Stuff on my mind

Well here it is, Sunday evening and another weekend over.  I spent a lot of time this weekend pondering about my life.  I work in a job I really like, have a wonderful family, incredible friends and all my needs are met.  So, why do I feel unfulfilled?  I have a creative block and it is really making me a little crazy! 
I have, at times in my life, been wildly creative.  From poetry to painting I was so creative.  I painted and wall papered my kitchen and put in a new floor while my husband was at sea.  I painting a neat scene on a bathroom wall.  I made fabric wreaths, baskets, wall art.  I could cook and bake and I made fabulous soups.
I don't know what happened?!?!?  Last weekend I got together with my friend to do crafts.  I had in mind to make paper birds with a button holding on the wing.  I see so much on Pinterest that I want to try.  Well, I had such a hard time.  I couldn't even make a bird.  I got frustrated and just quit. 
I feel like I'm in the perfect time in my life to be creative, but for some reason, it is just not there.  Things I used to do, I can't even remember how I did them. 
I feel bored and while I have a lot of ideas, I can't seem to bring them into reality.  I'm not sure what is going on.  I don't feel depressed or stressed or anything like that.  I just can't put my finger on it. 

While all the crafty things I like to do aren't coming to the surface, I find I am able to write like never before.  I share previously about wanting to journal and meditate.  I am doing better journaling, I am finding I have a lot to put on paper and it seems to help to sort out my feelings and focus on what exactly I want.  I have plans for my future.  I know exactly how I want to live, for the first time in my life.  But do I really need to trade one for the other?  Must everything I love to do go by the wayside? 
I guess time will tell.  I will keep writing and meditating on these things.  Maybe, at some point, the answers will be clear.  I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas on this subject.  I hope it is ok to use this forum for my struggles.  It somehow feels right to me to put it out there, maybe once I let it out and let it go, it will change!
Have a great week!

Dehydrating Bananas

I love my dehydrator.  I am looking forward to making a larger, solar dehydrator soon.  My absolute favorite food to dehydrate is bananas.  I find that the thinner I slice them, the crunchier they are.  I can literally eat them daily. 
I would love to hear from any of you who dehydrate bananas or anything else.  Tell us your tips and tricks!!

Cinnamon, who knew???


I have always loved cinnamon!  I didn't realize how good it is for me.  Found this on Pinterest.  Hope it's helpful to you!

Journaling, Meditation and Wish Boards

I have, at many times in my life,attempted to become a journal writer, a wish board creator and meditation master.  I want to visualize my dreams, read about them, find ways to always keep them at the forefront of my mind.  I believe it would help me immensely to realize my dreams and goals.  I have found, though, that  I am not good at any of these things.  I will write for a few days and then not pick up a pen for another year.  I actually have journal books I have started that literally have only one or two pages written in them but I have never been able to really get into the habit of writing in a journal.  By  the same token, I have not been able to bring meditation fully into my life.  I try it for a day or two, my mind wanders, I never really feel like I'm in a total state of relaxation and for some reason, I just don't have what it takes to make it a habit in my life.  Then there are wish-boards, I tell myself whenever I see something in a magazine or online, I am going to cut that out or print it and make a wish board so I can visualize what  I want. 
I have all these desires are in me but somehow I can't quite live up to my own expectations.  Am I fearful of having my dreams come true?  Am I just lazy?  Why do I keep stopping just short of my obtaining dreams and goals?  How can I use the tools I know of to really focus on what I want?  Am I the only one out here who feels this way?
I am writing this post as a tool to help myself develop the traits I want in my life.  I think if I put it out there, for the world to see, maybe, just maybe, someone out there can help me figure it all out.  Also, I think I fear being vulnerable and showing others what I really want.  I can't think of a better way to kind of force myself into action, than telling everyone what is going on with me. 
The reasons I would like to make these things a habit in my life are two-fold.  I would like to  have something tangible that I can go back to in order to see what I have accomplished.  I think it would make a great difference in my life.  I have found that I lose sight of things when I don't write them down.  I want to hear and see my dreams and goals.  I need to be able to look back and have something to help me visualize my goals coming to fruition.
So starting today, I'm putting myself out there.  I am considering this post as entry number one of my online journal.  My hope is that my struggles may help someone else and that someone will give me feedback to help myself as well.  
OK, so... I have been trying to find something, for as long as I can remember, that I can do on my own to make a living.  I do not want to trade my time for money anymore.  I want to do something that I love and make a living at it.  
I want to live in a tiny house.  Something I can build and take with me where ever I go.  I don't want a traditional camper, I really want a little log cabin on wheels, with a loft for storage.  I have never really been into stuff, so I want to purge the useless stuff in my life and live a natural, peaceful existence that doesn't  require keeping up with anyone but myself.  
I want to increase my gardening skills and learn to store what I grow so it is available to me all year long.  
I want to be creative, joyful and peaceful.  I do not want drama in my life.  I want to live everyday of my life as if it were the last, with no regrets, no guilt, and no shame.  And most of all I would like to help others who are struggling to make their dreams come  true.  
I hope you will feel free to make suggestions, ask questions and even be inspired to do something you have always wanted to do. 
This is Allison and this is the first day of creating my life my way!

