Sabbitical from alcohol

In April i read this article in More magazine about social drinking. The writer ( a women) decided to go 30 days without booze.
She talks about mothers who say they need a drink , especially when dealing with teenage children and their problems and also after a hard day at the office. We always find some excuse to drink, at lunch with the girls, at a dinner party, every night at supper.
Its called doing a "thirty" and i'm on day 21.
I did it because, i work hard here , we run businesses from our home, so i need to be on top of things, mentally and physically.
On the internet there are thousands of sites that talk about giving your body a break, by not drinking alcohol even 1 glass every day, you give your liver and kidneys a break from always having to process alcohol.
It is also dehydrating so this is a good break for your skin, a chance to rehydrate and detoxify.
Furthermore I've read that women going through menopause could find some reprieve from symptoms if there is less alcohol to none consumed .

It has been fairly easy, only the first couple days were hard, its the ritual I missed the most at first, the sitting down with wine, discussing the day with partner and what do i drink, i've never been a pop or juice drinker and water gets done right boring all day and all night, but i did find i like tonic and mineral water. I did have a headache on day 4 and 5, but that was it
I haven't missed a social function, I've been down at the local pub a number of times.
I'ts funny the reaction you get from your friends ( all social drinkers) , some are envious all are proud.
I tell them , "you can do it too".

This is how I feel:
I'm sharper
I have a lot more energy
I sleep like a baby every night.
I 'm crazy happy.
More creative ideas.
More organized
more money in my pocket
I'm actually more hyper , I believe the alcohol does relax me.
Coffee is the only thing that comes close to relaxing me and getting me to sit down for more than 5 minutes without moving.

I don't even think about it anymore, Its easier than I thought and I'm getting alot of accomplished.

Lambing time

Well its lambing time on the farm, we had triplets born on Sunday and twins born on Tuesday.
We need to watch the triplets as usually one is weaker than the rest and needs to be supplmented with a bottle.
The mom with the twins had mastitis last year so has one inoperable teat this year, I hope she can feed both.
What happens to me as i have to look after these lambs as i've lost lambs in the past.
so i become fixated on keeping them alive and i worry about them, this makes me farm bound which is not good for me.
As hubby is busy with a couple jobs nonfarm related and these take him away from the farm , it is all up to me!

Quiz

who has sold over 500 million records?


elvis

Things I Love

I caught the last part of Oprah today , about attracting good things.
They talked about making a list of what you love.
Here is my list in no particular order: fleamarkets, going out for dinner, my husband's ethical values, my family, creating, Shara's loyalty, Colin's out going nature, a goodfire, fresh baked bread with butter, When Ron cooks for me, the property, textured fabrics, early morning in the fog, movies that inspire, a letter in the mail, Asian food, a good nap, clean crisp sheets, a nice clean house, bath with my husband, Blundstone boots, a sea of red poppies in the spring, snowboarding, the smell of Rons aftershave, bracelets, good friends, a good back scratch, making people laugh, walking through fall leaves, a massage , a great memory inspiring song, vanilla scent, dancing, feeling valued and understood, my husbands love of people and life, Ron's mind, oprah, the office, waking without an alarm, good emails not forwards, wind chimes in the breeze, fresh berries, great coffee, facials, my caesar salad, museums, eccentric women, painting, drawing, Spain, Montreal, other creative women, all things ornate, smell of an ice rink, getting my hands dirty, random acts of kindness, Peace

Making Wooden Buttons

this making wooden buttons is challenging, but it gets me out, foraging for different woods in the bush.
Its exciting to see how they come out after cutting, sanding and finishing them.
I'm quite excited about the spalted maple i used last week.
and I've already gone out looking for more, but not with much success.
I know that wooden buttons were the norm in the old days and I bet there are a lot of historical costumes that require wooden buttons.
I saw a great historical photo on flickr of a whole family, including very young children stringing buttons in the living room for about $7 a month.

Making Wooden Buttons

Farming Vs the The Rat Race

I've been very focused on making my blog site the best it can be.

I want it to be entertaining , informative, and inspiring for all those creative or restless minds.

As a new farmer who left the rat race 5 years ago , I am overwhelmed with ideas and lessons to be learnt, but embrace it all.

I will never, never look back, it was the best thing that I did . Selling the house in the suburbs and quitting a good government job, opting out of daily commuting 2.5 hours and taking control of my own life.

We bought 7.5 acres 5 years ago on Fulford Harbour that had basically nothing on it but a sheep shed, 90 apple trees and a couple of old travel trailers. I lived in one of the trailers for 1 year while the house was being built and ron and I prepared the land for farming. Preparing for a small farm was hard and exhausing work, but extremely rewarding. We sometimes didn't leave the property for weeks on end. We developed muscles we didn't know we had, and we were driven to make it all it could be and more.

I encourage all who are fed up with the city rat race to consider going into small farming, trading a house on a lot for a place with pastoral and water views, where you can grow your own food, grow a few cash crops, build a guest cottage or family and friends (cause they will be coming, believe me!) and have all kinds of animals, meet and enjoy your neighbors and start having the Best time of your life!! (what are you waiting for , your not getting younger)

And farming will make you younger and healthier.