Instead of your regularly scheduled program, please watch this stunning BBC special on the future of our food. It may terrify you, it may leave you hopeful, but most of all, it will leave you informed with powerful knowledge.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Fall is in the air
The neighborhood kids are going back to school this week. We've already had a couple of below-50 degrees mornings. The handwriting on the wall sez, summer is over.Fortunately, autumn tends to be one glorious season here. September and October have always been my favorite months. We're hoping the nearly perfect weather we've been having lately decides to hang around for a while.
Last weekend, we held our garage sale and it turned out to be a lot of fun. It brings out all the neighbors and you get a chance to know each other better. Plus, it's gratifying to rehome your unneeded stuff with people who have a use for it. And not because it's wildly profitable (though it's always nice to get a little spare cash), because we price things to sell. We marked the couch FREE and a neighbor snapped it up for his daughter who is starting out on her own and needs a helping hand.
I've already gotten two neighbors all in for a neighborhood garage sale next year, so I'm off and running with that idea. We can all get together for a shared cookout in somebody's yard afterwards. I hope we get good participation. I'll be working on it!
With that in mind, Katy's latest blog post, The Mini-Economy of a Neighborhood, was really nice to read. I don't think of it as a mini-economy exactly, but I live on a street where neighbors share and help. That's how you build friendship and community. And that's the sane way to be prepared for emergencies and hard times. No need for bunkers and shotguns. Some of the people I heard on the radio yesterday, talking about emergency preparedness in the aftermath of Irene, were pretty scary.
Another sign of fall:
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
I love a parade
We've been having a parade of contractors here as it's getting down to decision time about how much we will or will not do in the short term to improve our living space. The economy has never been a scarier mess than it is now, and taking risks with our financial future seems like a very bad idea.
At the same time, the longer we live here, the better we like the smaller space. We're letting go of those old ideas and images of what a home "should" look like, and we're learning how to live in an apartment-sized space.
Reading blogs like Simpler Living and The Non-Consumer Advocate is helpful because of the many useful tips offered up by the authors and their readers. Katy (of the latter blog) doesn't live in such a small space, but is nonetheless achieving a comfortable level of simplicity by giving up the costly consumer lifestyle and freeing herself and her family of useless stuff.
I'm becoming more organized than I have ever been. Baskets, bins, and drawer dividers are great things. Walls with shelves are amazing.
But I still need to get rid of more stuff. I have too many clothes that I rarely wear and they need to be weeded out. (I'm no fashionista either, I dress for comfort.) I have a lot of cookbooks that I no longer use because when I want a new recipe, I go googling for one. I really don't need three potato peelers, three graters, two hand mixers, or a panini grill that I've used twice in three years. And here's a real shocker for you--I may not need a microwave oven either. Mine fritzed out a couple of months ago and I haven't replaced it yet. I've remembered that there are other ways to thaw frozen meat and warm up leftovers. No more microwave entrees--oh well! I may just cave when the weather gets cooler and I want baked potatoes. They cook so much faster in the microwave than in the oven. On the other hand, I may just plan my meals better and allow more time for cooking.
Speaking of food, the tomatoes have been producing so well that I've been able to share them with my neighbors.We've had fresh tomatoes in salads, on sandwiches, tuna-stuffed tomatoes, and lots of salsa. I'm really looking forward to having a much bigger garden next year so I will have enough tomatoes for canning, and maybe even dehydrating.
Soon, the apples will be ready.
If this seems a little disjointed, it's because I've been writing it in bits and pieces over about four days. I've been busy out in the garage, sorting through things and trying to organize another sale before summer ends--all too soon.
For your reading enjoyment and "food for thought," I've posted a couple of new article links to the "Recent Articles" list over there. --->
German Village Achieves Energy Independence details the amazing results of effective local leadership, and I hope Americans (somewhere, somehow) can learn something from this example.
