Monday April 27, 2009. I had a gentle reminder from the Universe yesterday.  I’m pretty strict about what I eat since I changed several years ago to a very low fat diet.  I don’t really miss certain foods anymore, but I miss the idea of certain foods.  So Sunday I had a sandwich for lunch.  Pretty innocent.  Bread, some light mayo, turkey breast and swiss cheese.  Innocent, except that is a heavy combination for me these days, at about 30 grams of fat total.  I usually keep my meals at about 15 grams of fat each.  Then for dinner, several hours later, I was in the market and bought a relatively lowfat, frozen vegetarian pizza.  Lowfat at 11 grams of fat per serving and 4 servings in the box.  That’s real low compared to a lot of what is available, but still a relatively high fat meal for me, to ingest 30 grams of fat at one meal.  Especially after having a heavy lunch.  I ate 2/3 of the pizza and, as I did so, I knew I’d have repurcussions simply because I’d eaten bread twice in the day.  I eat so little processed food,  so I knew my sinuses would clog up for a day or two afterward.  But I didn’t expect to be up all night with indigestion. Continue reading →

Yesterday afternoon I finally saw the big turtle that has several burrows on my property.  I was doing a lap around the yard to water in the new jasmine cuttings.  The night blooming jasmine will root anywhere I put it, as long as I give it enough water.  I have several dozen cuttings down in the yard right now.  I heard a crashing sound under my office window and looked to see a big gopher tortoise crashing through the dried leaves.   I had not seen this one before, although I discovered two sets of burrows when I was clearing the property in November.  I could tell by the burrow size about how big the turtle would be.  But I was surprised how heavy s/he was.  I should have turned it over to see the bottom of the shell to determine the sex, but I was just thinking to move it from one side of the driveway to the other to save it the long trip to the safety of the side yard.  I see I’ve cut down some palmettos that haven’t come back yet, which produce saw palmetto berries, which the turtle eats. I have to remember as I cut my paths, that I may be affecting someone else’s food source by my design decisions.  Everything is beginning to come back in full force except the west stand of palmettos.  I cut them way, way back in November and cut many of the stumps as well.  Even though I love my woods, I wanted to open up my yard for a season and be able to see more of it and see farther than I had before.  I am blessed that to the west and east of me are several lots of woods, so I can get the feeling of being more secluded and hidden than I actually am.  Sometimes I like to feel hidden away and private and sometimes I like to open the yard up and be able to play frisbee and foxtail in the back yard. Continue reading →

Today we got the mailing done for the May Horizons.  So I haven’t had time to write anything.  Except here are my Facebook posts for yesterday and today.

I can’t wait for the sun to come up to go see the cardinal chicks as soon as mama gets off the nest

Mama cardinal has not left the nest. I am sure the 3rd egg has hatched by now. Biological entrainment and all that…

(Andrea) had a sore and stiff left knee this morning from overdoing yesterday. At 4am I gave in and took an ibuprophen I had here. It took away the pain and stiffness until just a little awhile ago. Debating whether to take another since I have it here, or if I should dash out to Herb Corner for some white willow tincture. I don’t wanna get on the “takin’ medicine” bandwagon. Continue reading →

Thursday April 23, 2009.  I wrote this yesterday as I sat out on the yard.  it was such a serene scene that I wanted to share it with you.   I’m sitting herein the shade of the mulberry, next to the loquat tree in the back yard.  The loquats are gone now, the last ones taken by the squirrels and birds last week.  There”s a new batch of ripe mulberries on the tree, and I imagine the little wrens that come along about 5pm will descend upon them and pick the tree clean.  I am armed closeby and with my Peterson Eastern Birds Field Guide at hand.  I want to see exactly what kind of birds this crew is.  The squirrels are already used to me and YinYang, who sits close by in the shade of the mulberry tree.  She’s too fat and lazy to chase , but she likes being where the action is. Continue reading →

