Garden Update

Its been really nice outside for the past couple of days. After the heavy rainfall we got prior to this beautiful weather, the sun finally blessed us with its presence and its warmth! I couldn't let this opportunity pass, so I was out in the garden both days. I am still waiting on some wood to make my raised  bed on the corner. I have seeds started for it already. I plan to plant eggplants, soybeans, bitter melon, and some other things that I can't think of right now in that garden. If only I had more room, I would plant a whole farm! :)

Vermicomposting

This is going to be my second year gardening and I am very excited about it. I have done a lot of research about vermicomposting and I think I will give it a shot this year. Vermicomposting is composting using worms. You can read about it here and here. In a nut shell, it is the BEST organic compost you can "make" at home using your kitchen scraps and newspapers. You can also use the compost to make compost tea which makes your plants grow prolifically. I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a vermicomposting kit so I think I will be making my own at home. This video was very helpful! I think I am going to follow the same design. I am looking forward to it so much. I will be ordering my worms from e-bay. Probably start with 250 worms and hope that it makes my garden flourish! I will post up pictures once I get the project started and completed.

Banana Nut Muffin/Bread

It was gloomy out today for most of the day and we had 5 over-ripe bananas sitting on the table. Now, everyone knows that baked goodies taste best on gloomy, rainy days so I said, what the heck, lets bake today! Its been a while since I've baked. :) Felt great to bake just for fun! So here is the recipe. I originally got it from Allrecipes but I altered it to fit my needs. It make 12 yummy muffins and a loaf of bread or about 24 muffins. Hope you try it one day :)

Things learned

This week has been somewhat of an eye-opener for me. I have learned some new facts about myself. 

1. My migraines are caused by a mixture of stress and sleep-deprivation. Therefore, according to medical experts, I need to get at least 8-9 hours of restful sleep so I can rest my body. At the moment, I usually get 2 hours of restful sleep every night and the rest of the time, I am half way sleeping because I have a 2 year old next to me.
2. I don't drink enough water. I learned this the hardest way. While on a drug test, I couldn't pee. At all. Although I have chugged a 16 oz. bottle of water before leaving the house, my body wasn't getting rid of the excess water, because I was quite dehydrated. So, while at Accudiagnostics, I drank 8 glasses of water while browsing through magazines and 2 hours later, I was able to urinate. The lab technician said that it looked like I needed to intake more fluids. Go figure! Today, I drank 4 glasses of water and 4 cups of black tea.
3. I am pre-hypertensive. Nothing to be alarmed about but it sure does raise a red flag for me. I need to watch my sodium intake and take care of my health. Something I usually put on the back burner. Maybe I should do something about this. Hmph...
4. I need a spa day badly. I am worn out, both physically and mentally. There are days when I just want to lock myself in the room and sit doing absolutely nothing. Although to the outside world it may not seem as if I am a busy person, I have quite a lot on my plate. Between school and home, I wear myself out. When I am at home, I am usually running around taking care of Ashrika or the dogs or someone else who needs my assistance. My goal is to find at least 1 hour daily to myself.

So there are four things that aren't quite pleasant facts to learn about myself, however, it is reality and I need to face them sooner rather then later. I am really looking forward to summer so I can exercise outdoors and get some yummy veggies in my diet so I can be a little healthier. I wish I was more motivated about my health though.

Gardening 2011- the progress...

One of last year's many harvests

Spring is officially here and it is definitely gardening time. I have many seedling started already but there has been some failure involved as well. Some of my peppers sprouted but some didn't I only had one cucumber seeds sprout so tomorrow, I will try a few more. I just received some new seeds from a couple of trades and am very excited about them! For the first time, I will be planting purple carrots!! Yay! I am so excited. I also planted yellow onion sets in the garden already. The lettuce seeds are not sprouting so I might put them in my brother's grow room to start and then transplant them in the garden as soon as this rain passes by. Its been raining for days now and temperatures have dropped. I hope the sun shines soon so I can get my cukes and tomatoes out to the garden. Here are some pictures from last years garden. I don't have much room to work with but this year, I will be adding some more raised beds to a portion of the front yard. We used to have white rocks all over that area and had a car parked there but now it has been moved and I can plant there! Lots of work to get done but I can't wait. I also start work next week so with school and work, things will be pretty hectic but thankfully gardening is very therapeutic for me so I am looking forward to it excitingly!

I'll keep you all posted. :) Happy Spring everyone!

