Slow Down for Slow Food

Whether you are a big family or a single person, I believe a myriad of problems can be solved by simply slowing down, cooking a meal at home and enjoying it at the table. And that sentence is far easier said than done. My husband and I both work and I know how hard it is to find the energy to cook when you get home late (and if you are me, are in pain too). But this excuse will suffice no longer. My husband and I have been living off of bought lunches and pre-made meals from the grocery store for weeks now; and though it has been a timesaver the novelty of it has worn off. Eating this way strains our purse strings and encourages unhealthy eating habits. There has been more fried chicken, Chinese food, frozen meals and cookies in this house in the last month than in the last year.

I have read about the Slow Food Movement before and took great interest in it. But today I decided that it is time to implement such an idea into our daily lives. So I am joining the Slow Food Movement. It's about being more than just a consumer of food. The main principles of the SFM is to have a relationship with your food, know where it comes from, and to buy local, organic and fair trade when you can. It's about preparing and sharing your food; have friends over and cook together, or just sit at the table, light some candles and spend an evening with your husband lingering over a home cooked meal.

Now with everything that is going on in my life jumping into this fully may be a bit much for us right now; so I am going to ease into this lifestyle. I am pledging to prepare lunch for my husband and myself every day. I also intend to cook one homemade, from scratch, meal a week. Quick frozen veggie skillet creations don't count. I am talking about cutting, chopping and cooking. And once this has become routine and my health is better or my work situation has improved, I intend on increasing the number of 'from scratch' dinners. I also pledge to post these dinners in my blog, so that I can share with all of you.

Could it Be?

For many of us there is something in our lives that is a point of contention. And for me that point seems to be the need for me to work. I am thankful for having the job I do, but really I am not happy with it. I don't want to need a job, it is not that I want to be lazy, but to me having a job seems to have kept me from things. I have a limited amount of resources and I've been using them to pay the bills, when I have wanted to use them for the good of those around me.

But now a possible opportunity has come before me. My church is looking for a director of religious education; it is a paid, full time positions. It is a really wonderful opportunity that would allow me to do so many wonderful things. I'm just not sure if I am fully qualified. I have been looking to get more involved at church, and was thinking of RE. I was also planning on starting the search for a new job, but thought I might wait until later in the summer, because I have a vacation planned for August.

I really think this job would be wonderful and provide a great opportunity for growth. I don't normally ask, but please keep me in your prays/thoughts. I am going through a period of trial, I may not be trying my hardest to get through it, but this opportunity is so wonderful I think it might be the bit of hope to help me start working harder.

Blessings,
~Kate

Words of Wedded Bliss

Tomorrow my husband and I will be starting a new group at our church. It is a social group for newly married or about to be married couples. Our church has never had a group like this before and we have a number of newlyweds at different phases of their lives, otherwise. I'm very excited but not entirely sure what to say to these people. The point of the first meeting is to get together and see what we all want, and what the group direction might be.

But I do want to set a tone. And am considering some passages on marriage to share with the group. But there are so many fine words on the topic; the Bible, literature and history are filled with quote ables on marriage and married love.

So my question to you is: What is your favorite passage/quote on the topic of marriage?

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my own mother and mother in law; and to all of you wonderful women who have the wonderful vocation of raising the best of blessings. You all have my greatest admiration. And i hope your day was beautiful.




I apologize for not keeping up in my posts quality or quantity as of late. I have been feeling more for the worse and have been 'convalescing'.

Seeing as I have not been out of my bed, I am posting this image to represent the past two day for my WIFD. I do intend to continue this my week, so that you may all see a full seven days. I really enjoyed looking through others blogs today and through Cheri's blog I have found the blogs of some other Lovely Ladies. I hope next week to do some page layout up dates; and add a side bar so that I may link to the other journal I enjoy reading. As i enter a very difficult week for myself I wish allof you a smooth and blessed week of your own.

~Kate

WIFD days 2 and 3

And I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.


This was from yesterday. I'm wearing one of my favorite skirts; it's a wrap skirt with a blue satin under layer and an embroidered black over lay. I love how exotic it looks.



