it fits!

We received this as a shower gift and finally grew into it! Thank you Gma TwoChas!

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no posts

Why?

:: too hot ~ we are having a heat wave. All the way to the low 90s. Don't laugh ~ we are acclimated to 60s and 70s, so this is a lot for us. To get a feel for it, figure your average summer day temperature and add 20 degrees. See? It is hot.

:: too sick ~ no pool for me. I've been in bed with a sore throat all weekend. Whaa. Feeling too poorly to even blog, though not to poorly to watch Dae Jang Guem.

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birthday wishes

Chickadee's birthday is coming up in July. She is eagerly awaiting the arrival of dolly (remember the great dolly hunt?)

So, dolly clothes for an 18-inch dolly would make a great birthday present, as would a contribution to "The Expressionists" Summer Art Camp at Pace Atelier, as would hair clippies. She doesn't need clothes or stuffed animals.

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works for me: 9 literary podcasts

In keeping with my podcast list series, here are 9 literary podcasts that work for me.

1. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
2.Bronte's Jane Eyre, lots of Doyle's Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and more
3.Classic Poetry Aloud ~ he even takes requests!
4. Classic Tales ~ includes a Jack London and a G. K. Chesterton
5. Jane Austin: Northanger Abbey and Persuasion
6. Poem of the Day ~ from the Poetry Foundation
7. Poem of the Day ~ with ads, alas
8.Pride and Prejudice ~ 60 segments for your listening pleasure
9. Summaries of The Scarlet Letter, Frankenstein, Robinson Crusoe, Pride & Prejudice ~ each in less than 30 minutes



My other Works for Me posts.

works for me

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cute

Go here for maximum cuteness.

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Head-to-Toe Beauty Secrets: Face

Facial Beauty Secret #1: Eyebrows ~ go pay to have someone do them right and then, every morning after you brush your teeth, pluck out 2 encroaching offenders. You can handle two plucks a morning and if you keep up with it, you won't lose the line that was properly selected by someone who knew what they are doing. Anyway, if your eyebrows are tidy, you look well-groomed.

Facial Beauty Secret #2: Smile ~ Forget the fancy-dancy whitening strips and toothpastes. Just grab your Baking Soda, dip your brush in, and brush your teeth for that just-polished feeling and a natural whitening.

(Just leave a box in the bathroom. If you notice the sink needs scouring, just shake some baking soda in, scrub it a bit with your washcloth that was heading for the laundry anyway, and rinse. How easy is that?)

Facial Beauty Secret #3: Make-up ~ if you wear it, wear a quality foundation and bargain everything else. Get your mascara cheaply enough that you can toss it every 3 months for hygiene reasons. In case you really want to know, I wear Lancome Photogenic Ultra-Comfort Skin-Illuminating Makeup for foundation and whatever drug store color (mascara, blush, lipstick, etc.) catches my fancy. Currently I'm liking Almay's i-color Bring out the Green Line and Burt's Bees Coffee Lip Shimmer.

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eeps deja ju

Remember the class I didn't know I was teaching? It happened again. Good thing I had already canceled my outing for today as I am feeling poorly. It's even worse this time: last time I got a week's notice; this time class started last Thursday.

The good news is that I'll get a wee bit of money for the class. It only has 3 students so the pay will be slashed, but every little bit helps, and it is a course I enjoy: American Literature.

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fruit crisp

This super yummy recipe is derived from an Apricot Crisp recipe which I found at The Smitten Kitchen. I altered it to work with other fruits. Pear would be really good when they come into season.

Awesome Fruit Crisp


Combine in a pretty baking dish:
About 1 pound of Fruit ~ a mixture of fresh and canned is fine
Sugar to taste ~ you just want to take the tart off, nothing more
1 T flour ~ add a bit more if working with an especially juicy fruit
1 t Spice (nutmeg, cinnamon, etc.) or Extract (vanilla, almond, etc.)

Combine in bowl:
½ to 1 stick butter, melted
6 T pearl sugar
½ C whole oats, toasted
¼ C white flour
¼ C whole wheat flour
½ t salt
3 T sliced almonds

Pour this over the fruit.

