Thought Herder... the original

Of January (stealing blog titles)

2012-01-25T13:14:00.000-05:00

The weather has been up and down here. Mud and snow... or mud then snow.... then rain... then snow... or mud. blech. So the body can't get used to this and feels undecided at best.

This time of year isn't my favorite. No bike riding, no gardening, no sunshine... just refer to the first sentence. But, also not much snow shoveling. Which is great for bad shoulders and driving in general.

Our wee lad will be 20 next month. Yes, years old. I'm stunned too. He has grown into a fine, polite, talented, focused (mostly) young man. I guess we did something right along the way.

Baking should happen today. Tidying of crap laying about, dishes washing right now, chicken feed brought in, laundry slowly worked on (necessary when you hang everything to dry inside in the winter), and probably something else I'm forgetting. Oh, yeah... a career to build. Ha! Or something like, mumbling...

Oh, and I love my family.

Weather or not...

2012-01-07T10:57:00.002-05:00

Now it's ridiculously warm for January in NE Ohio and we have sheets out drying on the line.

Soup

2012-01-04T10:51:00.000-05:00

So, it's been ridiculously cold and the chickens/ducks need water that isn't a slushie. Who would want to drink that when it's 15F outside? So, I take a bucket of "HOT" water down and mix it with the slushie water for them. They look so happy about it.

New again?

2012-01-04T10:49:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's the new year. Happy, Happy. The hopeful time of year. Hopefully, there will be plenty of this and not too much (if any) of that. You know what I mean... or at least have an idea.

I'm very happy the holidays are over. We had a great xmas eve and an even greater xmas day. So wonderfully peaceful and comfortable with lovely family and interesting conversation/food. Just satisfyingly simple and full of ease. Joy itself, really.

New Years Eve was half good and half bad. I could go on and on with phlegm filled rancor, but I will restrain myself. I'm feeling better today, finally, and can expend some precious energy for said restraint. New Years Day was filled with laying around, blowing my nose, and generally being sick and tired. But, it was quiet and was spent with my men. Very nice.

I will say that I don't think too highly of people that only feed their small children candy, pop, and junk. Aren't we (who are parents) as parents responsible for the future (and present) health of our children? Just saying. Children aren't accessories.

Brown, hot and plenty of it

2011-12-11T20:31:00.000-05:00

Pot pie for supper. It's made with broth from the carcass of a chicken I roasted the other night. That roasted chicken turned out fabulously, I might add. The meat for the pot pie is from roasted turkey leg saved from our T-giving dinner. So, basically made with whatever veggies were on hand and left over meaty stuff. Cheap, easy and filling. I can't stress enough how many inexpensive meals can be had from a whole chicken. Roasting a chicken is an incredibly easy supper... just add some potatoes and whatever other veg you might enjoy and you have a cheap, filling dinner for 3-5 people.

Enjoy the pot pie love...

Why pay?

2011-12-11T12:53:00.003-05:00

I was asked recently why I would pay for email service. I knew why, but couldn't spit it out when put on the spot. So, here are some other peoples reviews of Runbox. Oh, and I only pay $20 a year for what I need.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/runbox-berkeley

7/22/2011

After being very disappointed by Yahoo's bully way of making their users choose the "new" version where they can screen all your e-mail content, etc. (making you even more transparent for the government) I decided to look further and choose another provider.

RUNBOX was the best one that I've found and I'm very happy that I took that decision. All my e-mails have now been transferred over from Yahoo, and I'm gonna delete and cancel my account with Yahoo.

I trust this company way more than any other provider in the US.

10/4/2006

I've been a Runbox user and fan since 1996. With all of the free email offers out there, why do I use a paid service? One main reason is that if something goes sideways (twice in ten years, nothing lost), they're responsive and responsible. My email, files, etc. are securely backed up. If something goes wrong with your free service...they owe you zip.

Another reason is that Runbox is a Norwegian company, and complies with European data security laws...not our weakened U.S. laws. Plus, there are no ads, they support any email client, webmail access, secure access, messages up to 100 mb, email aliases, email consolidation, you can use any "reply-to" or "from" address, and I can store 10 gb (or more for extra) of email. Plus, each account comes standard with a gb of file storage.

Another reason is that Runbox keeps improving the service. They just added web hosting, including 200 MB storage and 4 000 MB data transfer per month.

Plus, they have a referral program so that you can earn some money for referring people. I've never taken advantage of that particular benefit, but if you wanna sign up, message me and I'll be happy to send you the link!

It's $50/year, but it's worth it when you consider you'd pay more than that just for the web hosting. I leave all my email online so that in case of disaster, I've got access to all of it. And thanks to European privacy laws, I sleep better at night.

Gingersnap re-post

2011-12-10T20:40:00.002-05:00

I'm re-posting this recipe because it's good for my soul.

Gingersnaps

1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
Granulated sugar

Mix brown sugar, shortening, molasses and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. I never do this.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Shape dough into balls about an inch or 1.5 inches across. Dip tops in granulated sugar. Place balls, sugared sides up, about 3 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake until just set, 8 minutes. If you make the balls larger, go for longer. Let them sit on the cookie sheet for 15 seconds, then remove to cooling rack.

Inhale.

Time keeps moving

2011-12-09T17:54:00.000-05:00

Is happiness a choice? Is freedom a choice? Would you make those choices if you could? Why can't you? What about me? Can I make those choices? What would I lose and what would I gain? What can I live without? Is money the only security? How much free time do you have? How much time do you spend with the people you love or doing what you love? What would you do if you could do what you love to do to make money? Would you be okay with making less money if you did what you loved? Why does it always seem to come down to money? How would you feel if you didn't have to make a house/car/credit card payment every month? How would you feel if you ate food that you or your family grew/cooked? What do these questions do to you? How do they make you feel?

<p>&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;There is</p>

Disposed

2011-11-26T12:19:00.000-05:00

Do you remember lay-aways? Most department stores had this feature where you could pick out what you wanted to buy, bring it to a counter in the back of the store, they would tally it up and give you a receipt. Every week or whatever the time frame, you would come in and pay on that purchase until it was paid for and then you got the stuff. No debt, no need for credit cards or interest on them. Just pay every time you could until it was yours. Where did that go? I remember doing this for xmas toys for our son at Hills. I also remember when you could buy stuff at Hills and it would last. I still have a rain coat I bought my husband before they closed down. Still works fine. I just wonder about all the cheap crap that is being purchased this holiday season. We have a wonky toaster. I think the timer is a bit off, but it works okay. We have had this toaster for close to 20 years. I don't want to buy a new one because of how crappy the quality of things are now. Disposable isn't good. Like disposable plates, napkins, cups, etc. That is paying good money for something you intend to throw away. Think about that.

Buy nothing day...

2011-11-25T19:35:00.000-05:00

...or, hang with your family day! We had a slow, small T-giving dinner yesterday, followed by a lovely campfire. Yes, we had a campfire on T-G day. The weather was warm during yesterday and today, so hanging laundry, walks, camp fires and biking!

G and I went for a nice bike ride today. We have to get them in whenever possible now that the weather will be turning cold soon. Maybe another ride tomorrow, too.

Holidays are not my favorite thing, except for having time together with my guys.

Tell it, Bill baby

2011-11-21T12:48:00.002-05:00

New

2011-11-16T20:36:00.000-05:00

I'd like to say "Hi" to Mama Llama. I hope you like this site and enjoy your visits.

I'm going to make some fig bars tonight, recipe is courtesy of dig this chick. She and her kids are so cute, you might want to check them out for their great version of this recipe.

The weather is turning and I want to ride my bicycle....bicycle.... I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike. Yes, I do... I really, really do. Maybe the weather will cooperate with me in the next few days. I don't mind the cold, I'll just bundle up.

Gandi and Vandana Shiva

2011-11-12T10:17:00.000-05:00

Here are some wise words from Vandana Shiva.

