Life On The Central Coast

This year we decided to grow Swiss Chard over the cold winter season in our area. (Zone 10a, The Central Coast of California) Temperatures in our area seldom drop below freezing but they have been in the mid 30's and low 40's. We've also had an above average rainy Winter after several years of drought. We direct sowed the chard seeds right before our first frost date, around the middle of December, knowing that as the weather progressed, they would be one of the first things up in the January / February garden. This year our greens progression started with arugula followed by our spinach and now the beautiful chard and kale. We are so lucky to live where gardening can happen nearly all year round.  This year we tried a Chard Variety called Bright Lights; beautiful yellows, reds and a beet colored pink. They are so beautiful in the garden with their celery type stalks and dark green tops. From its name, Swiss Chard, you would think it began its life in Switz...

Have you guys tried OUI yogurt yet?   OH MY GOSH YOU HAVE TO!! It is DELICIOUS! This isn't the first jar I've had. Last month we discovered this yogurt at our .99 Store in San Luis Obispo and they were selling it 2 for $1. Yes, you read that right and I'm almost scared to state that on here for fear it will cause a run on the store! I know you guys think that if it's in a .99 Store, something must be wrong with it, but that isn't so. These are in date, sealed properly and absolutely perfect. Oui yogurt, made by General Mills and Yoplait, currently comes in  comes in eight flavors:  strawberry ,  blueberry ,  black cherry ,  vanilla ,  coconut ,  lemon ,  peach , and  plain.   The yogurt is  also non-gmo, gluten free and lightly sweetened with cane sugar  in the fruited varieties.   It is made using whole milk rather than reduced or no fat, a long culturing time and two kinds of fermenting cultures; L. Bul...

A week before my surgery I received three phone calls that almost, ALMOST made me change my mind! The first was from my Drs. office exactly a week and a day before my scheduled surgery. "We've had a cancellation for tomorrow, (May 21) would you like to come in a week earlier and have your surgery done?" As I pulled my freaking heart out of my throat I remembered the main reason for having my surgery done when it was scheduled, my husband's vacation, and I told her I'd have to stick to my plan because there was no way he could change his vacation. Phew.... one down. The second call was from my local blood bank on the Thursday before my surgery. "Has your Dr. spoken to you about donating your own blood for the surgery?" Well, he hadn't, but I had read the literature and so I did know about it. "It looks like you would need to donate either today or tomorrow so we can have that on hand for your surgery. My surgery was the Tuesday after Memorial Wee...

This is the picture of of the fabulous Dr. that gave me back my life! Dr. William Sima. And this is the story of my Hip Replacement Journey...... Some of you know that I have had a problem for the last 2 years. In February of 2011, I began having quite a bit of pain in my right hip. My first Dr. said it was bursitis and treated it with antibiotics. No change. Then I went to an orthopedic Dr. and he ordered MRI's. That's when we found it.... a really bad Labral Tear to my hip socket. In addition, I had bone spurs and arthritis in the area and he told me the best way to fix this problem was a total hip replacement.  WHAT??!! I was only 54 years old and I knew how limiting hip replacements could be. So I set out on a mission to "fix" my problem. This involved vitamins, chiropractic visits, eventually Physical Therapy and acupuncture.... all to no avail. Not only was none of this helping, but my pain was ramping up. There wasn't a day of my life that I wasn't in s...

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."    ~Native American Proverb As I was working in my garden this morning I was thinking that exact thought. What kind of world AM I leaving to my kids and grandkids? A world full of debt? (nearly 17,000,000,000,000!) A too strong Government that is only getting stronger as it feeds off removing freedom after freedom? "Super Farms" that use GMO seeds, super fertilizers,pesticides and yet whose end product isn't as nutritional as something grown without all that? Pesticides that actually KILL the biggest pollinators, bees! A medical Dr./ insurance/ pharmacy trio that works to make sure you never REALLY get well? (Remember the days when you actually got OVER something? When Drs. FIXED what was wrong with you?) There's poverty, racism, injustice, overcrowding, polluted lakes, oceans, streams and groundwater from agricultural run off and trash being dumped into it .... well, the li...

