Seaweed Exfoliation and Wrap

You've gotta see this - me in a seaweed wrap AFTER a seaweed body exfoliation.  What a trip!  Still my skin feels so soft and beautiful.  Part of the fun was the shower and scrub with a brush to get the goop off!  (No help, did it all by myself.)  Got this done last week in Atlanta following my meeting with Ed, tax man.  Spent the night with Tate and Wendy.  Great trip all in all.   Not every day, but just once in a while I go all out with special gifts for myself - although this was really a Christmas gift from Susan and Luke - the trip to Natural Body Spa.  What a kick!

Spring is springing in NC

Today I did my very first yard work of the year!  In North Carolina helping Frank "clean and clear" again and it was so nice outside we began working in the yard.  What fun!  A big fire in the pit and in goes everything burnable - even did some pruning and burning of dead limbs, etc.  Now I'm eager to get home tomorrow and begin doing a bit of work in my small herb garden.  Tobias has already tilled it so my labor will be mostly fun.  Have 6 butternut squash almost ready for transplanting.  The seeds I saved from a recent squash I baked.  They have grown so fast you can almost see it happening. No kidding, they must be growing at least an inch every day!  …….Time for break to end and get back to painting a wall.  I do love painting - so much better than cleaning!

Blue/lavendar Flowers

Here's my latest mystery from Nature.  They are about 2 inches tall and make a beautiful patchwork blanket interspersed with the weeds and grasses in the yard.  But, I have not been able to determine their name.   Does anyone recognize them?…..Today, Sunday, is another rainy day. How I love them!  Two days, so far, I've spent reading romance novels and listening to the rain on the tin roof over the porch.  In between gathering tax data, of course.  Thank goodness I'll be in Atlanta Tuesday morning to turn it all over to my "tax man." …..and the greatest gift - Wednesday morning I'm scheduled for a full body seaweed exfoliation and seaweed wrap in Atlanta….a Christmas gift from Luke and Susan.    I'll tell you more about that afterwards.   I had one once in Santa Fe but not since.

Ordinary Life

The rains have come.  How I wish I could simply stay on the couch all day long reading - but not today.  Today is filled with things to do - yoga class this morning, then to the Y for treadmill and upper body work, meet with friend for coffee, a bit of shopping to fill an hour or so before appointment with ear doctor to clean out wax so my hearing aids don't beep at me - then about 4 I should be back home on the couch.  That doesn't leave time for tax work - which means more tomorrow.  I did learn yesterday that I MUST begin looking at my credit card and bank statements since I found two items I've been paying for several months now which I don't want or need any more!  So much time yesterday was spent on the phone canceling those after I finally found out what they were!   OK, Jaquie.  Now you must begin perusing your statements monthly - not just in March!!!!I hate doing it since I spent so many years keeping records and checking to make sure everything was current as part of my work life AND my home life.  Oh well, even I don't enjoy throwing money away…..Time for green tea and a bit of meditation before this busy day gets underway.  Before I return to Ordinary Life.

Loving Me

A very busy weekend!  Ended the week having been to the Y for treadmill and machines every day!  It is truly amazing how much better my body works with only one week of giving my muscles some daily attention.   Why is it so hard to give myself this gift?  It seems that ordinary life keeps getting in the way of doing those things that are best for me in so many ways - physically, mentally, emotionally.  Thank goodness for the regular yoga classes.  My students are doing me a real service by showing up for classes and inspiring me to give myself the gift of practicing breathing, asanas, and meditation at least those four days of the week. ……This week is "prepping for meeting with tax man."  I always spend at least three days almost totally devoted to gathering, sorting, and arranging data from all the last year so that our meeting goes relatively smoothly.  Next week I will go to Atlanta to meet with him, as usual, stay overnight and get in a spa treatment Wednesday morning before I come back home.  This time I'm scheduled for a seaweed body exfoliation and seaweed wrap.  Only done this once before - in Santa Fe - so eager to try it again.  This is a Christmas gift from son Luke and his wife, Susan.  What a lovely one it is….Now, time for a bite to eat and heading for the Y.

