Our adventures continue.
Yesterday was "colour day". Jack and I spent several hours playing with paints up in the craft room. I tried my hand at tole painting and Jack worked on colour combination, first on white paper - - and then in water. He voiced a lot of frustration at one point because the water had become so colour saturated that nothing he added made any difference. (That was when I first became awarw that he had lost interest in the painting part of our project.)
We discussed what he was trying to accomplish and I explained that paint was meant to colour paper, not water and so his results were going to be less than optimal. I asked if he wanted to clean up and go downstairs to experiment with mixing colour in water.
He thought that was a great idea, so off we went...
We started with three colours, and Jack was amazed that he could use purple, pink, and green to make "beer"! He later made it "apple juice" and was amazed that adding *more* colour made it lighter!
31 December 2008
30 December 2008
Pasta and other adventures
How odd ...
I was so sure that being at home so much would mean a lot more time to blog and I would finally get a chance to cover all those topics I have been meaning to cover for so long but never actually written.
Oddly enough, I am finding that I have *less* time to write or read.
We have developed a rhythm of the day that has us all in bed at the same time and then all up again at the same time -- meaning that no one is getting a lot of introspective time.
We are, though, having a lot of fun! We have experimented with making out own pasta -- documented here -- and our own crackers. The pasta was less like Italian Pasta and more like German dumplings, but it was nice enough to have me considering trying again next week -- maybe with durham flour instead of pastry flour, since durham was developed specifically for pasta.
I may also figure out how to roll the dough thinner, which would make it more pasta-like and less dumpling-ish.
The crackers were a lot closer than my last attempt, but we're not there just yet. These did have a texture more like a real cracker, though. The last batch were crumbly and never crisped. I think the difference was that this time I used Kimi Harris' adaptation of a nourishing traditions recipe. (The one I tried to use last time, as it happens.) I think I may also have substituted olive oil for the butter the recipe called for since i was out of butter. Bad move -- very yucky crackers.
I have also had a chance to help with homeschooling which has been a blast! All I had to do was sit down at the table with the school books in front of me to try and figure out where we were up to and Jack leaped into my lap, grabbed the top book, and looked at me expectantly.
We worked for a couple of hours before I, not Jack, got tired.
What a rush!
Note: if you try making pasta, don't cut it and put it into a bowl like you see here. Rod spent 20 minutes separating it as it tried very hard to turn back into one single mass. (oops)
I was so sure that being at home so much would mean a lot more time to blog and I would finally get a chance to cover all those topics I have been meaning to cover for so long but never actually written.
We have developed a rhythm of the day that has us all in bed at the same time and then all up again at the same time -- meaning that no one is getting a lot of introspective time.
I may also figure out how to roll the dough thinner, which would make it more pasta-like and less dumpling-ish.
We worked for a couple of hours before I, not Jack, got tired.
What a rush!
Note: if you try making pasta, don't cut it and put it into a bowl like you see here. Rod spent 20 minutes separating it as it tried very hard to turn back into one single mass. (oops)
26 December 2008
25 December 2008
Happy Christmas everyone!
I hope everyone is warm and well fed and has a most pleasant Christmas day!
We have had lots happening.
Next, Jack and I went to the early Christmas Eve service at the church where Rod has joined the choir.
It was Jack's first experience in a Christian style church service, and once he got the hang of the expectations he did great! (We were surrounded by babies, so it wasn't until I pointed it out to him that he realized that the only people talking during the service were the babies.) He absolutely loved the music and seemed completely enchanted by the whole experience. He made his way to the choir director after the service to ask to join the children's choir and he was welcomed most graciously, so it looks like we'll be going regularly for a while.
(Whenever a baby would crow, the minister would make reference to "choirs of angels! I loved it!)
Next, we got word that we have been passed over for the first round of the big payout for volunteers to leave the company. There may be some chance that either the numbers of payouts will be increased or that someone who volunteered will change his or her mind, in which case we're still on the list, so that doesn't count us out entirely, but it's disappointing.
More likely, we are now facing a 50-50 chance of keeping our place with the company or that we will be let go anyway, with a far smaller payout and some very, very difficult choices. Needless to say, we have a preference.
I'd best got tidy up before we leave to get John.
We have had lots happening.
First, our annual engineering disaster was canceled due to impassable roads between here and Nerida's place. First it snowed for days -- and then it rained all day yesterday, creating an icy mess. It was slick but passable here in town, but Nerida and her family live on a farm 30 miles out of town and the roads out there were pretty bad. (It's back to snowing now, so we can hope that there is enough accumulation to make the ice rough.)
It was Jack's first experience in a Christian style church service, and once he got the hang of the expectations he did great! (We were surrounded by babies, so it wasn't until I pointed it out to him that he realized that the only people talking during the service were the babies.) He absolutely loved the music and seemed completely enchanted by the whole experience. He made his way to the choir director after the service to ask to join the children's choir and he was welcomed most graciously, so it looks like we'll be going regularly for a while.
(Whenever a baby would crow, the minister would make reference to "choirs of angels! I loved it!)
More likely, we are now facing a 50-50 chance of keeping our place with the company or that we will be let go anyway, with a far smaller payout and some very, very difficult choices. Needless to say, we have a preference.
On the bright side, it's snowing again, and we're looking forward to spending the day with Grandpa John and we got many of the cookies delivered yesterday and I had a chance to spend some time with a friend I don't see enough of yesterday. There is much to be happy about in this season.
I'd best got tidy up before we leave to get John.
23 December 2008
cookies, cookies, cookies
Well, the 12 batches of cookies are baked. 
They're mostly safely in their tins and ready for delivery. (I still have to pick up a few more tins - - we have more cookies than I thought we would and there are always more friends who deserve sweets, right?)
We had a blast, and I hope that our friends have as much fun eating them.
Today is the day of the annual Smif-Bridgford engineering disaster, known as the building of the Yule cottages. If the snow doesn't postpone it, we'll tell you all about it later.
We had a blast, and I hope that our friends have as much fun eating them.
Today is the day of the annual Smif-Bridgford engineering disaster, known as the building of the Yule cottages. If the snow doesn't postpone it, we'll tell you all about it later.
21 December 2008
Things one doesn't expect to hear from a five year old
"No, thanks, Dad. I think I've had enough sweets for today."
(No idea of the context, but...not what I ever expect to hear from a child.)
Jack with his first gift of the day - -a tub of lego from Mamma
"What?" (in a shocked voice) "why do you keep talking about that? You do know that love has more honor than money, don't you?!?!?!"
(In the car on the way home from dropping Grandpa John back home after a really wonderful Solstice celebration. Again, I didn't catch the relevance to the conversation - -but it was a funny remark anyway.)
(No idea of the context, but...not what I ever expect to hear from a child.)
Jack with his first gift of the day - -a tub of lego from Mamma
"What?" (in a shocked voice) "why do you keep talking about that? You do know that love has more honor than money, don't you?!?!?!"
(In the car on the way home from dropping Grandpa John back home after a really wonderful Solstice celebration. Again, I didn't catch the relevance to the conversation - -but it was a funny remark anyway.)
Happy Solstice to all!
Happy solstice everyone!
As we watched the sun rise at 8 this morning, we celebrated that soon the sun will be rising earlier and setting later. The sun is reborn today and will grow in strength and (eventually -- at the moment it's -11c and winter has just started) warmth from here until summer solstice.
May the return of the light bring new hope and much joy to you and your loved ones, and may you weather the coming cold season well fed and warm.
best regards,
the Delaney - Smith family
Chez Smiffy
As we watched the sun rise at 8 this morning, we celebrated that soon the sun will be rising earlier and setting later. The sun is reborn today and will grow in strength and (eventually -- at the moment it's -11c and winter has just started) warmth from here until summer solstice.
best regards,
the Delaney - Smith family
Chez Smiffy
19 December 2008
Feeling really strange tonight
As I sit here this evening, dinner started and the first pass on tidying the kitchen complete, I feel very odd. For the first time in a very long while, there is no hurry.
Not only don't I have to get up early tomorrow (normal for a Friday night), but all of the plans for this weekend have been canceled by the "blizzard of '08". (It's looking a record for December, and there is certainly plenty of snow, but so far it doesn't seem *that* bad!)
On top of those two factors, the Winter Holiday is much longer this year than most -- almost two weeks. And this morning, my employer announced that in an effort to keep the company viable, we would be closed for business from the 5th of January to the 9th and the employees will be on furlough, making just about a three week "vacation". (One of them without pay.)
On top of the anxiety of the upcoming announcement of permanent redundancies, there is the concern about spreading three weeks' pay to cover four weeks. And the total disorientation, (pleasant though it is) of having three weeks at home. I know that in the end, the time will go very quickly. There is always a million things I want to accomplish, most of which take a back seat to reality. I probably still won't get them all done, but I haven't had 21 days in a row for my own priorities in...oh, a decade at least. Maybe two!
Oh well, Heidi and alm-Uncle beckon. Off we go for bedtime and I'm sure I'll feel much more oriented tomorrow.
Good night
Not only don't I have to get up early tomorrow (normal for a Friday night), but all of the plans for this weekend have been canceled by the "blizzard of '08". (It's looking a record for December, and there is certainly plenty of snow, but so far it doesn't seem *that* bad!)On top of those two factors, the Winter Holiday is much longer this year than most -- almost two weeks. And this morning, my employer announced that in an effort to keep the company viable, we would be closed for business from the 5th of January to the 9th and the employees will be on furlough, making just about a three week "vacation". (One of them without pay.)
