maple syrup!

It's been so long since I posted anything I thought I better do it just to make sure I still remember how. I'm excited about making maple syrup. We have an old oil tank we removed from a friend's place who got a newer model, that we use for our large surface area wood-stove, so we can do a few trays at once.

It's not the most beautiful set-up I've ever seen but it works fine! I've already got a few jars and we've had some ideal maple-sap weather: cold nights and warm days so more to come!

Healing for your Body and Soul with Mariel Camilleri

Here are the contents of my new brochure, which I had printed up this week to hand out at my local Inglewood Farmer's market, where I give chair massage therapy for $1/minute every Wednesday afternoon. I already have attracted several new wonderful clients to come see me for a full treatment at Serendipity. Even better, a few of those people have also referred new clients to me! I am so grateful for those people who rave to others about the great healing work I do for them.

Massage Therapy and
Lifestyle Coaching with
Mariel Camilleri
Serendipity Retreat
& Healing Centre
905-838-5838

Do you suffer
from any of these
stress symptoms?

• Tension headaches or migraines
• Cardiovascular disorders
• Allergies, sinus problems
• Back pain, sciatica
• Insomnia, sleep disorders
• Constipation, digestive problems
• Aching neck and shoulders
• Foot pain, tight legs and hips
• Poor circulation, cold extremities
• Arthritis, chronic joint pain
• Tight chest, shortness of breath
• Feeling irritable, frustrated, restless
• Negative self-talk; negative thoughts
• Feelings of anxiety; impending doom
• Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
• Decreased productivity

Massage therapy can also help you heal faster from a wide range of sports injuries, accidents, and chronic aches and pains.

We can work together to treat your symptoms. If you choose to, we can also address the underlying causes of stress in your life.

Massage therapy and Lifestyle Coaching with Mariel Camilleri can help you!

• Reduce your stress symptoms.
• Treat a wide range of physical ailments and emotional difficulties.
• Help you sleep better and wake up feeling more refreshed and enthused.
• Give you a greater sense of well being and vitality.
• Help you clarify your priorities, so you focus your life energy on what is most important to you.
• Support you in creating a more fulfilling and satisfying life.

Serendipity Healing Prices:
30 minutes massage: $50
45 minutes massage: $65
60 minutes massage: $80
75 minutes massage: $95
90 minutes massage: $110

Hot Stone massage therapy:
Add $15 to above time prices

Herbal foot cleanse (with massage)
Add $10 to above time prices

Thai-style yoga massage: $150
(2 hours, includes soothing herbal foot soak. Wear loose light clothing)

Herbal body wraps (includes full body massage) cleansing clays, Dead Sea salts, purifying botanicals, natural essential oils and organic herbs 2 hours $190

Personal Life coaching $80/hour
Couples coaching $120/hour
Corporate coaching $150/hour

All services are subject to HST (currently 13%)

About Mariel Camilleri, BSc RMT MSA

Mariel Camilleri has practiced as a Registered Massage Therapist since 1981. She believes in and lives the philosophy of continuous self-improvement and has studied many other body-mind modalities to develop her own unique approach to health and wellness.

Mariel can treat your symptoms of stress, and also help you address the underlying causes of your stress: unfulfilling career, being unclear on your goals, not managing your time well to achieve important priorities, not communicating effectively with important others in your life. Making different life choices may be your best route to reducing stress. You can achieve a new perspective on your life. You will gain more clarity in our beautiful relaxing ambiance!

In addition to traditional massage therapy, Mariel utilizes: Thai-style yoga massage, postural integration (deep tissue) bodywork, Reiki, reflexology, Gestalt therapy, Hakomi body-centered psychotherapy, cathartic breath-work, and many goal-setting and visualization techniques to enable you to think and thus act more effectively, to create the life you want.

Mariel completed her Bachelor of Science (’82) at U of Toronto, and her Masters degree (’96) in organization development and personnel psychology at Central Michigan U. She has taught time and priority management as well as goal-setting techniques for individuals and businesses. She can help you to determine what actions you need to take, to create better results both at work and at home.

