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The alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. and I dragged myself out of bed and out to the kitchen. The coffee pot was pre-set last night so thank goodness coffee was sitting there waiting on me. I usually sit in my rocker and drink my first cup of coffee of the day like a zombie but I felt invigorated this morning! To the side of my rocker I have reading materials and all my lists of plants and vegetables, and numerous books and magazines containing recipes and quotes. Today I picked up a book on medicinal recipes. I want to start making my herbal medicines but with Christmas so close I’m constantly nagged about all the candy, bread-baking and just plain stuff that I have to get done before Christmas actually gets here. Aghh!!! I can’t do it all but I sure do try!!! Anyway, I put the book down and started thinking about YOU!! Yes, I do mean you, who are reading my blog right now.
This is probably the very best time to start planning ---- planning your herb garden, planning your vegetable or flower beds, or even your next luncheon or dinner party. Have you thought about which seeds to buy and which plants, whether to buy heirloom and/or organic, what tea bread or main course to prepare, or whether to bake white bread or wheat?
My vegetable magazines are coming in little by little everyday and they are definitely beckoning me. I'm already dreaming about new herbs and new vegetables never grown in my garden and about how to cook them and present them to my guests. How about you? Are you perhaps looking at a particular spot in your home that you’d like to dedicate to working with herbs? Now is a time like no other. Dream and plan in those moments caught that you just use to sit and wait for the next menial task, or like me, those meaningless moments you waste trying to wake up. Keep a note pad and pen next to your favorite spot and write down your ideas or thoughts. These are sometimes the most inspirational moments you have of real, true clarity. For me, sometimes they are my ONLY moments. Oh we do so clutter our lives. Take those forgotten, hidden spaces in your life and dream - they may actually slow you down and perhaps bring you moments of peace and joy. Dream about those jars of colorful herbs sitting on a shelf all dried and waiting for your recipes. Perhaps think about how to dry each one of them, or if drying is the best method. How do you do those things? Put a question mark there and then go on. (Later, perhaps, start looking up some of those answers.) Make a list of what you’d like to cook - sure, something you’ve never tried, some ingredient you’ve heard of but thought, nah, out of my league. Nothing is out of your league my friend. Try it - you fail only if you never try - it’s a learning experience. Next time you try you’ll know what not to do. Sometimes your experiences are humbling, sometimes they feel like disasters and other times they’re amazing, but you always, always learn something.
When you stop learning, stop dreaming - what’s left? Only Moments.