On top of the anxiety of the upcoming announcement of permanent redundancies, there is the concern about spreading three weeks' pay to cover four weeks. And the total disorientation, (pleasant though it is) of having three weeks at home. I know that in the end, the time will go very quickly. There is always a million things I want to accomplish, most of which take a back seat to reality. I probably still won't get them all done, but I haven't had 21 days in a row for my own priorities in...oh, a decade at least. Maybe two!
Oh well, Heidi and alm-Uncle beckon. Off we go for bedtime and I'm sure I'll feel much more oriented tomorrow.
Good night
17 December 2008
Lessons, lessons, lessons
It's been a week of ups and downs, optimism, pessimism, hopes and dreams and attempts at planning in a vacuum. 
I have done everything with a sense of "what if this is the end of a fairy tale?" Except when I wonder "I wonder what this will be like 'after'."
Adjusting to the possibility of major change is always like that, though. I read somewhere that 'anxiety is the vertigo of sudden freedom' ... or something like that. Yeah -- that's how this feels.
My life has always been episodic, and so there is nothing really new to me about endings...and I can't help but link them firmly in my mind to beginnings. That makes them not nearly so scary as they might be.
Changes aren't always welcome, but the new normal is usually pretty nice, once I adjust to the loss of the old normal.
Interestingly, our literature seems to be preparing us, too. We had checked a copy of The Education of Little Tree (the movie) out of the library weeks ago. (Yes, I am aware of the controversy, and I did a lot of reading and a lot of thinking before I decided that we would see it.) We just got a note that it was almost due back, so we watched it last night and we learned with Little Tree about how to keep on learning through changes in our lives, how to seek Te Way and to know that "we will always be together. Our souls know."
A few weeks ago, Jack selected Heidi as our current reading material. Heidi goes through change after change, and even when she isn't thrilled, she knows how to make the best of it and to keep a good attitude. Not long before we'd read Storm Boy.
Change. Change happens to everyone. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's bad. Sometimes it looks bad, but turns out to be good, or at least not so bad.
Rod and I both experienced a lot of change as children and we're comfortable with the storms of emotion change brings with it. Not that we like feeling blue and lost...but we know that it's going to happen, and that in its turn it will be replaced by the euphoria of endless possibilities that change also brings.
Jack has not experienced much change in his life so far. He is aware of what's happening, and he sometimes get a very sad expression, but so far he doesn't want to talk about it.
Fortunately, for the moment he has Yule to distract himself with -- this weekend is the big event! But in our case, that would be multiple "events".
On Friday night, we'll go to the big public ritual we participate in. The ritual will be very, very child oriented and Jack adores that circle! The ritual contains a lot of music and dancing and has plenty of room for free form child-energy. People range in age from infant to elderly, but the emphasis is on the kids which is just perfect for us.
On Saturday, I hope we will wake up early to see the sun rise, and then we'll clean and bake. We've been invited to a ritual on Saturday evening and I]d like to go, but the invitation was pretty vague and I'm not sure what time or where, so we may not make it to that one. Especially because Rod has a cookie exchange that same evening.
And on Sunday afternoon, Grandpa John will come over and we'll play and feast and open packages and have a wonderful ritual, and then we'll feast some more!
Of course, we're expecting some pretty exciting weather, too, so we'll need to fit feeding the critters in there somewhere, too. Probably several times.
And then I get to stay home - - and we will have two more celebrations.
We don't celebrate Christmas, per se, but both grandmothers do, so out of respect for them, Jack opens their gifts "on the day". That also serves to make their gifts "more special", since they get the spotlight all to themselves and several extra days of staring and wondering. Usually Rod and I cook all day, just because that's fun.
And then, of course, the celebration of the new year. We don't have plans yet -- but we always have a lot of fun and I'm sure this year won't be any different.
And at some point, Jack will put on his Santa Suit and we will wander from friend's house to friend's house distributing our gifts to them.
...and you know...I think that may be the best part!!
I have done everything with a sense of "what if this is the end of a fairy tale?" Except when I wonder "I wonder what this will be like 'after'."
Adjusting to the possibility of major change is always like that, though. I read somewhere that 'anxiety is the vertigo of sudden freedom' ... or something like that. Yeah -- that's how this feels.
My life has always been episodic, and so there is nothing really new to me about endings...and I can't help but link them firmly in my mind to beginnings. That makes them not nearly so scary as they might be.
Changes aren't always welcome, but the new normal is usually pretty nice, once I adjust to the loss of the old normal.
Interestingly, our literature seems to be preparing us, too. We had checked a copy of The Education of Little Tree (the movie) out of the library weeks ago. (Yes, I am aware of the controversy, and I did a lot of reading and a lot of thinking before I decided that we would see it.) We just got a note that it was almost due back, so we watched it last night and we learned with Little Tree about how to keep on learning through changes in our lives, how to seek Te Way and to know that "we will always be together. Our souls know."
A few weeks ago, Jack selected Heidi as our current reading material. Heidi goes through change after change, and even when she isn't thrilled, she knows how to make the best of it and to keep a good attitude. Not long before we'd read Storm Boy.
Change. Change happens to everyone. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's bad. Sometimes it looks bad, but turns out to be good, or at least not so bad.
Rod and I both experienced a lot of change as children and we're comfortable with the storms of emotion change brings with it. Not that we like feeling blue and lost...but we know that it's going to happen, and that in its turn it will be replaced by the euphoria of endless possibilities that change also brings.
Jack has not experienced much change in his life so far. He is aware of what's happening, and he sometimes get a very sad expression, but so far he doesn't want to talk about it.
Fortunately, for the moment he has Yule to distract himself with -- this weekend is the big event! But in our case, that would be multiple "events".
On Friday night, we'll go to the big public ritual we participate in. The ritual will be very, very child oriented and Jack adores that circle! The ritual contains a lot of music and dancing and has plenty of room for free form child-energy. People range in age from infant to elderly, but the emphasis is on the kids which is just perfect for us.
On Saturday, I hope we will wake up early to see the sun rise, and then we'll clean and bake. We've been invited to a ritual on Saturday evening and I]d like to go, but the invitation was pretty vague and I'm not sure what time or where, so we may not make it to that one. Especially because Rod has a cookie exchange that same evening.
And on Sunday afternoon, Grandpa John will come over and we'll play and feast and open packages and have a wonderful ritual, and then we'll feast some more!
Of course, we're expecting some pretty exciting weather, too, so we'll need to fit feeding the critters in there somewhere, too. Probably several times.
We don't celebrate Christmas, per se, but both grandmothers do, so out of respect for them, Jack opens their gifts "on the day". That also serves to make their gifts "more special", since they get the spotlight all to themselves and several extra days of staring and wondering. Usually Rod and I cook all day, just because that's fun.
And then, of course, the celebration of the new year. We don't have plans yet -- but we always have a lot of fun and I'm sure this year won't be any different.
And at some point, Jack will put on his Santa Suit and we will wander from friend's house to friend's house distributing our gifts to them.
...and you know...I think that may be the best part!!
16 December 2008
It's snowing again...!
I had managed to miss the predicti0ns, and so I was surprised and charmed when Rod and Jack came to pick me up and I found this when I trekked out of the office this evening.
And Jack and I were up way too late last night wrapping packages and putting them near the hearth for Yule and Christmas -- mostly I wrapped, and mostly Jack scurried up and down the stairs with an air of great importance with his arms full of packages.
He couldn't quite resist peeking a couple of times, so one or two thinks won't be a surprise, but all in all, he was an amazing little Yuletide helper.
Jack was fast asleep as he and Rod headed out to the chess club meeting through the blowing snow and I have a lot of cleaning up and some more cookie baking to do.
*This* is what I had hoped this holiday would be like. Cookies, crafting, mysterious packages, snow, and lots and lots of boy giggles!
Oh, how I love snow!
He couldn't quite resist peeking a couple of times, so one or two thinks won't be a surprise, but all in all, he was an amazing little Yuletide helper.
Jack was fast asleep as he and Rod headed out to the chess club meeting through the blowing snow and I have a lot of cleaning up and some more cookie baking to do.
*This* is what I had hoped this holiday would be like. Cookies, crafting, mysterious packages, snow, and lots and lots of boy giggles!
15 December 2008
Hey! It's available at EBay
Great Composers has been out of print for years -- but I just discovered a copy on EBay.
Given that Jack wants to play daily, that it has piqued his interest in Classical composers, and that it's also fun -- I can recommend it. ;)
Yule cookie production underway
I wasn't entirely sure it would happen this year -- we got prepared and and intended to last year but the cookies never happened, so it was with some trepidation that I made up my lists this year.
But this weekend, cookie production got underway right on time and is going amazingly smoothly. On Saturday, we got the first four batches done. (Mum's amazing shortbread and an almond shortbread variant, brownies and peppermint brownies.) Those are pretty easy and gave us success to grow on.
Last night, we got four more batches done. (Gingerbread, lemon bars, old fashioned refrigerator cookies, sugar cookies, and Italian almond cookies.) Well, three are done and two needed to be chilled for hours, so they'll be baked tonight.
That leaves only five batches to go...and I think we might just get there! Of course, we did the simplest recipes first, so we may not see the amazing numbers we have so far...but this is all the fun I always thought it should be! Rod and I, baking side by side, him on his recipes and me on mine. I work more quickly and he works more carefully, so he does the fussier recipes while I crank out the mass quantities. We chat, we bump into one another as we both reach for the flour at the same time. And each of us gets a sample of each batch as it cools. (No good sendiong nasty cookies to our beloved friends!)
While I was panicking over how I was going to get the cookies done (because stale cookies are bad and the cards weren't done yet) I came across this page and this page about how to bake large numbers of cookies when you don't have a lot of time.
