The Perpetual Healing Garden - SweetSue's Joyful Return

[SweetSue]

This is the part where you look out the window and see a red bird sitting on the balcony with some coffee to go with that brownie

You'd be more than welcome Birdie.

I thought I'd share my methods of dosing the BioBomb brownies. It's evolved over time as I searched for the perfect pan, allowing me to get them sliced up evenly. Most of the pans I found were curved on the corners, messing me up with proportions. I'm challenged enough with eyeing it up and cutting a straight line. There were reasons why I was the design artist, who could erase and perfect that line and he was the tattooist, charged with hitting the line true every time.

The other day it struck me that I could buy the cheap metal pan that was the right shape and size and line it with parchment paper so my brownies never came into contact with the gross metal. That's what I did, and immediately discovered the delight of no clean up.

Rediculously easy to cut. As you can see, I'm proportion-challenged. The first thing I do is weigh each one and see what I have. Then I take the total weight and divide it by eight. I'm anticipating this will be an eight-day supply. With this batch that gave me around 97 grams a day in brownie weight as my goal.

After a little pairing up and shifting around I came up with daily doses between 92 and 102 grams, with the majority being between 92 and 96 grams. The daily dose is divided into two pieces, the largest being for the start of the day and the smaller to extend the med level at the appropriate time. I have the freedom to choose what days get lower doses and which get higher doses, but they're close enough day-to-day that it makes little difference. Close enough that I really don't need to label them, but it made for good illustration.

This evolved rather nicely, if I may say so myself. There's 8 grams of DDA3 baked into this pan of brownies. Every daily dose is around the 1 gram mark. This is my baseline dose, the one that fuels everything else. I don't start supplementing with inhalation until somewhere around 7PM or so. The biobomb recipe extends the therapeutic window by a couple hours, in my experience, but the real value is that it hits right from the start.

That was fun. I have a pie to bake. May all your feasts be satisfying and the conversation filled with the music of laughter.

 

[AngryBird]

The brownies look so gooooood.

 

[SweetSue]

The brownies look so gooooood.

They are, although that determination was from licking the bowl and scarfing up the crumbs. I won't have my first dose of these until morning. I went with fudgy instead of cake-like with this batch.

 

[Shawnee]

Happy Thanksgiving, Sue....we all go through our trials and tribulations and hard times.....but still we have much to be thankful for....congrats on soldiering on to be resilient as we can be...that is my forte and what makes me strong...and it is never ending day in and day out...you have to smell the roses along the way no matter what....Happy Thanksgiving, Sue...

 

[SweetSue]

Happy Thanksgiving, Sue....we all go through our trials and tribulations and hard times.....but still we have much to be thankful for....congrats on soldiering on to be resilient as we can be...that is my forte and what makes me strong...and it is never ending day in and day out...you have to smell the roses along the way no matter what....Happy Thanksgiving, Sue...

Thank you Shawnee, and Happy Thanksgiving to you.

I've been lost in thought all evening about how necessary it is to deliberately choose to be happy, in an unconditional sense. No matter what life throws on our path we determine to persevere with joy, and that determination defines the future in positive terms. My own little perpetual motion machinery of joy.

I have to say Shawnee, I don't recall a time in my life where I allowed myself to be this happy. It's been a good Thanksgiving. I still haven't baked the pumpkin pie. We're feasting tomorrow, and I'll probably be baking it first thing in the morning. I've had the day to myself to schlub around and tend to the garden.

I've run myself short on the CBD strains and will need to think fast to get another harvest of a Critical Cure in. We discovered that there's a difference in the way my daughter's body responds to the Critical Mass, my backup to the CBD Critical Cure I grew for her, that doesn't give her the same level of relief. I may send one into flower a bit early. First I need to get one planted. That's up for Saturday.

This caregiver responsibility can be a bit intimidating, if you let it. I don't let it, but I can see how it could easily get out of control. If we run out before the next harvest you can be sure that'll be the only time that happens as long as I live and breathe.

 

[Tead]

I was lucky enough to know and have memories of all my grandparents, and 3 of my great grandparents. All deeply Appalachian, blue collar coal and dirt covered people. Their word was about the only thing they had, and they guarded it rightly. I too feel my old bones wishing today's society would return to those values. Their language would amaze you Tead, if you could get them to talk. It was an old mountain dialect that's all but died out now.

