Will take my own advice to heart and revive my blog, for myself. Writing it down has been my way to take a closer look at myself, sometimes setting me free, other times keeping me stuck. Either way it helps me touch bases with what's going on with myself so I do not spend a lifetime stuck repeating the same damn mistakes when there are others to explore.

If someone wanders in don't be afraid to say hi.

promises to myself

Making resolutions for the New Year has never been one of my strong points. I tend to lead an existence that allows for flexibility which means I tend to fit into my day whatever suits my needs. Seems that I spend too much of my time cleaning or sorting so I think one thing I must do is to keep moving forward and get rid of a whole ton of stuff and making space for great projects. Since we haven't moved in nearly 28yrs. we've done more accumulating than purging of stuff. It's time for a fresh start without necessarily moving house. I've tackled some in the last year so this is just a continuation. So...to be continued.

Next is a more spiritual aspect of life. I am going to work on doing more for myself. I have a tendency to wait for a request before I move forward. Sometimes it's hard to make time for myself. All those things I used to do seem superficial compared to connecting with others. I've been rethinking this.
Maybe an oil painting can be fit in.
Maybe those half started stories I've begun writing need an ending.
The sewing machine needs a place again.
I will have to start making my own requests and learning to put forth some of my work that's been on hold. Talents are gifts and to not use them is said to be a "sin" or a waste. So, regardless of what others may think I will start clearing my own path, never minding if another soul notices or cares. I will care, not just about others getting ahead, but about myself. I will remember that quote I loved to carry, that it will matter more to me whether I do or don't do something for myself than to anyone else.
I may not have much to offer but what I have is mine to give so I need to get off my ass and begin creating again. And this is the gift I will give to me in the coming days. A little bit for me.
What is it you deserve and have put off, perhaps while taking care of everyone else or the petty clutter life placed along your path?
I wonder.

a short sabbatical in the mountains

Yes, it only took a few hours between hiking the short but steep trail and getting back to the car but I have to get my breaks wherever I find them. It sure beat doing the paperwork! And I got to see a peregrine falcon take flight from a tree while still on the trail up. They are a protected species though their prey is other smaller birdies so it's a sad story.
I also spotted a teeny tiny black snake with a yellow ring around his teeny tiny neck, venomous no doubt. ( all of 4" and thinner than a pencil) Also 2 woodland chipmunks and even a fly, for good measure, at the top of the cliffs. No, I did not see the black bears or moose as it was day time and they saw us first....and smelled us.

vitamin D and the armchair scientist guniea pig

I'm not sure what took so long but it's only been in the last year that we have been told that we all need way more vitamin D than the former daily amount we were told we needed. It not only helps with stronger bones but helps fight certain cancers as well.
My doc said he's testing the D levels of all his patients. When he checked my D it came back way too low and he put me on a prescription for D, a once a week capsule for 3 months. Apparently it did the trick as my D shot right up to normal. Only problem was my sensitivity to aspirin. The prescribed D has an aspirin product in it and it made me ache. I can take an over the counter vitamin D, 2000 units, now and it's safe for me. (I take it with calcium on the side) My teeth might have fared much better cavity wise had this info been available long ago! He suggested this amount even after my D normalized.

My sister also happened to be on the same vit.D therapy as me only a few weeks earlier. She found her aches disappearing as the D was helping to heal her. Others who've opted to give the vitamin a try without getting a test also found that aches and pains, from what they believed was arthritis, are also finding that it relieves these aches.
There is one other interesting quality that my sis has noticed, the vitamin has given her a sense of fullness after eating that she never had before. I never knew this "secret" though she was always a "big" girl, by nature. I learned that she never had a shut off feeling, like many of us feel when we've eaten too much. She walked, she tried diets, and then she finally accepted herself as being big. She ate privately and hates when anyone eats in front of her but she also has a busy life with teen boys and is going to school herself in the last few years. When my mom stayed at her house she noticed that my sis could eat huge amounts of food....enough for several people. My mom can eat so she wasn't being cruel but was seriously concerned. I hope not to offend anyone. I feel that those who binge have a legitimate ED which needs attention and the more natural the treatment the better.

So, will vitamin D cure that broken shut off or "I've had enough" feeling? I'm not sure. Maybe it will help. It certainly doesn't hurt that she now eats less because she can feel fullness! Now that we are speaking openly about it I can ask her how she's doing. She feels that it's had an amazing effect on her health. It may be something to do with any deficiency...not just D. I'm not sure.

I just wanted this info out here because others may be noting a similar experience. I'd like some feedback on this. Maybe we would have figured this out a long time ago if people talked the way we do on the internet today.

It may be a good idea to get your vitamin D levels checked on your next checkup or just add it to your list of nutrients you might/probably need more of.