It seemed like it would work extremely well, and we used some of the 'six days' tips, but not the assembly line. It's too much fun to fuss over each batch and chat. Another year, though, we may well do it on an assembly line.
I think Jack's Yule is just about ready, but while Jack and I have each gotten Rod a main gift, I haven't thought of much for Rod's stocking yet. He's tough to buy for, is my sweet husband.
Oh well, I have one more week to come up with something.
But this weekend, cookie production got underway right on time and is going amazingly smoothly. On Saturday, we got the first four batches done. (Mum's amazing shortbread and an almond shortbread variant, brownies and peppermint brownies.) Those are pretty easy and gave us success to grow on.
Last night, we got four more batches done. (Gingerbread, lemon bars, old fashioned refrigerator cookies, sugar cookies, and Italian almond cookies.) Well, three are done and two needed to be chilled for hours, so they'll be baked tonight.
That leaves only five batches to go...and I think we might just get there! Of course, we did the simplest recipes first, so we may not see the amazing numbers we have so far...but this is all the fun I always thought it should be! Rod and I, baking side by side, him on his recipes and me on mine. I work more quickly and he works more carefully, so he does the fussier recipes while I crank out the mass quantities. We chat, we bump into one another as we both reach for the flour at the same time. And each of us gets a sample of each batch as it cools. (No good sendiong nasty cookies to our beloved friends!)
While I was panicking over how I was going to get the cookies done (because stale cookies are bad and the cards weren't done yet) I came across this page and this page about how to bake large numbers of cookies when you don't have a lot of time.
It seemed like it would work extremely well, and we used some of the 'six days' tips, but not the assembly line. It's too much fun to fuss over each batch and chat. Another year, though, we may well do it on an assembly line.
I think Jack's Yule is just about ready, but while Jack and I have each gotten Rod a main gift, I haven't thought of much for Rod's stocking yet. He's tough to buy for, is my sweet husband.
Oh well, I have one more week to come up with something.
13 December 2008
Here we go again!
In an effort to protect our children from the dangerous toys being important by large multinational corporations, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), lacking the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the US, passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008.
Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys and mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.
All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and can easily update their molds to include batch labels.
The costs of mandatory testing, up to $4,000 per toy, will likely drive small American, Canadian, and European toymakers out of business. The handful of larger toy makers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, too, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007.
Unless the law is modified, handmade toys will effectively no longer be legal in the US.
The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public's trust and thriving small businesses are crucial to the financial health of our nation. Let's amend the CPSIA so that all businesses large and small are able to comply and survive!
Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys and mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.
All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and can easily update their molds to include batch labels.
The costs of mandatory testing, up to $4,000 per toy, will likely drive small American, Canadian, and European toymakers out of business. The handful of larger toy makers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, too, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007.
Unless the law is modified, handmade toys will effectively no longer be legal in the US.
The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public's trust and thriving small businesses are crucial to the financial health of our nation. Let's amend the CPSIA so that all businesses large and small are able to comply and survive!
Scary
Yesterday was a very wild day at work.
We all knew that the auto industry was in trouble and that customers who aren't selling cars don't need to buy parts. That's a given. We also knew that layoffs were going to have to happen, since it could be a long time before the auto industry recovers enough to need a supplier that had grown with the boom times.
The layoffs (well, sort of layoffs. There is no chance of a call-back) have been happening in dribs and drabs for a couple of years now. But yesterday, the biggest layoffs ever were announced.
Scary. 400 people will be gone by the end of January.
Then again, a very generous buy-out was offered for the first 100 people to volunteer. It was generous enough that a whole lot of people jumped at it.
So... I won't know until after the holidays whether I still have a job. If not, needless to say, Chez Smiffy will have to go up for sale. (As if anyone is buying these days.)
And, just to make it all more fun ... Jack is sick. Again. Just as Rod and I finally got over the flu he passed along a couple of weeks ago, Jack developed flame red eyes and a cough and a runny nose. Rod picked up some Sambucol yesterday and we've started treating everyone, so maybe this one won't be so bad. But yuck.
I think I'll go up and make some garlands and try not to think too much.
We all knew that the auto industry was in trouble and that customers who aren't selling cars don't need to buy parts. That's a given. We also knew that layoffs were going to have to happen, since it could be a long time before the auto industry recovers enough to need a supplier that had grown with the boom times.
The layoffs (well, sort of layoffs. There is no chance of a call-back) have been happening in dribs and drabs for a couple of years now. But yesterday, the biggest layoffs ever were announced.
Scary. 400 people will be gone by the end of January.
Then again, a very generous buy-out was offered for the first 100 people to volunteer. It was generous enough that a whole lot of people jumped at it.
So... I won't know until after the holidays whether I still have a job. If not, needless to say, Chez Smiffy will have to go up for sale. (As if anyone is buying these days.)
And, just to make it all more fun ... Jack is sick. Again. Just as Rod and I finally got over the flu he passed along a couple of weeks ago, Jack developed flame red eyes and a cough and a runny nose. Rod picked up some Sambucol yesterday and we've started treating everyone, so maybe this one won't be so bad. But yuck.
I think I'll go up and make some garlands and try not to think too much.
12 December 2008
The game of matching pictures.
Just try to beat Jack at the game of matching pictures. He's probably better than you.
How the game works: you match the most pictures (which we've already heard about) and then you count the pictures to see who got the most pictures.
It's not too easy with me!
by Isaac "Jack" Smith
(To which Mamma quotes Judith Martin: "It's always more impressive of people discover your finest qualities without your help".)
How the game works: you match the most pictures (which we've already heard about) and then you count the pictures to see who got the most pictures.
It's not too easy with me!
by Isaac "Jack" Smith
(To which Mamma quotes Judith Martin: "It's always more impressive of people discover your finest qualities without your help".)
11 December 2008
Solstice banner
It's finally finished!
I made a Solstice banner for the parlour. It's inspired by the Dia de los Muertos paper banners from Mexico, but instead of cutwork, I was lazy and used acrylic paint and stencils.
It's not perfect, but I quite like it. (Note to self...red on green looks decidedly brown!)
Interestingly, Jack wasn't interested in working on this one with me, but once he saw it, he decided that the kitchen needs one, too, so we'll work on that this weekend. (And also on a Yuletide garland or two or three...)
I made a Solstice banner for the parlour. It's inspired by the Dia de los Muertos paper banners from Mexico, but instead of cutwork, I was lazy and used acrylic paint and stencils.
It's not perfect, but I quite like it. (Note to self...red on green looks decidedly brown!)
Interestingly, Jack wasn't interested in working on this one with me, but once he saw it, he decided that the kitchen needs one, too, so we'll work on that this weekend. (And also on a Yuletide garland or two or three...)
08 December 2008
Simple Cooking
or how to get the last bit of goodness out of the trash and into your meals
Since we posted our "Why we eat the way we do" article, several people have mentioned that they wish they knew how to make the change from processed foods to home cooking. It seems that people who are used to cooking with packaged food aren't sure how to go about cooking without them.
Fair enough. It was a long slow process for us, too!
Our first recommendation is that you take it slow and use an additive approach to changing the way your family eats. That way, you won't get overwhelmed and feel deprived, putting a premature end to your mission to improve the way your family eats.
Easy peasy! See, you made a roast chicken!
Yum.
Oh, and when you don't have time to cook, you can use it to make an 'almost instant' soup
What do we mean by an "additive approach"? Well, rather than say "we won't use packaged foods anymore", leaving you to figure out "ok, then what will we eat?", we suggest that you learn to make new things that don't start with packages or cans. Maybe rewrite one of your favorite recipes to use all fresh ingredients or learn to make something new. Add more and more things that were made from scratch to the things you usually serve and don't keep score. Just aim to add at least one new from scratch thing every... well, you know your family. You set the schedule.
You might start with roasting a chicken, that staple of Sunday dinner from years gone by. One reason a chicken was so often the first choice for Sunday dinner is that quite aside from being yummy, it also gives you the things you can use to make a couple more meals through the week.
So lets start there.
Roasting a chicken
Start by buying a nice fat broiling hen, ideally fresh, organic, and pastured, but any hen will do in a pinch. If the hen was frozen, thaw it in the refrigerator for a day or so.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F
- Wash the hen inside and out with cool water and pat it dry.
- Mix 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary, 1 tablespoon of dried sage and 2 teaspoons of garlic powder (not garlic salt, the salt will dry out the meat).
- Rub the inside of the hen with the mixed spices.
- Rub the skin of the bird with a couple of tablespoons of fat (butter, lard, or olive oil) with the rest of the herbs in it, and then place it breast side down in a roasting pan, tucking the legs and wings under the bird as best you can.
- When the oven is hot, put the bird in and roast for 20 minutes or until the skin is nice and brown and crispy.
- Turn the oven heat down to 300 and continue roasting for another 25 minutes or so.
- Remove the bird from the oven and let it sit in its pan juices for at least 30 minutes.
Making Chicken Gravy
Once the bird has sat in the pan drippings for 30 minutes to reabsorb moisture, you probably still have quite a feast of yummy drippings in the bottom of the pan. You can turn those into a delicious gravy to serve with potatoes or over the meat.
Not as hard as you thought, was it? You're getting the hang of it!- Move the bird to a serving platter
- Deglaze the roasting pan: put 1/2 cup of cool clean water in the roasting pan; heat the pan, scraping the chicken bits and drippings off the bottom of the pan until everything is loose and easily poured off. Pour the dripping into a heatproof Pyrex measuring glass.
- Put a pat of butter or lard into a large frying or the roasting pan.
- Heat on medium heat until melted and hot.
- Add two tablespoons of whole grain flour and stir and mash until the flour smells wheaty and toasted, about 10 minutes on low. (Don't cut this part short -- that's how gravy gets lumpy.)
