Exactly How Long...

and how often is Mercury in retrograde? Because ... it's just nuts. And it seems that it's getting nuttier...

In case you're curious, the Farmer's Almanac says 4 times a year. Holy crap. With everything else going on, this is kind of the last thing we need - planetary craziness!

The Recipe...

Tonight, I made Overnight Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding. It's a great quick breakfast, with fruit and nuts, for the hot weather we're facing. And it fixes my chocolate craving in a healthier way than, say, a milkshake....

1/4 c. cacao powder (I used unsweetened baking cocoa - organic!)
5 T. maple syrup (organic, again, please)
1 t. ground cinnamon (I love cinnamon + chocolate)
1 pinch sea salt
1/2 t. Madagascar vanilla (only because my homemade isn't ready yet)
1 c. unsweetend almond milk
1/2 c. coconut milk (the stuff in the can)
1/2 c. chia seeds

In a small mixing bowl, add cacao powder (sift it, so it's less clumpy), maple syrup, cinnamon, salt & vanilla; whisk to combine. Then add a little almond milk and whisk till a paste forms. Then, add the milk (both almond + coconut) and whisk till smooth. 

Add chia seeds and whisk again to combine. Cover and stick in the fridge overnight. (You can do 3 - 5 hours if you're really craving it!) After the first 30-45 minutes, give it another whisk. 

Leftovers (this serves 4 (1/2 c. servings) will keep 4-5 days, but it's best when fresh. Serve with fruit, granola, or coconut whipped cream. 

The other day, I also made The World's Greatest Scones - using dried cranberries and goji berries. Those were amazing. And yes, we ate them all. 

I made them into balls, and then flattened them slightly. Did an egg wash so they had a little crunch+crust. 

That recipe will come soon. 

I've been doing more cooking since I'm home more, and it's been fun. Still baking but not as much as I was at first. I still find it more healthy to eat my own bread and certainly more economical. 

And, when Mercury comes into retrograde (this is the SECOND time of 2020, by the way), it's a good outlet for the frustration and crazies. 

Cultural Comments...

Ok, weirdly enough, I am now addicted to Queer Eye. Yes, sometimes, it's sappy as all heck. But. There's something inherently good in this show that I find that I'm drawn to. 

Even as we're looking at opening up soon (Illinois is in Phase 3, and soon will be in Phase 4, thank you) (and shut up and wear your mask...it's better than wearing a ventilator!), there's still a lot of stress. Of course the "Open Now!" people are raising heck. And those of us with working brain cells are willing to wait a bit. 

Anyway...part of me wonders what the Fab 5 would make of me and my studio. And the other part says, "Hubby would hit the ceiling!" Ha! 

So if you know that there's something wonky about the show, don't tell me right now. Hang on and let me wait a bit longer...

Went to a protest march, and I'm set to go to another one at the end of the month. And probably another one, if we can get it set up. This one was at one of the busiest intersections one town over. 

I can re-use this sign at all of them. I am definitely wearing a lighter mask though! It was really hot and by the time I left this event, I was pretty much beet red. Oh, and carrying my own water bottle would've been a FANTASTIC idea...

I find it encouraging that people are gathing. I find it encouraging that people are angry. Especially when they're angry because of the injustice and the systemic racism that we have had throughout the entire existence of our country, and which is now bubbling up to the surface now that the #MangoMaggot is in office and trying desperately to ruin this country and stay in charge as a dictator. 

And I'm absolutely encouraged that the haters are coming out of the woodwork. That picture above? Someone in the news article's comments said, "Oh a bunch of unemployed losers and a fat, dumpy Karen." I'm thinking to myself, "Hey, #BasementBob -- I can hold a plank for 10 minutes...Can you?"

This is a gigantic labor pain for our country. I mean that we're hopefully giving birth to something that needed birthing a long while ago. And for all the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, the incremental attacks on women's reproductive rights, the caging of children, and the rampant xenophobia -- I think we're in a moment where there are more of us who believe that we're all human. As opposed to those who are roaring their last (hopefully) as they become extinct. 

How Does the Garden Grow...

Well, the stupid tree-rats got my shrub tomatoes. They're done. Crap. Hubby is doing some research to find out how to best nurture the tomatoes we have; there are beefsteaks in the back garden and some cherry tomatoes on the deck. 

The lettuce and radishes just bolted. They're ruined and they're pulled out. The romaine is re-growing; we had one harvest, and we can get one more, maybe. 

The parsley is inhabited by swallowtail butterfly caterpillars, and so we have to be really careful when we cut it. I've got 2 basil plants left (tree rats a/k/a squirrels). 