Here is todays, taken at work. I think I forgot to dust myself off first :) This is a great light sundress that I wear at a jumper. When it's really hot I wear a cami under it instead of a blouse.


And a close up of my shoes, you can see the subtle poke-a-dots, I LOVE POKE-A-DOTS


And lastly me cuddling with my faithful cat, my purring fluffy heating pad. There is nothing like the love of a fuzzy child.

Please Excuse this Interruption...

of you regularly scheduled programing. I have day 2 photos and will post them with todays in a double duty WIFD post.

But at the moment I wanted to share with You, dear reader, a little bit of what is going on behind the blog. As many of you know I have had long term chronic health issues. Well in the past weeks these issues are getting worse. Extreme pain and muscle weakness are the main complaints. But I have exhaustion, and my mental clarity and fine motor skills are also effected. My husband and I are in a position that calls for me to work 30+ hours per week, out of the home. This causes complications because I have a 45 min. commute and don't get home until nearly 8pm. By the end of my work day I have done nothing for my home or my husband.

It deeply bothers me that Ro has to do the work of both the Husband and the Wife. And not just for a short time, while I recuperate from the flue or a fall. Oh no... when I have a “flair-up” I get a ton of new or revisiting symptoms and when my flair up is over some of them stay. This leaves me sicker than when I started.

I believe I have a place in this world, and that my illness may seem like road block it really isn't. But right now this road block is keeping me from going anywhere. And I'm running out of gas!

Day One

Hello Dear Ones,

I'm participating in a Week in Feminine Dress. I usually wear dresses and skirts but as of late pants are finding there way into my wardrobe once a week or so, when I don't feel well. My husband prefers me in skirts and dresses. This is not only an exercise in ladylike dressing, but also at having my photo taken and not critiquing myself to death :)


This was taken after running around at work for 9 hours; I've been really ill these past weeks and it shows. I'm wearing a navy cap sleeve dress and pink short sleeve cardigan; also I'm carrying my tin lunch pale. I almost always wear my hair up when I'm not out with Ro (the hubbs), it is a bit messy hear though long hair doesn't always want to stay in place for hours on end. Well it took me 15 mins to get dressed today, tomorrow I hope I'll have more time to put into this.

Have a lovely evening.

Guerilla Gardenging

This may be illegal; this may be one of those occasions were idealism, principal and the greater good out weight earthly law.

Shock gardening troops attack urban eyesores

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) - They work under the cover of night, armed with seed bombs, chemical weapons and pitchforks. Their tactics are anarchistic, their attitude revolutionary. Their aim: to beautify.

An army of self-styled Guerrilla Gardeners is growing across the world, fighting to transform urban wastelands into horticultural havens. To document and encourage their victories, one of the movement's top generals has written a handbook.

"On Guerrilla Gardening", by Richard Reynolds, defines the activity as "the illicit cultivation of someone else's land".

"Our main enemies are neglect and scarcity of land," said Reynolds, a 30-year-old former advertising employee who wrote the book after his website guerrillagardening.org became a global focal point for would-be green-fingered activists.

"Land is a finite resource -- and yet areas like this are not being used. That seems crazy to me," Reynolds told Reuters.

"And if the authorities want to get in the way of that logic, then we will fight them -- but peacefully -- through showing them what we can achieve with plants."

As he spoke, Reynolds and several London-based troops were enthusiastically digging over soil in a rough patch of grass outside a tower block in the south east of the capital.

Defying darkness -- and risking arrest for criminal damage -- they continued their "attack" on the otherwise grim, grey surroundings, forking in a hefty load of compost and planting lavender and Paris daisies for a splash of colour and scent.

"WE WILL FIGHT THEM... WITH PLANTS"

Thousands of "troops" worldwide have now signed up to Reynolds' website -- each with their own troop number -- where they post reports and pictures of their battles, or "troop digs".

For those inspired to follow suit, his book outlines tips and advice on everything from the most suitable clothing and what kind of lighting and communication equipment to use, to how to carry out a "seed bombing" raid.

