Barefoot Shoes: My First Year
Wow, it’s been a year already since I bought my first pair of Xero Barefoot Shoes! And what a year it’s been. I’ve:
- assisted my Dad in his recovery from a broken hip (he’s fully recovered now!) — actually, he broke his hip the day after I got my first pair and I wore them for 48 hours straight in the hospital with him. I was hooked on the shoes from there!
- spent hours outdoors in the gardens sprucing up the yard at the home we were selling.
- spent more hours repainting, cleaning, and purging inside the house.
- helped move 6 people from 2 houses into 1.
as well as, of course, a bit of hiking squeezed in along with my day job that continued during the Pandemic.
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The Results of My Year With Xero Barefoot Shoes
After that first encounter with barefoot shoes , my feet felt so much better that I ordered my second pair of Xeros; the TerraFlex.
- Before barefoot shoes, I had on and off issues with plantar fasciitis. I wear the Xeros almost exclusively now and have had no more fasciitis issues.
- I’ve also struggled with bad knees since I was a kid. Walking/hiking downhill can be punishing to my knees! While I still have bad knees, I have noticed that the pain with downhill hiking is much less than it used to be. I have to wonder if that is due not only to the ‘barefoot’ styling which has made my gait more normal, but also the fact that the shoes weigh so little compared to my former clunky hiking boots.
- After working for several years at a garden center, wearing those clunky boots, I developed problems with ingrown toenails. The hiking boots never fit tight enough in the heel, so as I walked miles and miles through the day, my feet were forever sliding forward and jamming my toes into the toe box. After a year with my Xero barefoot Shoes, ingrown toenails are a thing of the past.
These are just a few pairs of my and my family’s Xero barefoot shoes collection. We all agree these are the most comfortable shoes we’ve ever worn! We all wear them for active adventures as well as at work and in our everyday life. Unexpected Benefit As a Nature Journaler
As a Nature Journaler, I have come to appreciate the super thin Vibram sole on my Xero barefoot Shoes. They allow my feet to feel the terrain almost as well as if I was actually barefoot. So what, you’re thinking?
In my old hiking boots, I was forever tripping over roots, rocks, and other trail trippers. Is there anything more annoying when you’re trying to get a good look at a skittish bird or other animal to sketch them? The sound and sudden movement when you’re tripping is not conducive to stealthy stalking!
Now I can feel what’s under my feet without having to look down all the time. Less tripping — hey, I’m still a bit clumsy!
Xero Shoes: The Company
At the time I’m writing this, Xero barefoot Shoes have more than 26,000 5-star reviews over 97 countries. That speaks volumes.
And, did I mention — they guarantee their Vibram soles for 5000 miles of use!
Head on over to the Xero Shoes website and check them out for yourself.
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Create a Nature Journaling Sit-Spot at Home
Creating a sit-spot at home is not only easy, but also a fun and engaging way to connect with the nature in your own yard or garden.
What is a Sit-Spot?
A sit-spot is a place that you can visit often and at all seasons of the year. It’s a place where you can just relax and ‘be’. It can be a quiet, zen spot or a dynamic and engaging place — or sometimes both. Visiting this spot year ‘round can take you nature journaling practice to new levels.
Nature Journaling in one consistent spot throughout the year, kind of forces you to be more observant. Too often, we become sort of blind to the things that we see every day. You know, like when you pass by that chair in your bedroom that’s filled with clothes — and you just don’t see it anymore?!
Why You Need a Sit-Spot at Home
I believe we can all benefit from having a sit-spot at home. There are several reasons I can think of:
- Life happens. The past year and the pandemic has certainly shown us that the completely unexpected can come upon us at any time! I was fortunate enough to have a couple of good spots in my yard to use.
- The need to care for loved ones. Whether you’re looking after an ill or aging relative or taking care of kids, having a convenient spot to sit and connect with nature is a real life-saver for your mental health. Bonus, if your charges are able to sit with you, it’s good for them also!
- You may become temporarily incapacitated yourself, whether after a surgery or injury.
Having a sit-spot where you are ensures that you have a constant connection with the nature around you, whether you keep a nature journal or not.
Creating Your Own Personal Spot
The patio door leads to my studio desk — making this a perfect place for a ‘sit-spot’! First you need to decide what kind of sit-spot you want to create. Are you most interested in plants? Do you want lots of colorful flowering bushes. What about wildlife? Would you like to attract birds and squirrels to your spot? What about bees and butterflies? Do you want it in a secluded area of your property, or close to windows so that you can nature journal in inclement weather?
Once you’ve answered all of those questions, the fun begins!
If you want to attract birds and squirrels you’ll need:
- Nearby bushes and trees to provide shelter and protection from predators.
- Unless you’re looking to attract just specific birds, you’ll probably want to provide a couple of different types of feeders; one for loose seed and a suet feeder. If you live in an area with hummingbirds, you can also add a liquid hummingbird feeder.
- Having a water supply of some type nearby will encourage the birds and squirrels to hang out in your yard for longer periods of time. It can be just a shallow bowl of water is also a great addition.
