Possibilities

This is my pathway. What will I do with it?

I can do anything I like to do; anything I feel led to do. I WILL have my farm! How will I do it? How will I pay for it? What will I produce as a money thing or will it just be a hobby farm? Hmmm...

Some ideas:

I might raise rabbits and sheep for the yarn of them. Yes, I have eaten both lamb as well as rabbit. I have even had to butcher my own rabbit. I did NOT enjoy doing so. Therefore, I do not wish to raise anything for the food of it, in that manner of speaking. Yes, I will eat the eggs from my chickens; but, I don't want to eat the animals. I prefer to see them grow old and happy on my wee farm. I DO enjoy posh yarns and I know the expense of those yarns at the yarn shops I like to visit. I think I could do that pretty easily. I know I won't make much, but if I can just make enough to live off of with my farm that would be fantastic!

My farm has to have fruit. Fruit, freshly grown, is so very wonderful! It is amazing to pick a cantaloupe and disappear with a knife into a grassy part of the yard to do nothing but eat it and enjoy the sounds of the animals and bees around me. I think I can grow enough to take some to market. That would be rewarding to know others are enjoying my hard work. I had an orchard as a child. I remember picking apples, peaches, and cherries in this wonderful little place. It was brilliant! To think of the difference in the taste of one I have picked myself vs one I have bought at the grocery store is indescribable! You will have to come get one of my fruits after I grow it!

There are a few stellar things to grow but it takes a bit of time management to get it just right. I will have to keep excellent records. Maybe I can do that as well, and it would be more of a cash crop. I will keep you posted on that one!

I am sure some of you are laughing at the thought of a single mom starting a farm of her own. Laugh. I don't really care. I have to do what's right for me. Having a farm is right for me. It will be the best thing I can do for me because it will get me outside in the fresh air with animals, trees, and work that I am not sure can be qualified as work if it is for my body and soul. Can it? Is that work? I am not sure but what it is just my personal form of yoga to hoe in the garden and in the trees and take care of animals that make me smile with their soft sounds and gentle kisses. Some might even call it joy.

Peace and Love,

Tela

My Dream

I have always wanted a farm of my own. One that provides homegrown nourishment and work for the body and soul, my body and soul. I want a farm where I can go outside and not only drink coffee and watch the trees blow in the wind, but where I can step out my door every evening to wind down with 30 minutes of yoga. I want to gather eggs from my chickens and pick apples from trees in the orchard. I want the peaceful work that comes from a farm.

I went to Tractor Supply yesterday just to see the chickens. I like to hear the chickens and smell the chickens and I wish they would have let me hold them.

Chickens are the best! They act so crazy sometimes with all of their pecking order behaviors until you realize people act that way too! We are just missing the feathers. 

I've had chickens. I loved them. They have even provided homegrown eggs for my frying pan. Let me tell you. There is no better egg than a fresh, farm egg. It is true. They are the best. The flavor is more full and robust. It would go perfectly with my Chipotle pepper sauce!

I want to pick fruit from my trees and eat it. I want to take the fruit to the farmers market and stand with other farmers trying to make a living! 

I have been cleaning up my stuff in my house and I keep finding notebooks where I wrote out different plans for having a farm. Different plans for all the animals I want. Different plans for how I can make my living off the land. I've never had the guts to go for it. I've never been man enough to just do it! My Dad says I'm too old now to try and farm. Am I? 

I think that now is the time that if I want a farm, I need to go for it! I need to write out my plan now better than ever and go for it! I need to believe in myself so very much that nothing can stop me! I CAN have a farm. I can have my dream! I don't have to wait until I really am too old to go after this dream of mine. I want my farm. 

Now, how to make my farm a reality? At the moment I live in a suburb in the city. I can have rabbits, but no chickens and definitely no goats! I had started a small farm at my parents' house at one time. I loved it! We had rabbits and chickens and a garden! We had blueberry bushes and grape vines! We had planted 2 peach trees and a fig tree. It was coming along great! The ground at their house is terrible and needs many additives to sustain goodness; but, it was getting there! We had to leave in the middle of the summer one year. We've not really gone back to it for more than just a visit. 

