Fall Harvest

The gardening season is drawing to a close. The afternoons are still warm but there is a definite chill in the air by dinner time. The slant of the late summer sun is changing daily. The sun sets early in the evening. Fall is on her way. Sweet fall.

The tomatoes are finally starting to turn red. We had our first taste on the weekend. Sun warmed, sun ripened tomatoes. A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of sea salt. I'll bet you can taste them, can't you?

I dug all of the potatoes, pulled most of the beets. Carrots I will leave for a little longer. I may re-seed some spinach as well.

The sunflowers are in their glory, even though the undersides of the leaves are covered with aphids.

I thought I would have to make a trip to the city for produce on the weekend but Paul did some work for a Hutterite Colony and was rewarded with a wonderful bounty.

Athena was especially pleased with the radishes.

We pruned the trees this weekend too. We are trying to save the life of one of our birches by pruning way way back. We won't know if we have success until spring. Putting the yard to sleep in the fall is my favorite outside chore. Paul chopped a huge pile of wood and stacked it in anticipation of the cooler weather.

But now, we think of Autumn. Cool mornings, warm afternoons, wood smoke in the air. Shorter days, chilly nights. Warm soups and stews to keep us warm. Knitting by the fire in the evenings, talking over a glass of wine. These are the days!

Oh No.

Can't. Move. Arms. Legs ache.
Shouldn't have done the whole hour practice. Too sore. Too hot.
More wine. More Ibuprofen.

Resurrected Yogini?

As you may or may not have read in my profile, I claim to be a resurrected Yogini. Claim.
As I stated yesterday I plan to practice the one hour session every day this week.
Well, I had to run to the city this morning to get Athena another pair of shoes to wear to school. I ended up getting some "sneakers", as she has come to call them. Thanks Lyse. I also got her some fall boots. And by fall boots I mean slightly warmer than "sneakers" and much less warm than the Sorrels she has for winter. Extravagant? Yes. Necessary? Definitely no. Moving on...

By the time I got home and was able to get to the "studio", it was almost 2:30 pm and the last thing I felt like doing was yoga. I did it anyway. Warm up was lovely. Standing poses were GREAT! Did I mention Revolved Triangle was firm, Warrior 3, balanced, Half Moon, excellent.
On to Sun Salutations. Chaturanga? Forget it. Again flopped to belly, barely able to push up into Upward facing Dog. Repeatedly. Still, I persevered. I sweated buckets. Highs of 34 Celsius today!! Ugghh. Needless to say, the heat really helped me in forward bending and even twisting. I was able to go beyond comfort and twist deeper than ever. Not in a bad way, don't worry Kai.
Excellent practice again. I did have my little love playing with her ponies beside me, half watching the video making comments on Rodney Yee getting sand on his back, wearing a bathing suit and what a long pony tail he has, but nevertheless...

School update: I neglected to mention that Mrs. Barber, Athena's teacher, said to me that she thought the glass containers in Athena's lunch kit were a bit cumbersome. That was yesterday.
This evening she called me to apologize and say that she agreed with me on the BPA in plastic, that she thinks we put too many chemicals on our bodies and in our food and further told me that she agreed with the glass containers after all. How nice.
I on the other hand, condensed her lunch to fewer containers and added a juice bag instead of her stainless steel water bottle. Its all about compromise I guess. (shrugs shoulders).

Tomorrow is her second day. Hopefully she eats some food. Tomorrow is expected to be equally as hot. Autumn, where are you?

Practice and all is coming -- Sri K. Pattabhi Jois

Ahhh. Back on the mat today.
I had a great practice. I am still pleased with Half-Moon pose. I don't know how it happened but I am able to gaze at the top hand ever since I last posted about it. Small steps. Revolved Triangle was really good today, even though the belly still gets in the way. Baby steps there too. But today's highlight was Warrior 3. Nailed it. Had good balance. Hips aligned right as far as I could tell. Perhaps it was because I moved my mat a different direction in the studio. Facing North. You know, Feng Shui and all that. Who knows.
Practice was quite sweaty today as well. A whole hour. I intend to do the exact same practice each day this week. It is a well rounded practice that I really am enjoying now. Love Rodney Yee. Well, not leaving the old wife for a new wife things but I don't walk in his shoes so I won't judge.

Athena was exhausted after school as I knew she would be. And starving. No kidding. She at a half a roast turkey sandwich, some raspberries and a few crackers. She said she hadn't time for the rest because the bell rang. She'll have to speed it up or go hungry. Not a fan of that either. It is hard for her to eat her lunch in 10 to 15 minutes. She also came home with mosquito bites on her little cheek and neck. I sprayed her this morning. With chemicals. HATE doing that. Besides those two things, her first day went quite well.

Kindergarten

Update: I walked to the school at lunch to see how she was doing, hoping to catch her on the playground. (Don't shake your head, 6 hours is a long time!) As I walked up she was just running out of the door to play. She said "Hi Mom. Are you picking me up cuz I don't want to go home yet." as she ran right past me to her friend. I guess all is well.


Today was Athena's first day of school.

Daddy made her an omelet for breakfast. Cheese omelet. Her favorite.

Then she went upstairs to brush her teeth and hair and to wash her face.

She got dressed and unlike Abby, she cared little about what she wore. Thanks for the dress Auntie Keri.

Then we all walked to school together.

She arrived at her classroom and got a picture with Mrs. Barber her teacher.

Exciting day!