" If we pollute the air, the water and the soil that keeps us alive and well, and destroy the biodiversity that allows natural systems to function, no amount of money will save us." David Suzuki
Yesterday was my birthday. The day was sunny and warm. Truly beautiful and so unlike most November 8th birthdays I have experienced in my 50 something years. The weather is changing. I sent my children off in their hoodies and sneakers again this morning, odd for this time of year. I've been sending little ones to school for 20 some years now and they are always in winter coats and boots by now. But not this year. Things are changing. The weather is changing.
Beautiful weather for my birthday yesterday but should I be concerned?
Usually, this time of year as I'm putting our Halloween pumpkins down at our compost bin, we may have experienced our first light snow days and all my leaves have been raked. But not this year, leaves are still intact on many of the trees in our yard.
A few of our chickens checking out their new compost friends.
And as I prepare our front door, with newly pruned fir and pine branches, our cat Ryuuki sits happily on the front mat. The weather is still nice enough for him to enjoy outside. He usually starts his winter hibernation at the end of October! But not this year.
The one wish I didn't get for my birthday yesterday didn't materialize.
As my family and I gathered around the T.V. watching the election
results from the States, I became more and more perplexed. I understand
the majority of Americans want a drastic change with regards to their
government, but really, how can they put their faith in a man who
denounces global warming? Who has a senator in Florida, Marco Rubio, who
believes the same, even while his State is being flooded with
water?
I try to listen to their thoughts, their feelings their views.
I try to understand them better. I know they want good jobs and a decent standard of living
but really, if there is no air to breathe, clean water to drink, or
healthy food to eat, what kind of life will they have? What kind of life will any of us have? The earth and the
animals in it, are telling us NOW, to make changes.
I'm a bit depressed
this morning and yet, the day after my birthday, the day after the
election, there are seeds of empowerment.
As long as HOPE (Helping Our
Planet Earth) exist, miracles can happen.
Want to know what I wish for each year? I can't tell you or it won't come true but I think you can probably guess if you know have read any posts in my blog.
And the great part is I know,
I'm not alone. WE can make a difference and a change in the world. Each
of us has a choice to make. With awareness come wisdom. As Maya Angelou
said, "When you know better, you do better."
Oh, I know it isn't easy, we live in such a fast paced world right now. We are all racing around, working hard to earn money for our families. We don't have time to think about using our trips to town more wisely, or even if we really need to leave our homes at all. We don't have time thinking about where our food comes from, or the packaging it arrives in. We don't have time to be creative, making things from scratch or stretching what we do have, a bit farther. Heck, it even takes time to clean out our recycled cans, and bottles. Do we even have time to contemplate how we would like to walk the earth more gently. We are just too busy trying to live.
But most of us do know now that something has to shift. We can feel the frantic intensity around us. Sadly, many of us feel alone or that we are too small to make a difference.
What can we do? Please join me in viewing
the documentary called, "Before the Flood, " with Leonardo DiCaprio. If
you feel as I do, please share the link to this movie and watch it with
your family and friends. We need to start talking about it, and taking
steps to make changes.
We can do this.
WE are stronger together and I believe in miracles. Here's the link to the documentary, "Before the Flood," if you unable to see it below.
This week has illuminated many insights for me, but the most important of all, and if you are following Deepak and Oprah's meditation challenge on peace and connection you know where I'm coming from, it's our relationship with our inner spirit. When we heal from within, then we are able to connect more fully with others. We also will be moving with the knowledge that money, power, notoriety, are not what this journey is about.
Can you guess what it's REALLY about? What do you think? Well, my heart says it's about love. When we come from a place of love, then healing happens. When we come from a place of love, we can do anything. ANYTHING! And so, healing the earth, making connections, yes they are all possible if we keep love in our heart.
So if you are like me, and feeling a bit overwhelmed, maybe even depressed about what has just occurred in the United States in the last 24 hours, go within, breathe, connect with that inner child, tell her or him that it's going to be okay. The world will be okay. You are loved, you are worthy, and everything you are experiencing is perfect. Let your fears go and trust that the world is going to be okay too....with love, we can heal ourselves, each other AND the earth.