I am trying my best to work from home creating artwork for cards and any other artsy thing I can come up with to do. I love crafting. It is part of me. I know I wasn't given this talent for no reason. I made a card last night with chickens on it. I love it. I think it's awesome!

I also love the beach. I have been learning quilling and the bird was sitting there asking to be added to this card. Does it make sense to have a seagull with the chickens? Well, it works in my mind. The most beautiful sight I have ever seen was horses being ridden on the beach. It was breathtaking and the only picture I have of that is in my mind. It was amazing and I will never forget the sight of it. 

Animals have always soothed me. Last year when I was teaching in Savannah, GA...it was hell (That is the best way to describe it.) I was scared and prayed for my life every day I was there. On the worst days, when I would get out of my car at that awful place and pray for my safety, I'd hear a rooster crowing. I knew that it was my little sign that someone was watching out for me and I'd make it through that day. A rooster crowing became one of the sweetest sounds this country girl could hear. I needed that sound. It gave me hope.

Now, I have decided and I am committing to my dream. I WILL have my farm. I don't know yet how I will afford to move and buy my farm; but, it's happening. I am not too old to follow my dreams! I've only just begun to live and I intend to be here for a while! Look out chickens! Here I come!

Peace and Love,

Tela

My Worry about Eating Sugar

This is me now:

I have lost about 75 pounds in the last 4-5 years. I have done it by cuttng back on things like boxed stuff and store stuff. At one point I was even making all my bread that was brought into my house. We eat more vegetables and stay away from all the processed, boxed stuff in the store that I have no clue what the ingredients are. And, I know none of those ingredients could be grown in a garden. I stay away from that stuff.

Lately, I have stopped eating sugar as well. It's been 6 weeks tomorrow that I have gone without table sugar. That white stuff that used to sweeten my coffee all the time. I've kicked it out of my system. At first, I had done this for lent. It was what I gave up. Diabetes runs rampant in my family and I thought it would be something good to do.

However, it's turned into something more.

This is what I used to look like:

I was quite large! I am still fluffy! However, I am no where near what I used to be in this picture.

I say all of this because I don't think I can go back to eating sugar! I crave sugar. The things in my house with sugar in it taunts me to eat it. I have not done so. I don't think I can do it! I really do not think I can eat just a little bit of it without eating too much. I've dropped the sugar now and just maybe that's where it should stay.

My dad takes dialysis 3 times a week because he was too sweet! Ha ha ha!!! He doesn't like sitting in that chair each week waiting for his blood to get cleaned. He's 75 years old.

I have a very dear friend who is also on dialysis now in his 40s and he hates it, too! He can never stop taking dialysis without a kidney transplant and even then may have to continue dialysis.

All of this because these men could not decide to eat right and exercise and leave off the sugar! I have to continue leaving off the sugar. I have to use things like honey and natural things that don't harm my body the way the sugar does.

It makes me want to cry, but it also makes me want to shout out that I can do it! I CAN win this fight against the ticking time bomb of diabetes that runs in my family. I CAN beat this thing! I CAN win! However, I just don't think I can have that slice of cake or a cookie with my vegetables. I believe it would send me down a spiral of sugar consumption that I'd have a harder time crawling out of than I ever have. I've kicked sugar out of my system and it probably needs to stay that way.

What are your thoughts about sugar? Is sugar as bad as we think it is?

Until next time, I am after another cup of coffee...without the sugar.

Love and peace,

Tela

Lentil soup

Lentil soup is delicious! My kids love my soup. It is a staple in my house that I first started making in the crock pot with left over lentils. Now, I make it from scratch on the stove top at times and enjoy the whole process of preparation for it.

