by Pamela Santangelo on June 13, 2012
Last year I completed a small handful of tasks in our garden. Among them I planted about 20 strawberry plants. We were very fortunate to have met a women who was preparing to move out of state and she was passing on a large volume of garden supplies. Included in these were two half barrels brimming with strawberries. This spring I separated out the plants from the barrel, they were tiny in comparison due to over crowding, but now we have near 100 plants. Next years harvest should be glorious in comparison.
According to an area berry grower, Sakuma Brothers, to have enough berries for a family of four with enough left over for freezing they recommend 100 plants.
This year I’ve been making an effort to learn all I can about companion planting. I can already see this effort paying off big time.
Thyme planted with strawberries is said to discourage worm damage and lettuce and spinach seem to draw the slugs away from the berries.
There is something quite fulfilling to step out the door and be able to collect fresh berries for breakfast. In another post I will share what I have learned thus far.
May we all find a little harmony today.
by Pamela Santangelo on June 12, 2012
This blogging thing isn’t really a formed habit for me yet, as it seems I allow to much space between posts. I guess I’m not entirely clear of what I want to express or share with my efforts to achieve harmony.
So today I try again.
My youngest, almost two, is highly active. To the point that it is a hazard to his safety to leave alone for more than a few seconds. As a result I’m not spending much time on the computer any longer. If I can’t do it on my phone, it will likely take me a while to get around to.
One of my areas that I felt I needed to work on in addition to health and well everything in life, is the state of my house. There are times that we have it in order, but far too often it slips into a state of train wreak meets Hurricane Katrina. I read a funny joke that I imagine everyone on the internet has seen by now, cleaning the house with children is like shoveling the walk while snowing. Oh how very, very true.
While today I can not entirely speak to attitude shifts, I can say that previous to this in the last several weeks I had been working on adjusting my perception of my surroundings. The quote “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change,” has been my constant mantra as of late. I have found that by focusing on this, my frustration at the pile of dishes in the sink has lessened and I am more easily finding myself in the frame of mind to tackle the dishes instead of wasting an hour of time in some random avoidance activity.
I’m not aiming for sterile, but it would be nice to have a reasonable standard of tidiness met on relative consistent basis. To my credit, the sink is presently clean and yesterday I had Lil miss assist in cleaning her room and purging her hair accessories. One step at a time.
Lil man is crying, I better go.
May we all find a little harmony today.
by Pamela Santangelo on February 10, 2012
I read a blog post by another women recently on her rules for being a mother to a daughter. I really liked the concept, but her content did not strike a cord with me. It is my personal desire that my children have the opportunities to pursue whatever their deep desires are. I do not wish to impose any ideas on to them- other than I ask that they try hard and they enjoy what they are doing. Most importantly I desire my children to know their self worth.
After reading the bio of the author of the previously mentioned post I realized that she is a younger mother and she is trying to groom her daughter to marry prince charming and have babies. To me having children is something that one should really desire and go into it with a clear head. Asking the big question of, “Why do I want to be a parent?” “Would I make a good parent?” Sadly, every day I observe someone who really should not have been allowed to procreate. In retrospect I wish I had been a little more clear when we first discovered we were expecting. While I wouldn’t change the fact that I am a parent today, I can honestly say that I wish I had planned a little better than I had.
Children are little sponges and they absorb all that is their environment. It is my deepest desire that I go through my own process of rediscovering health and healing that I can set the stage to ensure my children are not burdened with trying to overcome obstacles of learned patterns. I imagine I will cause them some form of grief, but hopefully it will be minimal.
I think that is part of why I am so eager to repair my health. I watched a presentation last night form Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride regarding digestive health and physiology. It was fascinating. As I listened closely I realized how much of this has impacted my life over the years and how I already see it affecting my little family. Why pediatricians aren’t closely examining this with all of their young patients I do not yet know, but there is a small part of me that is feeling a pull to be involved in that in some way. My feeling on this could be attributed to newly found eagerness, we’ll have to see if this passes.
I feel like this entry is a little all over the board today. I am sorry for my randomness. Back to point I have been working on my own rules for having a daughter and as soon as I feel ready to share I will do so.
May we all find a little harmony today.
by Pamela Santangelo on February 9, 2012
I had no intention of taking yet another break from this blog, but something really profound happened.
Over the course of years there have been a number of things that have added up with regards to me and my over all wellness. I knew there was something not quite right, but I could never put my finger on it. I usually attributed it to lack of sleep, stress, etc. I was scattered brained, had sleep issues, I would forget what I was saying mid-sentence and at times forget I was even talking. My skin has become increasingly dry, and the list could really go on and on. None of these things are really of great significance to go to the doctor and say, “Hey what’s wrong with me”.
I had a chat with a client who happens to be a pharmacist / herbalist. I made a comment about how sometimes I feel disregarded when I visit the doctor with a health question. She went on to tell me a story of a recent client of hers who felt much the same only to discover she had yeast overgrowth. My client went on to describe some of that person’s symptoms and a massive light bulb went off in my head, as that person’s symptoms were much the same as mine.
I asked her if I could have the contact info for a naturopathic doctor that she told me about that she trusted. Within a few minutes of my first consultation the doctor made note of a number of physical symptoms of Candida, yeast overgrowth. For instance: if I scratch my neck/chest it will stay red for hours afterwards. This is an actual condition related to yeast. I also become very red if I drink alcohol- another symptom. As we continued to talk, I realized how involved and invasive this problem really is.
As a young child I had many ear infections. This has not slowed into adulthood, only now I experience regular battles with sinus infections. I conservatively estimated that I had been on antibiotics roughly 60 (sixty) times over the course of my life. Apparently, this leads the way to killing off the good bacteria in the gut and paving the way for other health issues to emerge. Sorry to tell you this, but eating yogurt isn’t enough to fix the issue. I learned that all skin issues are actually caused by internal digestive issues. Ladies put down the hand cream, go see someone about your digestion. There is so much information on the topic it’s a little over whelming. The idea of my being able to experience my life in a way that is all together different than now, is something that is really rather astonishing to me. Admittedly, I am a little frustrated that it has taken this long. I’ve gone to other physicians and nutritionist, and not once has this issue of looking at my digestion come up, nor the fact that I am highly allergic to mold and that I shouldn’t eat anything with mold or yeast (that was a blinding flash of obvious that I had last week on my own).
I decided that I am going to make my progress through this public in the hopes that it may reach and help someone else. As I go through my day I realize just how many others I know who likely have this plaguing them as well, but not knowing any different.
Hopefully we all find health and harmony, very soon.