Monthly Archives: October 2022

MY WHOLE PICTURE

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Day’s end. I am again struggling to write today’s post for the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Funny how some days the words just flow. Then I have these days. I am stuck at START with no forward movement. I guess I will have to work for each word and sentence until I have a paragraph, then another and another. So rather than being stuck, bored and restless I scroll through social media. I have just scrolled through Esme Weijun Wang’s Intagram. I’ve been following her for a few years. I find Esme very interesting and inspiring as she is Asian, a writer, has a schizoaffective disorder and suffers from chronic lyme disease. She has so many physical and mental challenges and yet she is very successful. It makes me try a little harder to push through my own little trials.

I have recently said that it’s not good for me to look at the big picture when I’m tackling a big job. It overwhelms me before I can get started. There are always exceptions to the rule. If I want to have a successful day/life, I have to look at the whole picture. What is it that I want for the day/life? After I have identified my goal, I then break down the steps to get there. I guess it’s called planning. It’s something I haven’t consciously done or thought to do – until now. So what was my whole picture for the day?

  • Writing this post.
  • Juicing one ice cream pail of grapes.
  • Finish reading Explain Pain.

How did I do? I’ve juiced two ice cream pails of grapes for 3 bottles of juice. I’ve cleaned up after myself, too. I have 20 pages in Explain Pain to read. I still have time tonight. I want to return it to our exercise guru at our gym tomorrow. And my post is finished. How about that, eh?

I CAN’T DO IT ALL

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Egads, it is 6 pm already! I’m as tired as can be. I’ve been busy being Martha Stewart all day long. I made yogurt in the morning. Then soup with all the leftovers from Thanksgiving for lunch. Seems like not much if it was just the makings and no cleaning up after. I had alot of mashed sweet potatoes left from Thanksgiving. I made muffins with them after lunch which resulted in more washing up. I bet Martha never did any stuff around the kitchen. She just writes about it and somebody else do the cooking and cleaning up. Well, it’s all done, the cooking, baking and cleaning up. I’m finally here for another Ultimate Blog Challenge post.

I’m glad I was reminded about choosing my battles yesterday. I can’t fight/do them all. I did pause and thought about the more important ones. It’s prioritizing. I can have my cake and eat it but I can’t do it all. It’s a good thing we have the walk-in cooler in the garage. I’ve harvested 4-5 ice cream pails of grapes couple of days ago. I got my bottles for bottling juice from Amazon yesterday. They are washed and dried. They are ready but I’m not. There’ll be alot of sorting and washing grape before they can be juiced. They can keep in cooler till I can muster up more energy. I will aim to juice one pail tomorrow. It’s not about all or nothing. Just one thing will suffice.

It’s another day when I can only write my post for the challenge. I will pass the daily thread again today. I’m choosing what is the wiser thing to do today. I am tired and need to wind down for the evening. Tomorrow is another day.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EARNEST

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Oh dear, the day got away on me! It is already 7pm on this 14th day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I had intentions of being here earlier but I got distracted and delayed. It was for a good reason so I shan’t complain. I was out in the yard, taking some buckets of water for the greenhouse. My neighbour across the back alley saw me and came across for a visit. She was having some trouble with her neighbour and just needed a shoulder to cry on. I know what that feels like. We had a nice and very long visit. When I came into the house, it was 5 pm. Time to have a sit down and have a cuppa to warm and relax a bit before supper.

Earlier in the day, I read someone’s post on consistency. She shared Marie Forleo YouTube video on How To Be Consistent: 5 Steps To Get Things Done, All The Time. I thought it was pretty good and jotted down the 5 steps for myself. You can watch the video for a full explanation but here are the main points.

  1. Keep an eye on why. I tend to forget my goal after awhile.
  2. Pick your battle.
  3. Schedule it.
  4. Ignore your feelings. Quite often I don’t feel like doing anything but I try hard do it anyways.
  5. Catch that wagon. I fell off my writing for 3 days over Thanksgiving. I’m back on now.

Seeing these steps and writing about them keeps me motivated. My eye is on the why I want to complete the Ultimate Blog Challenge. It is important for me to do the best I can but to enjoy and have fun also. Though I’m short of time and it is late, I can still put in an earnest if not long effort. As it is getting late, I will not put it in the daily thread. I don’t have time to read 2 posts and comment on them. I am picking my battle – writing my piece and posting it. Tomorrow I will do the second part. I like following the rules. I am an earnest person. I’ll have fun later.

I AM READY

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Sometimes magic happens when you just start – anything. And contrary to popular belief, don’t look at the whole picture. When I do, I’m often overwhelmed with the impossibility of it and I don’t start. I was pushed forward by the fact that every time I look out my sunroom, my view was obscured by dusty windows. I felt disgusted and shameful. I thought I could wash some if not all of them. I ended washing all but 3. Motivated I did the bedroom and bathroom windows the next day. The following day after that, I did the kitchen ones. Each time I marvelled that I can see and smell clean and it felt wonderful.

