St. Louis Canyon

st. louis canyon, starved rock state park ~ near utica, illinois

happy wednesday!

what a great winter it’s been for being outdoors.

i took this photo just a couple of weeks ago. it was hard to believe it was janurary; the weather was so warm that day. today, we woke up to a temperature of 10 degrees. brrrrrrr

i can tell that the days are getting longer little by little, which is very encouraging to me this time of year.

peace,

julayne

 

Gold Medal!

alejandro ~ 10 meter dribble

happy sunday!

it’s been a fun weekend. lot’s of kid stuff going on around here.

alejandro competed in his 2nd special olympics competition yesterday and came away with a gold medal in basketball skills!

good job bubba!

peace,

julayne

Root Veggie with Mushroom Soup

richard, tresspassing - abandoned cabin - winter 2010-11

hello!

we finally did get snow. yesterday. since it’s been so warm and dry  this winter, i kind of like the snow pelting me in the face. it made me feel alive.

recently, richard  requested that i make a pot of vegetable soup. i started to do just that, well my standard version, and then thought of being a little more creative and try making a root vegetable soup; partially inspired by a few parsnips i happen to have.  i  love  parsnips and carrots together. also, i happened to find several shiitake mushrooms growing (or actually drying) on richard’s mushroom logs. the parsnips should be coming out of my fall garden, but the seeds didn’t germinate……

as it turns out, i came up with a hearty vegan soup. lets call it ‘root vegetable with mushroom’ soup

olive oil for sauteing

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 or 2 parsnips, chopped

1 large potato, chopped

shiitake mushrooms, chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 cup soy milk

saute onion in olive oil for a couple of minutes and add garlic, mushrooms, and other root veggies. cook a few more minutes. add rosemary and thyme. add vegetable broth and simmer vegetables until tender. add soy milk and heat through. if it’s not ‘soupy’ enough add some water.

great with homemade yeast or corn bread!

you could use a variety of root veggies in this recipe. use what you have on hand and experiment. also you could use coconut milk  and curry seasoning instead of soy milk, thyme, and rosemary.  there’s no way you can mess up such a simple soup .

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on anti-consummerism :

consider buying what you need second hand. second hand charity stores are a great way to find what you need and also help others.

namaste,

julayne

Less is More

winter light, christmas day 2011

happy wednesday!

so far we have received no snow this winter in north central illinois. in fact the last couple of days have been spring-like!  spending time outdoors yesterday, i remember thinking ‘this is how i feel in the spring’ you know what i mean? spring fever? the last 2 nights, richard and i have taken moonlight hikes. last night, we ventured a little ways into the nature reserve; it was easy to see the path under the moon’s silvery light. thanks mr.moon!

i wonder what it would be like to be able to see at night like a nocturnal creature?

 

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here is a list of items i’ve been living without for a while now:

tv

cell phone

my blog!

i really don’t miss tv, but i tend to get too isolated without some sort of news source. right now my main source of news is public radio and our local newspaper.

i do not miss my cell phone at all. it was too intrusive. not just intrusive for me, i’m sure i’ve been intrusive to others too.

what i have missed is my blog.  also, i lost touch with photography. it’s a new and unusual change for me to me not to want to get out with the camera. i’m hoping to take more photos of people. as for nature, there is a huge opportunity here for some very scenic photos. it will be a big moment for me is when i get my first eagle photo.

 

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living with less plastic:

ok, i know that sometimes a plastic bag comes in handy. instead of buying those horrible zip lock bags packaged in a paper box (recyclable), try reusing plastic bags that other food items have come in. there are produce bags in a variety of different sizes; all the way from 5 or 10 lb. potato bag down to a radish bag. bread bags are great! i’ve managed to collect a nice assortment of bags that can be used multiple times. just wash them out in some soapy water and dry or hang to dry.

look around your kitchen and see what items can be reused or repurposed.

better yet, leave a comment about how you recycle or repurpose or  (best of all) do without.

good luck!

peace,

julayne

 

Black Walnuts

richard cracking black walnuts, janurary 2012                                                           

hello!

long time, no post.

slowly but surely i’m updating the blog.

to briefly mention what i’ve been doing for the last (almost) year, here’s a summary:

in may 2011, i resigned my position(s) at blue river valley school corp. and then moved 300 miles (a little bit north but mostly west with alejandro in tow) to illinois. now i’m living with richard in his giant farm house. i like to call it the hulking mansion. more about that later.

it’s really been a fresh start for me in that i purged most of my belongings. what i ended up bring with me was what we could fit in the back of richard’s full size pick-up truck and we also made a couple of trips with our compact cars. even for someone who has been working for a while on simplifying and downsizing, it’s quite challenging.  even so,  i’ve managed to get rid of even more stuff.  it’s important to know how to responsibly  discard your things. it’s a lofty goal, but i would one day like to not have to put anything into the landfill.

i’ve made some advances in vegan cooking and baking.

i’ve been struggling to maintain a daily practice of yoga and meditation. in one of our adventurous outings richard and i joined a meditation group. i have learned that this area is a magnet for spiritual practice from the world over.

i have moved to a very scenic area complete with wintering bald eagles. this has been helpful with keeping a camera in my hands. wonderful hiking trails.