The 99 Percent
Vandana Shiva, ZNet
On May 15, 2011, young people occupied the squares of the cities in Spain. They called themselves the “Indignados” — the indignant. I met them in Madrid where I was attending the meeting of the scientific committee that advises the Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Their declaration states: “Who are we? We are the people; we have come here freely as volunteers. Why are we here? We are here because we want a new society that gives more priority to life than to economic interest.”
In the US the ongoing “Occupy movement” is also called “We are the 99 percent.” This people’s protest, inspired by the Arab Spring, is directed against unequal distribution of wealth; the “99 percent” here refers to “the difference in wealth between the top one percent and all the remaining citizens”.
The fact that they were supported by action around the world when they were to be evicted from Wall Street on October 14 shows that everywhere people are fed up with the current system. They are fed up with the power of corporations. They are fed up with the destruction of democracy and peoples’ right. They refuse to give their consent to the bailouts of banks by squeezing people of their lives and livelihoods. The contest, as “the 99 percent” describe it, is between life and economic interests, between people and corporations, between democracy and economic dictatorship.
The organising style of the people’s movements worldwide is based on the deepest and the most direct democracy. This is self-organisation. This is how life and democracy work. This is what Mahatma Gandhi called swaraj.
Those from the dominant system, used to hierarchy and domination do not understand the horizontal organising and call these movements “leaderless”.
Gandhi had said: “Life will not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom. But it will be an oceanic circle whose centre will be the individual always ready to perish for the village, the latter ready to perish for the circle of villages till at last the whole becomes one life composed of individuals, never aggressive in their arrogance, but ever humble, sharing the majesty of the oceanic circle of which they are integral units. Therefore, the outermost circumference will not wield power to crush the inner circle, but will give strength to all within and will derive its own strength from it.”
The general assemblies in cities around the world are living examples of these “ever expanding, never ascending” oceanic circles. When everyone has to be included in decision-making, consensus is the only way. This is how indigenous cultures have practised democracy throughout history. Future generations are reconnecting to this ancient tradition of shaping real freedom because corporate rule has displaced democracy, and people’s representatives have mutated into corporate representatives.
Today, worldwide, representative democracy has reached its democratic limits. From being “by the people, for the people, of the people”, it has become “by the corporations, of the corporations, for the corporations”. Money drives elections, and money runs government.
Gandhi identified “modern civilisation” as the real cause for loss of freedom: “Let us first consider what state of things is described by the word ‘civilisation’. Its true test lies in the fact that people living in it make bodily welfare the object of life... Civilisation seeks to increase bodily comforts and it fails miserably even in doing so... This civilisation is such that one has only to be patient and it will be self-destroyed.”
This I believe is at the heart of Gandhi’s foresight. The ecological crisis which is a result of the intense resource appetite and pollution caused by industrialisation is the most important aspect of the self-destruction of civilisation. Industrialisation is based on fossil fuels, and fossil fuel civilisation has given us climate chaos and is threatening us with climate catastrophe. It has also given us unemployment.
Gandhi also refers to the fact that the sole objective of “civilisation” is bodily welfare and it fails miserably even in this objective and it fails in its own measure.
The new movements of the future generations are movements of the excluded who have been deprived of every right — political, economic and social. They have nothing to lose but their disposability and dispensability.
(11 November 2011)

The Story of Broke

2011-11-09T10:17:00.002-05:00

Bye, bye mobileme

2011-11-08T11:00:00.000-05:00

I've had mac.mail for 10 or 11 years. I still have an @mac.com email suffix. So, I'm not too happy about this new icloud thingy. We have older machines, so lion won't run on them and without lion you can only run a limited version of icloud. Talk about planned obsolescence! Or should I say rip off. I'm sick of companies doing this. I think they're too big for their britches.

So, I found an email company called runbox. They're Norwegian. It's cheaper than mobileme, by a huge bit, they are partly employee owned, and use hydro power to power their servers. I am also able to use my mail client that came with the apple computer, so I get to keep the same look and feel that I'm used to using. Happiness.

Yogurt, too

2011-11-05T10:52:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple good links for making Greek style yogurt. I know my instructions aren't always clear, heehee!

http://greekfood.about.com/od/syrupssauces/r/make_yogurt.htm

http://greekfood.about.com/od/greekcookingtips/ht/strainyogurt.htm

Making yogurt

2011-11-01T14:11:00.000-04:00

I thought I had a post on here about making yogurt at home, but can't find it. So, here it is. I usually use 1/2 gallon of Hartzlers milk and any active culture plain yogurt you want to use. This last time I used an organic greek yogurt to get that kind of sour creamy bite. We eat the yogurt, but I also use it to wash my hair so, two birds...

Anyhoo, pour your milk of choice (whole, 2%, or skim) into a large, stainless steel, heavy bottomed pot. Heat it on medium until it looks a bit foamy, but is not boiling in the least. Turn off the burner and let it cool. It needs to cool until you can hold you small finger in the milk for 10 seconds. You will have to experiment with this. Once it has cooled to the finger degree, put 2 tablespoons (at least, you can add more if you want) of plain yogurt (with active cultures, I used Greek yogurt) to a small bowl. Add in about the same amount of your cooled milk. Whisk the two together so they become one. Pour the lot into the pot and whisk it around to mix them up. Have 2 clean quart jars ready. Fill the jars and tighten the lids. There may be a bit left over, so pour it into another small jar. Wrap the jars up with a couple of towels. If it's chilly in your house, add a hot water bottle. Just put the hot water bottle on top of the jars and wrap the whole thing up with your towels, usually 2 towels. Wait until tomorrow. Open a jar and see what you've got. Usually it's yogurt, with a yogurt consistency. Sometimes not. You can still use it for smoothies or hair washing. There are other steps, like straining out the whey, but I'm not too worried about doing that. Put the jars in the refrigerator. All done. It's so easy and delicious.

Last fall

2011-11-01T13:53:00.002-04:00

Here are a few photos of what we've been doing lately...

The mystery fruit revealed! The most delicious cantaloupe I've ever had. Hopefully more next year.

Softening tomatoes before straining the skins and seeds out.

On the blue bike, you can see 5lbs walnuts on top back, 12lbs pasta, and a case of salsa on the back side. On the black bike, 2 cases of crackers.

Loaded bikes after a bulk food run.

Inside the bag... 2 cases yogurt, 5lbs figs, 5lbs sesame seeds, 1 gallon vinegar

Freshly made Greek yogurt. Taking away the price of the milk, $16 worth of yogurt saving! And Blue Oregon garlic seed waiting to be planted.

Here is more yogurt, just holding it so you can see how it yogged.

Bank Transfer Day

2011-10-19T12:55:00.003-04:00

Here is a link for the photo below.

Hark, a vagrant

2011-10-08T14:54:00.001-04:00

occupytogether.org

Neem oil for contraception

2011-10-04T15:43:00.003-04:00

What a fascinating article! Read how neem oil can be used for contraception.

Granola bars

2011-09-28T13:52:00.000-04:00

Here is today's granola bag recipe. I used what I had on hand, so sometimes it's different. I am using more sesame seeds to up the protein and fat content and lower the glycemic index by lowering the quantity of oats and using agave syrup instead of honey. We are protein and fat needing people but sugar messes us up. Enjoy. Feel free substituting ingredients. I usually use almonds, but didn't have any today.

These are the dry ingredients...

1 3/4 cups sesame seeds
1 3/4 cups quick oats
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup hemp seeds
1 cup ground walnuts
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped pecans
handful of chocolate chips

These are the wet ingredients...

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 veg oil
3/4 agave syrup or honey
3/4 peanut butter or nut butter of choice

Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir them around until fully mixed. In a medium sauce pan, add the wet ingredients except the nut butter. Heat until sugar dissolves, remove from heat and add nut butter. Stir until nut butter is well mixed. Add the wet to the dry and stir until evenly moistened.

Press mixture into a 9 x 13 pan or jellyroll pan lined with parchment paper. Press the mixture flat with something besides your fingers as your fingers will be covered with granola bar. Bake at 250 F for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let the bars cool for a bit. Remove the granola bars from the pan with the parchment paper. Cut the bars while still contained in the parchment paper and them return to the pan to cool. You could press them again to tighten them up a bit.

After...

2011-09-24T13:22:00.000-04:00

Camping was wonderful. The mountain air and energy, the river flow and chill, quiet (except for occasional loud people that we wonder why they're in the outdoors at all) broken by the scream of an owl that sounded like a woman over our tent. We always say, "just here is where we could be a little house". We could so live there. But, we're back here with renewed dreams of building our own in such a place.

Here we are back to leaking water heaters, other peoples idea of good building practices and cabbage worms on the magnificent kale. These things are being dealt with slowly but surely.

I can't wait until our apple tree has apples again next year. I think we'll build tunnels to protect the kale and prolong the eating therein. We are only getting duck eggs with the very occasional chicken egg. Some of those chickens will have to become soup. Just need to work up to it. Two for sure. Fat, mean and not laying at all don't make endearing chickens.

This house needs to be decluttered. Junk needs to be thrown out and given away. I have cupboards that haven't been cleared since we moved in 9 years ago. I'm ready. Clothes need to be sorted and taken to thrift stores. Knitting needs to happen to make new wool felted slippers. I would also like to knit a cowl. I do so adore thick wooly neck warming things. Also, winter warm skirts for alone or over trousers. 'Tis the season.

Camping

2011-09-11T18:15:00.000-04:00

Preparing for camping on this vacation. The last few years we have frozen and slept very poorly. It was so bad that I was having bad camping thoughts this morning. The last few trips were in the 30's and low 40's at night. Last year it was cold and rainy during the day, too. We don't mind that as long as we can sleep. So, this year I bit the bullet and bought some fancy (expensive, eeeek!) sleeping bags and sleeping pads. Since hauling tons of water is also a drag, I invested in a neat lightweight water filter.

The sleeping bags are Kelty Cosmic 0 degree down mummy bags. We have only had our summer weight sleeping bags for about the last 12-ish years. They aren't nearly sufficient as far as warmth goes. We have also been using air mattresses for about 10-ish years. Now, I do like them as far as comfort goes, but they have no insulation AT ALL! So, any warmth you've managed to hoard is getting sucked away into the ground. Bye bye. Not this year. We also have some Therm a Rest sleeping pads coming. Insulated, padded, light weight (think bike touring) and supposedly comfortable for side sleepers. As for hauling water, we're going away for 3 nights so that would be just too much to carry in. In comes the Katadyn Base Camp Filter. It's supposed to filter 2.5 gallons in about a half an hour. Fill it and let the water fill a larger container with clean water. We are going to put clean but very heavily chlorinated water into it to filter away the smell and taste of the chlorine, but could use it down by the river.

