My Herbs of 2020

I keep trying to grow herbs. I have them indoors, outdoors, at the lake, in the city and even at work in the Personal Care Home. I love how beautiful and fragrant they are and, potentially, how useful as an ingredient when cooking.  I believe that many herbs have great healing properties and can be very nutritious and good for you, but that is not something I have ever studied. I do know that the act of growing and nurturing the plants is fun and also good for you.  It gives me joy just to play in the soil, handle the plants, look at the lovely flowers and leaves and smell all the different fragrances!

I really would love to have many kinds of herbs growing in the ground and coming back year after year, but I only have a couple. The light is not great or the area doggie free in most of my spaces, so I like to make good use of container planting. This year I have a couple of pots growing on my patio at home and they are so lovely and fragrant! Two of my coworkers are growing indoor herbs at work as a program with the seniors, so it is one of my big topics of the summer. I have herbs everywhere!

The pot below is my mixed one. It has some sage, sweet marjoram, and new to me,  two kinds of licorice plants.  I have seen and tasted wild licorice a few times but I have never grown any.

The next picture is a pot full of different kinds of basil. I had excellent success with basil two years ago so, this time, I thought I would get creative. This pot has Italian Large Leave Basil shown at the front. That is what I have grown before, and it was easy to grow and yummy. The one with the purple flowers is called Cinnamon Basil, and the one with the white flowers is called Spicy Globe Basil. It was flowering when we got it. It would probably do best if we trimmed off the flowers and encouraged leaf growth, but I am just loving the look of it and haven't talked myself into pruning it yet.

The most successful herb for us has been a mint patch that has been located outside our back door for over a decade. At one point, it got really huge, but with time, it has shrunk down and gotten spindly. Trees have grown much taller around it reducing the light and I am sure the soil got depleted. It has been banged around with its location beside the door and even abused a little by our dog who is very fond of sniffing it. This year we cleaned up that area by that side of the house and added sod but we still left a little square for the mint. We worked in some compost and it seems to have perked up to a reasonable size for our use, and big enough to share slips with a few friends. I warn everyone that it can spread like crazy, and you should put a collar or barrier into the ground around it in order to keep it where you want it and out of the rest of your yard.

We keep trying out different herbs at the cottage and we have real issues with rodents and birds eating them and some that we have put in the ground simple have not overwintered well.  I usually have a pot of parsley inside on the window by the kitchen sink and make good use of it and our little raised bed garden has a big patch of chives growing. I love how gorgeous the chives look with their pretty purple flowers and how they provide us with a great ingredient for cooking and salads all summer long. They also act as a good companion plant by acting as a deterrent and keep away some bugs and critters from the raised beds.

I really like telling jokes so here are a few for you.

 ..Not necessarily hilarious ones, but it is still all part of the fun!

A girl told me that she recognized me from the local vegetarian club, but I’d never met herbivore.

I’ve got a device to fetch futuristic herbs. It’s a thyme machine.

I saw a new book about cooking with herbs. It’s about Thyme.

I was going to send back my fish in a herb sauce at a restaurant the other night, but I wasn’t sure if it was the thyme or the plaice. (Hint: Plaice is a kind of flatfish)

I know someone who was habitually late until his doctor recommended sleeping in a herb garden. Sounds odd, I know, but now he wakes up on Thyme.

I used to work with a very wise herb gardener. He was well known for his sage advice.

Thought I’d purchase a tall herb plant but actually turned out to be tiny. No big dill 

I like to put coriander on my blended tomatoes. It’s "soup herb".

I went to a restaurant the other night and asked for something herby. They gave me an old Volkswagen Beetle with no driver.

😀

Happy Thoughts Journal

Have you ever kept a diary?

I kept one when I was young, like so many other kids. It was filled with notes about where I was going and an inordinate number of entries that included excuses about why I failed to practice piano that day.😊   I have also kept a lot of scrapbooks and photo albums and art journals. I love photography, and I try to put labels by my images to explain what the pictures are about.  

