How to Combat Bad Vibes

Good plan of action.

These 2 sisters have good advice!

lessons + celebrate

This is a blog to document lessons I have been aware of

and celebrations and energy therapy and horse relations, etc.

Read if you want:

(shoulder tendonitis prevention)

foods for my inflammation

gifts of the type 3 (energy profiling)

woman with Carol Tuttle and her Healing Centre

now here is a chart system for

planting your garden with the appropriate

companion (hubby's the gardener)

A hornets nest appeared unnoticed on our corral fence
for a long time ..until we did notice it this fall.

this is the first quote that we accepted in September

and are still waiting for them to come and paint!

I am waiting on our second painter's quote that I

had done 2 weeks ago!

this Christmas I came upon a lovely

desert for large crowds

here is the Trifle ingredients I made for Christmas Day

I had to pick up a Trifle bowl at Superstore

my other one didn't make it here in 2014 (could not locate it)

Christmas tree I purchased is huge and I enjoyed that

it was tall and perfect with so many lights on it.

Christmas is HUGE for me and the tree is VERY IMPORTANT!

We all enjoyed the extravagance that enriched our living room

with vibrancy and uplifting beauty.

Tom bought fireworks to celebrate his success with his youtube channel

Tommy's Puppet Lab of over 200,000 subscribers.

even this horse that manifested into being owned by us is
HUGE  for me and VERY IMPORTANT to my balance and energy
Just when I get her in my control with the riding techniques,
she goes and has a bad day or she doesn't like being around other horses
in the arena, you know, just like humans, it is a process to maintain balance.

Enjoy the last 3 days of 2018!

looking through

 Any projects, word-of-the-year, goals, etc. are in not in place for me for 2019

I just want my health and enjoy the nature surrounding me!

The area I live in is very scenic.  Lakes and trees are in abundance

and I like that.

Deer Park Golf Course (view from a drive-by)

When I look through a smaller lens or window the perspective is more

focused and things are more calm and clear.

If 2019 is politically tumultuous as 2018 was in the global aspect, then it is

up to me to keep healthy, treat nature as a dear friend and this kind confident

me will make a small difference.  I can't change what is happening with the world

leaders but I can look after my mental health and physical body to make a difference.

Living in fear is not healthy  for me.

Go forward, step with confidence and breath in the God given landscape

I  have!

Happy New Year!

happy perennials

 Sept 15 and just taking pics

of my perennial favs.

All my plants in front yard came from 2 long time friends

so it is great to see them all doing well

they have been slow to take off but

now they are showing off!

 lady's mantle just started this year

young bachelor button started this year

 Phlox just blooming now

(I just love perennials!)

 filling in nicely

 delphiniums get so tall and I cut them down

and they grow back again

They also attract Hummingbirds and we had

twice as many hummingbirds this year (yay!)

morden centennial rose bush

only got a dozen roses or more but

I think I did not cut off all the dead stems

and pruning was not maybe correct last fall

so I am following this youtube video

this wheat grass is new this year

and it is a wonderful filler

it will get huge next year 

this peony is slow but it has only been

in the ground as a baby for one year

so next year hoping for a flower or two or more

this beautiful blue water can has served many purposes

it holds alot of water and easy to water plants with and

it is so decorative too!

our riding experience

Howdy!

How's life for you 'all this summer?

We are back from vacations at Cypress, Clear Lake,

and day trips to Good Spirit Lake and Madge Lake.

Will be heading to Regina Beach Saturday with my sister

and her friend.  

  Our son has been visiting us this week and I have always wanted a video of me riding a horse.  The loping or cantering is new for me in an arena setting.  I have no problem out in the open country to lope; for some reason arena riding is restrictive  to me when I want to do some loping.  I am practicing that here with my horse Grace.

Tom, this was a nice video of me and my Mantracker workin' it at Kirkville arena!

Keep calm and ride on!

62 good as new

"they say it's your birthday

it's my birthday too, yeah

they say it's your birthday

we're gonna have a good time

I'm glad it's your birthday

Happy Birthday to you!"

...and so on

(the Beatles birthday song)

I love this cake because, it is healthy and soooo easy

to put together (all ingredients pulsed in a blender)

icing is coconut milk, monk fruit sugar powder, unsalted butter, cocoa powder, vanilla

can't go wrong with this brownie desert!

 woke up this morning and pond is completely

melted!

my friend Shirley got me a friendship rose quartz

it's sitting in the sun on my dining room window

my husband installed a new shower head and it is heaven to stand

under as the sprays are like gentle rain and the massager  mode is so

relaxing - cool gift!

Off to Mr. Mikes for supper...

today is my birthday...yeah yeah

I feel good...yeah yeah

Enjoy this earth day birthday like it is a new

beginning!

everyday heroes - our wellness support in Yorkton

I attended this conference on the weekend

it was the inauguration of a biannual event honoring women in Yorkton.