- Little by little, maybe a quarter cup at a time, add the drippings to the flour and stir until smooth. (A whisk is great for this!)
- When you have used up all the drippings, start using milk or water, a splash at a time, until you get the perfect texture.
Now then, you have had chicken and gravy for dinner. (Along with potatoes and vegetables, I hope) You have chicken left on the bones, and of course, the chicken bones. Now what?
I know, lets make a chicken soup!
Chicken broth
- Pull all of the meat off the chicken bones. Split the meat into two containers, cover it and put it in the fridge.
- Put the bones, skin, and everything else that's left into a sauce pan.
- Cover it all with cool, clear water.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice and bring it to a boil.
- Once the water boils, lower the temperature to just under a boil.
- Cook for hours, adding water as necessary to keep the bones covered. (We boil the bones for three days or so to get all the goodness out of the bones, but after 4 or 5 hours, you'll have a good rich broth.)
- Turn off the heat and lets the broth cool.
- Pour the broth through a colander and put the broth in the refrigerator.
(You can throw the bones away or bury them in your compost, whichever you prefer. )
As it cools, the broth will thicken. The longer you cooked it, the thicker it will be. That gelatin contains the nutrients from the bones and is extremely nourishing. Broth is what we used in place of vitamins for the several million years before we learned how to put vitamins in tablets -- and it's a lot more tasty than a tablet!
Chicken soup
- Saute 1 medium onion in a little fat (butter lard, or oil) in a large sauce pan
- Add one stalk of celery and two cloves of chopped garlic
- When everything is soft and starting to get brown, put 2 cups of chicken broth, 1/4 cup of brown rice, and three cups of drinking water into the pan.
- Cook until the rice is soft
- Add one sliced carrot to the soup
- Cook until the carrot is soft
- Add one cup of chopped chicken and 1/2 cup of frozen peas and heat through
Now then, what about the other chicken meat?
How about a nice chicken salad?
Cut the leftover chicken into bite-sized chunks. Cut two apples into similar sized cubes and cut 1/2 cup of grapes in half. Toss them all together with a half cup of walnuts (or pecans) and add mayonnaise to taste. Serve it on lettuce leaves for lunch, maybe with a cup of 'almost instant' soup ... ooohhh, fancy. With very little work!
More uses for chicken broth
OK, so now you've had three meals from a single chicken - - and you still have a bunch of bone broth in the fridge. No need to eat chicken soup again, that broth can be used in any number of ways. If you think you might use it pretty quickly, you can leave it in the refrigerator. Otherwise, freeze it into 1 cup and ice cube sized servings to use over the next month or so.
So what else can you do with chicken broth?
- Use a cup of it plus water anywhere you would have used a can of broth
- Use a cup of it to make gravy (use where you used the drippings in the previous recipe)
- Add an ice cube sizes serving as a part of the water when you make rice
- Use an ice cube sized serving to saute vegetables in a stir fry
Put one cup of broth in a sauce pan. Add two cups of water, a quarter cup of small pasta or leftover rice, and a cup of frozen or leftover vegetables and whatever meat or beans you have on hand. When everything is heated through, add salt and pepper and serve. You can use anything in 'almost instant soup' so it's a great way to use up leftovers that don't feel like leftovers
Rod is also working on an article about how to make and use beef/pork/mutton broth, which is actually a staple of ours.
07 December 2008
Perfect sunday...
First choose a composer. We've been studying Beethoven, but this morning, it was Mozart. Put the CD on the stereo and start the music.
Next, set up a game of Great Composers and spend the morning running all over Europe (and all through time) learning tidbits about the lives of the best composers of Western culture.
Finally, stomp Mamma on *both* elements of winning the game by getting twice as many era cards and three extra composers.
Next, after stomping Mamma's butt, explain to her how easy the game is to win -- but don't explain how, just gloat.
Mamma thinks maybe it's time to take this game to the next level. The rule book is encyclopedic and we've been playing it with the most basic rules so far. Maybe it's time to move on up!
(On the other hand, it's nice to hear him identifying composers and talking so blithely about their lives and personalities.)
(On the other hand, it's nice to hear him identifying composers and talking so blithely about their lives and personalities.)
06 December 2008
Do your know your neighborhood's walking score?
I quite like this little web app I came across. 
It helps you to evaluate somewhat objectively how walkable a neighborhood is.
This is a fun app to explore your current home and the homes of your friends -- and it may turn up some surprises. (It can turn up small establishments down a side street you had never explored. Who knew we had so many shops within a mile of our house?!?!)
But it really comes into its own of you want to relocate!
Of course, it can't be completely objective. It's a web app. It thinks a gas station food mart is a grocery store and a coffee roaster in an industrial neighborhood is a coffee shop. It also doesn't take into account sidewalk access, traffic speed, or the challenge of getting across bodies of water sand expressways, so you would still have to go and look. But it's one more tool. And overall, it does seem to do pretty well.
While you're over there, you might also want to check out their blog. It's full of news and you can come away with a whole new understanding of why all this matters.
It helps you to evaluate somewhat objectively how walkable a neighborhood is.
This is a fun app to explore your current home and the homes of your friends -- and it may turn up some surprises. (It can turn up small establishments down a side street you had never explored. Who knew we had so many shops within a mile of our house?!?!)
But it really comes into its own of you want to relocate!
Of course, it can't be completely objective. It's a web app. It thinks a gas station food mart is a grocery store and a coffee roaster in an industrial neighborhood is a coffee shop. It also doesn't take into account sidewalk access, traffic speed, or the challenge of getting across bodies of water sand expressways, so you would still have to go and look. But it's one more tool. And overall, it does seem to do pretty well.
While you're over there, you might also want to check out their blog. It's full of news and you can come away with a whole new understanding of why all this matters.
Woo hoo!
You mostly can't see it falling in this picture -- but you can see the accumulation starting!
It's snowing!
04 December 2008
Maybe the tide is turning...
Maybe the "year of deaths" is coming to an end.
I have just realized that two of my friends are expecting miracle granddaughters. Both are due on my friend, Mark's, birthday.
I like this a lot better.
I have just realized that two of my friends are expecting miracle granddaughters. Both are due on my friend, Mark's, birthday.
I like this a lot better.
03 December 2008
Games
It's just amazing to me how fast children's minds develop.
Jack took an interest in chess in early October. He is now crazy for almost any game that involves thinking hard or pushing plastic pieces all over a board. He loves chess best of all but he likes Checkers, The Great Composers (in which one chases all over Europe following the world's greatest musical minds on tour and learning little details about their lives) and Sorry. He still plays Mancala eagerly, and is absolutely crazy for battleship.
The thing is, he was very vague on the idea of "rules" as recently as August. He played by rote and imitated moves he learned from Dad that he thought would help him win, and he seemed to enjoy it, but there wasn't a lot of thinking going on.
These days, he is working hard to understand his games on a whole new level, and Rod says that he actually has to work at chess to keep from getting stomped.
He still thinks like a five-year old, though. I played Sorry with him at the library a couple of weeks ago and he came *that* close to stomping me minutes into the game -- I opened my mouth to say something but he rolled the dice and quickly moved the piece past its starting point, effectively starting over with that piece. I decided to see how long it would take him to notice.
It did, after all, extend the game and I figured that was fun, too.
Well, he was only one move behind me when I slid my last piece into "home" and only then did it occur to him what had happened. He decided then and there that he's not very good at Sorry, and we have talked about it many times since. I keep explaining to him that we all make mistakes -- especially when we're doing something that we think of as "easy", but that actually requires that we pay attention. We've talked about the times outside of games when that happens, and I think he gets it. Maybe.
We don't have a game of Sorry here (and we won't if Rod has any voice in the matter) so I don't know whether I have gotten through to him. We'll see on our next trip to the library.
Another interesting point is that while I am NOT a gamer and I don't actually enjoy them much, thanks to Rod I am able to play the occasional game with Jack.
I can enjoy the soothing rhythms of a game as long as the competition doesn't get too fierce and Rod has been working with me to help Jack to understand that different people play games differently and that while he and Dad enjoy a cutthroat competition, I don't. Jack is now able to play without (too much) crowing about winning and aggressive competition when he plays with me and turn right around and go for blood when his Dad sits down. That's a good skill for a guy who loves games like Jack does. He'll find it easier to find people to game with if he can adapt his play to the other players in the game! (I'm sure I am not the only one in the world who won't play at all if the other player figures it's a waste of time if there is no blood on the floor at the end of the match.)
The signs of new maturity are showing up in his reasoning, too, in ways that have Rod and I shaking our heads in wonder. There was so much we missed the first time because we were so busy with the hurly burly of growing up ourselves. Wow...
Jack took an interest in chess in early October. He is now crazy for almost any game that involves thinking hard or pushing plastic pieces all over a board. He loves chess best of all but he likes Checkers, The Great Composers (in which one chases all over Europe following the world's greatest musical minds on tour and learning little details about their lives) and Sorry. He still plays Mancala eagerly, and is absolutely crazy for battleship.The thing is, he was very vague on the idea of "rules" as recently as August. He played by rote and imitated moves he learned from Dad that he thought would help him win, and he seemed to enjoy it, but there wasn't a lot of thinking going on.
These days, he is working hard to understand his games on a whole new level, and Rod says that he actually has to work at chess to keep from getting stomped.
He still thinks like a five-year old, though. I played Sorry with him at the library a couple of weeks ago and he came *that* close to stomping me minutes into the game -- I opened my mouth to say something but he rolled the dice and quickly moved the piece past its starting point, effectively starting over with that piece. I decided to see how long it would take him to notice.
It did, after all, extend the game and I figured that was fun, too.
