Be Prepared to Accept Opportunities

Waiting to get my last fish for the day INTO the boat! Had a nice one get close enough to get a good look at before snapping my line. And a couple more teased and let me reel a bit before shaking lose.

Its kind of like life opportunities! Equal measures of skill, timing, superstitious tricks & luck!

And before I finished that last sentence, he struck & came aboard! I think in part that happens because I was ready, but not just sitting around waiting for it to happen to me. I was engaged in connecting with my husband and contemplating and blogging about the life lesson!

My dad used to tell me to take whatever job is available, because its easier to find a job when you have a job. Employed people are more employable!

Opportunities come to those with several game plans and visions and are willing to run with whatever God the Universe and Serendipity throws at them!

Get out there! Create ideas and opportunities by opening yourself to lots of possibilities!
That, is living Well!
Love,
Suzi~Q


Sent from my Windows Phone

Planning Ahead for Hot Weather Meals: Roasted Chicken, Rhubarb Crisp, Blended Vegetable Soup

In defense of the impending heat, I did some pre planning so we would not have to heat up the house with cooking activities.

Friday night I set a whole chicken out to thaw and harvested rhubarb from our garden.

I prepped a rhubarb mixed berry crisp. The topping is 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of old-fashioned oatmeal, 1/2 cup flour, 1 cup coconut, 1 cup mixed nuts finely chopped, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Mixed thoroughly with my stand mixer and gently spread over the top.

Saturday morning I was up at 6am (that is sleeping in for me ), and baked the crisp.

While it was in the oven, I prepped the chicken in my cast iron dutch oven.

The crisp came out of the oven, the chicken went in.

I sliced the chicken and de-boned it.

Took the chicken stock and added to it so is was a full 4 cups, and loosely filled the broth with chopped cauliflower, asparagus, garlic, broccoli stems, and a turnip. I let that gently simmer until the veggies were soft, then ran it through the food processor (a blender would have been better, but I realized at this point ... I don't have one! Guess what's on the shopping list)




Everything was done by 8:30am ... The soup can be eaten hot or cold. I like it cold.


We've been eating these things in various combinations ( chicken sandwich, or chopped on a salad, just nibble it, etc...) and tossed green salad all weekend, and there is still plenty left for tomorrow! :)

Delicious, health food all weekend without turning on the stove!
Now, that is

Living Well!!
Love,
Suzi~Q

Blossoms of Spring

Have you been paying attention to spring!?

In the Pacific Northwest, it has been the most "normal" spring we've had in a long time, according to our local weather reporters.

The colors are intense and amazing. The foliage lush. The blossoms abundant!

I am excited to watch our veggie garden grow! I can hardly wait to harvest the delicious carrots, snow peas, radishes, green beans, lettuces and Swiss chard!

I am hoping for an abundant harvest so I can "put up" some items for winter consumption!

What a treat to have garden fresh veggies in the cold of winter!

Fresh. Organic. Wholesome. Grown with love in our yard.

Now that is ...

Living Well!
Love,
Suzi-Q

Sent from my Windows Phone

Heartfelt Venting ... I just had to get a little of it OUT of my system!

I miss writing.

I was reminded of a post I wrote when my Father-In-Law passed away in February 2011 ... A Legacy, Leaving . I think it is one of the best things I have written in a long time, and encourage you to take a moment and read it, and perhaps you can be that person for someone in your life!

I re-read it this morning, and cried ... not only for the feelings and memories that it brought up regarding his impact on my life, but for the eloquence with which I expressed it, and how much I LOVE to write with such depth and feeling!

That is what being an artist is about! Expressing thoughts and feelings in ourselves, and in others! I love to experience that expression when I sing, when I crochet, or design, or photograph, and share my art with others! It is a compulsion! I have to do it, or it will die inside me, and then a little piece of me dies with it!

I love this song by Nic Cowan ... Reno It really speaks to me about having the soul of an artist ... because that is something deep in me, but has been so squelched by life, but my culture, by the necessity of earning a paycheck and being able to support a family. And it makes me so SAD today! Because I want to CREATE!

I long to bring life to the music, and the pictures, and the crochet designs inside my head and my heart! I long be able to share them with other people, and inspire and encourage them! Move them. Make them FEEL something! anything. I want to play outside and blow bubbles, and listen to the trees share their wisdom. I want to feel the world with my entire body! I want to be able to hear it with more than my ears! I want to walk barefoot in the grass and feel the warm summer rain on my skin.

I get anxious and I get sad and frustrated that my current employment not only does not allow me the time to explore and create and share my art, but in so many ways actually dampens my creative side! I feel trapped. I feel stifled. What I get paid to do is rote, mundane, and frankly, boring for me.  I get scared that my creativity will shrivel up and die, right along with my health as my employment is also totally sedentary. My health is showing signs on that! I have developed edema in my ankles! YUCK! My hip hurts more all of the time from sitting so much! I have lost strength. I have lost drive and motivation, and passion for LIVE! I have developed a negative complaining attitude. I cry a lot, for seemingly no reason, but really those cries feel like grief ... grief for the loss of my free spirit! Grief for the loss of my very spirit. Grief that I am trading my life and healthy and spirit for a paycheck!

Thank you for reading my blog! Thank you for commenting, and sharing your thoughts and experiences! When you connect back with me, I can feel you! It feels less like I am just sending my words out into the great wide web to be lost and alone.

Expressing is a great blessing, even when it is hard emotions. Life isn't all up beat and bubbles! Life is up and down and road blocks! To get through them, around them, to express them and share them with others that might be having similar experiences is ...

Living Well!
Love,
Suzi~Q

Words To Live Well By

I've seen this several times over the years, but have no idea who gets credit for these wise words! Take them to heart in your Living Well practice!

When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

Follow the 3 R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all of your actions

Remember that not getting what you want might be a wonderful blessing.

Learn the rules so that you can break them properly.

Don’t let little disputes injure a great relationship.

When you realize that you have made a mistake, take immediate action to correct it.

Spend some time alone every day.

Open arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good, honorable life, and then when you get older and think back, you will be able to enjoy it a second time.

A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the present situation.  Do not bring up the past.

Share your knowledge, it is a way to achieve a type of immortality.

Be gentle with the earth.

Once a year, go somewhere you have never been before.

Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

Judge success by what it took to achieve it.

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Love,

Suzi~Q