creativity

I made a sweater!

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Creativity was my word for 2025. I like my creativity to be functional, so I decided to start knitting. I first made a scarf and then went on to a sweater. The woman at the knitting store tried to encourage me to make a hat after the scarf. I told her I really wanted to make a sweater.

My friend Wendy is an excellent knitter and I knew she would help me through the hard parts. I also attend the library knitting circle when I can. It is a new sit down activity for me. Some days, I can’t believe I am in the library knitting and talking about pie. I really enjoy it. It has been great to meet new people. You just sit there. You don’t need to eat or drink. You don’t need to talk if you don’t want to. You sit and knit and 5 months later you have a new sweater! The ladies are so supportive and everyone tells you how much they love your sweater. Knitters are very nice people.

On to my next sweater!

Love,

Mary

Creativity

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I have decided my word for the year is creativity.

I started knitting again. I haven’t knitted since college. Back in the day, I was low on funds. I decided to knit hats for Christmas gifts. This time, I thought I would really like to knit a sweater. I went to Mother’s Knitters in Red Bank with my friend, Anne. I decided a sweater was a bit ambitious and it would be best to start with a scarf. I am making it for myself! Dante at the store suggested a super merino wool and told me to go with a light color. Apparently, you can see your mistakes easier with a light color. Anne got me started and now I am about 2 feet in. I am really enjoying it. I knit in the evening during Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. It is not just straight knitting either. Every row has a knit purl section to it. When I make a mistake, I go to You Tube to learn how to fix it. Thank you You Tube. Next, I will knit a sweater!

I told my therapist that I started knitting again and she sent me this quote from a Native American woman.

“Grandma how do you deal with pain?” “With your hands, dear. When you do it with your mind, the pain hardens even more.” “With your hands, grandma?” “Yes, yes. Our hands are the antennas of our Soul. When you move them by sewing, cooking, painting, touching the earth or sinking them into the earth, they send signals of caring to the deepest part of you and your Soul calms down. This way she doesn’t have to send pain anymore to show it. “Are hands really that important?” “Yes my girl. Think of babies: they get to know the world thanks to their touch. When you look at the hands of older people, they tell more about their lives than any other part of the body. Everything that is made by hand, so it is said, is made with the heart because it really is like this: hands and heart are connected. Think of lovers: When their hands touch, they love each other in the most sublime way.” “My hands grandma… how long since I used them like that!” “Move them my love, start creating with them and everything in you will move. The pain will not pass away. But it will be the best masterpiece. And it won’t hurt as much anymore, because you managed to embroider your Essence.”~Elena Barnabé S

Gardening season is coming. What do you like to do with your hands?

Love,

Mary

October

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Puttering: Puttering brings me joy. Two weeks ago,I wrote in my journal, I vacuumed, dusted and put the pumpkin pillow on the wicker chair sitting in the kitchen entrance. Very satisfying. It is such an October thing to do. Many days I have puttering on my to-do list.

Running and OutdoorFit: This is a spectacular time of year to be running in the woods. We have had cool crisp mornings with beautiful fall foliage. I have been running twice a week with my friend Dorian. I am proud to say, I am in much better shape than I was last year. I don’t spend the rest of the day feeling so fatigued. It is quite an accomplishment for me. We are doing 6 weeks of HIIT at OutdoorFit! We are on our 5th week. The ladies have increased their weights and the intensity. They are seeing results.

Cold Plunging: The cold plunge training season has started. The water is 60 degrees. I have to start training in October so my body will adjust to the colder temperatures ahead. I must say, I am feeling a bit wimpy about it this year. The plungettes and I are shooting for twice a week.

Tap Class: I am working on my tapping. It is still very humbling. I haven’t found the joy in it yet. There are moments when I feel the rhythm in my body. I just think I should be able to do it. I will carry on…practice, practice, practice.

Happy Anniversary: Dan and I celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary! We actually went away for the night. We had a good friend spend the night with Thomas and Sophie. We went to the Grounds for Sculpture which was amazing. We stayed at the Lamberville Station Hotel and I had shrimp, scallops and lobster risotto for dinner. It was lovely.

Gardening: We took out the Red Bud tree in the front yard. It sadly was slowly dying. I am happy to have opened up the space. The fall is a great time to plant bargains from the local nursery. I bought 3 white cone flower plants for 70% off. I am working on making the garden more self sufficient. It is nice to have hardy perennials that will come back and take care of themselves.

