The vitamin cure...

We all know our immune system is challenged during fall...so what's your cure? Mine is...fruits...and more fruits....

Been drinking kiwi smoothie all week long, I don't know how my life was before I've discovered these smoothies...and I'm glad M is asking me in the morning..."are you making a smoothie?". He always makes sure I have necessary ingredients like bananas, and this week...kiwis. And also carrots. I was insanely craving for carrot juice; and I like to listen to my body...it knows better than me what I need at a certain moment...
I've re-started teaching... English, French and I'll be teaching Romanian also...

 

so all in all...I am quite busy this fall...but am not complaining, I like having a full life!
Above that all, I am preparing baby steps towards my goal for eco living, and my dream farm, and I've been training for it this Saturday:

 ...this in not the actual farm, of course, but my friend Tunde's little garden behind her new house makes a good practice ground. We took Beby with us to help us dig holes...much on grass...etc.. and decided to clean up her garden, just for training...and planting two trees. It was awesome, we've been working for about 3 hours with two small brakes, but it gave me that necessary energy to last for a week. It's really strange how working with nature can give you so much energy, even though the work isn't easy; but while working in the office your brain gets drained-out of power...

 I have to admit I like it, I love it in fact, and I can do this for hours. Mind me, I'm not a city girl..I've been doing this kind of work since infancy, until I came to Timisoara, and started working here; but I've always worked my garden back home at Racasdia. Since my home there is empty now, I've decided to transform part of my huge garden into an orchard, and I've been proudly presenting my first steps here.

 Now I intend to work harder into becoming that for which I truly believe I was destined to be: a farmer, since my connection with nature is palpable for me, and probably for some of the people that know me better. I know working a small garden, or even planting ten trees is far from some big project; but I find it challenging to start from the bottom and go up step by step, working my way with my own two hands.

  So, besides eating yummy raw food, there should also be some activity that is healthy and lifts your spirit. It doesn't have to be working in the garden like me, although it is recommended to at least plant something once in a while (the satisfaction of watching it grow is unmeasurable!), but is should be something that makes you truly happy, and it should be outdoors; basking in the sun, absorbing all those good autumn sun rays.

Going back to smoothies, I've tried something new: banana+ kiwi + pommegranate:

and it was great; I just have to admit that I didn't like the color of it...I mean I like my smoothies to be vibrant, and this was just not it...so I'll be more careful when choosing ingredients for my special drinks...It proves once more that you have to experiment until you find the combinations that go for you and your taste buds, and your eyes also!
I've also received a lot of quinces...I'll have to try one in a smoothie...just have to let them ripe a little more...

In another order of ideas, I've been using some special detergent for the past week:

...soap nuts: they clean clothes exceptionally well, surprisingly well in fact!

..this is the best way of showing being eco-friendly can be cheap and interesting....as this bag of 1 kilo of nuts will last for at least 3 months, and it was way cheaper then conventional detergent. I just have to buy some lavender essence to use as a conditioner; in order to make clothes smell good. I've been using a little bit of vinegar and the clothes smell fresh, but I like them to have a little bit of flowery- aroma. But I wholly recommend this detergent. For Romanians, we can buy these nuts here. 
And here's how they look like:

I truly recommend them to anyone who has to wash clothes that are moderately dirty, but I have to say I've washed M's clothes that he uses in his mechanic shop...and they turned out pretty clean (as clean as they can get, from vaseline, and diesel, and all kinds of oils...), so I'm really satisfied with the result. I don't appreciate the hard smells of chemicals on my clothes, so that's a plus also, I've given the alternative to conditioner, and black clothing will be black longer with a little bit of vinegar, so there you have it: eco solution, good result, nice smell, longer lasting colors and all in all: cheap alternative!

So what would be our mantra further on?

Eat healthy,  living foods, bask in the sun, work the earth with your own hands, try to be friendlier with our water resources, and above all, respect life!