Here, pass this left. Y'all got me nostalgic tonight.

Ya know... I just friggin love sneaking a little listen into a conversation between some of our local Acadians and the opportunity presents itself surprisingly often. Trying to follow the lingual dance is super-fun and almost musical. Plus, it always happens when I'm in some interesting culinary secret place enjoying something sensible people just wouldn't eat.
We'll file that in the "why I stay in this hell hole" category.

Just hit my daily wake 'n bake.... back at 'cha.

 

[Tead]

Well, I stumbled right into the conversation of a very nice, but yet it seems like a fantasy world you're talking of. So long ago, people were different. Yes, time is the biggest thief of all. So many negative and self centered people nowadays. When did it turn? It was always turning,. It was inevitable. Hmmmm...

Bumble's Humble Hive! It's Alive

Peaceful blazing 

I hear your concept... I too perceive the the downhill slide with my own eyes and ears.
But...
I'm certain that my parents felt the same. I'm equally certain that my grandparents fell into that same mindset.
If, for generations untold, everyone has generally perceived society as declining, shouldn't we have hit the bottom many generations back?
I feel that the world I exist in is much better that the world my 1800's counterparts... or even that of my grandparents. How can that be if society is constantly sliding downhill?


I have no answers to this dichotomy... merely noticing it's existence and wondering.

 

[Hyena Merica]

I've been lost in thought all evening about how necessary it is to deliberately choose to be happy, in an unconditional sense. No matter what life throws on our path we determine to persevere with joy, and that determination defines the future in positive terms. My own little perpetual motion machinery of joy.

Philosophical day, Thanksgiving. Two thoughts always strike me...

-No matter your circumstances, the easiest thing in the world is to quickly identify many others who have it way worse than you, if you only care to.

-Whether you think you can't, or you think you can...you're right.

Always believe you can. Peace, Hyena

 

[Ditchweed242]

I find it odd that you hear people pining for times that were "better" but you can never actually tell when those times were.
Almost as if Leave it to Beaver was a documentary. There is a yearning to go back to a time that never actually existed.

Sue is right that happiness is a choice.

Love your journal Sue.

 

[Islandgrow]

So true your mind is the only thing that controls how you feel emotionally . Realising that worry and regret are useless emotions because worrying about something you have no control over is pointless and regretting anything the same. Once I got that down life is much easier to handle in the hustle and bustle which is life. Hold no grudges and let go of anger and be kind to all is how I try to live. Have a great day all.

"carpe diem"

 

[SweetSue]

I find it odd that you hear people pining for times that were "better" but you can never actually tell when those times were.
Almost as if Leave it to Beaver was a documentary. There is a yearning to go back to a time that never actually existed.

Sue is right that happiness is a choice.

Love your journal Sue.

There you are Ditchweed. I've been tracking your footprints up to this post. to my joyful journal. I see you're brand new to the community too, so a hearty "Hidy-Ho" is in order. Tead has me slipping in and out of dialects this morning. Make yourself comfortable and let us get to know you a bit. I'm pleased you find the journal worth the time to stop and visit. We do our best to keep the room lively.

I hear you. The Beav messed a bunch of us up thinking that was what family life was supposed to be all about. Lol! It certainly never mirrored the chaos that ensued in my broken household, where we were happy to have food on the table and clothes on our back and a roof over our head. Things like a Dad were a pipe dream in my world.

My mother and her parents taught me the single most important lesson in life, next to the truth that you're here to love and be loved in return:

True security lies not in what you have but in what you can live without.​

My children learned that you can live without everything but the love and support of your chosen family and water. If you lose water to your abode they make you move. We once had the mayor of our small community step in and pay our water bill for us to keep that reality from happening. Life can be challenging at times.

 

[SweetSue]

So true your mind is the only thing that controls how you feel emotionally . Realising that worry and regret are useless emotions because worrying about something you have no control over is pointless and regretting anything the same. Once I got that down life is much easier to handle in the hustle and bustle which is life. Hold no grudges and let go of anger and be kind to all is how I try to live. Have a great day all.

