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I was not in a good place when I started my blog in January 2021. I was struggling with my mental health, overall health, and happiness.

My blog was there for me when I worked through some tough times dealing with my adopted mother, Eileen.

I was a very unhappy person and in a constant state of depression.

I did however have to desire to share my cooking knowledge and life experiences with people the way I was doing on my personal Facebook account.

I had a lot to write about on all kinds of topics. I shared my deepest darkest moments with all of you.

Writing helped me get through the mental and emotional abuse I suffered from for years.

My mother began abusing me when I was nine years old. She used guilt, punishment, manipulation, and sometimes physical abuse.

She was an Oscar award-winning actress. I always say Meryl Streep had nothing on her.

Somehow, last year, I was able to forgive her and my life is completely changed. I am entirely changed both mentally and physically.

I live in a state of peace and comfort these days. I am finally able to be me and no longer a victim. It feels wonderful.

I feel like at this point, as a writer, I don’t have as much to write about. I wrote about all the weird, quirky and many sides of me.

I wrote about my spiritual gifts which a lot of people weren’t ready for. I lost a lot of followers during that series.

My desire to cook has dimmed a bit. I had a lot of culinary tricks, hacks, and knowledge that I wrote about.

Since switching over to a healthier lifestyle my cooking has changed as much as my eating has.

Don’t get me wrong we still eat delicious food with lots of flavor. When I cook I still cook with love, but it’s not that important to

Over the years I shared many of my own recipes. Some readers were kind enough to send me small donations to my blog when they tried one of my recipes.

This made me feel appreciated!

These days I have to be honest with you all, I don’t feel like writing as much. I feel like I am having a hard time thinking of things to write about.

As a general rule, I try to never waste readers time writing about shit no one cares about.

I wonder how many people still actually read my blog? How many people liked it better when I was fucked up?

I have had a loyal group of followers that have supported me, gave me feedback, made me laugh and smile, gave me suggestions, comments, ideas and inspired me to continue writing.

It’s funny how many people tell me when they see me in person who much they love my blog. I am always shocked.

You would never know it on my end since only a handful of people connect with me. Its kind of disappointing to be honest with youZ

Sometimes just a “like”on the blog’s Facebook page would tell me I still have readers out there.

I didn’t start my blog to be a make money operation and to be frank it is expensive to maintain.

This is the first year I questioned if I should renew everything. I decided to give it until then end of this year to see if I felt differently.

I don’t have the time to dedicate myself to writing enough to ask for donations. I feel like I have to really perform whenever someone sends me a donation.

For the rest of this year, I still plan to continue my blog and writing; it just may not be as often as I used to.

When I have something to share, teach , or tell you all, I will. This will keep things fresh for me and get me excited to write again.

I can’t wait to share our garden expansion and our root cellar that we’ve never used for anything but will this year to store our root veggies through next winter.

The Benedict’s that lived in our home for 60 years used our root cellar as they were big gardeners and grew a lot of food.

The tradition will continue and hopefully I can channel Mr. Benedict and have as fruitful of a garden as he once had.

I never want it to seem like I am showing off when I post many of my accomplishments or our big projects as someone suggested to me last summer.

I am just proud as fuck at what can be accomplished and hopefully will inspire someone else.

Through dance, I’ve learned that one of my life’s mission is to teach, inspire and cheer people on. It’s the cheerleader in me! The same as I was all through my school years.

I’ve learned a lot about myself over the last four years. I never in a million years dreamed I would be a sober, happy, healthy, and content person. But here I am.

To those of you who are still with me thank you. I appreciate you, your comments, love, support, and feedback. ♥️

I’ll catch up with you soon.

~julz

It definitely feels, smells, sounds, and looks like March, with the sun shining differently and casting different shadows.

You can smell the earth from the ground and the leaves that have composted over the winter.