In "THE OILING OF NORTH AMERICA" nutrition journalist and food historian Sally Fallon documents the politics behind the cholesterol theory of heart disease, and offers a detailed description of what fats and oils are good for us (and which aren't). I feel that this is essential reading for everyone who is interested in good health. It certainly seems to validate the adage that "if your grandma wouldn't recognize it, it probably isn't food."
I hope you will read these and share your thoughts with me.
At the same time, the longer we live here, the better we like the smaller space. We're letting go of those old ideas and images of what a home "should" look like, and we're learning how to live in an apartment-sized space.
Reading blogs like Simpler Living and The Non-Consumer Advocate is helpful because of the many useful tips offered up by the authors and their readers. Katy (of the latter blog) doesn't live in such a small space, but is nonetheless achieving a comfortable level of simplicity by giving up the costly consumer lifestyle and freeing herself and her family of useless stuff.
I'm becoming more organized than I have ever been. Baskets, bins, and drawer dividers are great things. Walls with shelves are amazing.
But I still need to get rid of more stuff. I have too many clothes that I rarely wear and they need to be weeded out. (I'm no fashionista either, I dress for comfort.) I have a lot of cookbooks that I no longer use because when I want a new recipe, I go googling for one. I really don't need three potato peelers, three graters, two hand mixers, or a panini grill that I've used twice in three years. And here's a real shocker for you--I may not need a microwave oven either. Mine fritzed out a couple of months ago and I haven't replaced it yet. I've remembered that there are other ways to thaw frozen meat and warm up leftovers. No more microwave entrees--oh well! I may just cave when the weather gets cooler and I want baked potatoes. They cook so much faster in the microwave than in the oven. On the other hand, I may just plan my meals better and allow more time for cooking.
Speaking of food, the tomatoes have been producing so well that I've been able to share them with my neighbors.We've had fresh tomatoes in salads, on sandwiches, tuna-stuffed tomatoes, and lots of salsa. I'm really looking forward to having a much bigger garden next year so I will have enough tomatoes for canning, and maybe even dehydrating.
Soon, the apples will be ready.
If this seems a little disjointed, it's because I've been writing it in bits and pieces over about four days. I've been busy out in the garage, sorting through things and trying to organize another sale before summer ends--all too soon.
For your reading enjoyment and "food for thought," I've posted a couple of new article links to the "Recent Articles" list over there. --->
German Village Achieves Energy Independence details the amazing results of effective local leadership, and I hope Americans (somewhere, somehow) can learn something from this example.
In "THE OILING OF NORTH AMERICA" nutrition journalist and food historian Sally Fallon documents the politics behind the cholesterol theory of heart disease, and offers a detailed description of what fats and oils are good for us (and which aren't). I feel that this is essential reading for everyone who is interested in good health. It certainly seems to validate the adage that "if your grandma wouldn't recognize it, it probably isn't food."
I hope you will read these and share your thoughts with me.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
We finally got a decent amount of rain here, and the heat wave is over. Tom is baking bread again and even experimenting with bagels. They were more like soft pretzels shaped like bagels, but they were good! I'm not sure what a real bagel tastes like anyway, being accustomed to the grocery store variety.
We're starting to get lots of fresh veggies. We got tomatillos and cilantro from our CSA this week, and I made my first-ever salsa verde, which was very easy and very tasty. My tomatoes are looking good, and we're going to have a whole lot of them soon! In another corner of the garden, it's a race to see how many more zucchini I can salvage before the plants give up the ghost. They've been attacked by powdery mildew. I learned the other day, from a bit I noticed when leafing through the Jamestown Gazette (while waiting for my sub at Jumbroni's), that you can protect squash plants from mildew diseases by spraying them with a homemade mixture of baking soda, liquid soap, and water, when the weather is hot and humid. However, it doesn't do much good once the plants are already infected. Oh well--I'll tuck that info away for next year.
The recent rainy weather provided an opportunity to get some more work done inside the house--now that we have this mountain of stuff from our other house in the garage, and we have to figure out what to do with it.