"carpe diem"

I've recently started reinforcing my practice to be optimistic by simply refusing to have a thought loaded with frustration or anger. They serve nothing beyond confusion. The trick I just figured out at the ripe age of 62 was to just turn away from that thought and go directly and deliberately to an alternative thought that makes me smile and feel joyful. It's that joyful emotion that sets the stage for miracles in your life, because the joy is devoid of the tension that blocks the flow of energy between you and the creative impulses of the universe.

Tension expressed in the body shuts down your body's ability to heal itself. Tension in your mind, typically brought on by your need to control someone or something, shuts down the corridor of open communication through which the inspiration that fuels miracles flows.

All that's needed is the desire to feel better and the willingness to find a thought, any thought that does that. Don't try to sort it out. Don't try to find the solutions. Don't try to heal. Just be happy. The universe knows what you need. You've already communicated those needs in the strongest terms. The universe needs you to stop trying so damn hard and laugh a little so it can get those dreams of yours in motion. Get out of the way and get back to the simple act of loving and being grateful for every waking moment.

Now your job becomes one of opportunist. You know the solutions are out there and making their way to you, because that's the way the universe works. You watch for the opportunities and act when the urge says "NOW!"

See why I keep telling you all to spread that joy? It's the way to make your dreams come true without even trying.

Well, that was quite a rant, wasn't it? Lol! Let me get back to baking pies and caring for the garden. Update later.

 

[Shawnee]

.

This caregiver responsibility can be a bit intimidating, if you let it. I don't let it, but I can see how it could easily get out of control. If we run out before the next harvest you can be sure that'll be the only time that happens as long as I live and breathe.

You got that right, Sue, about the caregiving, which I take as a very serious responsibility....my state dance card is full, which means I can grow 72 plants, so I have 4 separate grows: cloning, veg, and 2 flower rooms....8, 9, and 10 week strains....this weekend I will be harvesting 9 plants, a first for me as I have continued to expand and grow....that's a lot and I continue to test myself and to improve my skills....I ducked into Wally World last nite to buy a 2017 calendar and it was a shopper's madhouse, but I have to chart out my grow right down to the last detail or I am totally lost.

On another note, in about 4 months I do believe my parents will be moving in; 87 and 83 for their end of life experience: the ultimate caregiving labor of love for me. I'm a throwback and old fashioned at heart....my mom has alzheimers and it is heartbreaking to the max...I cooked the entire Thanksgiving meal and schlepped it down to them 70 miles one way just to make them happy....talk about a lot of work....but to see them smile was priceless....have a great day, Sue, and enjoy your feast....

 

[SweetSue]

You got that right, Sue, about the caregiving, which I take as a very serious responsibility....my state dance card is full, which means I can grow 72 plants, so I have 4 separate grows: cloning, veg, and 2 flower rooms....8, 9, and 10 week strains....this weekend I will be harvesting 9 plants, a first for me as I have continued to expand and grow....that's a lot and I continue to test myself and to improve my skills....I ducked into Wally World last nite to buy a 2017 calendar and it was a shopper's madhouse, but I have to chart out my grow right down to the last detail or I am totally lost.

On another note, in about 4 months I do believe my parents will be moving in; 87 and 83 for their end of life experience: the ultimate caregiving labor of love for me. I'm a throwback and old fashioned at heart....my mom has alzheimers and it is heartbreaking to the max...I cooked the entire Thanksgiving meal and schlepped it down to them 70 miles one way just to make them happy....talk about a lot of work....but to see them smile was priceless....have a great day, Sue, and enjoy your feast....

You girl, are my hero.

 

[Ditchweed242]

Thank you for the warm welcome Sue. It is appreciated.

 

[SweetSue]

Thank you for the warm welcome Sue. It is appreciated.

We're a happy lot in this room Ditchweed. I toss hugs around like air.

 

[AngryBird]

yeah me too welcome

 

[SweetSue]

That delicious moment about 90 minutes after ingesting when the brownie slaps me merrily once again....

Finishing up the feast and then I'll get to work on the update. I was feeling so damned good on this DDA3 I had to come home for a moment and share the bliss. Lol!

Back to work. Smells sooooo good in my apartment right now.

