Lifestyle Changes

Instead of Resolutions, I made Lifestyle Change decisions this year.  I have toyed with this path before and have succeeded with some to the point that I don’t even remember what they entailed because they have now become so ingrained in me.  I am pretty sure, though, that some of them had to do with living less expensively, allowing myself to be more creative, counting all my blessings, and trying not to stress over the little things. 

Because I am approaching the ripe old age of 65 this year and am in fairly good health as always (just slowing down a bit!), I want to make sure that I stay healthy.  My plan includes eating more consciously, getting enough rest and sleep, keeping my mind active, finding an exercise routine that really works for me, and growing even more of my own food.  None of these should be difficult to achieve (well, except maybe the exercise!), and some will be easier than others.  What is really at stake here is making them part of my lifestyle from now on, so much so that I no longer have to think about any of them.

By saying I want to eat more consciously, I mean that I want to slow down and really enjoy what I eat.   I want to taste all the flavors and experience the textures and aromas.  I plan on chewing my food longer and taking more time to eat even when I am on the go.  I will eat many more fresh vegetables, fruit, and experiment with cooking tofu and whole grains and eggs.  

Beautiful brown yard eggs

I have already begun eating much less beef, pork and even chicken as they have become less affordable, as well as much less processed food which contains way too much sodium and some very questionable and unpronounceable ingredients.  What I need and want to be able to do by the time I retire in the summer of 2016 is to live as much off of my own gardens and land as possible and yet not feel like I am doing without. 

Also, I have already begun growing more of my own food, including my first ever winter garden.  I started out growing things I was already familiar with growing and eating:  tomatoes, peppers, okra, eggplant, squash, basil, oregano and rosemary.  That was last summer.  This past fall, as I have mentioned before, I added a third bed, and planted some cold weather crops:  mustard greens, Swiss chard, beets, turnips, spinach, garlic, fava beans, and kohlrabi.  I have never grown any of these, and have never even eaten fava beans, Swiss chard, or kohlrabi.  

Lovely and very edible, kohlrabi leaves

First turnip harvest!

Several weeks ago I received my spring seed catalog and immediately began making notes as to what I will add this year.  I already know that more beds will need to be created even if I don’t plant everything I want to try this year. 

My beautiful and exciting seed catalog!  Order yours at
http://www.southernexposure.com

Keeping my mind active and getting enough sleep are going to be the easiest to work on, of course. Reading, spinning, knitting, sewing, writing, playing word and number games, and doing jigsaw puzzles are already in the list of activities I love to do regularly.  And, already I have begun to listen to my body and take a break or even a nap when it tells me I am running out of energy and need to be refreshed.  But going to bed a bit earlier would help, too. Falling asleep quickly is also something I would love to figure out this year.  Sometimes it will take me an hour or more to be asleep once I slide under the covers.  My mind begins to race as soon as my head hits the pillow.  Do you know how maddening this is?!  Maybe some nightly meditation is in order, with a lavender candle for ambiance.  Or a relaxing bath right before bed instead of the usual quick shower in the morning before work.

Now.... I absolutely hate the word "exercise".... as much as the word "diet."  Is it because I tend to be somewhat of a free spirit and these two words seem to go against all I embrace?!  These two words seem to reek with structure and discipline, and one is associated with a definite amount of sweat....another word that I do not care for much in the literal sense.  However I do admit that I very much need to be more "active" now and into the future, and that word I can more easily co-exist with than that other one.  So I will strive to be much more active this year so that my poor knees will be more flexible and to lessen the burden I have gradually placed on them over the past decade or two. I prefer not to have to go through any kind of joint replacement!  Gardening will a be a great way to add more activity to my schedule.  Two birds with one stone....Yes!  I like it!  And maybe I will finally take up yoga....

So all of these things are very doable.  They are not so specific that I will feel guilty for not achieving them, and, in fact, they are generic enough that I can easily praise myself for even the smallest headway I make along the weeks and months ahead!  I need more praise in my life, and much less guilt.  How about you?!

There are more life changes I intend to make in the years to come, but for now this is plenty to keep me busy.

If we go slowly and steadily, and go where our hearts' desire, we find ways to get back to the places we love and do the things we love. Slowly and steadily, magic happens. ~ Martha Beck 

Slow and steady is the way to go at HeartSong Farm!

Let's Hear It For A New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

I HOPE YOU HAVE AS MUCH FUN IN 2014 AS A KITTEN WITH A ROLL OF TOILET PAPER!