All of these items are major investments, but we figure they'll pay for themselves in comfort, sleep and convenience. We can't wait to try them out.

Canned

2011-09-07T13:31:00.000-04:00

This was just the beginning. We canned 60 quarts of tomato juice/puree this past weekend. Yesterday was our 20th wedding anniversary. A lovely walk in a local park, local pizza and king fishers. The weather is chilly and G has 2 weeks of vacation starting next week. Yay!

Missed and loved, still

2011-08-25T23:33:00.001-04:00

So, it was a busy day for me today. E found a groundhog in the garden, it had been eating our beautiful lettuces. It was very tame and cute, though. It's quite lucky I'm not a bit more blood thirsty. The garden was rather overgrown so I went out and weeded it for about 2 hours. I picked all the storage onions and found some volunteer potatoes, lovely red ones. Some of the weeds (clover) went to the chickens, while the less seedy weeds went right back onto the garden pile to keep in moisture and return their rotting weedy corpses back from whence they sprang. After a nice rest, E and I returned to the garden. He helped me fence in the remaining lettuces from the hungry little hog. I planted more lettuce seeds and transplanted a few lettuces that were remaining on the porch, sad things. E helped me make granola bars, a double batch with dark chocolate chips. I think next time they'll need more moisture and half sesame seeds and half oats. That should up the fat/protein content and lower the carbohydrates content. Then lovely yoga with an even lovelier bath. I watched a rerun of Lewis on Masterpiece online and am now typing this. All of this work and the beauty of the day are dedicated to my wee friend who died this day last year. We miss you Peep a Cheep.

Loads of food

2011-08-25T17:06:00.001-04:00

The front yard garden is going strong. The volunteer butternut squash has 10 fruits on it. The fruit in the bottom photo is humongous.

More of the front yard garden, with cayenne peppers, nasturtiums, sweet basil, volunteer Roma tomatoes.

I think the mystery volunteer from a few months back is a cantaloupe! Just the one, though.

I weeded this huge patch (15 x 15) in the back yard garden today. I really love how this patch looks horrible. Think Ruth Stout. The soil is beautiful and soft. The weeds were about 3 feet high. But underneath I found 1.5 peck baskets of storage onions and a volunteer red potato with a few nice big potatoes on it. I need a photo of them. The onions are on the driveway drying out right now.

Here is some of the champion kale with lettuce and basil in the back ground. There is much more kale than this little bit.

Lovely lettuces above and who knows what this is in the photo below? Any guesses?

Micromanaging no poo

2011-08-23T19:41:00.000-04:00

I think the deal with the shampoo bar and it's sometime yucky after feel is hard water. Soap and hard water don't work well together. Soap wants soft water and is in love with rainwater. Detergent (shampoo) can do hard water and does do so very well. I am still at odds with the shampoo bar and am not sure why I still clutch on to it's slippery self. It does smell nice... but not as nice as yolk/yogurt mix scented with sweet orange/rosemary essential oil droplets. Maybe it's just the force of convention that I feel the need to have a frothy mess on my head before it is clean. Ugh. Friday will see E and I go to the hairdresser of the ages (since I was 17, egad) and request no shampoo with our cuts. I wonder what he'll say. He loves a surprise.

I feel like a used, damp, steamy towel because of an acupuncture appointment this morning. I have been useless all day. Completely and utterly.

Winter starts... not yet

2011-08-23T16:02:00.000-04:00

I need to plant winter hardy kale seeds very soon. After the front yard garden plants are finished, I want to plant part of that space with winter hardy greens and lettuce. Cover the whole thing with plastic and garden cloth and hope for cold eats. Food, food, food! Buying vegetables sucks, so I want to have more choice this winter. I don't even think our local stores carry kale or interesting lettuces. That must be sheer idiocy on their part. Kale is a superfood!

America GMO free zone?

2011-08-10T12:37:00.002-04:00

IT'S TIME FOR A FOOD FIGHT from NO GMO on Vimeo.

This is the original article.

Shop no gmo!

This second video is about 20 minutes long, but is significantly more important than the first. If Roundup ready alfalfa is introduced, you can kiss organic dairy, meat, eggs, etc goodbye.

Dr. Huber Explains Science Behind New Organism and Threat from Monsanto's Roundup, GMOs to Disease and Infertility from Food Democracy Now! on Vimeo.

Here is a link to Food Democracy Now's letter to President Obama about halting Roundup Ready alfalfa and sugar beets. Just scroll down the page to sign.

Ruth Stout

2011-08-09T12:14:00.002-04:00

I love her. I garden like this too.

http://permaculture.org.au/2011/08/09/ruth-stouts-garden/

Garden ramblings

2011-08-06T21:46:00.000-04:00

Today, I planted out celery, lettuce, basil and fennel plants in the bed that had the garlic in it. We harvested a peck basket of garlic. I'll save some of the best cloves to plant in the fall. Tomorrow, i might plant some snap peas for the fall. Our beans are still being eaten by the deer, well some of them. Others are successfully hiding amongst the weeds and other plants, so guerrilla planting is a partial success. E helped me mow the garden rows this evening so it doesn't look like a jungle. I tied up the tomato plants in the front garden bed again. They're almost as tall as me (I'm 5'11"). Big plants. The various kale plants are BEAUTIFUL. I love kale. I want to dry some of the leaves to add to meals this winter without having to preserve or freeze them. I hope the celery gets bushy enough to dry leaves for this winter. The celery that made it over winter from last year is full of seeds. I'll save some for next year. The fennel plants were planted from seeds saved and so is the celery I just planted. I need to pull the onions. A bit of stream of consciousness. I'm tired. We have had quite a few tomato hornworms. They're cute and yucky, but the chickens/ducks love them. Ick. Some of the chickens are moulting. I think it's the heat. They are getting old.

Still no poo

2011-08-05T21:12:00.000-04:00

If anybody is interested, I'm still going without conventional shampoo/conditioner. It's been since mid April. For the last few weeks, I've only used a dilute vinegar rinse followed by the egg yolk/yogurt mix. I didn't feel I needed the shampoo bar and didn't miss it. I did use it tonight just to see how it would be. My hair is still wrapped up, but I'm sure there won't be any surprises. The transitional phase is really completed and this has become the new normal for my hair routine. Once or twice a week tops. Still no dandruff, still super hair. I'll never go back.

A citizen for president

2011-07-23T10:57:00.002-04:00

Here is somebody that I could vote for and believe in.

http://www.grist.org/list/2011-07-22-meet-your-newest-green-candidate-double-rainbow-guy

Mysteries of the garden

2011-07-21T11:05:00.000-04:00

Here is the latest photo of the mystery fruit. I has more than doubled in size. I'm not sure if you can tell that from the picture. I think it's about 4 inches long now. Maybe the size of a lemon.

One commenter suggests that it's a watermelon. Good guess. We'll just have to wait.

Front yard garden beds

2011-07-17T09:44:00.000-04:00

Here is Mr.? Toad before he covered himself completely. He still comes and goes. We saw him climbing up the porch steps a few mornings ago, back from his late night forays.

This is the front yard bed. On the left and below is a volunteer butternut squash. In the top photo, the little pots contain about 4 Thai hot pepper plants each. In the bed on the left are basil and cayenne peppers, and on the right are opalka and prudens purple (1 or 2) tomatoes.

Here is a volunteer roma tomato hiding in the butternut leaves.

Can you find the mystery fruit? It's either a cantaloupe or a watermelon. It's so cute.

In the center of the photo is a tiny prudens purple tomato. They get huge. I'm the only fresh tomato eater in this house, so it's all mine. Tomato and cheese sandwiches look out!

Gardening subterfuge

2011-07-16T12:22:00.000-04:00

There is a bean plant eater visiting our garden. I've planted seeds twice. The second time, I planted a few "guerrilla" seeds, meaning that some of the seeds were planted right next to another plant or in amongst other plants. Camouflage. Most of the guerrilla seeds have made it so far. So, I took a handful of various bush bean seeds and replanted. Lots of guerrilla seeds and a replant in the area that I originally planted them. We'll see...

Not here

2011-07-15T18:08:00.002-04:00

I keep wanting to post a nasty post to the local lurker (if she is who I think she is... if not leave a comment telling me so), but at the same time don't want that crap on this blog. We all have problems. Sometimes, we're just not compatible (which was apparently mutual since I didn't receive any phone calls or emails wanting to patch up our friendship... takes two to tango) so have to go our separate ways. That's life. I wish she would just let it go and move on, leaving me alone.

(heehee) As an aside to the above frustration and sick-to-deathedness, E and I made vanilla tonight. I had some vanilla beans and a bottle of vodka. Split the beans (3 or 5 for a quart), add the vodka, shake (don't stir) occasionally. Let sit for 2 months or more for very inexpensive vanilla. Apparently, you can top it off with fresh vodka but I'm not sure how long this can happen before the beans get rather depleted of their vanilla-powers.

Power to the Veggie Growers

2011-07-08T11:55:00.000-04:00

I found a blog today that I added to my blogalog on the lower right. The blog, called oakparkhatesveggies, is about a family in Oak Park, Michigan that is being harassed by their local offical about a beautiful vegetable garden (in raised beds) they are growing in their otherwise unused front yard. Check out their success and their plight. You can sign their petition, too.

