Bee swarm!

Yesterday the most amazing thing happened. We were sitting in the living room and K said, "Mama, what's going on with the bees?"

I looked outside and right around the hives was chaos! Armed with my camera, we went out to investigate:



The bees swarmed! This is good news, because it means the hive is healthy enough to split in two. YES! So I called a local beekeeper who is also a swarm catcher, and he came and helped me get the swarm. He is taking it elsewhere and will return with another swarm for me when I have the second hive ready. The reason for this is because when the bees have made up their minds they're leaving, they might tend to swarm if put into a hive too close to where they were originally. So we trade, and the bees are more likely to stay put. So so cool - this means I will have a second hive this year! AND a new beekeeping mentor!

You have no idea how great it is to have other beekeepers to talk bees with - nothing like just geeking out on bees with others who actually WANT to talk about nothing but bees for hours on end. I am so excited - this is the beginning of my little apiary. Swoon.

crockpot cuban pork lettuce wraps two ways

I got a half of a pastured pig, and because we are relatively new to the world of pork, I had no idea how to cook it. Internet to the rescue!

I love the internet and all of the amazing recipes it brings me. I love that people share the delicious things they've created so I can grab them and try them myself and as always, add my own twist to them all. I LOVE that there are so many Paleo recipe websites out there.

I found this amazingly delicious recipe on PaleOMG, and I amended it a bit - two days in a row. We ate all the evidence, so there are no photos to entice you with - click over to the original recipe page and you can get a sense of what we had. Let me just say it was DELICIOUS. NOM.

Crockpot Cuban Pork

For the pork I followed her original recipe, found here:

• 2lb pork shoulder roast (or roast of your choice)
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 orange, juiced and zested (I used 1 Tbs frozen orange juice concentrate)
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• salt and pepper, to taste

I went ahead and made this into a marinade, then let the roast marinade for a few hours. You could easily do overnight and do the roast the next day.

Into the crockpot everything went for 6-8 hours on low.

For the slaw, I started to follow the recipe, then went rogue, due to lack of proper ingredients and my own tastebuds. So you can see the original recipe at PaleOMG, then see how I amended it and did my own thing.

• 1 head of green cabbage, sliced to thickness preference
• 3 tablespoons yellow mustard (the kind you put on burgers, not the powder)
• 3 Tbs paleo mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• salt and pepper, to taste

Mix and if you're marinating the meat, let this marinate, too. 
If not, it will still taste yummy fresh.

Once pork is done cooking, use tongs to shred that guy!! (I had to use tongs, a fork, and a knife - it took some effort)

Place shredded pork and slaw in a leaf of romaine lettuce and eat it up!

 

This is so yummy - next time I will use TWO roasts, because we definitely wanted more the next day - and had eaten it all! Well, all the pork, that is.....But the slaw! There was SO much of it! And raw slaw does a bit of a number on my insides...but I REALLY wanted to eat it...so:

 

Cuban Slaw with Bacon

 

Ingredients: 

yesterday's cuban slaw

1 onion

bacon ends and pieces

 

Dice up bacon ends and pieces and fry them up in the big skillet. 

 

Add the diced onion, and saute onion with bacon until nice and clear. Add slaw, saute' until cooked. Eat! Experience food bliss. Wish you had made twice as much because you ate ALL THE CABBAGE! 

Ringling Brothers...and the elephants

When I was a kid, I vaguely remember going to the circus. In fact, I really don't remember it at all. What I DO remember, though, is riding the elephant. The elephant was amazing, majestic and beautiful.

 

I'm the second one back - I was 12 or 13 at the time, but look like an adult - especially compared to my tiny mom. That's my young friend Mele in front of me and my brother behind me. And my wee Mama at the back.

Ringling Brothers got a LOT of guff about their animal acts since then - and have had to seriously readjust what constitutes their show.

In fact, I didn't even know they still existed until my husband's work offered some deeply discounted tickets to the circus. And when Kiernen found out, he wanted to go. So, thinking that if they still exist they MUST have straightened up their act where animals are concerned, we went.

