Just recently I started a new job. Not a great new job. Just a job. I'm doing a huge amount of training on Apple computers. Eight hours a day for three weeks I'll be training on operating systems, user interfaces, etc, etc, etc... In the course of all this training, I find that I have a problem with authority. I am dangerously comfortable with talking back to whomever is giving me directions - especially at five am. I don't really have that natural sensor that tells most people to quit talking or to stop shoving the foot in the mouth. I just blabber on, and on, and on... until I find myself inadvertently insulting my boss.
So, until I am a great author with millions of loyal fans, please feel free to remind me to editorialize myself. It would be a kindness and for my own protection. Really!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Considerate and Caring - My husband is one in a million
I feel so sick right now. The sinus pressure in my brain feels like it's splitting my head in two with a blunt axe.
Almost magicly, orange juice, a egg sandwitch, tea, medicine, water, and tissues have all materialized just when I needed them - even though I'm so hoarse I can barely say thank you.
Kris is also an Adult Girl Scout. He registered so he can help with the troop on occasion.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for being so considerate and caring!
Almost magicly, orange juice, a egg sandwitch, tea, medicine, water, and tissues have all materialized just when I needed them - even though I'm so hoarse I can barely say thank you.
Kris is also an Adult Girl Scout. He registered so he can help with the troop on occasion.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for being so considerate and caring!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Make the World a Better Place - Urban Farmer Association Idea
It's mid October and the leaves are falling off the trees throughout Central Oregon. The only problem is that leaves are not the only thing toppling from the tree tops. Everywhere I go I see wasted fruit laying in people's yards, in the gutters, on the sidewalks. It's a little nagging issue that bothered me last year but I didn't really fully process why.
Kris (my husband) and I were talking about the fruit that is wasted around the United States recently due to my latest plum windfall. It is a shame that people go hungry in our community and yet this waste occurs. He had the idea of starting an Urban Farmer Association.
People could participate in three different ways:
People from all walks of society would be encouraged to participate. Those who have an interest in reviving the lost heritage of preserving their own food will be able to learn about a variety of preserving methods in just a few days. Those who are looking for a free food source will be able to work towards taking home extra food. We can even give fliers to the food bank to hand out. Those who are simply interested in getting rid of some of that fruit that falls around their house each year will be able to do so. Those who wish could do all three.
If we can create a working model in Bend, perhaps it could be duplicated in communities throughout the country. It seems like a great way to share a heritage, be environmentally responsible, and distribute a wealth of otherwise wasted food to those who will use it!
If you live in Central Oregon and would be interested in joining this emerging group, send me your email address and we'll get organized!
Kris (my husband) and I were talking about the fruit that is wasted around the United States recently due to my latest plum windfall. It is a shame that people go hungry in our community and yet this waste occurs. He had the idea of starting an Urban Farmer Association.
People could participate in three different ways:
- Donating Food to Preserve - Homeowners who have a tree loaded with fruit every year but don't want to mess with the process of preserving it can donate the fruit to the association and receive a gift of canned fruit.
- Donating Harvest Labor - A group of people willing to pick and sort fruit from said trees around town on "harvest dates". They can take home half of everything they pick.
- Canning and Preserving Team - This group washes and preserves the food picked. They put together "gift baskets" for the homeowners and then divide up the rest of the food amongst themselves to take home.
People from all walks of society would be encouraged to participate. Those who have an interest in reviving the lost heritage of preserving their own food will be able to learn about a variety of preserving methods in just a few days. Those who are looking for a free food source will be able to work towards taking home extra food. We can even give fliers to the food bank to hand out. Those who are simply interested in getting rid of some of that fruit that falls around their house each year will be able to do so. Those who wish could do all three.
If we can create a working model in Bend, perhaps it could be duplicated in communities throughout the country. It seems like a great way to share a heritage, be environmentally responsible, and distribute a wealth of otherwise wasted food to those who will use it!
If you live in Central Oregon and would be interested in joining this emerging group, send me your email address and we'll get organized!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Using Resources Wisely - Canning and Perserving Plums...
See the title? That is what I did all day today.When those four kids filled two boxes in an hour, I didn't realize the sheer volume of plums I was hauling home. It's 10:30 pm and I'm writing this while my last batch of plums bubble away. At least the last batch tonight. Tomorrow I'm making 6 quarts of sugarless plums for the parents. My dad loves canned plums and lost his plum tree when moving to the Washington coast.
The result is wonderful. Our kitchen table is filled with home-canned plums and plum jam. Tomorrow I may even go back and pick another box and make another batch of jam. The kids loved it and it was made with very little sugar. Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas this year?
