Slow Sunday, sunlight ripples & a recipe

Meatballs & simple tomato sauce

When I walked through the park quite early today, the little caravan cafe was already open and all the little wooden tables and chairs were full of happy looking people, chatting and laughing. I know the world is a scary place right now, but I’m determined to keep some beauty and normality in my heart; so I basked in this effervescence of hopeful humanity. Because. Because I need some sanity in my life. In my mind. In my heart. That’s why I’m going to continue this Slow Sunday letter with tales of the, ever so ordinary. To sooth weary minds and to hold a light to good things.

When I woke up, I saw a shard of sunlight on the side of the wardrobe; it wobbled. Then another appeared on the wall. I could see, there was sun on the other side of the curtains; my insides smiled, at last. Spring.

The leaves are showing on the tree out front on branches that wave and the lilac is bright and beautiful. Little birds wobble the branches and the birdsong is back. Everything, is coming alive. Later I tidied up the gardens out front and back. The earth was damp from months of rain, but fresh and full of worms. I planted a little yellow thyme plant, which will be perfect for rice bowls with other fresh and perhaps, nutty things. Or maybe…

I turned over a plank of wood which was covered in slugs and snails. That’s when I decided to maybe bring my vegetable seeds on in pots first. Soon I should have the allotment to go to. The sun on my face was everything I have been dreaming of since we turned the year. A couple of days ago, I sat on a terrace overlooking the harbour making a new friend and sipping something nice, the sun in my face the whole time, for the first time this year. It was my happiest day, with the sun on my face. And, it rippled, that sun, across the harbour water, over and over and over. Mesmerising. Those sunny golden ripples just kept on coming. And seagulls swooped the air currents, almost close enough to touch, their wings lighting up in the sun as they glided in different directions and their feathers looked suddenly like silk.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and everyone seemed for these precious moments, to be feeling little rivulets of something good.

Now I’ve come in and music is playing, I’m drinking a mug of hot tulsi tea, watching the tree out front and the lilac, and thinking, about not very much.

Photo by Jeejong58 — pixabay

Joy dots

Sunshine

Sun…shine

and more sunshine

Lilac

New leaves

Golden ripples

Seagulls swooping

Silk wings

Friendship

Warm tea

Ayurveda in a nutshell

How things come to exist.

Ayurveda explains that everything in the universe exists due to energy that has qualities which allow things to happen—solidity, fluidity, heat, movement, and a space for everything to exist in —ether, air, fire, water, earth. We talk about the elements, but we’re not talking about the actual elements of the periodic table; we’re talking about energy expressing itself with qualities like earth, water, fire, air and ether. They allow for our experience of life.

Dosha’s

These qualities come together to form the doshas of vata, pitta and kapha. These are Sanskrit terms that are used to explain how certain qualities of energy combine to allow for biological processes, your body and temperament, and the changing conditions of the natural environment.

Your constitution

We are all made up of the doshas to varying degrees—our constitution—and we need to keep our balance of these, in balance, through the food we eat and lifestyle choices—we are consuming these qualities through the food we eat and each of our senses.

Imbalance

When the doshas shift out of balance, they will initially cause digestive issues and other minor symptoms. If they are allowed to continue to build in too large a quantity in the body, this leads to dis-ease and illness. And so, it is important to know how to recognise when any of the doshas are moving out of balance in your constitution, and what to do about this.

Quizzes

It can also be useful to know which are the prominent doshas in your constitution because they are the ones that will most likely go out of balance. There are quizzes that you can take to get an idea of this, but sometimes these pick up an imbalance rather than your actual constitution. A consultation looks in depth to discover your constitution and whether there is a current imbalance. However, no matter what your constitutional make-up is of the doshas, to stay healthy you need to be able to recognise when any of them start to shift out of balance, so that you can apply the remedies—preventative healthcare.

Spring cleanse

Ayurveda recommends a cleanse as we move into spring. I’ve begun mine, if you would like to carry one out I wrote three posts — one for each stage of the cleanse —about it last spring, you can find them here, here and here.

Recipe

Meatballs & simple tomato sauce

Eating meat is controversial I know, I wrote a post about the Ayurvedic take on it here. Some people do really well on a vegetarian or vegan diets, and some people don’t.

A friend showed me how to make meatballs last week. This was my version. I mixed minced beef, crumbled corn cake, 1 egg, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, sea salt, turmeric, black pepper, rosemary and thyme, and a special unexpected ingredient — my friend always adds an unexpected surprise ingredient. Mine was date chutney and, it worked! Lovely tasty. I made the tomato sauce very simply. Sautéd onion, garlic in butter. Added courgette, tinned tomatoes, some stock and mozzarella then seasoned. Simple but quick and tasty.

My sleepy sun-relaxed eyes need to move away from this screen. I have joined a book club and the book I need to read tonight is “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson. I began it yesterday and laughed out loud in public, a lot. Highly recommend.

Little bird just flew into the tree out front, moving the branches, it’s fluttering, and so are the new leaves. The sky’s a hazy fading blue, there is silence everywhere in this little suburban street; people inside making tea, supper, getting ready for the week, or just having a flop. Next doors fluffy tailed cat is coming home, and one magpie chatak chataks. I met lots of worms today, slugs and wood lice, that was the extent of my wildlife encounters. One day, I will live in more than one place, perhaps a wood, and the wildlife I meet will be rich. Sometimes there will be squirrels to keep me company.

Photo by Nadia Tighe — pixabay

Wishing you the warmest,

Lucy x