A Slow Spring Morning

I am coming to you today with a fatter blog filled with some randomness, encouragement, and a glimpse into the magical human experience I've been having lately.

The last ten days or so, my body has been yearning for rest and slower movement (come to find out it was my luteal phase of course), specific food (we'll talk about this) and yet my brain has had to use additional tools (such as art and grounding) to slow down.

This morning felt like a lived reflection of everything the last couple of weeks has been showing me about slowing down and getting into flow.

It’s one thing to see it, it’s another totally to apply it. This is integration. Taking what you’ve witnessed or learned, the activation, and making it a practice.

Before I get into the examples of how I've found flow (both energetically and literally lol) look at some of the nature in my backyard this morning!

The currently blooming tree and the "sprinkles" left in the birdbath, my dog-nephew rolling around in bliss, and my newly planted flowers and veggies.

I was loving this sunny morning but then something exciting happened!

I was told, "the dog has something alive and small in her mouth, come hurry!"

Turns out it was a baby bird!

It looked to be in the young fledgling phase, uninjured, and on the ground. Ecologists say to put babies of this age in a makeshift bird nest so their parents can find them and take care of them.

So making a nest is what I did. As he rested in my hand, the little bird melted to my body heat and relaxed as I made a nest unworthy of a bird but functional.

(The whole "adult birds won't take their babies back if you touch them" is a myth, totally untrue.)

I secured the "nest" to a tree and will check on him every hour or so. I filled the bird feeders to entice the adults and have also told the birds in my yard where he is and to get their asses in gear and come feed him... respectfully:)

(Feeding a baby bird is also something you should be careful of and not take on yourself. They need very specific nutrition and you risk them aspirating the food.)

“Oh, for cute!” ~ some midwestern lady somewhere

Garden Notes & Grounding

I still have some things left to plant but here are the five grow bags that I've started so far. I'm excited to see how they do. The radishes are already coming up!

From left to right: Mexican Sour Gherkins, Shelling Peas & Purple Long Beans, Carrots, Watermelon Radish, French Breakfast Radish (I think?)

A couple weeks ago I shared in this blog post/podcast how I intuitively planned my garden. Listen if you haven't already!

I also watered the flowers I planted in the garden. I planted some mammoth sunflowers, black hollyhock, and rows of snapdragons!

The snapdragons were my grandma's fav flower, the hollyhocks just looked awesomely goth lol, and the sunflowers are for the birds and to see if I can grow a huge ass sunflower like my grandpa used to do. He grew ones so big that I would bring the head of them in to show and tell in elementary school. The seeds will also be good for the birds. I'm thinking I could put the head on the deck and watch birds come and eat!

Because I planted from seeds, I don’t have pictures of them yet. I'm thinking I'll still add to the flower area since I have some space left to add whatever. Maybe some cut flowers?

The whole time spent outside was barefoot. Allowing me to ground and really get settled. This has been key for relaxing me and calming my mind when my body has had low energy but my mind has not. The added bonus of some vitamin D is great too.

House Projects, Horses, and Stressed Cats

These last ten days or so have been focused on painting a room, prepping for carpet cleaning two rooms, my sister's college graduation, and prep for moving her out of her apartment.

Just look at her grad cap! A roommate did the art, she's such a fan of Spiderman Into the Multiverse.

All of the projects and movements have caused anxiety and stress in the cats. Zoey has had to adjust to a whole new room where her things now reside.

I walked her down to where her litter box is and showed her the new location and she said the cutest little "Oh!" meow.

She also got into the bacon I made and after a couple full strips and their grease, she lost her appetite for the first time in her life. Nothing to worry about, she was breaking my door down to steal Franklin's food this morning.

She's also counting down to when she'll see my sister again. I tell her each day, "Only X more sleeps Zoey!" which also has her a little stressed/excited and she grooms herself to ease anxiety.

Franklin is not happy that I am doing so much moving of things. She kept hearing the sounds of painting and scraping of the walls (spackle and sanding, removing outlets) but because she couldn't see what it was (she was kept out so she didn't get into the paint) she got spooked.

One of the rooms getting the carpet cleaned is "her" room so seeing her items being moved has her nervous. Nervous enough to hack up a couple hairballs which isn't her norm.

After carpets are done today and things dry, everything can start to be moved back and she can relax in her space again.

Mix this in with my horse riding during the week and the days have felt full. Zoey loves to smell and rub my horse/barn smelling jeans so I give her them for a bit to roll around with before I wash them lol

Listen to the podcast where I talk about the horses here.

