Simple and rich, the Velveteen Rabbit, hot Chocolate- Denise Style

 a dear friend introduced me to...  Thank you Nancy

The Velveteen Rabbit

You Become.  It takes a long time.

That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily or have sharp edges or need to be carefully kept.

Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been rubbed off and your eyes drop out and your get loose in your joints and very shabby.

But these things don’t matter at all. Because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly except to people who don’t understand.

                                                              By Margery Williams

 It's Sunday morning, I'm eating a can of sardines, a few radishes and drinking a cup of Denise style, hot chocolate.  Our home is quiet, except for the birds singing and sunshine streaming.

Life is not a rush, we are gifted with this moment.  A creative act of discovery.   To be happy with sardines, Sunday mornings, a place to be and do whatever your heart guides is blissful.

Filling a day with tomorrow or yesterday is where the real clutter comes from.  Our present is life moment by moment.

It takes grit and courage to let go of what we expect of ourselves and become who we are.  Take a day, a moment and wonder.  Sit by the sea. Write. Be Wild of Spirit by doing nothing or something.  Listen to your soul.

How you are is perfect.  Your flaws are what makes you unique. You are perfect, who you are, right now: beautiful, cracked, imperfectly genuine, Real. 

So what if you have boxes of clutter, weeds that need pulled and tubs of papers to be filed.  Take time to play in your boxes...and also take time to honor you and your creative wishes.

   As you age, you become richer in soul.  What the world thinks isn't as important as what you know.   And sometime what we know isn't accurate either.  If what you think of yourself isn't kind or loving then pretend you are speaking to a dear friend. A kindred spirit you treasure...all of her quirks and buckets of imperfections. Speak to yourself that way.  You are a gift...

Clutter, your home, your life...isn't who you are.  You are spectacular.  Creating a space where you are nourished, free and loved...is an act of love not a requirement to be a beautiful soul. 

   happy travels my friend,

                 Denise

Hot chocolate:  Denise Style

There is something soul nourishing in a cup of hot chocolate.  Maybe is was learned to connect hot chocolate with nourished and love.  My Dad always loved hot chocolate.  Sunday's are better when I make myself a cup.  However, processed cocoa mixes and sugar are not nourishing to my body...so I recreated an old friend to nourish both body and soul.

Hot water

Collagen powder(grass fed) ... some days I use vegan protein powder, or paleo protein powder...

Cocoa...plain

Coconut cream or plant based milk, or cream.  today I used a hazelnut, vegan creamer.

Powder organic super red (dried blend of berries, beets, carrots, fruits, veggies etc)  Sometimes I use extracts like orange or lemon or peppermint

If I need more sweet I add 100% pure monk fruit or stevia.  Today life seemed sweet enough.

Part of what I love about my hot chocolate  is the memories of my dad and Sunday mornings doing life simply and easy.  I lost my dad this spring.  He lives with me in Hot Chocolate and being easy with Sundays.  

Rebooting our Immune System

Good morning, It's early Sat morning as I writing you.  How are you doing this morning?  We are in some strange and stressful times.  How are you managing all this?  I've found I have days of feeling super confident and powerful which will be followed by a day of wondering and low energy.  I know this is normal, it is stress showing up.  We all have stress.  The stress level of our entire world has exponentially increased.

Yesterday I was reading one of my favorite books.  Born to Run- if you follow me, you know I'm a huge fan of journeys. exploration, nature, human nature and running... this book has it all in spades.  It's about modern day ultra athletes and an ancient running people the Tarahumara.  On page 37 they are talking about a group of Tarahumara who started living the modern life...with it came foods they had "rarely eaten - soda, chocolate, rice, sugar, butter, flower.  They developed a taste for starch and treats.....that was twenty years ago. "Now, there are no runners in Yerbabuena."  What I know for sure...Food is Medicine.  Food can also be a thief.  Poor food choices steal our health.

This passage struck a cord with me.  I've been giving myself more than normal treats, comfort foods, baked goods, chocolate, butter... rich foods.  My body doesn't work as well on these foods. My brain gets foggy.  My immune system isn't as powerful.  I know eating has a tremendous impact of my own vitality.  I've known this for years.  Just because we know something doesn't mean we always are perfect- hardly. 