Very slowly Spring sidles in.
She steps cautiously, as Winter
isn’t quite done yet.
Maybe there will be one last finale.
She bides her time, not wanting
to steal the show.
She has lifted the sun slightly,
not that you would notice immediately,
but the extra light is almost tangible.
The blossom remains tight in
the bud, almost ready to pop.
The daffodils have followed the
arrival of the hardy snowdrops,
who had little fear of Winter.
They are getting ready for their
grand show in March.
To my delight the birds are returning
their cheerful chortling in unison.
And my heart is feeling lifted,
Almost, as if, I am ready to be born again.
I’m nearing the end of the tunnel ..
I’m bursting with anticipation
for the glorious entrance of Spring ..

C.E. Coombes 🌼 Serendipity Corner

Artist Credit: Jo Grundy

The birds are happily chirping up a storm in the morning. The snow is melting, but more importantly, the rock-hard ice is finally melting.

Many people fell on the ice this winter and a lot of people got hurt. I wore ice cleats on my muck boots for weeks.

Marty fell twice on the ice in the last couple of weeks, thankfully he didn’t get hurt.

The perennial flower seeds I started in mid February are growing! I planted echinacea seeds and most of my herbs on Sunday.

I checked on them today. I was thrilled to see some seeds sprouting already!

The sight of something coming to life and growing is one of my favorite parts of gardening.

I am growing everything from seed this year. I want my garden plants to be as mature as the ones I pick up at the nursery in mid-May.

I am ready to do the work of transplanting to bigger pots when the time comes.

That being said, I am starting my veggie seeds over the weekend instead of on St. Joseph’s Day, March 19 as I always done.

A few veggies will be directly sown in the garden such as peas, green beans, carrots, and beets.

Lettuce, arugula, and spinach will be planted directly in the garden in the next few weeks. How exciting! There is nothing like harvesting your own lettuce for a salad.

This year, I am trying several varieties, not just a basic lettuce mix. We have missed our homegrown daily greens like crazy.

On to another reason why it feels like March, I am completely out of cold weather lunch and dinner ideas. in other words, I am in a cooking rut.

As excited as I get in the fall for comfort food, hearty soups, and stews I am tired of them. I’ve exhausted all of my winter dinner go-to items.

Oh, and while grocery shopping on Saturday, I was shocked to see corned beef for $17.90 a pound in the store!

Seriously, what the actual fuck? I’ll make just potatoes and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day before I spend that kind of money on corned beef!

That’s it for now guys, talk to you soon! 🙂

I celebrated my 29th birthday for 15 years. I had to up it a bit as my kids grew up. Lol.

I celebrated my 29th birthday 30 years ago! Holy shit, time goes by fast! Yikes!

At least this year, I feel as close to 29 as I have for two decades; honestly, I do. It’s a wonderful thing!

I didn’t want to go anywhere today. I thought I did for a few minutes, but then I remembered I don’t enjoy doing peopley things anymore.

So, that was the end of that fast lived idea. I also decided I didn’t want to cook, clean, do laundry, empty the dishwasher, or anything else for that matter.

I did plant some more perennial seeds. Today, I sowed and planted some echinacea seeds I saved from my flowers last year.

All of the flower heads were stored outside in a covered storage area. I learned that these type of seeds need to experience winter before they can be planted.

As for birthday food, I asked Marty to make me a soft French omelet with swiss cheese for breakfast. He makes good omelets, just the way I like them.

I ate some leftover yellow slurpy noodles for lunch and I asked for a prime rib dinner for dinner.

No, I didn’t expect Marty to make it.

Henry’s butcher shop sells prime rib dinners on Friday nights for $19 each—a bargain for sure.

The meal also comes with loaded mashed potatoes and perfectly cooked green beans.

We had enjoyed the prime rib dinner before, so I knew that it was going to be my birthday dinner. Easy, peasy, and delicious.

It was delicious and made with love. I only ate half of my prime rib and green beans. I didn’t touch my potatoes since the prime rib was what I was after.

To me, a great meal at a great price and supporting another small business is a win-win.

Being able to enjoy it at home was fucking priceless.

