These are in no particular order, rather they are all things that are making me happy at the moment.
1. Our Fall Garden
Our fall veggie garden has been planted and it's beautiful. The picture shows that we made a simple raised garden bed. We might do another raised garden bed with some stone/concrete slabs we found when digging out the yard for this veggie garden. It will probably be a flower or herb bed :D
I planted quite a few veggie starts including kale, broccoli, butter lettuce, and romaine. There is about 24 plants in total planted. I hope to plant from seed some spinach, since it's only a 30 day crop. It's amazing that it can take only 30 days to grow spinach.
2. Gardening Tips
I love learning about new and especially old ways of gardening. I find learning the old tricks of trade are really the most useful :) Here are some of the things I've learned from preparing a raised garden bed for this upcoming fall season...
If you are placing your bed on lawn or soil than you only need to add about 6" of soil mix. If you placing your raised bed on top of concrete, hard clay, or anything the roots of plant can't penetrate than you need roughly 9-12" of soil :)
We used a mix of our own compost, peat moss, and store bought organic topsoil. Try to find out where your soil is from and if it's been sterilized. Super important, so that your plants don't catch disease.
For fall planting know when the first frost of the season hits and count back from there to know when you should be planting. For example first frost hits mid October for us, so we will be planting our 30 day spinach crop anytime before mid September. Check out the above picture to locate your frost season in North America :)
3. Saving Plants
The little one and I did a wander through Wal-marts garden section and the plants were looking so sad being at many were at end of the season. We found these little guys though and rescued them! Four beautiful, small oregano plants, for only 50cents! We couldn't leave them behind and look how wonderful they look potted up together :) I've already used some in a soup and it was perfect in flavor!
4. Blueberry Basil Limeade
This has to be one of the most decadent juices I've tried. It would totally suit a special dinner or party. I think the basil gives it such a nice twist! I found this recipe on Gone Raw. I increased the basil, blueberries and lime in this recipe because I found it to watered down at first. Once I did that it was spot on, so you might want to decrease the water :) Just play with it and you'll find what you like best, so worth it!
Here is what I did...
2 cups of blueberries
6 large basil leaves
1/2 a limes juice
1/2 teaspoon agave (or whatever sweetener your prefer)
2 cups water (or less to your desired consistency)
Blend it up and serve over ice and garnish with some basil.
This juice of course does not have to be for special occasions like I mentioned before. It's a great everyday juice. My lil one LOVED it! He gulped it down and wanted more after :)
5.Spending Time doing Nothing
This is something I try hard to do! That sounds odd, but seriously when do we really do nothing these days. The past four weeks for us have been busy...I guess all of August has been non-stop, no wonder it's going by so fast. A couple nights a week my lil one and I will watch a special movie together that he has picked. Well last night it was Winnie the Pooh. This used to be one of my favorites as a kid, I'd always ask to watch it. It surprised me when I didn't remember the ending very well, which is a conversation between Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh. Don't worry this does have a point! Their conversation revolves around remembering to do absolutely nothing sometimes and just enjoy what is around us.
"Don't underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering" -Winnie the Pooh, A.A Milne
6. My Son's Cowboy Garden Project
Here are pic's...
It's coming to end this little garden. We've been enjoying it for a couple weeks now, picking here and there. We've been adding it to salads and toppings on veggies. My lil guy LOVED this project and I would totally recommend it to any parent. What's great about it is that everyday they get to watch it grow, water it and the sense of accomplishment is priceless for sure. In the end we get to eat the sprouts yum!
7. Breakfast
I've never been a huge fan of breakfast, but since incorporating smoothies, green juices and fruits/nuts I never want to skip it! I actually look forward to breakfast, not the clean up though. Who likes cleaning up their juicer, really?!
Here are some pretty picture's of breakfasts that I usually have during the week :)
8. Wire Jewlery
I love making making wire jewlery. I used to sell it online on artfire.com, but I found it wasn't really worth the fees per month, in comparison to how much I was selling. I did make some profits though, which paid for materials. Once I started working I totally stopped making new pieces because my time was so limited. I would have had to sacrifice other important things in my life to be able to do it, so away it went. I started making a few more pieces again, here and there. Mostly for myself or if a friend asks. It's something that I do enjoy doing because it's instant satisfaction.
Here are a few more of the pieces I've made :)
9. Blogging
I enjoy blogging because it's a medium in which I can express myself creativly through food and my life expeirences. I also found out quickly that it's a great way to connect with people, make new friends and be part of community of my interest. There is no way that I would be able to part of a large food community like this if I weren't online blogging. Another reason I blog is because it's my "me time." It's something that is seperate from being a mom, wife, friend, etc...I feel like I can be myself with no titles, roles or labels that I carry during the day.