Books: I am reading The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah.

I hope you have had a beautiful October.

Love,

Mary

Family, Home, Sophie and Creativity.

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I love a good decluttering challenge. I have done a few of them, and I always feel better when my house is clean and tidy. It brings me great joy to open the door of the tool shed, and to have it in order. When I am stressed or agitated, cleaning out a drawer or decluttering the office brings me peace. I might not feel better when I am actually doing the project, but I am always grateful when I am done.

When Sophie the golden retriever came to live with us, I decided it would be best to pick up the area rugs. I feel so much better with them gone. She is not chewing on them, I don’t have to worry about her urinating on them, and I don’t need to vacuum them. I can just sweep the floor at the end of the day. There is something very therapeutic about a good broom in your broom closet.

Having the house in order makes me feel better, and messy surroundings make me feel agitated. However, there is a part of me that knows spending my days cleaning is not enough. I have been feeling flat. I need to be creative, but I have been avoiding writing my blog posts or promoting OutdoorFit.

So, here I am sitting at my desk writing. I need to find the right balance between taking care of my family, the house, Sophie the dog and my creative endeavors. Progress!

How are you doing? I hope you are finding happiness in your day. What projects are you working on? Have you started gardening yet? Are you spring cleaning? Are you writing a best selling novel? I would love to hear from you.

Love,

Mary

How cute are the three of them sitting on the stoop?

Homemade Mayonnaise.

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I have been working on making homemade mayonnaise without much success. Honestly, I almost gave up. I am so glad that I didn’t.  Last week, I mentioned my mayo problem at OutdoorFit. Andrea said she found a great easy recipe on The Movement Menu, that comes out  every time.

I was out of mayonnaise this morning. I wanted to make a cucumber basil avocado salad for lunch. I tried The Movement Menu’s recipe. It is a winner!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup organic avocado oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 lemon juiced, or I used 1 tsp apple cider vinegar.

Instructions

  • In a glass jar or a 1 cup glass Pyrex cup, (the container matters. It should be narrow so the blender fits snugly) pour in the avocado oil. Add the egg to the oil and let the ingredients settle for 1 minute. I then added the rest of the ingredients to the cup.
  • Take an immersion blender and let it touch the bottom of the container, piercing the egg yolk completely.
  • Turn the immersion blender on and leave it on the bottom for about 20-30 seconds, until the whole bottom has turned white in color.
  • VERY SLOWLY lift it up to continue emulsifying. This process should take anywhere between 30 seconds to 1 minute. Continue blending until the mixture has thickened to your desired amount.
  • Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

 

cucumber basil

Cucumber Basil Avocado salad with homemade mayonnaise.

Get out the Rolling Pin! Alice’s Flatbread.

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I have been cooking from Alice Waters’, My Pantry. Normally, I am thrilled if I can find 3 recipes in a cookbook that I enjoy. I’ve already found 3 in Alice Waters’ book, and there are so many more I want to try. They are great and easy to make. Last week, it was Oat Pancakes. This week it is all about flatbread! I don’t eat much bread. On the weekends, I might enjoy it as a treat. I love making my own because there are no plastic bags involved and of course it is delicious!

Sunday, we had pulled organic chicken and flatbread for dinner.

Here is Alice’s recipe.  

Alice encourages you to try different flours. I used organic white. It is really important to buy organic flour. (You don’t want your flour sprayed with glyphosate.) Spend a few more dollars, support the organic farmers and yourself!

2 cups flour

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup warm water

3 TBS extra-virgin olive oil

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together. Stir in the water and the oil. Knead briefly to form a soft moist dough. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Do you have a rolling pin? It is time to get it out!  Divide the dough into 16 balls. On a lightly floured surface roll each ball into a 3 x 6  inch oval. My flatbread didn’t roll into perfect 3 x 6″ ovals. It is okay.

Alice uses a cast iron pan and medium heat to make her flat bread. I used my griddle and it worked fine. Cook 2 minutes, flip and cook 2 more minutes. Wrap flatbread in a kitchen towel to let the bread moisten with the steam.

I put my leftovers into a glass pyrex dish.  They were all gone the next day.

Enjoy!

Mary

“Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own.”

A Touch of Craziness!