Bake at 350 F for about 35 minutes.

recipe

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God in All

He inspires all.
He gives life to all.
He dominates all.
He supports all.
He lights the light of the sun.
He furnishes the light of the night.
He has made springs in dry land.
He is the God of heaven and earth,
of sea, and rivers,,
of sun, moon and stars,
of the lofty mountain and the lowly valley,
the God above heaven,
and in heaven,
and under heaven.
~ St. Patrick

from The Wisdom of the Celts, compiled by David Adam

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I wonder how long will this last . . .

. . . as I rather like it.

A conversation with my daughter:

Me: Honey, when you wear a strong color -- like hot pink -- you need to break it with white, or it's too much.
Chickadee: So no hot pink pants with hot pink shirt?
Me: Right.
Chickadee: Oh Mama, (throws her arms around my neck and kisses me) thank you so much for telling me.

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ADHD

Did you know that most children diagnosed with ADHD are boys (10% males: 4% females?). Is this a problem with boys? Or a problem with expecting boys to be not-boys? (Or merely a problem with diagnoses?)

Where did ADHD come from? The University of Chicago linked ADHD to a "gene that regulates the actions of the neurotransmitter dopamine." Although I do indeed believe that God purposefully created all that is, I also believe in microevolution; I have to ask: What benefit did this gene confer? and Might it be useful? Is ADHD a disorder? or merely one more aspect of the wonderful variety of attributes that make up the human population? One more aspect that has been labeled as a disorder to provide more specialties for psychologists and clinicians to specialize in? I'm not saying that the so-called symptoms don't exist -- surely I know that they do -- I am questioning if they represent a disorder.

Here is the official diagnostic criteria:

DSM-IV Criteria for ADHD

I. Either A or B:

A. Six or more of the following symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months to a point that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:

1. Often does not give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities.
2. Often has trouble keeping attention on tasks or play activities.
3. Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
4. Often does not follow instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions).
5. Often has trouble organizing activities.
6. Often avoids, dislikes, or doesn't want to do things that take a lot of mental effort for a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).
7. Often loses things needed for tasks and activities (e.g. toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools).
8. Is often easily distracted.
9. Often forgetful in daily activities.

B. Six or more of the following symptoms of hyperactivity -impulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for developmental level:

1. Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat.
2. Often gets up from seat when remaining in seat is expected.
3. Often runs about or climbs when and where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may feel very restless).
4. Often has trouble playing or enjoying leisure activities quietly.
5. Is often "on the go" or often acts as if "driven by a motor".
6. Often talks excessively.

Impulsiveness

1. Often blurts out answers before questions have been finished.
2. Often has trouble waiting one's turn.
3. Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games).

. . . Is ADHD a disorder? or merely one more aspect of the wonderful variety of attributes that make up the human population? One more aspect that has been labeled as a disorder to provide more specialties for psychologists and clinicians to specialize in? . . .

I've put into bold all the ones we live with (yeah, it is pretty much all of them ~ do we get extra points for fulfilling both A & B?).

We recently received the report from the school district psychologist. Although he didn't come right out and say it (I wonder why not?) he included all this language multiple times. Maybe he thinks he'll have to break it to us gently, like we didn't already know . . .




:: this post is included in the 36th edition of the brain blogging carnival hosted over at the BrainBlogger.

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canning know how

As the season moves forward, I'll try to share my canning know-how with you. In the meantime, enjoy these:

:: The Simple Woman's Cannery. Currently she is featuring a very helpful post on Pressure Canners.

:: Canned Laughter She has a nice quick pickle recipe up right now.

What are your favorite canning blogs?

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Dae Jang Geum

See these?

If someone offers to loan the Dae Jang Geum series to you, run. Because if you watch just one you will want to watch just one more and then just one more and so one. Each set has 6 3-hour discs and there are 3 sets!

The story revolves around the lives of the court ladies aka cooks in old Korea. The plot line is engaging, the costuming beautiful, and the cooking exquisite. Alas, it takes a toll on real life where I am over-tired (from staying up too late), my appearance is frumpy, and the cooking is not happening at all.

I sat down to watch them Sunday afternoon as I was fairly current on my housework and physically spent from stripping down and reconfiguring three rooms (bedroom, playroom, office) last week. I thought I'd take a little break. The break has lasted 3 days now.

As I said, run away.





:: this post is included in the Movie Monday roundup hosted by Missy Frye.
Dae Jang Geum

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works for me? tomato

It's time to report on our annual exercise in futility: tomato growing. Last year, inspired by Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I planted all sorts of gorgeous sounding plants (from a big box store, I am ashamed to admit) into too-small pots filled with garden soil. Yes, you are right, I didn't have a clue what I was doing. However did you guess??