 Nutrition and stress are directly linked.  Up your nutrition...your stress decreases...lower your nutrition...your stress will increase.

I run a pretty clean personal health ship because I like to feel good.  When I'm stressed, I up my self care...which includes nourishing foods. foods that reduce my own stress.  Lately I'm feeling signs of high stress... I'm more emotional, fuzzy brained, up's and downs in my energy, lowered decision making... that's my body, mind and spirit talking to me.  I'm listening...

I invite you to join me.  For the next two weeks, I'll be upping self care and lowering things I know drop my vitality, focus and immunity.  Two weeks isn't very long. It's doable.  I know from experience rebooting my vitality is priceless.- it is essential.  

Waking up- the practice of 17 things

Familiarity - lulls us to sleep

My dad and I stopped by a bakery.  As we chatted with the baker, she mentioned the bakery no longer smelled like fresh doughnuts.  The longer she has worked there the less she can smell donuts.

It is not just scent either, sound has the same way of disappearing.  Have you ever lived by a train track?  I did when I was little.  At first, the trains rattle your home and your brain.  But over time something peculiar happens, we stop hearing trains.

A few years ago, my father in law asked me if we got many airplanes flying over our home.  I said, no, not too much.  But then I paused and listened, sure enough one was flying over our home that very minute!!  Amazing- our senses are amazing!

The same thing happens with our vision.  What we see all the time, we stopped seeing.  I see this in houses all the time. The longer something sits, the more invisible it becomes. 

Our senses, they give us so much.  They also protect us and help us adapt to any situation.

 If you want to see your life clearly, you must shift the normal.  Travel new paths with your senses and life.

Look at what has become consistent in your life, your daily actions.  What has become stagnate.  Dust them off, move them completely out of their entrenched space and see what happens.

Spring brings a fresh start. If you want to see it clearly, re-spark your senses.  Start with a clean slate, a fresh canvas.  Sometimes what you have been looking for has been sitting right in front of you the whole time.  Keeping your life fresh and alive requires movement and change.  Let the gift of your senses start to shine again.

This month shift 17 things.  Start March by waking up your senses.  Eat 3 new foods,  travel a route to work, play new music, move 17 things in your home, call old friends, turn off your cell phone, try a new hobby- juggling?  Add flowers to your kitchen, read from a new author, read nothing. Shake up 17 of your normal habits.  Wake up your senses and your life.

Let me know what you shift and what happens to your senses when you do,

         Happy Travels,
                  Denise
                       Life Coach and Healthy Home Specialist

Today: slightly spicy with sweet overtones

The sun is shining.  The wind is blowing.  I ate lemon, chia seed pound cake with my 3 year old niece this morning.  For lunch my hubby and I tried a new Korean restaurant and had radish soup.  It tasted like a clear potato soup.

This afternoon Lauren came over to practice my talk for her upcoming Synergy Talks.  I will add in some of my experiences with cows and kittens.  After our practice we chatted about giving talks, love and life.

After my hubby gets done giving a sound bath/singing bowl treatment I'm going to see if he wants to go for a run in the woods.

This is life.  This is my life today.  The spring flowers are starting to bloom.
    

I wonder, will I remember the sweetness of this day or the moments in between?  There are always moments in-between.  Those moments range in flavor from spicy, savory, bitter, salty to bland.    

When I write life feelings in terms of flavors- they all are needed in the dish.  Which flavors do I notice?  Which ones will I remember?  Do I like complicated or simple flavors?

This blog is three blogs in one.  That's what I'm going with today. 
       Notice the sweetness of the day, look for new flowers and think of the day's moments as of flavors and not judgements.

             Sat nam;-)
                    Denise

Finding summer in our reflection

  Back in 2003 I read book called:  If I knew then what I know now.  A reporter asks a 93 year old lady named Nadine Stair what she would do differently if she had her life to live over. Her words stuck a cord with me then and apparently still do.  I didn't keep the book but had kept her quote.