So - how did I use resources wisely. I didn't allow my good intentions to rot in the box in the corner of the kitchen. That's how. I remember storing a bunch of apples in the bottom of a closet because it was the coolest place in the house. Months later we were having trouble with flies and couldn't figure out why. It was incredibly gross. I've also made many a batch of chicken broth that I set on the back steps to cool in the winter only to wonder where that good pot had gone in the spring. Absent minded behavior has led me to do things right away - before I forget. It's all the fault of that haze that I live in.
By the way. The haze returned today. Because of it I burnt myself several times and spilled plum juice all over the kitchen floor. Maybe I just need more sleep. I've been a night owl my entire life and have difficulty adjusting to everyone else's daytime hours.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Be Prepared - Italian Plums and Child Labor
Be Prepared - This is the best scouting motto around and one that I'm slowly starting to own. I think this slogan doesn't mean you carry a 100# backpack with all your worldly goods around with you, but perhaps to be ready to use the resources around you to your best advantage.
Today I was prepared. I didn't have a pocket knife and some all-weather matches on me, but I was prepared to jump at opportunities, I was prepared to change my plans to tackle new challenges and prepared to do the work necessary to make a positive experience for my family. I felt like the wife from Proverbs (31:10-31).
Today I was prepared. I didn't have a pocket knife and some all-weather matches on me, but I was prepared to jump at opportunities, I was prepared to change my plans to tackle new challenges and prepared to do the work necessary to make a positive experience for my family. I felt like the wife from Proverbs (31:10-31).
I'm not always prepared. Sometimes I can barely function. I think I'm an inherently lazy person. I tend to live in a bit of a fog 75% of the time with scattered moments of clarity. Today I had clarity and it's rarity makes it more recognizable.
Let me start from the beginning of my day. Today I found bananas going bad on the counter. I made whole wheat banana bread. Delish. We are, as always, low on money. The cereal saved by the prudent use of those bananas roughly equals one entire box. Yes, my family members are cereal pigs. (for the recipe - just reference Joy of Cooking and substitute whole wheat and add yummy toppings to the loaves like chopped prunes, pecans, or chocolate chips.)
After making banana bread I took two little girls to the High Desert Museum with a picnic lunch that was made while the banana bread baked. The trip was free due to a pass that happened to be on hand. While we were chatting up the otter that lives there I received a phone call from Janelle, my oldest daughter's piano teacher. She has a friend who has a rental with loaded Italian plum trees around it and wanted to know if I wanted to shake down a few. Suddenly my imagination is filled with all the great things I could do with this windfall of free fruit. I grab the two little girls, Bella and Geneva, and pick up Ann and Simon from school. Within a half an hour the five of us are standing in the yard with boxes and buckets found at Ann's school office and in the back of my car.
The kids and I went from tree to tree. I would clammer up the ladder and shake the tree as hard as I could and the four kids would scramble for the plums as they came tumbling to the ground bouncing off their little heads and rolling to rest in the lawn. All four of the kids were thrilled and squealed when pelted with the falling fruit. They called it an Easter egg hunt. They got sticky with plum juice and had bark and dirt from the trees clinging to their hair and clothes. All of us were astounded by the bounty of our urban cache.
Let me start from the beginning of my day. Today I found bananas going bad on the counter. I made whole wheat banana bread. Delish. We are, as always, low on money. The cereal saved by the prudent use of those bananas roughly equals one entire box. Yes, my family members are cereal pigs. (for the recipe - just reference Joy of Cooking and substitute whole wheat and add yummy toppings to the loaves like chopped prunes, pecans, or chocolate chips.)
After making banana bread I took two little girls to the High Desert Museum with a picnic lunch that was made while the banana bread baked. The trip was free due to a pass that happened to be on hand. While we were chatting up the otter that lives there I received a phone call from Janelle, my oldest daughter's piano teacher. She has a friend who has a rental with loaded Italian plum trees around it and wanted to know if I wanted to shake down a few. Suddenly my imagination is filled with all the great things I could do with this windfall of free fruit. I grab the two little girls, Bella and Geneva, and pick up Ann and Simon from school. Within a half an hour the five of us are standing in the yard with boxes and buckets found at Ann's school office and in the back of my car.
The kids and I went from tree to tree. I would clammer up the ladder and shake the tree as hard as I could and the four kids would scramble for the plums as they came tumbling to the ground bouncing off their little heads and rolling to rest in the lawn. All four of the kids were thrilled and squealed when pelted with the falling fruit. They called it an Easter egg hunt. They got sticky with plum juice and had bark and dirt from the trees clinging to their hair and clothes. All of us were astounded by the bounty of our urban cache.
