moved

Hey - my blog has moved - you can check me out at goodyniosi.wordpress.com

blogging

sorry - got totally bored with mindless blogging.

I will resume - honest

probably on my month long trip - that will give me interesting things to blog about - and hopefully great photos too!

Vegetable Garden

It occurred to me to finally take some photos of our thriving vegetable patch - some patch - as you can see, it's huge. And the sunflowers are only just beginning to shoot up. Was weeding this morning - few things feel better than working in the garden on a warm sunny day.

This is looking past the Kohlrabi in the foreground way over to turnips in the back.

My lettuce - I sow new seeds (many varieties) in blocks every three weeks or so - a constant supply of fresh young mixed lettuce - enough to feed at least three families all summer long.

Swiss Chard - just keep picking the outer leaves and we have it all spring, summer and fall

Kale of course - enough for cooking and tons of kale chips

Pole beans of course - I swear by Kentucky Wonder Green Pod - I've been growing them since year dot and my mother grew them before me. A bit of a late start this year but they're coming along.

Raspberries and peas - the English peas (my favs) are almost ready. I can taste them now, slowly simmered in  butter in a covered pan - maybe enhanced with a touch of dill.

We also have corn, parsnips, celery, strawberries, blueberries and all kinds of squash.

There's just nothing quite like growing your own food.

Mount Benson

We could not possibly have picked a finer day for going up Mount Benson

As you can see, the view from the top today was glorious!

The dogs (Abby and Ocean) had a brief rest on the steep uphill - although I suspect they weren't really resting - just waiting for us (what's taking you so long?).

Roman joined us and didn't have to work nearly as hard as we did.

And, of course, we all enjoyed a nice rest at the top. Soaking up sun and manufacturing lots of Vitamin D.

Gratitude #57

I was thinking today as I was walking on the Cable Bay trail in a summer sun-induced stupor - how insanely happy I am. Sure I'm happy because of the simple things: sunshine, a perfect day of working in the garden and making it look gorgeous - a day of harvesting sweet strawberries and a monster bowl of kale - a day of driving into town and shopping for groceries - a day of just plain contentment. I love the sound of the tractor in the field starting the hay-making process.

But my thoughts also turned to the origins of this happiness. I've been feeling increasingly happy over the last few years - especially in the past 12 months or so. And then it occurred to me that the times of greatest contentment in my life have been when I was single and unattached.

I have been married twice and I have been in several relationships. After the initial euphoria (infatuation stage) I honestly admit that the relationships have not added to my happiness.

I wonder if perhaps some people thrive better on their own. It's absolutely true that autonomy is my greatest strength. I do my best work alone and have worked independently most of my life. I am self motivated. I derive immense satisfaction and achieve great peace in my own company. I do better on my own.

In the past, whenever I have been in a relationship, I have given parts of myself away. Not good. It's a sure way to sabotage myself and the relationship. There could and surely are any number of factors that have combined to make me reasonably rotten at relationships and spectacularly good on my own. I'm sure those factors include childhood influences but I'm not in the least bit interested in rooting around and digging them up and assigning blame for my current condition.

Rather, I'm eager to celebrate my happiness. I have dear friends and a wonderful dog. My life is phenomenal. And I have arranged for my life to be exactly the way it is. I love it.

Gratitude #56

I know it rained most of the day - again - but still - how can I not be ecstatically grateful for the fact that at 6 p.m. I was able to go into the garden - a garden flooded with sunshine - and pick a monster bowl of Swiss chard and another big bowl of ripe, red strawberries?

And now the sun is pouring in through the window and heating the whole house to a point where it is actually hot! Yes!

This is what I'm talking about! This is enough for any human to be grateful for. The smell of fresh ripe strawberries fills the room - heady and intoxicating.

Gratitude #55

The trick is not to let the rain and cold get you down. I was just sitting here, bemoaning the July weather (juluary) when a lovely sunny photo I recently took at Maple Mountain popped up on my wallpaper. Ah yes, said I, the sun has been here and it is coming back.

So today, I will celebrate the ultimate stay-at-home and do nothing long weekend holiday. Tomorrow I will work and perhaps the day after or the day after that the sun will shine. It will be warm. We will have summer - and it will seem all the better because we waited for it for so long.

Now that I have a day of not working in the garden as I had fully intended to do, I could tackle other things - things to do inside the house. I could, for instance, clean out the fridge and get rid of all the little green aliens lurking in the far corners and inside ancient jars of mustard. I could - probably won't though. Oh - by the way folks, if you ever feel like giving me a present (graciously accepted at all times), don't make it chow chow or pickles or anything else you put in jars. I have never understood the purpose of these things. I believe people put these relishes on meat - I don't eat meat. Even if (and when) I did, I still don't get it. They taste either too sweet or too salty and contain foods that are often perfectly good eaten in their fresh raw state. For some reason, every summer, someone gives me a homemade jar of preserved something that looks pretty mushy and could well contain the stuff I cleaned out of my fridge last year. So don't do it.

Cash is good.

So are books

And hugs.

And smiles.

Did I mention cash?