30 April 2010

And my vacation starts...

Today is my last day of work before my "Gardening Vacation" starts.

I should ave LOTS more to say about gardening and homeschooling over the next two weeks. Assuming I feel better than I have this week. (I have been slightly queasy and a bit woozy most of the week. Not quite sick, but always seeming to be "coming down with something". After a week of not quite getting sick, I am wondering whether this is my allergic reaction this year.
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29 April 2010

Happy birthday, Valerie!

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Letters to my grandchildren: April 2010

My beloved children,

Rain. In the US, and also in England where our American culture was born, April is known for being a rainy month. We have a saying “April Showers Bring May Flowers”. I think that saying is intended to remind people that the horrible, dreadful rain is “worthwhile because it allows the flowers to bloom later”. To me, though, the rain is as worthwhile as the flowers are. I know that some people don’t like rainy days at all, and a bitter cold driving rain in winter when we have to walk to school or to the train isn’t the most pleasant weather, it’s true. It’s nicer in warm weather, of course, but I like a rainy day any time.

Most of the time, rainy days feel calm and introspective to me. Watching a warm rain fall in the spring feels like the rain is washing the world clean and waking up the baby plants that have been sleeping all winter. Watching a windy rain storm in autumn, feels like the earth is “cleaning up”
after a summer of wild growth and making ready to put Her children to bed for the winter. Somehow, it feels easier to take a deep breath and make the time to really think about things with the sound of rain pattering on the windows and roof. Of course, rain can also come with thunderstorm storms, and I love the intense energy and power of those storms. It’s a crazy thing to do, but I just love to go outside and feel the wind whipping my hair and clothes and listen to the deep rumble of thunder as a summer thunderstorm moves in. Of course, I’m not really crazy; if I see lightening, I do get inside out of danger pretty quickly.

Do you have any sayings about rain in Swedish? What do you think about storms and rain? Do you like them? Or does rain make you feel sad, as it does some people? I’d like to know what you think.

It’s spring, and of course that means that I am putting in my garden.

The gardens are much bigger this year than last year – for one thing I started earlier, and for another we are gardening for two families along with our friend, Linda. She likes to call it our “truck garden”. We have gone from our one garden plot to three. Linda has been an expert organic gardener for many years, so I am learning a LOT from her. I am also able to teach her about gardening for maximum nutrition, because she has never added soil supplements to her gardens and that’s something I have been studying for several years now. Even better, we have three strong adults and Jack to help break sod and dig in the supplements and put
in the plants. We have been getting quite a lot done! The potatoes are
in and the lettuce is already starting to come up. In a couple of weeks, around Mamma and farbror Corey’s birthday, it will finally be warm enough to move the more fragile plants from the house to the garden. It’s warm enough during the day already, but it still goes below freezing many nights and so the plants have to stay indoors for a while longer. Does Makata still keep a garden? Do you help her? Jack is very helpful with our garden. He digs and puts in plants and fetches things we’ve forgotten.

Jack will turn seven in a few days! That must mean that you guys are almost 8 (in September) and almost 6 (in November)! Wow! That’s really exciting! You’re getting so big! Perhaps you will both be taller than I am before I get to visit again! Do you think so? Jack is very proud that he is almost 4 feet tall! (Only one inch to go!) He can’t wait to be taller than his old mamma.

Our family has been reading Redwall by Brian Jacques lately. It’s a fun story about a warrior mouse named Matthias. Now there’s an interesting idea. One doesn’t usually think of mice as warriors. Of course, this is a fantasy world of animals such as mice, badgers, squirrels, ferrets, and rats living without any sign of humans … but the animals live much like humans do. They wear clothes and build castles and cathedrals. Matthias the mouse has to defend his home and his friends against the evil rat, Cluny the Scourge and his terrible hoard who are attacking Redwall Abbey and he has many adventures along the way. Since there are 20 more books in the series, I suppose he will win, but sometimes it’s really hard to see how he will get himself out of the scrapes he finds himself in! Perhaps you can find it in your library? It’s an excellent book! Have you read Wind in the Willows or Watership Down yet? It’s similar to those. If you read it, do tell me what you think!