Porch beasties

2011-07-08T10:41:00.000-04:00

Late pictures of the porch critters. The fledgling chickadee and the porch toad. The toad has been absent for a few days. It's gotten much bigger since these pictures were taken. Guess that's why there are slugs and snails.

Biking with dress

2011-07-07T12:07:00.000-04:00

Another bike ride this morning. I wore a summer dress to stay cooler. Ah, the air flow! I could feel the sweat running down my abdomen, but the air moving over me and sometimes up my skirt, made it bearable. I had a late start this morning, so it was a little after 10 when I left. The shadiest road that I rode down yesterday had been tarred and graveled today. So, I skipped it and went down a different road. I am not impressed with that crapilicious road maintenance.

I'm a little rested now so I'll probably do some yoga, then bathe. We're visiting with some family this evening. It should be a great time. They're the only people in our families that we have anything remotely in common with. Ah, nice.

Bikes and animals

2011-07-06T11:54:00.000-04:00

I had a great bike ride this morning before it became too hot, barely. It was still hot. Even though my bike is about 70 lbs, I was able to pedal it (without motor) up most of the hills. It was slow going, but I wasn't struggling or hurting myself. I must be getting stronger. I was thinking of getting a new crank to give it more speeds, it's only a 6 speed right now, but haven't made up my mind. I do need some lower gears for all the hills we have. If it had more lower gears, I would hardly need the motor at all except for carrying heavy loads. A very heavy bike is a great way to get into shape quick.

The garden is growing well. The tomatoes and peppers in the front garden bed are burgeoning. I need to put in some stakes for them soon.

There have been ridiculous amounts of animals around this year. Just today, I saw a mallard female with a newly hatched clutch of ducklings in our front ditch! Crazy. A skunk has been digging in the mulched beds and getting into the compost pile. Raccoons are everywhere. A doe was in the back yard with 3 fawns. 3 fawns!! A bunch of ground hogs and rabbits and chipmunks, too. Wild kingdom here.

In brief

2011-06-17T16:30:00.000-04:00

Back again, local lurker. Just can't get enough of me, eh?

We've had loads of strawberries, but I think I'll take those plants out and put in new ones for next year. I think they're weakening. The garden is shaping up. The chickadee babies have fledged. Pictures later. The toad seems to have moved on, as it's not having out in the tomato start on the porch anymore. A male sparrow is trying to entice a female into our porch bird house. A male hummingbird was finally spotted at our feeder. I was worried for the local girls, but he managed to show up. Yoga is going well, muscles are toned and fat is being kept far far at bay. I need to make a trellis to grow scarlet runner beans up the east sides of the house to keep the sun off for the summer. Raspberries and blackberries look very promising this year. Biking was slowed down due to illness, but will pick up shortly. The organic farm market finally opened and lettuce is great. And on and on...

Wee folk

2011-06-03T15:40:00.002-04:00

Here is our newest neighbor. The chickadee. This little house is on our front porch. We sit out there everyday, just feet away from this little bird. It's so brave. Just gives a look-over to make sure we aren't hostile and does it's thing.

I harvested this honey yesterday. It was cool enough for me to check out what the little beasties were up to without passing out. These two jars are just from one hive. I'm sure there are loads more where this came from.

Cooler

2011-06-01T13:37:00.000-04:00

Up at 8 this morning for an early, beat the heat, bike ride with my man. It was a nice 8 miles. We're not having the heat that we were yesterday, so lots to do. Bread baking, granola making, transplanting plants, etc. E will probably mow the front yard and whack some well deserving weeds near the ditch. It's supposed to be nice tomorrow so more of the same then. I think a nap will do nicely in about an hour. Or a gentle sprawl on the bed for a while, anyway.

Yoga this evening will definitely be the thing. Bread and granola this evening, too. I'll make the bread dough soon and it should be ready to go in about 6 hours with this heat. I have high hopes this year for tomatoes and peppers. I want to can lots. I'd also like to ferment pickles. Canning isn't my favorite thing, but the quality and money savings just can't be beat.

Feeling sleepy...

Lately

2011-05-31T21:23:00.000-04:00

Too hot to do much here. Hair is working out well. I'm enjoying not using conventional shampoo/conditioner. I feel freer. It's easier to use and versatile.

The bees are acting weird. One hive is bearding the outside of the hive. Not sure if it's a swarming thing or just because of the heat. It's been too hot for me to suit up and check it out. I would pass out. So, it'll have to wait until it's a bit cooler.

Garden is slow moving. First rain and then heat. Stuff needs planted out, but has had to wait. That passing out thing again. It just got too hot too fast to adjust nicely.

Biking is lovely. G and I have been riding often. Since it's hot, we'll ride in the mornings early or later in the evenings. But ride we will.

I felt a bit under the weather (not sure which variation) so not too much got done the last week or so.

It's cooler now, so I'll probably do some yoga this evening. I feel all bendy. Can't overdo or pass out I will. Or at least a heat headache. Need grapes.

I see you

2011-05-27T16:48:00.002-04:00

Ah, back again local lurker. The stat counter tells me so.

Hey, I said that here! Vandana Shiva for President of the World!!!

2011-05-27T14:13:00.001-04:00

Help us, Vandana Shiva. You're our only hope.

No Shampoo saga continues

2011-05-20T20:49:00.000-04:00

Today's hair information... shampoo bar, dilute vinegar rinse, yym. Yes, again great hair.

Everything old is new again

2011-05-18T12:00:00.002-04:00

Ah, how funny that the Republican hopeful Rick Santorum used some quotes from this poem.

Update for post the last

2011-05-15T16:52:00.000-04:00

Yes, Super Hair! I let it dry mostly naturally, just using the blow dryer for around my neck (it's a chilly damp day). My hair is soft, silky and shiny... the s theme. There is no feeling of soapy residue (didn't use any today). So, no shampoo/conditioner success again! Beauty for low/no bucks!

What to do in the rain

2011-05-15T15:01:00.000-04:00

When I washed my hair on Thursday, I used the shampoo bar, vinegar rinse, yym. For me, the shampoo bar just doesn't rinse out cleanly enough to be used every time I wash. So today I used a vinegar rinse and yym. Nice hair, it hasn't dried yet to know if it's super hair.

The weather is soggy. The yard is saturated. The forecast is rain, rain and more rain. The kale and lettuce seedling need planted out. Maybe I'll just move them into bigger pots. Same with the tomatoes and pepper seedlings. They can't really go out until the end of the month anyway.

I planted Japanese buckwheat in the old chicken run this March. They're growing like crazy. G and I also threw out handfuls of wheat seed into the same area. It's growing like crazy, too. Interesting. I do so like plants to observe. Animals, too. They're fascinating, intelligent "people". Even the plants. There is so much to learn from observing. I try to practice that in most things I do, if not all.

Maybe a cob wall with a fireplace/cob oven and a paved patio near the porch this year. Hmmm... another way to get rid of yard that is just mowed and turn it into a great living space. This would be a really nice place to have friends over and hang near the fire. Sometimes, one wants something more sophisticated than a fire ring and nearer the kitchen. Maybe a pergola/trellis overhead for shade in warm weather... growing something edibly shady.

It's good to make the house that you live in a home that you love. We're here now, so enjoy it. Oddly or maybe not so oddly, many things have pointed to this being a good place for us. For now at least... so grow loads of food and make the home and yard comfortable. Contentment in time, dweller.

Hmmm...

2011-05-15T13:34:00.000-04:00

Here is a link to an excellent, long, hard to read article by Joe Bageant.

No poo saga continues

2011-05-07T18:38:00.002-04:00

So, it's been about 17 days that I haven't used commercial shampoo and conditioner. I was using an organic combo, but had never been really happy with their performance or their price. Too much money for way too little satisfaction.

Todays hair thingy was shampoo bar (wash, rinse repeat), dilute vinegar then rinse, yym then rinse with cool water only. Lovely success again. I do have to mention that it's almost impossible to get every ounce of egg white away from the yolk. This causes little gobs of egg white here and there in your hair. It's easily picked out. So, no big deal.

It's rather early in this experiment, but it seems like the shampoo bar will last a longish time. Right now, I'm the only one using it. G liked it, so will probably use it again. If E uses it, it will probably only be intermittently. The longer there is success with this no poo life, the higher the likelihood that I'll just learn to make my own shampoo bar. There are many recipes on the internet that look like good candidates. There is that laziness factor and for that I'm glad there is the Etsy connection.

I'm using the shampoo bar mainly for cleanliness. It does clean the dirt and greasiness out of my hair. When I didn't use it early on in the experiment, there were greasy bits in my comb. I looked for it, so that's how I know. There is quite a bit of analysis going on here. I guess I had no idea how many angles there were to clean hair. But, I guess I wasn't really getting it anyway what with the dandruff and dissatisfaction and all.

It never fails to amaze me when I discover another thing that I can do at home with ingredients that I have on hand. It's the same with cooking and baking. From crackers to hair care, I'm getting it covered.

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment. I'll try to answer the best I can.

More of the same

2011-05-06T21:18:00.000-04:00

I'm still working on the new hair program. One requirement of this new hair thingy is that I don't have to wash too often. Being generally lazy, I don't want to wash my hair more than every 4 days. So, I think I washed it Tuesday this week.... tomorrow I'll wash up again. Trying to figure out the best new line-up.

