I live peacefully in my home tucked in a pine meadow, part of the Boreal forest of Saskatchewan.
Our Home in the Pine Meadow
My home is my retreat from all the craziness in the world! And with that I would like to invite you in for a glimpse of what a day in my life may look like.
Keep in mind this is one of my non-working days for I had described one of my days at work in My2018: Just a normal day post here This is a winter day too, where there can be quite a bit of variance to a summer day. The days are short and cold but we have our indoor garden happening and often it is a beautiful winter wonderland outside!
Winter Wonderland Outdoors and Warm Glow in Our Indoor Garden
One thing about the short days is that I get to see more sunrises and sunsets!
Beauty in the Rising Sun
Glorious Colors of the Setting Sun
When I wake up it is dark and I like to start my day with a few stretches and get myself up and bouncing, having a cup of my morning favorite - chocolate orange tea. It's so refreshing and hydrating! Then before I enter the main part of the house where the animals are (our cat and dog) I head to the meditation studio to get my day off to a good start!
This is separate from the main house so there are not the distractions and it is used only for meditating or reading Dhamma books (we have a nice Dhamma library there.) After an hour of meditating then I'm ready to face the day, I'm centered and in a peaceful state.
Inbetween the house and the meditation studio there is a courtyard where I stop to fill my lungs with the fresh forest air, take off my shoes for a bit of "earthing", feeling the energy pulsating through my body and I do a modified version of "Salutation to the Sun" (although there is no sun yet, just a good way to get my energy flowing) I must say these little sessions can get pretty short in winter for it doesn't take long to get chilled!
Snowy Winter Scene in the Courtyard
After an hour of meditating I'm in a good state and ready to greet the world. I can greet the dawn and take in the beauteous wonders of nature. Entering the house I'm greeted by my little buddies, JJ the cat and Bruno the German Shepard dog who love their scratches! JJ reminds us it's time for his morning meal where he'll get a raw meat treat. Of course Bruno needs some too but he gets just a sampling with his main meal coming after the walk.
JJ and Bruno Waiting for me By the Fire
JJ Getting His Scratches
For myself I make up a toner drink with ginger, lemon, turmeric and apple cider vinegar, sweetened with a bit of stevia.
Getting My Morning toner Drink Ready
Morning is a good time to do some writing too before we take the dog out for his walk.
I may have a few nuts or cheese before we head to the nearby hill where more wonderful vistas await us so I make sure I have my camera with me! One of my new hobbies is photography and since I bought myself a decent camera often my walks get extended by hours as I try to capture all the beauty that surrounds me. My husband is not as enthralled by it all and takes the dog back to feed him. Often it is the cold that will drive me in! I love that joyous feeling I get when I am immersed in the natural world!
Heading Home After a Frosty Walk to Feed the Dog
Being out walking about usually picks up my appetite so I begin prepping the mid day meal. Some of our favorites is pesto zoodles and local fish or a nice casserole with a fresh picked salad from our indoor garden. While I am in this garden I check out my plants and see if any need watering or tending too. It's lovely to have this bit of outdoors, indoors where it is warm and bright with the grow lights, keeping away any S.A.D. syndrome!
Pesto Zoodles
Zoodles are just spiralized or thinly sliced into flat noodle shaped zucchini sauted together with some onions until tender.
Ingredients
1/2 cup pine nuts, walnuts, almonds or pecans
Small handful of hulless pumpkin seeds
2-3 cloves garlic minced.
2 cups basil loosely packed.
Good handful of other fresh herbs like rosemary, lemon thyme or whatever you have on hand that suits your liking
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil.
pinch of salt.
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper.
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Put the ingredients in a food processor or I use a Vitamix blender and blend well. Enjoy!
Our favorite homemade salad dressing -
Tahini Mayo Dressing
1/2 cup tahini (or I make my own by grinding sesame seeds in a coffee grinder until they become like a paste)
1 c coconut oil melted
1/4 cup of lemon juice (or juice of 2 - 3 fresh lemons)
1/8 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
4 - 6 drops liquid stevia
Seasoning (I like Braggs 24 herbs mix)
Mix together well and drizzle over the salad ingredients. Keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge. When ready to use it again place it in a hot water bath to melt the coconut oil and liquefy it.
After finishing our meal and I have everything cleaned up, I may do some more work in the indoor garden or head off to the office where I log in to Steem, mostly my Steemit blog or I may check in to the Natural Medicine front end at www.naturalmedicine.io. I try to get my post for the day done up before I get distracted by all the other wonderful posts I want to read. I'll catch a few posts then head off to discord to check in with the different communities I belong too. See what's going on, engage with a few folks then it's off to do a bit more reading and Steem business. I always have a cup of herbal tea with me and after a couple of hours on the computer it's time to get out of cyberspace and take in more of the natural world, feeding the birds and taking in some fresh air. Bruno comes with me and he loves to play so I get a bit more exercise in. If something catches my eye, I'll do a bit of photography too. Like the beautiful snow covered trees by our deck which were fun to experiment seeing them in monochrome! You can see a lot more of my photography from our area if you check out my #WednesdayWalks.
Scene from Deck Looking at Snow Covered Pine Trees
Scene From Deck Of Snow Lined Trees by Path to Neighbors in Monochrome
Refreshed from the break I'll head back and do some work, research or training on the computer or if I have another project on the go I may get into that for the next couple of hours.
In the late afternoon, it's time to take the dog for another walk before the sun goes down. I always make sure I have my camera along for you never know what you may see!
Often there is a beautiful sunset silhouetting the trees and I may get caught up in the moment snapping away. My husband will again head home to feed the dog. Usually it is the darkness that brings me home after being so awed by the ever changing scenes and trying to capture them with my camera!
Once home, I warm up by the fire of the wood heater, feed the cat, then it's time for some power pats with JJ as I wait for the water to boil to make a creamy hot chocolate.
JJ Playing with Catmint After His Power Pat
In the evening I will check in to discord and Steemit again, check my email and then I like to do a training course or listen to an audio book while I go through my photos and start planning some blog posts to do.
I like to schedule out a few things I want to do for the next day so I have direction and can get right to it instead of drifting through the day.
A few more bounces and stretches as I wait for the water to boil to get my tea ready for the morning, then I set my alarm if I'm going to work on the next day. Usually it is getting late and I do a bit of a meditation before I head to bed, usually tired but happy!
I have one more year of work after this year, then I'll be happy to have my time as my own, getting in more photograph and meditation.
So there you have - a winter day in the life of a forest dweller!
My entry into 
All picture were taken with my Canon PowerShot SX 60 HS
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