Progress

Colin Beavan over at No Impact Man recently wrote a piece for the Guggenheim Museum on progress and it really struck a chord with me. I strongly recommend stopping by and giving it a read and maybe checking out some of his other posts.

"How It All Ends" - A Climate Change Video Worth Watching

Thanks to Rachael over at Happy Doings for this link. Trust me it's a video worth watching and then sending to all your fence-sitting friends and relatives.

Perserverance Pays Off - The Tale of a Food Mill

Last fall my Mother In Law taught me how to make jam and can it. One of my favorite parts of the whole experience was the feeling on connection and tradition that it carried. She taught me like her grandmother had taught her. We used a food mill that her grandmother had given her and had been in turn given by her mother. I loved it.

When I left that day, she gave me the food mill she'd bought before she inherited the family food mill. Unfortunately, it was cracked. She hadn't used it in so many years it had been shoved aside in storage and somehow gotten cracked. We tried to fix it but the first time I tried to use it the crack got bigger and the bowl broke. :( Poor little food mill. I salvaged the bottom pieces with the various sized holes and the metal crank part that pushes the fruit through the holes and put it into storage with my canning supplies for next summer. Throughout the winter, as I slowly gathered my collection of jars for next years canning season from the thrift stores I kept my eyes out for a new (used) food mill.

A couple months ago I found a metal food mill bowl and crank with no bottoms for a couple dollars. I was so excited and brought it home in the hopes I could use the bottoms from my MIL's food mill and make it work. They didn't fit. Now I had two incomplete food mills :( This Monday I found a food mill bowl at the thrift store without any of the other pieces ($0.99). Why not give it one more try? I brought it home. The bottom pieces from the first food mill fit but the crank is too wide for the bowl. The crank from the second mill fits the bowl but the bottom is a little too big for the opening in the bottom pieces of the first food mill. Enter handy-dandy honey (he is going to hate me calling him that) who was able to take a metal punch and make the holes just a little bit bigger so all the parts fit together. Now I have a food mill made from the parts of three food mills :) Am I weird that this situation just tickles me pink? Plus my "new" food mill is still using an element of the food mill my MIL gave me so I get to keep the family connection going. Eventually I might find the parts to fix my other incomplete food mill and pass it on to someone else and keep the chain going.

A poem I found on Craigslist

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
With no thought of the dog outside filling their head.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Knew he was cold, but didn’t care about that.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Figuring the dog was free and into the trash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of midday to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But Santa Claus – his eyes full of tears.
He unchained the dog, once so lively and quick,
Last years Christmas present, now thin and sick.
More rapid than eagles he called the dog’s name.
And the dog ran to him, despite all his pain;
“Now, DASHER! Now, DANCER! Now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! On CUPID! On, DONNER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Let’s find this dog a home where he’ll be loved by all”
I knew in an instant there would be no gifts this year,
For Santa Claus had made one thing quite clear,
The gift of a dog is not just for the season,
We had gotten the pup for all the wrong reasons.
In our haste to think of giving the kids a gift
There was one important thing that we missed.
A dog should be family, and cared for the same
You don’t give a gift, then put it on a chain.
And I heard him exclaim as he rode out of sight,
“You weren’t given a gift! You were given a life!”

—Author Unknown

A Very Domestic Solstice and Chicken Barley Soup

Today was a good day. I'm sitting at my computer, sipping raspberry herbal tea, smelling the wonderful soup I have simmering in the crock pot, and I can't help but think that today was a very good day. Honey got off work early and we were able to spend a couple hours just hanging out an watching silly cartoons. I got half-way done with the wall hanging I need to finish before Christmas for my MIL. I have my favorite soup in the crock pot. Honey cooked a wonderful dinner/mini-feast for us to share and then we performed our Yule ritual. As I said, A very good day.


(What I've accomplished so far on my MIL's wall hanging. I still need to put bias tape around the edges and get some brick red thread as the red parts are the only ones I still need to stich around)

My Favorite Chicken Barley Soup

(a big batch for putting up in the freezer)

Needed-
- 5qt Crock Pot
- 4 large Chicken Breast Halves (boneless, skinless)
- 4 cans chicken broth
- 2 C Water
- 2/3 C pearl barley
- 1 Large Onion (chopped)
- 2 garlic cloves minced (more if you like garlic)
- 4 large carrots (grated or shredded)
- 4 large celery stalks (chopped)
- 1/2 C chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 1/4 tsp ground celery seeds
- 2 large bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- salt to taste (optional)

combine all ingredients (except salt) in slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1 hr. Change to low and cook an additional 7-8 hrs.