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I have been feeling antsy lately. Is what I am doing important? Is this how I want to spend my time, or should I be doing something else? Sometimes I feel like I want more for myself. When I stop and really think about it, I realize I do want more. I want to create more space in my life. I want more quiet time. I have decided that following my joy is the answer. I love to stay home. I enjoy doing my own work. Painting the kitchen different shades of white makes me happy. It feels like a work of art to me. This week, I washed and ironed our linen bedroom curtains, composted, and made roasted pepper and tomato soup. I also taught 3 OutdoorFit classes. I have a great group of ladies, all over 50, who show up in crazy weather to workout. A cold and windy OutdoorFit workout brings me joy and happiness. I love the touch of craziness.

Earlier this week, I went to my friend Diane’s  house  to pick up 2 bags of composted leaves. Does that sound like an odd way to spend your time? Diane sold her beautiful home.  She is moving to an 11 acre lot to build a passive home and grow organic vegetables.  She didn’t think the new owners would appreciate her large composted leaf pile. She sent me a text, inviting me to stop by and help myself. I was so excited.

I went back the next day, and picked up 2 galvanized tubs full of compost. Why does this make me happy?

  • I love the connection with my friend.
  • I love the touch of craziness about it.
  • I love that the composted leaves will attract earthworms to my gardens. They are an indicator and creator of healthy soil.
  • I love the efficiency of using leaves to make compost for your gardens.

Gardening season is coming soon, but I really would love a good snow storm first.

Embrace your joy, step aside and watch what happens! It is contagious. What do you love to do? How do you like to spend your day? Would you like to connect with amazing women who love a touch of craziness? Come try an OutdoorFit workout! There is a fun class Saturday morning at 7:30.

Love,

Mary

My pitchfork is over 70 years old. It belonged to Dan’s Grandfather. A treasure!

 

 

I have never been much of a planner.

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I have never been much of a planner. When Dan and I were thinking about getting married, my Mom asked me for a month’s notice. So that is what we did and my Mom pulled it off. She is an amazing person. She made my dress and planned a lasagna dinner at the house for our reception. It all worked out fine.

I avoid planning trips. It makes me nervous to schedule a trip 6 months from now.  If it wasn’t for Dan I wouldn’t have gone skiing in Switzerland or Colorado. I would have chosen to stay home and bought a new dishwasher.  I want to see Mount Rushmore, but it is not going to happen if I don’t make a plan.

I am working on changing. I now feel the need to be more focused. I joined Origin last summer. Origin is Kate Northrup’s membership group, which stresses doing less by getting very focused on what you want to accomplish.  She also teaches us the importance of listening to your body and paying attention to your cycle or the cycle of the moon. I no longer have a cycle, so it has been very interesting to plan my month around the cycle of the moon. I write down my intentions on the New Moon and create a weekly, daily, and monthly plan to achieve it. I bought Kate’s do-less planner to organize things.  Every morning, I write down the cycle of the moon, what is going on astrologically, and what I need to focus on that day. It has been a very helpful practice.

For example, if I write down paint kitchen ceiling, I paint the kitchen ceiling that day. I have also learned you can accomplish things in a short period of time. I do a little bit every day and then by the end of the week my kitchen is painted! I learned that from my Mom too. There were 8 kids in my family and my Mom had a very busy day. She decided to wallpaper the dining room and she would hang one piece a day. I thought she was a bit crazy at the time. Now, I understand.

I wrote down create blog post, do 8 rounds of 8 point planks and paint the kitchen trim today in my planner. I am off to paint the trim Chantilly Lace!

I hope this was helpful to you. Are you a planner? Do you plan your meals for the week? How about when you are going to go grocery shopping? I would love to hear you how you plan your day.

Love,

Mary

vw

Our wedding car was my 1967 VW Beetle.

I have found my people.

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I have found my people. It has taken me a long time. I finally feel like I have connected with an amazing group of creative, spiritual, healthy and fit women. Or maybe I am becoming an amazing creative spiritual women (I know that I am healthy and fit) and I am attracting the right people to myself. What a concept!

This past weekend, I went to a wreath making workshop at The Dutch Hill Homestead. I went with 4 other women. My friend Diane drove us in her Tesla. We were talking about the environmental impact of dying and that there is a green cemetery in South Jersey. You are buried in a burlap bag and they plant a tree for you. It was an interesting conversation and I thought it was important to mention the Tesla. I like hanging out with people who are concerned about the environment. We also talked about how we were hungry and hoped the Ally Dwyer, the owner  The Dutch Hill Homestead, along with her partner Rob Stenger, would have something to eat at The Homestead.

