Greens from the Garden & Ayurveda

A couple of days ago, I had to use some collard greens from the garden, plus our arugula, which is starting to flower. 

So I cooked the collard greens with some onions and added balsamic vinegar, made a salad from the arugula and then added some carrots from a recipe from The Ayurvedic Cookbook by Amadea Morningstar. I bought this cookbook about 20 years ago (she also has a cookbook that is geared toward the western taste and less Indian, but I love the other one best).

Over the years, it has probably been my most used cookbook. I got it right after seeing my first Ayurvedic practitioner and learning about Ayurveda. After I found out about my body type (click here to read more about all that),  I read many books back then and learned much about it. Now I don't follow it religiously at all, but I know exactly what to do when I feel out of balance.

For me, it's the most useful system of keeping my body and my emotions balanced. Have any of you had any experiences with Ayurveda?

On another note, thank you for all your great comments on my last blog post. I am really enjoying figuring out the ups and downs and ins and outs of living a creative life and your help is greatly appreciated!!

And...it seems that the bluebird couple is finally making the birdhouse their own. Although we have yet to see them move in any "furniture". I'll keep you posted.

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday!!

P.S. For those of you who went to check out the Ayurveda site, took the test and told us in the comments about your body types, I am mostly Pitta and Vata with very little Kapha, which I am always trying to increase... Right now, during the winter/spring my Vata tends to be too high and in the summer it's my Pitta - never a dull moment...

Ten minutes on the stoop

Well, we decided to put off our Charleston trip because we just have too much going on here at home... Some day we'll get there again. 

So, this morning I took the camera and sat on the front steps for 10 minutes and just snapped photos of what caught my eye, starting with very happy and toasty feet in my felted slippers. 

While I sat there, I was thinking about how my creativity seems to go in waves (which is not a new observation - I think I've even blogged about it). I seem to be very focused for a while and then I get inspired and want to go into more and different directions.

I start doing that and then there's the fine line between being totally inspired and completely overwhelmed. When I get to the overwhelmed part, it's not long before I start to focus again on one or two things. Expansion and contraction - again and again. I find it somewhat frustrating as I am always yearning for continuity.

But then I got this image of us breathing - we breathe in and everything expands, and then we breathe out and everything contracts. It's all part of the same breath, isn't it?

I just need to change my point of view, my focus. Sometimes I want to focus on all the possibilities and then again I want to look at just one thing in more detail.

Maybe if you don't focus with a wide angle, you miss out on what's possible and what might be your next creative endeavor.

And at the same time, if you forget the close-up view, you'll miss the magic that is in the details.

I also find it interesting that when I am in one of these phases of being overwhelmed by all the possibilities, a new area of focus appears.

Maybe those times of expansion and seeming chaos are necessary for moving forward. Even though I sort of pull back again, my focus always has changed slightly and it propels me forward and often into new directions.

I remember when I started painting - that happened after about a year of not knowing what I was doing or what my new purpose was (I had just left a career and we had moved to a different part of the country). Over that year and the next, I sort of learned to lean into that feeling and that's when a new direction emerged and my life became better than it had ever been.

Back to my 10 minutes on the front porch - do you notice something with the birdhouse? It seems that the final lease has not been signed yet. Will it be the bluebirds or the chickadees?

And last but not least, I started knitting the border on my soft lacy scarf and made it into a ruffle - I somehow needed it to have a more feminine look. It came out very nicely and can now be found in my Etsy shop.

That's about all the news from here for today. Now I am going to my studio/office to spend some time with our tax returns. Oh, the fun of it...

I hope you are all having a beautiful weekend! 

An afternoon in Savannah...

After a morning of cleaning and clearing out and a trip to Goodwill with a whole trunk of donations, Daniel convinced me to take the afternoon off and go to Savannah with him and Winslow.

You know you live in a beautiful place when you grab your camera to go on a simple walk and come home with 60 photos, of which I am only showing you the most beautiful.

The weather was beautiful and the flowers stunning. We walked by the Juliette Gordon Low house, the first headquarters of the Girl Scouts in America.