We have had family portraits made, finally, for the first time! We will send those along as quickly as they arrive.

Everyone here is doing well. Rod went through a very, very hard few weeks in March, but he is now stronger and healthier than I have seen him in many years. It seems that every time he gets sick, it is very bad indeed, but when the sickness passes, he is much healthier than he was before. I like this trend! He should be strong and young before long! I am also having some troubles with avoiding the foods that make me sick – it seems that grains and grasses are hidden everywhere and I really have o eat at home where I can control every ingredient. That’s been frustrating, but I feel so much better when I do that it is coming to seem like less of a burden than it did. Jack is still and always healthy and energetic. There has been a falling out in his playgroup, so he’s sad about that, but I know that as the conflict settles down, and he starts to make more new friends, he will go back to being as happy as always!

I love you all and I look forward to hearing from you!
Love,
Grandma

28 April 2010

Established:

This is *not* plantain weed.

Not sure what it is yet, though.
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Hmmmm

I do believe that "somebunny" has been enjoying a little woody thyme salad.

What do you think? ;)
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Homeschooling is so cool!


And so is my honey, who took this shot this afternoon and sent it to me. :)


Mr Action took a break from saving the world to practice his penmanship.  Note his "sword" to the left.
(Note, too, that the size eight trousers I just bought for him are now too short.  Oh my.)

27 April 2010

Something rather new for me

This card came to me rather suddenly as I was thinking of something else. That was kind of cool, because I had realized halfway through making her card that my mothers taste is quite different from mine, and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't love that one. I had some tiome yet, so I put the pieces aside to think about it. This is what came to mind as "the rigjt one". Mind you, I have no idea whether she'll actually like it, but I think it came out pretty well.
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26 April 2010

Father's Day in Sweden

is in November and after I am already deep in the Yule Card mode.

I keep missing it, so this year, I made it for Mothers day and will send it in November.

I like how these came out.
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Too rainy to play in the dirt ...

So, I played with scissors and paste instead.

It was fun!
The one above and below are for a father son duo who almost share a birthday -- similar inspiration, but I don't think they look *too* much alike...
There were more, but tey can't be posted until after they are received. No spoiling the surprise. :D

23 April 2010

Letters to my Grandchildren: April 2010

My beloved children,

Rain.

In the US, and also in England where our American culture was born, April is known for being a rainy month. We have a saying “April Showers Bring May Flowers”. I think that saying is intended to remind people that the horrible, dreadful rain is “worthwhile because it allows the flowers to bloom later”. To me, though, the rain is as worthwhile as the flowers are. I know that some people don’t like rainy days at all, and a bitter cold driving rain in winter when we have to walk to school or to the train isn’t the most pleasant weather, it’s true. It’s nicer in warm weather, of course, but I like a rainy day any time.

Most of the time, rainy days feel calm and introspective to me. Watching a warm rain fall in the spring feels like the rain is washing the world clean and waking up the baby plants that have been sleeping all winter. Watching a windy rain storm in autumn, feels like the earth is “cleaning up” after a summer of wild growth and making ready to put Her children to bed for the winter. Somehow, it feels easier to take a deep breath and make the time to really think about things with the sound of rain pattering on the windows and roof. Of course, rain can also come with thunderstorm storms, and I love the intense energy and power of those storms. It’s a crazy thing to do, but I just love to go outside and feel the wind whipping my hair and clothes and listen to the deep rumble of thunder as a summer thunderstorm moves in. Of course, I’m not really crazy; if I see lightening, I do get inside out of danger pretty quickly.

Do you have any sayings about rain in Swedish? What do you think about storms and rain? Do you like them? Or does rain make you feel sad, as it does some people? I’d like to know what you think.

It’s spring, and of course that means that I am putting in my garden.