An old-fashioned lifestyle

Today I had the pleasure of reading a young woman's blog who lives a very old-fashioned lifestyle and to tell you the truth, it was very inspiring. We pay so much attention to the details that we forget to enjoy the simple things in life. After reading the blog, I also realized that I do many things that are quite old fashioned as well. Growing a vegetable garden, utilizing an open fire for some cooking, baking breads are just some of the things that I consider old fashioned. I love the idea of picking my own herbs right outside my kitchen and picking apples to make a delicious pie. Making homemade jam is simply divine and quite therapeutic. I enjoy all of these things. I dislike the hustle of life and how things are so fast. I think that if the world  just slowed down a little bit, everyone would enjoy life a little more.

Weave a dream....

Don't stop weaving your dreams, even if the web breaks a few times. Weave again... Just as the spider does throughout her life. Persistence pays off as does patience. Giving up isn't an option. The spider never does.

Cure for all pain....

Sometimes a song can heal many wounds...

Gardening 2011

Yes! Its that time of the year yet again! Spring is in the air (almost) and the garden is being prepared already! I have seeds started indoors (some of which are already seedlings!), the garden is worked and I already have some early crops in.

I already stared onions sets, bokchoy, and potatoes outside. Now, I still have the true potatoes seeds (not tubers) from last year and I will be planting those in a deep pot this year as an experiment. Last year, I learned so much from my gardening experience and this year, I plan to start everything from seeds. I have a TON of seeds! I am so excited about this years garden. I plan to have carrots, onions, potatoes, eggplants, okra, scarlet runner beans, hestia beans, yard long beans, cowpeas, cucumbers, tomatoes (a few varieties), sage, cilantro, radishes, bitter melon, watermelon, peppers (many varieties), bokchoy, kai choy, amarath (choraiya), garlic, and a few other crops I can't think of. I also plan on getting a blueberry plant and planting ground cherries. I am looking forward to my thorn-less blackberries! I really hope we get a few :) This year is going to be great!!!

My prayers to everyone in Japan & beyond...

God,

Give us courage....
Give us strength...
Give us hope...

My prayers with all.

Happiness comes from within....

It is said that happiness comes from within and I can vouch for this statement. When the inner self becomes aware of happiness and what is truly precious to one, it also brings this feeling of contentment and many have difficulty finding. This feeling of contentment keeps the soul satisfied, no matter how tough times may be.

If someone had told me this 2 years ago, I would have shrugged my shoulders and simply said, sure, whatever you say. But today, when I can personally feel this contentment, I must tell you, try to find it. Nobody should have the power to control your happiness. Noone! Only you... You are the only person that can control how you feel and when you get unhappy about the little things in life, you miss out on so much. People spend their lives worrying about money, reciprocal love, luxury and so much more that they miss out on the simple things. Being able to walk, to see, to smile, to smell, to breath... to live is a blessing. You don't know what you have until its gone, but why wait!?!

The past couple of years I have lost so much but today, I am truly happy. I am content with what I have. So what if I don't have a nice car or my own place, I have something that many people with materialistic luxury don't. Sounds cliche, but I have happiness and love all around me and I wouldn't have it any other way. The coolest thing about this feeling is that it will stay forever, even when I do have materialistic luxuries. Yes, there are periods when I get sad. Ofcourse, I am human. However, these periods pass along quickly and sometimes even when I am sad, I a happy. Weird I know. But many times when I get sad over things, I still have the feeling on content and whatever it is I am upset about, I know it will be fixed and if it isn't, I can still live. As long as I have my family with me and their support, I think I can live happily.

I owe a few people who helped me realize this contentment but truly, I think it was Shiv Ji who helped me realize this. He helped me attain this enlightenment because I always had faith in him, and he can't see his true devotees suffer. He wants us to be happy, and many times, we fail to realize that.

Mahashivratri

Various traditions and customs related to Shivaratri Festival are dutifully followed by the worshippers of Lord Shiva. Devotees observe strict fast in honor of Shiva, though many go on a diet of fruits and milk some do not consume even a drop of water. Devotees strongly believe that sincere worship of Lord Shiva on the auspicious day of Shivaratri, absolves a person of sins and liberates him from the cycle of birth and death. Shivaratri is considered especially auspicious for women. While married women pray for the well being of their husbands unmarried women pray for a husband like Lord Shiva, who is regarded as the ideal husband.