This is hard. It's like...culture shock. Nothing in my experience has prepared me for condensing my life into such a small space. The ever-pervasive media (magazines, TV shows and ads) bombard us with messages that we need MORE square footage to adorn with the latest, most fashionable paint colors, flooring and counter-top materials, appliances, cabinets, furniture, art, ACCESSORIES, you name it. These things improve your lifestyle and make your real estate more valuable! Stainless steel appliances, outdoor kitchens, water features, master suites, king size beds, BONUS ROOMS--all MUST HAVE! So our homes have become "investments," and our "success" is measured not by the content of our character, but by the amount of really cool stuff we can accumulate.
Which is nuts. Why do we buy this crap?
But, giving up those lemming-like ways is like learning how to live all over again, in such a way that functionality has more value than status, fashion, cachet, prestige, however you want to characterize what is basically "keeping up with the Joneses." We don't even do it consciously, we're just running with the pack, going with the flow, until we reach the dawning awareness that life is finite, precious, and we waste so much of it in pursuit of what is JUST STUFF. Stuff that we nonetheless manage to get emotionally invested in.
There's nothing wrong with creating living spaces that are comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. When I had too much space, I didn't have to think very much about how to arrange things and where to store things. There was always room. Now I am really challenging myself and often getting frustrated because old habits have become irrelevant in my new reality, and I can't fall back on them. I'm uncomfortable because everything feels so transitory and unfinished, but I haven't yet figured out what "finished" is going to look like.
I just know that when it finally "gets there," it's going to make a lot more sense than the lifestyle I've been accustomed to for so long.
We're starting to get lots of fresh veggies. We got tomatillos and cilantro from our CSA this week, and I made my first-ever salsa verde, which was very easy and very tasty. My tomatoes are looking good, and we're going to have a whole lot of them soon! In another corner of the garden, it's a race to see how many more zucchini I can salvage before the plants give up the ghost. They've been attacked by powdery mildew. I learned the other day, from a bit I noticed when leafing through the Jamestown Gazette (while waiting for my sub at Jumbroni's), that you can protect squash plants from mildew diseases by spraying them with a homemade mixture of baking soda, liquid soap, and water, when the weather is hot and humid. However, it doesn't do much good once the plants are already infected. Oh well--I'll tuck that info away for next year.
The recent rainy weather provided an opportunity to get some more work done inside the house--now that we have this mountain of stuff from our other house in the garage, and we have to figure out what to do with it.
This is hard. It's like...culture shock. Nothing in my experience has prepared me for condensing my life into such a small space. The ever-pervasive media (magazines, TV shows and ads) bombard us with messages that we need MORE square footage to adorn with the latest, most fashionable paint colors, flooring and counter-top materials, appliances, cabinets, furniture, art, ACCESSORIES, you name it. These things improve your lifestyle and make your real estate more valuable! Stainless steel appliances, outdoor kitchens, water features, master suites, king size beds, BONUS ROOMS--all MUST HAVE! So our homes have become "investments," and our "success" is measured not by the content of our character, but by the amount of really cool stuff we can accumulate.
Which is nuts. Why do we buy this crap?
But, giving up those lemming-like ways is like learning how to live all over again, in such a way that functionality has more value than status, fashion, cachet, prestige, however you want to characterize what is basically "keeping up with the Joneses." We don't even do it consciously, we're just running with the pack, going with the flow, until we reach the dawning awareness that life is finite, precious, and we waste so much of it in pursuit of what is JUST STUFF. Stuff that we nonetheless manage to get emotionally invested in.
There's nothing wrong with creating living spaces that are comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. When I had too much space, I didn't have to think very much about how to arrange things and where to store things. There was always room. Now I am really challenging myself and often getting frustrated because old habits have become irrelevant in my new reality, and I can't fall back on them. I'm uncomfortable because everything feels so transitory and unfinished, but I haven't yet figured out what "finished" is going to look like.
I just know that when it finally "gets there," it's going to make a lot more sense than the lifestyle I've been accustomed to for so long.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Catching up
We've spent the past week catching up and getting back into the local groove.