I honestly thought they'd have had to retool and be much more like Cirque de Soleil - because PETA don't play - they really take animal welfare seriously. And honestly, how fair is it to an animal meant to have miles of space to be traveling in a train several months a year?

 

It seems they've changed their animal acts a bit. The elephants were there - I guess it's the one last animal from their heyday they're holding on to. Because you know, they're the signature act. 

So they had camels, ponies, and miniature ponies here. And later dogs, all rescued from shelters. One of whom jumped at the trainer from behind and knocked her out of the ring - in his exuberance to get that snack!

I looked online for an unbiased website to let me know what Ringling Bros is doing these days regarding animal welfare. It seems they've put a fair chunk of money into creating a big cat rescue where the big cats go and retire. Same for the elephants. But while there were no big cats in the show, there were still the elephants. And honestly, that made me sad.

 

But they did have a wonderful aerial acrobat show. 

 

I didn't get the photo I meant to get with this one, because this act was really about the crazy amazing strength of this woman. She was contorting herself into all manner of amazing positions while balancing his MAN's weight on parts of her body like her stomach, her hip, her shoulders. She was crazy strong. And had amazing balance. My lack of photos as due to my sitting there with my eyeballs and mouth open wide, astonished. I LOVE stuff like this. Way to fully utilize what your body is capable of, amazing contortionist lady!

 

These guys were awesome - basketball on unicycles. They did some really crazy fun stuff. 

 

And well, you know...the elephants. Signature and all.  They were beautiful, majestic...and they looked really sad and tired. And reading online that elephants would only do something like stand on their heads with threat of pain and then watching them do just that...these animals aren't really meant for circuses and performing tricks. They're meant to be free and wild and ruling the savannah.

Ringling Brothers has come so far toward actually making themselves decent and kind in the animal department - why are they insisting on holding on to these elephants and making them do this stuff? Have they not seen Cirque du Soleil (clearly they have, half of their show was "borrowed" from its pages)? Come on, Ringling Brothers - you can do better. Let the elephants live in peace, on a wildlife preserve. Don't subject them to this humiliation and pain. They deserve to retire.

the bees were robbed!

So among bees, there is a phenomenon known as robbing - when the nectar flow begins to ebb, sometimes bees from one colony will descend upon another colony and try to rob them of their honey. This usually happens right around now in the Pacific Northwest - the days are getting shorter, the nectar flow is getting sparse...it will soon be time to get ready for overwintering, where the bees will hibernate, depending on their stores for getting through the winter.

Today, because my bees are right outside my front window and my husband happened to be near the hive, we got to witness the battle of the bees firsthand. My huband came running to the backyard and said, "Something unusual is happening with the bees. You need to see this. It looks like they're fighting, there are dead bees all over the place."

What the what?!?

Yeah, it's been a year since I've had bees, and last time, they were on a property that was a 25 minute drive from my home. So I didn't get to witness much of the day to day. And now, my memory of what could have been witnessed is a bit hazy...

So I run to look out the front door window, which has a great view of the hive without the exposure that might allow for stinging. Sure enough, there was a flurry of activity in front of the hive, and some pretty heavy bearding on he front, but also on the sides, which was weird. We saw some that were actually fighting in midair, one on one, to defend their hive - my girls! There were dead bee bodies everywhere.

I freaked! I'm not in the bee club yet! What should I do? Who can I call???

The beekeeper who gave me the swarm! Now where did I put that number? .... apparently into the ether. Damn.

So I look at the Oregon Beekeepers Association website, and there is a swarm catching list! Yes! I look for someone near me, just in case they want to come out....no answer. I go to the next person on this list, and score - they're home! I explain my predicament, and they are happy to answer my questions. Thank you, Universe, that beekeepers tend to love helping out new beekeepers!

After listening to my predicament, he and his daughter say sounds like robbing, although it could also be them putting out the drones. I told him they pout out the drones three weeks ago, but maybe again? So kindly they let me know I could put in the entrance reducer to help them protect the hive, and also to put a block in front of the entrance a few inches out, so they'd have to slow down to go in - to protect from wasps divebombing the hive, which apparently they wil begin to do in a week or two here.