"Scattering seeds is the easiest way to guerrilla gardening," he writes. "You do not even have to stop moving to do it -- GG (Guerrilla Gardener) 830 Tony releases handfuls of Welsh poppy seeds while driving along the M60 motorway."

Reynolds says he was inspired to write the book after his first nocturnal gardening experience outside his own 1970s concrete tower block in London, when he discovered he was part of a largely secret but worldwide movement.

"I began because I moved to a tower block and had no garden, and yet all around me there were bits of land that nobody was looking after -- so I have made it into my own garden. But it's that one everyone shares and can get involved in," he said.

"I stepped out into the world to cultivate land wherever I liked. The mission was to fight the miserable public flowerbeds around my neighbourhood."

The book charts what it says is a "revolutionary history" of a movement which has its roots in 1970s New York and has since inspired urban dwellers across the world to defy authorities and adopt and cherish neglected public spaces.

GG 3516 Greg, in Zurich in Switzerland, tells of Saturday-night sorties to beautify a traffic island in the city, while GG 158 Luc, in Montreal, Canada, documents a "pavement garden" he has been cultivating for four years.

GG 013 Julia, one of the movement's leading lights, posts pictures and descriptions of significant victories in Berlin, where the Rosa Rose garden in the east of the city has grown out of a vacant lot once covered in rubble and rubbish.

GG 1168 David, and GG Michael 1169, graphic designers in Tokyo, say their motivation was a passion for growing food.

According to Reynolds' book, they began in 2005 by "chucking pumpkin seeds into a vacant lot near David's home" in the city, and, encouraged by the pumpkins' progress, continued with a small guerrilla farm on waste ground in the Kamiyacho district.

"It's about living in an edible jungle," David, who now also grows broccoli and radishes land owned by Tokyo city authorities, says in the book. "Vegetables are best fresh, so I thought they should be grown locally."

"A WIN-WIN WAR"

Guerrilla Gardening is a crime in Britain -- digging up land you do not own is classed as committing criminal damage -- but Reynolds insists it is a victimless one and is clearly unfazed by encounters with police.

"Yes, by law this is criminal damage... but common sense would suggest it is quite the opposite," he said.

He described a recent night-time dig on a large roundabout in central London where dozens of police pulled up, and ordered him and fellow gardeners to down tools or face arrest.

"We reluctantly withdrew," he said, adding with a smile that they returned to finish the job an hour later when the coast was clear.

Reynolds has now largely given up his more mainstream work in advertising and devotes his time to writing about Guerrilla Gardening, maintaining his website and spreading the word.

And while he characterizes the activity as a battle and uses the language of war, he insists there are no losers.

"This a win-win war," he writes. "Take a public place of wasted opportunity and turn it into a garden. In time victory should be clear to everyone, and probably fragrant too."

(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Sara Ledwith)

Article and photo credit:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL292187120080430?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

The Simple Life

Simplicity and the Simple Life seem to be on the minds of many in past days. I don't know if is a symptom of Spring Fever or a side effect of rising gas and food prices; but it has been on my mind too.

The search for something simple has always been in the plans for my husband and I, and now that we are coming up on our first wedding anniversary and have settled into our life together a little, it has become a goal of ours. However for us is not as easy a goal as we thought. We both work, I mostly full time and him more than full time. This makes convince food and instant gratification an easy way for us to eat at 8pm when we get home from work.

But while we try to work on the bigger issues there are some simple pleasures in our lives. I love to garden and have started growing veggies in pots out in front of our condo, hopefully this summer they will bless us with food at out finger tips. Also one of our favorite "dates" is going to the farmers market or during the winter the indoor Amish Market; my husband and I love to stroll, hold hands and talk to the sellers, it a louse us to feel active in our community and in our food choices.

One of the gifts that we give to each other for birthdays and other special occasions is parties; we throw something into the Crockpot and invite friends over to share the afternoon with us. The memories are fare better than any trinket that could be found hastily at a store. And this year for Christmas Ro got me crayons and paper, we'll sit and draw our dream home or just smiling little cows. Colouring is one of the small joys that adults seem to forget.