It's Day 14 of the 23 day challenge over at Frugally Sustainable . Today's topic is Urban Gardening. Have you given any thought as to how much money you could save growing your own produce? You could tuck some herbs in to your landscape, have a couple of raised beds, tubs of fruit such as blueberries and citrus trees, even do some sprouts right in your own kitchen. Saves a bundle of money! If you need some help on figuring out where to start, check out the Urban Organic Gardener . Mike has A LOT of ideas no matter how big or small your gardening space is. I really like his sections on composting and natural pest control.  We are organic gardeners and sometimes I think the bugs must spot the "open for business" sign. Mike has some pretty good, and funny ideas on how to control those little BUGgers.... get it? Bug.... Well, onto the Daily Goal...... Daily Goal:  S hare with us your gardening goals for 2012. Gardening Goals? Wow! I have a bunch! We started gar...

See list of 50 ways to save on groceries  HERE :  Daily Goal:  Pick a few things from the list that you think will have the greatest impact on your monthly grocery budget. I think the money saving ideas I plan to adopt are.... 9. Grow your own herbs . I'm a gardener and LOVE to put things in the ground. This past Fall, hubby bought a really nice greenhouse for outback and I can put some seeds in pots and grow indoors year round. Those herbs at the store that do so much for home cooking will be MUCH more economical this way. 14. Shop at Farmer's Markets . I am lucky enough to live in an area that has numerous Farmer's Markets per week. One of the largest is in San Luis Obispo on Thursday nights. We went last week and found some super deals on local seasonal fruit and veggies... yum yum. It was lots of fun too! 23. Keep your receipts and enter into a spreadsheet . I've done this for our monthly home and utility payments so I already have an idea ...

December 2011 We're getting ready to bid the old year Goodbye... It's been a choice not to make very many posts this year. Every time I would sit down to write I'd say, "Who wants to read about that!!??" My mom used to tell me..... If you're my age, I'll bet you've heard that line before too. And what can I say? For us, 2011 was a pretty challenging year. It seemed like every time we had a "crisis" of one kind or another that resolved, another even larger "crisis" would rise up to take it's place. It was the first year for me that I've had to live with chronic pain from what I found out in November, was a labral tear in my hip area. Seems as I age, arthritis is setting in and the Doc recommended a hip replacement. I'm trying to fend that off for a while in hopes that maybe there will be a way to have relief without such drastic measures, but it means living daily with quite a bit of pain and the inabili...

I don't have cancer....yet. Cancer is in my family though. My grandma, mom and older sister all had it. My two best friends lost their daughters to cancer. Locally, we have the opportunity to support cancer research with the Relay For Life . You can even donate through this website. And if you get a letter in the mail asking for donations to support a runner in the Team in Training marathons, give generously. Cancer is an enemy waiting to take your loved ones from you and it must be stopped. Support continued research with all your might. The life you save may be your own! This is a little poem I made up for my friend who is "traveling the path". 10 years ago tomorrow, she lost her oldest daughter, Amber, to cancer. Since then, she has written a book and supported cancer research by running marathons, donations of time and money, helping with Daffodil Days and many other Cancer related activities. You can find her blog HERE . Hop on over and leave her some words of enco...

" A New Day" Painting by Pieter Wagemans Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. ~Carl Bard Did you ever stop to think about all the mistakes you've made in this lifetime? Some were big, some small, some you didn't even know WERE mistakes until time had passed. Then there were those mistakes that actually worked serendipitously FOR us. Which ones do you live over and over? I like that we don't have to be "stuck" in our yesterday's unless we choose to be. Each day opens wide with new possibilities, new choices and progress to be made in our lives. If we don't like the direction we are heading, we have the ability to make a new start and go in an entirely different direction. Freeing isn't it? So, if you are unhappy with where you find yourself today, there's no better time than the present to begin writing a "brand new ending!" Think I'll have to stop p...