Then later in the day, the first beekeeper I'd called calls me back, and has a lovely english accent to boot  - did I have a bee problem? I explained the sitch and that it was well in hand from the previous advice, and he still wanted to know all about it, so I told him the story, and he asked, "Do you have Langstroth (traditionally used by modern beekeepers) hives, or Warre, or...?" Warre. He said they have several Warres, then proceeds to give me all kinds of other advice about managing Warres, then gives me his email address so he can send me more information about the bee club locally and more links...and hen he invites me to come out to his farm and see HIS bees!

He also said I can call him any time with questions and he is happy to help. Yes! I have a Warre mentor! Squee! I am so damn excited.

So back to my girls - the fighting continued, but not for long, and pretty soon everything had settled back down. It looks like our hive is strong, though, and they triumphed. There are still bee bodies scattered everywhere, and they are on guard outside the hive tonight, making sure no one else comes a robbing. So now I'm not sure how to get the entrance reducer in, because the bees are filling the entrance and making their own entrance reducer, only made of bees instead of wood.

I wish I could communicate with them to let them know this device will make their job so much easier...hey won't have to expend all that energy protecting the hive at night and keeping themselves warm, because there will be less space for others to get in.

I will figure out a way.

Meanwhile, I took a little video of the hive while the fight was happening. You can't really see any fighting per se, but you can see the bearding out front and the agitation of the girls and all of the dead bee bodies strewn everywhere. I recommend expanding your screen view for maximum detail.

we be jammin'

I finally made jam this summer - for the first time ever! I got myself a giant box of nectarines and decided to have a go. It was surprisingly easy, and the result was SO delicious! I made three kinds of jam:

The first, Nectarine Raspberry, I based on this one found at Domestifluff.

The recipe I used is as follows:

Sugar Free Nectarine Raspberry Jam
recipe yields 8 one half pint jars
4 1lbs. nectarines, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 lb. raspberries, fresh or frozen (thawed)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 - 1 1/2 cups honey
pectin (amount will vary depending on what brand you’re using.

1. Place canning jars, lids, and rings in a water canning pot or stock pot. Fill the pot with water until it is 2 inches above the tops of the jars. Heat to boiling, and boil the jars, lids, and rings for 15 minutes to sterilize. 5 minutes before removing the jars, place the jar lifter and kitchen tongs in the boiling water to sterilize. Remove jars using the jar lifter and lids and rings using the kitchen tongs, and set on folded tea towels in preparation for the jam. After everything is removed from the pot, continue to keep the water just below a boil.
2. Mix nectarines and raspberries in pot, then bring mix to boiling. Add the honey, pectin and lemon juice. Stir until blended. Cook over medium high heat for 10-15 minutes, or until any foaminess subsides and the jam has thickened. Remove from heat. Blend with hand blender.
3. Immediately transfer the hot jam to a large glass measuring cup, or use a ladle with a large mouth jar funnel, and transfer the jam to the jars, filling until ¼ inch from the top. Using kitchen tongs, place the lids on the jars, and screw the rings over the lids. Since everything is hot, you’ll probably need oven mitts to do this.
4. Using the jar lifter, transfer the jars to the water-filled pot for 5 minutes. Remove from the water and place on folded tea towels to cool. As the jam cools, you should hear distinct “pops” for each jar as a vacuum forms and they seal.

 So the jam was a bit tart, but oh so delicious. Also, the texture was a bit runny for jam. In the future I am going to use a friend's suggestion and add a couple of apples in the cooking, both for pectin and sweetness. Another idea is to use gelatin to help thicken. Maybe? I'll try the former first, though.

Next, Nectarine and Vanilla preserves, from a recipe found at Vicious Sweet Tooth.

