Mint Tea

The mint patch is exploding! There is spearmint, peppermint, pineapple mint and chocolate mint. We have been enjoying fresh mint tea every day.

I just grab a handful of assorted mint from the patch, four or five large sprigs. I wash them outside so any critters stay outside. I tie the sprigs together with a bit of twine and hang them in a pitcher. I pour boiling water over the mint and let steep for a long while. While the water is still hot, I mix in a bit of raw honey. You could skip this step, but raw honey has many healing properties and it gives the tea a full taste.

We drink it iced, as it has been warm here in Southern California. It is also great hot. I usually take the pitcher outside so I can refill my glass as I enjoy the garden. Try it, it soothes the tummy and tastes delicious! Blessing on your day...

Ahh...

I ate our first raspberry this morning. It was sweet and delicious. I felt guilty not sharing it with the family, but it was one raspberry, just one. If I left it, a bird would have eaten it. Not that I begrudge the birds a bit of the garden. I always plant enough for them AND for us. But this little berry, it was so lovely hiding behind the now wild, green leaves.

My youngest is suffering from a terrible case of tonsillitis. I brewed a strong tea from oregano leaves from the herb garden. He was a trooper. It is tough stuff. Oregano is a great antiseptic and can knock nasty bacteria right out of you. He was able to take it by the spoonful, I just kept telling him to look at it as medicine, not tea. He is so miserable, he conceded. I love that we have these plants at the ready, that we trust them and acknowledge their power. I will take him to the doctor, just to be sure. However, we will continue with the oregano and echinacea tea and sea salt and sage gargle. In the meantime, I feel so lucky to be able to be caring for my boy-man. He will be 16 soon. He is over 6 feet and a tangle of arms, legs and bony knees and elbows. It is nice to be needed. 

The garden is watered, new seedlings are planted in the beds, laundry is hanging to dry on the line, and my boy is soundly sleeping, resting, healing. Blessings on your day!

Potting Bench

My heart has been wanting a potting bench for an eternity. A place to store the garden tools, fertilizer and odds and ends. I am not in the position to spend a lot of money on luxuries of this sort. Besides, I love the thrill of a thrifted find. 

I have been scouting thrift stores for something that looks like a potting bench, but only costs $5. I found a thrift store that has a kind of scary back part. This is where they keep large furniture and stuff with damage. I found a large window frame yesterday for $2. I nailed it onto a raised bed so the tomatoes can climb up the frame.

I was feeling lucky, so I hit the thrift store again. I found two metal card tables and six pieces of pre-cut wood for $1 each. I also found a large wooden tool box for a steep $10. The last thing was a little pricey, but I knew I would use it. A nice gentleman loaded it into my car. Before I went home, I thought I would stop at the fabric store to see if they had any cute oilcloth by the yard. Well, they called something oilcloth, but IT WAS NOT oilcloth. I roamed about a bit more in the clearance section and found a small piece of outdoor fabric that had been marked down from $9 a yard to $3 a yard.

I brought everything home and became inspired. I tied the fabric onto one of the tables with a bit of hemp twine. Then I nailed the six boards onto the tool box, forming shelves. I hammered nails into the boards and some leftover hooks from my picture hanging. I painted a little decoration on it and proceeded to hang up tools, baskets, etc.

The final price: $24

I still want some oilcloth, the fabric is pretty and rugged, but not so practical. Until I find it, I will water everything elsewhere.

I love repurposing. It makes me happy. It lights a fire in me. 

Public Service Announcement

I have a few readers out there who stop by and leave a few words of encouragement now and again. It really lifts my spirits! It has come to my attention that there are other lurkers reading this simple blog. Their intentions are not so pure. This public service announcement is for them.

To clear a few things up:

I am from Hawaii.

This is where the majority of my family lives. I go and visit them sometimes. They are dear to me and help me when I am in a crisis. I could be from Scranton, or Boise, or Lincoln. However, I am not. It is my good fortune to hail from an island paradise. Sorry. I think this would be a non-issue for my ill-intentioned lurkers if I were from someplace less exotic. Again, I apologize for my good fortune.

All of my grandparents are buried somewhere on the island of Oahu.

In April, my family celebrates Bai-San. This is a Chinese Ceremony celebrated by my family since before I was born. I have missed the last few, due to my back injury and other single-mother commitments.

The festival involves visiting ALL of our ancestors graves, bringing their favorite food, drink and money wrapped in red paper. This lets our loved ones know that we are thinking of them and wish them well on the other side.

There are two reasons I took this pilgrimage to Oahu. One being this very important religious ceremony, the other being that I was desperate to see my family. It has been a trying year, the injury, the uncooperative insurance company, the surgery, and the mind and body-numbing black hole of depression, I have been swimming in since this quagmire began to name a few. These are the reasons. 

I did not go to sunbathe or frolic in the ocean. I was able to swim in the ocean once. Why? Because it rained night and day nearly every day I was there. One can check the weather report for Kailua, HI. Rain, rain, rain. There were three sunny days my entire stay.