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful. Blessings from Hope
Even though October is one of our longer months, it flew by for me in a blur. With Thanksgiving celebrations, my husband David's birthday, getting ready for Halloween (my love affair with my sewing machine making a costume, see previous blog post) and subsequent parties, it's all over; except the lingering sugar high.
Our son Will as Pikachu and his friend Scream
Kathryn the butterfly, making a monster craft
Victoria, our garden fairy with her new, rockin cherry pink glasses!
After a week of cold and rainy weather, it was glorious to see blue skies again today. Of course it would be like this though. Yesterday, all the kids came home from school with wet and cold feet. So after ballet class, I took our 4 youngest on a hunt for winter boots of which they all needed. (have you ever shopped for winter boots for 4 kids in one hour?) I felt so happy driving home knowing they all had new felt lined snow boots, along with winter coats we had picked up a few weeks ago. They were all so thrilled to pull on their new boots and coats this morning before heading off to school on this grey, chilly morning, but as I write this, it's lunch time and the sun is beating in through my kitchen window. (See picture above!) I'm sure they are all wishing they had their hoodies and sneakers on right now. Oh well.....
Murphy's law!
Who's going to complain about gorgeous weather though? Not me. I know, even with global warming, our days will turn bitterly cold soon and snow will be flying and those coats and boots will be appreciated.
Before the kids come home from school today, I'm going out to plant the garlic my brother in law B and sister J gave me. It's such a simple herb to grow and one I use abundantly in all our meals. I cleared and added compost to several spots in my garden on the weekend and am excited to plant another crop of garlic. It's little things, like planting in my garden that make me happiest.
The downside of having free ranging chickens, is they love to dig and scratch in newly planted areas. I may have to lay some hardware cloth over my garlic to keep them out but oh, I love seeing how joy filled they are digging for bugs and worms. My chickens make me happy.
Here are Sadie, Cocoa, Clara and Annie, helping me in one of my garden areas on the weekend.
The other thing that came with November was a new meditation challenge.
Did you start Oprah and Deepak's 21 day meditation challenge with me on Monday? If not, here is the link and you can still join me in registering and hear the first 4 days of guided teachings.
I have LOVED this meditation topic. "Creating Peace from the Inside Out~the Power of Connection."
If you read my previous post, you know I believe we need peace in the world more than ever right now, with only 5 days left until the US election, heated debates, anger and fear is prevalent right now. In so many parts of the world there is unrest as well.
So I was really looking forward to starting a new meditation challenge.
From day one I was hooked when the centering thought was, "Ideal relationships are my intention every day."
Each interaction we have with each other has a HUGE, or as Donald Trump recently said, a BIGLY, effect on each of us.
How we listen, what we say in response, what we think, how we conduct ourselves, how we treat each other, ALL has an impact on the world.The vibrations either towards dissent or harmony ripple through the world. If we don't believe it, all you have to do is plug into the social media to feel the energy...negative and positive.
The greatest lesson I'm learning and we are only 4 days into the challenge, is that the most important relationship we have is with OURSELVES.
I always forget that.
When we learn to love and care for our true self, we are then able to extend that love, compassion and peace to others. This has taken me most of my lifetime to understand. I always thought putting others first was more important, but I understand now that when we neglect our true nature, we are unable to give fully to others BECAUSE we haven't anything to give. We are empty.
When we learn to ask ourselves, "what do I want?" "what fills me up?" "what brings me unshakeable peace?" and we give ourselves what we need, it is then, when we tune in and learn to become attentive to ourselves that we in turn, can extend that same consideration to others.
When we take time each day to connect and build our relationship from within, give our authentic self what it needs, then we have the ability to really listen to those around us, make eye contact, respond appropriately, care about others and create peace in the world. It's never been out there...no one else completes us or has the ability to make us happy or feel loved. We need to do it for ourselves.
Have you ever done a kindness to yourself and just felt buoyant? It makes us feel lighter and happier and when we are happier, then we are able to shine that light out into our other relationships and connections with others.