Remove chicken breasts. When cool enough to handle cut into bite size pieces (usually they are soft enough for me to shred them with a fork). Return chicken to crock pot and cook an additional 20 min on high. Add salt if desired.

I always eat one bowl of soup to celebrate the completion of the batch and then divide the rest into freezer safe individual portion bowls. Let the soup cool in the fridge and then freeze. If you keep it in the fridge it only lasts 3-4 days but in the freezer it can last for months (but I like it so much it usually doesn't).


(My batch of soup all ready to go in the fridge and then the freezer)

Peace, Calm, Tranquility

My husband will recognize those words. They are his mantra when things are going wrong or he gets frustrated and needs to stop and center himself. After today, I've decided to stop teasing him and admit that sometimes he's a little smarter than I give him credit for. Today, I had to wake up at 4am to take my MIL for knee surgery (way too god-awful early). But wait there's more... Hubby is leaving tomorrow for a couple months of Army training and until yesterday we thought it was cancelled. I spent the day bouncing back and forth between my MIL at the hospital and trying to get all the last minute stuff for hubby. (Did I mention I'm irrationally afraid of hospitals?) Suffice to say it was a stressful day and I actually stopped a couple times in various parking lots between hither and yon, took a deep breath and focused on "peace, calm, tranquility."

I think sometimes I get so focused on the trappings of rituals, sabbats and esbats that I forget the best chance to commune with the Divine can be a few minutes in a parking lot and three little words.

Thanks Honey.

My Boys

Honey and Baby. They were just too cute. Baby has been pretty stressed lately with all the commotion related to the renovation on the apartment (not to mention it's getting pretty cold here and he is most definitely a hot weather dog) so we are making sure to spend cuddle time with him as often as we can.

Birthday Party Wrap Up

Well, just because a birthday party is absolutely wonderful and went off with minimal issues doesn't mean it didn't take a lot of work and require a recovery period after :P

My nephew's birthday was last week and we went a little overboard (I blame the grandma) for the party. It was awesome. A Circus theme was chosen so we had face painting (my long suffering and good sport of a husband), a clown making balloon animals (me), bean bag toss, a petting zoo (two goats and two little pigs), a little race car track, a jumping jupiter, and a bunch of games. If most families tried to pull this kind of party off it would take quite a bit of money but we did it for hardly any. The most expensive part of the party was probably the Jumping Jupiter and that only cost $100 to rent for the weekend because we could rent if from the base recreation dept. Every member of the family was able to contribute something whether it was cooking, crafting, making a bean bag game out of scrap wood and paint, or getting some friends to lend their animals to the cause. I love my big crazy family especially when we're being crazy in a good way.

Me in all my clowny glory. We were talking about the costume and realized that Mom made it more than 20 years ago. It's been worn by almost every member of our family at one time or another and been everywhere from a VBS in Barrow, AK to a children's cancer ward in Romania.

A bad shot of the wonderful bean bag toss game Mom made out of a piece of scrap wood.

My sister being a good sport about all the random flower balloons her son wanted her to wear that we eventually just made into a hat to free up her hands.

My hubby painting a "pink sports car" on my (hopeful) future niece.

My nephew and his Grandpa playing in the jumping jupiter.

The duck pond.

Mom makes the best birthday cakes.

A Really Weird "Fangirl" Moment

Just in case you needed any confirmation that I'm a few degrees off true North ....

I follow "a great leap in the dark" and "the tiny house blog" and while I'm not entirely sold on the "tiny house" concept for myself (I love my fabric stash), I really admire the ingenuity of tiny house builders and the underlying reasons for which they build that way. To that end, when my hubby and I saw a mobile "tiny house" on our drive home today I simply had to follow and get a picture or two (and a really weird look from the man in the truck hauling it).

http://agreatleapinthedark.blogspot.com/

http://tinyhouseblog.com/

Coming up on the tiny house. You can see its sister house up ahead.