I am ready for a new start and I am always glad that every twelve months we get a fresh slate to try to make a better go of it.  Some years are definitely better than others, but New Year's Day tends to give us all a bit of hope and I am reminded of a favorite Merle Haggard tune from the 60's, "If We Make It Through December," with its poignant grip on such optimism. 

There were many blessings in the past year for me, including but not limited to and in no particular order (isn't that the proper disclaimer?!):

• Having a job that pays the bills in a companionable workplace.
• Periodic bonus checks from that same job.
• My continued good health.
• My son Ben's continued employment, and his consistent paying of his bills without complaint.
• Ben's growth in his sense of responsibility and dependability.
• My being able to replace my truck with the car I had wanted for three years.
• Attending Wildflower Fiber Retreat once again, as well as Knit Camp.
• A good harvest and learning experience from my summer vegetable garden.
• Being gifted in July with two wonderful cats, Godfrey and Axl.
• Renewing old friendships and making some new ones.
• Making old friendships stronger.
• Taking a cross country train trip to visit my son, Matt, for his graduation.
• Matt's finding a job in his field soon after graduation.
• Getting to know Matt's girlfriend, Melissa, better.
• My successful transition into crone status awareness.
• My being able to be in the presence of my ex-husband for the first time in 15 years and not feel those feelings I was afraid I might feel.  Whoo Hoo!

In previous years on the first day of a new year, I would take out my new and specially selected calendar and joyfully fill it in with birthdays, paydays, appointments and special notations, while enjoying several cups of my usual hot, strong, black morning coffee.  My favorite is Community Dark Roast right now, but I also enjoy their Cafe Special and Coffee & Chicory blends.  With the Coffee & Chicory, I prefer to add some foaming hot milk to each cup, making it into a delicious, comforting cafe au lait.  Spending part of my life in New Orleans taught me the goodness of such a treat.  Sometimes, but rarely, I will add some sugar and a touch of cinnamon.  

But I digress....  

So, after filling in my new calendar, I would then write down three or four New Year's Resolutions that I would honestly intend to accomplish at the time. Then it was on to preparing the day's well-planned menu while listening to the Rose Bowl Parade on TV.  A menu which, of course, would always include some form of black-eyed peas (for luck), eggs (for new beginnings) and cabbage (for money), a lemon pie, and which would be eaten in front of the TV watching my favorite sport, football.

As a matter of fact, it was because of a football game on New Year's Day in 1963 that my Daddy finally decided it was time to buy the family our first television.  That game was the Sugar Bowl down in New Orleans with the Ol' Miss Rebels playing the Arkansas Razor Backs. The Rebels won the game that year, which pleased Daddy, and the rest of us were pleased because we finally owned a television!

But this year I broke with some of those traditions, mainly the calendar (which in the last couple of years has been misplaced or forgotten) and the resolutions ( which, as is common for most of us, will have fallen by the wayside long before the first day of that year's June) and the menu that requires too much time for me in the kitchen.  This year we were going to have easy!  

So, I dumped some canned black-eyed peas, chopped green onions and celery, parsley, what was left in the bottle of balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, and a couple of "bloops" of bottled lime juice in a medium sized bowl, stirred it up and put it in the refrigerator to chill.  I boiled eggs last night and made deviled eggs.  I found some rolls in the freezer left over from Thanksgiving.  And I sauteed bagged coleslaw with some onion, garlic, caraway seeds, salt and pepper in olive oil.  Ben offered some of his Christmas chocolate covered cherries for dessert (he got 3 boxes!).  Along with store-made guacamole and chips on the kitchen counter, we can snack and munch and eat whenever we want....on paper plates.  

Around noon I grabbed a Guinness from the fridge and plopped down in front of my computer, with football on TV in the background, to write this blog post, which is exactly how I had envisioned my New Year starting off.  I am really liking this!

Instead of resolutions, this year I have decided to make "life changes."  I will keep these changes in the forefront of my heart and mind until they become a part of Me, rather than writing anything down on paper to be misplaced or tossed aside.  

As for the calendar, my Kindle Fire has an app for my notes and appointments when I am on the go, and my new computer with Window's 8 has a very workable calendar that shows up on my desktop right under the weather report and my email inbox.  I am really thinking that Simple is Better.

There is a great and exciting year ahead at HeartSong Farm!