Loving my journals

At one point, I discovered something called Smash Book journals. The idea behind those was to gather up bits of memorabilia, glue them down on the decorative pages of the book, make notations, and add the odd accessory. It was great for me because I had all sorts of things, like cards that I saved because I feel good about them and they did not need to be in any kind of chronological order. Most of the items didn't have to have an explanation unless I felt like adding a special note. When I pick up one of my journals, it is just so much fun to look at. Occasionally the memories contained are bittersweet, but they are also empowering, joyful and full of happy thoughts. You don't need to have a specific journal brand, but you should find some kind of book that is sturdy, and easy to carry and use. It can even be a binder with cardstock pages in it. It should also make you happy just to look at it.  I picked up my current notebook at Dollarama. It is very pink. I find the cover words to be rather encouraging, and I find it handy to clip a pen inside the spiral binding.

I like to add quotes, pictures and cut-outs on bulletin boards and into binders and to the covers of my notebooks. Usually, they are meaningful, and they can be very grounding to me, but sometimes they are just for being cute. I tend to change some things around with the seasons. Right now, I have a lot of pics that include flowers and lakes and not too many snowmen!  I thought my inside cover choice of the sweet picture of the birds' nest and quote to be very appropriate and encouraging during our "Sheltering in Place." He will cover you with His feathers and under His wings you will find refuge. Psalm 91:4

Create Your Own Ideas notebook

... and in His wings, you will find refuge.

Journal entry about Charity event hosted by my college TR Class

Journal entry about my first and last month of college.

I have recently had a few people tell me how hard it is to stay positive through the stresses of the past few months.  They see so much negativity. The isolation and restrictions have been going on for so long that I see people giving in to a sense of hopelessness and feelings of depressions. At first, people believed, "I can do this for a month- it will be like a vacation!". Time is going by, and now our communities are pushing hard to reopen and people want to get their jobs back and their income secure, and even get haircuts and all the other signs that life is normal. We need our friends and family, and it is so difficult to always be at arm's length from the people you care about. It is hard to keep distracted.

One of my friends said she feels like she is just going through the motions. She is just barely getting through the day. Another friend was just about in tears telling me that something good happened to her that day and said she was going to hold onto the memory. We need to make a point of being aware of those good things. We need to try and find some balance.  One popular approach is gratitude journals, where each day you write down something you are grateful for. The internet is full of lists with prompt questions to help you come up with ideas. The idea is that as you make an effort to identify those positive aspects and events in your life, you will start to notice them more frequently and perhaps find a sense of optimism and enthusiasm.

If you like the idea of a gratitude journal, memory keeping, photo-albums, scrapbooking, dream boards/vision boards, diary or my version of happy thought journals, you should just go with it. Online options, such as creating blog posts or Pinterest boards, count too! 

Maybe you want to just focus on a particular topic that brings you joy. How about a gardening journal., a birdwatching notebook, places you want to travel to, favourite books notebook. You could create your own cookbook with pictures of your yummy creations!

When we become overwhelmed, it can be hard to focus on the details of our lives, or perhaps we concentrate predominantly on certain aspects of our life, and those might be the sad and negative things that are happening around us. When we constantly watch sad news and are surrounded by so many other people who are also struggling, this sense of despair is reinforced. If we only look at the negative, we start to have trouble problem solving and moving forward in a healthy way. So my question is, how do we each manage to find optimism in a time such as this?  How do we find a realistic balance between the sad and happy things we experience in life?

I suggested to the friend who shared her good experience that she take the time to write it down and then see how many more good memories she could add to it. I sure hope that she will experience lots of positive experiences to remember and add to her list.  I hope you do too. 

I sure would love to hear how you like to collect and/or share your memories.

Why Do We Celebrate?

I want to wish everyone in Canada and the USA

 a very happy and safe holiday celebration this week! 

I am going to the lake for two days of relaxing and then for Canada Day, this Wednesday, I will be at work from noon to 8 pm. We are having a little Canada Day party in the afternoon. Providing programs and celebrations at a personal care home is extremely challenging right now during this time of quarantine, social distancing, and so many other changes and worries. We are trying to gather people in very small groups, and then we try and position people with some distance between them.

Previously our Canada Day Parties at the personal care home have been huge outdoor events for residents and families complete with a hired musician, food, and decorations and lots of FUN. We always had a huge turnout. This year - What to do? We are setting up the patio and decorating in Red and White, but we are handling it like a mini “come and go” open house style event for the residents so that we only have a few people gathered at a time. It is a significant change and challenges our creativity.

