Random Pictures

This has been a longer week than most!  Lots and lots of driving.  And the A/C in the van is out.  *blech*  and it's been really, really humid.  *double blech*.  I was looking through the camera roll on my phone this morning.  I'm getting ready to clean it out in preparation for moving kids into college over the next month, and I thought that it might make some sense to upload these while I was thinking about it!

When we hit up the Baltimore County Public Library the other day, we found a section of Russian Fiction.  Me, with my literary mind, I was thinking "Russian Fiction".  You know, Dostoyevsky, Solzhenitsyn, Tolstoy, etc.  Imagine my utter surprise when I found Russian FICTION!!!  The books look fascinating, and the covers of the cookbooks (in the non-fiction section) were gorgeous.  I really wish I could read Russian!  

At the grocery store this week, I was surprised to find a display of Halloween candy.  NO school supplies (school starts in 3 weeks here) but, there was Halloween candy.  Halloween?  It's JULY!!!  Halloween in 3 MONTHS AWAY.  I especially question the flavors here. Pumpkin Spice Kisses?  Caramel Apple Milky Way?  Whatever happened to the Miniature chocolate bars?  And if I want  caramel apple, I want the real deal, real apples, dipped in real caramel, and rolled in chopped nuts, if at all possible.  

Princess Luna

The poor cat has been exhausted by the effort of being fabulous all day long.  Just look at that poor little thing- she even had to cover her eyes with her paw!

This is what 100% humidity looks like at 7 am.

The Mid-Atlantic is famous for it's humidity.  It gets hot here, too, but the humidity will kill you.  The temperatures have been in the 90's, but the humidity - oh dear lord - it's been close to 100% some days.  You can never really dry out.  We've had some wicked fog this week.  I've been carpooling with oldest child this summer - he took these pictures for me.

When I hit this stretch of road, I can usually see the stop sign.  It's just past the oncoming headlights.

After writing last week about the lack of butterflies, I am happy to report that we are now up to 3 Swallow Tails, and this gorgeous little brown number.  Still no monarchs, though.  Lots of the little, teeny, flittery butterflies have shown up this week, as well as the butterfly that looks like a hummingbird, but isn't.  I've been trying to get a picture of that little guy, but he's too fast for my camera phone.  I need a faster camera - on a tripod - to get a good picture of him.

Does anyone know which butterfly this is?

This weekend promises to be a quiet one!  We're spending time with my Mom and sister this afternoon.  Daughter is working both days this weekend, and husband and I are planning on spending some "we" time cleaning out and organizing that big, messy room in the basement.  We're trying to decide if it's worth the effort of having a garage sale!  Husband is planning on taking the kids and his Mom out to lunch one day this weekend.

Enjoy your weekend!

Library Pictures

I'm a librarian.  I am a proud book nerd.  I adore the architecture of libraries.  I also adore the fact that we are fortunate enough to have FREE libraries in this country, that anyone can access.  Thank Benjamin Franklin for that idea.  He believed that an educated, informed populace was crucial to the success of any Democracy.

Up until that time, libraries were largely private, or subscription. The rate of illiteracy among the general populace at that time was horrific, with only the very wealthy able to read, having been taught by private tutors. 

I really do love libraries, and what they do for us, as a society.

I recently found a library I had yet to explore in Baltimore County, in Owings Mills.  It's a gorgeous public library that shares a building with the Community College.

I took a few pictures to share.

A sweet little coffee shop awaits as you enter the building!

Entrance to the library.

Look at those beautiful shelves, and accessible aisles!

Beautiful, diverse collection.

The view out the window from the second floor.  That's a highway, straight back.

Back to School Supplies

Disclosure notice: this post contains affiliate links.  Your purchases through this link help support this blog, and will be added to the "Remodel the Hallway Bathroom" fund.

It's hard to believe, but the kids will all be headed back to school soon.  I'm sending one child off to school for the first time, and setting up the oldest child in his first apartment.  We've been trying to keep expenses down as much as possible.

During the course of the summer, I've scoured thrift shops to find some of the necessities:

Thrift Shops-
I found a brand new set of dishes - still in the box - at Goodwill.  The price at Goodwill was $30.  Curiosity got the best of me, and I tracked down the store where the item was originally sold.  I saved over HALF on the price of dishes.  Holy cow!