Well, he was only one move behind me when I slid my last piece into "home" and only then did it occur to him what had happened. He decided then and there that he's not very good at Sorry, and we have talked about it many times since. I keep explaining to him that we all make mistakes -- especially when we're doing something that we think of as "easy", but that actually requires that we pay attention. We've talked about the times outside of games when that happens, and I think he gets it. Maybe.
We don't have a game of Sorry here (and we won't if Rod has any voice in the matter) so I don't know whether I have gotten through to him. We'll see on our next trip to the library.
Another interesting point is that while I am NOT a gamer and I don't actually enjoy them much, thanks to Rod I am able to play the occasional game with Jack.
I can enjoy the soothing rhythms of a game as long as the competition doesn't get too fierce and Rod has been working with me to help Jack to understand that different people play games differently and that while he and Dad enjoy a cutthroat competition, I don't. Jack is now able to play without (too much) crowing about winning and aggressive competition when he plays with me and turn right around and go for blood when his Dad sits down. That's a good skill for a guy who loves games like Jack does. He'll find it easier to find people to game with if he can adapt his play to the other players in the game! (I'm sure I am not the only one in the world who won't play at all if the other player figures it's a waste of time if there is no blood on the floor at the end of the match.)
The signs of new maturity are showing up in his reasoning, too, in ways that have Rod and I shaking our heads in wonder. There was so much we missed the first time because we were so busy with the hurly burly of growing up ourselves. Wow...
02 December 2008
Jhärtkorgar
Well, I did it.
I got all 70 Yule cards made by the first of December. The overseas cards are on their way and we'll wait a few more days to get the US cards out.
We never did get a holiday photo made and with all of us so sick, it seems unlikely that we will be able to before it gets silly to try to hold the cards. So no one gets a holiday family photo this year. Oh well. I'm sure we'll get one if we get to go to Sweden this year.
So now the cards are done (I didn't get a chance to photograph them ... I was still crafting away while we started the preparation and mailing process. Again, oh well. I did some for Bella and Leo that I thought came out cute, so maybe I can get a photo of those once the glitter and glue dries.)
With the flu lurking, cookies don't seem like a great idea, so since Stephanie has my imagination racing with her tres cool adventures with her kids, Jack and I have moved on. Last night we made Jhärtkorgar, a traditional Swedish Solstice decoration. Traditionally, they are filled with small treats and hung on the tree though since we don't do a tree, ours will hang from strings somewhere.
I am thinking we may move on to paper garlands and banners...and once my head clears, perhaps to a three dimensional paper snowflake...
And now, while I am not entirely better, it is time for me to get into the shower and back to work. For at least a part of the day.
(Oh, and my young guest blogger was over the moon that people responded to his first post! Thank you, Miss Karen, thank you Mr. Mark!) Of course, he insisted on posting again...and as far as I am concerned any writing is good writing. He dictates, of course. He'd have to concentrate too hard of he was also typing and he'd be done after two words. But this helps him to starting exercising his ability to pull his thoughts together.)
Edited to add, my goodness. It was pretty obvious that I was feverisah when I wrote this. My apologies!
I got all 70 Yule cards made by the first of December. The overseas cards are on their way and we'll wait a few more days to get the US cards out.
We never did get a holiday photo made and with all of us so sick, it seems unlikely that we will be able to before it gets silly to try to hold the cards. So no one gets a holiday family photo this year. Oh well. I'm sure we'll get one if we get to go to Sweden this year.
With the flu lurking, cookies don't seem like a great idea, so since Stephanie has my imagination racing with her tres cool adventures with her kids, Jack and I have moved on. Last night we made Jhärtkorgar, a traditional Swedish Solstice decoration. Traditionally, they are filled with small treats and hung on the tree though since we don't do a tree, ours will hang from strings somewhere.
I am thinking we may move on to paper garlands and banners...and once my head clears, perhaps to a three dimensional paper snowflake...
And now, while I am not entirely better, it is time for me to get into the shower and back to work. For at least a part of the day.
(Oh, and my young guest blogger was over the moon that people responded to his first post! Thank you, Miss Karen, thank you Mr. Mark!) Of course, he insisted on posting again...and as far as I am concerned any writing is good writing. He dictates, of course. He'd have to concentrate too hard of he was also typing and he'd be done after two words. But this helps him to starting exercising his ability to pull his thoughts together.)
Edited to add, my goodness. It was pretty obvious that I was feverisah when I wrote this. My apologies!
01 December 2008
Isaac and his submarine experiment
Don't use up too many empty bottles if you want to do a submarine experiment!
Unless you put a lemon peel submarine into a jar full of water and cut out a balloon circle.
How to set up the experiment:
1) You fill a tub up with water
2) You put the bottle in the tub
3) You breathe in and the water goes higher and higher (or maybe it doesn't at all)
4) You breathe out and it goes down, down, down, down, down... (or maybe it doesn't at all)
issac!
Unless you put a lemon peel submarine into a jar full of water and cut out a balloon circle.
How to set up the experiment:
1) You fill a tub up with water
2) You put the bottle in the tub
3) You breathe in and the water goes higher and higher (or maybe it doesn't at all)
4) You breathe out and it goes down, down, down, down, down... (or maybe it doesn't at all)
issac!
30 November 2008
Chez Team Waffles
by jack
Don't overcook your waffles because overcooking your waffles is too stupid because then you can't eat it and it's too bad not to be able to eat your waffles.
How to make waffles: You need to gather up sugar, milk, baking soda, olive oil, and I forgot the rest but you can find out in the Joy of Cooking book.
You put the ingredient into one bowl and pour the ingredients into another bowl. That's all.
Isaac
Don't overcook your waffles because overcooking your waffles is too stupid because then you can't eat it and it's too bad not to be able to eat your waffles.
How to make waffles: You need to gather up sugar, milk, baking soda, olive oil, and I forgot the rest but you can find out in the Joy of Cooking book.
You put the ingredient into one bowl and pour the ingredients into another bowl. That's all.
Isaac
29 November 2008
Rod is so patient
OK, Jack's croup has turned into the flu for three.
I feel awful and so does the rest of the family. Unlike my guys, though, I am a whiner.
In the interest of keeping me amused, Rod let me play with hair while he and Jack watched a video on my computer. It kept me amused enough to stop whining, after all.
I love his hair...such a pretty colour. Kind of like dark honey.
I feel awful and so does the rest of the family. Unlike my guys, though, I am a whiner.
In the interest of keeping me amused, Rod let me play with hair while he and Jack watched a video on my computer. It kept me amused enough to stop whining, after all.
I love his hair...such a pretty colour. Kind of like dark honey.
28 November 2008
Forty three and counting...
I didn't get started until late today, nonetheless I have gotten to 43 cards completed.
Y'know, this might just work.
Y'know, this might just work.
27 November 2008
Why we eat the way we do
"You still won't live forever, you know!"
Yeah, we know. What we eat won't allow us to live forever. There isn't even any real assurance that we'll live a moment longer, regardless of how we eat.
So, why are we so careful about what we eat? What makes it worth our while to seek out high-quality, local grass fed meats, milk and eggs, and organic, locally grown biodynamic vegetables? Why do we grind our own organic flour, bake our own bread, drink raw milk, and try to stay away from what our family refers to as "plastic foods"? (Refined and processed foods, hydrogenated fats, corn syrups, sulfates, MSG, sprayed on vitamins, genetically modified food products, and the like.)
As we have said, we don't necessarily think it will help us to "live forever" and it certainly isn't to save money. Biodynamic vegetables and grass fed meats are more expensive. Fresh foods are often more expensive than canned and processed foods.
Second, of course is taste. I have thought of myself as a "foodie" for decades. I love good food, I love to cook and I love to eat. Biodynamic vegetables just taste wonderful! Grass fed milk and meat and pastured eggs have a depth of flavour that is just amazing. They taste like the foods I ate as a child!
Yeah, we know. What we eat won't allow us to live forever. There isn't even any real assurance that we'll live a moment longer, regardless of how we eat.
So, why are we so careful about what we eat? What makes it worth our while to seek out high-quality, local grass fed meats, milk and eggs, and organic, locally grown biodynamic vegetables? Why do we grind our own organic flour, bake our own bread, drink raw milk, and try to stay away from what our family refers to as "plastic foods"? (Refined and processed foods, hydrogenated fats, corn syrups, sulfates, MSG, sprayed on vitamins, genetically modified food products, and the like.)
As we have said, we don't necessarily think it will help us to "live forever" and it certainly isn't to save money. Biodynamic vegetables and grass fed meats are more expensive. Fresh foods are often more expensive than canned and processed foods.
So then,...why?
First and foremost has to be overall health.
Rod can't eat commercially produced meats and milk. Those seem to be largely responsible for the downturn in his health since he arrived in America, or perhaps more correctly, for his inability to recover from setbacks to his health that come with aging. Within a year of arriving, he found that his blood pressure had sky-rocketed, injuries that he sustained weren't healing, and his energy levels and ability to focus had fallen through the floor.
I had been more interested in vegetarian cuisine (though I wasn't entirely vegetarian) before Rod's arrival, but he is a dedicated omnivore and so we ate more meats together than I had before. The switch to larger amounts of meat had some effect on my health, too.
When we realized what meat was doing to us, we tried more vegetarian foods and while some of Rod's health issues changed, they didn't resolve entirely. The obvious next plan was to try foods more like what his body was accustomed to. Grass fed, antibiotic free meat was still the standard in Australia, so that's what we tried. Rod's ability to bounce back has improved dramatically.
