34 by 35: Routine vs. Ritual

Take the time to smell the roses.

It's the last week of school, which means in four days, I will be enjoying days that stretch out like blank canvases. That means sleeping in, lounging around, wandering aimlessly around my house staring at books and projects, trying to decide what to accomplish, then getting caught up in a project and forgetting to eat and then realizing that it's 3 pm and I haven't really accomplished a whole lot, nor have I eaten anything yet. Then getting stressed because I'm not being as healthy or as productive as I wanted to be! Ah! Sounds...awful.

If you're anything like me, you actually do better with some routine in your life (you also live in denial of this fact and love breaking out of routine because the word "routine" itself sounds confining and, well, boring). For example, you are more likely to make that dentist appointment, get those taxes done, or make that gift when you have a structured day (wake, work, come home, exercise, eat dinner, etc).

So this summer, I am going to create a summer morning ritual (a much better word than "routine") which will hopefully jump start my days into a positive productive motion that will enable me to enjoy my time in a healthy and accomplished way. I will start off each day de-stressing in a purposeful way.

Here's the plan, inspired by the ladies at the Maven Circle:

1. When I wake up, I'm going to drink water and eat a small breakfast like a green smoothie, bit of yogurt, a banana, or a piece of toast. I habitually don't drink enough water, and it makes such a huge difference in my energy level and skin when I do. So hydration first thing, as well as a small snack to give me a little boost through step 3.

2. I am then going to read for at least a half an hour. Anything I want. Blogs or novels or articles. Just read.

3. I will then exercise. This might mean a walk, a hike, a run, a bike ride, a bike ride to a yoga class, or a Pilates DVD. It might be 10 minutes of exercise or an hour, but every day I'm going to do something.

4. Shower, brush teeth, get dressed. Even if I plan on staying home all day, I will feel refreshed and ready for the day.

5. Meditate for at least 10 minutes.

6. Eat a real meal, maybe some eggs or a sandwich. Something yummy and fulfilling.

Then I will start my goals for the a day, be they wedding plans or working on projects around the house or even just going and sitting by the river because it's too hot to do much else. At least I'll have started my day off in a healthy way.

What rituals or routines do you try to maintain to keep you healthy and productive?

Here's an update on my list. I've made a few minor changes based on some realities.

34 by 35 list of goals.
Deadline: Jan. 15, 2013

Wedding:
1. Wedding favors, embroidery design, and labels. Started to some degree.
2. Handmade bridesmaid gifts. One done, one almost done, two designed.
3. Creative aspect for the ceremony that is true to us. Perhaps a poem? Started.
4. Be super organized and thus more ability to relax as people start to arrive to town: create a calendar and stay on schedule. Going to revisit this on Friday. A bit off schedule.
5. Help with handmade invites and create a way to display photos. Invites in the mail.
6. Enjoy every second of our wedding day.

Garden:
7. Build an herb spiral. Done but not planted.
8. Build a pond.
9. Landscape around redbud and apple tree. Sheet mulched and in progress.
10. Strawberry (and borage?) patch
11. Prep garden for spring 2013 planting
12. Try vermicomposting (again).

Chickens/Ducks:
13. Slaughter 1 chicken myself.
14. Get baby chickens.
15. Help build new coop in side yard.
16. Get ducks. I'm honestly not sure that this is a realistic goal for this year because of the prep work that needs to be done.

Bees:
17. Go to beekeepers meetings
18. Learn more about TPH management
19. Get a colony for new Langstroth hive It's too late for this, but that's ok. We didn't force it. B. built a hive and we're ready for more bees when the time is right.

Travel:
20. Get a new passport
21. Save money for Fiji
22. Go backpacking this summer

Physical health:
23. Run a 10k
24. Get bike fixed. Done.
25. Bike to yoga 1x per week-2x per month With the exception of when I was sick, I am being pretty good with both 25 and 26.
26. Run/bike/hike 12-25 miles per week

Tend:
27. Renew teaching cert. Done
28. Clean kitchen top-to-toe
29. Paint trim inside house
30. Make bedroom and closet curtains
31. Sand, stain, paint, and make front porch look pretty.

Learn/create:
32. Learn to knit and finish at least one project Develop embroidery work and keep designing and creating.
33. Read 10 books, including one on film.
34. Continue to develop identity and readership for blog. Ideas and lists are being made.

10 list

Sunflower by Liz Collins

What are you grateful for? Take a moment to reflect and be thankful. Happy weekend!

1. Sunflowers!
2. The creative people in my life.
3. The first cherries of the season.
4. Summer reading lists.
5. Crisp sunny mornings after a rainy night.
6. Cloudy days for sipping coffee and grading.
7. The approach of summer.
8. Streaks of light lingering in the sky well after 9 pm.
9. My talented and loving life partner.
10. Elephants.

