Sonoma

It’s the weekend and time for a new Seven for Saturday post! ☀️

Here are some things that happened in my little corner of wine country:

1 ~ Guest #1 Room Redo

My husband has been painting the interiors of our two guest rooms in his spare time for about the last week. He spends the entire weekend painting, as well as a few days during the week after work. He works so hard. Sometimes we don’t eat dinner until 9:00 pm!

Our walls were previously a warm beige tone that has been a bit hard to cover up with the white paint we chose. Bill starts with a coat of primer, then adds three coats of white.

Last weekend, on top of painting, he built a shelf and clothes rack in the first guest room. There had been a metal contraption in there since we moved in many years ago that just wasn’t working for us anymore.

After the paint dried in this guest room, we moved the furniture back, put the rug I bought for my office a couple months ago (ended up being too dark and too small) under the bed, and dressed the bed up with a new duvet set.

Now we can start working on the decor. For starters this room needs a lamp for one or both of the nightstands, wall art, a pretty throw blanket and a new ceiling light fixture.

Bill is working on guest room #2 this weekend and starting on our bedroom. The second guest room has a Mission Style furniture set which I believe is oak. I have been looking online for days in search of a new duvet set for this room. I’m going to order this one today and see if it works.

Once the basics are in both rooms, I will focus on what little things guests like to have in their rooms. I am thinking a carafe and two little glasses for water, a potted plant, charging station, a place to set luggage, a wardrobe mirror, hangers and hooks, and a vase for fresh flowers. What about a clock? Do people use clocks any more or just look at their phones?

What would you suggest we add to our list to make our guests feel at home?

2 ~ Homemade Kraut

Last week, I dropped in to Sonoma Roots on my way home from Napa. I know the owner, Dr. Danielle Schwaderer Kettler, and wanted to see what her wellness shop is all about.

It happened to be Happy & Healthy Hour Tuesday when customers can drop in for B-12 shots. What a score! I added my name to the wait list while I looked around. I came upon a Kraut Source, a fermenting tool you connect to a glass jar to make your own kraut at home. I also bought the recipe book that came with very clear instructions.

Last night I made Golden Kraut which is made with cabbage like traditional kraut but has lots of fresh ginger, turmeric powder, cayenne, scallions and a few other ingredients.

I massaged my kraut like it said in the instructions except I added all the ingredients before doing so – rather than just massaging the cabbage and salt – so I have some yellow fingers today!

The kraut is in my kitchen where it will sit for 7 to 14 days.

I am supposed to check it every couple of days and make sure the moat has water in it. I find stuff like this so fun and interesting!

3 ~ Dodging the Flu

It seems everyone has either the flu or a nasty cold these days. As I am sure you have heard on the news, this is a terrible flu season and flu shots aren’t working much against these dangerous strains.

Since I don’t have to go into an office to work and instead work at home, I can avoid many situations which would put me in contact with lots of people. I make sure to wash my hands frequently and wipe down my cart’s handle with the wipes they provide when I grocery shop.

I read about elderberry recently and its powers for not only over preventing the flu but shortening its duration so I decided to order some. These elderberry crystals are chock full of antioxidants and, according to this article, their dark pigment means they provide natural healing power.

I made a Fab Four Smoothie – mentioned in my last post – using the recommended 4 scoop serving.

I felt a little under the weather earlier this week. I even canceled some plans with a friend, but am happy to report I feel like my old self again. Was it the elderberry crystals? I’m not 100% sure but – knock on wood – I do feel healthy and strong today.

I hope you have also been able to successfully dodge the flu so far!

4 ~ Sun Salutation

I have continued with my daily Sun Salutation series. Some days I am limber and feel strong and other days, I am laughing at my lack of grace and ability on the mat. But who cares, right? I went into this 30-day challenge thinking I would steadily get better each day but that’s not the case. I am old enough to know that few things you set out to learn or improve upon head in a straight line going up. It’s more like a zig zag. But at least I’m getting my blood flowing, stretching a few muscles and some mornings, I get to start my day with a good chuckle!

5 ~ Oprah’s Glasses

Remember the glasses Oprah wore when she received the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2018 Golden Globes earlier this month? A friend posted the brand and style of her glasses and I immediately bought them in three colors.

My readers collection was in desperate need of a purging – why do I keep scratched up glasses? – and an upgrade anyway.

My Oprah readers came in the mail several days later and I love them!

They are a huge, which is fine because so is my face, and a bit heavy but not so much that they bother me. I prefer big glasses on me and was shopping men’s readers before finding these.

Do you prefer big glasses or do you go for something lower profile?

6 ~ Making a Mess….I Mean, Making Almond Milk

I made almond milk the other day and, as my mother would say about my room when I was a teenager, my kitchen looked like a cyclone hit it. Okay, maybe not that bad but it did take me a good hour to clean all the milk splatter and almond chunks from counter tops and appliances. And I must have used 4 or 5 bowls.

I was inspired to make my own almond milk when I thumbed through the recipe book that came with my new Omega 8008  and came upon a recipe for it. I won’t go into the boring details but let’s just say, the Omega 8008 does not actually make almond milk to completion. It does, however, prep the almonds by macerating the living daylights out of them. It took me watching a couple YouTube videos to figure out that I also need a good blender and a nut milk bag. Thankfully I have both.

After soaking about 4 cups of organic raw almonds in water overnight, I drained and rinsed them and put them back in a bowl. You really need to drain and rinse them well because almonds, when soaked, leach out an enzyme inhibitor substance that you don’t want to ingest.

I ran my soaked almonds and some fresh water through my Omega a few times – re-macerating the mash – and the end result was a bowl full of wet mess of mushed up almonds. In batches, I pureed the almond mush with lots of water, in my blender then strained the milk through a nut bag, making sure to really squeeze out as much liquid as possible.

I bottled up my milk in various containers (I love these bottles) and put them in the fridge.

It was so messy, that day I vowed to buy almond milk at the market from now on…until I tried it the next morning. I had low expectations that my homemade milk would either taste the same as store bought or be bland and watery. I was so wrong! It is absolutely delicious and rich and froths up beautifully.

I am a big fan of homemade almond milk now and will continue to make my own. From now on, I will make less of the stuff since it only stays fresh for 3 to 5 days and will streamline the process as to not make such a disaster in the kitchen.

About that 3 to 5 day thing: I did a little research and apparently it is possible to freeze almond milk. I froze mine in an ice tray and, since I only have one of those, some silicone muffin molds placed in a dish. I can use these to make smoothies or melt for normal use.

Have you ever made almond milk?

7 ~ Dry Brushing Again

After a long hiatus, I started dry brushing again. Many years ago, I dry brushed my skin regularly. I even wrote a blog post about it back in 2011.

I do it to exfoliate my skin and get my blood circulating. I don’t dry brush everyday but rather about 2 to 3 times per week. I find it so rejuvenating and uplifting, sort of like the high you get from a good workout.

I dry brush for about 3 minutes, making sure I go in the right directions (my old blog post has that info), then take a nice relaxing bath or hot shower. After, I moisturize my skin with a good quality lotion or oil.

Have you tried dry brushing? What are your thoughts on it?

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Disclosure: Affiliate links have been used in this post. Clicking on them may result in my earning commissions. 

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