Eventually I will raise our own chickens and sheep like his mother does, embroider baby blankets like his grandmother does, bake bread like my mother does and grow bushels of vegetables like my grandmother does. But until that day, we will slowly slow down and begin to find what our Simple Life is.

Falure to Frugal-ize

I took most of last week off from work as a preemptive strike; more long hours are coming at work and I was still having some residual infection issues and the diet of doom was a disaster. By Friday I was feeling better and to make my week complete Saturday I was surprised with a trip to the day spa. My indulgent and frugal husband found two special offers at the day spa in town; and I got to have a day of guilt free pampering. I had my hair cut and and a lemon grass manicure/pedicure combo. It's been nearly a year since I had either. I felt so refreshed and relaxed. And after a nap he took out for Sashimi, yum. And a little shopping (the only non essential was some terracotta pots). I love my Hubs!

All of this luxury has me thinking. There are two very distinct sides of me. A) the barefoot, organ gardening, save the planet side and B) the Coach shoe/handbag , pearl wearing gourmet food eating side. And I know that somewhere there is a balance between these two halves of a whole, but there is one large wedge between them. Frugality! In many ways both of these things can lend themselves to saving money, and to each other. Turn your lights off when not in the room saves energy and money; buying one high quality purse and using it for 2 or more season is better than buying more than 2 purses and sing them for less than one season. But sill you have to have the money to by the one high quality purse to being with. I'd say you even need the money to keep the lights on, but we are at least safe from that.

My spending habits have improved a lot over the past year and a half. But still, most days I don't think I'm doing enough, and then not long after I think about how I miss seeing the J Crew and Lord and Taylor bags sitting on the floor, after a triumphant day of shopping. Is it possible to ever stop wanting? Seeing that many can't even live of a “six figure” income, I'm not so sure.

Summer Reading List

It's spring and for me that means it's time to make my summer reading list. Being in the world of Academia for so long means that Fall through Spring was usually filled with required readings, and research readings. So, Summer has always been my fun readings time.


The first book up, which I am actually reading right now is Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I have heard great things about it from some lovely Lady Bloggers and my N.D. lives by some of its principles.

Next up will be You the Owners Manual, by Dr. Roizen and Dr. Oz . I'm sure some of it will conflict with NT, but it's been awhile since I took an Anatomy class and it may be interesting.

I also really want to read The Four Fold Path to Healing, by Thomas Cowan. It's from the same publishers as NT and I think it may be filled with info that is truly helpful to me.

If you can't tell yet, there is a theme to all of this reading. It's all about my health. I've been sicker than usual lately and I know there is a connection to my diet and lifestyle. I don't think it's 100% do to how I live, but I know that at the very least there is room for improvement. And at the very least what I do may not be making me sicker, but it not making me healthier either.

I'm hoping that by June I will have gotten through my reading and have implemented some changes for the better. Then I'll get to update the Summer Reading List with some light readings.

Do you Ladies have any good suggestions or recommended reading, for me; what are you currently reading or planning on reading? I'd love to know. :)

Gram and Poppy

I have not yet mentioned that my Grandparents, Gram and Poppy, are my model for marriage, after all these years they still love each other and still show affection for one another. Poppy calls gram “the Bride” and Gram lets Poppy have his way, most times. They have learned what is worth fighting over, and really I think at this stage in their life they have decided nothing is worth fighting over. They freely give all that they have to their family and have taken more than one of us in when we needed it. Really I think they are my model for life.

Gram and Poppy, aka Bud and Muerial (Muky) as their Cronies call them, have lived their entire lives in H, CT. Poppy was school chums with Gram's older brother and they were High School Sweethearts. Actually there is about 3 years age difference between them, and Poppy spent some of Gram's senior year over seas. During WWII he enlisted in the army and served in Hawaii and other warm Pacific places. After he was discharged they were married on January 26, 1946 (does part of this date look familiar to anyone?) Poppy worked with his father as an independent plumber (and general repairs men) until he passed away, and Poppy took over the business. Gram was a 50's house wife who thought the occasional art or craft class for extra pocket cash; and later after her children finished school became a floral designer, specializing in dried flowers, and silk. They had three children, my father being the eldest, all born at the end of November. Mind you Gram and Poppy's Birthdays are the 7th and 11th of February, just do the math.