a couple of things i would like to write about in future posts:

living in self-imposed poverty.

what it’s like when you drop out of the practice of consumerism.

plastic.

gardening.

film (mostly foreign).

books.

making things.

simple lifestyle.

it’s a frequent sight around here to see richard cracking black walnuts. he also cracks them on his lunch break at work. richard is so industrious! it was a good year for walnuts; we processed a ton of them. i remember many  pleasant late summer and fall evenings spent husking the walnuts on the patio. it’s a very labor intensive process from harvest to walnut butter. one of the best things i’ve ever eaten is our homemade walnut butter and  (also homemade) blackberry jam on a piece of toast.

i’ve updated my blogroll. take a look if you like that kind of thing.

comments please!

thanks for reading. best wishes to you in 2012.

peace,

julayne

Love & Winter

la salle county, illinois

greetings!

i took this photo janurary 1 while wandering around richard’s property.

weather-wise, when this photo was taken, we had just had a warm up; it was a balmy news year eve and several inches of snow had just melted. winter and relationships are similar in that way; they warm up and then cool down. i like to say that mother nature likes to let us know who’s in charge.

 what i like about this barn is that even though it’s slowly falling down due to neglect, the frame still looks quite sturdy and it’s possible that with a little tlc the barn could come to life again and have many more years of use.

 it’s this that stands out to me even on a cold, bleak winter day; tender loving care can cause positive change, all we have to do is be brave, trust our intuition and believe in the healing powers of love.

stay warm.

peace,

julayne

Cabin Fever

la salle county, illinois

happy sunday morning!

a few more inches of snow has fallen on the prairie and i’m starting to wonder if spring will ever arrive. because of the weather, i only worked 1 day last week and am hoping that this last snow won’t delay us going back.

i don’t know that i’ve made the best use of my time. there is still some laundry to do and household chores to get to, although, it’s nice that the kids are so helpful, it makes it much easier on me. i’ve spent a lot of this free time focused on yoga and thinking about the yogic lifestyle. i’m quite inspired by the core principals  of  abhyasa and vairagya. practicing non attachment is very appealing to me and i feel i have a good start in that direction. but now that i look around i feel as if i can do better. i want to focus on my abundance of clothing. purchasing all of my clothing second hand, i sometimes get carried away because i find some very nice clothing for very little money. why not only take what i really need and leave the rest for others?

i’m also working on an erosion bundle. i think it’s a fun idea even though i just found out about it and am a little late on starting it, i think it could be a fun ongoing project through the year. wish me luck.

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the photo posted here was taken at richard’s when i was visiting him in december. i’ll dedicate this one to seth as richard mentioned that he liked this one.

peace.

namaste,

julayne

Beginners Mind

la salle county, illinois

 hello!

post winter storm greetings from the frozen prairie. the kids and me fared very well through this past winter storm. we only lost power for about 7 hours which is much better than the last big ice storm we had in 2005; instead of 7 hours without power it was 7 days!

with all of this time off of work, what’s a girl to do?  thankfully this girl has electricity (for my dvd player), so i’ve spent a big part of it on my yoga practice. i have been feeling restless in my yoga practice as of late and have been thinking that i’m ready to progress. i recently acquired (through netflix) a beginners practice dvd for ashtanga yoga. i tried it and found it to be quite challenging. it really opened my eyes and taught me a lesson that i should already know: to do well at something you must first master the basics before moving on. in my basic beginners practice i have avoided learning back bend asanas (postures/poses) and it was quite obvious to me when attempting ashtanga yoga.

now that i’ve been humbled by my arrogance, i realize that yoga is teaching me exactly what it is suppose to: to  still the restlessness in my heart and mind. now i’m back at my mat practicing back bend asanas with patience and joy.

 

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the photo i’ve posted was taken last weekend when i was visiting richard. this is the windbreak on the north side of his property. we took a wonderful walk while i was there and i hope to share more of those photos with you soon.

peace.

namaste,

julayne

Frozen, Flowing, Bright and Cold

blue river, wilbur wright fish & wildlife area, henry county, indiana

In summer, we lounged in the river here and took respite from the heat. The river continues to flow despite the cold, it is nearly the only noise in the snowy wood. The energy of the flowing water keeps it from freezing solid. The sun shines brightly and warms us on the sides facing it. We continue to flow despite the cold.

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i’m so happy that we were able to visit this spot again in winter. richard is right; the cool river and shade that the tall trees  provided was a much needed respite in the 90 + degree heat that day. but today, we dressed in layers and utilized the toe warmers  on the underside of our socks in anticipation of the 15 degree temperature. no matter what the season, i’m hopeful that i will always make a positive contribution to the flow.

How do you contribute to the flow despite the cold?

peace,

richard + julayne

Happy New Year

la salle county, illinois

happy new year!

as i was helping richard with outdoor chores today, i noticed the pink sunset through the slats of the old barn at the back of his property. curious, i walked into the barn and snapped the sunset through one of the knot holes in the barn wood. i thought it was a nice frame for the sunset.

my hope  for the new year is a simple yet abundant year full of good health, happiness, peace and love.

what is your wish for the new year?

peace,

julayne