I'll use the new shampoo bar, then a thorough (use the whole bottle if you want) dilute vinegar (by this I mean 1/3 of a 20 ounce bottle is filled with vinegar, the rest water) rinse, then the yym. My hair feels like it usually does on day 4, which is easy to comb, but I should've washed it. It's getting late and I don't like to go to bed with damp hair, so tomorrow.

I was able to blow my hair dry on Tuesday, too. That answers, for me, the styleability question. Now, I just need to figure out if the aforementioned lineup will hold up again and again.

If anybody is interested in doing something different with their hair care, I will say it does have a learning curve. This has been going on for about 3ish weeks for me and E. He doesn't use the shampoo bar or the vinegar. He only uses yym every 2 or 3 washes and only water in between.

Silky

2011-05-04T15:35:00.001-04:00

Washed my hair with the shampoo bar and then used the yym (yolk.yogurt mix). Gross hair. Or rather hair with shampoo bar still in it. It doesn't rinse clean enough. So, I re-wet my hair, rinsed with a dilute vinegar/water mix, then conditioned with yym. Super hair. Smooth, shiny and silky. Hair like expensive shampoo is supposed to make it. Yes, you can detect the satisfied purr of... satisfaction.

More no poo

2011-05-03T13:19:00.000-04:00

It's been 6 days since I last "washed" my hair with egg yolk/yogurt (YYM) mix. I feel like it needs a wash today, my scalp is a little itchy. Nothing that a French braid can't handle, though. I'll probably use the shampoo bar and YYM conditioner later. E is using just water for a few days and then a day of YYM. His dandruff is gone and his hair looks nice. If you didn't know we were doing this, you wouldn't think we were doing anything different. Our hair just looks "normal". But better. Shiny and no flakes. You can't know how many products I've tried (or maybe you've had these problems, too) to get rid of dandruff and the dry skin on my forehead all these years. I'll be glad to my beautful, lustrous hair again. It was beginning to become dry and brittle on the ends. I've never had that problem before. All the protein in the new mix should address that problem. So exciting!

No poo

2011-05-01T15:30:00.002-04:00

I have had stubborn dandruff forever. There was nothing I could do to get rid of it. E has had it too for years. Grrrrr.... I have tried going with out shampoo off and on for a few years. I've tried baking soda paste with a cider vinegar rinse. That would work for a while, but dry my hair out. Not quite what I wanted. Recently, I tried again. While looking for some no poo advice, I found this post from a New Zealand blog. I've read their blog for a while, but not that particular post. The comments are interesting. The commenter that writes about having her hair washed with milk or yogurt when she was young was especially interesting to me. I found more interesting references to yogurt for hair (and body) here and there. Then I found this post at noshampoo.org. He talks about using egg yolk (only) and yogurt. Hmmm... I make yogurt and have loads of extra duck eggs. So, I mixed some up. It makes a lovely conditioner like liquid. I added lots of rosemary and clove essential oils as I didn't want to smell like egg or milk. Ugh. The results are superb. Shiny, conditioned hair with no dandruff, no chemicals, and almost no cost. E has used it and likes it too. I bought a shampoo bar on Etsy to use with it. I can't use the shampoo bar alone, but I can use it with the egg/yogurt mix. I'll probably do this off and on, sometime with the shampoo bar and sometimes just the egg/yogurt mix. It makes me laugh. Things like this always do. I wash my hair about every 4 or so days, just for the record.

Benefits...

Lovely hair
No dandruff
Low/no cost
Not worrying about the validity of organic shampoo claims
No plastic bottles
Using up extra duck eggs
Lovely hair
Feeling of freedom from corportations (even good ones... is that an oxymoron?)
If I get hungry in the bath...
Great for my face, too
Losing dry skin on forehead (have also had this for years, hmm shampoo related?)

Surprise

2011-05-01T15:17:00.000-04:00

Last night, while E and G were making my birthday peanut butter cookies, some friends called to see if we were in for a quick visit. Indeedy we were. I do so love friends that are okay with just dropping by for an impromptu hang about. So nice. I was even gifted with a new yoga strap. How thoughtful and kind. Ah, good friends.

41 years and loving it

2011-04-30T16:01:00.000-04:00

It's my birthday. G and E bought me very thoughtful and lovely presents. Right now they're making me peanut butter cookies for my bday treat. Maybe there will be some homemade ice cream later. G was talking of making pork chops on the grill and some potatoes au gratin. I'll help him collect some spring greens to cook up, too. It's beautiful today. Ah, happy life.

We have a bird house that E got and painted from Ikea many years ago on our front porch. We've had many prospective birdy neighbors trying it out this year. There were some chickadees, house sparrows (not a favorite) and blue birds. The blue birds have been all over it today... squeezing their vibrantly blue bodies into the little hole, singing and flying all about. Ah, me.

I'll have to get more blueberry bushes for our yard. I hope to end up with 30 in all. I also want to add another raised bed in the front yard. I'm even thinking of making a little sun patio near our front porch, maybe with a cob wall. Why not? It's good to live well where you are living right now. Even if we move away, there will be loads of food plants for the next family.

Bday week

2011-04-27T15:54:00.000-04:00

Such a blustery day! G is on vacation for our birthday week, so we've been working on some stuff that needed doing. G is working on finishing that pesky bathroom. He also turned the compost pile. I cleaned up some of the nasty overwinter hay/manure from the chicken yard and put it in the front yard raised bed. This is built up hay that gets put right around the door and eaves of the chicken house in the winter. That job is only half done, but I can only do so much as the chicken yard waste is very wet and heavy. I DO NOT want to hurt myself. NOT AT ALL. I pruned the crazy grape vine, trimmed some raspberry canes, generally looked around the yard at all that needs done or I want to do.

Yes, food

2011-04-21T19:28:00.000-04:00

This year I want to get much more from the garden and our property than before. We really need to produce as much as possible because we have much less disposable cash than before. We're trying to pay off our mortgage and the new car. I need to be much more organized about succession planting, fall planting, canning, drying, etc this year.

The celery drying last year was a great success. I've used it all up. The celery made it through the winter and is growing right now. I'd like to make a cold frame for the garden bed in the front for next winter. I hope to start kale early enough, so it's fairly sizable before going into the bed. Food, food, food.

I figured out a very good cracker recipe. When I find it (it's laying around here somewhere) I'll post it. They are crackers. I could eat these forever as crackers and be satisfied. They're good with chili, with goat cheese, and just as snappy crackers with a little salt. Oh, here it is...

Wheat Flax Crackers

1 1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup water
1 TBSP flax seeds
2 TBSP dry ranch dressing mix
1 small spoonful honey
some hot pepper flakes
salt for garnishing

Preheat to 350. Mix all together (excepting garnishing salt). Knead a few times to smooth out dough. Roll out to 1/8 inch in a mostly rectangular shape. Move onto parchment lined baking sheet. Score dough into squares, dock, (here you could spray with oil), sprinkle with salt.

Bake 10 minutes, then switch pans if using more than one. Bake another 10 minutes. They need to be golden brown and crispy. To make them crispier if they are golden enough, just turn off the oven and leave them in until you're satisfied. With the scored lines, they break apart quite readily.

Ridiculous

2011-04-20T18:30:00.000-04:00

Who has gasped out loud at something they buy regularly that has just JUMPED drastically in price? I know my hand shot up. How about your internet bill? It went up $3 in December and just now went up another $3. Can you say monopoly? How about dirty bastards?

Bike blog

2011-04-11T21:14:00.000-04:00

Finally, the weather is breaking a little. Soon it will be full blown bike riding weather. I seriously need it. I'm finding a little pudge around the waist lately. I'm not too worried about it. As soon as I can ride my bike every day or so, that pudge will disappear lickety split.

As far as dreamy bike blogs go for satisfying my winter bike dreams, Amsterdamize takes the cake. It has people riding bikes like other blogs do, but it shows all kinds of people. Not just attractive younger women, riding around looking sexy. Or chic people, or cool people. I like seeing dogs, kids, fun in the park with friends, old people, you name it. So, thank you to the creator of Amsterdamize. I wish it was more like Amsterdam here.

More food thoughts

2011-03-30T21:30:00.002-04:00

Random foody bits

2011-03-30T13:26:00.002-04:00

Food... I think about food all the time... well, nearly. I make a lot of food from scratch. You know... flour, meat, salt, sugar, milk, butter, cheese, vegetables, fruits... food that is already food combined into something else. A meal. I know this isn't hard to understand, that's what all food is, right? Well, yes and no. Sometimes food is more than it seems, has more added in that you may either want or know about. So, the making food from scratch thingy.

Another reason for making food from food is price and waste. A "regular" sized box of crackers (organic, ritz style) is about $3. I have a recipe that should make around 3 or 4 boxes worth of the same style crackers, all organic ingredients. It might just cost the same as one box. There won't be the waste of those stupid plasticy bags and a box board package either. Less fuel waste, too. Maybe. I'm not entirely sure about that, but it stands to reason that if I buy a 50# bag of flour, large bags of salt, leavening agents, local butter, and bulk herbs that the shipping fuel will be reduced because I don't have to buy as often, so the truck comes less often. How many times does a truck go to a grocery store? Once a week, twice a week? More? I don't know.

Here is a link to an article about how processed food is being repackaged in such a way to give you less product for a higher cost. Not nice at all. Actually rather sneaky. The article reads with a kind of "oh, those poor companies aren't making enough money" attitude. It's subtle.