Of course Ally had food. She always has food, and puts on interesting events.  She had quite the spread. I especially loved her Roasted Pepper & Tomato Soup. Ally’s recipe used her own organic canned tomatoes and homemade chicken stock. It is really special when someone grows their own food and then cooks for you. She was nice enough to share the recipe with me.

DHH Roasted Pepper & Tomato Soup
Ingredients:
● 6 tablespoons olive oil
● 2 medium yellow onions, chopped into a medium dice
● 3 cloves garlic, chopped
● 24 ounces canned crushed or pureed tomatoes (if you have any
canned from the summer of course use those garden goodies!)
● 1 roasted bell pepper or 6 oz. of canned roasted red peppers
● 3 cups homemade or store-bought chicken or veggie stock
● 2 teaspoons sea salt
● 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
● Pinch of chili flakes
● Chopped herbs for garnishing if you’d like (basil is a crowd pleaser!)
Method of Preparation
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and
garlic; cook, stirring, until onions have softened, about 15 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes, peppers, stock, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and cook until tomatoes, onions, and garlic are
soft, 10 to 20 minutes.
3. Puree in your blender// Vitamix or use a stick blender to puree the
soup. I serve mine a little chunky. Feel free to refrigerate, freeze or
serve immediately.
4. Garnish with basil, Parmesan flakes or a grilled cheese sandwich!

It wasn’t all about the food. Amber of Amber and Earth did a great job of teaching us how to make wreaths. It was a wonderful December afternoon. I came home with a beautiful wreath to hang on my door. I also bought myself a heavy duty canvas Dutch Hill Homestead Apron with great pockets and leather trim. I know I will be doing fun things in my new apron.

“I love any activity that requires an apron.” Kate Horner

Many of the creative women that I hang out with are part of my OutdoorFit community. If you would like to become Fit and Fabulous with us in January. Please click here to learn more. We can eat Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup together!

What do I really want?

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Step one to Feeling Better in last week’s blog was to get clear on what you really want.

1. Get Clear About What You Really Want And Journal. It is very powerful to start writing your thoughts down. I have been listening to Marie Forleo’s Everything is Figure Outable. She has an exercise in her book where she has you answer the question; What do you really want? Every day for 7 days, finish this sentence in writing. I really want… After the 7 days, go back and circle the ideas that repeated for you. I have gotten a clearer picture on what I want.  Being focused is an energy saver

I thought it would be powerful to share what I really want.

This is what came up for me. I really want. I want to be calmer, feel more fulfilled, and happier. My plan is do the following to help me reach my goals.

  • A clean simple natural home.  I love to come home to a clean orderly house. The beds are made. The kitchen sink is clean. The bathrooms are orderly with towels neatly hanging. I use natural cleaning products.
  •  OutdoorFit to continue to be more than a typical boot camp. Being Fit and Healthy is an act of personal power. It creates independence and self reliance. I want my OutdoorFit ladies to continue to be strong, healthy, fit, and empowered regardless of their age.
  • A better relationship with my husband.  Dan and I have been married for 42 years and have a good relationship. It is always a work in progress.
  • More Creativity. I want to keep writing a weekly blog post. It feels like an important exercise for me. I have been enjoying adding my colored sharpie art work. I love being around creative people. I need to be creative too!
  • More time spent in nature. We had a family house on a lake in Vermont which we sold. I really miss being in the country. For now, I intend to hike in the woods and take walks on the beach.
  • Better self care. I take pretty good care of myself. I get massages and chiropractic adjustments. I would like more of it and to commit to daily meditation.
  • More coffee dates with friends. I love Jerry Seinfield’s Comedians in Cars getting Coffee. It feels like the perfect thing to do. Pick up your friend in an old car, have coffee, laugh and take a walk. This morning, I picked up my friend Ivone in my Honda CR-V drove to the beach, and walked the boardwalk. Afterwards we had a delicious breakfast. You always laugh with Ivone. I am working on the idea of having an old car.

I am sure this list will change. For now, it feels right. My hope is that I will feel calmer, more fulfilled and happier. I will be able to perform at a higher level and to create a better life for myself and the people around me.

What do you really want? I encourage you to spend time to figure it out. I would love to hear what your list is.

Love,

Mary