Rhythm

What makes you overhungry?

Rhythm Life in Turkey,
Montalut Daily Rhythm

For the first time ever she was not happy to see us. She’d already bargained for another night at the beach with her Aunt and we said yes. We dropped by to see her just the same, and she didn’t even want to go near us for fear we’d take her home! πŸ€Έβ€β™€οΈ

The local beach culture here in Turkey is very different from the PH. The water is only warm in the summer, so beach towns get packed in June-July-August. Young and old (it’s normal to be past 70 in a bikini here, yay!) brave the midday sun complete with their beach gear: foldable chairs and tables, towels, mats and coolers. Often they live in the city and stay in their summer houses at the beach three months a year.

The summer house culture concentrates summer energy into three months. Maybe for seasoned locals, it’s just how life is–activities change every season, and it’s actually a beautiful thing. Our daughter, on the other hand, has been beach-hungry since we moved to Turkey. Swimming was an everyday activity in the tropics, so she gets overeager or β€œgigil” for any moment to swim.

πŸ’™ On Blue Day, do a mental check of what you’re overeager for. What do you crave so much that you’ll pack tons of it, maybe even hoard it? What can you do to release that hunger, to tune into what is, what changes, and flow with what comes, as it comes?

What expertise lets you serve at your highest capacity and joy?

Rhythm
Montalut Daily Rhythm

Congratulations my love @korayerimez on finally claiming your Food Engineering diploma, over two decades later! It was wonderful visiting Ege Üniversitesi with you and seeing you light up like a college schoolboy, remembering the stories that led you to being our beloved crazy Koray. Great way to do a full circle on our Turkey journey and set the tone for the next great adventure ahead of us.

Here’s to using your expertise to serve others in your highest capacity and joy.

πŸ’š Onwards and upwards!

Who thought destemming raisins could be so satisfying? 🫐

Rhythm Food
Montalut Daily Rhythm

Annem (mother in Turkish) likes to give us clothbags full of homemade dried fruits and leaves. Once she gave us apples she harvested from her garden and dried over the fireplace–these lasted well over a year back home in Manila. @korayerimez says keeping them in breathable bags lets them last longer.

Today I took out the raisin bag and went about removing dried stems. There’s something about getting busy with our #hands, touching something that has passed through other hands as well. It’s calming and grounding, like I’m shaking hands with old #wisdom. Tradition. Storebought #raisins never have these stems.

On White Day Sunday, do something traditional, artisanal, handmade. Get rooted and touch something that’s been passed on to you with love and tenderness.🀍

What makes you smile from ear to ear?

Rhythm
Montalut Daily Rhythm

On our dede (grandfather)’s 83rd birthday we all went to his happy place, Ikea. When we got to the kitchen section, it was @korayerimez who was like a kid in a toy store. Koray’s the cook in our family and his eyes lit up every time he picked up a new must-have kitchen tool. Here he is smiling ear to ear next to copper pans.🀩

On Blue Day, we’re invited to do what nourishes us, mind, body and soul. Having a happy place that brings so much joy is a blessing. Imagine what life would be like if this happy place was home? πŸ’™

Time to touch grass!

Rhythm
Montalut Daily Rhythm

25°C weather is here and today was extra busy at the neighborhood park. Looking forward to sunny spring days to touch grass more often again and tap into grounding energy.🌿

I’m an ideas πŸ’‘ person by default, airy and flying from one shiny new thing to the next. Green Day is my polar opposite: staying grounded in the concrete and practical, servicing. In my Sun years (30s) I started feeling an impulse to build a home and more recently, life as a mother, has gotten me embracing green energy more. I like predictable and steady, what parenting circles would call rhythm.

On this Green Day, may you find your bit of nature, calm and balance.πŸ’š

Our first attempt at Mrs. Fields style cookies!

Rhythm Food

Fudgy, chocolatey cookies are not easy to find here so we did the next best thing–we made it ourselves.πŸͺ They ended up more like Chewy Chips Ahoy (still so yummm). Koray says brown sugar in Turkey is made with beet molasses, which give a weaker flavor, so we got creative and added grape molasses.πŸ™ƒ

Yellow Day is about creativity, and it comes even in everyday things like adapting a cookie recipe.πŸ’›

Just in case you want to DIY Chewy Chips Ahoy, here’s the recipe (we added 1/3 cup grape molasses).

Do you See fun and joy?

Rhythm
Montalut Daily Rhythm

Pink is such a happy color. It says princess, unicorn, rainbow (even if it’s not in the rainbow!). Cherry blossoms are most wonderfully pink.🌸

πŸ’“Pink Days are days of vision and seeing, and what better way to truly See life than through fun and joy?

Rhythm: Colors of the Day

Rhythm

Daily photographs for inspiration based on the color of the day:

🀍 White Sundays – Discover Yourself

πŸ’œ Purple Mondays – Empower

❀ Red Tuesdays – Reflect

πŸ’› Yellow Wednesdays – Create

🧑 Orange Thursdays – Connect

πŸ’š Green Fridays – Serve others with love

πŸ’™ Blue Saturdays – Embrace Nature and Body

πŸ’™ It’s confused-weather time of the year again.

Rhythm
Montalut Daily Rhythm

Rainy, sunny, windy, cold, warm.

Autumn lasted less than a month. We’ve been back in Izmir for less than 3 weeks and we were still wearing summer pajamas last week! Now winter is here and it’s definitely not the most wonderful time of the year for tropical girl me.πŸ₯ΆπŸ₯ΆπŸ₯Ά

To my friends who love winter, how do you keep warm and fuzzy when all around is frigid?🧣πŸ§₯πŸ”₯