Serendipity Healing Retreats

Mariel practices from Serendipity Farm in Caledon, a beautiful 23-acre homestead, where she and her partner keep laying hens and other animals, and grow organic food. They offer B&B and residential retreat experiences, with healthy home-cooked meals, for individuals, couples, and small groups who want to have a nature experience in the country, close to the city. Serendipity has a therapeutic Far Infrared sauna, art supplies, an extensive library, forested walking trails on site and nearby, and a relaxing space for you to connect with yourself.

To book your appointment or stay, please call Mariel at 905-838-5838 or email www.marielcamilleri.com

My New logo for Serendipity Healing Centre

When I moved on from Mysthaven, I needed a new logo for my new space. I considered using my old APEX logo but decided that came from my days of trying to look "corporate" which is not who I really am. Instead I went back to a logo done for me by artist Allan McLay back in 1984. That was before I incorporated APEX, when I described my work as BodyMind Integration. It still speaks to me about who I am and what I do with people better than anything else. The original art was adapted for a new look on my web site Marielcamilleri.com and now I am finally getting around to creating a brochure to promote myself and my personal services, something I have not done for almost 15 years!

Savory zucchini pudding cake

This is the time of year when most vegetable gardeners have (giant, if you don't catch them in time) zucchini coming out the yin yang ... last week I did a sweet zucchini cake ... it was apparently a success since my partner managed to consume most of it in one day! So today's experiment is to create something savory that makes a nice appetizer using one of the giant zucchini we did not pick while it was young. My partner likes the pudding cake consistency, so I opted to use a higher proportion of zucchini to flour than what I found in other people's recipes, and balanced that by adding oats to absorb the extra liquid. Here's what I did.

Let this mixture sit for an hour or so, to let the oats absorb liquid:
5 cups zucchini, shredded
2 cups large flake oats
1 minced, sauteéd onion and 4 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon fresh chopped basil
1 Tablespoon fresh chopped oregano
1 Teaspoon salt
1.5 cups olive oil
2/3 cup shredded old cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped dried tomatoes (I still had some I dehydrated from last year's tomato crop)

in a separate bowl, mix:
3 cups flour (I used organic spelt)
3 Teaspoons baking powder (or half soda and half powder but I was out of baking soda)

6 eggs, beaten

Fold eggs into flour, then fold in zucchini mix.

Pour mixture into baking dishes (I used two 9"x12" Corningware cake pans) that have been greased and floured. Actually, I use olive oil and cornmeal for an extra texture sensation. Bake for about an hour at 350º ... when fork comes out clean it is done.

more Serendipity photos

Innovative building techniques using straw bale construction to transform a grain silo into a 3-bedroom retreat space with an art studio workshop downstairs. Designed and built by Peer Haagensen and recently given the stamp of approval by the Town and a structural engineer.

summertime, and the living is easy...

My darling Peer,
enjoying the view
of our garden from the porch.

Enjoying summertime outdoors...

the happy couple at home

My New Massage Therapy space at Serendipity

I love my new healing environment. The energy here is so conducive to your relaxation!

APEX logo: should I resurrect it?

My office, the upstairs of the "Garden House"

With windows on three sides, this 100ft2 space is just perfect for me, sunny and toasty warm with the wood stove downstairs and the stovepipe beside me. This is the first time in my almost 30 years of being self-employed, working from my home, that I had a separate building to go to. It makes a huge difference! We are off the grid, so I don't waste power; instead of having my computer on all the time like I used to, it gets shut down unless I am on it. So I spend a lot less time on it. Amazing life still goes on when I don't read email 20 times daily. But now, not only I have to power up the machine, I have to put on my snow boots and walk 100ft. to my healing centre across the garden. So for the first time, I have have a sense of "going to work" or "going home from work". When I lived in the mansion of Mysthaven the distance down the hall from my kitchen to my office was not much less than the distance now to my garden house, but it was way too easy to saunter down the hall and sit at my desk. Now I am more intentional about work vs. play time. I love it!

NEW: year, home, business, love, LIFE!

For the past 10 years I have put all my energies into promoting Mysthaven.com and attracting people for retreats at the beautiful place I created there. I have now left my marriage and the place, and Mysthaven will no longer operate as a retreat centre. So now there is this wonderful void – a space to create anew! I have moved to a beautiful solar powered property in Caledon, and will soon have a web site to promote retreats at Serendipity Farm. However, part of taking back my power is to put My Self out there rather than just the wonderful space I create.