To top off the day, my friend Trina dropped off a bag of upholstery remnants from a furniture store she works at. I had been worried about how we were to afford to give money to Marina for Christmas presents. Thankfully, my oldest daughter is becoming a wonderful seamstress and she decided to make presents with those remnants. (Way to be prepared, Miss Marina!)
Tomorrow I'm completing the unexpected project and canning plums. For anyone who has never preserved their own fruit - it's one of the easiest ways to stretch your families budget. You can buy or pick fruit in the summer and fall, when its cheapest, and can it for the winter when plums are $2.99/# or apples are mealy. There is nothing better than topping your oatmeal with warm plums and honey in the middle of a cold, long winter.
Here are the simple steps to canning:
Tomorrow I'm completing the unexpected project and canning plums. For anyone who has never preserved their own fruit - it's one of the easiest ways to stretch your families budget. You can buy or pick fruit in the summer and fall, when its cheapest, and can it for the winter when plums are $2.99/# or apples are mealy. There is nothing better than topping your oatmeal with warm plums and honey in the middle of a cold, long winter.
Here are the simple steps to canning:
- Load your dishwasher with canning jars - quart or pint and sterilize.
- Get out a sauce pan and fill half way with water, a stock pot and fill with four inches of water and a third pot filled with sugar water (ratio 1:2 - sugar to water). Bring them all to a simmer.
- Nestle the canning lids in your jar rings and gently place them in your sauce pan of plain water.
- Pack your sterile jars with clean, peeled or pitted fruit - apples, peaches, pears, cherries or plums. Don't bother peeling the plums - I don't even pit them. Fill the jars with the sugar water. Leave about an inch of room at the top of the jars.
- Wipe the rims of your jars clean.
- Place a lid and ring on the jar and barely tighten them.
- Use a jar lifter to place the jars in the stockpot. Add enough water to come up to the neck of the jar.
- Bring the water to a boil and then set the timer for 25 minutes for pints and 30 minutes for quarts.
- Remove from the canner and let the jars cool. Then check the seals by poking the middle of the can. If it "pops" your jar isn't sealed and you should eat the food in the next week or re-can with a new lid. Otherwise put them in the cupboard and enjoy your home-canned fruit.
I hope that canning doesn't die out as a lost skill. It's a great feeling to know how to prepare your own food for storage. With all the horrible genetic mutating of our foods and the preservatives and additives used by manufacturers, the closer you get to knowing your food source the better. I know exactly what went into my home-canned food and I'm looking forward to eating my applesauce, peaches, pears and plums this year.
The picture above is quart jars of applesauce made last weekend---below is the process of making it.
Becoming an Adult Girl Scout
It's harder than I thought - raising children. It delivers a lot of unexpected activities into your life that you participate in because "It's good for her." One of those activities for me was scouting. As the mother of a rather shy girl I felt it best to engage her in more activities that would give her the opportunity to interact with other girls her age in a more intimate setting than an elementary school.
I heard of a troop that was started by a woman whose husband worked with mine and enrolled Ann into the troop after I saw her interact with the other girls. It was just what she needed and she's thriving in that circle of friends. Unfortunately that woman only lead the troop for about four months. If it was to keep going, someone needed to run it and no one was stepping forward. So I found myself registering officially as an "Adult Girl Scout".
In hindsight, it's not a bad thing to be. What are the predominate features of a Girl Scout? Be prepared... be a sister to every girl scout... make the world a better place... to help people at all times... to be considerate and caring... the list goes on of positive attributes to pass on - not just to the next generation, but to your neighbor, friend, or the unknown person reading this blog - assuming it ever gets read, of course. Therefore, to be an "Adult Girl Scout" will be my mantra. Look forward to the next adventure, outing or opportunity to serve those people around me and perhaps, yes... even make the world a better place.
I heard of a troop that was started by a woman whose husband worked with mine and enrolled Ann into the troop after I saw her interact with the other girls. It was just what she needed and she's thriving in that circle of friends. Unfortunately that woman only lead the troop for about four months. If it was to keep going, someone needed to run it and no one was stepping forward. So I found myself registering officially as an "Adult Girl Scout".
In hindsight, it's not a bad thing to be. What are the predominate features of a Girl Scout? Be prepared... be a sister to every girl scout... make the world a better place... to help people at all times... to be considerate and caring... the list goes on of positive attributes to pass on - not just to the next generation, but to your neighbor, friend, or the unknown person reading this blog - assuming it ever gets read, of course. Therefore, to be an "Adult Girl Scout" will be my mantra. Look forward to the next adventure, outing or opportunity to serve those people around me and perhaps, yes... even make the world a better place.
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