Early in their marriage they bout a house on Dixwell Ave, actually for those DSH-ers, its now the yellow hair salon on the other corner to the Keefe Center where practice is held. They lived there and rented part of the house out to others before buying the farm. Mind you the farm house was once not as big as it now is. In fact there were only two bedrooms; upstairs the kids slept in one room, parents int the other and Grams mother took over the small first floor 'parlor' (now the “green room”). When my father was in High school they finally decided to add on to the house, Poppy, Dad and Uncle B, along with some handy friends, built the addition that over doubled the size of the house. The half that now houses all the bedrooms, but mine, the kitchen and formal living room was all built by them. They tried their 1970's best to match the addition to the original 1800's house, owned by the street's name sake. The farm now has 4 acres, with a pump house and an awesome post and beam barn. The large bit of land now owned by the farm next-door was originally part of the property, but sold off at the same time as my grandparents purchase of their parcel.

The farm is no longer really functional, but in my life they used the back few acres as a Christmas tree farm, they always grew their own vegetables, enough for them, my parents and I (ok and M too) and still had enough to share with friends. Also at one point they had ducks. But if they didn't grow it they knew someone who did. The farm next door had chicken and Gram's dried flower provider had goats and sheep.

I have always been closer with Gram and Poppy then with my mother and father. I was born on their Wedding Anniversary and spent a lot of time at their farm when I was younger; and I am the oldest grandchild. Actually they had a large hand in raising me. I joke that my sister (M) is a Daddy's Girl and that I am a Poppy's Girl.

Poppy and Gram have been married for over 60 years, and have known each other and been close for at least 70 years. They have Cronies, people who they have been friends with for years, some they have known since grade school. Many of their Cronies are like Aunts and Uncles to me, they went on the Wedding guest list before any friends outside the Bridal Party did. They have watched me grow up and I have watched them grow old. Some have aged better than others.

The funny thing is that Gram and Poppy, by most modern agencies, do not have a healthy lifestyle. They still eat meat, red meat and pork, regularly, they drink and eat sweets, lots of sweets and few non-root veggies. But these two people in their late 80's are some of the healthiest people I know. Most definitely healthier than me.

Actually my family has a strange distribution of health. Most O'Connell's are good strong healthy people, with robust constitutions, Gram, Poppy, Dad, Aunt K and M are prime examples. But then there is the recessive sicky gene that Uncle B and I both have. We both have low body temps and throat susceptibility, not to mention bodies that like to attack themselves.

But regardless of this; I have found the key to my grandparents' health.

1.They are early to bed and early to rise. Retiring at 9ish and rising between 5 and 6 am. Poppy has taken to getting up in the middle of the night for a bit, but he makes up for it in afternoon naps.
2.They are active. Still very social and giving of their time to charity, they also keep up a large house and 2 of the 4 acres of land the other 2 are now wood with pine treas and grape vines. Poppy is always tinkering with something, and Gram is always moving, rearranging and decorating (or gardening in the warm months).
3.They enjoy themselves. Resting in the afternoons, or going out with friends. They maintain a time share and used to travel a lot with friends, they have however slowed down a bit in the past 3 years. But non the less they are at the Elks club or out to dinner weekly.
4.They are very religious. Going to mass daily; it gives them spirituality, a sense of community and something larger than themselves. And it gives them their moral compass and great compassion. They are the kind of Cradle Catholics who love and except everybody, regardless of sin, persuasion or background.
5.They eat what makes them happy, don't feel guilty over it and they eat at home. They eat sweets but don't eat a lot of things containing high fructose corn syrup. No soda. Their cookies, pastries and cakes are home made by Gram or come from a good Italian Bakery. They don't eat fast food or take out, but instead live off of left over pot roast and meat loaf. They drink beer daily and Gram loves her cocktails. Poppy hates most veggies but will eat all the spinach and carrots if you let him, and Gram will cover most raw veggies in Mayonnaise. When they do go out its to real restaurants, where they sit and linger with friends and family.