Now I have just the livingroom left and all the windows in the basement. There’s LOTS of windows down there. That’s why it’s best not to think of the big picture. But it did lead me to think about my mother and her house. My 90 year old parents are still living on their own. We help with the grocery shopping, the lawn and snow shovelling in winter. She didn’t want help with the house. Seeing how much hard it was for myself, I asked her if she needed help with washing the windows and the dusting. Oh, I washed all the windows already, she told me. I do one a day. It takes me a couple of months but they’re done. I use a stick with a cloth to dust those hard to reach things so I’m good.

I’ve always admired my mother but now even more. She has always been my source of inspiration. While I’m still on this motivation high, I tackled putting all the garden stuff away in the garage today. I tried to do it properly by finding a place for everything. It’s a bit of a job but I made a start. It’s been a long time since I worked in the garage. 9 years exactly, the number of years since I’ve retired. I cleared a few shelves of dust, dirt and cobwebs for my plant trays. A few pots were broken that got accidentally knocked down. I pulled out totes to see what they held. I found 2 of Sheba’s beds in one. Even though they had been washed before being stored, they stank. I was ready to let them go now. She has been gone for 2½ years. It is time.

I’m feeling surprised by my get up and go. I have been so languid for so long. I felt as if I have just woke from a deep slumber. I think it is my 90 year old mother jolting me awake. If she can still keep her house spic and span, I could at least try for just spic to start. Being able to still keep her house clean gives her so much pleasure along with walking in her garden and seeing her flowers. I can learn alot from her. I have a long way to go and lots to do. I am ready.

ON HAPPY

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October 12th, a cool sunny and breezy day at 7℃. I’m a happy camper, snug as a bug in the sunroom. It’s toasty warm here even on a cold day if the sun is out. Cutting down the spruce trees made a lot of difference. It created an ideal south facing space for a greenhouse. We didn’t realize how much shade and cool the trees provided until they were gone. Then the yard and the sunroom warmed and it up. In the heat of summer I had to keep the sunroom blinds closed for most of the day. It was still well lit as the 2 topmost windows had no blinds.

before- spruce trees
after -greenhouse
sunroom
deck
herb spiral

I’m a lover of light and space. Having these spaces and the sun today, I’m feeling tres mellow. It’s what happy feels like to me. Such a good sensation. I shall relish this moment and remember what happy feels like. I don’t always have it. Happy is not about having stuff or status because my stuff and status does not fluctuate while my happiness quotient does. So what does that mean?

THANKSGIVING, THIS AND THAT

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Oh boy! How to start a conversation again. That’s what happens when you are interrupted by life. This time life was Thanksgiving and our family gathering. It’s our first Thanksgiving together in 3 years. The last being in 2019 before Covid. That’s enough to be thankful for and such a nice warm October day is another. Being absent from here for 3 days makes my conversation a little slow and stuttering. I hope I can get warmed up and flow more smoothly.

In my last post, I talked about making scalloped potatoes and Jamie Oliver’s curried squash and chickpeas for our Thanksgiving meal. The potatoes turned out really well. I had trouble with the squash and chickpeas by adding too much water. I doubled the squash and chickpeas as the recipe was for 4 servings and I was feeding 12. I didn’t double the called for coconut milk as I didn’t have any more. I added half the amount in water. I shouldn’t have. I should have waited. But I didn’t. So it was a bit watery but the taste was fine. I had alot left over. They are jarred and in the freezer. No one complained about the food. It was all good. We were together. Conversation and drinks flowed. We had a lovely evening.

I think our fine October days are coming to an end. Time to finish harvesting my 2 Roma Tomatoes and 2 pepper plants. No point in messing around covering them every night. They will not get much bigger or ripen. Best save my energy for other things like finish washing the windows. Yesterday I washed all but 3 in the sunroom. Today I did the bedrooms and bathroom. It felt good getting these jobs done. I feel I got my feet back on firm ground and dealing with life again.

That’s all I’ve got now. Time to close up and go to bed. Tomorrow is another day.

COOKING WITH JAMIE OLIVER

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Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com

Thanksgiving is coming up this weekend. I’m in a bit of a dither about the menu as I am hosting our family supper together. We’re all contributing but I still get into a lather. I am not great at ‘putting something on’. I am not a great cook but I’m not a terrible cook either. I tend to cook by whim – throw everything into a wok and stir the hell out of it. I seldom cook by recipes, not that I lack cookbooks. I have a whole drawful.

I have a whole collection of Company’s Coming, a collection of simple cooking started by Jean Pare in 1981. I haven’t looked at them since about that time. Those are not my oldest. I still have Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker. I’m not sure how old is but it cost only $1.95. It’s a paperback. The pages are yellowed and the print is mighty small. I have one book from Breast Friends. I’ve used a few recipes for cookies once or twice. Then there’s the Milleton Hall Cook Book, a book of recipes from members of the farming community near where I grew up. I have yet to use it. I could go on and on with my list but my latest acquistion is Jamie Oliver’s Comfort Food a Christmas present a few years ago.