To mark the Shivratri festival, devotees wake up early and take a ritual bath. After wearing clean clothes devotees visit the nearest Shiva temple to give ritual bath to the Shiva Lingum with milk, honey, water etc. On Shivaratri, worship of Lord Shiva continues all through the day and night. Every three hours priests perform ritual pooja of Shivalingam by bathing it with milk, yoghurt, honey, ghee, sugar and water amidst the chanting of “Om Namah Shivaya’ and ringing of temple bells. Nightlong vigil or jaagran is also observed in Shiva temples where large number of devotees spend the night singing hymns and devotional songs in praise of Lord Shiva. It is only on the following morning that devotee break their fast by partaking prasad offered to the deity.

 

This story about the "samundra manthan" (churning of the seas) is one of my favorites.

During Samudra Manthan by the gods and demons, a highly toxic poison came out of the ocean. As per the advice of Lord Vishnu, gods approached Lord Shiva and prayed him to protect life by consuming this poison. Pleased with their prayers, out of compassion for living beings, Lord Shiva drank this poison and held it in his throat by binding it with a snake. The throat became blue due to the poison (Thus Lord Shiva is also know as Neelakantha) and Shiva remained unharmed. The wise men advised gods to keep Lord Shiva awake during the night. To keep him awake, the gods took turn performing various dances and playing music. A vigil was thus kept by the gods in contemplation of Shiva. As the day broke out, Shiva, pleased with their devotion blessed them all, and also said that whosoever worshipped & contemplated on him on this day shall be blessed with the fulfillment of his or her wishes. Since then, on this day and night - devotees fast, keep vigil, sing glories of Lord and meditate.

Another favorite is the story of Lubhak. I have seen this depicted in Om Namo Shivaye beautifully and find it rather soothing.

There once lived a tribal named Lubdhak, who was a devotee of Shiva. It was his usual practice to go into the forest to collect firewood. One day he wandered deeper than usual and night fell before he could come out. It was the night before the no moon night and the thin crescent moon offered no light. He was not able to find his way in the dark and soon got lost. A hungry tiger smelt him out and with a loud roar made his intentions clear. Lubdhak knew he could not outrun the tiger and so he climbed up a bel tree. In order to keep awake so that he would not fall down in his sleep he began to pluck the leaves from the bel tree and drop them one by one, each time chanting “Om Namah Shivaya”, which means I bow down to Shiva. In this manner, he passed the night. Until dawn, he had dropped a thousand bel leaves. When he descended the tree in the morning, he saw a lingam, which he had missed in the dark. Unknowingly he had been dropping leaves on the lingam. This was the 14th night of the waxing moon of the month of Phalgun and came to be celebrated at Mahashivratri.

The spiritual significance of Shivratri is also fascinating.

Maha is the Big One, Shiv means auspiciousness, and Ratri means night; this is a day when we awake to the most auspicious truth within ourself. Night stands for darkness i.e. ignorance, in which all beings sleep & then dream. Our present transmigratory existence and limited individuality is nothing but a big dream. Freedom is never by some unique or scintillating experiences in this dreamy realm of existence, but only by waking up to that which is not a product of mind. That which is not a product of mind is the Self, the Atma. Mandukya Upanishad calls that non-relative truth of Self as Shiva. That is referred to as the fourth state of the Self, the Turiya. It is the most auspicious one, knowing which one truly wakes up and gets 'as though' liberated. One who knows the Atma as Brahman alone is a liberated one. The other three states apart from the Turiya are the waking, dream and the deep sleep states - when we turn extrovert and try to get experiences from the things around, revel in our imaginary worlds, or just switch off and rest, respectively. The fact that the special sadhana of this day has been kept for night implies that we need to simulate deep sleep, i.e. no flights of mind as in waking or dream states. Turn away from all experiences, physical or mental and just become quiet. No responsibilities, no desires, no burden to achieve anything, no roles to play, no regrets, no aspirations - just as in deep sleep but all consciously. When all relative roles and their corresponding thoughts are kept aside and the mind is quiet, then that which remains is that which is not a product of our minds - the Shiv tattva, the turiya, the auspicious one. Let us awake to that and realize it to be our real Self, thereafter, let this free and awakened mind respond to any situation around, there will be just the fragrance of auspiciousness in everything. That will be the real celebration of Mahashivrati.

Many thanks to www.mahashivratri.org and www.vmission.org for this knowledge.