The gardens are much bigger this year than last year – for one thing I started earlier, and for another we are gardening for two families along with our friend, Linda. She likes to call it our “truck garden”. We have gone from our one garden plot to three. Linda has been an expert organic gardener for many years, so I am learning a LOT from her. I am also able to teach her about gardening for maximum nutrition, because she has never added soil supplements to her gardens and that’s something I have been studying for several years now. Even better, we have three strong adults and Jack to help break sod and dig in the supplements and put in the plants. We have been getting quite a lot done! The potatoes are in and the lettuce is already starting to come up. In a couple of weeks, around Mamma and farbror Corey’s birthday, it will finally be warm enough to move the more fragile plants from the house to the garden. It’s warm enough during the day already, but it still goes below freezing many nights and so the plants have to stay indoors for a while longer. Does Makata still keep a garden? Do you help her? Jack is very helpful with our garden. He digs and puts in plants and fetches things we’ve forgotten.

Jack will turn seven in a few days! That must mean that you guys are almost 8 (in September) and almost 6 (in November)! Wow! That’s really exciting! You’re getting so big! Perhaps you will both be taller than I am before I get to visit again! Do you think so? Jack is very proud that he is almost 4 feet tall! (Only one inch to go!) He can’t wait to be taller than his old mamma.

Our family has been reading Redwall by Brian Jacques lately. It’s a fun story about a warrior mouse named Matthias. Now there’s an interesting idea. One doesn’t usually think of mice as warriors. Of course, this is a fantasy world of animals such as mice, badgers, squirrels, ferrets, and rats living without any sign of humans … but the animals live much like humans do. They wear clothes and build castles and cathedrals. Matthias the mouse has to defend his home and his friends against the evil rat, Cluny the Scourge and his terrible hoard who are attacking Redwall Abbey and he has many adventures along the way. Since there are 20 more books in the series, I suppose he will win, but sometimes it’s really hard to see how he will get himself out of the scrapes he finds himself in! Perhaps you can find it in your library? It’s an excellent book! Have you read Wind in the Willows or Watership Down yet? It’s similar to those. If you read it, do tell me what you think!

We have had family portraits made, finally, for the first time! We will send those along as quickly as they arrive.

Everyone here is doing well. Rod went through a very, very hard few weeks in March, but he is now stronger and healthier than I have seen him in many years. It seems that every time he gets sick, it is very bad indeed, but when the sickness passes, he is much healthier than he was before. I like this trend! He should be strong and young before long! I am also having some troubles with avoiding the foods that make me sick – it seems that grains and grasses are hidden everywhere and I really have o eat at home where I can control every ingredient. That’s been frustrating, but I feel so much better when I do that it is coming to seem like less of a burden than it did. Jack is still and always healthy and energetic. There has been a falling out in his playgroup, so he’s sad about that, but I know that as the conflict settles down, and he starts to make more new friends, he will go back to being as happy as always!

I love you all and I look forward to hearing from you!
Love,
Grandma

21 April 2010

Happy birthday, Tricia!

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Plants are alive and can learn

Plants are so funny...
Determination
We took this photo Monday morning, as the tallest of the plants (beans, I think...maybe squash) tried to climb the cord to the sun lamp.

We untangled it and brought it outdoors to enjoy the sunshine. Our nights are still well below freezing, so of course we brought it back in and then forgot to take it out yesterday. Rod mentioned that although in the past it has made determined efforts to reach the lamp, yesterday, as long as the sun was shining,the poor ting struggled to reach the window with the dimmer, but real, sunlight.

Needless to say, out went out this morning.
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Chop Chop Kids Magazine - The review

Several people have seemed every bit as interested as I was to know what exactly is in Chop Chop and what their angle is before we made the commitment to a subscription.

I won't start with the cover, which is pretty plain in the picture on the previous post. Inside, there is a letter from the Medical Director on staff. He explains that too often, though pediatricians are very concerned wit kids health, they feel they can offer only medication and advice to families after the fact. He wants families to know that primary to maintaining their health is eating well.