The unhealthy plants, with the cramped roots, and the disease ridden soil combined to produce decay and despair.

But not this year. This year I ordered heirloom seeds from Seeds of Change, including the coveted Silvery Fir Tree tomato from Russia, and planted them in fresh organic potting soil, bought them their own little warming hut, and cooed over them daily. All was well, until they all wilted and died.

No, I will not be dissuaded. I ordered 8 lovely tomato plants from The Tomato Girl and was delighted to receive 5 extras. They plants are big and robust, though a bit jet-lagged which is understandable, so I followed the detailed directions exactly and let them rest up a bit. I even played a lot of classical music for them (most Chopin if you are curious). When they perked up a bit, we began supervised outings, venturing cautiously back into the land of sun and breeze. I unbundled them today and they are at this moment enjoying a spa-like soak in a bucket of Alaskan Fish Fertilizer.

As the plants begin to look stout (TomatoGirl's term) we will start to plant them. Some are going into the vegie garden with layers of newspaper and grass-clippings to prevent splash-up and the rest are going into growbags.

What's a growbag? It is a thrifty alternative to a planter. It's a cool summer here this year (that's saying a lot as I usually put on shorts at 60 degrees and whinge about the heat at 85), so I want the plants near the house so that they can benefit from the stucco's heat-retention. I didn't want to buy, tote, nor store oodles of gigantic pots, so we are trying growbags. I'll let you know how it goes.



Here are the tomatoes that I am growing from The Tomato Girl:
:: Anna Russian
:: German Pink
:: Carbon (pictured)
:: Ananas Noir
:: Sarah Black
:: Persimmon
:: Yellow Perfection
:: Clementine (thanks to Hanna over at This Garden is Illegal)
:: Garden Peach
:: Big Rainbow
:: Matt's Wild Cherry (pictured)
:: Early Giant
:: Wanda's Potato Leaf

Plus:
:: Black Bell Peppers
:: Fooled You Jalapeño Peppers
:: Black Beauty Eggplants
:: Kumari Sri Lanka Eggplants
:: Round Mauve Eggplants

So how, you may ask, is this a Works for Me post? I shamelessly lured you over here with the hope that you will share what works for you. I implore you, if you have any tomato wisdom, please share. I really really want this to be my year.


My other Works for Me posts.



tomato
works for me

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Head-to-Toe Beauty Secrets: Skin

Beautiful Skin Secret #1: Top secret to great skin? WATER ~ drink it up!

Did you know that:

1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half the world population.)
2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.
3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.
4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain or up to 80% of sufferers.
7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a ! printed page.
8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

~ shamelessly lifted from Bits & Pieces

Beautiful Skin Secret #2: sleep ~'tis called beauty sleep for a reason. Turn the computer off and go to bed.

Beautiful Skin Secret#3: Remember how amazingly light and pretty your windows were after you washed them? It's the same with your skin after you exfoliate. Get that dead skin out of here! You know, don't you, that dust is mostly dead skin? If you don't want it sitting around your house, why on earth would you leave it clinging to your skin? There are a zillion products to try. I recommend using something mild enough to use daily. Because an exfoliant does not stay on your skin long enough to be absorbed -- as compared to lotions -- you should use the cheapest one you are happy with. Just use one.

In case you care, I use LUSH's Angels on Bare Skin Cleanser, but as we are on a real tight budget right now I probably will replace it with a drug store product when I run out. I use it every day or two.

Beautiful Skin Secret #4: lotions and potions ~ buy the cheapest make-up (except foundation) you can get away with and the best skin-care you can afford. Lotions, creams, and foundations are absorbed into your body and you don't want junk in there. I used Clinque until I was 30, Lancome until I was in my early 40s, and LUSH for the last few years. I'm pretty happy with my skin. I switched over to LUSH from Lancome because it was cheaper and the ingredient list is more wholesome and I like the results better. I use these: Mirror Mirror, Gorgeous, and Skin's Shangri La Moisturizer.

Beautiful Skin Secret #5: If I could only have one beauty product it would be Dream Cream Body Cream. It is hands-down the best body cream I have ever used. It soothes bug bites and sunburns and miscellaneous rashes that I am prone to, softens crusty feet, makes sun & chlorine dried skin look glowy, and can be used as a make-up remover in a pinch. I can never have too many little pots of dream cream (hinty-hint-hint).

