Abundance of gratitude...

for Monday

To keep me grounded, is to remind myself. of what is truly important; gratitude for the simple things.

Today I am grateful for
...15 upcoming vacation days, off from work
...four days of rain
...time to nourish my spirit and embrace my home

My sad, neglected patio garden

I work nights, long nights, to where my inner time clock is messed up. Even on my days off, there are nights, when my sleep is distracted. I woke tonight at 3 a.m. I have to work tomorrow and have yet to wash my clothes, for work. My daughter usually washes them. She is away at my sisters for the holidays. I have put off washing them, until I no longer can. I do not have a washer in my apt. The laundry room is only four doors over.

On my way out the front door, as I step out on the patio; I see my poor neglected plants. One a huge ivy, whose leaves have attached to the wall, has fallen over. I pick it up and decide now is as good a time, to water them, I look around. There are those with dead leaves, from not being watered, as often as they should. There are also those that amaze me with their resilience. Some in cracked pots. One in a pot that has cracked and the pieces have fallen off; but there is still a few scattered pieces holding it together. These are thriving.

My garden amazes me at times. There are many empty pots, dirt only; that are no longer empty. It seems that the different plants have pollinated, the empty ones. My one asparagus fern, has migrated to three other pots and all are thriving. The ivy that sits on the fence, has replanted itself in a empty pot, sitting below it. Parts of some plants, have started to grow offshoots, in other plants.

I can only imagine what a little attention and plant food could do.

I find myself going on a very dark journey, of depression. I have had down days, but nothing that clings to me like this. The journey to menopause began, soon after chemotherapy ended. Scattered periods were accompanied with a week of depression every so often. Nothing that has held on like this.

I am hoping my upcoming two week vacation from work, will be just what I need to nourish my spirit.

The results

The electric bill came last week. It went from $86 last month to $53 this month. She did a great job in turning the lights off, when not in use. To keep her motivated, I have told her that each month the electric bill, stays, at where it is she will get $5. For every dollar it goes down from the previous month, I will give her a additional dollar.

The road to simple living is paved with a gravel or two of capitalism

Its hard to get a 18 year old, to start turning the lights off (etc, etc, etc), when she is not used to it. I decided what better of a way, to start her down the path; than something that peaks her interest, the dollar bill. I told her that for every dollar the electric bill is less next month, it will be hers to keep. The fine print is, she must work with me to lower the bill. She has caught on so fast. I can be sitting in a room and all of a sudden it goes dark.

Leaving gentler footprints on this earth

Immediately I will transition to dishcloths instead of sponges, dish towels for drying my hands. I will wait until I have enough saved, to purchase, some of these lovely kitchen towels to replace my old ones. Then I will cut my old ones to napkin size, make a seam and I will start to use cloth napkins. Soon flour sack towels will replace paper towels for cleaning. There is available to me, a endless supply of 5 gallon pickle containers, from work. I have one on my patio, that is going to house, my first tomato plant. Until I start to garden, I will use it on shower days. I will conserve, by reusing shower water. When rinsing my hair, I will fill the bucket; then use the water on my outdoor plants.

How does my garden grow

I have a new found fondness, for frog jars. I have a larger version of the one in this picture. It will now be a permanent fixture on my kitchen table, filled with fresh flowers. This one does not have to be pushed aside at meal time, as it does not hide the faces of those, who come together.

The blessings, that a frog jar holds...

is a place for fresh flowers, to call home.

The snowball affect...

of flowing ideas and things, I never would have considered possibilities.

Now...
I will turn off lights when not in the room.
I will only use the dishwasher when it is full.
I will leave a sink of soapy water, to wash the dishes during the day.

Soon...
I will make a schedule, for the upkeep of my home.
I will compile a list of all that I have in my pantry and freezer, to make meals of.

Eventually...
I want to cut down the use of paper products.
I want to cut down the amount of food that is wasted.
I want to cook.

My dream is...
to start my container garden.
to take time each day to sit on my patio and enjoy the moment.
to dust off the sewing machine and put it to good use.

I am a work in progress and the possibilities are endless.

Gentle re-use

My way of thinking, has changed, to one of recycling what I already have; whenever possible. Not for monetary reasons, but to make a gentler impact on the environment.

Awhile ago, when I was at the Doctors office and I saw these plastic cord covers; that organize the vast number of their computer cords. My son told me they sell them at IKEA. Then last night I was pondering the cord issue. A simple solution, take the cardboard part of the paper towel roll (No I have not lessened the use of paper products, yet). Though who knows what tomorrow may bring. I will buy some inexpensive brown fabric and cover the roll. The fabric will also make the cardboard more sturdy and have a longer life.