So, "real" food prices are going up too. No doubt about it. I am still paying $31 for a 50# bag of chicken feed. Now, the prices were supposed to have gone down for all the "ingredients" in the feed, but they kept the price high. I used to pay about $16 to $18 for the same 50# bag of organic chicken feed. I'm going to start using "real" food for the chickens, too. Just grains, minerals, scraps of the kitchen and garden variety, hay, and whatever they can get when they run about in seasonally adjusted conditions (meaning when it's nice enough, they get to run on the grass, eat bugs, and I pick them raspberries from their own bushes... such is their life). Not that the grains will be any cheaper, just grains that I like and am on friendly terms with.

I've even been making candy for us, from... you know... food. I can't honestly say it's cheaper, but boy is it good. Organic, homemade peppermint patties, peanut butter cups/bars and caramels are all in my repertoire now.

We're almost out of tomato sauce from last summers canning adventures. This summer I want to at least double last years total (58 quarts) and make loads of salsa, too. A case of 12 pint jars of salsa is running me about $35. I think I can do better making my own. Even if I have to buy some of the tomatoes. I also want to dry and preserve more food in general. Celery was a great success last year. I think the plants made it through the winter, too. So, celery seed. I'd like to plant lots of kale and then dry the leaves just like I did the celery leaves. A great, energy efficient and low tech way to preserve a nutrient packed food. When you want some kale, just crumble the leaves into any meal.

So, just some of my thoughts about food. Do you think about food?

Eggs

2011-03-25T19:21:00.000-04:00

I've been working on egg-using recipes. I've come up with egg noodles and chocolate custard (really pudding).

Egg Noodles

8 duck egg yolks
2 duck eggs
1 tsp salt
3.5 cups flour

Put flour in a mixing bowl, add eggs and salt. Mix it all together, adding flour if necessary to make it not sticky. Let it rest 20 - 30 minutes. Roll it out to desired thickness. Cut into noodles with a pizza cutter. Easy peasy.

I add these to turkey-chicken veggie soup instead of rice. Let me tell you, these are the absolutely best noodles ever. EVER! They were good lying on the counter waiting to go into the soup. I couldn't stop eating them.

Chocolate Cream Pudding

2 cups white sugar
4 TBSP cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups milk
2/3 cup chocolate chips
4 duck egg yolks (sense a theme?)
4 tbsp butter
4 tsp vanilla
Directions
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in milk and chocolate. Cook, stirring constantly, until chocolate melts and mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in egg yolks (temper them!!! {Which means, add a spoonful of chocolate mix to egg yolks and stir it together. Keep doing this for about 5-10 spoonfuls, then you can add this mix to the choco mix (so the egg yolks don't cook instantly when you add them to the hot choco mix, yuck)}). Return to heat and cook 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Chill before serving.

This choco recipe is absolutely fabulous. It is the epitome of pudding (custard). It would be superb on homemade vanilla ice cream.

I have a pineapple upside down cake in the oven now. I hope it turns out. If it does, I'll post that recipe.

Yesterday, I made peppermint patties. They Are AWESOME! And very easy. But, no eggs. Boo hoo.

Bees with pollen and blossoms

2011-03-21T15:37:00.000-04:00

Wheels for Well-Being

2011-03-11T09:44:00.001-05:00

I saw this video today on Copenhagenize. How fantastic!! Using bikes/trikes for people with less mobility to allow them more freedom. There are also many other benefits, as can be seen by the smiles on the peoples faces. Great video, great program!

Swirling, but not a sufi

2011-03-08T16:02:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I think the world is such a strange place. But, really I mean that people are strange to me. I feel in understanding or sympathy mostly with nature. I have always felt isolated from people... things that seem comprehensible, sensible to me are often the opposite to others. Freeing myself (or at least attempting to) from my own insecurities and emotional instabilities feels right and seems like the only way to proceed. Others feel differently or not at all. So, I find it hard to be around others. They seem like mini tornadoes, swirling around in the same space.. forever. Volatile, ready to suck in anything in their paths. Oh, well...

Unite

2011-02-28T15:50:00.000-05:00

“To know someone here or there with whom you can feel there is understanding in spite of distances or thoughts unexpressed -- that can make of this earth a garden.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The world united, Cairo to Madison.

Today

2011-02-20T16:05:00.000-05:00

Today is a good day for soup and pound cake. Almost any day is good for pound cake since we have sooooooooooooo many eggs. They have slowed down just a bit compared to last month, but it's still really too much for us. So, two pound cakes are in the oven and 3 dozen eggs are ready to go to some friends this evening. Can you guess who you are?

G and E are out practicing with the new car. They've been gone for an hour, so it must be going well. E is doing better and better with the stick shift. He worked for an hour or so yesterday in the driveway perfecting his technique with going into first and into reverse. A good skill to learn. So many people don't know how to drive stick.

The weather is playing with us, fooling us into spring dreams. We still have a good month or more before we have real spring weather. It has been nice though.

G will go back to work this week, most likely. He has a release from his doctor, so just a few more steps and he'll go back. I will definitely miss him here all the time. It's been nice working on yoga and tai chi together. Not to mention all the other things. Well.

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-14T19:49:00.001-05:00

Our Valentines Day usually consists of homemade chocolaty goodies and homemade dinners. This day is no exception. The turkey soup is cooling, homemade bread is waiting, and super brownies are cooling.

We watched a classic romantic movie, too. The Seven Samurai.

Time

2011-02-10T17:14:00.003-05:00

Our neighbor shoveling out in December

Another beautiful, sunny day although the temperature is only 16 degrees. The wind chill is bitter cold. But, the sun is out! Yesterday was a baking day with bread and bagels. We picked up some potatoes from the organic farm. It was really nice seeing the people out there. I think I may have a new egg customer, too. A volunteer out there happened to be interested in the eggs and I just happened to have an extra dozen to sell him. I hope he likes them. Our other friend bought a few dozen for his family, too. Good eggs for good people.

G and E went to drive in an area that is relatively quiet and free of traffic. This will be E's first time on the road with the stick shift. I hope he does well. He does seem to like it and he likes the new car. I hope they get along together.

The chickens/ducks are still laying many eggs a day. Everything is covered with a thick white blanket of snow. It hard to imagine gardening, but I've been thinking about it a bit. Time is flying by. I would like more raised garden beds in the front yard. They worked really well for peppers and tomatoes. Our other garden spots aren't getting enough sun for those two sun lovers.

These two shots show about the same area of the driveway in spring and winter. Our neighbor ((in the top photo) is standing in the middle of the drive you can see in the bottom photo.

Daisy inspects last years beginning bed

The wind, the wind is blowing

2011-02-08T17:01:00.000-05:00

So, teaching E to drive manual transmission. It's a balancing act. Communicating with the sounds of the engine, the speed of the car. We decided on a manual because of the safety that comes with not having to use the brakes when it's icy. You have another choice to slow the vehicle down.

We want E to know how to drive like this. It seems that fewer and fewer people know how to drive a stick shift. It's just another skill that seems to be flying away.

We're glad to have a new car... another car. We will also be glad to ride our bikes again when the weather is better. I like the choice to use one form of transport or another. The only way we could use bikes and not have a car/cars at all is to live in a very urban area that supports bikes.

I love Leonard Cohen's album Bird on a Wire. I haven't heard it for 22 or 23 years. I have it on vinyl, but the turntable is busted. I got the cd from the library. The music is so beautiful. I do miss the hiss of the album, though. The crackle and sound of the needle are warm and I miss them.

What's cooking?

2011-02-06T17:35:00.001-05:00

Meatloaf for dinner tonight with potatoes, gravy (from last nights roast), and broccoli. I think I'll make chocolate frosting to spread over graham crackers for dessert. We're going to watch Willow later, so some popcorn with a little butter, nutritional yeast, and garlic powder. I'm a bit hungry, can you tell?

I so love to make meatloaf. The meat is all local, grass-fed beef and pork. Our eggs, local milk and butter, our celery, parsley, onions, garlic, hot pepper flakes... usually with bread crumbs from my bread but I'm out so cracker crumbs instead. Whatever works. The potatoes are from a local farm, too. So good. With two hungry guys it's good to make lots at one go. We'll have this for supper tonight and lunch/dinner tomorrow. Two birds...

Oh, yeah... here is a stock photo of the new car.

Let the sun shine in

2011-02-04T16:56:00.000-05:00

Yes, we have a new car. It's a Hyundai Elantra Touring Gls manual. Silver. We're very happy with it. The payments are low enough so we can pay more or not, but it would be doable and comfortable.

The insurance on the other hand.... oivei! Having a young man on your car insurance is murder. Egads! Or maybe highway robbery is a better description. So, expensive.

Anyway, it's been lovely and sunny, although cold the past 2 days. There is so little sun in this area in the winter, I'll take whatever we can get.

I feel sleepy today and need to make supper soon.

What's it?

2011-02-02T18:00:00.002-05:00

No-bake cookies. Enough said.