Nectarine and Vanilla Preserves

• 3lbs Ripened Nectarines, diced
• 1 cup honey
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Start cooking down the fruit in a large mouthed pot. Combine Nectarines, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla and bring to a boil.
2. By the time the water bath for the jars comes to a boil and then are boiled for 10 mins, the fruit should be just about ready for you to add to the jars and then process for another 5 mins in the water bath. You can leave the jam chunky or blend it with a handblender like I did.
3. Scoop mixture into jars and then you want to make sure no preserves made it around the mouth of the jar, because this can prevent the seal from forming, so wipe the edges clean just to be sure.
4. To add the lids to the jars, pour some of the hot water that the jars were being sterilized in and pour over the seals.  Then place lids onto the jars and secure the ring so that it’s finger tight, but not super tight.
5. Then place jars carefully, using your new gadget, back into the water bath to “process” them, which means to boil them for a certain amount of time to kill any harmful organisms and to seal the lids. They go back into the water bath and make sure that the water covers 1″ above the jars to ensure a good seal.  Boil the water for 5 mins to activate seal.
6. As they cool, they will suck the seals down and you’ll hear a popping sound.  Be patient as it takes minute or two.

This is my favourite of the three. The taste....AMAZING. Next time I will double the recipe for sure. SO. GOOD. 

And last but not least, I made Spiced Nectarine Butter based on the recipe found at Insanity Theory.

Spiced Nectarine Butter

2kg ripe nectarines
1 cup honey
1/2 cup water
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice 

1. Wash your nectarines, then halve them and remove the seeds and any dodgy bits – do NOT peel them or throw away any peel.

2. Put the nectarines into a large pot with the 1/2 cup of water and spice and cook over medium heat, simmering the mixture till the nectarines have almost liquefied (you should be able to pulverize them with a bit of pressure from a spoon), this will take about 15-20 minutes, depending on how ripe your fruit is.

3. Puree the cooked fruit with a hand blender.

4. Stir in the honey and cook over low-medium heat till the colour has deepened, the texture has become quite thick and the amount of liquid roughly halved. This should take anywhere between 45-60 minutes, and you will need to stir it every 5-10 minutes to stop the mixture sticking to the bottom.

5. CAREFULLY pour into hot sterilized jars till it is filled about 1cm from the top. Place the lid on the jar, then place in simmering water for 10 minutes. Carefully remove from the water and place on a dishcloth on your counter top to cool completely.

This rich, gooey nectarine butter can be enjoyed in a variety of ways:

• Spread into little tartlette cases as jam tarts
• Swirled through a cake or muffin mix to achieve a marbled effect
• In thumbprint jam cookies
• To fill a cake…
• Whatever your imagination can come up with…!

 Again, so darn delicious! And again, I'd double the recipe - because it is so yummy! In fact, I may buy another case of nectarines, if there are any left, and just go pump up the jams.

bees! we have bees again!

Yeah, this ought to have been written two months ago when we got them, but well...it wasn't.

We got bees! I'd unpacked the hives at our new house, and put them on the shelves in readiness for when we were ready to get bees. Then for fun I put together a hive and set it out, just to see what components I really had available.

I just happened to be looking on Craigslist for some local honey, and there it was: a newly caught swarm, for cheap. So I just called, and the beekeeper delivered the bees to me and he even hived them for me! And he was so nice, as beekeepers tend to be, and he said call any time, and he answered all sorts of questions, including helping me to choose a spot to keep them on our property (not next to the shed where the skunks live!).

 

They settled in really nicely, and then it got HOT! They started bearding around the front. So we added another box onto their hive (not pictured), and now they've settled down all happy again.

Well, sort of. We went out to plant a bee garden in front where they live (it is the farthest away from the skunks), and they got MAD! They had a pretty long time limit and gave us about 20 minutes at a time before they'd start buzzing us and getting really angry.

Did you know there is a very distinct (and loud) buzz bees will make, by one's head, when they are threatened/irritated? We have learned it well now, the Hubby and I....once they make that buzz, it is time to RUN like hell and get FAR away from their hive, because it's stinging time! And we also learned that the amount of venom injected into a body when accidentally stung is VERY different (and so much less painful) to the amount they inject when they are telling you to GTFO.

We did finish the bee garden out front, wearing our full bee suits and keeping all body parts covered at all times. Lesson learned!