This Sunday April 25th –  The first “Free Market of Melbourne/Palm Bay” is this weekend, this Sunday. The RRFM will be at Holmes Park, often Called Manatee Park, in downtown Melbourne. Let people know it is happening and it will be ongoing. Have them bring stuff, put off the yard sale, get that spring cleaning done. Play an instrument? Bring them. Why? Why not?  Information tables? Of course.  Bring everything but leave your wallet at home. Continue reading →

Ma Yoga Shakti

Friday May 1 – Sunday 3rd May 2009 There will be a Retreat with Shree Mataji

On Mothers’  Day Sunday  10th May, Mataji will give the Sunshine Lecture at 9:00am and at 11:00am we will serve a Mothers’ Day Brunch. Bring a vegetarian dish to share.   All welcome to spend Mothers’ Day with our spiritual mother – Mataji.

On May 12th and 13th  Mataji will conduct meditation classes from 6.45 – 7.45 pm. Love donation – $10.  Please pre-register.  Yoga Shakti Mission is located at 3895 Hield Rd NW, Palm Bay, FL 32907. A mile west of Minton Road, just north of Palm Bay Road (exit 176 off I-95) Call  321-725 4024 and visit  www.yogashakti.org

Wednesday, April 22, 2009.  Happy Earth Day. I’m celebrating by communing with my yard all day, and today is also trash day and recycling day for me.  And the day I get to water, so all the trees and bushes will get their own drink.  That means I won’t be glued to Facebook or Twitter during breaks, like I am when I need to stay at the computer.  Sunday I got to visit with friends in person that I typically only Facebook with, and one of them has my Connecting With Your Angels, Guides and Teachers cd and my Sleepytime Recharge cd.  I told her that I had her testimonial on page 21 of the April Horizons.  She got excited because she had not noticed it.  One of the people I follow on Twitter is Havi at http://www.fluentself.com.  She had a good article on Why People Don’t Give You Testimonials.  However, I don’t agree that it’s difficult to get someone to give you a testimonial, so I’m glad I didn’t read that before I got some. Continue reading →

Tuesday, April 21, 2009.  Yesterday was a flurry of getting the May Horizons Magazine to the printer – which I do electronically by the way, via cyberspace.   So while I had to stay near the computer in case they called me to make changes, I was able to go out and play in my yard.  Here are my Facebook posts of yesterday:

Andrea de Michaelis is up and at it again. I love Monday mornings.  Another whole chance to do it all differently if I want to. I love new beginnings!

mag just went to the printer! Mama cardinal is on the nest. Her bush now has a safety collar on it like the dogs wear since YinYang took too much interest in it yesterday. Yinny is now banned to the house. Continue reading →

I am getting the May Horizons Magazine off to the printer today. I finished it yesterday morning in time to go to the birthday celebration for The New Way POD.  They had a picnic under the a pavilion at Kelly Park in Merritt Island.  It was a beautiful day, and there was plenty of food, good music and best of all, I got to see a bunch of my buddies in person!  I’ve been working on special projects the past couple of months and have not gotten up that way on Sundays as I like to do.  Thankfully, there is a core group of them on Facebook that I get to stay connected with that way.  It was so much fun getting to hang out in person.  Continue reading →

Sunday, April 19, 2009. I’ve spent the last few days finishing up the May Horizons Magazine and today it goes in to the printer. When I have to stay glued to the keyboard and in the office for days at a time, my only goof-off time is when I am rebooting the computer.  Then I may run out in the yard and do some quick task, just to take a break and get out in the sunshine for 20-30 minutes every few hours.  That gives me my Vitamin D, too.  Sometimes it is enough of a break in the work to simply sign on to Facebook and seek what my buddies are doing.  Some days I don’t even get on, and some days I make a dozen or more posts all day long.  Here are some of my Facebook posts from the last few days.  In Facebook, when you “make a post”, your photo and your name appears in front of each post:

I just got an email with a real compliment… I think. Someone wrote, in response to the pic of me with glasses on my blog site: “Why not be real and use a photo of who you are today, not 20 or 30 years ago?” Obviously they have never met me in person or they would know that’s what I look like and the pic is barely 3 years old. Continue reading →