While we don't expect to live any longer, we do hope to be as healthy as we can be, to be strong and hale enough for as long as we live to live productively and to continue to make a contribution to the world. (I sometimes joke that my goal is to leave the healthiest corpse the coroner has ever seen. )
Rod can't eat commercially produced meats and milk. Those seem to be largely responsible for the downturn in his health since he arrived in America, or perhaps more correctly, for his inability to recover from setbacks to his health that come with aging. Within a year of arriving, he found that his blood pressure had sky-rocketed, injuries that he sustained weren't healing, and his energy levels and ability to focus had fallen through the floor.
I had been more interested in vegetarian cuisine (though I wasn't entirely vegetarian) before Rod's arrival, but he is a dedicated omnivore and so we ate more meats together than I had before. The switch to larger amounts of meat had some effect on my health, too.
When we realized what meat was doing to us, we tried more vegetarian foods and while some of Rod's health issues changed, they didn't resolve entirely. The obvious next plan was to try foods more like what his body was accustomed to. Grass fed, antibiotic free meat was still the standard in Australia, so that's what we tried. Rod's ability to bounce back has improved dramatically.
While we don't expect to live any longer, we do hope to be as healthy as we can be, to be strong and hale enough for as long as we live to live productively and to continue to make a contribution to the world. (I sometimes joke that my goal is to leave the healthiest corpse the coroner has ever seen. )
Second, of course is taste. I have thought of myself as a "foodie" for decades. I love good food, I love to cook and I love to eat. Biodynamic vegetables just taste wonderful! Grass fed milk and meat and pastured eggs have a depth of flavour that is just amazing. They taste like the foods I ate as a child!
Bio dynamic vegetables and fruits are raised based on the idea that flavor and nutrition are imparted to the food by the living processes within the organism. Those foods that taste best to to the unjaded human pallette are most appealing because they are the freshest and offer the most dense nutrition. Modern food production tries to replace this living flavour (reduced by chemical fertilizers and mostly removed by hyper-processing) with magical chemicals that imitate natural flavor, but since we have adjusted our palette to natural foods, the chemical imitators taste just nasty.
Third, the way we eat reflects our belief that eating is a political act.
By choosing locally grown bio-dynamically produced vegetables and grass-fed, pastured animal products, we can opt out of the industrial agribusiness model that has been closing down small independent farms for decades. We can support a more humane way of raising food animals, in which the animals live a happy life, true to its species, before becoming our prey, rather than spending short lives of malnourished misery in conditions that transform our farming facilities to prisons and death camps.
In choosing locally grown foods, we support our neighbors and we develop a relationship with the people who grow our food. We can know exactly where our food comes from and exactly how it's grown, because if we have a question, we can ask the farmer. If we have a doubt, we can visit the farm to discuss our concerns.
In eating locally and avoiding grain-fed animals, we reduce the amount of petroleum involved in our food supply and reduce the amount of chemical pollution in our waterways and air.
We also reduce the impact of our omnivorous ways on the world. When cows eat grass, when chickens eat bugs and seeds and grass, when sheep eat what they find in the fields, when pigs can forage, when our prey eats what they're supposed to eat, the grains our farmers grow can go directly into the human food supply in their traditional forms. When animals range over the land, their waste is returned to the land to act as a natural fertilizer for the grasses and herbs growing there rather than being washed into, and poisoning, our waterways and as a bonus no chemical fertilizers are required to grow their food.
There are lots of good reasons to eat the way we do, but it is more expensive. Since we are also living on one moderate income, we have made some accommodations to our meals to reduce the amount we have to spend for our healthier diet. We work to wring every last drop of value out of our food by making broths from the part of the vegetables we don't serve and from the bones left after a meal. Those broths become the basis of flavour in our cooking, as the basis of all of our soups and sauces and to add a new richness to our grains. They are truly amazing tasting and they add to the sense of "fullness" that comes with eating nourishuing food. Even better, because our food is highly nourished as it grows, the broths are a rich source of additional nutrients themselves.
One unexpected side-effect of preparing highly nutritious meals is that we find that we are eating a lot less food than we once did. Rod's need for the nutrients in meat is largely satisfied by bone broth in an otherwise vegetarian meal and a casserole that would once have served us for a meal now serve us for two or three.
There are a lot of reasons for our food choices, but I think it can be summed up by the philosophical statement that eating the way we do supports the principle of wholeness and wellness that we try to make central to everything we do. And it tastes good.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
26 November 2008
And now, the santa suit is almost done
Miss Karen is still working on the belt and beard and plans to mail them to us this weekend. (She lives near flint - a good hour from here, making it even more amazing that she makes the trip as often as she does!) 
I think you can see from the unretouched photo at the top that Jack wasn't feeling well last night, but he sure is excited with his costume. The retouching on the other two only mutes the roughened red mouth but doesn't entirely hide it and I didn't try to remove the circles under his eyes. (I love Picassa's new features!)
But then the poor kid woke up barking this morning and very confused. He came into the bath while I was showering with tears streaming down his face and barely able to talk. I eventually sorted out that he had awakened 'alone in the bed' and gone in search of his Dad, who was not in any of the usually places. Fortunately I was almost done with my shower, so I was able to wrap up in towels and pick his up and carry him off in search of Dad.
We started in the bedroom, and sure enough, there he was, fast asleep. I'm not sure why Jack 'couldn't find him' and neither was Jack. Rod was astonished that Jack didn't hear the CPAP, though since I am rarely aware of it, either, I was less surprised.
I was able to tuck a now much calmer in beside his Dad and go finish getting dressed for work, but it became clear that Jack's loss of ability to speak wasn't from panic. Every time he tried to talk, he started to cough with a deep, barking cough. Once I was dressed, we headed down to the kitchen, where I made my boy-budgie a nice cup of medicine tea!
Jack has taken lots of naps today and was asleep when I got home from work, which is why I can blog in the evening.
Now that Jack has the croup, our holiday long weekend suddenly looks very quiet.
I think I will manage to get the cards done after all -- and maybe even get a good start on the 12 dozen cookies I hope to get made in the next three weeks!
We may hold off on the feast a few days, too, since croup is reputed to reduce a child's appetite and that seems true of Jack, too, if today is any indication. After all, there is no reason we have to stick to the traditional day.
As much as I love our friends and look forward to seeing them all, I have to say that I am delighted to have several quiet days in a row to just hang out with my boys.
Maybe we can even get over to Cafe Luwak for breakfast when they open again, if Jack is feeling better.
(I don't know yet whether Jack has a three day croup or a seven day croup. I am betting on the briefer one, because he usually isn't sick as long as a lot of other kids other kids.)
Time to go wrestle a 17 pound bird into a salt bath...
I think you can see from the unretouched photo at the top that Jack wasn't feeling well last night, but he sure is excited with his costume. The retouching on the other two only mutes the roughened red mouth but doesn't entirely hide it and I didn't try to remove the circles under his eyes. (I love Picassa's new features!)
But then the poor kid woke up barking this morning and very confused. He came into the bath while I was showering with tears streaming down his face and barely able to talk. I eventually sorted out that he had awakened 'alone in the bed' and gone in search of his Dad, who was not in any of the usually places. Fortunately I was almost done with my shower, so I was able to wrap up in towels and pick his up and carry him off in search of Dad.
We started in the bedroom, and sure enough, there he was, fast asleep. I'm not sure why Jack 'couldn't find him' and neither was Jack. Rod was astonished that Jack didn't hear the CPAP, though since I am rarely aware of it, either, I was less surprised.
I was able to tuck a now much calmer in beside his Dad and go finish getting dressed for work, but it became clear that Jack's loss of ability to speak wasn't from panic. Every time he tried to talk, he started to cough with a deep, barking cough. Once I was dressed, we headed down to the kitchen, where I made my boy-budgie a nice cup of medicine tea!
Jack has taken lots of naps today and was asleep when I got home from work, which is why I can blog in the evening.
Now that Jack has the croup, our holiday long weekend suddenly looks very quiet.
I think I will manage to get the cards done after all -- and maybe even get a good start on the 12 dozen cookies I hope to get made in the next three weeks!
We may hold off on the feast a few days, too, since croup is reputed to reduce a child's appetite and that seems true of Jack, too, if today is any indication. After all, there is no reason we have to stick to the traditional day.
As much as I love our friends and look forward to seeing them all, I have to say that I am delighted to have several quiet days in a row to just hang out with my boys.
Maybe we can even get over to Cafe Luwak for breakfast when they open again, if Jack is feeling better.
(I don't know yet whether Jack has a three day croup or a seven day croup. I am betting on the briefer one, because he usually isn't sick as long as a lot of other kids other kids.)
Time to go wrestle a 17 pound bird into a salt bath...
25 November 2008
What we've been up to...
Rod and I, as I have mentioned, have been sort of assisting with trying to get Red Barn Lunches off the ground. Our latest contribution was helping to start the web page off.
After hours and hours of work, it still looks pretty much like a prototype -- and not a really great one at that. We aren't web developers, nor do we play one on TV. We warned the principles of that, and they have a professional lined up to take our mock up and make it look like something. It does, however, give more of an idea of what the project is about.
Jack and I have finished reading the Three Musketeers at bedtime. It was in some pretty archaic and challenging English, so was surprised that it held his attention for most of the book, but it did (except wen he asked me to skip ahead and leave Milady behind and find D'Artagnan again. Her machinations just weren't all that exciting - -though he was appalled when he later discovered that she had killed the Duke and he missed it. He was much relieved that he hadn't missed a sword battle. )
And now we're reading The Book of Three. Mamma is relieved by the less tongue-tangling language, though it's not as pretty.
I guess my sweet baby has become a swashbuckling boy when I wasn't looking...