This year our usual ways of celebrating have been so overwhelmingly disrupted.  We all want our social contacts to return to what it was before the pandemic, but in the meantime, we still want to share our lives with each other in some way. 

What I am impressed with is how resilient people have been. We are, indeed, finding new ways to celebrate and mark special events. My niece’s husband secretly contacted her Facebook friends and arranged for everyone to drive past and honk. He even surprised her by decorated their front yard.  She was thrilled with this new version of a birthday celebration.  I was pleased to discover that I could attend live-streamed service from my local church this past Easter from my own home.

We are communicating with others and having events on Skype, Zoom or Facetime. People from all over the world are participating in activities in new ways. Some times these changes have been very positive.

I love celebrations!

 I even love those days when unusual celebrations occur and sometimes I try and incorporate them into my home life and into my work life at the personal care home. Just to give one random example- Did you know that today, June 29th, is the International Day of the Tropics, which is sponsored by the United Nations? It is kind of the perfect day to buy a tropical plant, have a sweet beachy drink. Click to learn a bit about the fascinating biodiversity of the tropics. Why do we set up these differnt kinds of events and what is the point of it?

 

What do we celebrate?

We celebrate or commemorate the important markers of our lives. We celebrate our birthdays and commemorate the passing of loved ones. We remember anniversaries. There are special feelings of pride and acknowledgment of your capibilites on the day you get your driver’s licence on the day you graduate from school or when you get that longed-for job or be a winner in that major sports competition.

We celebrate the community acknowledgment of Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Mother’s Day, Fathers Day and many other days with big events or family gatherings.  We sometimes do a lot of consumer purchasing to get the right décor, clothing and treats and even cards to share. 

Each culture has its unique occasions and ways that they celebrate these days.  It might be hoisting a beer stein for Oktoberfest, or it might be watching a dragon dance for Chinese New Year.  These celebrations reflect the history, culture and beliefs and geography of a place and a people. It is a way that a group defines itself and binds itself together as a group. It is a way to remember the past traditions of their people and to teach its youth to be proud of their heritage and to continue it into the future.

These special days and moments are centred around universal human experiences. We all experience loss, sadness, fear, accomplishment, and we all look for love, peace, joy, and success. When we act to notice and mark these events and moments, we find meaning in what is happening to us. The sorrowful and the joyful can be shared and let us gain validation for what has happened and our feelings about it. As a group, we can offer each other solace in difficult times, and we can provide practical support too. We can even create a force for change by acknowledging the importance of what has happened.

Back to why do we celebrate?

We have fun and excitement, and we make special memories

What is life without a little joy and laughter? Human being’s health and well being are dependent on having a bit of fun and expressing ourselves.

We bond with others and become part of a broader community.

People need a community and a sense of culture and identity. We need to have the physical support of others, but we also need to have people to share in who we are and have things in common with us. 

We discover more about our own identity and learn what is important to us.

When you celebrate a rite of passage, it can change who you are and in a very real way how you see yourself.   My granddaughter just graduated from grade 6 this past week. She was a little kid and a member of her old school. When she returns to school next term, it will be a new school. It will no longer be the elementary school where she played during recess. It will be a junior high with new expectations, and there will be new social and extracurricular groups for her. Retirement is a big change too. We often describe ourselves by our jobs and our workplace. After you celebrate your retirement, you will redefine who you are and look at new possibilities.

It reflects our growth as people and our changing lives.

Our personal journey is marked by baby showers, births, baptisms, weddings, educational completion and all those other life events. Eventually, there will come the time of our death and commemoration of who we were and of our beliefs.  

Through our lives, we define what kind of person we are, we look at our roles in our communities and families, and where we belong and where we can make a difference. Our special days and events let us mark and confirm what these events mean to us as individuals and as a society.

Lets make this Summer's celebrations fun, thoughtful and meaningful despite the challenges we are facing in our world today.

Have a wonderful Canada Day and a fantastic Fourth of July.

Make some great memories!

