It has been a scary year in many regards. I am recovering from a hip replacement and in May 2009 was diagnosed with breast cancer. My life is forever changed with these events. The hip replacement brought me less pain but many more restrictions. I am a free spirit who learned that yes some rules need to be obeyed and followed and my body cannot or probably should not have done some of the things it did or does. I am learning to garden in a smarter way, a bit more body friendly. At times I forget and do things that are not advised but am working hard to make sure my movements do not jeopardize my hip health. The breast cancer has been very hard to accept, but am now on a mission to learn all I can so that I can live live life to its fullest and learn all I can about how this disease will and does affect my everyday life. My treatment begins this week and I am ready but a little nervous about how many and what SE (side effects) I will have. My garden hobby will help me work with this and thru this. Nutrition is a huge part of how cancer treatment affects our bodies and I hope to be able to use the garden to help my health in many ways. It will involve changing some of the things I love to make and consume but with a little trial and error and imagination I am sure I can make it work. One of my big projects is to make more fruilt drinks and less wine. I love to make and drink my wines but have learned that alcohol and the particular kind of cancer I have are not a good mix. I will still make the wines but not as many and will put my efforts towards fruit juices, concentrates that I can use in smoothies, yougurts, and tea. Yesterday we picked sweet cherries for a friends and made a yummy pie with whole grain crust that included flax seeds, it is good. We also froze many whole pits and all. We use tham as ice cubes in drinks, they flavor the drink and then you eat them after they are very good especially in winter when fresh local fruit is no where to be found. The strawberries are plentiful this year and have many in the freezer, canned and jams. Enough for now time to get soem housework done, my walk in and work in the garden.