This still happens to me all the time: random bees finding me. I pick them up, nurse them to health (read: feed them honey), and wait. After several minutes, they regain their strength and off they fly. That is MY hand holding this sweet girl. Isn't she beautiful?

my crafty summer

Wow, we seem to have had a busy summer. No posts in awhile, eh?

I made lots of cool things!

These four Kirby plushies (or stuffies as we call them). I used this tutorial, and modified it to look even more like the video game Kirby, with the art direction of my sweet boy.

Inspired by my success with the Kirbys, I went on to use this tutorial from Obsessively Stitching to create a flock of Angry Birds. (I'll do close-ups in a future post. They will low your mind, because the awesome, I am full of it. I even managed to make Blu from just photos and determination.)

 

I also made this Hobbes, from this instructable. I knitted the top one last year. I am a huge fan of Calvin and Hobbes, to the point of having them tattooed on my ankle, so imagine me delight when my son turns out to be a huge fan, as well. I do what I can to support his fandom.

 

As a family, we made this Mario Power-Up Mushroom pinata. 

 

I sewed this birthday banner for my son;s 7th birthday. I made the number removable so we can reuse it next year. Or for my birthday, or my husband's. 

 

I threw together this puppet theater out of curtains I'd previously made and dowel rods.  (Note to anyone trying this at home: those dowel rods are flimsy. The slightest leaning will have them on the floor. But they did do the trick, and the puppet show was successful. Bonus: I can put it up and take it down again whenever the whim occurs. And storage is easy!)

I also sewed the puppet bases for my son and his friends to make their own puppets at my son;s birthday party. Then they got to take their puppets home!

 

And I made this Kirby cake! 

This is only a bit of it...there are so many things we created that I haven't taken photos of! And works in progress: to come! 

Tell me about your summer!

MTHFR

MTHFR Mutation. Photo from MTHFR.net

In my spare time, I love to research topics that interest me. And one that keeps recurring in my world is genetics and how they affect our bodies, our brains, an our lives. One that has long been popping up in my world is MTHFR. In my reading about nutrition and wellness, and how my own body (and my child's) has manifested certain tendencies, I keep coming across research on MTHFR as a tie-in.


Okay, so a little background on MTHFR:


MTHFR stands for the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene (methyl-ene-tetra-hydro-folate-reductase). It is both a gene AND the enzyme that the gene produces. So a mutation of the gene MTHFR affects the production of the enzyme MTHFR. And there can be many different mutations.


MTHFR.net is fast becoming a favorite resource on MTHFR. 


Mutations in the gene can be tied to/the source of (the ones that have affected my family are in red, and the ones that have affected me personally (or one of my children) are bold in red ):

Addictions: smoking, drugs, alcohol

Alzheimers 
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Anemia
Anxiety
Atherosclerosis
Arthritis
Autism
Bi polar 
Blood clot
Breast Cancer 
Cervical dysplasia
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Colorectal Cancer  
Congenital Heart Defects
Connective Tissue Disease

Deficits in childhood cognitive development

Depression in Post-Menopausal Women 
Diabetes
Down syndrome
Deep Venous Thrombosis
Epilepsy
Epstein Barr Virus
Esophageal Squamous cell carcinoma 
Fibromyalgia 
Glioma
Gastric Cancer
Gluten intolerence 
Heart Murmurs 
Heavy metal toxicity
Hemolytic anemia
High homocysteine 

Homocystinuria
Hunnington's
Idiopathic male infertility 
Increased bone fracture risk in post-menopausal women
Infant depression via epigenetic processes caused by maternal depression 
Insulin resistant diabetes

Irritable Bowel Syndrome 

Leukemia
Low HDL
Lupus
Meniere's Disease
Methotrexate Toxicity
Migraine 
Migraines with aura
Miscarriage
MMA
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity 

Multiple Sclerosis
Myalgic encephalomyelitis  
Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack)
Neuralgia
Neural tube defects 
Nitrous Oxide Toxicity

