When spring arrives, it is impossible to ignore all of the marvelous things going on around us and my ADD kicks into high geer. I find myself darting to and fro with so much excitement and enthusiasm I hardly get anything accomplished, but have a lot of fun anyway.
We have been the recipients of vast amounts of rain this spring, which most Southern Californian's grumble about, but I can't but help love the newness that it seems to bring to our area. Everything is full and green. I can open a window and hear the sound of chirping birds and babbling brooks which makes me want to use words like "harken" and "thou" because I think of olden time poets who melded nature and romance.
Just for a month I'd like to enjoy the lushness of it all, knowing that all too soon it will turn brown and we'll be making it even more barren in expectation of a rampant fire season. booo.
This weekend my daughter and I hung bird houses in her hideout (aka a sprawling tree in our front yard), and created a spring time wreath to hang above our hearth using dried grasses and euculyptus.... quite Martha Stewart of us. Especially considering that I bought a glue gun 3 years ago and have only used it for this one project.
The chickens are also aware of spring time and we are getting about 9 eggs a day in various shades and sizes. The rain suits them as they are able to scratch easily into the soil and find juicy bits of things I don't really want to think about them eating, but are, nevertheless, really good for their diet. My family is enjoying eggs of all kinds, and it is a wonderful feeling to know my kids are snacking on boiled eggs (which are laden with brain boosting Omega 3's, muscle-building protein and come housed in a completely compostable "package") instead of sugar and carb laden crap that comes in bags that aren't compostable.
This year, I probably won't grow a garden since my chickens have taken up residency there and will only scratch up anything I plant. Instead, I will focus on composting and other areas of my yard. Speaking of composting, a friend of mine posted this article on facebook. I was amazed at all the compostable things that have been hitting my trash bags. Good stuff.
I don't really mind skipping the garden because we are kept in good supply by Abundant Harvest every week. That's the other thing I LOVE about spring. All the yumminess that comes to us weekly. We got our arugula flowers a couple of weeks ago, which prompted me to dig this recipe out of my archives for a spinach salad. Just as good this time, as it was last time.
And because it's still quite cool outside (for us, anyway), I don't mind spending time in the kitchen making stock, and granola and things like that, which keep the kitchen warm. So my freezer and pantry are well stocked at this point.
My shoulder is healing, slowly but surely. Still going to PT twice weekly and can ALMOST reach the top shelf in my kitchen without thinking about it hurting when it comes back down. Trying to get refocused on my diet and exercise regime. Sadly the injury has made this difficult and I have succumbed to some depression along the way, but I'm hopeful that I'm on the rebound from that now. Alas (there's another spring time word), the wedding dress re-fitting will have to wait...perhaps it will fit by October and there might be an opportunity for it to be included in our family photos this year.
So in efforts of bounding back to my healthy lifestyle, I finally arrive at my real reason for writing this blog today. In truth, I was searching for a recipe for oatmeal muffins that I thought I had posted on here, but looks like I never did. I got a little sidetracked and decided to wax on (another springtime word) about said season for a little while instead. Evidently I put it my calorie counter instead of my blog. But here it is -- Oatmeal Muffins. These are a great breakfast food for folks like me who rarely have time to make breakfast, but don't want to start the day off wrong by skipping that metabolism boosting meal of the day. This is a VERY forgiving recipe, so feel free to mix it up sometime with different ingredients that you might enjoy in your oatmeal. Tah.
