All the Difference...

The Road Not Taken

"Crossroads"
Photo Credit: Martin Liebermann

(C) by www.martin-liebermann.de

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

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Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

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And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

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Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way, 

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

~Mr. Robert Frost

Going Green

A couple of months ago I picked up this wonderful book by one of my favorite life coaches

Martha Beck

Find it @

From Amazon.com

I also really recommend her book:

Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic

From Amazon.com:

John and Martha Beck had two Harvard degrees apiece when they conceived their second child. Further graduate studies, budding careers, and a growing family meant major stress--not that they'd have admitted it to anyone (or themselves). As the pregnancy progressed, Martha battled constant nausea and dehydration. And when she learned her unborn son had Down syndrome, she battled nearly everyone over her decision to continue the pregnancy. She still cannot explain many of the things that happened to her while she was expecting Adam, but by the time he was born, Martha, as she puts it, "had to unlearn virtually everything Harvard taught [her] about what is precious and what is garbage."


But, I digress, LOL. 

What I really wanted to talk about is going green...

as in green smoothies. 

I know for a fact that even though I gave it a good try most days, I was never very good at getting all my servings of fruits and healthy, leafy green veggies. I was lucky if I got down one or two servings of each. 

And, I know that the idea of green smoothies is not particularly new, per se. For some reason though, while reading Finding Your Way it just really jumped out at me and I knew it was something I needed to look into.

I started out following Martha's recipe for a Gorilla Smoothie here:

2 cups fruit juice

1 cup ice

handful of raw baby spinach leaves

1 tangerine

handful of mixed field greens

4 strawberries

handful of lettuce

1/3 of a banana

handful of wheat grass

1/2 cup blueberries

3 baby carrots

Throw all of this into a blender and enjoy!

Now I go wild according to whatever greens and fruits I can find each week.

  

And I add one thing she doesn't mention:  A really good dollup of vanilla yogurt.  This, to me, gives the smoothies a really great taste. 

 I try to mix things up as much as I can.  I have some of my own greens growing in the garden, Sorrel and Arugula, and I add those in every couple days, too.  If you do some research you can see that there are a whole bunch of different types of greens to partake of:

Swiss Chard

Kale

Bok Choy

Dandelion Greens

Carrot Tops

Sunflower Sprouts

Cabbage

Purslane

Turnip Greens

Radish Greens

Beet Greens

Basil Leaves

Mint Leaves

and the list just goes on!

I've been enjoying the smoothies for breakfast each morning and it feels really good to know I am getting so many wonderful vitamins and minerals that I used to only be able to get from my daily multivitamin.  


I like this way much better!

  

Taking the Sweet with the Sour

I love the taste of sweet and sour...actually, I really like the sour better--the more puckery the better, I say!  

But, when we're talking about the little details of life I would have to say I definitely enjoy the sweet much, much better, LOL.  

They say, though, that if we didn't have the sour we wouldn't be able to really enjoy the sweet.  I say...I'd like to give it a try sometime... ;-)

The Sour

....The transmission in my son-in-law's Explorer breathed it's last

...First quarter sales tax for the glass company was due on Monday 

and we can't cover it right now

...This pesky depression I've been muddling through is hanging on a lot longer than I'd like 

(I'm done with you already...go away!)

...My grown step-son and I haven't been seeing eye to eye for a couple months now

(Could have something to do with that demon-spawn he's dating right now--just sayin')

The Sweet

...My 11 year old son still comes and finds me for a goodnight hug and "I Love You" before bed each night

...I am learning and growing more and more each and every day

...The weather has been so nice this week...deliciously warm but not too warm

...I was reminded about a dream of mine from a while ago that I had put away on a shelf...to start studying herbalism and to become an herbalist someday in the future

...I have discovered that by eating only lean meats, vegetables and fruits the pounds are starting to drop again....YIPPEE!!!

Just Keeping It Real with

Monica of Ink & Chai

of Wild Weeds...and Finding My Roots

I received this beautiful birthday card from my stepmother when I was 21 years old--over 20 years ago--and the gorgeous image on the front completely mesmerized me.  The image so resonated with me that I framed the card and have kept it close to me ever since.


The back of the card says that the title of the piece is Picking Honeysuckle by Sophie Anderson and is courtesy of Fine Art Photographic Library Ltd., London.  I wanted to be sure and give credit where it is due.