Take Good Care of Yourselves

This is a time in our world where so many of us are feeling lost, helpless, and unsure about what we can or should do. We, as individuals, need to find a way to meet our own basic needs before we truly are able to give our best to help heal our society.
People need to take better care of themselves. The question is, how do we do that?

" I don't have time, I am not feeling great right now, I am too busy taking care of everyone else. I don't have the right supplies, I need to work, I need to just spend all my time on my computer or phone". 

The list of reasons used to put your own real needs last is enormous. Have you heard about the procedure of putting your oxygen mask on yourself first during an emergency so that you can help others? We need to do that in our daily life so that we can keep going ourselves and be there to help others be well. I'll be the first to admit that I have in the past and still continue to struggle with taking the time and focusing on what I need at the moment and then to follow through and meet those needs. 

Through my various health struggles, I have learned that you start with ONE step at a time and build on what you learn and accomplish. I want to try concentrating on one topic or idea a week and try and incorporate it into my life. I know that it can take a long time to truly master some goals. Still, I am sure that even small efforts with thinking, learning and implementing will lead to positive changes. Maybe something that I share will inspire you!

I'm hoping others will join me in this journey so watch for "Take Good Care of Yourself Sundays." See what changes I am making to hopefully increase my ability to cope in such a challenging time and to continue trying to lead a healthy life.

Recreation therapy and other disciples break up our activities and our therapeutic goals into several categories of health that are intended to create a holistic approach to health and wellness. I sometimes use these as labels for my blog posts, and I also want to use them as ways to organize the topics and ideas I plan to investigate and work on.

Physical 

Social

Emotional/ Mental Health

Cognitive/ Intellectual Health

Spiritual Health 

Sometimes also considered are  

Environmental Health 

Occupational Health

Financial Wellness

Do you have any particular challenges you are facing? Do you have favourite ideas for self-care? 

See you this Sunday for the first 

"Take Good Care of Yourself Sunday."

Mental Health Week

Ok...  right now I am asking you. 

Answer out loud.   

... How are you?

Think. What is your normal response?   Did you just say, "Fine thanks and how are you"?  I bet you expect me to say, "That's great .. I'm fine too".

The real answer might be, "I feel great because I had a wonderful day working in my garden, and I am happy to be home with my family".

The real answer might be, "I had a stressful day at work. It was exhausting, and I am afraid I might catch the virus from someone".

The real answer might be, "I am very lonesome, stuck at home with no one to talk to, and I am worried that I am not going to have a job to go back to".

Canadian Mental Health Week was from March 4 to 10. I think this year's Mental Health Week theme is incredibly relevant and valuable.  Don't just get loud, Get Honest and   #GET  REAL  

I looked at their website last week and it really hit me that I am giving exactly that kind of automated answer. I have had friends messaging me and contacting me on Facetime. They care; that's why they are calling, so why don't I tell them more about how I am doing. I am resolving to be more mindful of my answers to friends and family.

What we are doing there is giving up is a chance to really connect with someone, and share our real feelings at that moment. It is so easy to just walk past or just perhaps just be polite but listening to someone and sharing a little bit about yourself can change you and the other person's days or possibly your lives.

Lack of personal connection has long been recognized as a problem in our world, long even before we were faced with  COVID 19.  Now we are even more focused on the impact of Social Distancing and the impact it is having on our mental health and social interactions. Almost half of all Canadians are currently claiming to feel isolated and about 47 percent are feeling anxious.  Even more disturbing to me is the fact that only 9 percent are feeling happy.  

Social isolation can cause a whole raft of other physical and mental health problems. Depression, anxiety and cognitive decline (in older people) are all associated with social isolation and having fewer social ties. These mental health concerns can make us withdraw from our communities even more, reinforcing our feelings of social isolation. It has also been found that the absence of strong relationships can cause early death. One study found that being socially isolated reduces our lifespan in a way that compares to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

                  https://mentalhealthweek.ca/social-connection-is-the-cure/

I really suggest that everyone check out the "Your Mental Health Section", found along the top bar of the above webpage, for several really good and timely short articles that will be applicable to people everywhere.

https://mbwpg.cmha.ca   is the local branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association and the hosts of Mental Health week.

https://www.mherc.mb.ca/ is the Mental Health Resource Centre and has TONS of information and places you can find help.

https://mentalhealthweek.ca/yourmentalhealth/  is the web page for Mental Health Week.