RING THE BELLS

A wedding is being planned! My Bonnie Rose and Jake are getting hitched.....hand fasting and dancing and of course...of course,there will be music. And love!
We will plan for a beautiful day. That's the best thing to do.

I'd like it to be here, at the house where she was born, but it may be at a special place wherever the 2 of them would like.
The date isn't exact but it will be THEIR day no matter what they decide.
A dress will be made. There are many little things to be done in the coming year to prepare. This old house shall transform itself with the help of many hands.

More flowers will be planted than ever before. The fairies will decorate, no doubt.


Ring the bells! Ring the bells!

lions, tigers, and bears

Sometimes the journey is worth the find at the end of the path. I do believe the 3 miles it said it took to hike to this fall was more like 5! It's all perspective, I know, and if we had gone earlier in the day it might have been an easier hike. I'd do it again...or drive up, as we learned was possible when we trekked to the top of the falls.! This one is in Jamaica. Jamaica Vermont, that is.
The watch out for lions and tigers and BEARS, oh my, was worth the walk though. I really needed this day.

Spring chores and wild children

At last,it's time to wake up!

I've started scribbling my list of things I've got to get done. Again this year we are dealing with some deep diving to find the leak(s) in the pool liner. The guy in the pool store said it would need a whole new liner if there was more than 2 leaks! OH COME ON! My thinking is that unless they are all over the place I can make this last another 100yrs. At least. Is there anyone out there who's not trying to sell me something?
The pool is probably one of my most valued luxuries. It's my paradise. We paid more for it than any of our cars...though that doesn't mean we paid very much. It's the one place I can go and pretend I am anywhere and forget most problems. It's the one item my mom said never to buy, it would devalue our property she said. It's in it's 7th season and has been used well, mostly by me, who's secret ambition is to be a fish.

Another project is the garden. We always plan big but end up putting stuff in so many places it never shows. I've been digging a garden since I was a kid. My parents always encouraged digging and somehow the plants or seeds were always there for us. Maybe it was 10 x 12. Not exactly a field but enough to give us some sense of responsibility, some connection with our food. Bob, my husband grew up in a city and this is why he needs me, I am a farmer at heart. That and a pool liner fixer.
Unfortunately I didn't start the tomato seeds this year.I prefer them to anyone else's because they seem to grow best when I start them. They were my first science project here at home. I'd bring the cuttings in and then I played the role of the bee by using a Q tip to propagate the flowers and that's how one gets tomatoes indoors in the fall and winter in New England. I thought I was brilliant to discover this. I amuse easily. This was the earliest form of sex education, plant sex. I learned this from a woman who was born in 1900 and was a teacher. That's right, sex education in the sneakiest way they could tell us, but it went right over my tiny little mind! Of course now it's obvious.
There's also some asparagus roots that I must start. They're a perennial here so well worth the bother. They'll be popping up when the pool finally drops in 100 years.
A rose bush is another wish and I must find a good one.[or 2] Our field is literally filled with wild roses which smell like heaven in June, but I want one tame one which I can admire.
I love peonies too. Not only will they smell more powerful than a rose, they'll be pushing up every May long after the pool bites the dust. Those I spread everywhere, keeping the white one from the pink so it will stay white.
Potatoes: Those I am just going to dig a hole and put the sprouted ones from the kitchen drawer into. I'll hill them up as they grow. It's more for fun than to be a potato farmer. We do have a potato farm just down the street and they make it look like fun. It's a small family affair.
I've taken a clipping from the willow tree at the pond house. I really want a willow tree down by our end of the pond so let's hope it takes. I can already see it.

I think if someone doesn't inform you of what you can't grow you can grow anything! I recall Mrs. Popple, the now deceased greenhouse owner and friend whom I bought many plants from, telling me that delphiniums were very difficult to start. Well, not when you didn't know. Seeds, much like genes, they know exactly what to do if they are given the proper environment. They know exactly what they are supposed to be. Some seeds, like parsley, insist on being frozen and they will then germinate.Chocolate mint will stay chocolate mint as long as I don't grow it too close to regular peppermint. Wild herbs are the strongest and their vitamin content is superior which is why the Indians used them medicinally.
Perhaps we need more wild children. Kids who get their hands dirty and are allowed to discover the world from the tops of trees and by making pine cone soup and mud pie.
Which leads me to......
maybe kids who'll help me clean the top of the barn, if you're listening.: ) I KNOW you hear me, my wild ones. It's the biggest project on my list,the scariest one as well, but the one that will be most rewarding. It's time to reclaim the space and part out the junk, bit by bit.[we have a few months] It will make a wonderful studio and I always share.

This is just the beginning of my list. To see more would send me into shock and back into a false winter hibernation. When I see the upstairs in the barn it may send me into shock as well but I must be brave!