I reflected on 58 and concluded that, unlike 57, it was an excellent year for me—a huge transformative year.

I hope the skies will clear at some point so I can see the planetary alignment.

It’s a rare occurrence, and it feels special that it’s happening on my birthday!

Both of my sons and Aja texted me before 7:30 am. Today, is Aja’s birthday too! I love that we share our special day together. 🥰

It meant a lot to me that they reached out early in the morning. It made me feel special, the first thing off the bat!

That’s what is important to me these days. My family. My husband. My girls. My home. And me, of course! Which took almost 58 years to figure out.

Happy Friday, friends. Enjoy your weekend!

While resting in bed this morning, I shot several short videos of the girls wrestling.

I’m still teaching myself how to make better content, this was today’s fun experimental reel.

February is almost over. Marty’s birthday was 10 days ago, and like every year, he has gotten sick—every single year since he was a child.

Inevitably, in some years, I catch whatever bug he picked up. This is one of those years. Ugh.

So, even though I eat healthy and take supplements such as vitamin C and zinc to boost my immune system, I have been under the weather since Friday.

Its not a whopper of a cold or anything horrible like that, its just a cough with a small amount of congestion.

I’ve been listening to my body since my lungs are nothing to fool around with since being diagnosed with lung disease 2 years ago.

I’ve been getting plenty of rest and staying hydrated to the point of being annoying since I have to pee so often, and I’ve been taking it easy in general.

When our bodies are sick, and we listen to them, a beautiful thing happens when we slow down: We appreciate even the most minor things.

We sleep with our window open every night all winter long. The fresh air is great and we both love to sleep in a cold room.

Our bedroom gets super hot in the middle of the night because Nelly and Roxy are like sleeping with two hot water bottles.

In the last few days, I’ve noticed the birds are chirping up a storm again in the mornings. This makes me so glad!

Many people here have posted photos of returned robins, one of the first indications that spring is just around the corner. Hurray!!

We’ve had a beautiful winter but now is when cabin fever turns into spring fever for many people.

We still have March to contend with which feels like the longest month of the year to me.

I picked up a small bouquet of flowers at Trader Joe’s on Friday. It was the best $6.99 I spent that day.

There is just something special about a vase of fresh flowers to brighten things up and make me smile whenever I look at it.

I was careful not to overdue anything, but over the weekend, I set up my seed starting area in our bathroom, the warmest and sunniest room in the house.

The door can be closed, and the hot water bottles can’t bother the seedlings.

Yesterday, I planted my first sets of perennial flower seeds. It’s too early to start vegetable seeds, but getting a good jump start on growing flowers makes sense since we have such a short growing season.

After watching and learning so much from a number of YouTube channels, it felt great to actually start planting seeds.

This year, I am growing everything from seed. I carefully chose my seeds online from many farmers that sell smaller quality of seeds instead of the store bought varieties.

I have my seeds organized and made my own garden journal since I couldn’t find one that I was looking for.

I began writing notes yesterday when I planted my seeds. This is the perfect thing to keep me busy while I am getting over this sick thing.

I hope I am back to 100% by Wednesday for dance or more importantly ny Friday which is my and my future daughter-in-law Aja’s birthday as well.

I love that we share our birthdays together!

Have a great week and I’ll catch up with you soon. ♥️

Today, I posted my first VT Spätzle recipe reel on social media ! I’m happy how it came out both the dish and the reel.

Such a quick and easy one pan dish great as a side dish, lunch, or add a grilled protein and you have a delicious dinner.

1 12 oz package of Vermont Spätzle Company spätzle
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes
4 oz feta cheese or 1/2 a block
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 pinch red pepper flakes *optional
Kosher salt & pepper to taste
1 handful fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 9 inch baking dish, add cherry tomatoes to the dish. Next, place feta cheese in the middle of the tomatoes.

Drizzle with olive oil then season with crushed red pepper, kosher salt, and pepper to taste.