Using What We Already Have-
Daughter is headed off to school, and has a cell phone, but not a smart phone.  Many of the services she needs - including the "real time" bus app, the laundry room app  (seriously - it lets you know how many washers are available and where), as well as the campus safety features are available only on a smart phone app.  I really don't want to pay for a new smart phone when we still have yet to buy her a computer, and I just replaced her old phone earlier this year.  So, here's where a weird twist of fate comes in...  When I upgraded  her phone back in January, the sales rep offered me a tablet for $1.05.   It was a cheap little mini tablet, but it was a tablet.  For $1.05, I couldn't pass it up.  Well hey, presto, change-o, we get into the summer orientation and find out about these apps that make life on a very spread out urban campus easier and safer.  So, we pulled out the tablet and ALL of the apps are available on the tablet, and they all work on the tablet!  Who-Hoo!  So, the tablet now goes off to college with daughter.  It might not be the latest and greatest smart phone or iPad, but it WORKS. 

We've been shopping in our basement, too.  Middle child is moving into a furnished on campus apartment.  Furnished with the bare minimum of items, that is.  He has claimed an old office chair to replace the uncomfortable desk chair that he will have in his room.

Believe it or not, we actually own several slow cookers - two are mine, and the rest were left here by my in-laws.  Now that we're downsizing, I went through the crock pots and regular pots with oldest child and found not only a slow cooker, but also some pots and pans that he can use.


E-Bates

I discovered E-Bates over this past month.  You sign up through E-Bates, go shopping through the link, and receive a small percentage of the price of your purchases back.  It's not a lot of money, but every little bit adds up.  Between sheets and bedding and towels for the oldest and youngest child, the expenses to add up.

My E-Bates refund was $1.28 last month.  Not a lot of money, but it's $1.28.  That money, added to the savings fund for the replacement car and bathroom remodel slowly adds up.

Book Review - Brick Shakespeare

Disclosure Statement:  This post contains affiliate links.

Brick Shakespeare - The Tragedies - Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar.

This may just be my favorite interpretation of Shakespeare's works.  Using nothing more than Lego building blocks and people, the authors have put together a fantastic look at Shakespeare.

Set in graphic novel style, each panel in the page shows in depth scenes from the story, with Shakespeare's words used throughout.  The action in the pictures brings life to the words, which can be difficult for our modern ears to understand.

I love the interpretation written at the beginning of each scene.  The narrators take the time to explain what is going on in the next scene, and the importance of the action to the storyline.

Hey, this book has Legos, action, and a pretty dynamic cast of characters.  What's not to like?

I honestly wish I'd had this version in high school - I might have paid better attention to the story line.  I really couldn't get into that whole 80's high school kids mispronouncing Shakespearean words in a round robin reading thing we did every day.  *shudder*  It STILL brings back some pretty awful memories.  

Summer Reading

Summer is a great opportunity to read fun and exciting books with your kids.

Amazon is sponsoring a fun and easy reading program.

Take a picture of your child reading, submit it at this link, and you are entered into their contest!

Grocery Expenses, week of 7/21

This was a great week - lots of celebrations in our family!  We celebrated my birthday on Saturday while the kids were all home from work.  We had a crock pot of pulled pork BBQ, green beans, broccoli, and an ice cream cake that the kids pulled together in a cheesecake pan.  They made the crust with crushed up gluten free cookies.  Mmmm.... I'm going to have to share that recipe later this week.  It was really, really good! I have no idea how much the kids spent on the cake - that was their present to me, and I know better than to ask!

Meals for the Week:
Tuna Salad
Spaghetti with meatballs (I made and froze the meatballs months ago, thawed them out to go with dinner.)
Pizza made with Husband's spaghetti sauce
Vegetable Stir fry made with veggies that were in the "Please Take" box at work.
Vegetable soup - made with veggies that I didn't use in the stir fry.
A freezer meal I made several months ago.  This one was Italian Chicken.


Target, $15.04

Tomato products were on sale this week, so I picked up 3 cans. 

The enchilada sauce and green chiles were on the clearance rack. I see enchiladas in the very near future!

Daughter's slightly addicted to the Starbucks Refreshers, so I grabbed 2 boxes for her.  :)

Dinner Out:  $25
This week, we celebrated our 25th anniversary and my 50th birthday.  Husband and I went out for dinner for our anniversary!