I've been pulling the stray milkweed for weeks now. I still see not one single monarch egg on the undersides of the leaves. Bummer. But Hubby was telling me the other day that he thought our milkweed was a good 6-8" taller than the stuff growing in the forest preserve. 

And I got a surprise the other day. In the front square bed there's a ton of Brown Eyed Susan, and a couple pink phlox. But I didn't think the phlox had bloomed yet. 

It hadn't. 

What HAD bloomed was my small rose. It's a stray miniature that I put into the ground about 10 years ago(!).... Yeah, one of those ones everyone gets for Mother's Day and then they die. But this little stinker just stuck!

And this year, it decided to bloom. I didn't even remember what color it was. I thought it was yellow! 

There it was, in all its glory. There are 4 petite little blossoms on this rose bush. This is the last rose bush, the only one left after a root fungus tore up the 50 or so roses I had planted. 

I'm so happy to see it. 

Knitting...

The other day, it was Knit in Public Day and so I sat on the porch. My porch faces "public" so I figured it was better to do that than sit in the back on the patio, right? I stayed there for about an hour and then the sun shifted to "bake" and I went inside. The curse of the west-facing front porch. 

Still working on the Breathe & Hope shawl and I'm kinda dyin' here... Section 6 was FOR. EVER. Yikes. I was just inert. 

I did push through and now I'm on Section 7 of 10. It's moving along quicker - it's the "bars" part. I really didn't like Section 6. I made some obvious boo-boos, but I did not want to rip it out. I don't care. I mean, I care, but I don't feel like I want to take the trouble to rip it. I want to just get it done. 

I have a lovely tee shirt waiting on me. And two more shawls. If I can get to my LYS, which is open, for limited hours, I'd really re-do this for Xmas. I have someone in mind. 

I also have two Wooly Hooligan patterns that need yarn. And doing. 

Look at me doing stranded colorwork... It's a new day in my knitting journey for sure. 

Random Picture...

I've been trying to zhuzh up my Instagram page for the studio so I figured what else but cute dog pics? And dogs do yoga. Whether you think they do or not!! 

So with my phone, I can fiddle with the pics, and I actually get lots more engagement. This picture got lots of comments and likes and hopefully will result in people viewing my Restorative Yoga class. 

Speaking of which, I have managed to torque my back in the last class I taught; doing a twist. I managed to just kind of push through it. But then I had an online tutorial with my teacher; got down on the floor for a small restorative practice, and did a twist with knees on a bolster. 

And got stuck. Called for Hubby, because I was on "mute" but Hubby was on a conference call. So. Managed to get myself up, sat in my chair and just finished the class in the chair. I'm not a happy camper because I have to teach tomorrow - a yoga + movement class. 

It's gonna be fun. 

Interested in livestream yoga taught by qualified teachers? Join us at our website, 

www.just-breatheyoga.com, and click on "livestream yoga" in the upper left corner. 

$10 per class payable online; 

everything from senior yoga (65+) to chair, basic, flow, yin, restorative and hatha+vinyasa mix. 

Follow Just Breathe Yoga on Facebook, Pat Perrier Yoga & Essential Wellness - we're also on IG and Twitter

It's Not That Hard...

...or at least that's what I thought. 

I'm within a week or so of my (hopefully) last hematologist visit. A couple years ago, I finally admitted - or was forced to admit - that I was anemic. My GP had been telling me for years that I "didn't store iron." But it took my cardiologist to whomp me alongside the head - and almost refuse to do my PVI procedure, to tell me that, guess what? "Not storing iron" = anemia. He was madder than a wet hen that my GP essentially let my iron levels get to somewhere around a 5... They transfuse you at 4. 

So I had iron infusions over 6 weeks. Looked like they were pumping in prune juice, to be honest. And my levels gradually increased to about 12-ish. And they've stayed. 

That's not the problem. The problem is, the last 3 times I've visited "Dr. Blood," I've had to have blood drawn. And I go downstairs to the hospital. And they never have the order. In spite of my telling Dr. Blood's staff that I was going to go to the hospital's lab to have it done... 

This time, I was busy, and was impatient. Finally, after the really nice registration clerk couldn't get the order faxed over (from 1 floor up...), I trotted over to Dr. Blood's office and kindly but firmly asked them to "go old school" and hand me the piece of paper... which they did. Trotted back. Got stuck into a room. And sat for another 10 minutes... 


Good thing they weren't taking my blood pressure... Anyway, this nice lady walks in. I have stunning veins. Every nurse I know says so, and you can see them eyeballing my hands and inner elbows, thinking, "I want to sink a needle in there!" 

