Eternal Hippies A Year Homemade and Beyond

What do you do when you are going out of town to visit your mother and her house is already full with an adult grandchild and his girlfriend?  Option 1-Stay at a motel- expensive and risk of bedbugs are high Option 2-Stay at nearby Kings Mountain campground- What we REALLY wanted to do but Joe’s mom didn’t want us so far away, and the poor weather conditions worried her Option 3- Stay in our tent in Joe’s mom’s big backyard. Close to her and can come in if weather is too rough, but can have privacy when we need it. Option 4-Put air mattress in her living room and make EVERYONE uncomfortable and have to wait until Joe’s mom goes to bed (usually after 4:00a.m.) before getting to rest. We decided on option 3. It was the compromise between what we wanted (Kings Mountain campground) and what Joe’s mom wanted. So we had all of the work of camping, without the fun of camping (by fun I mean, no campfire, no cooking outside and no campfire.) But we did have privacy and the...

So this morning I braised a big organic roast beef (expensive too at $12.85) and put it in the slow cooker. I don't like leaving small appliances on when I'm not home, but this roast needs to cook all day. Using my cast iron skillet, I braised the roast in extra virgin olive oil after sprinkling a little black pepper on it. While that was going, to the slow cooker I put in filtered water, dried bay leaves (2), rosemary, sage, marjoram, parsley, garlic powder and pink salt, and turned it on low. I also cut up an onion to add after the meat went in the slow cooker. After the roast was seared on all sides, I put it in the slow cooker. Looking at the skillet, I decided to scramble two eggs in the same skillet with a little organic butter. You know, steak and eggs. It was a good breakfast as I added a little honey to half a sprouted pita bread. Although Joe slept through my kitchen ruckus, I don't know how he slept through the smell! When I left for work this morning, the ...

Since last November we have been housing several of our tropical plants- aloe vera and pineapple, in a nook of our kitchen. Joe put some plant lights up and hung a curtain so the light doesn't bother us. The lights are on a timer and since we didn't want the lights on when we weren't home, he put the cycle of 12 hours from 6:00pm to 6:00am. There is a mirror in that nook that helps reflect the light. The plants seem very happy. Even one of the aloe plants, that had almost died last summer do to poor drainage, is recovering. We won't put them back outside until the last part of March/early April. The sad aloe plant on the left is the one recovering. It looks far better than it did last summer.

 So it’s mid-month and time to check on my goals for March. It will be rough going and I am not looking forward to how brutally honest I must be. -Drink at least a gallon of filtered water a day – Still struggling with this one. I don’t understand why. I used to drink almost 2 gallons a day, but now I don’t. -Get at least 6 hours of sleep each night – I might as well take this off of the list. Except I know just how important getting enough sleep is. Take last night, we didn’t get to sleep until 12:30am, I woke up at 4:30am for a restroom break ( I had to pee!) and then just a I was starting to doze off, the alarm clock went off. It was 5:30am. So about 4 ½ hours of sleep. -Make own shampoo-   Okay, this is becoming a joke. What am I using for shampoo? Right now just Dr. Bronner liquid soap mixed with water and an apple cider vinegar rinse. It does okay, but it can be drying. -Walking 15 minutes at least twice a week . – I’m doing better with this one. -Make ...

I tried to figure out something to post yesterday, but I couldn't. Not a rabbit hole, a rant or musing.My mind is consumed by the big project and since I can't talk about it yet, I'm left staring at a blank text area. ___________________________________ I'm waiting for my smoothie to defrost enough to consume for lunch. On Tuesday I didn't bring a smoothie to work and spent the whole day feeling quite low energy and a bit moody. Now that could have been from getting back into work-mode, but having a smoothie for lunch really helps. I posted a picture of the green blob that is my half frozen smoothie . Fascinating. Here is our Twitter account. https://twitter.com/WiseHippies, As I'm waiting, the smell of the lunchtime buffet is making me sick. I don't know if it's the French Onion Soup, the Grilled Beef Shoulder w/ BBQ sauce, the Catfish w/ Blackened Caper Sauce or a combination of all three. This is a normal problem, but today is today.

I really don't know what to write. The big project we are working on is becoming more and more challenging. But at this time I am not at liberty to discuss it. But soon! Yesterday I had one of the worst migraine headaches I've ever endured. Most years, during this time, I get a bad sinus infection that turns into bronchitis. The tree pollen gets so high. I know the headache I had yesterday was a result of the pollen. I don't get migraines often, but when I do it is from big weather changes, massive pollen explosions or reactions to dog dander, and they last for 3 days. This one only lasted 1 day and I think I know why. This year I am taking some immune boosting supplements and I know they help. Wild oregano, garlic, turmeric, black pepper, multivitamins, etc. Plus consuming healthy items like kombucha, oranges, apples, greens, homemade smoothies packed with vitamins/minerals, herbal teas, local raw honey, raw milk, etc. And let's not forget the CBD oil. I am not sur...

So for March, I set to continue to work on these goals and I am adding some new one below this list. -Drink at least a gallon of filtered water a day – -Get at least 6 hours of sleep each night – -Make own shampoo-   -Walking 15 minutes at least twice a week . – -Make own sweets/stop buying store-made desserts -   -Exploring different grains, sweeteners, oils, etc . – -Document meal plans for each week. -Edit and post video -Continue to organize kitchen  -Continue to weighing myself once a week -Of course no eating out - New March goals: -Plan our vegetable gardening for this year- Depending on a few variables, we do all container gardening, or we may start our first raised bed garden..or both! -Figure out how to take Mom to “to lunch” without going to a restaurant- With the weather getting warmer, I'm thinking about taking her on a picnic. -Start lifting weights- I have  5 pound weights that will help strengthen me. I f...

February just flew by. Here were my goals for February.  -Do a juice cleanse for 3 days to restart system – decided against this for now. Making smoothies for lunch each day instead -Drink at least a gallon of filtered water a day – doing better at this -Get at least 6 hours of sleep each night – still a challenge -Make own shampoo-   Still haven’t done this! I keep putting this off. -Walking 15 minutes at least twice a week . – I’ve been doing this, but not regularly. -Make own sweets/stop buying store-made desserts -   Other than making smoothies and then my cheesecake birthday cake, I haven’t been   making sweets. -Exploring different grains, sweeteners, oils, etc . – I’ve been reading about them. Confusing. Soaking grains/flour, using heritage grains, then there’s the whole honey vs agave vs dates vs raw sugar thing. And oils! I’ve decided the oils I will use is virgin coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil and butter, all organic. But more o...