Non Hodgkin Lymphoma 

Oral Clefts
Panic Attacks 

Parkinson's 
Placental Abruption
Post eclampsia
Potential drug toxicities: methotrexate, anti-epileptics 
Pre eclampsia
Primary Closed Angle Glaucoma 
Prostate Cancer 
Pulmonary Embolism 
Retinal Vascular Occlusive Disease
Schizophrenia
Spina bifida
Stroke
Tetralogy of Fallot
Tight Anal Sphincters
Thyroid disease
Tongue Tie
Vaccine Injury
Vascular Dementia


Part of this list and the links taken from mthfrsupport.com, which also has lots of information and resources for further research on MTHFR.  Other parts and links are from MTHFR.net.


My neurologist (I have a neurologist!) said that because of the possibility of Spinocerebellar Ataxia, he will refer me to a genetic counselor. I am brushing up on my research on MTHFR because I have wanted to do the testing for awhile, and here we have the perfect opportunity. My mother is sending me a copy of her medical records, which hopefully will show her own genetic report, though if they were only testing for SCA, I am not sure we'd see anything about MTHFR. But wow, would I love to see her (and my brothers) tested for it. 


Testing for MTHFR (genetic counselors can also order the tests and insurance will pay for it)


If the mutation is discovered, additional tests to be considered.


The brilliant part is that in this wealth of information on MTHFR (and I am only beginning to scratch the surface, so expect more of these types of posts from me as I dig deeper), there is supplementation and other wonderfully proactive ways to live healthily with the mutations. Gluten and dairy free diets are of utmost importance, and movement of body, fresh air, Vitamin D/sunshine. And the supplementation can be tailored depending on the particular mutation and its coupling with other genetics. 


Here is a fun mind map of MTHFR. 


And now, down this rabbit hole I go! Whee!

I can haz head injury!

So I was able to churn out a few posts and then BAM! Post-concussive syndrome took me down again, so NO SKREENZ FOR MEH. Because they'd make my symptoms go haywire, and I couldn't move from the sofa because of the dizziness. It as like being hung over every day, but without he fun night of partying beforehand to make it all worth it "but I will never drink again".

And now I am back on the screens because two things happened:

1) I called Sophya Itskovich, who has been my NAET practitioner, my immunologist, my acupuncturist, my "Russian Grandmother", and I told her about my symptoms and what had been happening since the end of January. Unbeknownst to me, she did an energy balancing on me that Sunday, and that Sunday, no kidding, I began feeling better. With the exception of one very scary and down day*, I have been feeling better and continuing to improve ever since. I still need to be careful with screens after dark, and with too much artificial light. I also haven't been brave enough to try venturing into a large store with artificial lighting yet, but I am definitely functional during the day and on the mend.

2) * - I went to see the neurologist. This was the day - Friday the 13th - that was my really bad, down day - I was severely depressed, crying all day, in general gloom an doom/freakout mode. And then I went to see the neurologist. My symptoms were really buzzing - the office had new furniture and possibly carpeting, which was off-gassing, and it was driving my senses into overload - I felt like I was going to both throw up and pass out, and it was making me REALLY irritable. And crazy.

Then the whole place is lite by the worst fluorescent lights ever - you'd think that a hospital of all places (especially one called Sunnyside) would be more sensitive to the needs of patients, especially the neurology department. In the exam room, same thing - I was at least able to turn off the light in there, but there was still new furniture and some rubbery smell - the latex gloves maybe - I don't know. But gah, my blood pressure must have been through the roof. I was anxious, shaking, the whole works.

And finally he came in. And he patiently and slowly asked questions: about what happened, about my history, about my symptoms - and he listened as I explained every single one of them. He checked me out, and when he had to shine a light in my eyes, he was apologetic. He spoke calmly and slowly to me, and explained to me that he thought I definitely have a head injury, and that ALL of my symptoms are coming from the effects on my inner ear  - ALL of them (and there is a comprehensive list!).