The Law of Attraction is busy at work in my life. I got really clear this past summer about what I need and want in a marriage, and realized that my husband’s values and priorities had grown too far apart from mine. The direction his business and life has taken was increasingly far away from my own. Much as I tried to accept it, I did not feel properly loved by sharing my husband with other women. I felt unhappy and disempowered, but did not know what to do because as a recovering Catholic I have always felt that leaving a marriage is being a quitter. A friend loaned me an Abraham-Hicks tape and book and somehow, (although I have been familiar with this work for decades; have even taught simlar content) I Got It at a deeper level. I started to be more consistent about putting my attention towards what I want vs. stewing about what made me feel frustrated, unfulfilled and insecure. I started to pray for the level of deep intimacy and love, the self-exposure, trusting and being trusted, that I had hoped for and never achieved in my marriage. Days later the same friends took me to meet their old friend and see the magical place he has created “Off the Grid” in Caledon (NW of GTA).

The first thing I noticed as we drove up was that he had used the same colours for his buildings as I chose for Mysthaven, the retreat I co-created (I did all the colours) and ran for 10 years. Khaki green house, purple trim, marigold throughout the house … it was eerie! So right away I knew that Peer has excellent taste

Everyone who knows me, knows how attached I was to Mysthaven, how much of my life force I put there, how it was the manifestation of a vision I have held since I was 20: A retreat in the country close to the city, for people wanting to transform their lives to come and be inspired. Yet, when I really told myself the truth about what is most important to me, it was very easy to decide to leave. Love wins over stuff. Because I had been visioning and connecting with my deepest values and priorities in love, it was easy to recognize in Peer the qualities I most want and need in my Life Partner.

So, I have moved to Serendipity Farm where Peer has already created a place of magic, and where there is so much room for me to add my magic, so that together we will attract a community of people to work and play with.

Serendipity in the summertime

Here is the main building where I now live in Caledon, ON.

I'm looking for miracles in all areas of my life!

"What is a Miracle?"

Miracles occur when you breakthrough old beliefs and habits and do something you previously didn't think you could do.

My New Magic Carpet!

So many people I know are feeling scared and uncertain because of all the bed news about the economy we keep hearing about. Sales are down for many businesses in every sector; of course this means it is a great time to buy items where prices are lower than usual. So, I have done my part to stimulate the economy this week by purchasing this handmade wool rug, for a decent price. I can amuse myself for decades by contemplating the colours and patterns of a Persian Carpet; it's like a relaxing meditation for me. My husband and I walked into the showroom at different times since he had some errands to do, so he dropped me off first. I got to see him walk in and immediately gravitate towards the same carpet I had picked... or rather been picked by. So we figured it was meant to be that one of us will have it. It's in my office right now and we are bantering back and forth about the "oversized used moth-eaten prayer rug" and who should have custodial rights over it. Clearly we'll have to go again to buy another for his office because this one just matches the colour scheme of my office too perfectly to leave! : ) M

Sprouted Quinoa Bread

I was very pleased with my first attempt at making a sprouted bread. I used only 1.5 cups of wheat flour, with 4 cups of other flours. Next time I am going to try a completely gluten-free bread... I have just sprouted 2 cups of red quinoa, and will be drying and grinding later today. Here's a photo of last week's loaf:

White Bean "Borscht" with Red Cabbage and Roasted Beets

Beans and Legumes: Fart Free!
There is a foolproof way to cook any bean perfectly, every time. First of all, you will save cook time by soaking most beans overnight. Even a one-hour soak will speed up the cook time. Throw away soak water and start again with fresh water to cook; almost any bean will be fully cooked in one hour this way. The trick is to cook it by itself. No salt, no seasoning, just beans and water. Yes it is another pot to wash, but to me there is nothing more tragic than a flavorful chili with inedible little rocks that could have been easily digestible, fully cooked beans if the cook used 2 pots. One for the beans and one for everything else that is being added to the beans, i.e., spices and herbs, other veggies, etc. When your beans are fully cooked, then add them to everything else. With most bean dishes, I drain the beans (my plants like the bean water). With red lentils and other small legumes like Moong beans, where bean disintegrates into a thick slurry, of course there is no liquid to drain.