Lunch at Work: $5 (rounded up)
 My office provided lunch for us as part of a mandatory training this week.  Since the lunch was from a local sandwich shop, and I'm gluten free, I had to pick up my own lunch.  I picked up a pack of blackberries, and a bag of apple slices.  I brought yogurt and peanut butter from home.  Peanut butter on apple slices, and yogurt with blackberries!  Mmmmm..... 

South Mountain Creamery: $14.59
Eggs, yogurt, and Goat's Milk for this mostly lactose intolerant family.


Total for the Week:  $59.63
Not too shabby!

Now, for the fun part:
My goal is to spend $150/week on groceries.
If I take the totals for every week this month, I come up with $116/month.
That's actually below my goal of $150/week.... so I really am averaging out well under that.  It helps that I am able to take advantage of sales, and have a big freezer that can hold meats and prepared meals.

The Hall Bathroom

So, this resolution has been on my list for 2 years now.  I keep saying that I am going to write about what happened in this bathroom.  Today is the day.  I am going to tell the tale of the hallway bathroom.

We bought this house from my in-laws 10 years ago.  They picked up what they wanted and moved out - leaving us with a house full of trash and a promise that they would "fix" everything once they moved out.   Our friends call this place "The Money Pit".  Since the day we've moved in here, we have thrown good money after bad, and spent money we don't have trying to make the place liveable.

Anyway - onto the bathroom fiasco.  This particular disaster began several years ago - we'd been in the house a little over a year at the time.

We have a 2 bathroom house,  1 bath in the master bedroom, and 1 in the hallway, that the kids share.

We were sitting in the kitchen one evening, eating dinner, when we heard a horrific crash from the back of the house.  We rushed back to the bathroom to find that the walls in the shower had collapsed.  Thank heavens none of the kids were in there at the time!

This is what the bathroom looked like:

Tiles in the tub.

At first, we thought "all" we were going to have to do was put a new tile backer on the wall and then put the tile back up.  Wrong.

Mold - scary black mold and mildew had built up between the walls, under the tile.  This is an idea of just how bad it was.  That wall that you see is the wall to daughter's room.

 

So, we moved daughter out of her room, sealed off that end of the house, and had contractors come in to remove the affected drywall and do mold remediation.  Once it was declared safe, husband decided that he could finish everything himself & save some money.

He slowly got the drywall back up in her room.  Within 12 months, she was able to move back into her bedroom.  (During this year, she had her bedroom set up in the dining room.)

But, the bathroom was a different story.

He replaced the drywall - but he never took the yellow tile off that the contractors said did not need to come off.  We put in a new tub - but the plumbing doesn't line up, and he can't figure out how to fix the plumbing so that it works.  There's no tile backer around the tub yet.  He keeps saying he's going to put "something" up, but it hasn't happened yet.  For several years now, we've had a non-functioning bathroom.  Oh, wait - the toilet works - and the sinks - but we have 5 people sharing 1 shower right now.  (I know, first world problems, right?)

Pictures of the bathroom in its current state:

That's styrofoam between the studs.  It's to replace the fiberglass insulation.

A view from the sink area.  Don't you just love all that yellow tile?

You see the solution that failed - adding a row of white tile on top of the yellow tile to seal the raw edge.

Moral of the story: NEVER buy a house from your in-laws.  (Do you think they've helped us fix anything in here?  Seriously?  If they had, don't you think we'd have that bathroom finished by now?)

I do have affiliate links in several of my posts. From now until we fix that bathroom, any and all money raised through my affiliate links is going to go into the "remodel the hallway bathroom" fund.  So, for those of you who click on a link, or buy something from one of my links, all I can say is:  THANK YOU!!!

Amazon Summer Reading

I found this today, and I have to share.  Amazon is hosting a summer reading contest - Capture Their Love of Reading, Again.

You submit a picture of your child reading.  The winner will receive a Kindle Prize Pack.

If you're interested in participating, move fast.  The deadline is August 3!
 

image: amazon.com

You can click here to find out more!

Book Review - Go Set a Watchman

image: amazon.com

Note: this post contains affiliate links.  Your purchases through these links help support this blog - and will be added to the "Remodel the Hallway Bathroom" fund.


Lee, Harper.  Go Set a Watchman.  2015.  Harper Collins, New York, New York.

