Journaling

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TheArtistsWay-JuliaCameronWhile I try to blog as often as I can, I truly try to do this every single day … journal. I’d been journaling in the past, but what cinched my greater commitment to it was when I read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. She gives her creative readers two assignments, the first of which is to journal daily. I start early and journal first thing before life about me is afoot. Well, right after making coffee and feeding very insistent animals. I curl up and prepare for my day … journal, some spiritual work, enlightening reading … whatever gets me on track.

Journaling and blogging have two entirely different functions. When I blog, I try to bring something enjoyable, enlightening and/or perhaps educational to my visitors. I’d like to make your stopping by worth your while, always knowing not everything I write will appeal to everyone. I enjoy writing and love photography, and hope that what I share appeals in some way.

Journal-BlkLime2When I journal? I am doing what Julia Cameron refers to as a “morning dump,” that is, getting rid of all the crap that is running around in my head – whatever needs to be pulled out and gotten rid of. She suggest writing – always by hand, of course – 3 full pages. I have no strict limits, but write until I’m done, when I’ve committed to paper what I don’t want in my head. It’s surprising what a difference it can make to leave our trials and tribulations on the page. It’s quiet when I journal … most are not yet up … this time is mine. And so my day begins.

What do I journal in? That has varied as well, but what I’ve found I prefer most is something with a spiral binding so I can fold it back and write easily while balancing a coffee mug and maybe an earlier-mentioned animal who has their own additions to make to the journaling process. These journals can be had inexpensively at the local supermarket, (see above), or at times I’ve treated myself to a more exotic journal in gold and what looks like silk that I’d gotten from Two Buttons awhile back.

Journal-TwoButtons2I wholeheartedly recommend journaling for anyone. You don’t have to like writing nor be good at it; you only have to want to clear out your head for the day ahead. It can make a difference. Do I go back and read what I’ve written? Rarely. My journal also isn’t a memoir. Merely a way to make my day a happier and/or more sane one, and who wouldn’t like that?

The Views

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Driving backroads out my way, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere in this blog, is a visual feast, but more than that, it is something else. For me, it is nourishment for the soul.

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The views I find along my travels feed a part of me that treasures the beauty and peacefulness, and the best part about it is that wherever I go, there they are. The changing of the seasons only adds to the richness of it all.

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I wonder, to a fresh set of eyes, do these views appear boring? In our electronic age, where everything moves at the pace of a nanosecond, do they seem stilted or irrelevant? While I commit some of the images to my camera, I am snapping far many more and recording them in my memory. These simple views offset the pace and insistence of the many electronic communications and devices that make up the day.

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The wildness of nature or the orderliness of a farmer’s fields … it doesn’t matter … either conspires to awaken in me the knowing that whatever might be happening in life, there is still beauty in my surroundings. It’s in all our surroundings; we only need to stop and look, and take in the view.

Almond Pound Cake – Never Too Late

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Yes, there has been a bit of an absence on my part and with good reason, but irrelevant here. So that being said, why not a food moment for my return?

Each year I volunteer at Mylestone Equine Rescue’s Open House, (see previous post), and also bake for their big bake sale. This year, circumstances conspired and I was unable to do either. However, I had bought the ingredients and there they sat … exactly what I no longer eat on my path to being vegan – eggs, butter, cream cheese.

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Batter in a greased and floured Bundt pan always looks messy.

Had I had more time to practice, I would have baked something vegan, but as I had not, I thought it better not to foist my inexperience on an unsuspecting public. So I decided to bake the good, old-fashioned way, the way I know how. But … the weekend had passed, and the ingredients remained.

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But quite beautiful when done!

So I decided to make the cake this past weekend, and I would just give a goodly portion to my friend who runs the rescue, a chunk for neighbors who share their cooking with me from time to time, and a very small amount for myself, (just to make sure it’s safe, of course.)

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This almond pound cake with almond glaze was quite simple to make, not a long list of ingredients, nor a complex process. I probably could have added a bit more liquid to the glaze so it  fell down the sides of the cake more freely, but this will do. The end result? A pound cake with a delicate flavoring of almond and a glaze that tasted more like marzipan. Delicious!

If interested in making this Almond Pound Cake, here’s the recipe.

(And now I’ll be looking into my new cookbook, “The Joy of Vegan Baking,” and see how I can stay deliciously on track while baking.)

Helping Horses – Open House at Mylestone

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MylestoneOpenHouse-HollyEach year Mylestone Equine Rescue holds their annual Open House. It’s an opportunity for horse lovers/animal lovers/people who care about what happens to animals on this sometimes-godforsaken-planet to meet the horses rescued by Mylestone and residing on their farm.

Pictured is Holly, a snowflake Appaloosa, meeting some fans at a previous Open House.

What I love about working with Mylestone is that they save the horses that other rescues will rarely take … the ones that are lame, those who have worked their entire lives serving man and yet will be shipped to slaughter when no longer useful, those whose owners can no longer afford them and leave them to starve in a back field, or those whose owners truly care and are desperately seeking help in placing them.

Most of the Mylestone horses are suitable as companions only; most are not ridable, and therefore, will live their lives on the farm, supported by sponsors and other caring folk.

Because it’s a private farm, it’s only open to the public at this annual Open House or by appointment – so here’s your chance to see miracles in action – each horse’s story is posted on their stall or paddock and what they looked like when they arrived. Their appearance now speaks for itself. If you are in the area and would like to check out this wonderful rescue, why not attend Open House, October 13th from 12 noon to 4 p.m. Complete details are here. There’s a terrific Silent Auction, great baked goods, Mylestone merchandise, vendors and more. Raindate is the following Sunday – check the website before coming in the event that it does rain.