I told him about my family history - my uncle and mother have been diagnosed with Spinocerebellar Ataxia, it is genetic, my cousins, brothers and I all have a 50/50 shot of having it ourselves. And he got it. He got me, and he understood my fear, and why these lingering symptoms worried me, and he totally validated all of my feelings, and as he did that and he visit went on, and he reassured me three or more times that NONE of my symptoms could possibly be ataxia-related because I have a head injury and they all started then.....my anxiety, fear, and blood pressure all began to melt and calm down.

He wrote me for physical therapy for my inner ear - physical therapy! I can make a difference here!  There is something I can do to actively help retrain my inner ear to know where my body is in space. And he wrote for an MRI - he said he wasn't sure I really needed one, but he'd get me one just to be sure - and that I could sign for it and keep it afterwards! I cannot WAIT to see the results of that test! Pictures of my brain! Woohoo!

The nurse came in and took my blood pressure at the end there, and
I told her she was smart for doing so  -had she taken it at the beginning it would have been through the roof! By the time the appointment ended, I was again feeling good, practically dancing out of the exam room and to the waiting arms of my family, who had been enjoying the sunshine outside. I have a head injury! Could anyone ever be so happy to have that diagnosis??? With PT to follow and an MRI? YES.

To top it off, the sun has come out (albeit intermittently) in Portland, and the city has exploded all over itself in beautiful multicolored bloom. SPRING is here, in Portland, and how amazingly perfect the timing. We spent our whole weekend lazily squeezing errands and "to-dos" in between our long stretches of time at the local parks, where we were running around, blowing bubbles, playing frisbee, and collecting sticks for my container garden.

If you ever come and visit Portland, spring and summer is when we really shine, and crazily so. Man alive, is it insanely beautiful here.

and sometimes, concussion

So now I am going to talk about post concussive syndrome, because I have it. What post-concussive syndrome is, for those who might not know, is a refusal of concussive symptoms to abate, long after said concussion was supposed to be healed. It can last for weeks, months, and in some cases, years. Symptoms can range from ringing in the ears, dizziness, vertigo, nausea, sensitivity to light and sound (and for me, also odors), headaches, difficulty concentrating, loss of balance, foggy thinking, loss of energy/fatigue, depression, mood swings, irritability, and "not feeling right".

I have most of these symptoms, and my concussion happened at the end of January. I am really trying to keep my spirits up, be in the present, trust that I will heal. I do things like play Superbetter (when I am able to be in front of screens AND concentrate), I plan my container garden, I read books about container gardening and now currently, Gaia's Garden, Second Edition: A Guide To Home-Scale Permaculture
, which is a wonderful primer on permaculture - I highly recommend it to anyone who ever loved plants/nature/has a garden.

I've also been watching uplifting movies - the most recent being, "I AM" (also created by a very famous director who had post-concussive syndrome), "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil", and  "The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream" - all three of which tie in to the whole permaculture idea (that last one wasn't so uplifting, but I watched it first, then the one about Cuba, and that helped a lot.Basically I find things I can do while on the sofa, because most days, my dizziness is so bad, I cannot do much else.

 I take amino acids for my brain, and I try and do positive things, and sometimes - especially amidst a week long streak of dizziness and zero socialization - the depression sets in. I am here all day without much ability to do much - even things like cooking meals or showering, some days.  When I look around at the state of my house, and the fact that I cannot do much to affect it...sometimes I feel deep sadness, and fear. When Hubby gets home, he plays with Kiernen, makes dinner, tries to keep things from completely falling apart, and he really is a trooper.

I am grateful for him, for the fact that my being home is possible, that Kiernen is of the age where he can do so many things on his own, and that he is for now, okay with snuggling on the sofa and doing calm, quiet activities with me. When Kiernen sees me sad or struggling, he will come and offer me love and a hug, and he is so great about just hanging out and living at my pace for now. And when Daddy gets home, there is the active play, which he do needs. I am grateful for the mini trampoline we bought from a friend, so that Kiernen CAN at least bounce and have that release when he needs it inside, too.

I am curious as to what the lesson might be for me here. What can I gain/learn from this experience that keeps it continuing? I am open to answers, to insight, and to breakthrough. It must be coming soon, right? Because the saying goes, on the other side of breakdown is breakthrough? 