It is a gorgeous house,

but for some reason the lions look pitiful. Don't you think so? I wanted to pet their head and wipe away the tears...

The garden was beautiful and I got some nice photos.

Then we made our way to our favorite cafe in town, Gallery Espresso, sat outside, drank a coffee and looked into the giant live oaks. While sitting there, we noticed this parade of costumed people walking by. At first I thought there was a parade somewhere and then we realized it was the cast of some movie being filmed around there.

A very pretty young woman in a beautiful dress walked by at some point and really liked Winslow. We chatted for a bit and she left. Later she came back and asked if she could give Winslow a treat (some brisket from their buffet). Winslow LOVED her!!

When we got back home, I googled which movie was being filmed and it's a film called "Savannah." (You can click here for more info. Apparently it's about a true story.) And the pretty lady who was spoiling Winslow was Jamie Alexander, a talented young actress. Actually, I've seen her in a few TV shows, but do you think I would have recognized her? I've met a few quite famous people in my life, but I never (never!!) recognize them at the time. I am always thinking: "Oh, that person looks just like ____."

As we walked on, we saw streets being cleared of dirt,

old wagons,

carriages, and some of the film crew.

After all that excitement, we went in search of secret gardens,

beautiful houses,

and many more flowering trees,

I leave you with these two gates.

Aren't they fun?

Today, we are in Charleston and you know I am going to have lots of pictures to share with you when we get back...

Wishing you a Happy Friday!!

P.S. Since I wrote this last night, we decided to go to Charleston tomorrow (Saturday). It's supposed to rain today, but tomorrow it'll be sunny again. It's so much more fun to sightsee in the sunshine...

Bluebirds and more...

Well, the light wasn't great this morning for taking pictures of our new bluebird tenants, but I wanted to share them with you anyway. I'll try to get some that are better, but in the meantime if you click on the photos, you can actually see them bigger and better. 

So, here's what's going on with me at the moment. After a few weeks of humming along and doing my thing, life is suddenly accelerating as it happens every so often.

This morning, I woke up with a sudden urge for spring cleaning, decluttering, reorganizing and general "getting rid of things." So, that's what I've been doing. Amazing what a mess that makes before actually looking better...

Then I am working on our tax return and want to get that finished by this weekend. Tomorrow, Daniel is taking me to Charleston for the day and I am sure I'll have plenty of photos to share with you! Then, starting next Wednesday, we'll have family visiting for a week, which we are totally looking forward to.

After that, mid March, friends are visiting and we are going to go canoeing with them in search of alligators in Okefenokee Swamp. You can read all about our last trip there by clicking here. My hands get shaky just thinking about it, but in a weird way I am also looking forward to it...

While all of that is happening, I am knitting and crocheting wildly to finish some things for my store. I am planning to update the stores soon and am trying to figure out where I want to go with all of that.

Sooooo....blogging might be a little sporadic over the next few weeks, but I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and at least share those with you! And, as time permits, I hope to visit all of your blogs to keep up with what's going on with you!

For now I wish you a happy Thursday!!

Wordless Wednesday - Happy, Happy!

Ready,

 set,

FROG!

The first blossoms are bursting to open, but I think we'll still have to wait a day or two. And with the warmer and balmier weather, the frogs are out and about again. I have missed them..

To those of you new to my blog, I have to give you fair warning. Now starts the time I will probably overwhelm you with photos from our garden and our walks in the neighborhood. Spring inspires and delights me! Thank you in advance for indulging me...

And thank you so much for all the good advice on my scarf. Even though almost everyone had a different opinion (I knew that would happen), it still gave me an idea of what I'll do. Because I knit this on the diagonal, the short edges never look that nice to me. So, I'll knit a little border with the soft mohair yarn and then - if I have more yarn leftover - I'll list it without a fringe, but with the option of me adding one if so desired. Thank you, Doris (Crocheting in Georgia) for that great idea!! I'll be sure to show it to you again when it's finished.

You all are the best!!