"Every man's watchman is his conscience"

It was with great trepidation that I sat down to read this book.  I loved To Kill a Mockingbird, and I wasn't certain that this book would live up to my expectations.  I had to remind myself when I began reading that this was the book that started it all - this was the book that Harper Lee wrote first, and that she pulled To Kill a Mockingbird out of this story.  (After reading the book, and seeing only passing mention of the events in Mockingbird, I am more impressed than ever at her writing skill.)

This stand alone novel picks up when Jean Louise comes back to Maycomb as an adult.  She has grown up and changed, and time in Maycomb, Alabama gives off the impression of standing still.

Despite appearances, much has changed in Alabama.  Change - in the form of Supreme Court decisions is driving life in this small southern town.  Jean Louise, having lived in New York City for many years, is not prepared to find that not only has the town changed, but that her perception of her father has changed - and it shakes her to the very core.
 

The Quilt is Almost Finished

Only 4 years after my original target date, and after almost 7 months of work, oldest child's quilt is almost finished.  It's a hand quilted masterpiece!  (I think)

This is what the inside of the quilt looks like:

The entire quilt is alternating of these 2 types of blocks.

Now, here's the problem.  I have yet to do the outside border.  It's plain brown, and I need to do something to that edge, but what?  It's a bigger border than I've done in the past, so I have to do something to keep the batting from shifting.  Considering the intricacy of the stitching on the inside, I feel I need to do something special on the outside.

The white stuff is the batting.  I need to trim that down.

But, one problem:  he's moving into his new apartment (out of state) next month.  Actually, in a little less than 3 weeks, he's moving away from home and into his own apartment.  I want to hand that quilt off to him when he moves in.

Once I pin up the edge, this is how much space I'll have left on the brown.

I was debating leaving it open, but I feel that I need to do a little bit more than just a line inside and outside of the edging.  (Where the safety pins are sitting.)  I'm going to use the machine to close up the quilt binding.  And I'm debating using it to sew a seam 1/4" inside the edging, all the way around.

So, keeping in mind that I'm hand quilting the outside edge, and that he's moving into his apartment in a little less than 3 weeks, what would you suggest for the brown border?

A Week of Big Events

So, this week marked both my 50th birthday and our 25th wedding anniversary.  I have hit the point where I've now been married to the same man for half of my life.

Kind of a weird feeling when I think about it for too long.  It's both very comforting and slightly frightening. 

The Comforting Part-
The 25 years hasn't all been easy.  It helps that I married my best friend.  We've had an awesome friendship going for over 25 years now.  (Close to 30).  We met in college, ate meals together, had some classes together, and spent time together long before we started dating.  That friendship has saved our marriage at times when we most likely would have pulled the plug if the relationship had been based purely on lust.  It's been work on both our parts.  I know I'm not an easy person to live with.  I know I can be a trial to him.  I know I go off on harebrained schemes on a regular basis - but through it all, he's been there, patiently waiting. loving me, rolling his eyes at me, and unflaggingly supporting me whether I spectacularly fail or succeed.  (Time has taught him that it's best to laugh about the failures a few days after the fact.)  I love this man of mine.  I am a very fortunate woman to have him as my partner.

The Frightening Part-
I've been on this planet for 50 years.  The past 50 years has been a time of momentous change in the course of human history.  And I have been here for it all.  We've shot men up to the moon and they've taken a stroll on the surface of the moon.  (Apollo Missions).  Electronics have been miniaturized to the point where every person can have a computer in their house.  The computer my father used to work on his Master's Thesis back in 1967 was as large as our house.  He programmed the computer using punch cards.  My cell phone fits in my pocket and has more capability than that computer did.  (Keep in mind, that's the same type of computer that was used to send people up to the moon and back.)  ATM's - and easy access to cash came to every town.  Cell phones, test tube fertilization, IVF treatments, MRI's.  Digital Cameras, Web Browsing and the World Wide Web.  Hybrid Cars, portable defibrillators, and my personal favorite - GPS.

I remember where I was when I found out Ronald Reagan was shot, and I remember watching the Twin Towers come down.

Sadly, great disparities exist in our world.  Disparities that I fear will tear the world apart - and I want a safe world for our children - and our grandchildren to live in.  Not just global disparities, there are also national disparities that have the potential for great change, or great devastation.

No Matter What, I have Faith
Faith that we can change.  Faith that we can make a difference in our world.  Faith that our individual, small actions can add up to great change with great impact.  Personally, I try to act on things that I know I can change that will make a difference to someone else.  I have been very fortunate in my life, and I want to pay it forward.