This lady did the usual prep, and then said, "Little pinch" like they always do. But there was no pinch... She'd pressed down on my upper arm, right above the vein, and I didn't even feel it. 

And better yet? No bruising. None. Nothing. You can barely see the needle poke. I'm on blood thinners, and I bruise when someone looks askance at me. It's insane. I come up with bruises where I don't even remember knocking the limb against anything. I pretty much take it in stride, and laugh it off. So when I get blood taken, I do bruise up nicely. It's pretty spectacular, if I do say so. But this? Hasn't happened in decades... 

She was amazing. I think I've found my personal phlebotomist... 

It's A Book...

As many of you may remember, I did the internship for elephant journal (yes, it's not capitalized). I met -- well, "met" -- a lot of great people. One of them - I can't even explain, but we click. 

We've chatted; we've kvetched. We've compared stories, trials and tribulations. It's just one of those things that happens online. You just click - there's no other word for it. 

She's written a book! I have a copy and I can't wait to dive into it. 

Our diets are closely linked to our health, both mentally and physically. Our bodies hold toxins - actually, they're held in the fat cells. And it's tough to get rid of those little buggers. Some estimates say that a larger and larger percentage of people will be diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Well - if you could "clean up" your diet and make sure that you are as healthy as you can be, wouldn't you do so?

I'm going to see about working some of these recipes into the rotation. Exercise and eating right - won't keep us alive forever, but if we can have a good quality of life, then we can live it to the fullest. 

Knitting...

Busy, busy, busy... started working on Christmas music, and then after the guitar lesson, I picked up Close to You again. As you can see, we're plugging along. I'm supposed to have 32" needles, but these are 29". I'm hoping I can fudge them and just keep on knitting. 

Chandi's has a great "hurricane sale" selection and I may have to get a couple more hanks to create a few more of these. Or some variation of a beautiful shawl with sock yarn.

Tomorrow, I'm attending a Fall Fest; doing 2 yoga demonstrations (for which I hope students actually show up!), and I'll be bringing knitting along. I'm not sure if I'm even going to have a table or chair to sit in between sessions, but if not, I'm bringing a small folding table and a lawn chair. And I'll bring one of the socks to work on. 

So either (a) I'll have somewhere to sit and chat with people about the yoga studio, or (b) I can go home. But if it's (a), then KIP (Knitting in Public) is a great conversation starter. And socks are usually right up there at the top of the list! I can bring this project, too - we'll see. 

Cubs...

Clinched again! And I'm having a bit of a concept problem with someone I know. This person is a die-hard White Sox fan. I mean, if you cut into this person, likely the blood would be black-and-white. And the devotion to the team is high. Extremely high. 

On Facebook, this person is pretty derogatory about the Cubs. I mean, I don't like the Sox, but in the scheme of things? It's baseball. It's guys running around, getting paid a boatload of money to play a game. With everything else going on, lighten up a bit, right?

Anyway, the Facebook post was kind of... Well, no. Not "kind of." It was DEFINITELY nasty. I'm not sure how to handle it and am tempted to give it the attention it deserves: by ignoring it. 

My issue is that of course it's just baseball, as I stated above. But also - I know the depth of the fandom. And in the larger picture? I can ignore it and live my life. But I find my respect for this person ever-so-slightly diminished. 

Is that petty? 

Mouse In the House...


As I sat waiting for my teacher to show up for my guitar lesson, I noticed the ceiling tile... Tell me what you see... 

I thought it was kind of funny, and so did my teacher. Apparently, this tile had showed up in a classroom. It got moved. Then it was in a hallway. It got moved. Now it's outside his studio. I wonder how long it'll stay there!

In another bit of absolutely random news, my favorite mug sprung a leak. Hubby put the kettle on for me, and had put out a "breakfast" sized mug. Well heck... with THAT much tea, I'd be up all night in the bathroom! So I switched it out for my "Keep Calm and Just Breathe" mug. It was a gift from one of my teachers, and of course, my studio is Just Breathe Yoga Studio... I went in to get the tea, and there's tea...all over the counter! 

Oddly enough, it was cracked in the middle. I have no idea how it happened. I guess I could've repurposed it for a pen cup, but I have far too much "stuff." So I tossed it. And immediately went on Zazzle to order a new one. First World problem, right?

Random Picture...

Dug into the archives for this one. This was the last trip I took with my mom. She's doing well - she hit 80 and we're taking her to the theater in a few weeks. But she's not a traveler much anymore. 

This is outside Pigeon Forge, TN. It's a "modern Mount Rushmore" by the Dollywood theme park. Left to right, just in case you're not sure what you're really looking at: John Wayne, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin. 

I guess the only thing you can say is that a woman finally made it onto Mount Rushmore...