As a mom to 8 children, it's a struggle to maintain a balance of THEIR needs and mine. There of course is endless work; shopping, meals to prepare, house to clean, yard work, laundry, laundry and LAUNDRY!
I knew having a large family would be hard but years ago, I felt that I wanted to really LIVE FULLY on this earth and not take the path of least resistance. I wanted to go into the areas that scared me and pushed me the most. Deep down, I knew I needed to learn the art of letting go and trusting. As an A type person, it would have been really easy for David and I just to continue to be career people, (two income, have anything material you want kind of lifestyle) and maybe we could have stopped building our family once we had the two token replacement children too, but oh, babies and children brought me such joy. Thinking about having more children was scary and quitting my job to be a Stay at home mom, even SCARIER!
I knew in the process, I could very well lose myself and definitely, what I loved to do (yoga, reading books, playing tennis, skiing, gardening) would take a back seat. Now looking back, I'm glad I lost myself for awhile, as finding myself has been such a joy. If you haven't experience the depths of struggle, you never know the heights of joy. I now have this large group of people to connect with daily, my family. Little did I know, but our babies, and children would be my greatest teachers on this life's journey.
The soul knows....
I'm glad I didn't listen to my mother in law who said, "why would you want more than two children and why in HEAVES, are you quitting your job?" I'm glad I didn't listen to a friend, who when finding out I wanted more children after 40 said, "Your crazy, you need to get a life." If I had listened to them, I would have missed the most profound lessons of my life.
If you are a mom, you know what it entails to keep all the balls in the air daily and how easy it is to lose ourselves in the process. But at some point, we need to lay down those balls, take a deep breath and connect from within.
I'm thankful to Deepak and Oprah. They offer this 21 day mediation program for FREE and share wise, life changing lessons. Being inspired to take time, sit, breathe, contemplate my life, and connect from within is AMAZING!
Why don't more of us do it?
IT'S SO SIMPLE.
Why do they not teach this in school? If we learned early, how to tune in and attend to our authentic self, our life path would be clearer and the world would be a better place. But it starts here. With each of us. And as a mom, I know this week has gone better with me Ommming on my yoga mat.
Blissful!
While I could easily dig deep into my to do list and believe me it's LONG, instead this week, I've taken more time to say yes to me and no to other things. I said no to a Parent Adviser Meeting on Tuesday night and Yes to a meeting with me going to bed early one night with a good book. WOW!
Simple pleasures.
Also, even though our children came home from Trick or Treating with FULL bags of candy, we chose to say No to consuming any sugar during the school week. This, after a crazy, nutsy, bath time and evening on Tuesday, November 1st. They had had 3 pieces of candy after dinner on Tuesday and that was a mistake!!! Hence our new parenting shift, to save it for the weekend, when they can have a few pieces as a treat during family movie night.
I was really happy with that change in our parenting choice and so far, the kids are really okay with it. I think they were happy when we set limits because they consumed enough to know it doesn't feel good to have a sugar flip out.
It will create simple pleasures for them as it will be a special when they do have a piece of candy and it also teaches them to to care for themselves first....being conscious about what they are putting in their body
Well, that is an update on what has been going on around here. Taking care of our inner selves, segue ways beautifully into the other reason for my blog post today.
And that is sharing something I love and made recently in my kitchen.
Pumpkin spiced lattes.
Yes, those lovely, spicy, nothing says fall better, drinks that only coffee shops makes deliciously.
I'm not a coffee drinker but a few years ago, when David and I were out shopping, I think on an early Christmas foray, all by ourselves (which hardly EVER happens!), we took a moment to recharge and treat ourselves. I chose a Starbuck's pumpkin spiced latte. Oh the rich, spicy flavour was delectable. The little kick of caffeine wasn't a bad thing either. Maybe because I'm not one to entertain such a luxury on a regular basis made it taste even better, but since then, what says, "Welcome November" to me now is a Pumpkin Spiced latte.
As soon as the leaves start to fall,.....
I crave it!