I believe that we all want what is best for our children, and our grandchildren.  And since we're not mind readers, I believe that the more we talk and get to know other people who might not be just like us - the more we have the opportunity to affect that change.

Help me Celebrate!
This is an invitation - please help me celebrate my birthday by getting out and doing something for someone else. 

I went to Mission Central last weekend to celebrate my birthday. 

What kind of change can we make in the world?

Woman is Gored While Taking Selfie With Bison

source: www.cnn.com

 Gorgeous, beautiful, and majestic.  Bison are a symbol of the majesty of our country.

They are also wild animals.

They are related to cattle.

Cattle can and do gore people on a regular basis.  Farmers who raise cattle can tell you stories of the dangers of cattle.  My Uncle Russell bore the mark of a cattle horn on his face - put there when he was 10 years old - until the end of his days.

A tourist in Yellowstone National Park decided that she was going to get close enough to take a selfie with a bison.

Seriously?  A wild animal, and you want to get close enough to take a selfie?

How could this possibly go wrong?

You can read about it here:  http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/22/travel/yellowstone-woman-bison-attack-selfie/index.html?sr=cnnifb


Whatever happened to common sense?

Pollinators

I haven't seen any Monarchs yet this year.  This is from last year.

I've written before about the looming Beepocolypse and the chilling effect it would have upon our food supply.

Morgan Freeman is so concerned, he has become a Bee Keeper.

I have two dedicated bee & butterfly gardens in my yard - one in the front, and one in the back, that are dedicated to bees.  They are known to attract pollinators, and they are gorgeous.  We don't use any pesticides in our lawn or on our veggies, and we let the clover and dandelions grow to their heart's content - all pollinators rely heavily upon the honey from our "weeds".

Daughter and I have noticed a slightly disturbing trend, and we are hoping it's just a local trend and not a national one.

We have very few pollinators fluttering around our garden this year.

Most days, we count 10+ swallowtail butterflies on any given days, at least 2 monarchs, a gorgeous blue and black butterfly that we don't know the name of,  and almost every flower had at least one bee hovering over the flower.

This summer, we've never counted more than 2 swallowtails, and we're lucky if we have 20 bees hovering around our flower beds.

I even put in new flowers in the front yard this spring - Bee Balm, Butterfly Weed, and Russian Sage. Still no more pollinators.  Less than I've had in the past, actually.

I'm curious.  I know I have people who read this blog from all over the place.  How many pollinators are hanging out around you?  Is it more or less than last year?

Where are the bees? 

Peach Crisp

I mentioned Peach Crisp made with gluten-free oats last week.  This is a quick and easy recipe to whip together.  Served warm with ice cream over top, this recipe will quickly become a family favorite.  As peach season wanes away, and apple season begins, you can use the same recipe, but use apples in place of the peaches.

The recipe I use is from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook from 1982:

Peach Crisp
1/2 cup gluten free quick cooking rolled oats  (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup gluten free all purpose flour  (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
2 - 2 1/2 pounds of peaches
2 TBSP sugar

Pre-Heat oven to 350*

Combine oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and a dash of salt.
Cut butter into mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, set aside.  Peel, pit, and slice fruit to make 5 - 6 cups.  Place fruit in a 10 x 6 x 2 inch baking dish.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar, and sprinkle crumb mixture over all.

Bake in a 350* oven for 40-45 minutes.

Serves 6.

Grocery Expenses - Week of 7/14 - 7/21

This has been an unexpectedly good grocery week.  We found a new to us grocery store: Harris Teeter.  They're on my way home from work.  The store opened last year, but I hadn't ever really shopped in there.  I'd been in for quick stuff - like a loaf of bread - but never for a week's worth of groceries.   Somebody at church had mentioned that they had the best prices in the area. Sure enough, I was pleasantly surprised!  Same grocery list I had a couple of weeks ago, significantly less in cost!

We did eat out twice last week.  When we were up at Mission Central, we stopped at Baker's Diner on our way home.  I have to ask you, how often can you feed two people, and pay a 20% tip, and still have the price under $20?  It was the same thing with Mo's.  Mo's is a little family owned restaurant in the Burg where I live.  I took the kids there on middle child's day off from camp.  4 of us - wraps, fries, and drinks - with a 20% tip, and we paid $24.  I adore locally owned restaurants.  The food is always fantastic, you know everyone in the restaurant - the workers, the other customers, and you really do get a lot for the money.  You're not paying for the corporate name.   Support your local businesses! 