It’s a beautiful book. I want to make those fabulous dishes but then I read the ingredients and instructions. I wonder if anyone goes beyond looking at the beautiful photos. I brought it out a few days ago, thinking I could find something to make for our Thanksgiving table. Jamie Oliver does not make a simple anything. There’s herbs and spices I’ve never heard of. There’s sauces, cheeses and a ton of other stuff. Nothing for potatoes. I went online and found a recipe for scalloped potatoes with ingredients I do have. Not by Jamie Oliver but good enough. Then I searched for a curried squash recipe and behold, one by Jamie! It’s called Pumpkin, chickpea & coconut curry. It looks do-able and I have most of the ingredients. I will make these 2 recipes tomorrow for Sunday. It will give me time to make something else if I fail. I think I shall try one recipe a month from his Comfort Food book to improve my cooking skills as well as my brain. I like to challenge myself.

THE MORNING AFTER

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Good news. My tomatoes and peppers survived the minus temperatures overnight. It went down to -5℃ and was -4℃ at 7 am when I got out of bed. The temperature didn’t get above freezing till 10. I waited till noon before uncovering. I was pleased to find the tomatoes and peppers alive and well. They were inside kosy coats with additional covers over the top. I had some eggplants in kosy coats but did not bother throwing extra covers over them as they had no fruit. Or so I thought. Much to my surprise, when I reach inside to check them, I found one white egg in one. The top leaves were a little wilted but the rest was ok. Moral of the story is keep trying even though it looks less likely. I got thoroughly surprised. There were no fruit on any of the eggplants when I put their kosy coats on a few weeks ago.

peppers
tomatoes
white eggplant

It is still fairly green elsewhere in the garden. Some things did better than others. I am surprised that the basil in front of the garage survived while the ones in the herb spiral and raised bed did not. The celery and kale are still going strong as well as the petunias on the deck. The sweetpeas are still sweet. Their companion vine, the slipper gourds bit the dust. The marigolds are still colourful amid strawberries. And the New England Aster is more vibrant after the frost. The bees are not so happy with the cold. There’s less buzzing. I hope the grapes are sweeter now. I will pick them soon.

BEING PREPARED

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All good things, like warm October days, come to an end. It’s the natural order of things. I’m ok with it. I’m prepared. I haven’t hunker down yet. It’s too early. But the most of the garden is prepped for the winter months. The garlic has been planted and mulched. I dug out the rosemary from the herb spiral this afternoon. It’s potted and in the greenhouse along with 4 peppers and a few other plants I want to winter over. They will go inside the house when we close the greenhouse at end of November.There are still 2 Roma Tomatoes inside their Kosy Koats outside as well as 2 pepper plants. They have quite a few fruit on them. They are well covered with extra row covers and table cloths from the Dollar Store. The forecast is for -4C tonight and -3C tomorrow night. I shall see if they can survive those temperatures. It’s worth the sacrifice to find out.

Meanwhile, the greenhouse is still doing very well. It is toasty warm while the high today was only 11℃. I feel so happy stepping into it, seeing all the tomatoes and peppers hanging down. It is our second year and I’ve learned alot being so excited, not being afraid to experiment and try everything. I’ve trimmed off alot of the tomato and cucumber foliage to let in more sun and prevent mildew. I’ve brought in the water buckets as temperatures are dropping below 0 the next 2 days. They will freeze outside whereas in, they will help to moderate the temperature in the greenhouse.

JUST DO IT!

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I hate it that I’m such a clutter bug. I’m always misplacing things. I waste alot of time and get into such a snit searching for the lost. They eventually are found. I’ve made many vows on doing better, getting organized with a place for everything. I don’t vow any more because so far that hasn’t worked. What I want to do is just DO IT! I can succeed if I do it a little, even just an inch at a time.

I had lost the clipper that I use in the greenhouse 2 days ago. I looked high and low. No success. It’s so annoying but I try to let it go after each search. I do try to figure out why it is so irksome when I have 3 other pairs I could use. I searched again this morning with no success. I tried not to mutter my irritation. No success either. The guy heard. He came back in on his way to his workshop to tell me he found my clippers in the greenhouse. They were under my work gloves. Sometimes we just need a different pair of eyes. Now I wish he could spot my root stimulating powder. But I’m not wasting more time in searching. The plant cuttings will have to root or not in water.

It looks like we are heading into some frosty temperatures in a couple of days. I will have to get my ass in gear and plant my bulbs this afternoon. I have to remind myself not to order any more bulbs next year. They know what they are doing when they send out fall seed catalogues in middle of summer. I am enticed with all those flowering bulbs. It seems like a such good idea when it is warm. Come late September when I get my shipment, I’m disgusted with myself. What was I thinking of? I am tired from all that planting, watering, weeding, harvesting and perserving. Then there’s the cleanup of plant material, chopping them up and throwing them into the compost bins. What I dislike the most is gathering up all the plant containers, trays and pots to put away.

No point in wasting time and energy disliking and procrastinating either. I better save them for doing the jobs at hand. I’ve just harvested my cabbage and the rest of the cayenne peppers. I’m defrosting lunch while I’m sipping my cuppa and finishing up here. Have a good day.