My Garden

I'm loving my garden this year. Done organically, and after all the hard work, it's paying off. We've lived here about 8 years and when we moved in, I was excited about the size of yard. It's small. In our last home, my yard was too big and a lot of work. I was excited to do something on a smaller scale but, as I soon found out, our yard was a great big drainage ditch for the hill behind and the houses to the left of us which are higher than us. It all came down into our backyard. Neat. After putting in a ton of french drains, amending the soil and finding the right plants for the right spots, I think it's coming along. I lost a lot of plants in the first few years with our drainage issues. Some areas have hard pan like concrete, which is typical Northwest suburb soil, so some areas we had to build up or just leave bare and put a pot. The hill behind will be planted with evergreens here soon.

Still lots to do but my flowers are making me happy. I'll be working on some yard art and bird houses with my son this summer to add a little fun to it.

Northwest Skies

When I was a kid we had a willow tree in the front yard of my childhood home. I would spend a lot of time under this willow in the summer time. I would read and nap or work on little crafty things ...and nap. My cat would usually hang out with me and chase bugs. I loved those days with no worries but what flavor popsicle I wanted or trying to stay awake reading my book. One of my favorite memories sitting under that willow tree was the sky. We were surrounded by pine trees so the contrast of the blue sky and the green of the trees was so beautiful. But the big puffy clouds were my favorite and I would sit for hours and stare at them. I was sitting outside in my own backyard and the look of the sky brought me right back to those peaceful lazy days. Great memories from the beautiful Northwest skies.

Flower Pillow

I went through a phase of fabric flower love. I was making fabric flowers out of anything I could find. I was obsessed. I'm trying to decorate my house and make it more of a home and one of the things I fell in love with on Pinterest was pillows with fabric flowers. I've been going through my stash and made a pillow cover out of fleece (to cover the old, dated one) and made flowers out of the scraps. I think it turned out really pretty. Here it is...

Lots of tutorials to make fabric flowers out there. I really liked using fleece as it gives it a soft look (and I have a TON of it cause when it goes on sale, something in me says, "you must have much"). I also scalloped the edges of the strips to make it look a bit like an hydrangea blossom. The hardest part was trying to arrange the flowers to look well...right. Balance and all. I like it.

Egg OH Paleo!

 

Hello all! Been awhile and thought I would pop in and let you know my going's on. I've been pretty busy and one major change I want to share is that I started eating Paleo. It's a way of eating like our ancestors did before the agricultural age. Cave man eating! Nope, not trying to sell anyone on it but I do want to share how much better I feel.

I've heard a lot of people on the web trying it out and since I was so sick and tired of feeling so poorly, I thought I would give it a shot. It's just 30 days. 30 days to see if I feel any better and if I don't? I'll go back to the donuts... which I love, by the way. But, I felt awful. All. The. Time. I slept terribly. I have reflux so badly that it's very distressing. I had food cravings that I could not get a handle on. I was always fatigued and in a brain fog and my body hurt. I was exercising every day and eating a mostly healthy diet with lots of veggies and fruit, pasta and low fat foods. Very little meat because I don't care for it much. I had also been trying to lose weight but it wasn't happening. AT all. I thought I was doing all the right things and still I felt terrible AND I was gaining weight instead of losing it. So I thought I would give this way of eating a shot.
I am so glad I did. I'm on day 17 of the 30 day elimination part of Paleo where you eliminate all dairy, sugar, legumes(peanut butter, beans etc.), and grain. Alcohol as well. Your diet consists of whole foods of meat, eggs, veggies, fruit, healthy oils and nuts. If anyone is interested in greater detail visit this web site. Whole 9 I found it trolling around the nets and it's most excellent in regards to this way of eating.
I've had a few bouts with the "sugar dragon" where I thought I would break down and cry if I didn't have a donut. Seriously wanting to cry and throw myself down in a huge tantrum, kicking and screaming for a "DONUT!!"... but I pushed though it! That's one thing I'm so proud of myself for. My cravings for carbs would take me down and I have a HUGE sweet tooth. I honestly didn't think I would be able to conquer that...but I have.

Now to the way I feel. After 17 days of having no dairy, sugar, grains, or legumes...I feel really, really good. Physically and mentally. I'm actually kinda stunned as I'm not one to believe in all the hype about stuff like this as I'm a pretty big skeptic in most things and I don't follow fads and or the latest diet craze. But as of two nights ago I've been sleeping soundly through the night. Big for me! That's one of the things they say will happen. Better sleep. I've found a good balance of fat/protein that I'm able to eat three times a day and I don't get hungry in between. So the cravings are pretty much gone. But I know that that the cravings I have now are just old habits and not related to food. I've really had to work on the emotional stuff. I've always been an emotional eater and breaking that cycle has been hard but I finally feel free of my dependance on food to numb. I will say that I've been a bundle of anxiety the last week or so stopping my bad habits but I'm doin it! My reflux has improved tremendously and I'm hoping over the next few months it'll be gone. I have more energy and my body doesn't hurt!! And! Bonus!!! My clothes are getting loose on me. Halaluyur!!!

Anyhoo, of I go to go get some things done. Have a great day!!

a Cucumber Sandwich

I've been trying to eat more meatless meals by adding more veggies and fruits to my dishes in creative ways instead of grabbing an apple or throwing the veggies in a salad.
I really wanted a meatless sandwich with something different and remembered that I'd purchased some cucumbers the other day for another recipe and needed to use them. I know cucumber sandwiches have been around forever but I've never had one. I love cucumbers but the closest I've had to putting them on bread is adding them to my sandwich at Subway. So, I thought today I would enter the tea room and make one of these...for my lunch, since I had the ingredients on hand. Here's what I came up with...

Here's what I did...

I sliced up about 1/2 a cucumber
then in a small bowl I mixed
about two tablespoons cream cheese
about a spoonful of mayo
little more than a pinch of:
onion powder
garlic powder
paprika
ground cayenne pepper
a few twists on the pepper mill
and a pinch of salt

I used really soft buttermilk bread.

It was a really tasty, quick to make, cheap, relatively healthy and MEATLESS sandwich. All the things I was looking for and it satisfied my need for texture and crunch with a touch of heat and the added coolness of the cucumber. Very satisfying.
It was a good choice today.
Have a great weekend!!!

Have a laugh today...

I love to laugh and this guy brings tears to my eyes he's so funny! His name is Tim Hawkins and he's quite possibly the funniest comedian I've seen. Here he sings a song about yoga pants. I hope you enjoy your Friday and here's hoping this gives a good laugh to start your weekend. Enjoy!

out a Squirrel Thief.

I have a little thief that visits my little back yard. I'm amazed at his agility as he's able to climb that little bird pole in nothing flat. I was sure he was jumping from the tree to the feeder but no, I caught him the other day climbing right up that pole. Here is is hanging off the bird feeder and stealing the birds sunflower seeds.

Now, when I catch him stealing the bird food I throw some peanuts out there for him for distraction. When he hears me open the back door, instead of running away like he used to, he jumps in the tree and stays really still until I toss them and go back in the house. Then, when the coast is clear he grabs the peanuts and will bury them around the yard.

He's pretty cute.