  This morning, her quote popped back into head.  Maybe it's the sunshine, the heat, my garden or just the new beginning of summer.  Whatever the reason, it really got me thinking about my own life and what I would like to do or not do this summer and beyond.   

  To clear clutter it's best to live with things and experiences that raise your energy and let go of things that deplete your energy.  I think Nadine's quote explains why very well.  So I'm going to write a list, "If I had my summers up until now to live over again"   Maybe you will want to make your own list and then go have a wonder-filled summer!! Happy travels!!!

Here is the original Quote from Nadine Stair on her 93rd birthday 

If I had my life to live over

I would dare to make more mistakes next time

I would relax

I would limber up

I would be sillier than I've been this time

I would take fewer things seriously, 

and I would take more chances

I'd take more trips

I'd climb more mountains and I'd swim more rivers.

I would eat more Ice cream and less beans

I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely, hour after hour and day after day

Oh, I've had my moments, but if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them

If fact, I'd try to have nothing else- just moments-

 one after another, instead of living so many years ahead.

I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle,

a rain coat and a parachute.

If I have my life to live over... 

I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and I would stay that way later in the fall.

I would go to more dances, 

I would ride more merry-go-rounds.

I would pick more daises"

Wishing us all all a summer filled with life and few regrets!!

       Denise

          

This is the book I found the Nadine's quote in originally:   If I Knew Then What I Know Now Mass Market Paperback – January 1, 1997 by Richard Edler

Your life hidden in plain sight- the practice of 17

Familiarity - lulls us to sleep

My dad and I stopped by a bakery the other day.  As we chatted with the baker, she mentioned the bakery no longer smelled like fresh doughnuts to her.  The longer she has worked there the less she could smell the donuts.

It is not just scent either; sound has the same diminishing quality.  Have you ever lived by a train track?  At first, those trains rattle your home and your brain.  But over time something peculiar happens, we stop hearing trains.

A few years ago, my father in law asked me if we got many airplanes flying over our home.  I said, no, not too much.  But then I paused and listened, sure enough one was flying over our home that very minute!!  Amazing- our senses are amazing!

The same thing happens with our vision.  What we see all the time, we stopped seeing.  I see this in houses all the time. The longer something sits, the more invisible it becomes. 

Our senses, they give us so much.  They also protect us and help us adapt to any situation.

 If you want to see your life clearly, you must shift the normal.  Travel new paths with your senses and life.

Look at what has become consistent in your life, your daily actions.  What has become stagnate.  Dust them off, move them completely out of their entrenched space and see what happens.

Spring brings a fresh start. If you want to see it clearly, re-spark your senses.  Start with a clean slate, a fresh canvas.  Sometimes what you have been looking for has been sitting right in front of you the whole time.  Keeping your life fresh and alive requires movement and change.  Let the gift of your senses start to shine again.

This month shift 17 things.  Start March by waking up your senses.  Eat 3 new foods,  travel a route to work, play new music, move 17 things in your home, call old friends, turn off your cell phone, try a new hobby- juggling?  Add flowers to your kitchen, read from a new author, read nothing. Shake up 17 of your normal habits.  Wake up your senses and your life.

Let me know how your shift and what happens when you do,
         Happy Travels,
                  Denise
                       Life Coach and Healthy Home Specialist

Symphony of the Soil

   A little known fact about me is:  I love a good documentary.  For me, the key to a great documentary is starting with a a movie of quality, with an interesting topic, an inspiring message and a movie that leaves me pondering days after watching.

                     Plus, a great documentary movie provides the perfect reason to have gathering.

   I call it a A Documentary Party

My latest documentary movie favorite is:

A Symphony of the Soil.   

   Of course, I understand not everyone gets into documentaries, dirt, composting and learning as much as I do, but this documentary is worth the risk.  If you love to garden, have a worm bin, compost pile or even just love science, this is the movie for you.  If you have friends with similar interests, share this wonder.  We closet scientists usually flock together!!

