Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Life changing events

Many things have happened to me during the last month. Life changing events. We found out we were pregnant. My boyfriend and I were not trying but had talked about having a child in the past. I already have two great children. I love babies so you could imagine how excited I was. Although I am older I figured I was in very good shape and healthy, so I would be able to have a healthy pregnancy. My last two went very well. We decide to get married. It would be the first time for me. I was happy. It meant real commitment and love. We had a beautiful small wedding at our Buddhist center. Our teacher married us and after we ate gluten free pizza and wonderful salads from a local restaurant. We stayed in a French Inn for the weekend. The next week I had a miscarriage, more about this later, and now Christmas. I love Christmas! I found this coloring book that has doodles to color and fill in. "The Usborne book of drawing doodling and coloring for Christmas." So I colored a page. Here it is. My daughter colored two pages and my son's girlfriend colored one. My son drew pictures of his own. We had a good time. Now I am getting ready for holiday goodies. Making lots of fun homemade gifts. The best kind. You know love went into them. Happy gift making everyone!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Tea time tea, time time for you and me time - Chai Tea

Chai tea is my favorite. I used to drink it 3 times a day. It was the Oregon Chai packed full of caffeine and sugar. I was so unhealthy I had to stop drinking it. I no longer use caffeine or sugar I decided to make my own chai. I needed to start with a good base tea. I chose Rooibos. It has a flavor close to black tea but no caffeine and many healthy benefits. See below. Then I added all the Indian whole spices ( cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, cloves, black pepper, and to add chocolate flavor because I am a chocoholic, cocoa nibs)  I like in my chai and yum! It turned out so delicious. Then you can sweeten it with anything you like. I add chocolate almond milk or coconut milk. It turns out super good every time!
Health Benefits of Rooibos
The health benefits of Red Bush are very similar to tea made from camellia sinensis leaves.
  1. Contains similar amounts of polyphenols and has been shown to be anti-carcinogenic, anti-mutagenic, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral activity.
  2. Naturally caffeine-free so is ideal for people who want to cut back on caffeine or want to drink it before going to bed. Actually it’s recommended you drink it before going to bed as it can help with insomnia. It’s also very low in tannins.
  3. Contains calcium, manganese and fluoride to help build strong teeth and bones.
  4. Can be given to infants suffering from colic, sleeping problems or stomach cramps. 
  5. Contains alpha hydroxy acid and zinc which is great for the skin. You can even apply it directly to the skin to help with acne, eczema and sunburn etc.
  6. People with kidney stones can drink it because there’s no oxalic acid.
  7. Full of vitamins and minerals such as zinc, copper, calcium, manganese, magnesium, potassium.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Sweet potato cookies for a chilly nilly fall morning!

On a chilly morning I decided to make some cookies, to warm the place up a bit. I started with some coconut flour. My new addition to my gluten free baking. This flour is a little hard to work with. If you take a recipe with wheat flour use a little bit less coconut flour and add more wet ingredients then your set.
I wanted to make some pumpkin cookies but ended up making sweet potato because that's what I had. So they turned out delicious. First I made an ordinary batch then added some goodies. Yummm...
Here is the recipe. Enjoy!
Sweet potato cookies

1/2 cup coconut flour and 1/2 cup almond meal
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 cup canned puree sweet potato
3 eggs
1/4 agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup roasted pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Mix dry ingredients together and then mix wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Combine together add pumpkin seeds and chocolate chips. spoon onto cookie sheet and bake for 15 to 29 minutes. Cool a bit and eat. Now you have a warm house and delicious cookies to eat. They wont last long because they are so tasty!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

My two favorite bands right now.

I have not figured out how to add music to my blog, so I thought I would post about some music I like. Here are the lyrics to some great songs. 

I am amazed at how well they write these and mix them with the music. 
Living in the twilight


You look darkly on the day
With memories to light your way
A little sad but it's all right
We are always living in twilight
No one knocks upon your door
Until you don't care anymore
A little alone but it's all right
We are always living in twilight
Living in a dream, walking in between the sunrise and sunset
Living in a dream, walking in between sunset and sunrise
You get tied up in your day, so I let go and walk away
And now we're loose ends of the night
We are always living in twilight
So it goes, though no one knows you like they used to do
Have a drink the sky is sinking toward a deeper blue
And you're still all right
Step out into twilight
So I stumble home at night
Like I've stumbled through my life
With ghosts and visions in my sight
We are always living in twilight

By "The Weepies" this song
This is my new favorite band. They have great folkie tunes. All about love. Once again like "The Submarines " my other favorite band they are married and write songs together. I love it! I would listen to Be my thrill, Add my effort, Be my honeypie, Hummingbird, and How do you get high. Those are my favorites. I like the old songs as well like the one above. Good rain music.
The New Weepies album "Be my Thrill" you can listen to on the Whole foods blog. Here is another song that I think is awesome! Their video's are cool, artistic and kid friendly. Can't go back now