Te first "department" is Great Gear, and this issue discusses how to use a vegetable peeler safely. We don't peel vegetables -- and we certainly wouldn't compost them, we'd put them in stock -- but since the magazine is aimed at a more mainstream family than ours, this is good. A fun toy to add glamour to eating carrots and apples.

The next department is Food Fight. In this issue, the banana and the orange face off to compete for Greatest Nutritional Value. Other than the wrestling metaphor, this is pretty good. In five rounds, they compare the nutritional value of the banana and the orange comparing them both against one another and against that mythic hero "Daily Value". They compare fiber, vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin B6. I'd imagine they'd use other factors to compare different vegetables. They declare the battle an even split, with both bananas and oranges winning with different strengths.

Next comes a recipe, labeled for difficulty, whether parental supervision is required, how long it takes, and the number of servings. This information is followed by a statement declaring that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The recipe, cheesy scrambled eggs, lists all the equipment you'll need, all the ingredients, and then details instructions, starting with "wash your hands with soap and water". The ingredients call for fresh herbs! Yay! It has a sidebar note about how when you call someone "a big cheese", tat means they are very important, but when you declare something "cheesy" you mean it's not very good."

Next comes the Green Life department, which comments that anything you grow yourself tastes better. Then it coaches them on how to start a small indoor container garden for herbs, lettuce, or flowers. This section contains the only prominent product placement we noticed: the container garden is in a Stonyfield yogurt container.

The next department is Ingredients, in which we get to know our apples. Five varieties are compared for colour, flavour, and best uses. Here we hear all about how wonderful it is that apples are fat free, salt free, high fiber, low calorie, and convenient.

Next department: Tune Ups. Here we have a children's author commenting on her five favorite food smells, and an invitation to go online to share one's own favorite food smells.

Now we have a smoothie recipe in the same format as the previous egg recipe -- and this one has a "No blender? No problem!" alternative for a breakfast banana split using the same ingredients. (Yogurt, berries, and bananas). This calls for orange juice, which we don't use, but Jack is cool with substitutions, and I think it misses out on the option to include greens, carrots, and other yummy stuff -- but it's a good basic recipe for kids. It is followed by a coupon for a large Stonyfield yogurt. OK, fair enough.

Next comes the Chop Chop Food Search -- a food oriented word search.

And a hot chocolate alternative recipe: Hot Honey Vanilla Milk, which suggests non-dairy alternatives for the milk. YES! Sensitivity to food sensitivities!

Which is followed by a recipe for a greens and Cheese Quesadilla using the microwave.

And a recipe for Chinese Congee or Jook, a thick breakfast soup with rice, broth, herbs and vegetables. Makes me wish I could have the rice--it looks yummy!!!

Now we come to the Profile department, in which a young chicken farmer is profiled with a pointer to his blog about his chickens and a list of places to learn more about growing poultry. We also see a bowl of eggs of different colours from which we learn that eggs don't come in only white or brown.

Next comes a recipe for lemon salad dressing and a green salad.

And a side bar discussion about salt. (Plus a tip about getting the oil and vinegar in your salad dressing to emulsify -- stay together.)

Next comes a no supervision required recipe for celery sticks with nut butter and granola. It also suggests a food sensitivity alternative using cream cheese instead of nuts.

In the Good Idea department, we see a few suggestions for "smart swaps", like exchanging whole fruit for juice or homemade dressing for store bought.

Next a recipe for "carrot fries" (roasted carrots) and then a recipe for red beans and rice.

Next we have the Answer Chef department, a kid's question answered by the magazine's founder. In this issue, the discussion is about switching to fat free milk from full fat.

Now, another recipe, this time for "oven fried chicken". And another recipe, for apple-icious oat bars.

Then, we have a Lost and Found maze and food vocabulary "did you know". (I learned two new words!) And finally, our list of sponsors, with logos. The back page is an ad for the next issue.

Throughout, there are "did you know?" items related to the page and "Chop chop tips" for safety.