"Be careful for what you wish for... you just might get it!" For about the last week before I caught this bug, I was telling my husband, "I'm so tired out, I'd like to just go to bed and sleep for days!" I guess I got what I wished for in a round about way. You've probably noticed that it's been a while since I've posted on most of my blogs. Well, I've been sick, REALLY sick! It's kind of funny because most of the symptoms are cold like; stuffy nose, cough, sore throat. But check out that temperature! Most of my days have been spent between taking hot baths and sleeping under loads of blankets with "the chills." I sleep and sleep and sleep some more and still don't feel like I've had enough. Knowing I will be back to work tomorrow, I started taking some Tylenol to help knock the fever down and it seems to be working. Well, working enough so I can get back to some regular blogging.

Warning * Warning * Warning * Warning * Warning * Warning* Men....This may NOT be a subject for you. Harmony and Balance. Everyone wants more of that including me. Ok, here it is, it's only a matter of time before menopause catches up to me. So far, not many symptoms, but I have friends who are well into it. Not wanting to suffer night sweats, PMS type moodiness or lack of sex drive, I thought I would make the trip early... maybe too early! There is an office in San Luis Obispo called Creating Harmony Women's Healthcare and yesterday was my first appointment. Before going in, I had to fill out several computerized forms that discussed everything related to being a female that's ever happened to me since my periods began. Needless to say, it was pretty thorough. I met with Kathi Fennelly, the Nurse Practitioner to go over all the information. Bottom line, I'm not anywhere close to menopause yet. My body is making too much Estrogen which can cause breast cancer and heavy...

How did you spend your New Year's Eve? Did you go to a party? Out to eat dinner with dancing afterwards? Maybe you stayed home and celebrated quietly. You'll never guess how we spent our New Year's Eve! Let me give you a hint..... it started with a First Aid Kit. Now, before you get all worried and concerned that maybe one of us wound up in the hospital, I'll confess the truth. We spent our New Year's Eve at the local Longs Drugstore spending the leftovers in our Medical Savings Account. (MSA) Each year, we sign up for an amount that gets withdrawn from our monthly pretax dollars. This past year we over estimated just a bit, and in this industry, you use it or lose it. December 31 is the last day, or in our case, evening, you can use it for the year. What you haven't used goes into that land of limbo funds you will never see again. Wes had his eyes checked in early December and ordered prescription sunglasses, regular ones and safety glasses for work, about $600...

Today I felt EXTREMELY grateful.... extremely ! My wrist is pretty much back to normal. When the symptoms first came up on Friday, I couldn't think of one thing I had done to "mess" is up but it did feel like it was out of alignment somehow. I tried twisting it and bending it back and forth and it just hurt.... period. So I thought maybe it was Carpal Tunnel. All day Saturday I wore my wrist brace and it gave it the support it needed but it was still painful so I broke down and took a couple Tylenol around five in the evening. Then my husband suggested I take a hot bath and soak my wrist. I went into the bathroom and started preparing the bath. I heard a little "pop" sound and thought is was my knee but hoped beyond hope that it was my wrist. I thought, "I'll just move it really slowly and see if anything has changed". Gingerly I started working my wrist up and down, back and forth, left and right and no more weakness and extreme pain! I continued ...

This is a really nice time of year to walk along the Beach Boardwalk. This afternoon I had off and I've been waiting all week to do the Beach walk so I grabbed my two dogs and set off. They were so excited to be doing this walk again. They kept up a great pace only stopping when I stopped to take pictures. Here are a couple. First is of the Beach Boardwalk with the ocean and Pismo Beach in the background. The second is my "boys", Rico and Oscar Mayer.   My goal is to keep walking for 30 days and hope that it becomes a habit again. There's been another development that is not so positive. I guess I've been doing to much blogging lately or maybe it's just the ergonomics of my computer work. Either way, this morning I woke up with a VERY sore wrist.  By the end of today, it was so painful I had to run out and buy a wrist support. I'm hoping the inflammation will subside over the next couple of days. Until then, I hope all of you have a great weekend.