Shoelaces

I've had better days than this
Words trip like untied shoelaces
Still you're worth falling down for once in a while
And I'm inclined to admit
With you and I this could be it
And something's telling me we'll know before too long
Are you really going out there on your own?
These tangled lines all come undone
How did it feel when you let go?
You try your luck in your best suit
Tied to a broken parachute
It's the hole in my heart you fell through
Try eating tea leaves and the stars and all the days we were apart 
Maybe my mind wasn't made up but I chose love
Still I'm inclined to admit
With you and I this might be it
These failed predictions kept us wondering all the time
I never want to let you down
So why not cut these strings before we hit the ground?
And now you're out there on your own
These tangled lines all come undone
Tell me how it feels letting go
You try your luck in your best suit
Tied to a broken parachute
It's the hole in my heart you fell through
If you say I'm wrong I'll say you're wrong
No one has to be right
I've had better days than this
And if you say you're wrong I'll say I'm wrong
Nothing could be worth this fight
We try our luck not our strong suit
We can't give up this parachute
Oh the hole in my heart you fell through 
by "The Submarines" this song
Of course I still love The Submarines here is their link. They have a more rocking tech no sound. I love the two singing together. They have this new album, the old songs are so good!  Myspace The Submarines
Have fun listening. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. The Submarines have a soft place in my heart! They have really good video's too! You can check them out on youtube. 
My other favorite song Tigers! Call in the tigers...



Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The wreath shop with flowers hanging to dry.

We made head dresses of flowers.


Robin liked the cows!
The pyramid, Evangeline is at the top in a blue tank top.
This weekend we attended the Hoe's Down festival at Full Belly Farm. We drove into the farm, into a line to get in. There were thousands of happy farm goers there. As we waited in line Robin said, " oh I know what it means now!" "What?", I said. He answered, " The Hoe's in Hoe's Down means they put their Hoe's down and have a party." We all laughed, myself, Evangeline, and Gillian( by the way, I love this name!) As we pulled in we were so excited to be on the farm and also out of the car after a long, over an hour drive. We proceeded to find the activities, while walking along the orchard we found some fig trees. The girls ran to find figs that were ripe. We all ate many of them, they were wonderful! Nothing better than fresh off the tree fruit! We continued our walk through the orchard. the girls tried to find out what kind of trees they were. Gillian said they were walnuts. Indeed she peeled the skin and stepped on the cover and out popped a walnut in it's shell. She stepped on it again to discover a delicious walnut and shared it with us all. Robin picked some too. They were good, fresh and moist. As we approached the festival we saw pumpkins, and many vendors selling all kinds of crafts. There was a kids area that had a huge hay bale pyramid with tunnels inside. The girls ran to it climbing right to the top! They hid from each other, they chased each other and had a great time. We made head dresses, the girls painted gourds and saw the circus act. Then we went in a weed maze and carved pumpkins then we saw a story telling magician. The girls fell asleep in the car on the way home.  It was a fun time on the farm!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

I want to ride my bicycle!




I rode my bike for the first time in years. It was so fun! It almost feels like flying. I like to walk but riding a bike is faster and you can still see all the little things you can see when walking. Like flowers, people, tree's and all of nature. My rusty old cruiser bike was so happy to be going again. She was tired of sitting in the garage. While riding I saw a beautiful victorian house with an amazing paint job. Purple my favorite color tan and brown. It was super cool. One of the balconies had overlapping shingles, stained glass on the windows and a tower on top. I wonder who lives there? If they are happy when they are at home? There was a beautiful sounding fountain in the back yard. There was also some beautiful plants all around. I bet the back yard was full of plants as well. Hey maybe I will make a weekly entry for the adventures on my bike. So, until another time on my bike, look for another one soon!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Delicious Pancakes

This morning I made some delicious, wheat free, sugar free pancakes! They are so light and fluffy. I got the recipe from Mark Sisson. Who is my boyfriends favorite guy. He is 50 years old and looks 30. He has many cookbooks. The one this recipe is in is "The Primal Blueprint Cookbook" It is called Coconut pancakes. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/ This is his daily blog. I think he has a lot of interesting things to say about nutrition. The thing I don't like is all the meat recipe's but there are some good recipe's in there. This recipe is great! It is very simple. I added chocolate chips to this mornings pancakes because I love chocolate. I used the grain sweetened chocolate chips. Delicious! I have been trying to make more baked goods with coconut flour an noticed they are very crumbly. So I am thinking maybe it is because there is nothing to hold them together. So possibly the 3 eggs in these pancakes is what the baked goods need. So if your interested in making a great wheat free, sugar free pancake recipe then try this one.  