My spot for creating the new ‘sit-spot’. It has great ‘bones’, including a bush for small birds to hide from predators. That fire-pit will become a small water-feature, further creating attraction for small birds, butterflies, and bees. Plants for Your New Sit-Spot
If you’re new to gardening, make sure you know a few things about your chosen spot before you go shopping for plants — avoid costly and disappointing results!!
- Know what your plant growing zone is. Check the appropriate map for your area; in the U.S,. in Europe, and in Australia
- Know approximately how many hours of shade and sun your spot gets each day. Pick a relatively sunny day. Go outside once every hour to check — don’t guess! Remember to think about trees when they are in full leaf — it may be sunny in winter, but completely in shade in the spring, summer, and fall. A plant that gets either way too much or way too little sun will never thrive!
- Know if your chosen spot is extra dry, extra wet, or somewhere in between
If you need more help choosing plants, I highly recommend that you visit your local garden center. The staff will be able to help you select the right plants for the spot you’ve chosen. Their expertise is worth its weight in gold and can save you time, money, and headaches down the line.
Now, . . . Sit and Create Your Nature Journal Pages!
Planning, planting, maintaining, and observing through the seasons really helps connect you to your sit-spot in a meaningful way. There’s just something magical about planting and watching it grow and change. Putting fresh feed out for birds and squirrels can also help you make that connection as well.
Creating your very own sit-spot in your yard or garden, even if it’s just a small pot of flowers or a tiny balcony or patio, will give you so many opportunities to Nature Journal from the comfort of your own home.
Follow along with me as I add to my own sit-spot at my new home. I’ll be posting monthly updates in my newsletter. Sign up for my monthly newsletter at the bottom of the page.
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Portable, Disposable Watercolor Palette
Need a smaller, portable, even disposable watercolor palette for sketching in your Nature Journal? Here’s an easy way to create a custom one of your own.
When I’m out and about creating Nature Journal pages, I use a small half-pan watercolor palette that holds 12 colors. It’s portable enough for most field sketches, but sometimes I want something even smaller and easier to balance. So I created this little system for those times.
Creating a Watercolor Pencil Palette: Gather Supplies
Say hello to my easy, peasy and disposable watercolor palette. It’s flat, weighs almost nothing, and clips right to your sketchbook.
Supplies needed to create your own:
- Index cards
- Watercolor pencils
- Binder clip or paper clip
- Access to a laminator (many libraries and copy shops have one)
Watercolor pencils are so versatile! Did you know that you can color with them dry, then use a watercolor brush to pick up paint just like it was a pan watercolor set? That’s how this system works. Choosing artist grade pencils can make a big difference in the intensity of the colors. For that reason, I use Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils.
Premier Watercolor Pencils (Set of 24)Create Your Personal Palette
Just like working with fill-able half-pans, you get to create your own custom palette of colors. Because this is temporary and disposable, you can make as many different palettes as you need!
- Choose the colors you want to take along on your sketching adventure. This might vary from trip to trip depending on season and ecosystem. For instance, if you’re traveling to the beach, you’ll probably want a selection of blues; greens if you’re headed to the mountains.
- When choosing your colors, remember that you can mix them just like pan colors. You don’t need every color that you own! The more colors you choose, the more index cards you’ll need to get enough pigment to be usable.
- Don’t have all the pencil colors you’d like? You can certainly mix the dry colors right on your index card — nothing says that you have to use only pure, 1-pencil color to create your palette! (create an index card with mixed pencil colors)
- Color large swatches of your chosen colors onto your index card. Make sure to really saturate the card with plenty of pigment. I usually keep it to 6 colors plus a strip of black on one index card.
- Leave space between your swatches, otherwise you’ll end up with mud when you begin grabbing your color.
- Take 2 blank index cards, place them back to back and have them laminated. I use 2 back to back to make the mixing palette sturdier. You’ll use this over and over. This becomes your mixing palette. Pro tip: you can usually get more than one card on a sheet of lamination — use all of that space! You can give extras to friends or carry them in more than one sketchbook.
Using Your Portable Palette in the Field
When I use this system, it’s generally because I’m hiking and don’t have a lot of time to sit and paint. This is a great system for standing and sketching. I tend to use this more for creating color swatches on my page and not so much for coloring a whole image, although with a tiny sketch you could certainly use this palette for the entire image!
On the far left is the laminated card-mixing palette. The watercolor cards and mixing palette are clipped to my 4″ X 5″ mixed media sketchbook. Using your binder clip, or even a paperclip, attach your palette and mixing palette to your sketchbook (they might blow away otherwise!). Take your water-brush and grab a bit of your chosen color from the corner of a swatch. Just like in a regular pan palette, your colors will muddy over time — if you use the corners first, there’s less accidental mixing. You can now go straight to your sketch or over to the laminated card to do some mixing — it works just like your half-pan palette!
This disposable watercolor palette system works great for me because I can carry just a tiny sketchbook with everything I need all in my jacket pocket. I also keep one in my glovebox for those unexpected adventures as I go about my day. I hope you’ll give this a try! Let me know what you think in the comments.
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