They are a lot bigger on the whole low fat thing than I wish they were, but that's the current common wisdom. They do emphasize whole foods in this issue, though they do use some processed foods. (bread crumbs, granola, canned beans) They seems to be sensitive to the fact that not everyone can eat everything and they provide alternatives frequently. While they do have some non-vegetarian recipes, many can be adapted (replace chicken stock with vegetable broth) and that leaves only one recipe that's unusable.

All in all, I think Chop Chop is a worthwhile addition to our library, if only to send the message that food is a kids issue, too.

20 April 2010

Chop Chop Kids Magazine

Jack got his sample copy of Chop Chop Kids Magazine today.

It could have been pretty bad, so I ordered a single copy first, but even with our weird food customs, I found it pretty acceptable.

Jack find it not only accessible, but interesting. A win on all scores.

I approve and we'll be subscribing on pay day.

Very good information for kids about basic healthy cooking with low key advertising and minimal product placement.

Cheap, too, despite the lack of advertising because it's supported by funding from universities and hospitals.

So far, what's not to love. This joins Alton Brown videos as a part of our "domestic science" study.

Fun! (School should be fun, after all!)

17 April 2010

Shampoo-Free

The first time I heard about going shampoo free, I was revolted.

I imagined my own hair as it would have been at that time had I simply soaked it down with water but not washed it for weeks on end.

Yuck!

At the time, I was a shampoo addict -- I did the wash, rinse, repeat thing every day. Sometimes twice. I had to. My hair was an oil slick and a few hours after it dried, it started to look oily and revolting.

I was not happy about the chemicals in shampoo, but couldn't imagine "lowering my grooming standards" to do without them.

Rod and I discussed the shampoo free movement. He went "conditioner only" to great effect, but I found that it made my scalp itchier and my hair never felt acceptably clean, so I diluted my shampoo further and further, but didn't give it up entirely for a long time.

It's now been 18 months since I last used shampoo and my hair has never been as easy to care for. I won't say "it's never looked better" because I'm not a kid anymore and my hair no longer as the glassy shine of youth, but it looks vastly better than it did two years ago.

My experiments with going completely shampoo free started because my hair had gotten VERY hard to care for. I had been on a bad prescription for my thyroid and over the course of the year I was on the wrong medicine, I lost about 50% of my hair. Worse, what was left looked like straw. The hair nearest my scalp was still a grease sop, but the the length up to about my ears was brittle and dry and extremely fragile. My scalp was itchy and sore, too. I was not happy. When I finally got the medication problem sorted out my hair stopped falling out, but it remained straw-like and hard to manage.

I had long been diluting my shampoo, but now I was reaching into homeopathic proportions, adding so much water to each teaspoon of shampoo that I wondered whether it was necessary at all.

One day, I decided that since I had some time off work, I was going to experiment with shampoo free. For three days, I rinsed my hair well with water, and then with vinegar. At the end of three days, my hair didn't feel nice, but my scalp had stopped itching for the first time in many, many years. And it wasn't nearly as greasy as I'd expected! I washed with my very dilute shampoo and ten went to a once a week, very dilute wash, and my hair became reasonably happy.

Over time, I learned to add a baking soda rinse every day and eventually I started making a paste from the baking soda and massaging that into my scalp and into that place that most often feels greasy and heavy. That step has allowed me to eliminate the shampoo entirely!

These days, my hair is manageable rather than over-dry, my scalp has stopped itching, and I can't see ever going back to shampoo. My hair gets washed every other day or so and feels clean and full, even when it's time to wash it again. (I could probably cut back further, but by the third day, it doesn't feel nice anymore. I skip until the third day anyway, if wash day falls on a weekend.)

Perhaps one day I can get to the once a week wash that my mother has sworn by as long as I've known her.


16 April 2010

Life, says Jack

"Is just a penny waiting to be flipped."

Sobering...


I went to high school long, long ago and far, far away.