The Shoppers Drug Mart Run for Women, is a huge fundraiser supporting initiatives for women's mental health that my family supports, has been at the least postponed for this year. They are still supporting their current mental health initiatives.

 #GetReal

 #MentalHealthWeek.

Here Comes the Sun

The warmth of the past couple of weeks has caused the snow to melt here in Winnipeg. The grass is getting greener and there are birds returning and bunnies hopping all over the place. Spring has finally reached Manitoba!

The sun is peeking out intermittently today and my daughter decided that she would take a break from her work and take the dog out to play in our backyard. She said getting dressed, putting on her shoes and leaving the house to get some sun made her feel happier and a lot more ready to get to focus on work again. I teased her when she came back in by playing  Here Comes the Sun by The Beetles.

I love that song. To me, it says to hang on, it has been a long difficult period but that this too shall pass.

The first online handle I had was the nickname  Rainy Gal because it seemed like every time I went camping it rained. I first got dial-up internet around 1998. Things were very innocent back then and I became part of an online "web design and shared learning group" where we linked webpages in our private websites to form a "mouse village".  Yes, really a bunch of adults. There were people there with varied knowledge and info and I learned about initial set up of pages, graphic design, animation, and HTML and even learned some javascript skills.

Together we designed graphics and animations and had our mice do little activities like telling stories and creating new digital furniture and clothes for them and had them do magic tricks. They even got to go camping. We had little digital prizes and certificates for our mice and our fellow creators. We really learned a lot from and about each other.

One of the big online things back then was to program webpages to automatically open with little music clips. This was all before YouTube existed. I had about 20 mousey pages all with different rain or cloud themed songs that I coordinated with the graphics and page content.  One of my favourite pages had the song Here Comes the Sun playing and I placed a sun animation and added my little mice family creations, all animated to jump up and down in the sunshine.

 It was a happy time.

Perhaps this fairly recent Abby Road release will get this hopeful song stuck in your head.

Here comes the Sun

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun,
Here comes the sun

And I say it's all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…

There is Muffin Batter in my Fridge!

I worked this past weekend, and when I came home on Sunday night, I basically retreated to my room immediately after dinner because I was feeling completely drained and pretty stiff and sore. I had no energy left for anything. That night my daughter, Emily, made up the 6 Week Refrigerator Muffin batter, and I never even realized that she was doing it. Monday morning, I woke up to the wonderful smell of baking drifting down the hall. I was so surprised and happy that she made them for us, and it lifted my spirits. It was such a thoughtful, and yummy breakfast served along with some juice.

Years ago, when my kids were babies, I used to make a lot of basic food like yogurt, bread, ice cream and jams. One of our most useful and favourite recipes was the one for 6 Week Refrigerator Muffins. It is a pretty basic muffin recipe but made easier by using raisin bran cereal and buttermilk. The muffin batter fits in a plastic ice cream pail, and you can simply scoop out as much as you need for fresh hot muffins when you have a guest or just want a treat. I was a little suspicious back then that it wouldn't be good for 6 whole weeks, and I still can't answer that question because the stuff never lasts that long in our fridge without getting baked! 

During this period of social (physical) distancing, many of us have more time to bake and learn new skills. Still, we are finding that stress and uncertainty kind of sneak up on us, and focusing and being productive can become challenging from time to time. We want to make things fun, we want to eat healthily, but that can be hard to coordinate when shopping is challenging, and our family's daily routine is so disrupted. No one should feel bad about having off days when you just don't care if the dinner plan suddenly turns into a sandwich. Nor should they worry about trying to keep up with the elaborate activities friends are sharing on Instagram. 

(yes grin - I absolutely plan to put this pic of Jasper Dog looking lovingly at muffins on Instagram)

This batter has been a shortcut for me. It is a way of doing something one day to have something special and easy to use on another day when maybe life isn't going as planned.
It doesn't have to be my muffin recipe (though I bet you really would like it) It might be a frozen meal that someone else can pop in the microwave. Perhaps it could be forgetting about the dirty dishes and cuddling up and watching a feel-good movie with someone you love.

