Silent Sunday – JusJoJan Say Cheese

Til next time ~Stay trippy hippies

Spoonie Saturday – The Sky’s the Limit

Well it’s been a week here at Chez Spoons. I’ve just finished off two weeks of steroid therapy to treat my dyshidrotic eczema. Pllffttt ;-p have I ever mentioned how much I dislike steroids? Make me slightly psychotic they do. But I’m done for now and I have to say that my feet do feel much better. Then, in what shall henceforth be known as the “great chinese cabbage incident” I managed to slice off a significant portion of the finger pad on my middle finger, requiring several stitches and bandages, making me look like I’m giving the whole world the bird. I wonder what kind of fingerprint I’ll be left with. On second thought, maybe that’s not such a bad thing buahaha. Perhaps I should now reveal my evil plans for world domination, the sky’s the limit! Oh wait, wait, that’s just the steroids talking, haha (don’t worry that’s not what they really said.)

OK, ok back to Retired Spoonie life. The weather here north of the 45th parallel has finally turned more wintery. Little spits an spurts of snow and cold weather mingled 30-40 degree temperature shifts have my poor spoonie metabolism all out of whack. We moved here because we LIKE the cold. It’s the back and forth that fluster me so. I’m hyper-sensitive to temperature changes right now so we’re implementing cold weather spoon conservation techniques. Why? Well, it’s 69f in my snuggly little home right now, and I’m shivering. Shivering depletes my spoons (energy reserves) very quickly. So, long story short, we implement several strategies to keep warm when we feel the cold.

Hot water bottles – Superhubs currently has his wool sock bedecked feet resting on a hot water bottle to keep his feet warm
I am currently wearing an extra sweater and an over wrap to keep my core warm and prevent shivers
We keep a heated mattress pad and flannel sheets on our bed. The mattress pad is a new addition to our winter regimen and I must say … total score!
I am drinking hot water. I drink a lot of water and right now I’m heating it to warm me from the inside out

I’m experimenting with more kitchen based home remedies. This week’s experiment has been an alternative to antacids. I did some research and found a lot of information on fennel. Thus far it’s working really well. When I feel excess acid, instead of reaching for the bottle of antacid, I chew 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds. It works just as well or better than the antacids. I’m going to try a fennel tea and see how that works. I’ll be making a “winter blend” tea this week as well, with dried rose hips from my local coop, for added vitamin C.

linked to JusJoJan # 9

Til next time ~Stay trippy hippies ~JP

A twisted tail

Round and round the light did turn
casting shapes upon the waves
dolphins leap and waters churn
imaginings mortal memory saves
ships of wood and men of steel
twisted tales from days of old
siren’s dirge the bells doth peal
from waters deep and bitter cold

For Crimsons Creative Challenge #113
also linked to JusJoJan #8

Til next time ~stay trippy hippies ~JP

JusJoJan – Caught on Camera

For JusJoJan #7 – Caught

I am such a “look at the moon” kind of person. This shot of the super moon over Bryce Canyon is one of my favorite moments caught on camera.

Til next time ~Stay trippy hippies ~JP

Icy Fingers of Perfection

“Her laugh was like diamonds on snow, icy fingers of crystalline perfection.”

For JusJoJan and 1 Liner Wednesday

Til next time ~Stay trippy hippies ~JP

The Deer and I

The Deer and I

Here where the artesian spring gurgles up through the ground, I pause. My intuition stirs, something. I glance behind and see him there, browsing amongst the fading autumn grass. I sense no fear from him, no tensing of muscle and sinew. Why should he flee? My soft pink form is no threat to him. I wonder if he knows, something inside, outside the bounds of human knowing. I would not harm him, nor his home.

Others are treacherous and wasteful, caring not for the needs of growing things. Contemptuous of all they deem lesser, and all is less. But for now, we are content to share this bit of world, the deer and I. I smile and he turns away from the warmth of sun on waning grass; away from me.

We drink from the stream,
with a warm delight – the same
the deer and I

For Haibun Monday at dVerse
and Just Jot It January – gurgle

Til next time ~Stay trippy hippies ~JP

2020 a year of retrospection

For Sunday Stills our prompt is “retrospective”
and for JusJoJan prompt “fingertips”

2020 may well be know at our house as the “year of the doctor” with more than it’s fair share of medical problems, diagnoses, and treatments.

January dawned bright and clear, with the cancellation of our trip to Kauai, and the scheduling of two surgeries. That was OK though, a return to normal life was at our fingertips while we continued to recover nicely from the YOH that was 2019.

a lone pinecone in the snow outside my door

February brought us snow and the glistening beauty of winter life. I recovered quickly from surgeries and watched the world outside go by, snug in our little home.

March brought more snow and a corona virus that began to sweep through the world at a frightening speed, crushing travel plans in it’s path. But it also brought a medical release back to “light duty” so I could work the summer as planned.

Kwan yin golden statue at panyu lotus hill resort guangzhou

April brought us cancelled flights and all hope for travel outside (and sometimes inside) the United States were dashed. It also brought another set of minor seizures for Superhubs, and poof, back behind the wheel I went.