Food, Cravings, and Flow

I think it's been great to have these projects and it certainly matches the time of year. Spring is in full swing and I'm feeling that motivation. However it's so important to fuel yourself!

My body has been adjusting to the new levels of activity and the intuitive cravings I have had have really shown me the kind of care I am needing. It is so interesting!

I've been making the same few things for meals and thought I'd share in case it sounded tasty to you.

First off, LEMONS have been huge for me. It's been the main thing to refresh me! Every day I make this recipe and it hits the spot!

Lemonade

juice of one squeezed lemon (I use a hand squeezer tool)

water (I fill up a wide mouth tall mason jar, maybe 20oz?)

stevia or honey or maple syrup (a tiny bit of stevia is my go to, not too sweet!)

It’s so simple. Try it and see what you think!

Also I've eaten the same sandwich for every lunch for the last 2 weeks. It's heavy on sour/pickled/spicy/fermented flavors since I have learned recently I love pickled red onions, why have I been leery of them for this long!

My body has been screaming for anything spicy and pickled and fermented. I found the most amazing sweet heat pickles at my farmers market and use the extra brine to quick pickle red onions. I also got some amazing kimchi and will just have a bite of that when I visit the fridge.

I also make my own chipotle mayo by mixing cut up chipotle pepper in adobo sauce with my mayo of choice.

Lexie's Sandwich of Pickled Mayhem

I start by toasting a ciabatta bun. Melting some sharp cheddar on the bottom bun.

Layer turkey or meat of choice on the melted cheese, a sliced and fat lacto-fermented spicy pickle (these ones because they have actual live cultures that vinegar pickles don't have), then fresh crispy piece of romaine heart lettuce, a good scoop of pickled red onions, then a good swipe of that spicy chipotle mayo on the inside of the top toasted bun.

Aaand I'm drooling.

This has seriously been a sandwich I look forward to every day.

I am a freak about it.

I truly think that the foods I have eaten lately have supported my gut SO MUCH that I've really improved my gut microbiome. In turn, I think that has helped my whole body.

I figure out what my body needs by letting it lead me. When getting groceries, I ask for direction as I walk through the store. For example, the other day I was drawn to the organic asparagus on sale and heard "a few pieces eaten raw each day".

Of course I do plan meals and go in with an idea but it’s nice to have feedback from my body about what else I could add.

Food is medicine!

I have also really wanted carrot juice but can't find it anywhere so I'll juice my own. It’s my favorite juice!

Other things that have been in circulation have been strawberries, frozen cherries in smoothies, balsamic vinegar and herb salmon, kimchi crockpot chicken, chocolate, and some cold brewed tea (the strawberry one I got on my Duluth trip) and the most delicious iced chai latte I've made by cold brewing chai tea and adding some unsweetened organic soymilk and sweetener of choice.

Side note: we aren't scared of soymilk anymore, we aren’t listening to the “fear this food” stuff and we are ignoring the indecisiveness of people and "research" that changes every couple years and we are trusting our bodies instead. This goes for other food too.

I can feel that the intuitively led food, the joy of riding horses again (the workout of ~16 hrs in the saddle a week, hello legs!), the time outside in the garden, and doing art actually allows me to relax and FLOW.

Living With Spirit in Ordinary Life

I really think all of this is what allowed my moon cycle to come back after 3 ish months of NOTHING.

I'm sharing all of this because this whole picture view is what I mean when we talk about living WITH Spirit in this human experience and getting into FLOW. Listen to Spirit and your intuition through your body and your everyday goings on.

Watercolor Chickens & Creative Flow

Other than spending time barefoot outside, art has really helped my brain slow down to allow for flow.

I've enjoyed watercolor recently and it's been a LIFESAVER. I not only have been finding so much inspiration for ways to play with color and paints but it's also kept me out of the boredom habits that don't serve me (social media scrolling, overthinking, "comparisonitis") and has led me to amazing artists that I can admire and learn from!

It's something that I have started from scratch, meaning my experience was at level zero starting out. Learning through tutorials on youtube and PLAYING have been the best way to create and start developing any semblance of skill.

Here are some examples of some art I've done so far.

Like just LOOK AT THOSE SIMPLE LITTLE CHICKENS!

No matter your skill level, you can create! I highly suggest watercolors. It's super easy to get started with, you can have the cheapest tools and still make art, and there are endless artists that create tutorials of certain art scenes.

Look at this art inspo from @ZeppelinMoon (on Insta).

Like I dare you to tell me that doesn't feed your whimsy craving and that you couldn't do something similar.

Or just start with a coloring page and use your watercolors to paint it in like I did here. it was so fun!

Baby Birds, Gut Healing, & Watercolor Chickens