First, you need lentils...

they come in a bag at the grocery store from the dried beans section. Wash them a couple of times and throw them in a pot with some water. Set them aside. We need the burner for the onions first.

I like cooked onions, a lot. I think the cooked onion gives the soup a much more robust flavor than the onion gives if it isn't cooked. It takes just a moment to get the onions lightly browned like this:

I threw in a bit of fresh garlic, as well. Garlic is superb! It is good in just about anything. Don't eat it raw! It will burn. It has been said to keep away vampires, but who knows! 

I added the onions to my lentils. Then I like to include some carrots into the mixture. I use the baby carrots and cut them in half, then in half once again.

I like them this way because they don't take as long to cook or feel bulky in my mouth. A whole baby carrot is just too much. these fit in the spoon nicely. My guinea pig, Pepper, doesn't care how I cut up his carrots, as long as he gets some! 

Now, it's time to add the spices. In this soup, I add bay leaves, thyme, and rosemary. Make sure and squish these up in your fingers, except the bay leaves. I leave them whole because they work that way. Plus, it's easier to take out before eating. The bay leaves are a little tough to eat, but I love the earthy flavor they add to the dish.

I want to add that I also include chia and flax seeds when possible because they are good for me. I don't really notice any addition to taste or texture, which is fine.

What about salt? I add salt after all the flavors have mixed together. I also like to make sure everything is cooked. Sometimes when cooking beans, salt will hinder a bean from softening if added too early to the pot. Therefore, I wait until the mixture is almost finished cooking before I add salt.

This is what we have now in our soup pot. You can see the bay leaves and all the other spices floating around on top. The carrots are there with the onions giving them a soft bed and the lentils bringing up the rear. This will be delicious! Bon Appetite!

Peace and Love,

Tela

Free Stuff

How many of you think I will give you something for free with that title today? Maybe...

How many of us stop and look at things in a store just because it has that BOGO sign on it? I'm raising my hand. I look at stuff. I even admit to looking at stuff that say it's on sale and I'm gettin it for a great reduction. Doesn't mean I buy it. I don't have to buy just to look. How many people though, do you know that buy crap just because it was on sale? I have had people pick up things and call me to say it is on sale and I can have one, too! It's a book on how to make cigars. Something, I won't do...ever.

Is something ever really free? When someone offers you something for free and you take it, is there a cost involved? Not a monetary cost, but some sort of cost? For example, if I offer to give a card to the first person who becomes a follower of my blog and writes a comment, is that free? Yes. It is comletely free. However, in order to get that free card you have to give up a little bit of privacy by giving me your address. I will also post on the lovely facebook that I gave you a free card and to watch out for more freebies as the days go by. Is that free? I would say that one is pretty free.

I saw a chance to win a vacation the other day. However, it was only a chance at paying $150/night on a condo in the gulf. Nothing else...Is that a winning situation? There were people following all the rules to "win" this prize. I skipped on that offer because if I win a vacation I want to win everything! I want my travel expenses, room and board, and spending cash! That's what I would call a win!

Of course we are free in the USA. We are free to do as we please, within reason. Reason is what gets most people in trouble and causes the most arguments. I have friends on either side of most situations that cause tension. I have people who will tell you all of their reasons for doing something. I can also find people willing to support the opposite side just as stoutly. Guess what! We are FREE to feel as we do because of people like my son who is willing to join a branch of the military and defend those rights. If you roll that one around in your mind, it's pretty cool that we don't have to personally fight for our own individual freedoms. Someone else is holding out their hand and saying, "I got this." Thank you to ALL of our service members for giving each of us our freedom!

Now, I need more coffee. One cup is simply not enough!

Be the first today to offer up a following and a comment and I'll send you a free card!

Peace and Love,

Tela

Not Alone Anymore

I've been cleaning up my office today. That room had become a place where everything just got shoved when I didn't know exactly where to put it. There are all kinds of books, crafts, magazines, and keepsakes in this room. As I was sorting out fallen books and magazines, I came upon this note I had written back in 1996 to myself as a reminder of all of my upcoming appointments.