Work continues on any number of crafts -- Miss Karen will be over today to finish up the Santa suit, and then we'll work on Yule/Christmas cards. (She taught me to make a pop-up card -- is that cool, or what?!?!?)
I am closing in on the halfway point on the card designs, some more elaborate than others, but I am very pleased not to have one design that "obviously" has to be for the Grandmas -- so many of them are things I like enough to make them "the one:"! A nice twist. I guess enough practice makes it easier. I'll post some photos as soon as I manage to get them off the camera.
(I think these pictures are so funny! My friend, Calesta, took them at her son Alex's pirate birthday party. I cropped Alex out of courtesy, since I didn't have permission to mpost pictures of him and wasn't goig to call at 6am to ask.)
After hours and hours of work, it still looks pretty much like a prototype -- and not a really great one at that. We aren't web developers, nor do we play one on TV. We warned the principles of that, and they have a professional lined up to take our mock up and make it look like something. It does, however, give more of an idea of what the project is about.
And now we're reading The Book of Three. Mamma is relieved by the less tongue-tangling language, though it's not as pretty.
I guess my sweet baby has become a swashbuckling boy when I wasn't looking...
I am closing in on the halfway point on the card designs, some more elaborate than others, but I am very pleased not to have one design that "obviously" has to be for the Grandmas -- so many of them are things I like enough to make them "the one:"! A nice twist. I guess enough practice makes it easier. I'll post some photos as soon as I manage to get them off the camera.
(I think these pictures are so funny! My friend, Calesta, took them at her son Alex's pirate birthday party. I cropped Alex out of courtesy, since I didn't have permission to mpost pictures of him and wasn't goig to call at 6am to ask.)
24 November 2008
Wow...just, wow
I don't know how reputable 20/20 is anymore, but there were pretty good when I watched them regularly decades ago.
This is a 40 minutes analysis of the public schools. It clearly has a pro-voucher agenda, but the argument are pretty persuasive that *something* has to be done. The immense popularity of charter schools, private schools, and home schooling suggest that at least some schools *are* this bad, and honestly, my experience with schools in two generations suggest that 20/20 isn't exaggerating as much as we might wish.
What do you think?
(Thanks, Michelle)
This is a 40 minutes analysis of the public schools. It clearly has a pro-voucher agenda, but the argument are pretty persuasive that *something* has to be done. The immense popularity of charter schools, private schools, and home schooling suggest that at least some schools *are* this bad, and honestly, my experience with schools in two generations suggest that 20/20 isn't exaggerating as much as we might wish.
What do you think?
(Thanks, Michelle)
21 November 2008
The making of Santa...
As I think I mentioned at some point, Jack's beloved Miss Karen offered to make him a Santa suit, since he's outgrown last year's elf suit (and declared himself "too big" to be an elf now).
I had no idea I would learn so much!
First, Karen started with a measuring tape, a roll of paper, and a wriggling boy and showed me how to create a pattern.
Next, we used the paper pattern to make a muslin mock up to make sure it was going to fit. We just pinned it and make sure it would fit, but I will sew it together this weekend to try my hand at sewing and then Jack and I will decorate the coat into some other costume for his collection.
Meanwhile, none of this (other than being measured) was very interesting to a young man who wasn't allwoed to use the sewing machine or the circle cutter or the pins. Jack is pretty much used to being able to work alongside me whatever I'm doing. (One advantage of a low tech lifestyle) and he was very frustrated to keep hearing "no".
So, thanks to Stephanie, I had a GREAT idea! Jack and I made mittens for the grandmothers from the Santa suit scraps! (Now we can hope our Grandma and Mormor don't stop by here before these arrive in the mail!)
I had no idea I would learn so much!
First, Karen started with a measuring tape, a roll of paper, and a wriggling boy and showed me how to create a pattern.
So, thanks to Stephanie, I had a GREAT idea! Jack and I made mittens for the grandmothers from the Santa suit scraps! (Now we can hope our Grandma and Mormor don't stop by here before these arrive in the mail!)
(Thanks, Stephanie -- this isn't the only great idea I'm borrowing for gifts this year -- you are amazing!)
Jack is sure that his need to hang from the fingertips. I will grant him that it looks pretty -- but I have to figure out how to get the ribbon in now... I am happy to put the ribbon at the wrist after I stuff it.
Of course, all this is taking a lot of crafting time and so my cards are falling way behind -- one more week: yikes! But we're having a blast! I will try to get some action photos next week when we get together to (I hope) finish the costume. (Karen is, believe it or not, making SANTA BOOTS! for the costume!! Wow!)
Of course, all this is taking a lot of crafting time and so my cards are falling way behind -- one more week: yikes! But we're having a blast! I will try to get some action photos next week when we get together to (I hope) finish the costume. (Karen is, believe it or not, making SANTA BOOTS! for the costume!! Wow!)
19 November 2008
Glorious weekends
Lately we have been having those weekends I daydream about when life gets just way too stressful and hectic...
Most Saturday mornings, Rod does life-drawing.
Usually, Jack and I hang around in our pajamas and waste half a day doing "not very much" until Rod gets home around 1 p.m. and then our day begins -- usually rushing off somewhere.
A couple of minutes, er months ago now, you know, when it was late summer, the friends of the library was having a special sale, and I wanted to pick up something at Michael's for my latest scrapbook page, so Jack and I decided that we get ready and we'd go with Rod, drop him off, and then run errands.
Rod made a lovely soaked porridge (he's been doing a LOT of that lately) and we ate breakfast together, and then we took turns showering and dressing. Jack asked "are you going to work?" because that's our week morning routine. He was delighted that I wasn't. Ahh, sweet children.
We all hopped in the car with all Jack's library books and off we went. We dropped Rod off at University, where the artists gather on Saturday morning.
Next, Jack and I went to Micheal's and bought some silk flowers (even at full price they are far cheaper than Prima flowers -- that week, they were 50% off. A real bargain! I got enough on two stems to last for a year or more!) Oddly, it wasn't hard to find what we wanted and move on. (I usually end up wandering endlessly at Micheal's, overwhelmed by all the choices.)
Next stop, the library, where we dropped off Jack's older library books and then we fought our way through the throngs to find a bag full of books, only to discover that the special price I read about was on *Sunday*. The prices were exactly the same as they are every day at the Friends of the Library book shop but the crowds were horrendous. Oh well -- that's still an amazing price, and as it turned out we coincidentally ended up getting roughly the same price as I expected. The crowds are far smaller at the everyday book shop, so I think we'll stick with that -- but we did find a few very nice books. Then, Jack wanted to get some more books to check out.
Once we had our books, we were hungry and thirsty, so we stopped by the food co-op to pick up snacks and drinks and we walked to a nearby park to munch and chat while waiting for time to pick Dad up. We ended up having a blast, watching people and critters, reading and talking and exploring.
Once we picked up Rod, we headed out to visit Mark for a while and then we ended up back at the park where we relaxed as a family, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. Rod did some more sketching, Jack and I went noticing, and we all did a whole lot of nothing. It was bliss.
Sunday was just as good. We woke up late and prepared for ritual that afternoon. Sunday afternoon rituals don't seem to involve pot lucks in the way that Friday evening ones inevitably do, and that makes it a lot easier to get ready. We took our time and wandered off to the ritual, just on time.
Another weekend, we had to drop the car off to get repaired. Now that we're down to one car, that posed a puzzler. However, our mechanic is only a few miles down the road, so I suggested that we could go for a walk -- and we did. First thing Saturday morning, we all hopped in the car and drove over to the mechanic. Then we spent the remainder of the morning walking home by a meandering path.
It's amazing what you learn about an urban environment you think you know when you take the time to walk it. We found all kinds of treasures along the road, discovered a "hidey hole" that looked like a secret clubhouse (and probably was, and it's probably just as well it was uninhabited when we passed by, but nonetheless it was very intresting and appealing in daylight!) We noticed businesses and former businesses that we had never noticed before, and got a chnace to examine architecture and speculate about the history of the area. When we got home, we were all happily tired, so we sat down at our computers for a bit, and then we had a meal and headed off to get the car. We decided that two such walks in one day weren't necessary, so Rod checked the online schedule and then we walked out to the main road where the city bus makes it eastern most Region 2 stop, and got off the bus in a neighborhood a few blocks from the mechanic.
Last weekend was, perhaps, the most blissful of all. I never left the house at all -- unless you count a trip to the compost heap and a swing past the mail box. On Saturday, Jack threw an "I love my friends" party.
As regular readers know, for many reasons, we celebrate our birthdays together with a family adventure. Jack enjoys that, but after years of going to other people's birthday parties he had begun to get the idea that it being the host of a party would be a lot of fun.
So, we planned an "I love my friends" party for his "half-birthday"! We made personalized invitations to invited 12 of Jack's closest friends. I asked all the mommies to bring a (new or used, but cheap) kids book wrapped up as a present. We brought in a big dinosaur cake from the bakery and some of the largest helium ballons I have ever seen -- one for each kid! We carried in the cake and sang the friends song (Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold) and everyone, from the youngest up, chose a present to open. We had music and popcorn and cookies hot from the oven. We covered a long table with butcher paper and everyone coloured and drew on it, we had a Little People diorama on another long table across the room for lots more play. But mostly it was a play date with cake and balloons. The kids did what kids do -- and periodically all of them would barrel out into the yard to chase each other around, hollering for ten minutes and then come barrelling back in. It was a hoot! Perhaps because all the familiar party elements were there, but there was no stress, all of the the children were beautifull behaved the whole time. Then again, more likely, we were just lucky to have a great groups of kids.
OK, I have been trying to finish this post for a week. It's still not done, but I am way behind time to hop in the shower, so I am going to post it anyway. (Did I ever get around to maiking a point?)