Harris Teeter:                     $120.59
South Mountain Creamery: $17.59
Baker's Diner:                      $20.00  (that includes the tip)
Mo's Restaurant:                  $24.00  (including tip)

Total:                                  $182.18

With kids heading off to college in the fall, husband and I are beginning to wonder how much we should cut the grocery budget back.  As it is right now, we're not staying under the $150/week level that we had originally set.  On average, it's coming out close to $150, sometimes going as high as $200.  I remember when I used to spend $150/month, about 10 years ago.  With the rise in food costs, I'm not certain I'll ever be able to get our grocery expenses back down to $150/month, even with only 2 of us at home this fall.  We shall find out, though!

Computer Woes

I've been offline for a couple of days.  We've had some computer woes that required the expertise of the resident college student (who is working at camp right now, and only home on Tuesdays) to fix. 

After an hour, he found the bug in our system and squashed it.

It's nice to have your own tech support!

Mission Central

Over the weekend, a missions team from our church went to one of the most amazing places on the East Coast: Mission Central.  Mission Central is this amazing warehouse that houses the tools for outreach and missions.  In addition to the food bank, VIM warehouse, computer ministry, and medical tech mission, they are also a depot for the United Methodist Committee on Relief.  (UMCOR).  Whenever a disaster strikes anywhere in the world, UMCOR is there, with supplies to help the survivors clean up and get their lives back in order.  

Among the many things that UMCOR collects to distribute are School Kits, Safe Birthing Kits, Flood Buckets, and Health Kits.

UMCOR depots are located throughout the United States.  The supplies are always at the ready, so that when a disaster strikes, supplies are able to be shipped out within hours of the disaster to the people who need it the most.

After Hurricane Sandy, the depots on the East Coast were emptied, and trucks full of supplies were on standby, ready for the all clear to sound so that they could venture into the flood areas with relief supplies for the homeowners.  The flood buckets were full of trash bags, dust masks, clothespins, clotheslines, and cleaning supplies to help homeowners clean out their homes.  In the days after Sandy, UMCOR volunteers were out knocking on doors, handing homeowners these buckets.

On Saturday, we spent the day unpacking shipments of Health Kits that had been sent in from around the country.  Each kit contains a toothbrush, nail clippers, comb, soap, band aids, a hand towel and a washcloth.  We checked each kit to make certain that all of the materials were present, and then repacked them into standard size shipping boxes, with each box containing the same number of kits.

Once we finished checking the boxes, we packed new kits.  Lots and lots of new kits.  We lost count around 500 kits.  

I don't know where everything that we packed will end up, but I know that they will be shipped out.  We'd like to think there's no need for disaster relief, but sadly, we all know that disaster will strike somewhere.  And in the wake of the disaster, UMCOR and other relief organizations (Red Cross, Church of the Bretheren, Catholic Charities, etc.) Will be there, to help people recover.  And thanks to the individuals who constantly stock and restock the shelves, they will be on the scene with supplies as soon as possible.

It was a great way to spend a Saturday!

Boxes of items needed for the Health Kits

One of the many boxes of health kits we unpacked.  Look at all of those stamps!

Loads and Loads of Laundry.  They had a huge donation of towels from a retailer.  We pulled the tags off and ran them through the dryer - they need to be as dry as possible so that no mold will set into the kits while they are sitting in storage.

To find out more about Mission Central, click here: http://missioncentral.org/

To find out more about The United Methodist Committee on Relief, and the kits that are collected for emergency relief, click here:  http://missioncentral.org/

Disclosure Notice: UMCOR is one of several faith based relief organizations in the United States.  I am a United Methodist, so I will highlight the efforts of the United Methodist Church.  If you'd like to comment about the efforts of other faith based relief organizations, please do!

Canning Season

Growing up, we would head back to the farm once or twice during the summer.   Dad always made it a point to be around during hay season, and we always spent a week in late July or early August, helping out as the big summer crops starting coming in.

It's been well over 30 years, but I still vividly remember crouching in long rows, pulling green beans or some other vegetable, with the sweat trickling down the back of my neck and off of the end of my nose, and swatting at the biting flies as I went.

Up and down those rows we would go, harvesting the vegetable of the day before they went bad.  We had to get that summer bounty in fast!