Just let go. Have some nice surprises ready for when you really need them and most of all, be kind to yourself.

Here ya go. The muffin recipe.

6-Week Raisin Bran Refrigerator Muffins

 Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 3 cups sugar 
• 4 cups buttermilk
• 6 cups bran flake cereal 

• 5 cup all-purpose flour 
• 5 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup oil

Method:

• Beat the sugar and eggs in your very large mixing bowl 
• stir in buttermilk, cereal flour, baking soda, salt and oil and mix  
• put in a storage container with a lid and keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks

•  to bake anytime:pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees 
• put scoops of the batter into greased muffin 
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes depending on the size of your muffin or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. 

Notes:

It is essential to use the buttermilk, soda and sugar and oil as directed in order for it to last in your fridge.

The traditional cereal is a raisin bran style cereal, but there are now a lot of other bran flake style cereals out there with goodies like dried strawberries or almonds that I think would be a delicious option.

Plants, Projects and Stress During Social Isolation

It has been a long hard Winter for some of my houseplants.

Winnipeg still has snow on the ground, and we are stuck at home during "Social Distancing," but that doesn't stop the local Garden centers from sending out tempting ads. I want to grow more plants!  In sad times like this, we feel such an urge to surround ourselves with living, growing things. It gives us hope.

I love doing lots of little plant and garden-based projects, such as wreaths, cute plant pots, pressed flowers, and especially photographing plants and nature. This time of year, every container that I really should throw into recycling is getting scrutinized to decide if maybe a plant or seeds would love to have it as a new home. I start looking for any seeds left over from last year and can't walk or scroll past seed displays without looking to see what is new.

Gardening is a stress reliever,

• The physical activity of gardening is a good exercise for your body and great for your mental health.
• You can grow healthy vegetables that are nutritious and yummy
• Sunshine, while working in a garden, can provide us with all the vitamin D our body needs.
• Working with plants promotes mindfulness and encourages mental focus.
• You can find the enjoyment of personal creativity in a garden.
• You can relax and find pleasure with the beauty of your plants.

 The truth is that I am not a great gardener, but I don't give up easily, so I learn by trial and error and with a little help from my friends and Pinterest. Plants seem to have a way of surviving despite my tendency to overwater and then underwater them. My home is filled with indoor plants, and the yard has at least a few successes each year. We are fortunate to have a cottage surrounded by an abundance of beautiful plants and flowers and creatures growing naturally around us.


 Last week my husband Bob and I decided that some of the houseplants had reached the point where we needed to give them new soil and bigger pots or they wouldn't survive. One particular stumbling block has been the Christmas Cactuses. I have four that have been around for a long time and not grown very much, and two were still in the same growers' pots we got them in three years ago. We had fertilized them and watered sparingly but never given them
new real soil.  In February, the little ones both produced 1 flower each. I kind of thought it was one last attempt to get our attention. Finally, I looked it up and found the recommended soil was a cactus blend that had been kicking around our garage for a year. Once we got started, we had a great time. We found two larger pots out in our garage and mover the largest plants over, thereby freeing up their pots for the two little ones. Yes, I made a mess and had mud everywhere, but we got it done, and I keep smiling at the plants.


I also really enjoy running group programs with plants.

 I think the first organized plant program I ever did was with a group of 5-year-old Girl Guides a long time ago. We planted marigold seeds in some styrofoam cups that the girls had decorated with markers. It was going to be a surprise for Mother's Day. There was potting soil everywhere. The girls loved it and were so gentle, tucking their little seeds into the soil and giving them a drink of water. I then started to pray that it would really grow for the girls Sure enough, in the next couple of weeks, we had baby plants. During the meeting before Mother Day, we took colourful squares of tissue paper and the girls placed their little cups in the center. We pulled the tissue up and tied it with a piece of yarn so it would be a surprise. That was the power of living things; exploration and art and gift-giving all tied up in one fantastic package and held by smiling little 5 year old girls in pink shirts.

If you are lucky enough to be out in your garden this spring or like myself, you have a houseplant or two that need some love, I hope you take the time to focus, breathe and enjoy the moment.