I'll try to write again soo -- there is, needless to say, so much to tell...!
Most Saturday mornings, Rod does life-drawing.Usually, Jack and I hang around in our pajamas and waste half a day doing "not very much" until Rod gets home around 1 p.m. and then our day begins -- usually rushing off somewhere.
A couple of minutes, er months ago now, you know, when it was late summer, the friends of the library was having a special sale, and I wanted to pick up something at Michael's for my latest scrapbook page, so Jack and I decided that we get ready and we'd go with Rod, drop him off, and then run errands.
Rod made a lovely soaked porridge (he's been doing a LOT of that lately) and we ate breakfast together, and then we took turns showering and dressing. Jack asked "are you going to work?" because that's our week morning routine. He was delighted that I wasn't. Ahh, sweet children.
We all hopped in the car with all Jack's library books and off we went. We dropped Rod off at University, where the artists gather on Saturday morning.
Next, Jack and I went to Micheal's and bought some silk flowers (even at full price they are far cheaper than Prima flowers -- that week, they were 50% off. A real bargain! I got enough on two stems to last for a year or more!) Oddly, it wasn't hard to find what we wanted and move on. (I usually end up wandering endlessly at Micheal's, overwhelmed by all the choices.)
Next stop, the library, where we dropped off Jack's older library books and then we fought our way through the throngs to find a bag full of books, only to discover that the special price I read about was on *Sunday*. The prices were exactly the same as they are every day at the Friends of the Library book shop but the crowds were horrendous. Oh well -- that's still an amazing price, and as it turned out we coincidentally ended up getting roughly the same price as I expected. The crowds are far smaller at the everyday book shop, so I think we'll stick with that -- but we did find a few very nice books. Then, Jack wanted to get some more books to check out.
Once we had our books, we were hungry and thirsty, so we stopped by the food co-op to pick up snacks and drinks and we walked to a nearby park to munch and chat while waiting for time to pick Dad up. We ended up having a blast, watching people and critters, reading and talking and exploring.
Once we picked up Rod, we headed out to visit Mark for a while and then we ended up back at the park where we relaxed as a family, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. Rod did some more sketching, Jack and I went noticing, and we all did a whole lot of nothing. It was bliss.
Sunday was just as good. We woke up late and prepared for ritual that afternoon. Sunday afternoon rituals don't seem to involve pot lucks in the way that Friday evening ones inevitably do, and that makes it a lot easier to get ready. We took our time and wandered off to the ritual, just on time.
Another weekend, we had to drop the car off to get repaired. Now that we're down to one car, that posed a puzzler. However, our mechanic is only a few miles down the road, so I suggested that we could go for a walk -- and we did. First thing Saturday morning, we all hopped in the car and drove over to the mechanic. Then we spent the remainder of the morning walking home by a meandering path.
It's amazing what you learn about an urban environment you think you know when you take the time to walk it. We found all kinds of treasures along the road, discovered a "hidey hole" that looked like a secret clubhouse (and probably was, and it's probably just as well it was uninhabited when we passed by, but nonetheless it was very intresting and appealing in daylight!) We noticed businesses and former businesses that we had never noticed before, and got a chnace to examine architecture and speculate about the history of the area. When we got home, we were all happily tired, so we sat down at our computers for a bit, and then we had a meal and headed off to get the car. We decided that two such walks in one day weren't necessary, so Rod checked the online schedule and then we walked out to the main road where the city bus makes it eastern most Region 2 stop, and got off the bus in a neighborhood a few blocks from the mechanic.
Last weekend was, perhaps, the most blissful of all. I never left the house at all -- unless you count a trip to the compost heap and a swing past the mail box. On Saturday, Jack threw an "I love my friends" party.
As regular readers know, for many reasons, we celebrate our birthdays together with a family adventure. Jack enjoys that, but after years of going to other people's birthday parties he had begun to get the idea that it being the host of a party would be a lot of fun.
So, we planned an "I love my friends" party for his "half-birthday"! We made personalized invitations to invited 12 of Jack's closest friends. I asked all the mommies to bring a (new or used, but cheap) kids book wrapped up as a present. We brought in a big dinosaur cake from the bakery and some of the largest helium ballons I have ever seen -- one for each kid! We carried in the cake and sang the friends song (Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold) and everyone, from the youngest up, chose a present to open. We had music and popcorn and cookies hot from the oven. We covered a long table with butcher paper and everyone coloured and drew on it, we had a Little People diorama on another long table across the room for lots more play. But mostly it was a play date with cake and balloons. The kids did what kids do -- and periodically all of them would barrel out into the yard to chase each other around, hollering for ten minutes and then come barrelling back in. It was a hoot! Perhaps because all the familiar party elements were there, but there was no stress, all of the the children were beautifull behaved the whole time. Then again, more likely, we were just lucky to have a great groups of kids.
OK, I have been trying to finish this post for a week. It's still not done, but I am way behind time to hop in the shower, so I am going to post it anyway. (Did I ever get around to maiking a point?)
I'll try to write again soo -- there is, needless to say, so much to tell...!
17 November 2008
Interesting...
Hey, folks...
I am sorry there hasn't been a real post in so long. It's that season when if i am going to make Yule cards then I have to work on them pretty constantly. (Our list is 70 this year and that takes some doing...)
And then, out of the blue, Jack's beloved Miss Karen offered to make him a Santa suit ... and so I have been learning how to craft a pattern from scratch and helping to make the suit. Of course, my help means that things have to be done over from time to time, but Karen has been very patient.
Anyway, I heard about this movie and it looks fascinating. I haven't had time to go and watch the previews, so I cant actually vouch for it, but in the interest of not boring you to death with silence, I figured I'd post it and let you see for yourself. From the web page:
I am sorry there hasn't been a real post in so long. It's that season when if i am going to make Yule cards then I have to work on them pretty constantly. (Our list is 70 this year and that takes some doing...)
And then, out of the blue, Jack's beloved Miss Karen offered to make him a Santa suit ... and so I have been learning how to craft a pattern from scratch and helping to make the suit. Of course, my help means that things have to be done over from time to time, but Karen has been very patient.
Anyway, I heard about this movie and it looks fascinating. I haven't had time to go and watch the previews, so I cant actually vouch for it, but in the interest of not boring you to death with silence, I figured I'd post it and let you see for yourself. From the web page:
I actually do have five real posts started and several more in my head. I hope to get to those in the next day or two ...I hope you're enjoying the change of seasons as much as I am!Have you seen the news stories about the obesity epidemic? Did you see Super Size Me? Then guess what? ... You've been fed a load of bologna. Comedian (and former health writer) Tom Naughton replies to the blame-McDonald's crowd by losing weight on a fat-laden fast-food diet while demonstrating that nearly everything we've been told about obesity and healthy eating is wrong. Along with some delicious parody of Super Size Me Naughton serves up plenty of no-bologna facts that will stun most viewers, such as: The obesity "epidemic" has been wildly exaggerated by the CDC. People the government classifies as "overweight" have longer lifespans than people classified as "normal weight." Having low cholesterol is unhealthy. Lowfat diets can lead to depression and type II diabetes. Saturated fat doesn't cause heart disease -- but sugars, starches and processed vegetable oils do."
14 November 2008
An open letter to the Obama Administration
14 November 2008
Ypsilanti, Michigan
Dear President-Elect Obama,
Congratulations on your heart-warming, history-making victory on November 4! Along with the majority of our fellow-citizens, your election has brought new hope to our family for our country's future.
I am heartened to hear that you have made the education of America's children one of your highest priorities; I understand that the greatest gains are to be made within the public school systems. I heartily support your agenda and am happy to see our tax dollars used for the genuine benefit of the children within the public school systems.
My concern is this: I have not seen any policy statement anywhere about the your view of homeschooling, and its future as a viable alternative for those families whose children cannot or will not fit within the public education system.
It requires no special inquiry to observe that no system of mass education can be expected to meet the needs of every student in the nation. Atypical children, whether they learn more slowly, more quickly, or just differently than the majority, wind up on the periphery of a system that, by its very nature, cannot be made broad enough to cope with their needs without also jeopardizing the overall quality of education for the majority.
Homeschooling parents, in increasing numbers, are choosing to step up and fill the atypical educational needs of their children at home, rather than impose a further burden on an already challenged system. Your own biography notes the enormous debt you owe to your mother for her 4am homeschooling sessions. Homeschooled children enjoy that extraordinary teacher/student ratio all day every day, and several national studies have shown that they benefit from that advantage.
Our great nation was built on the principle of individual freedom, and as a people we have fought, from the very first, to maintain the independence of our citizens from government interference. The education of our children is primarily the responsibility of their parents and families and secondarily the responsibility of our expert consultants within the various school systems, public, private, and parochial. It makes a great deal of sense to increase funding for the public system and set realistic achievement standards for public education institutions to increase our nation's competitive edge. It makes equal sense to allow those of us who choose to educate our children ourselves, to do so unimpeded.
If we couple the higher public education achievement objectives of your administration with the already high achievement levels of home educators, together we can twice strengthen the most important asset this nation has: its children, and therefore its future.
Please allow home educators to continue the work we have started, a work that meets our shared objectives for a better educated, freer, America
Best regards,
Misti Anslin Delaney Smith and Rodney B. Smith
Parent Educators
Misti Anslin Delaney Smith and Rodney B. Smith
Parent Educators
P.S. Our 5 year-old son, Jack, who followed both your primary and presidential campaigns with fervent interest was sadly disappointed when he did not get to meet you a the polling booth on election day!!
P.P.S. Kim has posted her letter about homeschooling to the Obama Administration over at Relaxed Homeskool, so you might want to head over and see what she has to say.
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