Today I am making a thick hearty white bean “borscht” with red cabbage and beets. You’ll notice that the basic technique is very similar to my minestra recipe posted a few days ago.

• the beans are cooked in a separate pot with only water – no salt or seasonings. When they are fully cooked, they are added to the other vegetables, which have been cooked with seasonings.

• Often, I roast some of the veg (today it is beet slices) in the oven and then add to the pot when they are done. This brings out a much yummier flavor for things like beets, which hold a nicer shape, texture, and colour, and a sweeter taste if roasted vs. boiled.

• Onion is so much nicer well-cooked – my pot starts with cooking the onion a good long time, either with a bit of olive oil or with a few strips of bacon cut into small pieces. I use my signature “froil” technique: fry it, add a bit of water when it starts to stick, stir constantly as water burns off, repeat till done: so it browns evenly and caramelizes – a natural sweet flavour emerges.

• That little bit of bacon fried with onion at the start makes my Dear Husband happy to eat what is essentially a huge plate of cooked beans and vegetables, along with some of my new baking passion – sprouted quinoa bread – and call it a meal. It’s loads of extra flavour but optional.

• if you purchase parmesan cheese in solid block form, (the only way if you love cheese!) start to save your rinds for making soup! Add it to pot when cooking veg so it gets soft enough to cut into tiny chewy pieces and add back to pot. Great mouth feel!

In medium pot:
One cup white beans (best contrast with red beets and cabbage but any bean will do)

In larger pot:
1 large onion, cut in semi-circles
4 strips of bacon cut to small pieces
4 stalks celery, cut bite size
3 carrots, sliced into rounds
half a red cabbage cut in strips
a few small florets of cauliflower for a different white shape
Parmesan cheese rind
One can diced tomatoes
seasonings: salt, cayenne or black pepper, oregano,

On baking sheet, lightly oiled
3 large beets sliced in uniform rounds (I use mandolin; cut rounds into smaller pieces if your beets are large)

All three items above will be fully cooked in under an hour; add your roasted beets and fully cooked drained beans to your vegetable pot, mix together, and it’s done. I made mine thick, more like a stew you eat with a fork, and served with my multi-grain sprouted quinoa bread.

The View From My Eyes

Minestra: hearty vegetable soup/stew

This soup tastes great for days; I tend to make a lot so I can heat up a bowl any time. You can freeze in small containers for an instant meal to thaw out some other day.

The basic concept is a foundation of a bean or a legume, and a roasted winter squash, combined with other hearty vegetables. It can be vegan (no meat or dairy) or you can make it even tastier by starting it with bacon and adding a Parmesan cheese rind.

Winter Squash: Do it the Easy Way


Have you ever peeled and cut up a butternut squash? Talk about an exercise in masochism! Plus it does not taste nearly as nice as this alternative: you simply cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and roast on a cookie sheet in the 350º oven. When it is done ~50 minutes, scoop out the yummy cooked squash (compost the hard peel) and add to the other cooked veg.

Always Cook Dry Beans Separately!

I chose red lentils for this soup, because they are small and very easily digestible by most people, thus a better choice when taking it to a potluck party! Even so, I follow my bean rule: cook the beans separately then add fully cooked lentil to the rest of ingredients, i.e., vegetables, herbs and spices, salt.

Caramelized onion






I like my onion really well cooked. I use a technique I call ‘froil’ = fry then boil. First, brown the onion some, then add water a little at a time so it sort of boils and gets very soft and sweet. If you are cooking for vegetarians, fry onion in olive oil, otherwise, slice bacon into small pieces and fry with the onion slices (I like semi-circles of onion for a nice mouth feel). When both onion and bacon and fully browned and cooked, add other veg. and enough water so veg won’t stick and burn on bottom of your pot. At this point I put my parmesan cheese rind in the pot to soften up, so it will then be easy to remove from pot when it is soft, cut it up into very small pieces, and add back to the pot.