There have been down-sides at times to blogging. Have you ever got sucked into the vortex of reading blog after blog, until you realize that you spent 2 hours just reading about other peoples lives. There are a couple blogs I have stumbled upon that leave me feeling like I am an ametuer blogger. These blogs tend to have perfect photos, good content, strong opinions and seemingly high education on varying topics. They leave me feeling inadequate, like their is no messy life behind their blog.
I am currently taking an online course that at one point will be discussing how women often compare themselves to other women. I guess in this case bloggers comparing themselves to other bloggers. Even though I have been blogging since 1999 having my own personal journal, I never felt as though I had to meet up to others expectations. Why do I sometimes feel this way now? Probably because I have moments where I compare myself to the seemingly perfect blogs. Leaving myself feeling the need to meet some expectation. Haha when did my blog ever become that important!
I realize I should take a look at the positive aspects of this situation. I should learn from these bloggers, appreciate what they have to share and I should learn to NOT compare myself to others. I also try to remember why I have my blog for the reasons I previously mentioned. That takes a lot of the pressure off and takes me out of that inadequate place.
Do you ever feel inadequate about your blog? Do you ever find yourself comparing yourself to other bloggers?
For some great blogging humor, check out these comics...they make me smile and laugh :)
10. Blog Awards
I was surprised and grateful when two bloggers decided to pass on awards to me.
Thank you so much blessedmama for the Happy 101 award! The award works this way, I list ten things that make me happy (done!). Then I pass on the award to ten blogs that make me happy :) If you've already received it and I mention you than just enjoy how much I appreciate your blog!
LittleMissBaker: This is my youngest sister's blog. She found something she is passionate about and I hope it leads her down a healthy, happy path.
Contagious Health: Melissa is compassionate, intelligent and fun blogger. I always look forward to her recaps, pictures and stories :)
What Run's Lori: Lori is insightful, inspiring, funny, exercising, delicious food making goddess!
The Way: Elle has one of my favorite blogs. She discusses important topics from health, wellness, spirtuality :) I love reading the articles she posts!
Bites and Bliss: A dedicated daily blogger! I admire those folks :) I feel like I get to follow her through a journey of healthy eating, exercise and life.
Raw Food Inspirations: I always try Pam's recipes, because she knows whats delicious!
The Raw Butterfly: Raw Butterfly is gentle, loving and kind. She posts helpful information and beautiful photos.
The(Teen)Age of Raw: A wonderful blog full of beautiful photos, stories about her life and eating raw as a teenage woman.
Rawkinmom:Love this blog because it's eating raw vegan through another mom's experience. Her family is amazing and she is so knowledgable :)
Rawdawgrory:I stumbled across this blog and I'm so glad I did. Rory is hilarious, educated and has amazing recipes. Not to mention him and his family are on a trek across the USA, talk about a journey :)
The rules for this award are, thank the person who gave you the award. Tell 7 things about yourself. Pass the award on to 10 bloggers you've recently discovered and you think are fantastic!
Thank you to Vegan And So Forth for the Versatile Blogger award!
7 things about myself
1. I have 3 sisters, but no brothers! Always wanted a older brother growing up :)
2. I have a degree in Social Work, my focus is in the mental health field.
3. I have moderate scoliosis aka my spine is curved. I have the typical S-shape curve, that you often see associated with scoliosis.
4. I broke my left wrist when I was 10 and my right ring finger when I was 12 both were during school related activities!
5. I do not have cable television. I watch movies in the evening sometimes, other than that the only shows I follow are HBO's True Blood and Grey's Anatomy.
6. I grew up living with my parents and grandparents. We lived on a large property where my grandparents had large gardens, and fruit trees.
7. I've travelled by car/truck, bus, train, ferry boat, passenger plane, canoe, kayak, hike, walked, ran, biked, but never by commercial airline!
I'm going to do what others have done with this wonderful award and pass it on to any of you that read my blog that have not recieved it. I know quite a few of you have, so if you havn't please do so because you deserve it :)
My guy said that this was an early birthday present for me! My goodies included a dry brush, cacao butter, spirulina, and bee pollen.
Well it's all about apples and pears at our house after my mom found this 2.99 deal. My parents came over to our place the other day and asked how often I use apples to juice. The answer is almost every time I juice! They are so great for there sweetness, so we went out a bought at least 36lbs of apples for 2.99! The catch was that these apples are assorted and some are bruised. That cardboard box was filled to the brim and I've been separating the ones that are bruised to juice immediately.