 

[SweetSue]

There's something so delicious about being up to your elbows in fresh soil. This batch of LOS has a unique smell. bobrown14 warned me that using comfrey would give a particularly pungent smell to the soil. And he was right. One could justifiably refer to comfrey as green manure. Lol! Thank goodness the lid keeps this smell in. I had it open to add some earthworm castings to the recharging soil.

On another project, it was time to drench a couple small LOS pots. With the kit plants I use a tote and drench from top and bottom. With them I also encourage root growth by letting them go very dry. The LOS pots get more specialized handling, in that I never let them get that dry and I prefer to top water, very slowly, until they just start to drip. The idea is to get as much into the soil as I can, and that requires me to slow down and work in stages.

It's nice to have small pots to work with. I can get intimately involved with them.

In the end it took me an hour to get them done, mostly because I got caught up in feast preparations as they sat and let the drench soak in. They each took a quart. I'm starting to get the feel for the weight of a full pot this size.

 

[SweetSue]

Weekly Update: Friday, November 25, 2016

Good evening everyone. What a feast it was! I have enough leftovers for another meal tomorrow and sent all the rest of it home with the daughter. Just the way I like the holiday, smooth and sweet and all cleaned up.

I've grown so comfortable in this space that's all mine.

Let's take a stroll. It's been a while since you've seen all the girls. Things have changed. We'll start in the flowering tent. Carnival#2 is now 122 days (Flip + 42, Cat2 + 8) and racing to the finish. I'll do my best to keep her going. The clones are both 49 days old.

Carnival #2 She got almost three gallons of plain water two days ago and a half-strength Brix + WA foliar yesterday.

You see how quickly she's changing. Isn't she beautiful though? She smells divine!

Carn1:2 It's been 17 days since flip. I'll give them their recharge with the next drench. I completely forgot about it when they got their TransWater drench two days ago.

Carn1:2

These are happy clones.

Still working on the humidity.

Into the auto tent.

The environment in this tent is a real challenge for me. Don't worry, I'll get this.

In the meantime, Carn1:4 is loving it. She's at Day 43 and simply thriving. She had a Growth Energy drench yesterday.

Teeny Train Wreck Auto (Day 35) Maybe she'll surprise me and explode in the next couple weeks, possibly go beyond the projected timeline. One can hope.

She's not happy. This soil's on its last run before amending.

Off to the tiny closet.

Dark Devil Auto 5 (Day 12) I should be able to top her in another day or two. She's just about there.

Emerald (Day 31) Holding her own. I've been letting her go four days between watering and she appears to appreciate that. She's still getting the 5:10 mix of nutrients as per the Lucas Formula. So far, so good.

She got the CFLs that I removed from DDA5. I figured more lumens certainly couldn't hurt. At some point I'll add more. I'm still working on getting her branches into position so she can start going vertical.

The rest of the clones.

I looked at that picture, got up off the mat and pulled the two smallest LOS pots, which obviously had nothing alive in them capable of supporting the plants. I'm done playing with them.

This is not worth the real estate it's taking up.

Say goodbye.

Back on the shelf we have Carn1:3 (Day 46), settling into her pot and getting herself positioned for vertical growth.

The Carn2 clones in slightly larger pots are doing amazingly well. They got a comfrey drench today. They're all at Day 31.

Carn2:2

Carn2:3

Carn2:4

I'm considering flipping them on my birthday, Dec. 8, two weeks from today. By then I'll know if I can keep the LOS pots stable and the kit clone will be all the stronger for having waited.

That's a of potential tops down there.

That's the crew. Whew! Almost have it under control. I'm working on a soil inventory. It can get tricky when you have this many bins of soil to track. I found myself wondering if I'd added castings to the LOS bins and not able to find any documentation that I had, although I was certain that I remembered doing so, or was that the kit bins.........??? You see how easy it can be to get confused. I think I need something that's taped to the bin itself.

Evidentially a better tracking system is called for. I've some ideas brewing and eventually it'll all gel. One of these mornings as I walk along the river it'll come to me.

Thanks for stopping. I'm gonna catch that buzz I couldn't catch while the daughter and her partner were here for dinner. The kid works in a store that tests randomly and is about as paranoid as can be about coming up positive. Kids.....

After I get nicely toasted I'll be doing some digital wandering, so I hope to visit some of your own yards. Until then.......