don't worry. But I would encourage everyone to learn to breathe. Try to be mindful of when you are getting stressed and how your breathing is different from when you are relaxed.

I know I said I keep the barefoot business in my own yard but my feet in the above picture are actually in Mansfield, Missouri. It was taken at the home of Laura Inglals Wilder where the Little House on the Prairie books were written. My hubby took me there 2 years ago and I couldn't resist walking around barefoot just like Laura did.

Simply Living

In my honest opinion, for whatever its worth, I think we have become too accustomed to instant comforts and we have lost the satisfaction on a job well done. A few examples are washing dishes, hanging out clothes, cooking from scratch, real phone calls and writing letters.

I will probably eventually give my two cents worth on all these things but wanted to just focus on hanging out the laundry today.

Hanging out clothes really only saves you about 6% off your electric bill. I spent $40 on my clothes line last year and since I can't use it all year long I probably broke even. But when you  consider I expanded the life of my dryer and every little bit counts it's still worth the little extra work.

Here are a few other reasons why you should use a clothesline.

1. The sun is a natural whitener and air freshener. Have you ever slept on crisp lined dryer sheets? There is nothing more calming.

2. It saves your clothes. Notice all that lint in the dryer? That's your clothes slowly deteriorating. So it can save you money on buying new clothes.

3. Its therapeutic. Outside in the fresh air with the birds chirping and the sun shining really perks you up.

4. It promotes family bonding. Like when a pop up shower hits and you scream " everyone help me get the clothes in".

5. If you miss treating a stain it doesn't get set in if not in the dryer.

6. No accidental shrinking. If nothing goes in the dryer nothing can get shrunk in the dryer.

You can hang your little wild ones on the line but its frowned on to throw them in the dryer ☺

Ladybug Wisdom

Wise men and women are always learning, always listening for fresh insight. Proverbs 18:15 msg

I love to learn new things. Books are helpful and the internet is nice to have around but to learn how to do something from someone can be very special.

I have a favorite pottery place I like to visit. Sara has been cranking out pottery for over 20 years. I do not question her prices and I save up to purchase them. I am not just buying a mug or bakeware I am buying art. If we visit her shop and she's turning the wheel its a special day.  If they are offering homemade punch or coffee in handmade mugs its icing on the cake. Sure I can run to a chain store and buy a mug for $1 but when I hold my $15 one from Sara I remember the purchase, I remember the story of where she gets her clay and how she mixes it, how she showed us how you make the handle and how to glaze. She shows you the kiln. I wash my pottery with care because it isn't cheap and I appreciate the hard work that went into making it.

I seriously doubt I will ever be a potter like Sara. I will guarantee you though we are surrounded by people like her with knowledge we don't have. People who will want to share their knowledge and want us to share ours with them.

It looks as if spring is finally here in Kentucky. I am actually sitting outside writing this. The chickens are foraging, the birds are coming and going from the feeders, the squirrels are waiting for me to go inside so they can come down from their trees. So here's a little tidbit of advice from me. The picture below is of one of our raised beds. We planted the onions last fall and covered them through the winter. About 6 weeks ago we planted the spinach in the back by the onions, the kale in the front and the leafy light green lettuce. We cut and it grows over night it seems. The key to success with this crop is placement. This spot gets morning sun but during the strongest sunshine it's shaded. By the times its too hot for these plants we will have eaten them up and planted something that loves the heat of summer. In late summer we can plant spinach and kale again and harvest it as long as temps arevt lower than 20 degrees. We are giving serious thought to trying to winter gardening.

End Of Week

I love Friday evenings. All my family are home by 5 and we just sit around  enjoying not having to be anywhere for a few days. As I am writing this my hubby and son are catching up on NBA stuff and NCAA basketball.  I am sitting here in front of my wood stove listening to them arguing over whether something was a foul. The kettle is on the stove and cup of hot tea is in my future.

Its been a crazy week on the urban farm. We started with pretty warm weather, then snow, then temps dropping to 17 and the furnace not working. The boy was sick but even when he started feeling better his medicine cause him to be sick. The hubby had a stomach bug and while we are freezing we are getting texts from the girl who is spending her spring break with my sister with their legs in the sand.

I tried a few new cleaning recipes this week and I am quite pleased with them both. One is for   cleaning wipes and the other a homemade dish soap. I feel so guilty when I use paper towels for cleaning, I love the idea of cleaning wipes but the ones you buy are a little pricey plus all the chemicals that are in them. The dish soap worked great on getting a casserole dish with baked lasagna clean. It has a little bit of fractionized coconut oil in it and it really help soften things stuck to your dishes plus softens your hands.

