The first year of Grief

A year ago today I lost my mother, father, best friend and mentor, 

I had Abuela's care package by the door to take to her, some more Ensure, blueberries and an hallaca.

Then at 7am, the phone rang to tell me she had passed away in her sleep in the early morning.

Just like that, she was gone and time stood still for me. One of my biggest fears had come to pass.

No words can articulate the pain and grief. They say are 5-stages-of-grief  and I wish it was that simple but it's not.
My stages have been the initial shock, pain, and sorrow with tsunamis of grief.
Tsunamis that leave me lying on the kitchen floor crying from the pain of her death.
She is gone is my only train of thought and the depth of her loss filets me like a fish. So I lay on the floor bleeding my pain and sorrow.
Not sure about time healing all wounds as much as a persons ability to adapt to the changes forced upon them.
Keeping busy helped buy some time for my grieving mind. I had to dismantle the life she had built, piece by piece, Learning more about her in the process and reminding myself of the caliber of the woman who raised me. The strength, tenacity, and bravery by which she lived her life was my crutch. It carried me through those times when all I could see is the image of her lying dead in her bed. That surreal moment when I looked around her room, at everything left behind. For she took nothing with her, not even her body.
For months Abuela had been preparing me for her death, trying to make me understand this how the world works. Telling me not to get sick on the nerves over her death because it's natural. People die and are born every day. Pero nothing can prepare you for death, not even if you see it coming.
It guts you regardless and you carry on, regardless.
The first holidays were horrible reminders of what we had lost and I know that from here on end, they always will be. Best to make peace with that now.

This was her place at the Thanksgiving meal.

My ofrenda for all Souls day with all her favorite things.
It is both comforting and painful at the same time.
Comforting because it reminds me that she is always with me.
Painful because it reminds that I won't ever see her again.

So I honor her by cooking the comida she taught me to make and keeping our traditions alive.
Passing the pearls of wisdom onto my daughters that she learned from her mother. This will keep her alive for generations to come.

Te extraño con toda mi alma Abuela, que en paz decanse.

5 Ancients Oils That Might Be Used To Combat Superbugs

 We have exactly 43 days left until Summer vacation comes to an unofficial end here at Greenacre. On September 4th, my girls go back to school and fall will be in full swing. So between then and now, we are going to cram as much Summer goodness as we possibly can handle.

Which includes days by the pool,

Enjoying the colourful carnivals,

Stuffed animal shenanigans,

Go-kart races,

Taking in beautiful sunrises,

Roller skating wherever and whenever possible,

and lots, LOTS of time beach side.

Of course, Murphy's law is going to throw a wrench in our plans every now and then.  Upset stomachs, nausea, headaches and scrapped knees have already come and gone. So when Mike from  Mike Gear Reviews offered this wonderful infographic on 5 Ancients Oils That Might Be Used To Combat Superbugs, I couldn't be more thrilled. Especially since finding out certain medications can ruin your liver.  Here is a list of the 10 worst medications for your liver.  Every time I get a prescription from the pharmacy, the side effects listed in the pamphlet are often worse than the illness itself. Makes me wonder why all these chemicals are considered medicine if some do more harm than good. I would rather explore all the natural medicines available to us instead of poisoning our bodies first. 

Thank you so much, Mike, for this great information!

5 Ancients Oils That Might Be Used To Combat Superbugs  

With modern medicines, we have drugs for every common ailment. When we have a headache, we have a pill for that. We drink another pill for fever, and another for a toothache. We seem to have a drug for everything. And for some of us, drinking medicines every day is the norm. But this healing practice is said to be our downfall as well. What used to be easily treatable by antibiotics is now resistant to them. We use antibiotics to treat bugs, but because we rely too much on them, the bugs have developed resistance from the antibiotics. These are called superbugs. So how do we cure superbugs if we can’t use antibiotics anymore? While medicinal science is developing super antibiotics, how sure are we that the superbugs that we have now wouldn’t develop into an even stronger form and become resistant to these super antibiotics? Perhaps it’s time we turn to ancient remedies called essential oils. Ancient oils, or essential oils, somewhat have a reputation of being ineffective just because we are used to taking antibiotics. But they work, and that’s not just pseudoscience. Multiple studies have shown that essential oils work, as evidenced by historical and current use. They are more than just fragrant liquids. With the right application, essential oils can be the answer to superbugs. 

Read more about ancient oils and superbugs below provided by MikesGearReviews.com Source: https://www.mikesgearreviews.com/oils-and-superbugs-infographic/

Hope y'all are having a super Summer !!

Stepping into Summer

One more day until the official start of the Summer solstice but the preparations for its arrival have been in the works for weeks now.

 Grab a coffee and come on through, to see how Greenacre is stepping into Summer.

We had alot of colder than usual days this Spring so I used them to update some furniture and DIY Summer projects. 

The first update was a wood cabinet that holds all our roller skates in the breezeway.

I had to sand it down because it had a very thick layer of varnish. 

Then painted the accents gold and proceeded to stain the rest of the cabinet.

Layering it with light blue paint to make it look weathered and aged like a fine wine.

Here is how it turned out after all that layering.

Still, have to locate some gold rope ties for the curtains I made out of the leftover fabric from the reupholstered wingback chair.

I recommend watching some of the tutorials on youtube to guide you. Stock up on some coffee, patience and invest in a good stapler.

Next came upcycling some old wooden children's puzzles into beach-themed signs for outside.

Again I layered the paint with light blue and some pale yellow to create a more textured background so the fish and seashells would stand out.

Maybe a little much but we LOVE the beach and all things associated with it.

The solar lamp post above was made from leftover wooden post pieces and boat rope. A small hole was drilled on the top to place the spike inside so that the lamps could be changed out.

A neighbor's cat destroyed my cushions which prompted me to make some new covers.

That gave me the idea to add a hula skirt to the canopy and grabbed some watermelon pillows to make it even juicier.

Of course, after falling in love with the tiki chair, I decided to grab some more hula grass skirts and hang them around the porch roof.

Looks really cool when your underneath them too. Gives you that vacation feel and you don't even have to leave your backyard.

With flowers like, why would you?

This chair was one of the first pieces of furniture I ever bought over 20 years ago. It was dark green but I used the blue stain from the cabinet to give it a facelift. Not very successful with the rope weaving but the lizards don't seem to mind.

 

Anyone up for a tour of the gardens?

These pair of cranes greet you as enter the forest.

While the blue crabs remind you of what you might need when going to the pool.

Mother Mary stands in the middle of it all.

This arch is all that is left of a gate that once used to guard the front walkway.

A walkway that leads you to the front garden that now resembles a meadow.

Something is always in bloom at Greenacre.

As Rudolph looks on.

Hope y'all enjoyed the tour and are stepping into Summer overflowing with joy!