The heroes in the room are all of us attending. For those days that one feels less than heroic, there is a team of women ready to help pick you up.  There are the obvious women in your inner circle who you lean on often; but at this conference the circle gets bigger as we met and got to know and learn from the presenters of the passionate and compassion help available in my area.

Some health concerns and tips I picked up on:

• Massage therapy helps cancer patients' and as well -touch- is important for our mental health!

• eat more plant-based foods, like flax seeds, chia seeds, avocado, green vegetables.  We had a discussion at my table about how tiring a lettuce salad is becoming;  so at lunch a lovely vegetable mix that was steamed slightly and just dumped into a big serving dish.  The veggies were not too soft and not too hard and crunchy.  Simple, easy to eat and each vegetable was a different colour.

• frozen fruit bought in stores is as good as fresh, blueberries are super anti-oxidants

• celery is a fantastic inflammation and digestion fighter

• Splenda for sugar replacement was not recommended and if you are diabetic or have high blood sugar it was suggested to buy Monk Fruit sugar (Bulk Barn carries it)  if you bake for Christmas  and special treats that require sugar ...use that

• Sleep Apnea was talked about from a presenter at Parkland CPAP and it is a very common health issue.  A questionnaire was on our table to fill out if we wanted to see if we were at risk  or if we showed obvious symptoms.  Sleep Apnea means apparently that you stop breathing at some point or it appears that you stop but the chest is still moving.  Anyway it was super information and they talked about the small machine and mask that they carry.

• Kung Fu demo was slow and boring but that is just me....we did learn some easy starter techniques to practice on ourselves.  Was enlightening but I am not jumping up to sign up for a class.  It does develop a great focus because in meditation you are sitting still but with Tai Chai or kung fu your focus is strengthened by the precise slow movements.  Maybe it is what I need (lol!)

There was a presenter about skin care from Prairie Beauty and an Acupuncture presentation; one for all about raw natural honey and so much more.  We all left with a nice swag bag too!

 I am going to pick up some bok choy on my next grocery store

visit and try that out.

It was a good day and the cost for this was to just show up!

......Next one is on Sept 30th.

Namaste!  We all deserve good health and the support available to

ensure we have that.

it must come down

High Blood Pressure is a well kept secret of the amount of pressure your blood is running through your arteries.

I had my vitals report from the doctor in January and he took my blood pressure.  Everything went up my blood sugar too.

But how does one fix that when I am already on a good diet and I have been working out 3 times a week.  I had also just returned from a vacation in Mexico?  sooooo what brought this pressure up?

It took me some time to figure it out and my neck has been aggravating my left shoulder once again and i was worried about my shoulder and not being able to get it relaxed and all the massages and appts to possibly help me out with it was a stressor ;  then my weight was bothering me I started to think I was getting very fat but it was just the muscle I developed over the last few months of swimming laps.  I am doing 15 - 20 50 metre (olympic lengths) twice a week now.  I walk outside alot too.

What is going on I am retired and have a good life in the country.  I thought it was family and possibly it was that ?  didn't make sense my family has had it's frustrations because we work at  being a close knit family but really we are a respectful family.  I respect my siblings and families and parents; we don't always understand how we live each others lives;  I was brought up with judging people and I love my parents and the ways they cared for me to the best of their ability.

Here is what I went back to for lowering the blood pressure (IT MUST COME DOWN):

1. massage to relax that neck/work on that shoulder stuff - massage therapist is my yoga teacher (love that)
2. yoga class/sign up once a week
3. use my infrared sauna we have at home daily (for 20 - 30 minutes)
4. use energy techniques to clear my head (tapping, body talk, healing touch) Carol Tuttle had a type talk on facebook and it was about "the shoulds"?

 "I should be thinner-  I should socialize with friends more -  I should invite people over to my house- I should be more settled - I should not be such a loner - I should... I should not....I did her tapping session (where you tap on your forehead and temples and under the eyes and under the nose and on the chin and on your chest and you say out loud the 'shoulds' and should-nots and then when that is completed just press both hands on the heart centre or your chest and breathe it all in and out.

Today my High Blood Pressure was back down to 129/84 for the first time in many weeks
I am keeping up the yoga and infrared sauna sessions

note to self is that  when vitals go up it is always the mind that tells the body how to hold the craziness in as  the body will hold all right and keep everything tight until you release the stuff!



Dr. Donna Kirk
Kirkville Therapy

a precious object indeed

Have you started to realize or notice that nothing is

ever as it seems with people.?   I am sure you have.  This

post has nothing to do with that question. Or maybe it does.

Connecting at Christmas through the holidays

and all December's events means for me to

be authentically true and I cannot give to

everyone and I cannot pretend I don't miss 

my loved one (our son who left this earth

too many years ago). 