Please feel free to comment with some of your own blessings in life. xo.

The Sunflower Project

Sunflowers represent the sun. They represent adoration, as they follow the sun's path across the day's sky. They are symbols and examples of the golden ration. They are a combination of beauty and utility. Bees love them. They are easy to grow and yet impressive. They are perfect for the permaculturalist because of their ability to provide shade, borders, beauty, seeds, oil, and food for the pollinators.

I love them.

In my dining room hangs the above photograph of a sunflower from my garden two years ago. Above it, a framed photograph from my mom of a field of sunflowers on a breezy Pennsylvania afternoon. On an adjacent wall hangs a close-up of two sunflowers with some baby's breath from a wedding bouquet, a photograph taken by my artistic friend Gary.

So I've dubbed our dining room the "Sunflower Room," and I'm asking for contributions. If you'd like to participate, I would love to have you mail or e-mail me your favorite sunflower photograph for me to frame and add to our Sunflower Room as a reminder of our community of friends, fellow bloggers, family, and so forth.

So if you'd like to contribute, please leave me a comment below. And thank you. 

10 list

"T" by Jacob Magraw.

While my American literature students read The Great Gatsby, I was again struck by the importance of gratitude in our lives. These characters are corrupt, hollow men and women. They follow the siren song of the American Dream, or live in spiritless boredom, destroying everything around them, once they have it. They have no gratitude, only desire. Only greed, hunger, and  the belief that they will be filled by something that will only continue to eat them.

Thus, with great gratitude, I present my list for this week:
1. This beautiful and inspiring garden of "T" by the Seattle artist Jacob Magraw. So lovely.
2. Beginning a morning ritual, even if it's just a few simple, slight changes to my morning routine.
3. Being a teacher.
4. Having the ability to surround myself with people who inspire me and push me to do better, be better.
5. A moonlit bike ride over the St. John's bridge.
6. My breath.
7. For you, reader.
8. Digging in the dirt, planting food and flowers.
9. Self-improvement and growth. I am a garden that I must tend.
10. Stories.

Johnny Appleseed: verb

This year, we are being very casual about our garden. We have a lot of landscaping that we want to do: add a back door off of the kitchen and onto a deck, where there will be a table, chairs, grill, and potted plants; move the chicken coop to the side yard and make a home for ducks as well, including building some sort of water-efficient pond that at least uses rain water and at best also utilizes some of the grey water from our house; getting rid of the grass in our front yard and adding flowering shrubs, edible plants, etc. to feed us and the bees, butterflies, birds and other beneficial little creatures.

So this year, one of our favorite words is "johnny appleseed," used as a verb, such as: "I johnny appleseeded cosmos in the front bed" or "I am going to johnny appleseed cucumber in the garden." Definition: throw seeds in a careless manner wherever you hope that that particular plant appears. So, I am curious about how stuff will turn out.

For one, apart from some cosmos, sunflower, bachelor buttons, and poppies, we haven't bought any seeds. They've been gifted to us or dug up from our old collection. Also, the sheet mulching of one of our gardens is still in progress. For months, since last November probably, I've been throwing newspaper out on that area and then covering it with used straw from the chicken coop. Thus the garden you see above. I made a pathway with cardboard, and planted kale and beans. Then I johnny appleseeded  cucumber and pumpkin seeds on the right. Brian has tomato starts going, and I have no idea what they are: probably all heirlooms left over from last year. Those are in his plastic hot house that he rigged up.

We also have a few pepper plants that will be in containers this year. Brian also built a few planter boxes along the back fence, and those have green beans, peas, and mesclun seeds. One is still empty. I might plant beets in there or stagger some green beans. I love fresh beans.

And of course, I'm staggering the planting of sunflowers, nasturtiums, and cosmos. And I could resist buying some lavender plants.

One of my sunflowers makes a small start to glory.

I'll be happy with whatever comes up as we continue landscaping and really transforming the yard into a sanctuary for a myriad of creatures, big and small, including ourselves. In the meanwhile, it will be fun to see what happens with what we've johnny appleseeded: Will the pumpkins thrive? Will the kale come up?

I have herbs, but for the most part, those are all living in containers until the back deck and door are built and we've designed an herb garden somewhere in sunlight and simultaneously as close the the kitchen door as possible. But currently, I've got thyme, Italian parsley, oregano, marjoram, chives (the blossoms of which are peppery, spicy, and delicious), and rosemary (which I did plant because it will grow into a large shrub).

Oh, and apologies to the late Mr. Appleseed.