The Pee-can Man

Actually, the book is titled The Pecan Man, but the author explains right up front that it is pronounced "pee-can" which is what we have always called it until we got hi-falutin' and wanted to impress others with our worldly knowledge.  I stumbled across the title on Amazon last night while ordering some other book whose title I can't even remember this morning.  I've read only about 10 pages on my kindle but had to force myself to put it down and stick to my resolve to write posts more often.  I already missed yesterday.   Writing regularly seems to be impossible for me even though I do truly love to do it.  I don't quite understand why, but it gives me pleasure to think up words to mean precisely what I want to hear myself say.  At least in the mornings I get pleasure doing that.  My brain slows down as the day wears down.  …….  As a born Southerner who left eagerly at age 21 and returned gladly 15 years later, any book set in the southeast tickles me.  The author of The Pecan Man is 82 years old.  I'll be 82 next month.  I expect most of what she writes will be very easy for me to see in my mind's eye.  I have lived the same years she did. …..Now that the post is written, I'll enjoy a few more pages of The Pee-can Man  with my hot green tea spiked with apple cider vinegar and honey (in spite of the fact that my family first learned about this potion from a Vermont doctor's book called Folk Medicine).

Dead Fish on the Pond

The Pond March 11, 2015

Time for another post about the draining of the Pond.  Here is a photo now showing many dead fish in what is left of the water.  All of the white blobs are fish.  Buzzards visited a few days ago but have abandoned the site.  They never ventured into the water.  The Great Blue Herons have pretty well abandoned also even though one did visit briefly this morning.  At one time, we had four here at the same time.  When one stood in the middle of the little pool of water, it seemed to be only a couple inches deep.  The area around the water is so soupy we can't yet walk to it without sinking deep into the muck.  There are now three deep paths down to the water which must have been made by large turtles.  They appear like railroad tracks since there are really two lines since the feet are separated so far on large turtles.  We have uncovered a couple dozen golf balls, a few empty bottles, an old broken metal pot, but nothing of any value.

Star Magnolia

Spring is springing!  How I love this time of year.  We are so fortunate in the Piedmont of South Carolina where we have four nearly equal seasons rather than sameness.  My star magnolia blossoms come out about the same time, if not a bit earlier, than the daffodils.  The shrub is competing with a mimosa tree that has sprung up from the very center of the plant.  I have been cutting it back for three years now and it is simply getting stronger.  I've given up and now allow both plants to share the same spot.  Along with that, the fire ants have now invaded and set up a huge factory right on the same spot. Must be something very attractive about that spot.  We began our fire ant fight last evening and found six different spots near my cottage.  Unfortunately two of them are in my tiny herb garden.  Still, in spite of the battles, I am excited about the coming of new growth - both in plants and in my own personal growth.  Life truly does get better as I age.  There is a freedom now that is very new and precious.

Frank Flew Again

Another new adventure!  We are celebrating Frank's upcoming 83rd birthday tomorrow.  Since the weather was perfect and won't be on Monday, yesterday he flew a plane again (after 15 years away from it) out at Greenwood County Airport.  (In the past, he has owned and flown many different planes.)  Rick, the instructor,  took him all over Greenwood County, the Fuji plant, Lowe's, the Michelin test track, Lake Greenwood, and of course over our land here with the dried up pond - which made it difficult to spot!  He was like a little boy with a new toy at Christmas time.  Now he's talking of power parachute flying.  Much cheaper than a plane and a good possibility.  ……Now today we'll go to the Y and sign up for a membership so we can begin strength training…..something we've talked about for months but not yet gotten around to actually doing.  Birthdays are wonderful times to try new experiences and even renew old ones!

Healing Arm

I must write about the healing of my broken right arm.  Sorry I don't have a photo.  Will try to get one today and send it along.  A BIG moment!  This morning, for the first time since September 3, I actually hooked my bra the way I had for my whole life - arms in straps first and reaching back with both hands to fasten the back hooks!  You can't imagine how amazingly good this feels!  Now for the explanation. While in Costa Rica I had a very thorough massage by Louis, the man who has been massaging Susan, who worked especially on my right shoulder.  At one point, something snapped (back in place, it felt like) and ever since flexibility has steadily improved.  Then last evening Todd did an energy healing session for me and another huge jump occurred when I felt what seemed like a sharp blade sliding down my arm and out my hand and a widespread release of tightness in the arm and shoulder.  ……How blessed I am to have such marvelous healing forces available.  Of course, great strides had already been made in the six weeks of physical therapy with Heidi.  But these last two occurrences were especially astounding.  Believe me, my happiness level is truly soaring this morning!  Thanks be to God!