Little Gems with big impact

    With summer just around the corner, gardening on the farm and that little bit I do at the cottage by the sea is in full swing. 

    Mowing happens weekly,  weeding happens almost daily - and here's what I discovered about that... It's much easier to take a four prong rake and simply claw through the soil in a garden regularly than bend over and hand pick out weeds now and then.  I suck at the hand picking, because I get lazy about it and it gets, well.. out of hand.  The frequent raking is so much easier.  And the plants love the "aired out" soil.  

      As I do that little chore I remember how I learned this simple technique -  wise words of an old farmer friend, Louie.  He was a master gardener, and he kept his secrets close to the vest.  Now and then he'd toss us a gem. One of those was... "you like to breathe, don't you?  Well... so do the plants."  79 year old Louie passed years ago, suddenly, out in his garden.  A sad day. A post on the old gardener, HERE.  

   Living on a farm, but not having grown up on one... takes work,  mistakes happen, and a readjustment of the sails is needed, frequently.   We've had a small horse farm for 30 years - but only for the last 8 have we lived here at This Old House among fields of hay.  It had pretty much gone to the weeds when we acquired the property - How many of you knew that growing hay isn't as simple as letting the grass get really really long and then cutting it?  (we didn't).  Indeed.. there is a whole science to growing good feed hay and even mulch hay or cow feed hay (which has different requirements than horse hay)  - from the type of seed you plant, to the ridding of unwanted and even toxic weeds, to the amount of sun and rain available that season, to the number of DRY days strung together so you can cut it at the right time, toss it, let it dry, toss it again, and get it baled up and off the fields before the rain comes.  Then there's the baling or rolling. 

   We've just started our first cutting - a little late due to the number of rainy and cold  days we've had.  What we notice this year is we added in too much clover in a few sections of some of the fields...   Clover molds up easily in hay bales - and mold in a hay bale means you throw it out instead of feeding it.  Cows and their multiple stomachs have more tolerance for crap hay than horses do, but with horses you don't want colic (bad stomach ache that can turn deadly) ... so you throw out any bales that are iffy.  That costs money. 

    You learn as you grow. 

    Speaking of learning - on the better health front, I've discovered having lived with fibromyalgia for a while now, two things are very important to anyone living with chronic pain.  

     First - despite the pain you feel daily,  KEEP MOVING. Unless of course you're actually injuring yourself more. (your doctor can direct you)   It really does help you feel better and keeps you mobile.  My cousin has a severe form of arthritis, has since he was very young.  He gets regular IV infusions of a strong drug that helps him keep going.  And keep going he does -  having just completed a 70 mile mountain bike ride.  He is my hero.   As for me, I've been light weight training out in the gym, hiking with the dogs, kayaking occasionally and walking/running on the tread mill when the hiking is hindered by weather or heat.   

     

     Secondly -  what you put in your mouth matters.   Besides the increased exercise I've also been trying to eat better - I know after several attempts over the years to conform to certain diets,  I'm just not gonna stick to it.  What I can do is be more conscientious about what I put in my mouth.  It really and truly is all about what you put in your mouth.  The icing is the exercise but it all starts with consumption. 

  Something else I feel very strongly about -  A good way to bring more joy to your own life, to feel a sense of accomplishment,  for better mental health and a connection to your community, a connection to people in general, and a way to focus on the positive aspects of life instead of being dragged down into the swamp muck that also exists -  is to be a part of the good works going on out there.  Volunteer in whatever  capacity you are able - don't ever doubt that even the smallest outreaches have value.  Every drop in the ocean contributes to that ocean. 

    I was recently the recipient of the Melvin Jones Fellow Award given by the Lions Club International in our community for my humanitarian contributions in our little town.   What an inspirational evening it was, with my family in attendance.  To be among like minded people who are so giving of themselves, so caring and motivated to make change for the better in our community and in society itself is uplifting.  It makes the other not so pleasant "stuff" of life seem not so imposing, looming, dooming.   This doesn't mean you have to commit to joining a club, either -  I am not a Lion.   

    Some easy ideas - Got grain bags? Collect the discarded ones and give them to someone who recycles them into tote bags. Recycling is an awesome thing to do for our environment.  Got stuff you don't need or wear anymore?  Give to the local Salvation Army or Good Will.  Volunteer at the local dog shelter once a week - walk a dog, get in your exercise- win win.  Love books?  Got a volunteer local library?  Take a shift.  Donate Blood.  Like to knit?  Make hats for the homeless, make lap blankets for those who live in a local nursing home.  Bake for the church events, the fire house events.  Join the walks at the Relay for Life events held around the nation.   It's awesome if you're financially well off enough that you can give monetary donations to causes you believe in, but that doesn't have to be the case.  Your time, your caring contributions are just as valuable. 

  When I saw this picture after the event I said - Jeez, Karen - go get a haircut. And so I did. 

 Side note:   The sharing of these pics is not intended to imply that I believe I'm - all that- in any way.  But I have learned to appreciate all that is good about me, instead of the laser focus I used to have on all that is not perfect.  What a perfect waste of time.  If you're doing that to you, stop the nonsense.   Take stock of your strengths and nourish them. Encourage the art of looking for the good, in you and in others.  The ripple effect, ya know - that drop in the ocean?  yeah. 

  So about that hair cut - Another tip that was passed along to me and I'll share with you.  I'm not one to fuss a heck of a lot with the aging experience or make up and hair.  I'm hoping like everyone else that  I stick around for along while and age gracefully and naturally.  I love LOOONG hair, but for most of us it's not particularly flattering to just let it grow out and hang there, drab and without decent shape.  That ages us.  I'm lazy about going to the hairdresser, admittedly.  There's no doubt, though, when I get in there and tell them to lift me up, indeed they do.   So take care of yourself in the little ways that help us appreciate who we are and what we have.  It matters. 

  A shout out to my niece, who graduated from Uconn... and landed a job in their finance department!  Yesterday the family gathered at The Mansion at Bald Hill in Woodstock, CT to celebrate her accomplishment and future success - 

 

 

    

Thanks for stopping by -