 As one of my posts indicated, mainly I spent time with my family, read books, sewed with my Aunty and did yoga. My doctor has prescribed yoga for me and insists I go as much as I am able. To be candid, I only take the gentle classes as my fused spine has many limitations and I must be very careful.

The day I was stung by the Man O war, I was not swimming. I was watching my ten year old nephew  play in the canal that feeds into Kailua Bay. It was a windy day, with some light showers. The Man O War ride onto shore in the wind and get buried in the sand.  As I stood watching my young cousin catching minnows in the canal, I stepped on a jelly fish that had come in with the high tide. Yep, just stepped right on that sucker.

The wound was okay the first day, I put crushed papaya leaves on the wound to draw out the poison, but I was too late. 

I awoke the next day, my foot had swelled up to the size of a melon and was blistering. I went to an urgent care facility, the doctor prescribed steroids to shrink the swelling. She also advised me that I needed to extend my flight another four or five days. According to the doctor's orders, I extended my flight by four days. 

She was afraid that due to the permanent nerve damage in my right leg and foot from my back injury and the severe swelling, that I was at risk of a blood clot should I fly.

Was I disappointed about having to stay with my family for four more days? Well, not really. I love my family and Hawaii is a long way away. I do not see them often enough.

I also spent the time trying to get my life in order. I have been bogged down by depression, the loss of my career, loss of friends, and a general feeling of BAD as I contemplate my next steps. I have not been able to get a grasp of this at home, surrounded by the reminders of all this injury has taken away from me.

This made my trip a total of 13 days. NOT three weeks, as rumored by my lurkers.

I spent time looking forward and trying to figure out my future. My reputation has been ruined, my life uprooted. I went to my island home to re-group. That is all. I know for some, Hawaii is an exotic getaway. It is a time for para-sailing and kayaking, lounging on the beach and swimming in the ocean. For me, it is going home, to visit the people who know me, who help me clear my head, who support me and carry me gently in their hearts.

I hope this clears things up for my lurkers. I know you are there. I did nothing wrong. I was injured at work. I was treated badly by the insurance company, by my employer and by the law.  I am just trying to piece a broken life back together the best I know how. There is no hidden motive, I just want to reconcile this trying year. There is nothing to be ashamed of, it is a modest goal.

To my loyal readers AND my lurkers, be well and do good work. Namaste.

I watched a Bird Today

I could have been buying toilet paper and ice. Instead, I watched a bird. I watched this black bird flit from garden bed to garden bed, mulberry tree to plum tree. It even sat upon Basil Buddha's head for a moment. I had a book, I had a glass of mint water. Instead, I watched a bird. I watched as it turned it's head to and fro, hopping from tomato plant to hollyhock. To Cosmo and Rasberry patch it lighted.  Softly it landed, swiftly it flew away. This particular bird has been visiting the garden daily. But today, after planting corn and trimming the rosemary and hanging it to dry along the clothesline, I sat and watched this bird. I watched a bird today. Among all of the tasks I tended to today, this task, watching the bird-has been by far, the most satisfying. 

Home

I missed my home. I missed my family, I missed my love. I missed my garden. I have spent a few days tending to slug bitten leaves, deadheading neglected flowers and planting new seedlings. I have also planted more flowers, inviting the great pollinators to my yard. The vegetable plants are beginning to flower and are in dire need of a kiss from a butterfly or bee.

My love did a fine job caring our plot of land in my absence. He admits though, that it all looks a bit better now that I am here. I told him I don't do anything special. Mostly I smile at the growing plants. I talk to them and inspect them for critters. When I see a butterfly or bee or praying mantis or ladybug, I always whisper, "Welcome to our garden!" If someone were watching me, they might think me odd or crazy. Maybe I am, a little. 

I sat on a chair last evening, just by the mint pot. As I visited with a friend, I munched on spearmint with jasmine blossoms in my hair. Not a bad way to spend a bit of time. I think before all is said and done, the backyard will be transformed into a small farm. Each time I pass a large, empty, grassy lawn, I imagine all the food that could be grown, all the bugs and birds that would find solace there.

I long for a small beehive, a duck to eat those pesky slugs that feast on my radish greens, a chicken or two and a small painting studio. I see it all so clearly. Which means it is only a vision away! Off to the garden...

We Have Not Come To take Prisoners

We have not come here to take prisoners,

But to surrender ever more deeply

To freedom and joy.

We have not come into this exquisite world

To hold ourselves hostage from love.

Run my dear,

From anything

That may not strengthen

Your precious budding wings.

Run like hell my dear,

From anyone likely 

To put a sharp knife

Into the sacred, tender vision 

Of your beautiful heart.

We have a duty to befriend

Those aspects of obedience

That stand outside of our house

And shout to our reason

"O please, O please,

Come out and play."

For we have not come here to take prisoners

Or to confine our wondrous spirits,

But to experience ever more deeply

Our divine courage, freedom, and

Light!

-Hafiz