A glorious sunny October Sunday. Hopefully it’s not the last hurrah. It’s Thanksgiving in Canada. We have much to be thankful for. We have an unpredictable summer followed by an equal autumn. It was a good growing season resulting in an abundant harvest. We are cleaning up and harvesting the last of the garden.
The garlic is planted and mulched with compost. The winter compost bin is put in the garden near the house. The water tanks emptied into the raised beds and the garden. The pepper plants are cut and dropped in the raised bed. We thought we would leave the carrots till later. The flower pots gathered for storage. We are almost ready for winter. We are ready and waiting for our Thanksgiving supper cooked by my nephew for all in the family. We are thankful.
Peace is elusive these days. Just when I think everything is copacetic and I can finally coast, along comes a monkey wrench. I take nothing for granted now. I breathe and stay in the moment, appreciating what is. Mornings are the best. I love how the early sun hits and lights up everything, creating Monet paintings of my very ordinary home and household objects. And I feel peace easing into my body.
It is Saturday. I have no place to go and nothing to do. I can stay in my pjs the live long day and languish as I used to long ago. I can still remember how. Tomorrow is another day.
I’m falling madly in love with the easy peasy way of doing things. It is so nice to give yourself a break once in awhile. When my brother said let’s discuss Thanksgiving and maybe we should just skip it this year, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Our 92 year old parents have been having more health issues this year. Just when you think everything is ok, something else happens. Though things have quieted down, we are all tired. It’s good not to fuss with ‘celebrating’ and gathering. I like the thought of celebrating and giving thanks in rest and quiet. I have given up the mantra of ‘I must. I must.‘ With that thought, this is my day 5 and 6 post for the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Easy peasy.
After a windy and cold night of -5℃, it is a sunny calm day. It’s not a sweltering day but it looks warm at 10℃. We finished harvesting what we want yesterday and covered the bed of brassicas. They are looking well. The lone pepper in the bed is done though. I’ve baked a batch of pumpkin muffins. The rack of pork is cooking in the oven. We are giving thanks and are grateful.
Finally some sun on this third day of October. My garden is still producing. I’ve just harvested a bowl of goodness – some green and purple beans, 3 Sunburst squash and a few sprigs of broccoli. Life is good though challenges and difficulties never stop. Having this space to tap and sigh and bitch a little helps a lot. You will not find any Pulitzer winning writing here. It is but some mumbling of a simple woman travelling her path.
This month will be an exploration of solutions for easier ways of doing and living. I’ve started already by adopting shorter posts and letting go of my desire of writing a thousand words a day. It is a much easier goal to obtain. The other day, I made 3 instead of my usual loaves of bread at a time. Dough for 3 loaves is so much easier to knead. Then there’s only 3 pans to wash after. It was a much more pleasurable experience.
I’m not sure of what the next thing to be. I haven’t got a clue right at the moment. I won’t whack my head trying to figure it out. It will come on its own. I don’t need to work so hard at living though that is my personality trait. I can change. It won’t be easy. Old habits die hard even those that hurt and harm us. The payoffs of change are great. I will and can make the effort.
A rainy and gloomy day 2 of the October Ultimate Blog Challenge. I could easily fall into the gloom of the day. But as soon as I step out into the backyard and garden, I am greeted by cheer and colour. There’s my little monk sitting so peacefully in the herb spiral. I am reminded of my departed but not forgotten fur baby, Sheba. She forever resides in me and the little monk.
Edible chrysanthemums New England AsterLittle MonkGoji berry & nodding onionBush beansChinese long beans
I snap photos as I walk through yard and garden, trying to capture the beauty and feelings of the moment. I cannot totally get it all. Still it is enough to store for memory and to share. Who would think that I still have green beans to pick? The Chinese long beans are flowering but maybe too late and cool for beaning now. No matter. Still it is heartening to see them thriving and blooming in October.
It is soothing and relaxing to sit and tap out these words and images. My chaotic thoughts are ironed out by the rhythm of the keyboard. My distress is replaced by the images of the yard and garden. And I do not have to spew out the poison within me. I am saved and sane for another day.
October 1, the first day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I hope to write a post each day of October and share it on the Ultimate Blog Facebook page. Of course sometimes when we have hopes and aspirations, even the best laid plans can go asunder. Being such a dismal and rainy day, there’s a high chance for failure. Such negativity! I can hear the tongues clicking. I’m here, aren’t I? I’m giving it a good go.
I’m choosing sweet, simple and to the heart – meaning short. When I first started this blog, I had aspirations of writing a thousand and two words a day. I have never achieved or even got close to the count. But I do love the written word. And I am good at short and sweet, stuff for Hallmark cards. So I’m going that route. I enjoy challenges, interacting and obeying rules. The rules here are fairly easy and simple to follow. If we choose to post in the daily thread, we have to read and comment on the 2 posts immediately above ours. I plan to do that. At this moment, I have no extra energy to go beyond. I thought I would put that right up front.
So here’s good luck to me and all. One post a day for October. That’s it. I have no idea about what I will write each day – probably just more mumbling about my day to day life. It keeps me sane and hopefully sweet.
Another new month, another new day, another new beginning. It’s July, Canada Day and the first day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I’ve been participating in this challenge for quite a few years now. I enjoy challenges, words, pictures and writing. I love the nuance of words, how they roll around my tongue or beneath my fingertips as I tap, tap on the keyboard. I love daily practices because they give me a springboard to start the day. For the month of July, I will try to show up every day with a post to share on the UBC Facebook page. I do not think I will participate in the daily thread. Showing up with a post every day is enough of a challenge. However, I will read others’ posts if life permits.