I was pregnant with my first child, William. My husband (my ex-husband now) had decided shortly after marriage and getting pregnant that he would take an assignment at Ft. Hood. I had thought he would be stationed there with me. I found out otherwise after moving there. He was headed to Bosnia and I was left alone in Ft. Hood, Tx, in a new subdivision where he explicitly told me to stay away from all the other wives there, and to water the grass. 

I watered the grass...every day.

I found out that I had gestational diabetes. That is diabetes of a woman while she's pregnant. We usually have to drink a nasty orange flavored drink that is super sweet. The lab checks the sugar every couple of hours. If a woman doesn't process that sugar quickly enough, then she has gestational diabetes. I had it. I had gestational diabetes with my first pregnancy and I was all alone in Texas. My family was still in Alabama.

I was scared.

These officers I saw treated all of us like cattle. They would ask us our sponsor's social security number (I still know it by heart), then usher us to the waiting doctor for the day. When I was diagnosed, I was called by a Colonel to make sure I attended all of my classes. He assigned me a dietician and I was scheduled for multiple 3 hour classes. I had to write all of these things down. But at the bottom of the note you can see my final thought...

I am fine by myself!

I was trying so very hard to be strong as I could possibly be in order to be the best Mom, the best wife, the best patient, the best everything. Today when I found this note, I welled up with tears because I am not alone. I have a boyfriend who loves me dearly; two amazing children; a family who is there for me; and most importantly, a God that never leaves me alone. I am a blessed woman. I am not alone, and I never will have to be alone again. I will not have to feel that way ever again. I have many things that can improve; however, being loved is not one of those things. I am very loved and cared about on a daily basis. Thank you! 

All I can think of is this now...

I won! 

Peace and Love,

Tela

Waiting...

Waiting...

We are all waiting for something. We are all waiting for the one thing to make everything fall into place the way we have dreamed. We are all thinking that if we just wait long enough then something great will happen. Will it?

Ever seen the movie "As Good as it Gets" with Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, and Greg Kinnear? It's a really good movie. At one point Jack looks at all the other clients at the counseling center and says, "What if this is as good as it gets." What if his words are true? What then?

I am waiting patiently, without my usual dose of sugar, I might add. Read a previous article about the no sugar kick. I have listed some cards I enjoy making on Etsy and I can't wait to get that first customer. I have lookers, but no buyers as of yet. I look multiple times a day to see the dashboard change to say I have an order. I can't wait! I haven't gotten one yet, though. :-( But I will! I have some really cute cards. I'll be happy to entertain your needs with my cards!

Seriously, waiting can suck sometimes. People play on their phones now, while waiting in line, at the doctor's, or even in restaurants. They use the phone everywhere! We all have our favorite games we play while waiting. I need to check my dragons, by the way. I'm in some race on my dragon game. I need to win so I can get a new dragon only available with a gazillion or so gems or through this game. Waiting... I must keep waiting!

What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for a check? We ALL want that one! Lots of people are waiting on refund checks at this moment. They are waiting for the check so they can take a vacation, buy a car, pay a bill, or buy that huge flatscreen for their tiny living room. It will be such an incredible size their neighbor will suddenly start sitting outside in the evenings to drink his tea and eat popcorn because he can see it from his deck! Maybe he will get a universal remote and watch it even when the neighbor's out.

I'm waiting. I guess I will continue to wait. Nothing comes from being too anxious!

Peace and Love,

Tela

https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/telawallen/tools/listings/599791961?ref=listing_card_body&from_page=/your/listings

Sugar kick!

As I sit here writing, I am thinking of how much sugar I used to consume while writing. I have gone a month and 3 days with no extra sugar of any kind on anything. No candy, no cokes, no cake, nothing with sugar. I am AWESOME!! LOL!! It is amazing just how much sugar we consume without even realizing it! My son had a soft drink the other day and happen to notice it had 77grams of sugar and 77grams of carbs in it. Wow!!! For a diabetic that equals shock! For a non-diabetic maybe you just gave it to yourself! Does a person really need that much sugar? Well, that kind of depends on some things about you.

