When you feel uptight or upset, and know that you just need to relax, a very simple and quick way to do this is to sip some green tea. It is an herbal tea, so there is no caffeine to get you revved up. It contains L-Thanine, which is a chemical that actually helps to relieve anger.

Take your nice cup of tea to your favorite spot to sit, possibly a knotted hammock chair.  Sit carefully, you don’t need a burn, then sip slowly, just feeling yourself calming down and relaxing immediately. Tell yourself you will at least sit here until your tea cup is empty, and longer, if possible. Now, give yourself a pat for taking care of you!

Why I waited until now to finish my flower garden, I do not know? I started the season off early, clearing out old perennials, weeding, and getting ready for mulch.

Then…well, I am not sure what to blame it on. Maybe the weather? But, here, I am, weeding again! Yuk! The weeds are “thick as theives” too. Then, I will be mulching immediately this time! I hope I learned a lessson and do not repeat this next year. Later, this evening, as I lay resting in my Mayan hammock, exhausted, no doubt, I am going to write this is my garden journal. I just keep practicing at this!

I wish all those wonderful fathers out there a happy Father’s Day! I wish you a day of love and respect from your children. There’s something money can’t buy!

Also, I wish you all,  a day of rest and being able to spend time doing whatever you love to do, with the special people in your life. And, lastly, maybe you are lucky enough to even receive a wonderful gift, such as a rope hammock, to enjoy all summer!

My family has five hammock chairs around our big maple tree. We sit in there, a bit hidden, under the shelter of the branches. We love our special family time spent here. It’s shady and cool in the heat of the summer too!

Yesterday morning I saw that one of the branches was laying on the ground. Did it even storm? No! It must just be too heavy from the rain, and the long branch couldn’t hold itself up any more. Not a complete tragedy, of course, as we still have privacy in the backyard. But we will miss that full branch! Thank God for our hammock chair hideout!

Today was just a perfect day for me! I knew the weather was going to be wonderful today, so I rolled out of bed at 6 am for a great five mile run. Then I spent a lot of time outdoors, honestly, just sunbathing in my rope hammock, chatting with my best, but far away, friend on the phone.

This evening ended with an outdoor dinner with our fun friends. Now, I am just hanging on my patio, counting all my blessings!

I cannot believe it! My little boy is graduating tonight! It seems as if I just put him on the school bus for kindergarten, and I blinked! Oh, how bittersweet it is when they grow up.

You are so proud of them and happy for them, yet you miss them and the past that is gone. It seems like yesterday that I was snuggling with him in our Brazilian hammock, reading him his favorite stories.

I am still missing my little buddy, Bandit, who went to Heaven last month, to wait for us. I still forget and expect him to come and greet me when I walk in…then the reality quickly sets in.

I came across this picture today and wanted to share a memory of him, knowing my fellow dog lovers would understand. He enjoyed laying in this hammock chair, with his blanket, just swinging from its hammock chair stand in the corner.

Here again to talk about relaxing! Of course, I will start out by saying that an obvious way to relax is to plop down in a hammock and take a nap. But there are also hammock chairs, which are just as cozy, and work better in certain situations.

For example, you live in an apartment, have no  yard, but you do have a balcony, and love being outside. Hang a hammock chair out there! You will love yourself for it!

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday that occurs on the final Monday of May every year.It is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War.

By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service. As we honor we these people today, we can be grateful for the freedom that we have because these brave people gave their lives for it. Of course, this day typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, so I was celebrating this afternoon with my patriotic Bliss Hammocks hammock!

I am a new blogger on The Hammock Gazette. I call myself the Queen of Relaxation because, well, I’m good at it!

From time to time, I will be sharing with you, ways to relax and to help you enjoy the quality moments we can easily overlook in the day to day “busy-ness” of our lives.  Oh, and did I mention that I am, absolutely, a hammock lover?