'''''' I saw him in a dream in September  

 and this dream was so real.  He looked 

like himself in this dream and of course I started to break

down and cried as he stood in front of me and he said "I hope you

don't cry often"  He looked so darned happy.  I was in a library

and I noticed he was working with a woman and a child sorting books.  The woman nodded

at him and he then came over to my area and walked up to me and past me and turned around.  That is when I started

to cry.  His comment made me think really really hard and it didn't take

long to get it.  Getting it means he has his place now and he is

working and learning about who he is and he had the confidence

(as was his way on earth) to simply state a fact or emotion.''''''

After that experience of a realistic dream; I find I am connecting now more than ever with people;

not in a way of close friends but just being around

them and accepting a peace with myself.  

Grief is a huge lesson.  It is.  It is.  Darn it, it is!

So I am with vigour and self-confidence doing a couple of things like:

riding as much as I can....for adventure and exercise.

I am swimming...for my health and flexibility and meeting

women who share the passion of the benefits of water exercise. I also

swim for my mental stability too.  I am stronger and whatever comes up

in my life now is easier to deal with when I treat myself like a precious object, yes a precious object

because I am delicate and need to nurture my inner soul, and

it will make me stronger.

things come back

It was a few days ago when we were outside by the barn getting the horses

saddled and I was cold.  I went into the tack room and plugged in the

heater to warm up for a few moments and I noticed these boardname plaques lying on the floor.

I had forgotten about these.

Wow the one with Graham's name

written in rope was sweet. He made that at a 4-H night. 

 I made theboard signs for all the horses

many years ago and in the move

I am glad these travelled with us.

It was very heart warming to see these.  

Must do something creative with

them someday?

We don't have horse stalls for each

of our horses  in our new barn just one

big open stall and the other stall

we use to store our square hay bales.

This saddle here was my very first saddle that we paid $200-300$ back in the day

We use it for horse training on the colts now as it is small and light.

Lots of nervous green-rider days this brings back!

on another topic.....

I found out a year ago that I have only 61% lung capacity use

which means I have COPD and it has taken me until a few

days ago to understand what that means.

I can breath in and INhale with no problem.  It is the expirations/exhaling

that I have a problem with.  That is what COPD means.  I did smoke

30 years ago and was exposed to more chemical with cleaning products like most

of us did and we are now so aware of in this present time thank goodness.

I have a special inhaler I use 2 times a day and also I must practice my exhales.

I pretend to 'smell a rose and then blow out a candle', henceforth the

pursed lips.  I have trouble getting rid of the CO2 in my system as their is

an obstruction with my lungs; this exercise helps

alot.  

health is important and as I get older I don't like finding

out stuff like this.  My second lung testing showed a slight improvement from a

year ago.  

Signing off I want to add that:

It is Nov 11th Rememberance Day.  

Thank you to our Veterans and the soldiers who fought bravely 

and their families who sacrificed a loved one!

There are many of us that know what that is like.

Yoga for Neck and Shoulder stiffness

Just in case you have a sore neck and stressed or just stiff in the upper body - this is great!

Adriene is a great "go-to" for me.  She is on the internet and has 100's of videos.  This one is only 15 minutes.  I like her voice and her personality and explanations....and her dog.

who is your fav yogi-relaxer-calming voice-sincere- helper?

S K N with the i

10 days ago my skin on my legs

reacted to the shaving

I was using coconut oil to shave

but my legs did not like the razor and oil this

time

I have had quite a time with figuring out how to

moisture this time

i put on aloe vera gel and it lasted a few hours then

got super itchy and then coconut oil another day

ouch.. it didn't like that.

I have been wearing pants outside

(in this weather not a problem)

then by 5 pm I can't handle the itch

I looked at the baking soda on the

kitchen counter and remembered that

my son needed it in his bath for his

skin years ago

well I put that in the tub water and it got

itchy itch and I was scratching

until all of a sudden it subsided

later that evening my skin felt so smooth

and no itch.  It is now 2 days later

and no problem with my leg itch.

I think...just my diagnosis here; that I have been busy with a new property

and gardening and I did a lot travelling for Mother's day weekend

my skin is the largest organ on my body

so I am listening to that now

 went to bed at 8 o'clock twice

this week and I am feeling very settled and

I let go of my silly concerns

and thanked the baking soda!

now what do I put on it to keep it moist?

{happy skin now}

I know that hyalauronic acid in lotions is a good thing for me.  I use SKNAddix products.  It contains this acid.  I have Aveeno for eczema moisturizing lotion but that has only worked for a short time.  EPSOM salts tends to aggravate as well.  Aloe Vera Gel and Coconut Oil is out for now apparently.  My homemade soaps work well for my skin but for moisturizing my skin for lotion use?  well - its a guinea pig wheel - some days one lotion works the other days it does not.  My diet could be a bit better I am a type 2 diabetic and but, blood sugar is good these days.   How are things with your skin?