Make for 30 minutes. Remove dish from the oven and add the garlic and basil. Mix well into the tomatoes and feta cheese.

Turn oven to 450 degrees and bake for 10 minutes. Remove baking dish from the oven and serve. Enjoy! Makes 2-3 servings.

I’ve tried many times to bring herbs inside before frost hits them. I usually manage to keep them alive until Thanksgiving, when they die.

This year was different now that I have more plants. I picked up a basil plant in the fall for $2.99 instead of a package for $2.99.

It needs to be watered every day or it gets droopy. That’s when it hit me. I was watering my herbs when I watered my house plants.

All of my indoor plants besides a spider plant are some form of succulents which don’t need to be watered as much as regular plants.

Ah, so that’s why my herbs dried up and died. I make sure that all of my herbs are watered if it hadn’t rained , why in hell did I think I didn’t have to water them indoors? 🤓

It’s mid February and my rosemary and sage are still alive! Yay!

This makes me so happy and at the same time like a big dummy it took me this long to figure out.

My huge rosemary I got from a friend died last winter. I kept moving it around because it was loosing needles but did I think to water it more?

No, I didn’t. Duh, Julz. That is all.

When I lost 65% of my hair a year and a half ago from stress due to an illness I panicked. Who wouldn’t right?

My hair began falling out in August 2023-April 2024. It was terrifying watching brush and handfuls of my hair coming out several times a day

Thank God I had a lot of thick hair to start with. I was able to camouflage bald spots with brush in root cover. Yea, I’m good with shit like that.

Anyway, I began praying every day to relieve my worry about my hair. When it stopped falling out, it immediately started growing back.

Everyday, including today I give that worry away. Manifesting and positive thinking does work to contrary belief.

With my new virgin hair, I decided that I wanted to take care of this hair and not fuck it up like the hair that still existed.

Coloring my hair black was no longer an option. I began using a shampoo and conditioning natural dye that is gentle on my hair.

The color of my new hair is my natural hair color. The old black shit wouldn’t go away. There was no way on earth I was going to strip my hair so I lived with it.

I didn’t know why I could never be happy. I kept on wondering. My hair was growing back fast and thick, as I had prayed for, but now I wanted the black gone.

I noticed in photos back in the fall my dark hair and makeup were too harsh for my now thin face and body or was it more than just that?

I went to Sephora and asked for help switching to brown eyeliner, mascara, and a lighter eyebrow pencil.

The difference was softer, matching my now softer heart and laid-back calmness. But my black hair, which I loved, was now a big no-no.

Yesterday, I used a gentle color remover and some clarifying shampoo to try to get my hair back to my natural color. This was a huge nail biter for me.

To my surprise, after I rinsed out the color remover and used the clarifying shampoo on the lower half of my hair several times, my hair was back to my natural color!

I danced around the house and grabbed my phone to take some photos before the sun set behind the mountain.

I snapped photos in my complete natural state trying to not be too self conscious. I knew I wanted to write about this journey.

I went through a gigantic shift spiritually and mentally. My body went through another transformation back to my healthy weight and bmi.

Now, my hair is natural again, too. It’s so much softer and looks natural—it should be, as it is the color I was born with.

These two old Easter photos were taken the same day inside and outside showing my natural hair color

Many people haven’t seen my natural color ever since I began using Sun-In on my hair in high school.

It’s very fitting because in these photos was before my life changed when I was nine years old when my mother Eileen turned on me.

I am not the same person I was a year ago when I forgave Eileen. My mind and heart have opened again.

I feel the same joy, happiness, contentment, and love I felt before the abuse began. It’s a beautiful feeling.

Looking in the mirror and photos my appearance was too harsh for me now. I was no longer an angry, disappointed, hurt victim shrouded in all black.

I think in a way I was grieving how life felt to me before everything changed. These were some very profound feelings I carried around with me for decades

Don’t get me wrong I still love black clothing that will never change because of the pure classic look they give. After all, black goes with everything.

