4-29 The weekend Edition

I decided my (square)head needs some visual interest and played around with head bands this weekend. 
Recent recipes. I'm  a working on a cornmeal pizza crust. Last week's rendition was 50% flour and 50% cornmeal. (excellent) this week I went 90% cornmeal  with less success. Lots of taste and texture but it did not react with enough stretch (gluten). I'm still stuck on kale and using it in green smoothies. I'm finding Swiss Chard bitter but on pizza the taste blends with the other ingredients so that's going to be the place to hide it. 

Second up was Banana muffins with no added sugar and very little oil. Easy peasy. Super ripe bananas are sweet enough, add a few pecans and you get even more sweet. I reduced the oil from 1/2 Cup to just 2 Tbs and used coconut oil which gives more great flavor. Plus at $9.00 for a 14 oz jar you only want to use 2TBS per recipe. 
Saturday afternoon I went with some friends to SUP (Stand Up Paddle) on Town Lake. I got stitches on Friday so I was not allowed in the water but I enjoyed taking photos for them and people watching there on the dock in the sun. People watching in Austin is a valid pastime. Icing on the cake; after SUP we headed to Austin Java at 12th & Lamar  http://www.austinjava.com/our_menu.php  and we couldn't figure out why there was so much foot traffic in the area until we saw a Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Girl with a hoola hoop and a few dozen kids who were a toss up between Homeless or UT students. It was Eeyores Birthday Party 2 blocks over in Peas Park and the freaks were out in full force. http://www.eeyores.org/

***Gotta Love Austin*** 

Sunday
I'm not buying any more plants but those I have are all multiplying. I have a few that are so easy to propagate. You can literally break off a piece and stick it in dirt and a new one starts growing. No root starter, no plant food, no fuss. 
If you're wondering what grows in the Texas heat...

Asperagus fern does well and can stand full sun. Bostern Fern only lives  in the shade

All types of Salvia do well, they are native and deer resistant. I'm partial to the blues and purples

 The Ice Plant is one of my all time favorites. Mine is hot pink although this photo looks purple.  The other two pictured here are also creepers that thrive in full sun and take over any spot you give them. the one on the bottom left gets teensy pink buds at the tips.

Suprisingly the purple Shamrock does well in full sun but it is a bit delicate when you split the clumps for new plants. The Bulbine on the right thrives in full sun, also grows in clumps and is easy to break and spread. 

 Happy cat, Six,  loves sleeping outside on the deck

 The bluebonnets have gone to seed so I stopped down the street and collected some pods.  I can plant them in October and they will come up next Spring. 

Did you know you can start your own lemongrass from the bulbs at the grocery store? It was news to me but as you can see it is working! You just stick it in some water and watch it sprout. What could be easier?

4-24 Catching up

I haven't been too jazzed about anything lately to blog about. Life is plodding along at normal pace and that's all ok with me. 
My running group cancelled after two weeks for not having enough people  sign up for the location. I'm back to a few long walks and a weekend run for a few miles on my own. 
I'm reading the Andre Agassi autobiography and really enjoying it. Even though I don't know a lot about tennis I like the story. My neighbor loaned me a copy of the Steve Jobs autobiography so that's next on deck. 
I'm loving the short nutritional podcasts found at this link .http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/ I load up a dozen at a time and listen while doing data entry at work. 
I'd like to declare one month a Dr. free zone. May won't work as I am already loaded up. Maybe June?The PT is the only one I would really miss not going to. An hour with her is like hanging out with a girlfriend. We talk non stop about everything. It keeps me distracted while she squeezes the heck out of my scars and pokes pins in them (she is doing some acupuncture on me and let me tell you, scar tissue is some of the most sensitive skin you have.)

Speaking of Dr's I may be becoming a bit of a Dr. snob. After a recent visit to an extremely busy OB/Gyn office I think  I will be be looking for offices in the better parts of town. A friend mentioned this idea to me a few months ago and I kind of discounted it but I'm all for it now. If you have to spend time in the waiting room and the office and the price is the same then why not choose a really nice one that makes you feel comfortable? What didn't I like at the OB? Crowded small waiting room full of really young, very pregnant women and most of them had  a toddler or two in tow as well.It felt more like being at the pediatrician. When did women start taking the kids with them to the OB/Gyn apt? (My fiends that are young  Moms need to answer that for me!)


A few photos, still feeling very sqare headed. 

