The Mountain Thymes

The second half of January brought us a mix of early morning lows in the 40's to this week's 11 degree lows.  It's been dry, windy, and brutally cold. Daytime temperatures reaching low 30's by late afternoon.  It's been hard on the joints.  I'm doing more Epsom soaks, heating pad in the evening, and saunas at the gym. Last fall I planted kale and spinach seeds in my kitchen garden to see how they would do when spring arrives.  The beds are covered with old sheets which I remove when the sun is on the soil and cover again as the sun sets.  During this frigid week, the covers remained over the gardens.                                                           kale                                                        spinach The gardening articles I've been reading claim winter seeds will produce nicely in the spring.   I'm also going to try another method of winter sowing that has proven very successful.  We'll see how the little seeds do. 

About 7:15 this morning while preparing our hot oatmeal, a magnificent sunrise colored the eastern sky blazing through the silhouetted forest.  Sunrise and sunset colors change quickly.  You need to be present to be a part of them and appreciate each second.  Such is life also.  It can change in a second. It's easier to adapt to positive changes than to accept negative events and we each have our own way of dealing with these. It's unnerving to hear that a family member or a close friend has breast cancer.  Your heart aches for the decisions that need to be made.  Yesterday after yoga class a friend told me she has three tumors in her right breast that have increased in size and after going through chemo and radiation years ago on her left breast, she will have a mastectomy this time with no radiation or chemo.  Her mother and sisters have all had breast cancer too.  She's at peace with her decision.  This morning while standing at the top of our driveway in 27 degree a

My short "to-do" list is lengthening daily due to neglect.  Important chores such as transferring all anniversary and birthday dates from the 2018 calendar to this year's new one, vacuuming the thin garlic skins from their hiding place under the kitchen counters, chasing cobwebs seen only when the sunlight hits them, and on and on................. The temperature dipped to 23 degrees by 7 am this morning and will probably reach 35 up here on the mountain for our afternoon high. During the day there's no fire in the stove because with the brilliant sun beaming through the windows, the house stays around 72.  Around 4pm, we fire up the stove as the sun slides down the western side of our mountain.  I'm excited about gaining over a minute of daylight each day.  It's too beautiful an afternoon to do menial tasks but the perfect afternoon to stretch out on the couch, in the sun, with a cup of hot tulsi tea and dive back into my book.  I found this old paperback i