New Year, New You?

I have to admit that I fit in with the mass of the population whose new year's resolutions consists of getting healthier and looking different. I don't know about you but I know that my goals are more about living longer with a better quality of life and feeling better about myself. Being an advocate for positive change, I find the process of making resolutions invigorating. In the past, I have asked myself more dire, serious questions, but this year I am thankful to be asking smaller and more achievable ones.

I almost always set a goal to exercise more in general and I will say that doing so at least 30 minutes a day has (and will most likely always) help me. I find that many people share a similar goal, whether it be to actually make use of that gym membership or to finally be able to say you have participated in a marathon, I believe this is such a worthy goal. It's not only about feeling good about the way you look, but feeling good about the way you are. For myself, the aftereffects of incorporating more exercise in my routine enables my body to simply be. If you know, then you know.

The other task is more monumental: what can I do to change the way I look, and how can I do it in a way that improves rather than detracts? Now, I am not just talking about pure aesthetics, though in a highly visual, interconnected world there is some of that in play. But, rather, in a bigger and more substantial way, how can I make changes to differentiate myself so that I feel more like me? There are so many ways to become more authentic, but to change a few things on the outside does help get more trivial things out of the way to make room for the heftier, weightier work: the inside stuff.

I have long reflected and done work on the inside, now I am realizing that it came at a cost to my outside. I get to choose how I represent myself in the world, not just with my actions, thoughts, and expressions but how I decide to show up - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, all the -y's. We have been given such a gift to be able to choose in this life, and it is so much stronger than it first appears. If anything, I am wishing you a year of choosing.

Lastly, let me leave you with a challenge, ask yourself: What will I choose this year?

If your New Year resolution, like mine, isn't about exercise or losing weight, but limiting the number of seeds and plants you can purchase for the summer, then, you know that the official gardening season has begun once those colorful seed catalogs start coming in the mail. 

I spend weeks in January poring over every page of the seed catalogs, looking for exotic scents, edible flowers (I do love duel purpose greenery), as well as plants that might increase my growing season. 

I understand that some people are NOT planners. They have beautiful, wonderful, thriving gardens and flower beds that require no planning at all.

I am NOT one of those people. I have to have a plan!

My first step is to get out my trusty garden binder where I have a map of my garden  (on graph paper)  and what I planted the year before. Once I have my binder, I review last years notes and yields in order to appraise what worked and what didn't. (I definitely didn't mulch or water enough last year).

Step two; I ask myself questions.

Am I happy with my garden/flower bed layout? Do I even need to order new seeds?  Do I need to fix or replace any equipment? Is there a new technique I want to learn? (I want to grow microgreens indoors this year). Do I want to enlist my 8 year old and design a butterfly-friendly garden? What is my budget? We axed any new projects this year and intend to focus on increasing efficiency and productivity, so we will definitely be doing more succession planting and mulching this year.

Step three; order seeds. Last year my sister had great success with an early yield tomato plant, so I will definitely try that this year, along with ordering my 'old' reliable heirloom seeds, and maybe a couple of fancy flowers to keep the bees stopping by my garden. 

There is a delicate balance between wants and needs, dreams and reality, and effort vs reward. Gardening is not for the faint of heart, but it is well worth it for the taste of that fresh produce that you planted and nourished with your own exertion. Even if you only start with a single container of Sweet Million tomatoes on your back patio or porch,  

January in Michigan is the perfect time to take small steps to plan ahead and prepare your garden for the upcoming season. For me it is also a great way to shake away those post-Christmas blues.   

   

Other optional January to do's:

[] Inventory seed starting supplies if you want to start seeds in March/April

[] Clean and repair tools.

[] Inventory pantry and calculate what you need for the upcoming harvest.

[] Prune trees. 

Countdown to Christmas: Week 4

You may have guessed a pattern here...this week I will be sharing four new reads for the week of Christmas. Happy holidays! 🎄

There are plenty of romance books around Christmastime, but this one in particular is set in war time which almost always makes the relationship(s) more meaningful. The Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb is set in Europe following two young people drawn into the throes of war. From the perspectives of Evie Elliot and Thomas Harding, these two share their lives through a series of letters over 4 years of Christmases. Their perspective roles change during this time and so does what they mean to one another.

In A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg a doctor who has gotten a startling diagnosis decides to leave the weather-torn city of Chicago to a climate that is better suited for those with ailments. Believing that this could be his last Christmas, he decides to relocate to Lost River which stands on the southernmost part of Alabama. He meets plenty of interesting characters, but none leaves an impression more than the little redbird named Jack. A pivotal, live-changing moment is witnessed by these people, one they will never forget, and it just might be something you will never forget either.

Written with humor and wit, Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak introduces the Birch family as they meet for Christmas for the first time in years. In their aging country estate, Olivia is forced into quarantine with her family after treating an epidemic abroad, so for the next week the entire family is forced to be closer than they ever have been before. Then an unexpected guest arrives, causing more chaos than even their own personal secrets and long-held tension could have created.

One Day in December by Josie Silver is a modern day romance that starts out on a cliché note, but is reported to be "joyous, heartwarming, and immensely moving..." (Amazon). In this book, Laurie sees Jack from a bus window and instantly pegs him out as "The One". Laurie believes in fate and eagerly searches the city for this mystery man until Sarah, her best friend, introduces him to her at a Christmas party as her own boyfriend. The story then recounts a 10-year tale between this love triangle, making it's final note of fate, in all it's twists and turns, ring true.