That is the why of doing the challenge. As to the what, it is to be discovered daily when I sit down with my keyboard. I have no business to promote but I do have a lot of interests and hobbies. One of which is gardening. I have many growing spaces – a small passive solar greenhouse, 6 raised beds, a conventional garden and a community garden plot. They’re all tended by me this summer. I’m still learning so much about everything in life through my gardening efforts. My efforts and results have brought me so much joy. It’s such a delight to do my morning walk through these spaces. So be prepared to hear a bunch of garden talks.
My main goal is to show up each day with my best effort. I will aim for quality and not word count. Some days my post may be just a picture. I hear that a single picture can be worth a thousand words.
The last day of April. The last day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I have to show up to wrap up though I don’t know where or how to begin. I am feeling the overwhelm of too many loose threads. My mind is far from being a clean slate, a blank canvas upon which I can paint/write the life I want. Instead it is a muddy eddy of scattered thoughts and memories. What are/were my goals, my wants and loves? They are not necessaily the same things.
I’m always eager and engaged at the beginning of any new endeavor. I feel focused and pumped. However, it doesn’t take long before my burst of enthusiasm develops a slow leak. I lose sight of the whole enchilada. I tread water, don’t show up, and/or write the same damn thing day in and day out. Sometimes I pride myself in just showing up/trying. I guess you can say I am beating myself up. That’s not it though. I’m giving myself a pep talk.
April and any given month is a hard month. And so are any given day. If I am being repetitive, so is life. There is a tediousness to almost everything. I/everyone have to work through that part. No one is exempt. How do you work through that? I heave and sigh alot. I make a cup of tea. Lately I had to change up on my cup size and kind of tea. I was getting too much caffeine. My heart was skipping a little too much and my lymph nodes swelling up. The change has been good but I still get cravings of my endless cup of Orange Pekoe tea. Listening to Caroline Myss on the Addict Archtype and Tara Brach on Letting Go helped alot. Writing about the tedium opens up the way out of it, too.
I’m not as morose as I sound. Really, I am not. It’s my way of working through hard spots and hard times. I’m not protesting too much. A friend reading my posts once offered me help and sanctuary because she thought I needed help. It was such a lovely and generous gesture. It’s a beautiful memory I have of her. Both she and her father were such a help to us when we first came to Canada. She walked me to school every morning and took me to Sunday school till I outgrew the need. I hope she still keeps an eye on me from Heaven.
These days I feel as unsettled as the weather. Maybe it is the stage in my life. Everything feels uncertain. The ground is ever shifting. No firm foundation underfoot. But at least I am feeling some peace in the quiet of the night. I’m tapping out a few words before I head off to bed. They will escape me if I don’t. It is soothing and comforting to tidy up a few things at the end of the day. Somehow that brings order and peace in my mind.
The humidifier has been soaking for a day or two, waiting for me to clean and put away till next winter. There’s never a better time than the present. It’s cleaned and to be put away tomorrow. Now I’m ready to get ready for bed. If I do too much, I will get too alert for sleep. Till the morning, then.
That was a few nights ago. The weather is still unsettled. What started out as a sunny warm day didn’t stay. It became cool and cloudy. No weather for a picnic. However, it didn’t prevent me from planting 3 more Roma tomatoes under Kozy Coats in the raised bed. I still 3 more to do but that will have to wait until I get more Kozy Coats. Things being what there are, it could still snow. But here’s hoping it will only rain from now on.
I am a little more settled, feeling safe in my sking. But it’s still touch and go. It’s a job keeping my mind and head clear. Debris have a habit of creeping in. Today I got distracted by a new toy – an iPad and games you can play. I’ve only uploaded solitaire but it’s bad enough. I spent too much time on a hard hand. It grabbed me and wouldn’t easily let go. I haven’t solved it yet but I did finally unhook myself to come to this space to finish what I had started.
Life is like that, you know. I have to say I’ve been doing pretty well. Not perfect but I am getting things done and all that. I’m not a machine. Being human, I can be led down a few stray paths. I have to cut myself some slack and just enjoy what comes along, even the weeds along the way. I have not a show every day for the Ultimate Blog Challenge. And I am not participating in the usual sense. This month of writing is mostly for myself – a workbook of a sort.
I’m not so successful clearing my mind this morning so I did a little clearing of my table. What is without is within. I’m heading out to my exercise class in a few minutes. I’m making a few marks here to get the words and thoughts flowing for later. Mark making is an important step in getting started. Later, baby, as they say.
This is the later I spoke of this morning. I’m afraid this is one of those time that the words will not flow. I will have to work for them. Talking about making marks, I don’t think I’ve made even a dent, never mind a mark in the world. I feel a bit sad and inadequate. I don’t really want to be a big splash but I like to think that I’ve made a difference, that I matter. It’s what we all want. I hate being human and vulnerable, don’t you?
The day has sped by. It is not a warm one. I’m warming up with a cuppa Ovaltine. I’m learning to change up my drinks as not to get addicted to any one. Ovaltine was a favourite when I was a child in Hong Kong. My mother and I had moved there from mainland China when I was 6. That was also when we were introduced to Red Rose Orange Pekoe Tea and toast. It was all so new and tasted so good. That’s what I have to remember – to change up often. Not only with drinks and food but with everything in life. I remember the delight of discovering and learning new things and tastes. Too much of one thing deadens and dulls the senses. It’s my lightbulb moment from my thoughts for the 24th day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge.
onethousandandtwo 