A brand new ride

2011-02-01T14:19:00.000-05:00

Probably on Thursday, we will go pick up our new car. It's very nice. Has a manual transmission and more room than almost any car of it's price range and size. Very important for such a tall family (me, 5'11", G 6'4", and E 6'5"). Lots of leg room, lots of head room. It's higher up than the Saturn sw2. It feels lots bigger. It's very quiet and handles rough roads well, as per the test drive I took it on. I drove it on some rather rough routes through the streets of Sharon, Pa yesterday. I think the salesman was a little surprised when I went over rough train tracks at speed. He deserved it being quite the lying liar. I/we caught him out in many lies. Not cool. We got a good price and our payment won't be that high. I'll probably pay it off early, too. I like having that room in the payments. If I want to add more I can, but if I can't then I don't have to. We're excited. The salesman is a-typical, as far as car salesmen go. Lying and more lying. What is up with that? Like people can't find all this information on the internet.

Car....eeek

2011-01-30T11:18:00.000-05:00

We have one car in our household of 2.5 drivers. E will be getting his license soonish. I will need to use a car more often and at times when G will be in between work hours. I am not enraptured with the idea of another car and all that comes with it. But, the reality of living in a sub-rural area is that things are often too far to walk or cycle to all the time. In the winter and in other bad weather, it's just not safe to be on the 6 inch shoulder on most of the roads around here. So, another car.

Except for our house payment, we have no debt. And I like it like that. We have thought seriously for about 2 or 3 years about getting another older, used car. It would be inexpensive and we could pay cash. But, as that idea rolled around in our heads for a long time, we realized that buying an older/used car was probably buying somebody elses' problem. I totally don't want car troubles and I don't want E having car troubles when he's out. No way. So, a new car.

What to get?! Have you ever done this? Try to figure out what kind of car to get, how much do you want to spend (or not spend), what features do you want, is that warranty realistic and more such questions. We know we'd like a manual transmission. We know we'd like something at least as big as our Saturn sw2 wagon. We like a hatchback/wagon type vehicle. The list goes on. We were thinking the Subaru Forester, but weren't too happy about it. I think it was mainly because of it's looks and the price, oh and the warranty. Why are they so cheap about it? One would think they'd give a great warranty to show how great their vehicles are. Not the case.

Last Tuesday, on the way home from Maureen's yoga class, there was a sporty wagon ahead of me at the light. I could see it was a Hyundai and it said Touring. I couldn't read the rest. The car had more of a European style to it. Like a Volkswagen. Very cool. I forgot about it. G and I weren't happy about any of the cars we had found so far in our internet research. I decided to go through the choices again. On the Hyundai site under the choice for compact vehicles, I found the Elantra Touring. It has all the features that we want, except cruise control and roof racks. I think we can add those later. The price for the base model is right for us. We plan on a sizable down-payment, so that lowers the payments and gives us the room to pay more if we want.

We're going to look at it tomorrow. Any Elantra Touring GLS manual owners out there?

Journaling

2011-01-26T19:57:00.001-05:00

I have started another blog at Yogaherder. Self explanatory, really. Come and join me on the path.

Moving

2011-01-22T20:48:00.000-05:00

The Yoga Lifestyle class today was very good. Thanks Maureen!! I'm not writing more about this journey because everything I would say would be make believe. I don't know what will happen in the future, not being clairvoyant, so I don't want to say what I want or what I will expect. I just want to take this one day at a time... one yoga practice at a time... one step at a time. I do feel sore from sitting on the floor for a few hours. I'm just not used to that. I do have a headache, but I'm not sure why.... maybe that floor thingy.

Begin again

2011-01-16T17:05:00.000-05:00

I haven't worked outside the home since 1994. E was 2 (he'll be 19 this year) and I was 24. Looking at those numbers shows me it's been a long long time. Looking at E shows me it's been a long, long time. He was the sweetest little child and is a sweet lad now.

Anyway, I'm starting on a path towards a career. Scary stuff, kids. If I think about it too much, I freak out. If I don't think about it, I'm okay. Baby steps, one day at a time, etc. New pathways for all of us.

Progressing

2011-01-12T14:54:00.001-05:00

At acupuncture yesterday, I told the acu-lord, Jeff about being a bit under the weather. I was mostly feeling better from my cold, but still had head/ear congestion and a tiny bit of sinus pain (very unusual for me). He fixed me up with a few well (and professionally) placed needles in my face. I could feel the congestion leaving my head in a few minutes. It's still gone. He said it was an invasion of wind into my face. Not nice.

Since we were expecting a few inches of snow yesterday/today/and even tomorrow, we did most of our errands before the snow started falling. Actually, it started before we could get home and our driveway was quite slippery. eeek!

I feel much better today. Well enough to actually clean the kitchen and do some much needed baking. I should be able to work on some yoga later, too.

Goodness

2011-01-07T16:51:00.000-05:00

I have a cold. Just a regular head cold, runny nose, sneezing, whining. Not a big deal, but I do feel like crap. G helped me put a turkey leg from the Thanksgiving turkey in a big pot to cook up for some soup. I feel tired, cold, sweaty and whiny. I want to watch a movie. And eat popcorn with butter and nutritional yeast and garlic powder. After we eat some soup.

The mailman supposedly delivered a package yesterday, he scanned it, but it wasn't in the mailbox and the post office doesn't have it. Luckily, it was a very inexpensive item ($3.67) and easily replaceable. If they don't find it that is. Or some other person to whom it was inadvertently delivered puts it in our box. It was just an earbud for our ancient Nokia cell phone.

I also put together 6 bags. They just need hemmed. I found some super beautiful material. Some of it is so beautiful that I will have to keep a bag of each material just for our personal use.

Yoga is on hold until my nose stops running. Blech.

Chickens, meat and eggs

2011-01-06T14:40:00.000-05:00

Today I found a way to use 40 eggs and there are still 3 dozen in the fridge. We ate 11 eggs scrambled, gave 8 to the neighbors, 10 in 2 pound cakes, and I hard boiled 10. One got dropped... oops. January is the time for egg explosion around here. We're bringing in at least 10 a day, four of which are duck eggs. The amounts will go down every month until they drop down to almost nothing in October and November. Then the windup will start again in December. Luckily, the hens are getting older so they'll lay less and less. Some of them will probably die off this year, too. Sounds cold hearted, but we don't need so many chickens/eggs. We don't use lights to make them lay, we just let them take it as they like it. They get excellent feed and have a snug house. All of these things show in their health and the quality of the eggs. We always contemplate eating some of them, but they're mainly low pets so they're here to stay. I would like to get some meat only birds to can up in the pressure canner. I think that's a great way to store meat. You don't have to feed the animals and don't have to use electric to keep them in the freezer. The meat is ready to use for quick easy meals and is stored in it's own broth.

Butter side up

2011-01-01T13:36:00.001-05:00

Another year. I'm so glad to leave the last one behind. Too many injuries, nasty occurrences, deaths, stresses, depressions and wild accusations for me. I have to say that there were also many great things that happened. We all found bike riding to be serendipitous. We all love it. It's so freeing and enjoyable. We've made stronger connections with peripheral friends and been satisfied in the doing. Since G was injured, the three of us have been wallowing in our family time together. I want this to be a year of more moving forward toward our goals. Personal and collective goals. More fruit trees and some nut trees, more beehives (maybe), more berry bushes, painting our bedroom (we finally found the colors for us), a food dehydrator, a pressure canner, moving forward moving together. I really want to work on these newish friendships, tentative and fragile. The outside of the new chicken house needs painted, something golden I think. Fermentation projects with beans and cabbage are waiting for me. I can't wait for warmer weather for biking, sitting in the sun on the porch drinking tea in good company. There is going to be lots of yoga, learning breathing and bending. So, shake off stagnation, rid yourself of drowning influences and persons, enjoy life and love yourself!!!

Happy New Year all year!!

Wasteless presents

2010-12-26T19:38:00.000-05:00

The homemade xmas wrapping bags were a total success. They are so enjoyable to use and looked beautiful under the tree. We all enjoyed using them to wrap presents. It was so much nicer than using wrapping paper (pre landfill). I have a pet peeve about buying stuff that is designed to be thrown away immediately. I will definitely make more of these. Maybe I'll even sell them.

Just before xmas

2010-12-23T17:50:00.000-05:00

We're making xmas today. Fudge and 7 layer cookies today and cut out cookies and gingersnaps tomorrow. I'm really glad we left the cookies until now. It makes it seem more like xmas cookies for xmas, instead of xmas cookies for 3 weeks, then have to make more because we ate them all and gained tons of weight.

I tried on a skirt I've had since I was 19 and I'm able to zip it up, but it's still not comfortable. I love that skirt. Maybe with the new years worth of bike riding I'll be able to wear it next xmas. I bought some great tights from Orvis, on sale for $29 instead of $45 or so. They're Smartwool tights and have 68 % wool. I so wish I had these years ago. I just need a nice pair of high boots to go with my winter skirts and tights.

We'll have the other turkey breast from the Thanksgiving turkey for xmas dinner. Just a normal dinner. Turkey, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, broccoli, rolls... probably other things I can't remember yet. Simple and good, filling...

Good people and good times

2010-12-19T18:52:00.000-05:00

Good conversation and good food were had by all last night. We had some friends over for a quiet get together. It was really nice. I am not eloquent today. Just tired from staying up late and talking and talking and talking. What fun.

This week I'll be making some gifting bags ( just so no to wrapping paper). We'll figure out what xmas treats we want and we'll make those up. I can't wait to give G and E the presents I have for them. It's so exciting. But, today sluggy and sleepy. Tomorrow I'll jump into action. After tea...

