This staycation has been particularly relaxing. I feel calm, and centered, and a little bit happy. I've noticed that my laugh is different... more ... real (like it used to be), and I've been joking and feeling more like myself.
I've even had to ask myself, several times, 'what day is this?' That is a good indication that I was able to TOTALLY let go of most of my worries, and I didn't even think about work until Dave asked me something on Friday, when we were near the office for lunch on a patio.
I got my container garden planting completed, and Dave got a start on the yard work he has been putting off for months.
While I was putting the garden together, a really interesting feeling came over me, and I started to just hum a little tune.
I think maybe it was "peace."
I'd forgotten what it was like to feel peaceful. I hope that having a garden again, after literally decades, will help me to get that back on a more regular basis.
I even felt peaceful yesterday as I sat over my lettuce garden pulling caterpillars off of the leaves. Yes, something was eating my salads already, HAHA!
We had a nice little escape to a state park on my birthday.
It was a gloomy day, with patches of sunshine, and there was NO ONE in the part of the woods where we went hiking. Not one other human.
Dave dipped our canteen into the spring, right by the outlet, and we tasted pure, earth-given water.
We heard something on the other side of the creek that might have been a wild bore. There was snuffling and grunting. Not something a deer would be doing. Never did see what it was, though.
Dave wasn't feeling too well, so we had to go back to the room, and I didn't get to do nearly as much hiking and exploring as I had wanted to.
Being there in the middle of the week, in April, really did guarantee that we'd be the only ones, or almost the only ones, there.
The room at the lodge was a bit disappointing. The "park view" of the room they put is in was a cinder block wall, that formed a little man made ravine. A young, but dead tree had been thrown down there, into the trash filled space between our room and the wall we were looking at.
The towels were stained, the phone didn't work to call for our meals ("pick up available, just call your order in from your room!"), so we had to go sit at the restaurant.
Fortunately, we were able to sit outside for dinner, and there was no one else in the restaurant for breakfast.
Dave arranged for the electrical upgrade to be done on the house on Thursday, so we were hiking in the woods Thursday morning (which was GORGEOUS, bright, and cool) when the electrician texted and said he needed to get into the house.
He had previously said that all of the work would be outside, so we left the gate open, and didn't need to worry about rushing back from our park get away. Our house sitter was here when they arrived, and all was well, so she left.
Surprise! We had to cut the morning hike short, and head home.
They didn't even ask to be let into the house for like 4 hours after we arrived. Dammit.
SO my birthday getaway was not what I had hoped for, but it did have highlights.
Also on Wednesday, before we left for the park, I got a series of emails that indicated that the condo buyer FINALLY paid her fees, and filled out her paperwork for the condo association.
They also refused to let me skip the May dues assessment, and demanded that I mail it immediately.... even though when I was in the auto withdrawal program, they never withdrew the money from my account until the 11th, and the closing is now scheduled for the 13th.
What the hell ever.
I am happy to be done with them forever after this is finalized.
The legal assistant who is handling the condo association part is going to see if I can get that money back from the buyer, since the TWO delays/contingency extensions have been caused by their side not being prepared or organized enough to smoothly transition to closing on the original date of 4/29/21, or even to 5/3/21.
Anyway, I got my first farm to home delivery bag on Friday.
I signed up for this program that provides a weekly bag of locally produced vegetables and fruits, and you can order additional local products (at additional cost, obviously) to be added to your bag if you so desire.
The bag I signed up for only costs about $20 a week...and you get SO MUCH. It's actually cheaper than the grocery store.
I looked at the meats on the website, though, and they are super expensive.
There was a LOT of greens/lettuces in this bag...so much that we won't likely be able to finish it all before it starts to go bad, but everything else was in reasonable quantities.
I find this exciting, because I will be FORCED to expand my horizons, and branch out in my meal planning! I am going to have so much fun!
For example, there was a bunch of baby turnips in this bag, and a shallot. I sliced the turnips up, and dressed them with oil and balsamic vinegar, garlic, and parsley, diced half the shallot, and wrapped that up in a foil packet.
While my turkey breast tenderloin (which I had brined all afternoon) was in the grill, using the smoker technique, I threw that packet on about half way through cooking.
The turnips were extremely flavorful, and just barely tender, with a nice little bit of crunch left. It was so good, I can't even describe it. Dave raved about how good it was....
Unfortunately, the turnip greens didn't look good, so I had to toss them. The rainbow carrots also had a lot of greens, which I also had to chop off.
Wish we had a compost bin!
Maybe that will be my next step!
Today, the rest of the shallot is going into a salad. There were also cucumbers, pink lemons, and those rainbow carrots.... Yay! I am thinking of roasting the carrots in brown butter.... hmmm.....
Anyway, once my little garden starts to produce, I will step back on the deliveries to every other week, most likely. We will for sure be getting our 4 to 5 servings a day of fruits and vegetables!!
Today is mostly going to be an easy day. Dave is going to get a hair cut, and I have to set my office back up, and do a little work on my course.
I had a fire in the chiminea last evening, and did some of my course work around that. It was such a nice evening! Cool, and a little breezy....ahhhh.....
While we were in the hot tub last night, a cooling drizzle fell on our faces for a few minutes. It was magical!
I am going to try to reframe my thinking about Sunday nights.... focusing on the potential of the new week, instead of dreading having to clock back in on Monday morning.
I really don't like my job, but I am extremely grateful for it!
So---Happy New Week, everyone!
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