    To host a documentary party all you need is an invitation, TV, popcorn and maybe some tea and there you have it:  a documentary party has been created.  Not only are Documentary parties super easy, they are also good mixers.  It doesn't matter if you know a soul before the movie, after the movie, everyone has an instant and common connection.

   I borrowed A Symphony of the Soil from the King Country Library but I could own this one and watch it over an over again.  This documentary was inspiring, beautiful, educational and entertaining.  I give it 4.5 stars out of a possible 5 stars.  A perfect movie to get you into the party and gardening season! Hope you enjoy- let me know if you watch it and what you think!

Click here to go to the Symphony of the Soil Home Page

 
Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous spring!!
      Denise

Marching to your own drum

" Laughter is day and sobriety is night;
a smile is the twilight that hovers gently between both,
more bewitching than either."
Henry Ward Beecher

I pulled this off my calendar for the month of March
Not a bad way to start spring.
Denise

Purple potatoes break ground in Lasagna garden

It is working!!! I have potatoes, carrots and beets all coming up in my lasagna garden. It was touch and go for a couple of weeks as it took about 2 weeks for the plants to break soil. It probably had more to do with our temperatures than my lasagna garden. My other non-lasagna garden bed with carrots took just as long to sprout. Dallas-my husband-doesn't think I'm the most patient of gardeners. I keep looking and looking-waiting and waiting.

I planted both purple and red potatoes. The plate in the picture features both purple potatoes and mung beans a picture of my lunch last fall. The purple potatoes are coming up with deep purple leaves. Both types of potatoes just came from my grocery store I let sprout in my pantry.

Next to plant, will be my Aunt Velma's corn from Holyoke, lemon cucumbers, more carrots, squash, and of course tomatoes and peppers. It is looking like our garden experiments are so far so good.

When I get a chance I'll catch you up on my worm bin fertilizer- I have a productive herd of worms!!

Wishing you a garden of abundance.

Denise

Sunshine and dirty windows

A strange occurrence happened this morning, as I was making breakfast and packing lunch, sunshine flooded our kitchen. The first thing I noticed was the dog prints on our back glass sliding door. Looking around, I thought, our kitchen isn't usually this sunny even when the sun is shining and then it hit me. It's spring. The sun comes in at a different angle in the spring and summer months. Our whole kitchen is filled with sunshine.

All this sunshine makes me want to clean my windows and go run the dogs! Funny how I noticed my dirty windows before I noticed the sunshine!!!!

Happy spring,
Denise

Spring planting is like an all you can eat buffet!

This afternoon it is raining cats and dogs. I was thinking about doing some more planting but instead I'm planning and dreaming. Laying out my seeds and lists of what I want to plant, I discover I probably need more garden if I want to get all this into the ground.

My Aunt Velma gave me some seeds from 9" red corn plants her friend in Holyoke Colorado grew. I found some quinoa-bright rainbow seed which grows 4-6 feet tall. I have 2 purple potatoes and 2 red potatoes I want to cut up and plant. Five color Silverbeet Swiss Card is going everywhere I can find, if for no other reason than it is beautiful.

My list goes something like this: beets, carrots, lemon cucumbers, yellow crook necks, kohlrabi, red leaf lettuce, butternut squash, chives, flat leaf parsley, dill, basil, cilantro, red bush beans, pak choi, watermelon radish and if I can still find room maybe some sunflower seeds. Of course, I almost forgot tomatoes and peppers which I will buy plants later this spring. My peas and some lettuce are already growing.

Is it just me or is spring planting like going to an all you can eat buffet??? My eyes are bigger than my stomach and my seeds are more than my garden and probably available time.

Still, this year I'm doing more than just growing my summer food, I'm experimenting with lasagna gardens, worm composting, heirloom seeds and eating locally as much as possible - all on a budget! Whew, this is going to be some garden.

Did I mention my flowers, I'll plant lots and lots of marigolds, apparently they make good companion flowers. Zinnias and snap dragons will get planted, mainly because they remind me of my family and our gardens growing up.

It's a good thing it's raining outside, a little planing might just be good for the garden!

Happy planting this spring!

Denise