 
In high school, I had three best friends.  Todd Heaton, Anita Bright, and Sylvia Heitzman.  I remember walking arm in arm down the schools halls, doing the "monkey walk" and singing "That's the way I like it" at the top of our lungs.  Hanging out at the train station, eating platano chips, drinking Malta Vigor, and pouring our hearts out late into the night.  Sharing french fries and club sandwiches at the CZ Commissary. 
 
We were...well, we were kids like all kids.  We had huge hopes and dreams that we knew were going to come true.  
 
Sylvia had her first child in our senior year, just before graduation.  Anita and I had our first children a year later.  All were boys.  Todd looked like making good -- he studied computers and was coming up in the world.  Then we were all swept away in our new lives and we lost touch. Such a common story.
 
When we were in our late 20s, Todd was working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Southwest.  His new wife was expecting their first child, and Todd died in an automobile accident.  I heard about it a few years later.
 
Now I have discovered Anita's obituary.  She died a few years ago at the age of 48 or so.  No idea how. 
 
That leaves two of us. 
 
I wonder how Sylvia's doing.
 
 
 
 

15 April 2010

Potatoes

The potato experiment is begun! Linda dug in about 50 potatoes without, as far as I know, any supplements.
I put in another two rows of 20 or so potatoes with two flavours of rock dust, bone meal, and a tiny bit of magnesium. I'll try other experiments with other rows and by autumn, maybe I'll know what potatoes like to eat best.

(So far, they've been rather Tiggerish about it...)
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Pity about that restricted diet

We were low on leftovers for my lunch, so Rod improvised.
Swordfish salad, with greens, apples, oranges, celeriac, and...? Now sure. But it was amazing!

Update April 15

We got the lettuces in last weekend, but very little else.

I have been feeling just awful the last many days. Achy, tired. Kind of like I have been regularly "toxined" (like "glutened", but in this case I'm not sure of the source. Which means that either I am getting a source of a known allergen from an unsuspected source, or I have another allergen to track down. Yuck.)

It's hard to move or concentrate, so I have mostly stood around moping and wishing I felt better.

Tonight, though, Linda will be here, and I will get some work done out there.

First, I need to finish turning and supplementing the existing beds. Then I'll help Linda dig the new potato patch.

I am wondering how far we'll get with the new tomato and squash bed along the south side of the garage. I am alos wondering how well trellises will work to keep Mr Chuck the groundhog from eating all the tomatoes. I don't mind him sampling the lower fruits as long as the upper fruits are safe...but having read some more about his kin, I wonder.

Oh, well, we'll find out. We can always put up a fence if we have to...it seems to have worked well for the main garden, and in this case, we only need to string two walls, since the other two are the neighbor's fence and our garage.

In other news, we ave decided to enroll Jack in a martial arts course.

The timid, reluctant little boy of yesteryear has given way to a boisterous, energetic, aggressive young man who is bigger and stronger than he realizes.

With no siblings to play with, we need to find him a regular outlet for that energy that can also help him develop some self discipline...partly because self discipline is a good thing. Partly because he has started to inadvertently hurt me and some of his younger friends, and if we don't channel it now, it could become a real problem.

He's pretty excited and can't quite understand why he can't start yesterday! But we have to find the right sensei. I know we won't find Miyagi, but we'd like to avoid Kreese. ;)

14 April 2010

Tummy's full, I'm happy

We had a simple dinner of lentils with vegetables over quinoa.

No pictures -- we ate too fast.

I'm sleepy, but happy.

Edited to add: I wanted to mention that I have been posting ouir main meal by Linda's suggestion. She commented that a lot of people would ave no idea what to eat if they couldn't have grains at all. Eventually I hope to include recipes and explanations. But I am not feeling well right now, so that part will have to wait.

13 April 2010

Dinner at Chez Smiffy

Chicken left over from Sunday night served us well as a part of the salad we had for dinner tonight.
Simple, crisp vegetables with a creamy chicken salad. Perfect.

First family portraits

Wow!

Sue sent us the first installment of our first family portraits...she's amazing!!