Now, back when I was 21 years old, I really had no thoughts about plants or herbs or even gardening for that matter.  I couldn't even be trusted to keep a houseplant alive.  I was convinced that the gene responsible for my great grandmother's legendary green thumb had been left out of my DNA completely.  And, I had just had my first child, my daughter, and all of my focus and energy was devoted to just trying to keep her alive.  So why did I connect with this image so strongly at that time?  I honestly don't know.


What I do know is that about 5 years ago I had the desire to grow a vegetable garden.  I couldn't shake it, either, no matter how hard I tried.  I told myself that if I couldn't even keep a houseplant alive (if they started to get yellow leaves that meant to water more, right?) how in the wide world was I going to keep a whole garden of plants alive--and outside to boot?  I even tried to get my hubs to do it.  He actually does have some plant growing abilities but he turned me down flat.  He just didn't have the time, he said.  


So, I tried to forget about it.  I told myself I didn't have time either, what with work and the kids.  But, something had a hold of me and wasn't going to let go.  So, I started to look for books and information online and I began to learn about such things as gardening organically and sustainably and growing heirloom variety vegetables handed down through the generations.  And, about herbs and their almost magickal healing properties.    I began my first forays into the amazing world of green growing things.  And I knew that what I wanted to do was become an herbalist and to study alternative ways of healing.  It was something that I knew down deep inside.  


And, then, well, life got in the way I guess.  I did continue to garden and progressed into growing seedlings of vegetables and ornamentals and was delighted when my little seedlings responded to my care and not only didn't die but thrived instead.

But...I went no further in my desire to study herbalism.  There never seemed to be enough money and the needs of my kids always came first so I put all of those dreams up on a shelf somewhere and forgot about them.  That is, until I stumbled upon  Antoinette's amazing blog, The Herbit and decided to watch a movie she suggested called Juliette of the Herbs about the truly inspirational life of the herbalist Juliette de Bairacli Levy.  If you are so inclined, I very very highly recommend it.  

And, now I have that feeling in my solar plexus once again.  That feeling that just won't go away.  And, I am glad.  It's time.

Thank you so very much, Antoinette, for your very cool blog and for sharing this movie.

Floating Down the River

Cooling off on a Saturday Afternoon

The Mountains Sing to Me

My hubs and I originally come from the Ojai, CA area (although we didn't even meet until we had both moved up to the Central Coast area and went to work for the same company--weird, huh?) and I miss it so much.  

There is an energy in those mountains that I have always felt so in tune with.  I was heartbroken when my parents decided to move away when I was in the 6th grade.  Those mountains, canyons and streams sing a lullaby to my soul and when we moved away I could feel it as a deep physical loss--I still do.  

My great-grandparents used to own a large piece of land at the summit in the mountains of upper Ojai and I got away for a little bit by myself to take a drive up there.  It was very difficult for me to see someone else living there now and the changes they had made.  I sat there for a long while remembering the stories my great grandmother used to tell us about this magickal land.  Stories about Old Mr. Bear and fairies and other wee folk that I still believe my grandma could really see.  She was such a neat lady.  So classy and gentle.  I know for a fact that she could talk with the animals that frequented her gardens. My mother once watched a robin that she called simply "friend" come and land on the toe of her boot and sit there and listen to her as she spoke softly to him.  

She held onto the land and took care of her twin babies (a boy and a girl) all on her own when my grandfather up and decided he was going to go off to war and enlisted without even talking to her about it.  She took in laundry to wash and mend and iron for neighbors and also sold and bartered vegetables and jams and jellies that she made from her own garden.  My grandfather never seemed to have much money to send back home to her and by the time the war was over and he had decided he was ready to come home, she wasn't sure she wanted him to anymore.  She knew she could make it on her own and I am sure she was still pretty pissed off at him.  It was my grandmother, her daughter, that begged her to let him come home and she finally relented.  I'm not real sure I would have done the same, but who can say.  I loved my grandfather, I really did, but damn!

The pictures below are not of the Summit area.  I felt a little conspicuous already hanging out around some people's homes that I don't even know so I never even took my camera out of my bag.  I never even thought about it.  I was too caught up in childhood memories.  It was very bittersweet. 

The pictures below are taken on our drive home.  We took a little detour into the Santa Ynez mountains into the Red Rock area for a little sight seeing.  I love these mountains as well.  There is just something about these areas that speak so deeply to me.  

I can only hope one day that I can find a home in a place that makes me feel the way these mountains do.  Man, I so miss it.

A Deep Friendship

She'd follow him anywhere...