Your squash bakes in the oven, your seasonings and all other veg are cooking away, and your lentils cooking in a separate pot… everything finishes at around the same time, under one hour. Mix it all together: the scooped-out cooked squash, the lentils, which are a creamy slurry by now, and your seasoned fully cooked onions and other veg. The squash and lentils make a creamy base to support chunks of hearty veg. This soup is a very satisfying lunch. You can serve it on its own, or cook up some pasta, e.g., penne, rotini or shells and spoon this minestra soup/stew onto cooked drained pasta. You can grate parmesan cheese on top if you like.

Veggie suggestions:


Carrots, summer squash, e.g., zucchini, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, yam, potato. I have also made an Ital vegan version in a Rastafarian-inspired style with no cheese or bacon, and adding coconut cream and plantain. I usually prefer green cabbage in this soup but I used purple this time, as that’s what was good at the store. I LOVE garlic so I use several cloves of that too, sliced thin and added when bacon/onion is almost cooked through, before other veg added, so it browns a bit but does not burn.

Cut the Cheese!


This business of the parmesan cheese rind: I started out doing this for my dogs when I cooked bones in a crock pot for them. We use lots of parmesan cheese here so I get big Costco-sized pieces and save the rinds. When I make a soup where a cheese flavor enhances it, add the rind to water till it softens enough to cut easily. Unlike the rest of the cheese, which will disintegrate and melt into the soup, the rind keeps its satisfying chewiness for a lovely additional texture.

Seasoning: Herbs and Spices

There is enough flavor just from the rich combination of vegetables, that you don't need much to spice it up. Salt to taste. If you like a bit of kick add cayenne pepper or mustard powder or both. I have lots of organic dried oregano from my garden so I use some.

Words that Describe…

22 words for snow

It is another Beautiful sunny winter day where I live, in the country just north of Toronto. Here at Mysthaven the snow stays clean and white all winter long. Every day at some point I go for a ski or I snow shoe, and each day, I think to myself, “I wish I had 22 words for snow!” Why? Because the slightest change in temperature and humidity levels produces such a change in conditions. From one day to the next the experience is so different, and even from one moment to the next the consistency of the snow can change a lot. I’ll be gliding merrily along, when all of a sudden I hit a slushy area, and my skis start to pick up heavy clumps of sticky snow and there’s no slip-sliding away happening!


Self Knowledge and awareness
Why do I find this worth noting? Because I think that as you gain more experience with anything, you develop the ability to make better distinctions. But the converse is also true: if I knew more words that described specific conditions, I could better learn to differentiate one from another. So not only does more precise language become more needful as you gain more experience and knowledge of something. But also having more words gives you the ability to think better, to learn faster from your experiences. With a greater repertoire of words, we can describe more clearly to others our experience. More importantly, we can better describe our experience to our Self, and thus gain greater self-knowledge and awareness.

Making better distinctions with more experience
The Inuit people have more words for snow because they have more experience with it and can make better distinctions. The past few winters we have been blessed with large volumes of snow, which last for months. This means I go outside every day to do a vigorous activity in snow, so my own desire for a greater repertoire of words to describe the experience has grown.


Self Awareness: your emotions and underlying beliefs which create them
Another arena where I am developing greater awareness and experience is the area of my emotions. Working as a therapist for 29 years, and studying several modalities of body-mind psychotherapy, I have always been fascinated with how our beliefs create our reality. How does our physical affect our emotional; how does addressing personal development in any arena – body, emotions, mental or spiritual – impact all the others?


From power struggle to spiritual growth
In relationships with other people one has the greatest opportunity to learn about oneself. I think marriage, for me, is by far the most challenging and rewarding “personal growth workshop” I have ever participated in! Once you get past the excitement of the infatuation ‘high’ at the beginning, marriage enters the ‘power struggle’ phase. The vast majority of marriages stay in that phase till the end, according to Dr. Harville Hendrix. But the opportunity exists, if you are willing to face your childhood wounds, to have your power struggles with your partner be the mirror that helps you to grow past your issues. We have recently renewed our commitment to spending time, money and effort in this personal growth process, by doing relationship coaching and taking intensive personal growth workshops together. We are learning new words… words to describe our internal experience, words that help us See each other more deeply than ever before. We are being more authentic with our selves and each other. It is so exciting!