I have a history of diabetes. I had gestational diabetes and told that I probably had the beginning of Type 2. Well, great. I thought I couldn't cut out ALL sugars, but I have! It is lent season and I've never restricted myself during lent. However, I decided this year to really do something in honor of lent and God. I gave up sugars. God helped me. My boyfriend has helped me, as well. He's eating less sugars, but not a complete give up for him. My son has not given up sugars either. This is a personal thing that you have to want to do for yourself in order to do it. Without that desire to go without, you will find every excuse possible to eat it. 

What's been the hardest thing for me? Coffee without sugar. I love coffee. I think half of me is made of coffee, not water. Nope, I bleed coffee. I used to put 2 rounded teaspoons--not measuring teaspoons, but the spoon that comes with the sugar jar--into each cup of coffee. Not bad if I only had one cup of coffee per day. No, try 4 cups of coffee per day. I told you, coffee aholic here! So, that was mucho grande of sugar every day. Not to mention how I love to make pastries. Yum!! I am sure my neighbors miss my baking! I used to bake all kinds of things and take them a treat. Not lately. 

So, I am completely sugar free. I feel better. My skin feels better. I am sure my wallet appreciates no runs for candy! I cannot, however, convince others to kick the sugar habit. That's on them. I wish I could rub off on people! I can't. Do I miss sugar? Yes, I do sometimes. Until I rub my face and feel the difference in how my skin feels now compared to how it used to feel. My clothes fit better. I can breathe better. I don't want sugar like I used to want it, not even in my coffee. We will have to talk about those sweetners I use on another day. ;-)

Peace and Love,

Tela

I want cookies today!

Why are we in a society where churching is frowned upon? I know perfectly good people who do not attend church. I have been there! I have been asked to leave churches due to misunderstandings. Still, God knocks on my head and says, "Get up and go to my church! You've got to help people; and, I can help you with this mission." I listen now and get up and go. I get my son up from his slumber and tell him to get dressed. We meet up at my boyfriend's house and climb in the car with the family and head to church.

I go to church every Sunday. I take my son and go with my boyfriend and his family to church at 9 AM. We have an early service because our preacher has to divide her time between our church and a sister church. After the 9 o'clock service we have Sunday school, complete with snacks. Our church is not fancy. We have a fireplace in the room where we have Sunday school. It is beautiful! God was smiling at it being so pretty this past Sunday when we used it. 

I attend a tiny little church. Usual attendance is around 12-15 people, including the preacher. My family tells me that they used to have a much larger congregation until they were assigned a female preacher. Half the people left our church. Then the next season, the church received another female preacher and the congregation was again divided with half of them leaving to attend a church pastored by a man. I am pretty sure that God speaks to men and women; therefore, what difference should it make whether we have a male or female as our preacher. Do you think God looks down and says, "Nope! Not talking to that person today. It's a FEMALE! I made her, but I refuse to talk with her. She sucks at speaking for me. Where's a man I can talk to?" I don't imagine God doing that. I think if he wants a message sent by his messenger, he will use whoever is available. 

I want peanut butter cookies! I have been kicking the sugar thing for lent and I have gone a whole month today with no table sugar! Woo hoo! But I really want some peanut butter cookies, the cookies I like to make. Ohhhh, I have to fight this one down! No one needs to put a cookie in front of me today! No stopping at my Subway today where the manager looks at me and tells me, "My cookies miss you," when I skip the evil things! Ohhhhhhh!!!! It will be fine. The desire for cookies will pass. I just have to keep on keeping at it! Too much diabetes in my family gene pool to go back now. I have to keep on keeping on with the no sugar or I won't make it to 110 years old.

Peace and Love my friends!

Tela