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Some of my Art

A water color I did a few weeks ago
I am working on this one today!
Here is the drawing I did last night. I like all the texture and the colors. It developed slowly with random colors, but it turned out to be autumn colors.
Art is an expression of one's self.



Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Thorn's in my heart

Yesterday I felt like this! Thorn's in my heart. One after another pricking each part of my heart. Well maybe it was the other way around? Now that I look at this picture.  I can see the thorn's are sticking out. So maybe I was the pricking everybody else. Either way it did not feel very good. When I was a kid in the 70's we had a few tools called cold prickly and warm fuzzy.  Of course I always wanted to be a warm fuzzy. How do we feel like a warm fuzzy? With love and compassion, cherishing others. I was so concerned with myself and how I was being treated that I turned into a cold prickly. Anyone who spoke to me would be pricked and I would get pricked too. How could I possibly turn from a cold hearted frustrated prickly to a warm cozy fuzzy? I stopped thinking of myself and thought about all the other people who feel like cold pricklies. They hurt being pricked and pricking others. Just causing pain wherever they go. Compassion built in me and I realized others feel the way I do. It feels horrible. If we all felt like this we would harm each other pricking with every move. Slowly turning everyone into a cold pricklies. This is how life in samsara can be one pain after another. Trapped to feel cold pricklies all the time. It is our mind that causes us to do this from bad habits. But we can change our mind! Is this how we really want to live? I don't think so. What we really want is Love, support, kindness, happiness. We want to feel like a warm cozy fuzzy filled with love and happiness. So why do we keep hurting ourselves and others. Maybe we are attached to feeling this cold prickly way because it has been a habit forever. Either way I know I don't want to feel cold and prickly. Warm and fuzzy is so much better. I just read the story for the first time since I was a kid.  You can too if you like.... Warm Fuzzy Cold Prickly Story What I learned from re reading this story was that we can become easily swayed to think only of ourselves. This in turn destroys our life, makes problems for ourself and others. But if we think about others, have compassion for them and realize how we are hurting them and ourselves with this cold prickly attitude, we can wish them happiness or warm fuzzies and all will be well. So lesson learned. Always keep a supply of warm fuzzies in your bag!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

When JeTsongkhapa was Born

Buddha Shakamuni said that Manjushri would be born in The Land of the Snows in 1357 to 1419. JeTsongkhapa lived in Tibet, The Land of the Snows during 1357 to 1419. He was born in 1357 and a drop of the blood from his mother fell to the ground. A white sandal tree grew in that spot. There were one hundred thousand  leaves on the tree with images of Manjushri and Manjushri's mantra 
AH RA PA TSA NA DHI. 
The leaves were considered very precious, and when they fell in Autumn the people would gather them and grind them into a powder. Through tasting this powder many people have been able to cure disease and gain wisdom. 

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Making Jewelry

I have so many beads and wire, yet I still get stumped on what to make. This week I made some bracelets, and earrings. It is a process of creativity to put colors together and make something wearable. Sometimes I sit with beads in front of me, hoping to get a creative streak. Eventually it comes and I can see the beads that go together. Here is one earring that I made. Silver findings with a glass bead that has white flowers and a black background. They are beautiful and small. There is a new fashion in earrings lately. One is shorter than the other. Mismatched is in. What do you think about this? Would you wear mismatched earrings?

Miracle's do they appear?



It would be great to make the theme of this year- Miracles. If you expect a miracle every day what would happen? The things we experience are here one minute and gone the next. Things that appear to our mind to be good or bad may be a miracle in disguise. If you expect a miracle you will see a miracle even in what appears to be a bad experience. There may be a miracle hidden inside ready to be discovered but if we are so caught up in the bad experience we will miss it. What kinds of miracles will we experience? Or miss because we chose not to see them? With the thought that we might experience a miracle every day we keep a happy mind always looking for the special experience to happen. What miracles have you seen in the Year 2011? What is a miracle and how do we see them? An unexpected experience good or bad. A friend of mine was driving and got a flat tire. Someone stopped to help, this person was meant to meet them and help them discover meditation classes. The classes changed their life in a positive way. Can you spot a miracle in your life or others? If you see life as an adventure, saying I wonder what will happen next? Let's see without any judgement. If you have a positive mind maybe the miracles will appear. Open up your heart and let the sunshine in, face it with a grin. Miracles happen weather your aware of them or not. It's your choice to see them or wear blinders and plug away at life. If you expect a miracle then maybe you will see one. It may not come in the way you would expect it to. It may surprise you. One day you will say wow that was a miracle. My theme of the year is expect a miracle!