Dish Soap
1 1/2 cup of cooled boiled water
1 cup of unscented castile soap
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp fractionized coconut oil
12 drops grapefruit oil
8 drops tea tree oil

Put in a pump bottle and give a little shake each time you use. This takes a little getting use to because its not as sudsy as what we are use to but it gets the dishes clean.

Not Clorox Wipes

Rags or buy bar towels at Walmart for $5 for 8 cloths

2 cups water
1/2 cup rubbing alcohol
2 Tablespoons Dawn dish soap ( I haven't completely given up my dawn)
2 Tablespoons ammonia (optional) I did use this but if you do make sure your dawn is the old fashioned kind and does not contain bleach. Ammonia+bleach=fumes)

As you can see in the picture I recycled a large peanut butter container for my wipes and a Mrs Meyers hand soap container for my dish soap. If all my dish soap wont fit in the container I just store it in a mason jar. I do not have a dishwasher so it doesnt take long to use it up.

I hope to get a few pictures of our raised garden beds this weekend. We have several things growing, tomato and pepper seeds started today, onion sets ready to be put out and lots of herbs to get started. Have great weekend.

Older and Wiser?

Have you have heard the term "older and wiser" or "with age comes wisdom". I am beginning to wonder if I have missed the boat. I am getting older but the only thing I have gotten is more lactose sensitive. I wonder if you could make money off bumper stickers that say "Older and Lactose Intolerant"? 

I have tried almond, soy, cashew and rice milk and have not really minded them in things. Fortunately I was never a milk drinker anyway so its not like I am missing sitting down to a big glass of milk. Not enjoying ice cream isn't very fun though. The thing I don't like about buying the alternative to milk is that I usually end up throwing it away, which is very expensive. 

Imagine my excitement in finding a recipe for oat milk. I admit it doesn't take much to excite me. It only makes 4 cups which should be pretty easy to use up. 

Its so simple all you do is take 1 cup of old fashioned oats, put them in a container and cover with water for at least 20 minutes. I let mine set for about 2 hours. Drain off the water, put the oats in a blender and add 3 cups of water and blend for a minute or two. You can strain it if you want. I did not and since I used it to make a smoothie it didn't bother me to have the  little bits or oats. For the smoothie I just used about 1 cup of frozen berries and a cup of the milk. You could add a bit of honey but I thought the berries made it sweet eough. I will be trying this milk in some other recipes this week.

Something else I don't like wasting is water. My hubby and I figured up that we let anywhere between 4-6 gallons of water a day go down the drain just from our family of 4 waiting for the water to get hot for our showers. So a few years ago we started collecting the water in a bucket as we wait for it to get warm. We give the water to our dogs, rabbits, pigeons and chickens. If you do not have an urban farm and no animals you can use it to water plants, your garden. grass or filling up bird baths. 

Maybe I am wiser than I think. Enjoy your day and do something that excites you.

When Life Gives You Lemons

I started this blog only a few short months ago. It was my intention to post at least 3 times a week and build up to a little something every day. That didn't quite happen. Life can be quite messy sometimes. Does it drive anyone else crazy when things don't go like you have planned? It was a really great plan too. So I deleted all my posts, got a new plan and am ready to try this all again.

Life is going to throw you some curve balls. It's okay to get distracted. The important thing is to not give up. Find people who encourage you, do things that make you feel happy, and remember asking for help is not a sign of weakness.

So when life gives you lemons don't make lemonade, all that sugar isn't good for you.
Drink lemon water. Lemons are said to help reduce your risk of stroke, they help your body produce collage which helps reduce wrinkles, its suppose to help our body process foods more slowly and keep insulin levels steady. I usually start my day with a cup of hot tea and a tall glass of water with lemon in it. The bright yellow color can perk up anything so paint something bright yellow. My daughter actually wants to repaint her room yellow. Just the smell of lemons can perk you right up. I diffuse lemon oil during the day with other citrus oils to keep me upbeat.

A Few lemon recipes that I use around the house.

Lemon Rosemary Salt

zest of 2 lemons
4 teaspoons sea salt
1 tsp of fresh rosemary

Place in food processor until chopped up to desired texture. This tastes really good on chicken and seafood.

Citrus Room Spray

Just add 10-20 drops of essential oils of your choice to a 4oz spray bottle of distilled water. I like lemon, bergamot, orange and grapefruit oils all together. Just a few sprays in the air freshens the air.



Homemade Dusting Spray

1 cup water
1/4 cup distilled vinegar
2TBS olive oil
15 drops lemon essential oil
a spray bottle to hold everything

The only negative things about this spray is you have to shake it every time you use it. In my opinion that's a small price to pay for knowing what you are using in your home. Plus the shaking is added exercise.