There are no lazy summer days on a farm.  Granny had us out picking before the sun got high in the sky.  She'd send us out around 7 in the morning, armed with a sausage and egg sandwich and a glass of milk.  We were finished before 10 - and if we weren't, Granny made us come in because that was the "hot time" of the day.

I don't know why she pulled us inside, because that house ended up becoming hotter than a furnace before the day was out.

We'd come in out of the sun, sit on the porch, and begin prepping the food.  Things needed to be snapped, peeled, and cut.  Many of the veggies had to be blanched - dumped in boiling water, and then dumped in ice water, and then peeled so that they could be prepared for canning.

Once everything was prepped, things were stuffed into the jars.  And I do mean stuffed.  Granny and my Aunts didn't fool around with extra space in those jars.  They were jam packed.

Lids and Rings went on, and the pressure canners were pulled out and filled.  The farm house had a gas stove, with six burners.  They would have 4 canners going at a time. (And the house would get hotter and hotter and hotter.  They never ran the A/C when they were canning because they saw it as a lost cause and waste of energy.)

While the canners were building up steam, we would be cleaning the mess.  Once the first batch was done, the second batch went in.  We would clean up the first batch,  and they would start getting dinner ready.  Part of the nightly feast was whatever failed in the canner that day.  (If the lids didn't seal, the food was eaten that night.)

At the end of the week, we would come home with a car laden down with our portion of all of the jars of goodies that had been canned over the week.

My favorite of all the goodies we canned were the peaches.  Maybe because when we picked them, we were in the shade.  Maybe because we could eat the peaches straight off the tree when we picked them.  And maybe it was because when they were canned in simple syrup, and opened up several months later in the dead of winter, I was immediately transported back to the farmhouse kitchen, bubbling with good smells, laughter, and family.  But whatever the reason, the peaches have always been my favorite.

I was at the farmer's market, and guess what I found?  Bushels and bushels of peaches!
We came home with a bushel of peaches.  Okay, a couple of the peaches didn't actually make it home...  I don't can now - I have a glass stove top, and that is not recommended for pressure canning.  BUT - I did make some peach jelly.  And some peach crisp with gluten free oats.

And last night?

I made a simple syrup, and I poured it over some peaches that I had blanched, cut, and slightly heated up with the syrup.

As soon as I put that first bite in my mouth, I was instantly taken back to a farm house kitchen, full of good smells, laughter, and family.

Priceless memory.  All from a bushel of peaches.  

Doing the "Right" Thing

You know, you talk about doing the right thing, but have you ever really done it?  It's a lot harder than you think it's going to be, isn't it?

Last week, I had a friend who basically fell apart on us. 

Friday morning, I asked her if she, by any chance, wanted to go to lunch.

That's when things took an ugly turn, and she mentioned how she was a total loser as a friend, a hideous human being who didn't deserve to exist, and how everything she touched fell to dust.

She sent several of us good bye messages, and to remember the person that she used to be.

How do you react to that?  What do you say?

And then, she said she was going to just sit in her garage, turn the engine on, and end it all.

Okay, so if there were any questions after the first part, the second part summed it up, and we saw it as a call to action.

The question became, how to find her and get her the help she needed?

Friday was not a good day.  Nobody could find her.  We sent the police department over to her house, but they couldn't find her either.  She turned off her cell phone and left it at home, so no, nobody could use her GPS to track her down.

We finally found her on Saturday morning.  She claimed nothing was wrong.  I had to pull out her text messages and show them to the mental health professional who was with us.  Yeah, I really didn't want to do that, but I also didn't want to get a phone call at some later date from some unknown person - or worse, see it on the news - that she had killed herself.

More than likely, she's going to hate me for the rest of her life.  A friendship of 30 years, gone in a heart beat.

I had to do it, you know.  I had to.  I love her dearly, and she deserves to be mentally healthy.

While she was busy yelling at all of us Saturday, she did tell us that she's been "off the Paxil for 6 months", and that she was "managing the symptoms just fine."

Problem is, mental illness needs to be redefined.  It's not an illness.  Illness implies a condition that can be cured.  This is a chemical imbalance.  It's not a sign of weakness, and nobody should have to "manage" symptoms that are caused by your own body chemistry working against you. 

It's not a chronic health condition.  It's a chemical imbalance.  Problem is, these imbalances can have some pretty serious consequences for people - and those that they love - if they are not treated.

