How did Photo Blogging Challenge host PJ know it’s my birthday and hence, April really is “my month”!? JK – but it’s a happy coincidence IMO. 🙂

I admit I didn’t know what make your month your month meant, so I asked. Gemini advised that it means “taking ownership of your time, focusing on personal growth, and celebrating your uniqueness, especially during your birthday month. Key actions include setting personal goals, practicing self-care, and celebrating milestones with loved ones. Those are things I do on an on-going basis, although our family has pretty low-key celebrations of milestones.

Here are some ways I made this particular birthday month mine:

1. New Recipe of the Month

For a few years now, I’ve made an effort to try at least one new recipe each month. Why? For one thing, it prevents us getting into a supper rut, which I suspect would lead to much stronger temptation to eat out or order in. The winning recipe this month is Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs. Note: I substituted ground turkey for ground chicken without any problem. I’ve already taken to keeping a 500 ml (pint) mason jar of the mixed but uncooked sauce in the fridge to make beef or chicken stir fry with veggies go a little faster.

A bit of research reveals that most households have 7-15 recipes in rotation for supper, with the average number around 10. At this point, we’ve got almost 30. What about your place?

By trying new recipes, I hope to discover new favourites to further lengthen the list. Sometimes old favourites fall away (for example I’ve stopped making turkey-chili nachos altogether, while chicken schnitzel has been superceded with chicken katsu – except on our youngest’s birthday). On the rare days where I’ve left a blank in my weekly meal plan, having a long list of favourites seems to make it easier to reach agreement when I ask what everyone wants for supper.

Another reason I spend a bit of time trying new recipes is so that I don’t get sucked into the pit of dreading supper prep. It’s one of those jobs that’s never over! Fortunately, other family members lend a helping hand in the kitchen, especially Mr GeoK who does the after supper clean-up every night.

2. Time for Reading (Books)

I am so grateful for my neighbourhood book club. And for the lifelong reading habit instilled by my parents when I was growing up. My reading habit/hobby offers an escape from news doom-scrolling, an excuse to get together with friends for book club and a multitude of conversation topics. I make time to read every night before falling asleep. This month I also set aside the better part of a couple of days to read our next book club book – This Motherless Land by Nikki May. Great pick, and a title I doubt I’d ever have chosen myself. That’s one of my favourite things about book club!

Another way I make time for “reading” is by listening to audiobooks when I work out. Mr GeoK and I enjoy audiobooks anytime we’re driving longer than about half an hour. Mr GeoK listens to a LOT of audiobooks, too. So again, conversation topics!

Here’s a shot of my TBR (to be read) pile earlier this month. The smaller spine at the top of the stack is my Kobo e-reader – my device of choice at bedtime.

3. Happy Birthday to Me

I’ve been thinking about another way of growing salad greens for several months. Because I don’t use pesticides in my outdoor garden, my kale and chard and lettuce are always shared with insect critters and are often very holey. One option I seriously considered is some way of covering those rows. But there are other hungry critters who live in the soil.

Prompted by yet another round of water restrictions in Calgary (we have a failing water main system that transports well over half the city’s potable water) I decided I wanted something very water efficient too. So after doing a bunch of research I ordered a birthday present for myself – a Click and Grow 25. Yes, it’s expensive. I figured out that I’m going to have to use it for at least 2 years before I’ll break even as compared to buying all my produce from my main grocery store.

The Click and Grow 25 comes in a flat pack box. It took me a few hours to put it together, decide where to position it (needs a nearby outlet) and get the app installed and Bluetooth connected. This picture is 15-days after set-up. The largest seedlings were planted two weeks earlier, the smaller ones a week earlier and the other set was just planted. The idea is to do sequential plantings at one week intervals such that the first salad greens are ready to eat by the time you’re ready to plant the sixth set.

I’m going to skip planting salad greens outdoors this year – just onions, carrots and beets. I hope my Click and Grow 25 delivers, and that I don’t regret the outdoor garden decision.

4. Another Birthday Gift

No, it’s not more snow! Snow would have been a gift on repeat every few days this past month. My actual second birthday gift to myself was a proactive physiotherapy appointment. I’m feeling good and have a solid workout routine but figure I’m at a good age to check in with my favourite physiotherapist every 2 to 3 months to see if there are muscles I’m neglecting, balance drills I should be adding, etc.

I came away with a dozen new exercises (mostly core strength and stretching) that take an hour 15 minutes to get through. That’s a big chunk of time on top of what I’m already doing, so I’m still working out how best to fit them all in over a two or three day time span.

My next visit will be much sooner than two or three months, because my physiotherapist quickly detected some compensating techniques I’m using to pretend to myself that a shoulder injury I suffered several years ago is over and done with. Not!

5. Time With Nature

Readers of my Nearby Nature Project blog posts know how much I value time with Nature. This month I went out of my way, several times, to search for Prairie Crocus – a sure sign of spring. I FINALLY found a few hardy blooms the last weekend of April, hiding under fresh snowfall.

Another highlight this month was a morning birding from the shores of Vermilion Lakes just outside the town of Banff. We spotted a couple of American Robins, Common Mergansers, a lone Bonaparte’s Gull, one Red-Necked Grebe, a Bufflehead pair, hundreds of American Coots, a pair of Ring-necked Ducks, several Horned Grebes, Magpies, a Yellow-Rumped Warbler, a Black-capped Chickadee, a pair of American Wigeons, a pair of Canada Geese and a high-flying Osprey. We came away happy with that list and looking forward to getting out on the water soon.

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Now that I’ve shared a handful of ways I made April “my month,” it’s time to hop on over to host PJ’s website to see how other PBC participants rose to the challenge. While you’re there, please consider joining us for the month of May! All you need are 5 photos and a blogging platform (there are several free options). The amount of accompanying text is totally up to you.