May brought the resumption of my part time seasonal job and new adventures in on-line grocery shopping. This is a shot of one of my orders from Amazon, yep, completely empty, perfectly sealed, not a thing in it. But the best was yet to come.

June and the whole summer brought seriously weird weather. Lots of thunderstorms, biblical in scale.

July brought hail storms, several, the likes of which have not been seen here in decades that left our part of the state designated a disaster area. This is a hailstone from one of the storms. It was about a hour after the storm so a lot of it had melted, the stones were the size of baseballs when they struck.

August and September brought stress, panic disorder, and the most beautiful fall colors I’ve seen in years. It also brought a Cardiac Sarcoidosis diagnosis and finally admitting that my working days are done. My last day of work was October 1.

October brought much needed down time, and a rare Halloween Blue Moon.

Tiny display of fall leaves with a bitty gnome

November brought us an LADA (autoimmune diabetes in adults) diagnosis, changes, more changes, to daily life. New definitions of “holidays” too as we learn how to celebrate on our own, without travel. Adventures in “backyarding” on our little nature walks through the RV park observing what there is to see, a hawk circling, leaves falling, skies changing was a saving grace.

December brought us dyshidrotic eczema *ouch*, socially distanced Christmas greetings and a ton of grandkid videos. As the sun set on December, I realized, in retrospect, what a gift 2020 was and how I look forward to the unseen gifts 2021 will hold.

Til next time ~Stay trippy, hippies

JusJoJan 3 – Servant

For Just Jot it January – Servant

My mind skips and jumps,
hums with scraps of logic
and long forgotten songs

I need to tighten the reins
on the fears that flitter
at the periphery of my vision

No more shall I be a servant
to distracted, pain-filled abstracts
I shall be the master of my own mind

Oh look, coffee ….

Til next time ~Stay trippy hippies ~JP

Spoonie Saturday – JusJoJan – In the Corner

In the corner of a dusty shelf there sat a tiny book, “Kitchen Mystic Spiritual Lessons Hidden in Everyday Life.” A pocket sized paperback filled with everyday insights. I remember the first time I picked it up and knew that this tiny treasure was meant for me. It is battered and wrinkled, with dog-eared pages. I take it down every few years and re-read it, I handle it carefully. You see, I’m a kitchen mystic myself, I see the Divine in a thin slice of red onion shimmering like stained glass. I get the magic in a well brewed cup of tea and the twinkling eye of the Great Mother winking at me from the chips of white quartz along the road. Oh yes, I get it. I am a Mystic Hippie Spoonie, living proof that if you can actually remember the 70’s you didn’t really LIVE them.

This year I’m getting back to my Mystic Hippie roots. I want to live in tune with the rhythms of sun and moon, seasons and stars instead of clocks and calendars. More in kairos, less in chronos. This is my first full year of real retirement and I intend to live it well. Among my goals and intentions for this year is to reduce my use of OTC meds. To that end, this week I made up a batch of “cough tonic.” I’m a life long asthmatic, my first hospitalization came at 6 months of age and I have not had a significant remission since that time (we’re not going to discuss exactly HOW LONG that is). I cough, a lot, all the time, for various reasons most of which medical science has no treatment to offer. So, back to Mother Nature we go.

My paternal grandmother had a recipe for a cough medicine she used and passed along to me, although it is effective, I no longer use it due to the alcohol content. In case you’re interested it was simply:
1 part lemon juice
1 part honey
1 part whiskey
shake well and take 1 teaspoon as required (yeah that’s gonna happen *cough cough*)

That was pretty much par for the course in the 1930’s but I felt it needed an update, a non-alcoholic update, ’cause ya know. After much on-line research and reading up on different folk remedies I was panic stricken intimidated by the boiling and extracting, straining, reducing and … cooking. Did I mention that although I am a mystic witch in the kitchen, I’m like a lazy totally laid back and easy going Spoonie. So, lazy witch creative genius that I am, I concocted a lemon ginger honey peppermint tonic that works pretty well. It’s a little more acidic than I’d prefer but it works. Here’s what I did:

From the Lazy Mystic Kitchen Spoonie:

I heated 6 oz water to a boil, dropped in two Yogi Teas Lemon Ginger teabags, cover and let it steep for about an hour. Remove the teabags, reheat the tea to hot (not boiling). Stir in 1-2 Tablespoon of honey (local raw) and 1 Tablespoon of virgin coconut oil, about 30 drops of peppermint extract and a dab of ginger (the kind in the tube). I immulsified with an immersion blender, let cool and poured into a labeled jar. Take 1-2 Tablespoons as needed for cough. So far so good, I’m off the multi-symptom flu medicine that I’ve used for years for coughs. Please remember that most reliable sources do not recommend using essential oils internally. I used GAIA herbs liquid extract which is MUCH less potent than an essential oil but is pure peppermint leaf extract. There, butt covered.

Well, I’m off to make a hot toddy, errr,, ahhh I mean a cough and cold tonic.

Linked to JusJoJan