I marvel at how the author of a blog I regularly read writes about her life.

She writes about being sexually and physically abused as a child, being at ground zero when the trade towers fell, about trouble in her marriage, sex, abortion and running out of money. She reveals all these things, she explains, because her childhood was ruined by secrets. Now she is more afraid of keeping things secret than she is of letting people know her troubles.

Everything I post on this blog is true; the beautiful flowers, the beloved cats and the delicious food made in our wonderful kitchen are all true depictions of my life. You already know this but I'll say it anyway - what I post is a small part of the whole story.

As it is with you, there's behind the scenes stuff, challenges big and small. I never mention it here but our family has been dealing with something for a few years now that's been tough and tricky to navigate. So far so good but I have felt worn down at times by stress and worry.

Maybe I'll write about it some day but not now.

What I will write about today is that I always try to take extra good care of myself when life isn't in smooth sailing mode.

There are many strategies to boost vitality when life requires more from you: extra sleep, exercise, meditation, a massage, a conversation with a good friend.

One thing I do when I feel depleted is prepare myself a concoction containing a hit of concentrated vitamins and nutrients. I'm lucky in that I have a juicer and a blender.

The benefits of my drink-making extend beyond the nutritional boost, too. The whole process of making myself a potent elixir feels balancing: choosing the recipe, preparing the fruit, pouring the drink into a beautiful glass, admiring the colour and the pleasure in the taste. I even stopped dreading having to clean the juicer and the blender afterwards. Now cleaning and reassembling to be ready for next time is part of the positive exchange between me and my juice-making.

One of my favourite combinations is apple, pink grapefruit, strawberry and ginger. You can play around with amounts and the varieties of apples. You can juice everything or choose instead to blend it all and enjoy it as a smoothie (making sure to first remove seeds and any undesired peel).

For this recipe I juiced the apples and ginger and then blended with the whole grapefruit and strawberries.

Apple, pink grapefruit, strawberry and ginger drink

Makes two small drinks or one large.

6 strawberries, frozen or fresh

2 apples, juiced

1 pink grapefruit, peeled, sectioned and seeds removed

1 inch piece of ginger, juiced or blended

ice (optional)

Wash apples, slice and juice. Juice the piece of ginger. Pour juice in the blender. Add one whole grapefruit, peeled and seeded, and the strawberries. Blend well. Add ice if none of your fruit is frozen.

Pour into pretty glasses and garnish with peppermint.