A closer view as we pass. I love the sign over the door

"Motel 3 - no phones - no cable - no room tax - no vacancy"

Pay-It-Forward ... Soon

On the off chance I actually have any readers :)


Sara, the owner of the wonderful blog "Blessed Simplicity," has allowed me to enter her pay-it-forward giveaway. I am very excited about this whole concept. I had read about the giveaways in other blogs but I was always reading about them months after the fact or just to chicken to ask to be included. I am planning and plotting the project I will do for my pay-it-forward giveaway once Sara is done with hers. I've got the fabric all picked out and several ideas of things to make (I guess it says something about me that the fabric determines the project and not the other way around). Keep your eyes open and I'll post for victi... um I mean ...volunteers when it's my turn to pay-it-forward.

I'm Pretty Sure My Dog Thinks I'm Crazy

This afternoon I needed to get some work done around the house, and in the spirit of my new git fit goal, I decided to put on some music that I can't help but dance too. So, here I am, cleaning my living room and putting away clutter in between spins, shakes, and hip bumps and I look over and see my dog watching me with his head cocked to the side and I realized two things at once. 1) I'm pretty sure my dog thinks I'm crazy. 2) Since I was doing this cleaning dance in front of a huge picture window and it was just dark enough to make me clearly visible to the whole neighborhood, I'm pretty sure my neighbors think I'm crazy too. (All things considered, they mights as well realize I'm a little off now and not when I'm leaving the house in belly dance or SCA garb)

I didn't spend my entire day dancing around my living room though. This morning I went for a long walk to the local library. On the way back from the library all the muscles that have been accustomed to the easy life and aren't very appreciative of the new and interesting ways I'm finding to make them work in my new dance class decided to start complaining at once. I was dying. A walk of less than half the distance I walked on Tuesday seemed twice as hard. I was pretty sure I looked quite pitiful but having someone stop and offer me a ride was a confirmation I didn't need.

Back to Happy Thoughts

While I was at the library, I found this wonderful book on canning. A few weeks ago my MIL taught me how to make and preserve my own jam with the raspberries I had picked. I'm in love. Homemade jam is so much better. You have more control over the ingredients that are going into your food and it allows you to preserve what you've grown or picked yourself. Since then, I've been on a canning kick. I've made Raspberry Jam, Strawberry/Raspberry Jam (although I didn't know to agitate the jars so all my strawberries ended up on top), Blueberry Syrup, and Raspberry/Chipolte Sauce (a great sweet/spicy BBQ sauce substitute). I'm excited about the recipes in this book and can't wait to find a great deal on some produce so I can try them out.

My pretties -
Raspberry/Chipolte Sauce, Blueberry Syrup, Raspberry/Strawberry Jam, Raspberry Jam

So, What's with the blog?

Why am I doing this? Simple ... accountability. Lately I've found several areas in my life that I'm not entirely happy with and instead of living with it or whining about it, I'm Doing Something About It. My hope is that this blog will be a place for me to vent my frustrations and celebrate my victories throughout this process. Whether anyone reads this blog or not, it still supplies me with a written account of what I have accomplished (or not accomplished) throughout this process.

So, now that we have the boring mission statement out of the way, what exactly am I trying to improve?

1 - General Fitness - yes, my weight is a problem but so is my lack of cardiovascular endurance. I used to work in an appliance warehouse and now I feel like a wimp. I would like to get my weight back to 160 (it's 236 now) and be able to jog a mile.

2 - Make My House a Home - We have a house that needs a lot of work and I want to participate in the refurbishment of my house and apply my thrifty skills to helping us accomplish our goals with minimal output of cash ('cuz we don't have a lot).

3 - Feelings of Aimlessness - I've been dealing with feelings of aimlessness for a while now. We've had to move three times in the last three years and I wasn't able to get a job due to locations and the short amounts of time we would be at the various locations. I'm going to work toward getting my teaching certificate to establish a career that can travel with me to the various places our family gets stationed.

4 - Living in Harmony With My Surroundings - I would like to reach the point where we are consuming less and contributing more. I would like to establish a garden next spring and plant fruit trees that can help feel my family down the road.

And I'm pretty sure some of the other random stuff that happens in my life will find its way into the blog as well.