If you want excellent family photos and you don't know Sue Talbert, I'll be thrilled to introduce you!
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Happy birthday Mom and Nerida

I hope that you both have a wonderful day!

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Monday Dinner at Chez Smiffy

Too tired to cook, too tired to eat, so we kept it simple.

Almond encrusted "Dover Sole" (almost certainly really flounder ) with roasted vegetables (sweet potatoes, rutabega, and japanese zucchini) topped with almond fry bread

With a bite of dark chocolate for dessert.
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12 April 2010

Sunday Dinner at Chez Smiffy - for Linda B

Dinner was a team effort last night. I started the cicken roasting (with a sage and smoked salt rub). But I was feeling so poorly that Rod took over wen e and Jack got home from chess club.

Rod added steamed and roasted vegetables to the meal. Cauliflower, eggplant, butternut squash, and sweet and white potato on the roasting tray.

Then he steamed cabbage, carrots, japanese zucchini, broccoli and mushrooms.
A feast fit for a smiffy! (Jack's plate with nothing touching. He likes it orderly so he can see what he's eating.)

11 April 2010

Almost Seven

My sweet baby boy is long gone, and now I have a fine, strapping young man of very nearly seven years.

Lately, he has become fascinated by "When I was a child". Not me. Him. When he was a child...oh my.

So, first we went through the hundreds of photos of his first few years.

Now, he is working his way through "As Jack Grows", the blog I kept when he was little, as a sort of electronic baby-book and "letter to Grandma" all in one. I've been reading over his shoulder, of course, and reliving the early years. It's fun.

But now is a lot of fun, too.

Jack has developed a real passion for gardening. "But only with you, Mamma." I wondered why only with me. "Other people tell people what to do and are bossy. You make it funny". Ummm, ok.

Turns out that he likes my very, very collaborative methods. And yes, a lot of giggling is involved. As an example, we dig rows together. We have very sandy soil, so the only hard part is getting through the thatch on top. So, we each have foot on the shovel, and we shout "Heave!" as we push down to break up the grass roots. Once the shovel is buried deeply, we shout "Ho!" and pull the handle down to lift the soil out of the hole. About half the time, Jack pulls so hard he ends up falling flat on his back in the next row, giggling so hard he can't get up.

We work hard out there for hours, and this year Jack really *is* working hard for most of te time.

The interesting thing is that the hard physical work seems to be making his brain "thirsty", too. After we put in five days last week in the garden, Jack pestered to do school almost non-stop for the next several days. He was keen to review his math and move on to subtraction from the addition he has just finished. He wanted to study just about anything we'd work with him on.

I haven't been up to that kind of hard work this weekend, and Jack has been disappointed. Especially because "the moon is in Pisces and that's good for all garden work, Mamma. On Monday it won't be perfect anymore".

What a guy!

Washtenaw County Kids (and parents) Book Exchange signup

Hey, all!

It's time again to sign up for the next round of the Washtenaw County Kids (and parents) Book Exchange. Please feel free to share this note with anyone you know who may be interested!

For those who don't know, there is a tub of books (or two or three) that gets passed from one family to another all over Washtenaw county and occasionally beyond. You're welcome to get in on the exchange!

-- One day between now and fall 2011, you'd get a call from someone wanting to drop off the book tub.

-- The tub will be delivered to your door within the next week or so.

-- You and your children will look through the tub and claim the books you want to keep.

-- Put the rest of the books along with any books that you want to pass along, back in the tub.

-- Call the next person on the list, which is attached to the lid of the tub.

-- Take the tub to the next person on the list, drop it off, and send an e-mail to me to let me know where the tub is.

-- And your commitment is done!

The book tubs have been taking about 19 months to make its rounds. I intend to start at one end of the county and go through to the other, so that fewer people will have to make long trips for drop-offs. I hope that will shorten the time the circuit takesd and make everyone's life easier.

The books so far have ranged from baby board books (lots!) to classic tales for the older child and there are usually some parenting books in there, too. The only rule is that *the materials must be for children or about raising them*. This tiime, we'll be setting up two lists: baby books and kids books. You can sign up for one or both, just specify which you want.