I held a bumblebee!

Speaking of bees, I had the great honour of holding an actual real live bumblebee the other day! This isn't something that happens often, so I was so incredibly excited - it seemed our bee couldn't fly. They CAN sting, although they rarely ever do - in fact, until I looked it up, I didn't know whether they had stingers or not. The one I held was certainly docile. S/he looked like a big beetle dressed as a bee.

Bumblebees nest in the ground generally - most natural bumblebee nests are down a small tunnel in part or all of an old mouse or vole nest, or they will be in the dry base of a grass tussock or untidy hedge bottom. Gardeners ruin these desirable residences by being tidy. (Damn us! Wait, I am anything but a tidy gardener. Yeah, it's for the bees!)

And I just learned that in addition to creating spaces for mason bees, you can also create spaces to attract bumblebees!  (New project! Woot!) Oh, my delight, I love me some big furry bumblebees! 

If you don't want to go so far as to make nest boxes, there are other ways you can help bumblebees, too.  

If, like me, you are now completely fascinated with the bumblebees and want to know more, go to http://www.bumblebee.org. There is a wealth of information there about bumblebees. Save the pollinators =  Save the gardens =  Save the humans! 

Contain my Garden, the project continues

It has been slow going due to my concussive symptoms, but the container garden project is continuing. This weekend my hubby went out and bought me peat, vermiculite, and soil to mix together. I have compost and some plant food - kelp, I believe.

I started reading, Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers: Using Ed's Amazing POTS System



There are some great ideas for growing in this book, namely using self-watering containers to ensure that the veggies get all the water they need and all of the nutrition, and the grower (that's us) gets the best harvest. You can buy kits to make regular pots self-watering, or if you're like me, you can Google around and find an instructable or two. Oh, the glories of the internets, where wonderfully creative people have not only taken the time to perfect systems for recycling things like 5-gallon buckets, but have also taken the time to write instructions so the rest of us DIYers can benefit, as well.

I am currently trying to decide whether to take on beekeeping this year as we're trying to find a place to call our own - if I don't order them right now, I won't be able to get them until next year. Have I mentioned that I am impatient? I SO want bees again. But maybe it is best to wait until next year, when we are settled, and I've had some time to plant a garden for them.

bring on the bees!

Of course, no garden would be complete without something to attract the pollinators. My favourite, of course, being the bees.

I found another fantastic guide to what to plant, by zipcode - only this one is exclusively to attract pollinators!

Of course we need the pollinators - they help the plants to propagate and continue the life cycle. The encourage biodiversity in plants - without which we would very quickly lose much of our plant life.

And of course, hey are wonderful to watch - hummingbirds, butterflies, bees....all such exquisite creatures, and most amazing to behold.

A list of plants that attract pollinators:

Calliopsis
Clover
Marigolds
Poppies
Sunflowers
Zinnias

 Perennials
Buttercups
Clematis
Cosmos
Crocuses
Dahlias
Echinacea
English Ivy
Foxglove
Geraniums
Germander
Globe Thistle
Hollyhocks
Hyacinth
Rock Cress
Roses
Sedum
Snowdrops
Squills
Tansy
Yellow Hyssop

 Fruits & Veggies
Blackberries
Cantaloupe
Cucumbers
Gourds
Fruit Trees
Peppers
Pumpkins
Raspberries
Squash
Strawberries
Watermelons
Wild Garlic  

Herbs
Bee Balm
Borage
Catnip
Coriander/Cilantro
Fennel
Lavender
Mints
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme

 Shrubs
Blueberry
Butterfly Bush
Button Bush
Honeysuckle
Indigo
Privet  

Trees
Alder
American Holly
Basswood
Black Gum
Black Locust
Buckeyes
Catalpa
Eastern Redbud
Golden Rain
Hawthorns
Hazels
Linden
Magnolia
Maples
Mountain Ash
Poplar
Sycamore
Tulip
Willows
Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/going-green/tips/bee-friendly-plants#ixzz1pbHlHJ75