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whole wheat nut bread with a KitchenAid stand mixer

I haven't posted about bread for awhile, but that does not mean we haven't been baking and eating it. Because we are really missing my old income, we are on the thrifty grocery plan (Just don't buy anything!). Bread helps keep tummies from rumbling.

Anyway, here is our new favorite.

Whole Wheat Nut Bread

2 C tepid water
4 t walnut oil or any other nut oil or olive oil
4 C whole wheat flour
3/4 C chopped walnuts or pecans
3 T gluten flour
4 T total of any combination of the following: flaxseeds, wheat germ, wheat bran
1 ½ t sugar
1 t salt
1 ¼ t bread-machine yeast

Put ingredients into your stand mixer and run mixer on low for 20 minutes. Pull the dough off the hook and out of bowl (I just balance it in one hand for a minute). Flour inside of bowl and return dough to bowl; leave bread hook in place.

Let dough rise until double (about 2 hours) and then pop the bread hook back into the bowl. Knead for 4 minutes.

Turn oven on to 425-450 and put the empty bread-oven into the oven to preheat.

Let dough rise until double (about 20-40 minutes) and then put the dough into the hot bread-oven.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when thumped.

bread, whole-wheat bread, KitchenAid, baking

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American Girl doll clothes sizes

Okay, do you remember back in January as we launched the Great Dolly Hunt? Our hunt was fruitful and the long-awaited dolly will be joining our family next month in honor of Chickadee's 7th birthday.

My question for you is, does anyone happen to know what size of people clothes does an 18 inch dolly wear. Or, if you happen to have and 18 inch kid, what size clothes does she wear? I want to start collecting dolly's wardrobe at garage sales now.

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Sunday Garden Tour

This is starting to be a pattern. I head out to take pics of the garden for the Sunday Garden Tour, note the chives, take a picture of them, head on the garden and get distracted with slug-hunting, weeding etc. So here, for your enjoyment, are my chives, again.

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Father's Day

. . . a rare shot of My Gift smiling; Chickadee has that effect on him. No breakfast in bed here, but homemade gifts in the hammock are a good substitute. We had a very casual potluck with extended family and basically loafed around all day.

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wish me luck

I'm off this morning for my first day in my new official role of secretary for my county's Republican party. The Chair resigned on Thursday, so I'll be getting my feet wet in some murky and troubled waters.

politics

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Palin as Vice-President

Just in case you overlooked this post back in November, I want it noted that Palin was then, and is now, a great Vice-President choice.

Apparently a few others have noticed this too. Google McCain Palin.

ron paul

Technorati tags: Sarah Palin

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Friday Poetry: Mist

Mist

The mist across the river,
Now denser than before,
Almost conceals the cottages
That string along the shore --
Transforms them into pictures more and more.

They shimmer in the half-light --
Mirages -- and find
The cottages are castle wall,
All silver, and behind
Are kings and queens and coutiers of the mind.

I don't know which are realer,
The people that I know
In the cots across the river,
Or the kings that come and fo
In the palaces the mist makes for a show.

~ Tom Robinson

Here is the coding if you want a button with a link to this week's round-up.

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://awrungsponge.blogspot.com/2008/06/rainer-maria-rilke.html"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://lh5.google.com/image/chndlrsblog/RmBFj-SN_DI/AAAAAAAAB34/at3HZsHcKd0/poetry%20friday%20button%20-%20fulll.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>


:: this post is part of the Friday Poetry roundup hosted by a wrung sponge.





poetry

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Ron Paul

My hero ends one campaign . . . . . . and starts a new one.

technorati tags: ron paul

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works for me: binder clips & yogurt

As you may recall, I make dairy products, yogurt, Crème Fraiche, cheese etc. One of my challenges has been keeping the thermometer from falling in. As I was making yogurt yesterday evening, my eyes fell upon a binder clip and it all clicked.

My other Works for Me posts.

works for me

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Head-to-Toe Beauty Secrets: Hair

Here, for your reading pleasure, are all my beauty secrets.

As this is a Head-to-Toe series, we'll start -- naturally -- with hair.