What do I do when I really love something but don't want to pay someone for it" Well, learn to make it at home of course. It's a no brainer and part of what this blog is all about. Learning to make things at home, being more self sufficient. Why should I waste fossil fuel traveling down to one of the many Starbucks in our little town (Yes I think we have 4 or so and I live in a small town)
Anyway, making it from scratch is so rewarding.
I love knowing it's as good, if not better than what I could get from outside the home too.
I enjoy these simple pleasures in life and know they are something I can treat myself to, without it having a huge impact on our family's pocket book. After all, I have made a choice to have a large family, to stay home to care for our children and things like new boots, coats, gloves, hats for our little ones are needed. My obsession with pumpkin spiced lattes are not in that same need category.
But hey, I figured out how to have it all.
That's the cool thing about having more time as well, you can be creative.
Also, when you make it at home you can share your love of something with those you love. It's a win/win right?
So getting back to the theme of my post, I was able to listen from within and ask myself, "what makes me happy?" "What do I want?"
And the answer was treating myself to simple pleasures, AND sharing that joy with my family.
Hey, and guess what? You don't need a fancy espresso machine.
Nope!
Just a regular coffee maker that has an option to make a strong brew.
If one of the things you love in life is Pumpkin Spiced lattes too, then you have come to the right blog post today, as I 'm going to take you step by step through the process. Welcome to my kitchen, let's start by making a strong cup of coffee. We used Ethical bean, "Lush" from Costco.
While the coffee is brewing make up some pumpkin spice mix, unless you are able to find it already mixed for you in a local shop. We do not have Trader Joe's in my part of the world. If I did, I think I would ask for a can of it for my birthday.
Here's the recipe for Pumpkin spice mix
In a small bowl add the
following ingredients:
3 tbsp ground cinnamon 2 tsp ground nutmeg 2 tsp of ground ginger 1 1/2 tsp ground cloves 1/2 tsp all spice
Mix well and using a funnel, pour into a spice jar/label "pumpkin spice mix"
Is your kitchen smelling of coffee and spicy goodness?
Great...we are almost there.
Let's make our lattes.
Pumpkin Spice Latte~ recipe for 2 but double the recipe if you have big mugs or want seconds, yum!
2 cups milk (dairy or non-dairy)
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 to 3 tablespoons sugar, depending on how sweet you like it
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, plus more for serving
1/2 cup strong hot coffee
Whipped cream, for serving Sprinkle of cinnamon for topping
Directions
Add
milk, pumpkin puree, and sugar to a saucepan over medium heat.
Heat
until hot, but do not boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk
in the vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and the coffee.
Divide the mixture between two mugs. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice or just cinnamon.
Note: if you enjoy your coffee black (without sugar or cream), then you don't need much sugar but since I don't drink coffee at all, I used 3 tbsp for my recipe. Also, I have used it with Almond milk (vanilla) and it was great.
The older I get the more I realize I just need the simple things in life; a comfy home, good food on the table, (pumpkin spice lattes) and to be surrounded by the people I love.
It was nice sharing my passion with my oldest children, Clark and Alyssa
Our cat Ryuuki came up from his morning nap to say, "hey, where's my cup?"
The school week ends tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to a weekend making lattes, raking more leaves, and guess what we started? David started working on our latest project...AT LAST.....a room over the garage for our 17 year old son, Harrison. I thought I would add a few pictures now and as we move along the process, I will share more. Maybe it will inspire you to look at your space in a new light.
Often, when we need more space in our homes, we will move to a bigger house but since we love our location, what we have chosen to do, is look at the space we have with new eyes and see if we can create more space or use what we have more efficiently. Here's a few snaps of the first steps in this process. Using vertical space solves a lot of space issues.
Here are the stairs David built going up to the attic space over our garage. You can also see the new skylight in the roof which we had installed when we had our new roof put on in the summer
Here's the attic space that we are working with. It will make a great room for our teenager. Stay tuned
Well, that's a wrap. I hope you take a moment and go inward and ask yourself, "What do I want"" and you figure out how to create that for yourself. I think for most of us, it's the simple things in life that makes us the happiest.