This post goes above and beyond my change in hair color, it’s just another positive step on my spiritual journey in this lifetime.

I was given the task of making a video to collaborate with The Barrows House restaurant located in Dorset, VT.

The Barrows House will be using our spätzle in one of chef Zach’s creations, lobster spätzle mac and cheese!

I am proud of how it came out! Not bad for someone with zero tech skills or making videos before this year.

Things are starting to click and I am learning more with every bit of content I make.

I hope you like it!

We’ve been having the most beautiful winter this year, with snow on the ground since Christmas time.

The small amount daily snow that we have been receiving keeps the snow white and dream like.

The other day, I had a craving for shepherd’s pie—technically, a cottage pie since I was using ground beef instead of lamb. I am not a lamb person because I don’t like the flavor.

I keep my recipe simple by browning the ground beef, adding minced onions, garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, a slight touch of tomato paste, beef broth, and peas.

My mashed potatoes are simple and basic. I always add one can of creamed corn to top the beef mixture to add moisture and additional corn as well.

After I top the corn with the mash, I grab a fork and make a design. This design reminded me of an Irish sweater!

The photo I took of the sweater pie I took on our Aga stove made me feel really Irish! I am very Irish, almost 80%, so it felt very fitting.

It was the perfect meal on a cold and snowy day. I served it was short rib gravy that Sam insisted I freeze from our Christmas dinner.

Oh, how I thanked him! It was perfect! I always make a gravy to serve with my cottage pie so this saved me a big step!

I never had shepherd’s or cottage pie growing up in New Jersey. Was it just my family Jersey friends or is it a New England?

The funny thing about me making shepherd’s pie for dinner was that Noah made one the night before! He must have been channeling me or our ancestors. 😂

My adopted mother Eileen’s family came from Ireland but we never had shepherd’s or cottage pie.

She rubbed it in my face every St. Patrick’s Day telling me I was allowed to be Irish on St. Paddy’s Day because everyone was. Thanks, mom.

This was what growing up as an adopted person hurt the most. I hated not knowing where the fuck I came from.

I guess since I didn’t find out I was Irish until I was 48 years old, I didn’t think I belonged in Irish pubs so I never saw shepherd’s pie on a menu.

Even though I don’t drink anymore I still want to visit Irish pubs. It’s more of the feeling and charm than the alcohol itself to me. I’d love to go to Ireland one day as well.

By the way, I forgot to take photos of my plate and my cottage pie. I was hungry, and so looking forward to eating it that I scoffed it right down.

Before I start writing my blog posts, I usually do some research. When I looked at images of Irish sweaters, I hit the nail on the head, thinking my pie design looked like one of the traditional Aran stitches.

My birthday is at the end of the month. Don’t tell Marty I told you this, but I really want a traditional Irish sweater for my birthday.

It’s a personal thing to pick out the design choices since they can mean different things. I do love the design the model below is wearing though. 😉

It is so weird to me asking for a specific gift. For so many years, I could never think of anything I wanted or deserved (mental illness thinking) for a gift.

I didn’t want anyone to spend money on me let alone something I didn’t need. I would always say I don’t need anything when asked what I wanted for Christmas or birthdays.

My mother Eileen took this as face value and listened to what I said and would remind what I told her, I didn’t need anything. A piece of gum would have been better than nothing.

I had a seriously warped sense of my self-worth and worthiness to others. Thank goodness I’ve worked through that bullshit!

That’s water under the bridge now, and even though I have forgiven Eileen, those painful memories pop up.

I acknowledge them, feel them, and let them go.

It’s healthy for me to do this because it makes the forgiveness continue to make me feel free from what those memories used to do to me.

I’m unsure if anyone else will see an Irish sweater woven into my cottage pie, but I do. Being Irish has slowly woven itself into my life, and I love it!

For the record, the cottage pie was delicious and delivered exactly what I was craving and feeling, a comforting meal that made me feel like I was wrapped up in an Irish sweater. ☘️