Hair Beauty Secret #1: Marc Anthony True Professional Pro Root Touch-Up Permanent Colorant - this stuff is wonderful. I've been home-dyeing for over 20 years (yikes) and have tried lots and lots of products. Prior to this, my favorite for touchups was Clairol Nice & Easy root touch-up, but after Marc Anthony, I'll never go back. The Marc Anthony product requires no pouring and stirring, does not stink, would be very hard to drip, does not stink, covers a lot more hair, and does not stink. Even if you are not covering gray, this would be a great product for adding high-lights or low-lights. Stop by Walgreen's to pick your color and come on over, I'll do it for you. Did I mention that it doesn't stink? It was my enthusiasm for this product that got this whole beauty secrets series started.

Hair Beauty Secret #2: Baking Soda - It's a great a great sludge-remover for hair. Honestly, if you hair has build-up or chlorine or is generally coarse and unhappy, grab your baking soda and head for the bathroom. Wet your hair, apply baking soda, rinse, shampoo as usual. You'll notice that you need far less shampoo to get oodles of foamy suds and your hair will be smooth and bright afterwards. My hair is naturally coarse and has been chemically abused for decades, so I know what I am talking about here.

Hair Beauty Secret #3: In case you care what works for my naturally messy, coarse, color-treated hair, here is what I use for shampoo (Karma Komba Solid Shampoo) and conditioner (American Cream Conditioner). They each last about a year for -- as with all LUSH products -- a little goes a long way.

Hair Beauty Secret #4: In the unhappy event that you are suffering from flaky bits, go read what I learned the hard way about Seborrheic Dermatitis.

Stay tuned for the rest of the Head-to-Toe series: Skin, Face, & Pedicures.

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scalloped potatoes

These are so easy. I can't believe I ever served my family that horrid boxed stuff. Never again.

Scalloped Potatoes

Boil together for 10 minutes:
8-10 small red or yellow potatoes, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
3 T butter
2 C milk
½ C feta
1 C mixed shredded cheese
1 t thyme
1 t salt
½ t pepper

Pour into shallow baking dish.

Bake at 350-375 for 30 minutes or until brown.

recipe

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growing spurt

I don't recall if I mentioned here that last year, in honor of Chickadee's 6th birthday, I tossed out all her size 2 clothes. Not that they were too small, just because I was sick of them. This weekend, a full month ahead of her 7th birthday, we are tossing out her size 3's because they are too small. So we are catching up a wee bit.

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The Ant and the Grasshopper

For your amusement and edification:

Traditional Version:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY:

Be responsible for yourself!

Modern Version

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.

CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'

Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.

Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer! The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.

Hillary Clinton gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single parent welfare recipients.

The ant loses the case.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't work to maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY:

Be very careful how you vote in 2008.

:: hat tip to LeQue

ron paul

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Friday Poetry: Whale at Twilight by Elizabeth Coatsworth

Whale at Twilight

The sea is enormous, but calm with evening and sunset,
rearranging its islands for the night, changing its own blues,
smoothing itself against the rocks, without playfulness, without thought.
No stars are out, only sea birds flying to distant reefs.
No vessels intrude, no lobstermen haul their pots.
Only somewhere out towards the horizon a thin column of water appears
and disappears again, and then rises once more,
tranquil as a fountain in a garden where no wind blows.
~ Elizabeth Coatsworth

Here is the coding if you want a button with a link to this week's round-up.


<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://snoringscholar.blogspot.com/"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://lh5.google.com/image/chndlrsblog/RmBFj-SN_DI/AAAAAAAAB34/at3HZsHcKd0/poetry%20friday%20button%20-%20fulll.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a>


:: this post is part of the Friday Poetry roundup hosted by Sara Reinhard.




poetry

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summer goals

School is out next week, which is not as high impact for us as it is for some; we only go 2 hours a day, 2 days a week, and our homeschool lessons will continue all summer. Nevertheless, it is time to settle on our summer goals.

