This site is an archive of ChiotsRun.com. For the latest information about Susy and her adventrures, visit the Cultivate Simple site.
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Sick Day

February 17th, 2014

We took yesterday off from recording a podcast, sorry to all of you who will miss it on your commute or while cleaning your kitchen. Why? It was a sick day, nothing terrible, I was just not feeling well all day.
Snowing 1
It’s not a cold or a flu or anything like that, I think mostly sinus pressure from the big snow storm that moved through Saturday night & Sunday morning. I decided it was best to rest up and hopefully feel better on Monday than do too much and risk ending up not feeling well for a few days.

Does the weather ever affect you in this way?

Quote of the Day: Charles Mingus

February 16th, 2014

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.
Charles Mingus

Popcorn (1)
I came across this quote earlier this week and had to smile. Mr Chiots and I live complicated lives, yet I feel like our lives are very simple. We revel in the process and really relish the little things. We work long hours and yet we somehow we’re accomplish more than most other people. We’re constantly being asked how we find time to do all we do. I truly believe it’s because we appreciate and are content with simplicity.

What simple things are you enjoying this weekend?

Quote of the Day: Tomas Cowan

February 9th, 2014

There is no greater joy in life than to have a purpose; to know what your life means.

– Thomas Cowan MD from The Fourfold Path to Healing

2009 Edible Garden
Gardening has been a key component in helping me learn to live a more mindful life. A life which has a distinct meaning, at least for me. In this day and age, any hobby we can cultivate that helps us slow down and consider what our lives mean is very valuable. Gardening is that hobby for me, while I garden, I think.

Do you have a hobby that helps you slow down?

Quote of the Day: Epicurus

February 2nd, 2014

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for”

-Epicurus Greek Philosopher (341 BC – 270 BC)

A fitting quote indeed as I start all over again in the garden. I’m trying to enjoy this season of my life and what it has to offer without focusing too much on what I left behind and all the work that lies ahead.
Mulching the Main Garden 4
Working in the Triangle Garden 6
Triangle Garden 5
There are many plasm in my head for this garden, but I must remember to enjoy what it is today, a blank slate. Gardening is about the process not necessarily just about the end result. It can be hard when you see all the work that lies ahead, but I’m thankful that I have 10 years of experience under my belt as I start off on this new path.

How long have you gardened in your current location? Do you have things yet to accomplish in your garden?

Quote of the Day: Louisa Jones

January 26th, 2014

“Sometimes potagers begin the season in strict formality and end up romantic by September!  And sometimes, of course, the wild, romantic style is simply a fallback position for the tired gardener, when weeds get the upper hand.”

Louisa Jones – The Art of French Vegetable Gardening

seeds
This time of year it’s easy to imagine our perfect gardens, the ones we’ll have time to weed. Then it seems that come July/August those dreams fade away to simply keeping the weeds from going to seed.
potager walkway
Ideally we could find a place somewhere in the middle. A semi neat garden with a few weeds, no doubt, visiting gardeners are more comfortable when they spy a few weeds. Just like people are often more comfortable in our homes when they are a little cluttered and look lived in.

Do you like to maintain a weed free garden, a semi weed free garden, or do you let things get really “romantic”?

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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