 You can see there is still not much there to work with. 

Spent a few hours this weekend making pillow covers. It had been a few years since I bought fabric and I almost  fainted at the $20.00 a yard price tag but in perspective  love how they change the whole look of the room for that  price. 

4-15 how hard can it be?

A few years ago I remember telling  friends  that I wanted to learn how to run or take some running lessons. Some of them seemed perplexed and responded.."don't you just put one foot in front of the other ....how hard can it be?"
I'm 11 days into a 12  week beginner series at Rogue https://www.roguerunning.com/
Starting over and trying to establish a base. Lots of drills mixed with short runs. I already know I prefer the 8:00am Saturday run to the 6:00pm weekday workouts.  At 6:00pm it is full sun,  80* and I am tired from my workday. 

I'm feeling "block" headed the last few days.No shape to my hair. This photo looks so dark even though it is 10:30 in the morning. I'll try to take a better photo  later and post back. 

4-11 how long have you had this?

Maintenance phase. Keeping appointments. Back to normal activities. 
I was at the Dermatologist last week to  have a cyst biopsied and removed. Ironically, like last years cyst, this one also "bothered me when I was running" and that's what prompted me to make the appointment.Who knew you could get a cyst in the top crease of your leg? (not me). Benign by the way and no, the word biopsy does not scare me at all. 
It's been years since my last Dermatologist visit  so we had some ground to cover. A little pinching  and peering  and a few "how did you get this?" and "how long have you had that?" Each question leading to a shrug or a smirk as I recall whatever incident left me with the permanent blotch on my skin. 
Next week I go back to remove two other odd looking things Dr. Conner found and that's ok with me. Another scar and another story to add to catalogue. 

4-9 Change

Things change. Wen you think about something changing are you nervous? excited? depressed? happy?
Now think about that....

Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

.......May all beings everywhere be happy and free. 

4-7 Yoga for the day

I love Spring. I like Spring cleaning and moving things around and making space. I like pulling all my plants out from their huddle and spreading them around the patio and getting my hands in the dirt to plant the new ones I can't resist buying. 

My Yogic meditation for today reminds me of what I like about Spring: Starting over/change

Think of  a  seed, buried in the soil, cold and still. In the darkness of the unknown. It has to crack open to find nutrients, to sprout, to extend itself out and up. Pushing through the dirt to the light. To transform and grow into something else. 

**taken (loosely) from Mark Nepo;The Book of Awakening.**

What seeds are cracking and sprouting in your life? 

4-7 Back to the natural deoderant topic

It's been a week, oops. Thought I had posted about my hair cut but maybe not. Last Saturday I had it lightly "shaped".  She did use a pair of scissors and it did take 20 minutes so I'm going to count that as a first cut! Now I  understand why men can have so little and be so picky about it. 
I'll add a photo later.

 I've mentioned before about  switching to all natural deodorant. Taking it one step further I made my own. Like the other around-the-house green recipes I've been experimenting with, it uses common ingredients and costs only a few cents. 
This time I made 1/2 the recipe so I can test it out before committing.   I put some on this morning before going for a run but because it's already 80* here at 8:00am I was soaked in sweat by the time I was done and couldn't tell  if it made a difference. The recipe says to store it in the fridge and I do like the idea of keeping it chilly! 
This recipe   is posted on the Livestrong  website http://www.livestrong.com/
1/4C baking soda
1/4 C cornstarch
5 TBS coconut oil
A few drops of essential oil, your choice of scent
mix it all in a bowl to form a paste. Store in a glass jar in the fridge. As needed use a quarter size amount, massaging it into your skin with fingertips!


Bonus: Google common uses for coconut oil and it won't be hard to justify spending  $10.00 on a 12 ounce jar. 

4-3 Barbie gets a new friend!

I'm lovin' it!!!! Mattel, the maker of Barbie, will produce a bald fashion doll for children who have lost their hair because of illness or cancer. 

notice how they left some (huge) lashes so she still looks pretty. When the lashes go you look really weird. 

4-2 Earth day coming April 22, 2012

4-1 First hair cut

It was more of a hair shaping than hair cutting but she did use scissors! Now I have an inkling of how a guy can be obsessive about his do. When you don't have much to work with you can be very protective of it. 

I've been a lazy blogger the past few weeks. Hopefully it will grow faster and I'll have some more interesting styles to show you soon.