1. go geocaching with the kids
2. take children strawberry and blueberry picking
3. go swimming very often
4. grow and eat lots of home-grown heirloom tomatoes
5. have my fall classes fully prepped by the end of June
6. make progress on manuscript
7. make lots of jam
8. install pavers into south flower garden
9. stay home a lot
10. get children to at least one week of VBS
11. declutter basement
12. move mill end pile out of driveway
13. continue to make own bread and yogurt
14. reconquer the north and front flower gardens
15. go to Darrington Bluegrass festival

Having a deja vu? You saw a similar summer goals list last June. And just to make sure we stay busy, here are some of our plans:

1. Dandy and My Gift are off to New Mexico later this month for a paternal family reunion.
2. We are sniffling about all fourth of July weekend as we are not able to attend a maternal family reunion in Nebraska. We will be sniffling in reasonably cool weather, however, which is a small comfort.
3. Kids are off to Narnia Day Camp in mid July.
4. Soccer VBS camp in early August.
5. Trip to California mid-August for a niece's wedding.
6. Trip to Vancouver Island in early September.

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uses for whey

I'm back in the dairy mode again. Yesterday I made crème fraîche and yogurt; today I made mozzarella, ricotta, and ice-cream. So, I now have nearly a gallon of whey sitting in my fridge. I'm assembling a list of uses for whey and hoping that you will contribute some ideas.

Make Mysost.

Use instead of water for bread-baking, rice, pasta, marinades, anything that calls for water (except tea or coffee I would guess).

Make panir cheese, though this does leave you with more whey.

Feed it to the dogs.

Take a bath in it.

Mix it up with cocoa powder and a banana in the blender. We like this one.

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works for me: Mom I'm bored

Shannon over at RocksInMyDryer has asked for posts today that address the Mom, I'm bored phenomena.

Child: I'm bored.
Mom: Would you like to do some chores?
Child: Not really.
Mom: Okay. Let me know if you change your mind.

. . . time passes . . .

Child: I'm bored.
Mom: Oh, you changed your mind about those chores. Okay, please . . . .

Works for me! I should add that we have a big yard to play in, trees to climb, swings to swing, books to read, games to play, projects to tinker with, animals to play with, and -- in the summer -- a pool. There is really no excuse to be drifting about listlessly.

:: edited to add that the chores assigned come from the Chore Jar, so I don't have to fiddle around with deciding which chore.

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The Simple Woman's Daybook

hosted by The Simple Woman

Outside my window is a freshly mown lawn, an idle ladybug swing, an old dog dozing under the rhododendron and a young dog following suit.

I am thinking about summer goals and plans: swim, help Mom in her garden, keep up with own gardens, keep up with home-schoolings, visit cousins more, read more books, continue the great purging.

I am thankful for quiet mornings at home.

From the kitchen waft the the smells of BonAmi. Dandy has cleaned up the kitchen in preparation for a big cooking frenzy this afternoon.

I am wearing clean jeans and a t-shirt and flip-flops.

I am creating to-do lists that are longer than the day is.

I am going to wash that gray almost out of my hair. I'm leaving my forelock gray as we are all going to have to get used to it pretty soon; I'm sick of dyeing it.

I am reading home-schooling materials.

I am hoping become a more patient and gentle Mom.

I am hearing birdcalls..

Around the house are many gardens full of weeds.

One of my favorite things good food.

A few plans for the rest of the week are yet to be determined.

Here is picture thought I am sharing

canal cows
Trent-Mersey Canal
England 2004

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spinach lasagna

Tis a double-header recipe day. I got this yummy recipe from a dear friend of my mom's who has asked me to post it as she has misplaced her copy.

Sally's Spinach Lasagna

Mix together:
2 pounds low-fat cottage cheese
2 C shredded Mozzarella
1/2 C grated Parmesan
2 beaten eggs
2 Tb chopped parsley
1 pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/4 t nutmeg or Italian seasoning

In the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish, spread:
1 C spagetti sauce + 1/2 C water

Then put in alternate layers of the cheese mixture and 1 box of cooked lasagna noodles.

Top with:
1 C spagetti sauce + 1/2 C water.

Sprinkle with parmesan.

Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour at 375.

Serves ten.

recipe

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Creamy Lemon Chicken

This is so incredibly yummy that I licked the saucepan and I didn't care who saw me. The kids were awe-struck at the sight.

Creamy Lemon Chicken adapted from recipes found at Gluten-Free Girl

Heat in saucepan:
½ cube butter
Zest & juice of one lemon
2-3 cooked chicken breasts, cut into slivers
2 C marinated artichoke hearts, drained but not rinsed
1 C crème fraiche
¼ medium sweet onion, diced very fine

Serve over a nice pasta; Trader Joe’s Lemon Pepper Pasta is a good one.

recipe

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