There is something in their generation and life style that we are missing. Up until maybe a year or so ago I thought they were going to still be kicking until their late 90's. Sort of like the Queen Mother, minus the cake like hats. But one keep part of their life style is fading away. They are starting to watch their friends, relatives and acquaintance pass on. Many of them were only 10 or 15 years younger then them, yet old by many standards. They people led good lives but were not as fortunate to have Gram and Poppy's health.

It seems that Old Age has become contagious.

On a daily basis I miss Gram and Poppy; I think of when I was younger and they would show me how to do things. And every time I pack Ro's lunch into the black metal lunch box that was Poppy's I do so with a bit of pride.

I am lucky enough to have the Best Grandparents in the world. I have learned a lot from them, and they still have vast amounts to teach me.

Seed Cups

I have finally started my seedlings; I know it's a bit late in the season and I hope it wont effect them too much. I have not planed seeds in years and this year I decided to try something different. I did not want to use those plastic trays that are bad for the environment and I didn't want to spend a ton of money on eco friendly seed trays... So I made my own!


First I made two boxes to hold all of my individual seed cups. I used the box that a juice flat comes in (I got this from work but if you shop at whole sale clubs they should have some there). First I wrapped it in a layer of cling wrap and them a lay of foil wrap; I covered both the bottom and the inside just in case. I don't want water leaking all over the place.

Next I made the seed cups. I used toilet paper and towel rolls, you could use any sturdy cardboard roll. I cut the toilet paper rolls in half and the towel rolls in thirds. Next I cut four slits, about one inch long, on the bottom of each. I folded the cut end in on themselves and taped them using masking tape, sort of like wrapping a present. Now the little seed cups can stand up on their own, even if some are a little wobbly.

I filled them with soil and them planted my seed like you normally would. I also labeled each cup with the sort of seed I planted in it. When the seedlings are ready to be planted I can just remove the tape and plant them or I can remove the seedling from the cup and then compost the cup (after removing the tape). And the components of the tray I made are all recyclable
too.

I hope this works!

Just a weekly update... My seeds didn't get planted this weekend; after my SIL's baby shower and some public crying in church on Sunday I just didn't feel up to it. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow, we'll be going over my new diet ect. and I will post in detail about my research on Elimination and Rotation diets. They are great for food allergies or intolerances. Also The sheep aren't getting shoarn until later in the spring, but we do have new baby chicks; I'm hoping to get something up about them too. Hope you all have a lovely week.
~Kate

Needing and Wanting

I have been thinking lately about the things we need verses the things we want; sometimes the line between the two is so faint that one may not be able to tell the difference. I need shelter, but I want a nice (simple and modest) home. I need to eat, but I want to create nutritious, delectable organic meals. I must cloth myself, but I want to wear feminine and flattering clothing.

There are things that I want so badly that I have convinced myself that I need them.

I think I may be suffering from a case of the green eyed monster. There are many things in life that I want; good health, secure finances, a comfortable hospitable home, babies, time and energy to write, sew and craft, and a hobby farm/home stead. There are a number of people in my life who are in a similar place, but they are attaining the very same things I want. I am over joyed for them. And though I try to be as pure in heart and thought as possible; part of me envies them. I do not deny these people their blessings, I think they are wholly deserving. It is not for me to question, but I still want to know why. Why it is that I am plagued by bad health and a broken body when all I want is a strong healthy body and soul that can till the earth and create.

I don't mean to sound whiny. I intend to be inquisitive and contemplative.

Is it that I am doing something so wrong that I am denying myself or sabotaging myself? Or despite all that I want for myself, does God want something different for me, or of me?

I have been meditating on this for few weeks, quietly thinking about it. I'm strong willed and I pray for others, but I don't pray for guidance. It maybe time for me to start, but I'm not sure where.

Maybe what all this boils down to is that I want to know what it is that I need verses what I want; and what it is the "Universe" wants and needs of me.