I am amazed that one thinks you are stress free

but like blood pressure and other things in your system

worrying about things that are really just the "small stuff" is a problem

because when you prolong that worry-ness your body lets you know.

two rules to follow:

1) don't sweat the small stuff

2) it's just small stuff

{Robert Elliott)

DONE

soap is a homemade staple

This morning I cut my soap

mould open to slice the new bars to store in a

box for a few weeks.

I have been making soap for 2 years

and hubby and I really love it.

We both are very sensitive with

lotions and soaps from retail providers.

This recipe I use consists of

olive oil, coconut oil, almond milk;

I put in a few sprinkles of

YL essential oil Northern Lights

Black Spruce in the mixture. This oil is
a smell I love and great for the skin.

It is science though.

Making soap requires Lye.

Also making glycerin to use for

making soap requires Lye.  

After 6 weeks of

storing the new made soap

the Lye saponifies which means it is no

longer in your soap.  Even though you don't like
the idea of it Lye is what makes soap.

you need some equipment:

food weigh scale

food thermometer

soap mould

soap cutter

hand held immersion blender (or smart stick)

a big pot set aside for just

mixing your soap oils and liquids and lye

this is the best part of making your own soap

you can choose your own moulds.  I choose the

long wooden mould I ordered on line as

it makes one big long log and I can cut my own

size of bar.

I have flopped one new recipe I tried as
the oil I used was sunflower and canola oil
it never took the canola oil.  That was my error
in not checking the oil before using.

I now have a good almost never fail recipe!

how do I get 8000 steps at age 60

I learned to use a fitness tracker

last year and find that it keeps me accountable

and on track with regular activity.

This is the bellabeat clip on tracker I use

8000 steps per day is attainable for me and

beneficial to my heart, blood pressure, blood sugar levels

 in winter I walk at our walking track in the city 

trotting a horse is amazing workout

for rider and horse

get to the lakes and swim as much

as I can

 beachbody DVD fitness dance fun

 I can get 4000 steps by doing a dance fitness DVD in 

30 minutes 

canoeing is great but hard on my shoulders

so only a couple times a year on this activity

 ride my horse in the yard

just walk outside

 love love love hiking around the lakes in

the fall

 hiking in winter with white snow and

sunshine

pretty trails with nature is so relaxing

I don't mind the treadmill a few times a year (but this is

my last resort in extreme cold weather if I need the steps)

I am retired and can really get the fitness in

but it is still a mind set to do it. The benefits

are incredible to my health!

what is working for me

toque up

glove up

it's the heart of winter!

 as far as the new year that has begun,  I know what worked

for me in 2016 and that was exercise

5 days a week, and an average of 8,000 activity steps

a day

I have no goals or new year resolutions

I am just going to keep on doing what worked for

me last year

What is still working for me these last few years is blogging

and writing in my morning pages (journalling and personal prayers); photo taking!

 my new year 2017 quote.....

anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.” 

― David Whyte, House of Belonging

who are your tribe?

I think we all need our own people

you know, the ones that "get you"

who don't care if you can't always be there

in the right place at the right time

but yet you know they will be when they can

I love direct answers about myself

that will teach me or remind me who I am

not being and who I need to be, at times

{get it}

find your tribe and bounce off them so they can

bounce off you 

not everyone is helpable,

not everyone has to be,

just recognize your people

it is grounding and connecting

{enough said I know you got it)

"I am attracting people into my life who respect and honor me,

and I respect and honor them.

I am grateful for the comfortable interactions I have daily with all the like-minded people who are in my life. " 

Carol Tuttle

Abundantly

it is a different September

because of our garden

I do believe September is the new January

everything starts anew and I am not used to all these

tomatoes and trying to keep up with

freezing them as they turn red

in the garden

I am not a canner!

So instead I boil the skins off for 45 secs in boiling water then plopped them in
ice water and the skins fall off (neat) and then I squeeze out the

seeds and juice gently with my hands

and place them into a freezer bag

then  I am putting them in the

coldest part of my deep freezer.
It says they can last up to 12 months like this.

(keep the bags airtight)

Then all the corn cobs had to be brought in 

and we husked them and boiled the cobs, culled the niblets off

and put them in freezie bags

now there are carrots to freeze

they are HUGE.  It's too much for just hubby and I
Food Bank maybe?

So I am a rookie with harvesting a garden
and some of you are canners and die-hards with how to
keep your vegetables lasting through the winter(s).
We will do things differently next year like thinning out the carrot plants
more consistently, and maybe planting 3 tomato plants instead of 6.

Anyway the garden is a good thing and it seems
in this country we can grow our own food in abundance!