In the meantime, I'm living with the harsh words that only someone who's known you for 30 years can fling at you.  They hurt.  They hurt more than I wanted to let her know at the time.

You know, doing the "right" thing is sometimes one of the hardest things. 

It can really suck.

It's finally here!

This arrived in my mailbox yesterday! I have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of this book for months, and counting down the hours until the mail truck came by our house. The boys had to run to the laundromat yesterday afternoon to run a load of laundry through before middle child went back to camp today. The mail was delivered while I was gone. Daughter had also been counting down the hours until the mail was delivered. As soon as the truck pulled up to the mailbox, she ran down and retrieved our book. She began reading it before I got home. When oldest child saw what she was reading, the two of them laid down on the floor, with the book between them. Daughter reading from the right side of the book, and Oldest son reading from the left side, and the pages in the middle held up between them.

Daughter finished last night, but oldest child still had a little less than half the book to go. When we all got back home from work today, oldest child squirreled himself away with the book in his room.

I can't wait to get my hands on that book! I hope to have it in my hot little hands later tonight!

This reminds me a lot of when the Harry Potter books were released!

Random Thoughts

Biopsy Results
My biopsies from my colonoscopy came back.  I had 3 polyps removed.  They were all very small (<0.3 cm), but two of them were of the kind that frequently become cancerous.  All 3 were benign.  I will be going back in for another colonoscopy in 3 years.  Seriously, if you're around 50 and you haven't had a colonoscopy yet, what ARE you waiting for?  The bowel cleanse is actually easier than a stomach bug.

Washing Machine
The washing machine broke 3 weeks back.  Husband was certain he could fix it.  He ordered the part he thought was needed and replaced everything.  Proudly put everything back in the machine, turned it on and - the machine came to a grinding halt, water spewed everywhere, and we had smoke.  We unplugged the machine and hit up the laundromat again.  *sigh*  Time to start researching washing machines.

Progress in the kitchen
Our pantry is this small little cupboard, located just behind the kitchen door.  It's always been a pain, it's in a tough location, and because it's so deep, stuff tends to get lost in there.

Husband recently built some gorgeous built in rotating racks for the canned goods.  He raised the shelf in the back, so that stuff would roll down hill, and then he made the dividers out of extra wood that we had laying around the house that was leftover from other projects.  I can drop a can on the top, and it rolls to the back, drops down, and comes up to the front.  It's fantastic for making certain that I use the oldest canned goods first!

 

So very nice!

I am going to need at least one more set for the kitchen island before all is said and done.


Rain, Rain, Rain

We've had a lot of rain in the Mid-Atlantic recently.  (7" in 2 days)  Not nearly as much as Kentucky, though.  Kentucky has been hit hard.  Honestly, when it rains hard in the Baltimore area, the rain all ends up in the Inner Harbor and the Bay pretty fast.  We've had some wicked flash flooding over the past few days, but no lives have been lost.  Take a look at these pictures that were posted online by ABC 2 news yesterday:

(images: https://www.facebook.com/pages/WMAR-TV-abc2newscom/51379687226)

The ducks are swimming OVER the steps from the harbor to the Science Center.

The Maryland Science Center is at the top of the steps, you can see it on the right.

On having 5 people with jobs and only 2 cars:

We've been making this work.  Husband rides a van pool to work.  Oldest son carpools with me, and daughter has been able to take the 2nd car to get back and forth to her work.  Middle Son is a resident at the camp where he works - I pick him up on Monday night, and husband takes him back on Weds. morning.  Today has been a balancing act.

Daughter, oldest son, and I all had to be at work at 8.  Daughter works 30 minutes north of where we live, I work 30 minutes south.  Middle son works an hour and a half northeast of where daughter works.

So, today, I drove oldest son and myself to work.

Husband drove daughter to her job, middle son to his job, and then hotfooted it 2 hours south to his job.

I get off work at noon, pick up middle son, and then head out to pick up daughter.

I really can't complain.  We've had 5 drivers, with 5 jobs sharing 2 cars since the beginning of June, and this is the first day we've had an issue.  Granted, there are times when one of us is stranded at home for a period of time, but those times have been few and far between!

Fuzz Therapy

Have you ever noticed how much a fuzzy little animal can make the worst days seem just a little bit better?  Princess Luna has been putting in some overtime with me recently.  My black shirts may now be gray, but hey, I'm a very content person! 

Princess Luna wishes you a fabulous day!