A Babbling Brook in Italy!!

OK, so my niece, Brook, is living in Italy.  She is amazing at writing emails that really give us a good idea of what life is like there for her.  She has coined several phrases while there, like "inch of coffee" as that is all you can get at one time, LOL.  I will let you discover some of the others.  I am going to post a few gems from her last email.  This girl really needs to write a blog!!

Greetings from Hotter than HECK Italy!!  Wowsa is it hot!! How these people do it in summertime is beyond me..I've been informed that our little summer town swells 3 times it's size when it's summertime and when September hits all of these people will GO HOME!! A girl can only dream..Just to put things in perspective, off peak season it takes me 15 minutes to drive my hubby to work, today it took me an hour to get there and another hour to get home.  As I sat in traffic getting more and more angry at the scooters (who always have the right of way) are whizzing past me with people holding such things as, GMA, flotation devices (blown up to full capacity)and little kids and you should see when a whole family gets on one!  They turn 2 lane roads (country roads mind you) into 4 lanes with the scooters and other vehicles that just get behind the scooters and follow them through the lights.  The cops are just sitting at the side street cafe's drinking their inches of coffee and just laughing at the whole mess. I also sat their thinking that this crazy driving is nothing new to them, they are used to it and no one really gets angry at those who skip in line.  I know if we were in America road rage would be in full effect and someone would have gotten shot or at LEAST a finger gesture would have been offered!!  I also found out that Mario Andretti who drives the formula one car for Italy is really just a guy from Italy who drives like the rest of them because they all drive like him !!

Well, this past Monday I dragged my girlfriend Deanna shopping with me and I see this junk store just begging to be pillaged!! Of course Deanna, like any good friend says "I'm staying in the car while you try to talk to them that way SOMEONE can identify who killed you by trying this stupid stunt" ..I wasn't deterred, that dilapidated building with it's huge fence around it and overgrown tree's wouldn't stop me from seeing the goodies on the inside!! So once I passed the hookers, yes I said hookers..lol..I parked the car in the dirt, left Miss Pris in the car and made my way up to the gate where I promptly forgot all of the Italian I know and just went with the yellow lab language!!  which is composed of me just waving and smiling and looking stupid while yelling Americano, hellllooooooooooo!!! not knowing what the other was saying, Finally the only Italian that came to mind was DEMIJOHN??? and he said yes and pulled a small one down wrapped in a perfect little basket, Then I asked, quanta costa (very pleased with myself that i remember that!!) of course he came back with at least 4 sentences, so i just handed him a pen and a piece of paper and he wrote the price down ..I remembered from watching American Pickers your suppose to buy something to "break the ice" so i agreed and he let me look through the rest of his little treasure chest!! He had some of the nicest things but I had to go so I think I told him I would be back?? and he kindly walked me to the gate and showed me the buzzer for next time!!ahahahahaha..Deanne become upset when she saw what I got but was insistent we come back when the car wasn't loaded down and She must have felt like they weren't going to kill us. If I keep remembering the little things like this when I'm sitting in traffic then it makes living here so much more enjoyable! It really is a nice place but it seems that all the good stuff is hidden behind overgrown trees and fences, Lydia my next door neighbor is in the middle of painting one of our demijohns and I had asked her to paint the coliseum so far it looks wonderful. She is also going to paint some other scenes on other demijohns for me. Ciao for now!

Smoothies, OH Yeah!

I love a good smoothie!  I love experimenting with flavors and seeing what I can "hide" in a smoothie.  This morning I had a banana fig smoothie.  I love figs and bananas and wasn't sure how it would work.  I have a stash of figs frozen in the freezer from this years crop.  I usually put chocolate syrup in my banana smoothie and don't get me wrong, it tastes great, but today I decided to try it without the syrup.  I took a scoop and a half of whey protein, a cup of 2% milk, 1 banana and 5 frozen figs plus ice, of course.  DELISH! I TELL YA!!  I can't really taste the figs but I know the nutrition is there.  I didn't need to add sweetener, the over-ripe banana was just right along with the vanilla protein powder. 

OK so a few other smoothie recipes are:

My family's absolute favorite, Watermelon Smoothie:

about 2 cups of watermelon and ice, literally that is it!
If you find that the watermelon isn't as sweet as it should be, add a little stevia or honey or even real sugar, this is so good you will want it daily.
 I got the idea from a restaurant in China Town in Boston.  They have it on the menu and it is amazing.  I believe they use a watermelon syrup, the real thing is even better. 

Linda makes fabulous breakfast smoothies.  She hides kale in then and other greens.
Yes the smoothies are green but the taste, OMG, try pineapple, berries, bananas, apples, carrots, almost anything you can think of.  These smoothies are super Delicious!

I also love apple & celery smoothie.  I add about 2 apples and 1 large stock of celery.  You will be surprised at how good that is.

Please feel free to share some of your yummy smoothie creations with us!  We enjoy trying new things and would love to hear from you!