Ideally, books you contribute will have all their pages and if you only have one book to send along, you won't take *all* of the other books. ;) (But don't worry if you don't have anyting to share this time...we have plenty to spare.)

Some books have looked brand new, others have been obviously well loved but Jack and I have found five or six wonderful books each time we've gotten the tubs!

If you want to join the exchange:

Send your name and phone number and rough location (so no one has to go too far) to me along with the tubs you want (Bigger kids or babies). My @ress is misti (at) delaney-smith (dot) net

I'll add you to the list. I'll be accepting sign-ups until April 25, at which time the tub will start circulating again. (Assuming the books have reached my house by then.)

(I have been asked, and yes, if you have books to donate, but you don't want the tub to come to your house, you can get them to me and I'll add them to the tub before it heads out.)

Thanks everyone!

m

10 April 2010

The Experiment by Jack

The experiment was one plant with no water or sunlight and one with exactly the opposite. It was one pumpkin plant.
The no water and sunlight one didn't grow.

The other one did.

Then we moved the unhappy one from the deep darkness and it still didn't grow!

We'll try and give the unhappy one some water and see what happens next.
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Cooking at the shelter

Several times a year (maybe every two or three months) we go over to the shelter and cook a meal.

Sometimes we cook alone, sometimes we work with a crew. Always we bring Jack and he helps, too.

We really love to cook and we enjoy the challenge of cooking for ever-changing needs and tastes, so we always have a good time, but that's only part of the reason we go.

Another, at least as important, is that we think it's important to make a real contribution to our community. We could just donate canned goods or money, but actually getting in there, contributing time, energy, and food is both more satisfying and more direct.

It sends a much clearer message to our spirits, the spirits of the people we feed, and to our little boy. As you do unto others, so shall be done unto you. As you sow, so shall you reap. Ever mind the rule of three. Helping people is one of the most basic ways to create happiness in our lives. Feeding people is fundamental to who we are as a family and sharing that beyond our social group just plain feels good.

It's also important to have a mechanism for reminding ourselves just how lucky we are.

It can be a disconcerting to go back to hand washing dishes because we can't afford to go out and buy a new dishwasher just because ours has broken down. It can be a little sad to not do things we might like to do because we don't have the money right now.

But we always have enough to eat, even if it isn't what we might have preferred. We have a warm bed and a comfortable home of our very own, and we own a little plot of the planet on which we can garden and forage. There have been times in my life when I had reason to doubt I would ever be this wealthy ... my older sons often cried themselves to sleep from hunger when the food stamps ran out before the month did, they wore old torn clothes that were often dirty because I had no money for soap or laundry detergent. A major treat was affording a can of fruit juice or toothpaste and show laces in the same month. The people we help to feed aren't other, they are me in another time of my life.

But Jack has no knowledge of anything other than plenty. I'm glad he doesn't have personal experience, but I think it's critical to his happiness for him to be able to see just exactly what he has.

Besides...it's fun to cook for a =crowd in a commercial kitchen -- at least once in a while. ;)

09 April 2010

Smiffy's Herbal: French Sorrel

OK, mystery solved. Quite a few people helped me to identified this delicious little beauty.

After researching everyone's ideas, I confirmed that this is French Sorrel, also known as Rumex scutatus, buckerleaf sorrel, or garden sorrel.
It is primarily a culinary herb, beloved of the French (hence French Sorrel). The part used is the young leaf (like many herbs, it grows bitter with age). It is commonly found in salads, egg dishes, soups, and as a flavouring with fish or in soup.

It's a cleansing herb when eaten fresh in the spring, with a tart, fresh, lemony flavour.

Be aware that, like spinach, sorrel contains oxalic acid and should be eaten in moderation if raw. It might also be best to avoid it entirely if you are suffering from arthritis or kidney disease.
When cultivated, sorrel takes 60 days from seed to salad and is a perennial. It must be used fresh.