Fond memories and aspirations

2010-12-19T18:47:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of our EYuba. She's waiting in the freezing garage patiently. I am waiting in the house, not so patiently, for springier weather. The roads here are very narrow with a tiny shoulder and no bike infrastructure at all. So, winter riding is nil. Once the roads are clear again, we'll be out and about as much as possible. Hauling loads and tooling around, generally making my legs nicer and stronger. Ican'twaitican'twaitican'twait.

Heroic people and heroic bikes

2010-12-15T12:44:00.002-05:00

Here is an innovative lad using his bike for fun and profit in our area. Who needs a drivers license when you have a bike?!

You can toggle the menu screen to make it full sized, for your viewing pleasure.

Snowed in

2010-12-08T16:08:00.003-05:00

Chicken house blending in with surrounding trees

With all this snow (E measured 17.5 inches deep on our picnic table) on the ground and nowhere really to go, I've been thinking about gardening. I'd like to get the garden working for us in a more staple food way. We still spend so much money on foods that aren't easy here, like vegetable oils, nuts, dried beans, flours. That's not even touching animal feeds. I was looking at the Seed Savers Exchange web site, trying to find Naked Seed pumpkins. These pumpkins could be a way to soften our nut purchases, animal feed, and maybe someday oils.

I'd also like to grow more root vegetables and beans. Still working on that.

In more recent events, E and I have been driveway shoveling fools. We have a rather long driveway and it's on a slope so has to be shoveled and salted or you aren't going anywhere. At All. On the first morning of tons of snow, our neighbor (they also use our driveway) shoveled the bulk of the drive himself. This is rather rare as he's usually a two-little-furrows-for-the-tires kinda guy. E and I only had to do in front of our garage. That's not too bad. Yesterday and today we had to do the whole thing. We're hurting. G feels bad because he can't help. Oh, well. This is Ohio.

We saw a squirrel scuba diving through the snow to get to our feeder. It would pop up through the snow like a gopher, then dip back under and burrow it's way along. It was so funny. Seems like it was just coming up for air.

We're still getting loads of duck eggs and the odd chicken egg probably every other day. They're keeping the house around 40 degrees without a heat light and the water isn't freezing. If we don't need a light in their house, it will save us between $100-$150 this winter alone. That's a lot of feed. I'm so glad we built this new house. As much as I liked the straw bale house, this is better. There is evidence of a mouse, but not like the straw bale house. It's warmer and wind proof and easier to clean. Win, win, win... It is also much less obtrusive in our back yard. It completely blends with the trees and landscape in general.

Happenings

2010-12-03T10:48:00.000-05:00

More duck eggs. 4 today, so all quackers are on deck. The chickens hate the snow, the ducks run around in the mud like crazy beasties. It was 27 degrees outside and 42 in the new house this morning without a heat light. Yay!!!

G will be out at least until mid January. He has to be fully healed before he goes back to his job. Ah, a nice two months off. And now snow and loads of things I need to make before xmas gets here and wanting to visit with friends and the few family bits we have left here.

I've been reading a new gardening book called The Resilient Gardener. This is definitely the time to read new gardening books, glean gardening advice, and form new ideas about what to grow, etc. Corn, potatoes, beans, squash and eggs. Who knew there we so many varieties with so much versatility as far as those four garden crops go? This interests me greatly. Plus the idea of gardening for hard times instead of good times. Gardening like we mean it... like we need it.

So, biking is out of the picture for a while. At least until the roads are dry again. Preferably with no huge snow drifts along side of them. Just another reason to hate the winter and wriggle with joy for spring.

Eggie weggies

2010-11-27T13:04:00.000-05:00

Eggs are a nice break from meat of any kind. The new ducks are starting to lay now, at least 2 of them. So, at least 2 eggs a day are coming in. About every other day we get 2 hens eggs, too. Or one. That's still lots of eggs for this time of year. They didn't really stop. One hen was late moulting and another was early finishing up. Plus the ducks. We had a nice lunch with eggs, onions, kale and hot cayenne pepper flakes as the main dish and steamed cauliflower with garlic and butter as the side. The eggs, onions, garlic, kale and cayenne are from our gardens, the butter is local and the cauliflower is grocery store organic. The honey in my tea is local, and on and on.

This is a nice slow weekend. Nice and quiet. A fine dusting of snow, some ice on the water in the buckets. We've started giving out hay for the chickens, since they would tear up any grass in the yard. We'll have to run an extension cord to the chicken house in advance of cold temperatures setting in. A heat light keeps their water in the house from freezing and provides a bit of relief from the cold.

The new chicken house is much warmer than the other houses. Next year, when we put on a tighter roof, it will make an even bigger difference. For now, what we have will have to do it.

I'll just have to figure out what to do with the extra eggs when they really start laying. Maybe we'll cull some of the birds for soup. We don't really need so many birds or eggs. I was selling the eggs, but even at the price I was selling them at we're still subsidizing them. If I sell anymore, the price will have to go up considerably. Something will have to change.

Turkey for me... turkey for you...

2010-11-25T14:15:00.000-05:00

It's Thanksgiving Day. I guess here it's always a day for giving thanks. I feel thankful for everything we have, for being with my great family, and for love, happiness and being together. It doesn't get better than this. But it does. And has been. I don't want to go on and on about it, but it's good here. Very good.

Is it good everywhere? Probably not. Is it good for everybody? Not realistically. It could be good, filling, fulfilling for most people. But it isn't. There is enough... you name it, but it's not equally distributed, or some people are being stingy, or have imbalances that keep them from being kind or loving. I can't deal with that myself. I move away from it. Supposedly, an omnipotent toga wearing fellow helps those that help themselves. So get with it, people!

Anyway, ginger beer needs tweaking. The turkey we bought (locally) for dinner today ( and many other days) was 23.5 lbs. I expertly cut him into legs and thighs and breasts and wings. I'm quite good at that. No bones cut either. If you know where to cut, it comes apart quite easily. We're having a breast for our dinner, the other is for xmas dinner and the other bits are for soups and pot pies and stock for as long as we can draw it out. And a huge carcass for loads of stock and soup making fun. I've never cut up such a huge animal. One thigh alone more than completely covered my whole hand, fingers and all.

So a quite holiday for us. Thankfully. Apple and pumpkin (ours) pies I made last night. E will make ice cream and I'll make whipped cream to go with them. Mashed potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, corn (those two from the store), rolls, and stuffing with gravy will round out this meal. So good.... and so long.

Hope yours is as good and filling.

Ginger beer

2010-11-19T14:54:00.000-05:00

I bottled the ginger beer yesterday and started another bug. In a week we should know if it's any good. It smelled right, so that's encouraging. When the bottled batch is ready to drink, then I'll be starting another bug and bottling the bug that I started yesterday. It can become never ending!

The last of the front yard tomatoes are ready to cook up. They ripened in the house after picking them green. I still need to do something with the extra apples.

E is repairing the vacuum cleaner. A small plastic part broke, so we ordered another part. It's amazing the engineering that goes into one of these things. They are made to break so you have to buy another one. I'm kinda sick of that. Designed obsolescence. Designed evil... greed inducing, resource hogging, landfill... er... filling, money wasting evil.

I want to put some empty flour bags around the base of the cranberry bush and cover them with a heavy layer of leaves. I really want to make cranberry-fig preserves. So... good....

Getting rid of the last debt

2010-11-18T15:13:00.001-05:00

We have made a plan to pay off our mortgage. Mort (death) + gage (pledge), so literally death pledge. Hmmm... yeah, I think I'd like to not have one of those anymore. Right now, only a quarter of our monthly payment actually goes to the principal of the loan. 3 quarters of that money go to make some other person (our credit union) loads of cash. Since our savings account is making almost nil in interest and the mortgage is giving away tons of interest every month, we decided to stop putting money in the savings and put it on our principal payment. Plus a bit extra. It should enable us to be out of the mortgage game in 5 years and save $72,000 in interest payments, give or take a few thousand. That's what we paid for this house. A penny saved is a penny earned.

So, this is our big plan for the new year. With this house paid off, we can do things to earn money that we like. Sure, they pay way less and sometimes nothing but we'll be healthier and happier. We can travel whenever we want. For as long as we want. Maybe take a bike trip around the country or to Europe. And maybe stay there for 3 months if we want to. We could rent this house out and move somewhere else with the promise of howevermuch money every month in rent.

This is an investment for us. A grounding and a freeing... a release, in a way. We still want to plant loads of fruit/berries/nuts on this property. We want to invest in making raised beds and more garden plots. We're hedging our bets. Investing... in ourselves. In food. In satisfaction from the life we have and the time we have in this life. Planting fruit trees, berries and nut/fuel trees is like giving a gift to your future self. The money and security/benefits from the job is good, I have to admit, so it will be scary.

It's a leap into the unknown. With a very easy first step. It will be virtually painless to pay off the house. Ha, just wait until I start complaining about it! This makes sense for us.

2010-11-17T17:08:00.001-05:00

Oh, yeah... another duck egg and two hens eggs!

Bundled

2010-11-17T16:02:00.000-05:00

I had an excellent bike ride yesterday morning. It was chilly, but I bundled up enough to be comfortable. I hope we have some more biking weather. Actually, I hope we get biking weather off and on all winter. I've lost at least 5 lbs. since I started biking. Clothes that were tight are loose and I'm loving it.