The unpacking is going well, I think, if a bit slowly, as we figure out where everything belongs. We are still going to need a little bit more indoor space, and it's a matter of how and when, not if.
Meanwhile, we're really enjoying the new outdoor space and the "white border"is coming together pretty well. Yeah, I know, you're seeing pink things and a hydrangea bush with NO flowers, chewed to nubs by deer. But should it recover and bloom, those flowers will be white; ditto the rose trellis intended for the front of the shed, which we can get now that we've gotten our Element back from the body shop. (Even though the rose is...pink. Okay, so I thought a little pink went nicely with the white.) In case I forgot to mention it, while we were in the middle of moving, I got my car door crunched by another driver in the Home Depot parking lot. $2000 worth of crunching. And we've been driving a little itty bitty rental car for the past week while the door has been getting replaced.
Last Sunday, we went to our church picnic, graciously hosted by Len and Carole Faulk at their lovely home (with a lovely pool that our grandson would have enjoyed if only he had visited us a week later!) We had a wonderful time catching up with some of our favorite people and met a few new ones too, like Angelo and Ylsa Giuffre, a young hometown couple who are starting a new non-profit to support local artists. It's exciting to see young people plunging ahead with building the community. We need more young people to stay (or move in) and contribute, of course--the latest census shows Jamestown is strong in the baby boomer category, but especially weak in the 25-44 group. Can anybody say...JOBS? We've got to stop sending everything overseas. Support your local economy, people!
We took time out this week to do some browsing at antique shops and estate sales (we weren't really shopping--we have enough stuff to deal with right now) and had lunch at some local establishments. Jamestown is especially bustling right now with the Lucy Fest--celebrating hometown gal Lucille Ball's 100th birthday. This brings in fans from everywhere--and being a milestone year, there is special entertainment with big names like Joan Rivers and Paula Poundstone. This Saturday at 2 pm, everyone is being urged to "Be a Lucy!" (for a $5 registration fee, you even get a basic costume to help you out!)--as an attempt is made to set a Guinness Book record for the most Lucy impersonators in one place at the same time. Tracy Plaza will be the site of this people watching event extraordinaire. I'll be there with my camera!
This morning we went out to the farm in Cherry Creek (Roots & Wings, our CSA) to say hello to the chickens and pigs and put in a couple of hours of work. It's been a very hard year for the farmers (and gardeners!) because of the lack of cooperation from Mother Nature. The weeds always manage to come out ahead in the struggle, which is why they are weeds, I guess. Well, we took part in a weed massacre and uncovered a couple of rows of potato plants! It's also garlic harvest time, and we spent some of our time laying them out in trays to dry.
Afterwards, we stopped by the "Wild West Side" garage sales in the Royal Avenue neighborhood, which is one of the Renaissance Block Challenge groups. These are older neighborhoods engaged in collaborative efforts to make improvements and revitalize their neighborhoods. They are eligible for matching funds, discounts from sponsoring merchants, and design assistance. The old houses are looking good, their porches dressed with flower boxes and hanging planters...which I think of as "jewelry" for houses. And the organizing efforts of some residents are evident in their well planned garage sale event. It gives me ideas.
But right now, I'm ready for a nap.
The unpacking is going well, I think, if a bit slowly, as we figure out where everything belongs. We are still going to need a little bit more indoor space, and it's a matter of how and when, not if.
Last Sunday, we went to our church picnic, graciously hosted by Len and Carole Faulk at their lovely home (with a lovely pool that our grandson would have enjoyed if only he had visited us a week later!) We had a wonderful time catching up with some of our favorite people and met a few new ones too, like Angelo and Ylsa Giuffre, a young hometown couple who are starting a new non-profit to support local artists. It's exciting to see young people plunging ahead with building the community. We need more young people to stay (or move in) and contribute, of course--the latest census shows Jamestown is strong in the baby boomer category, but especially weak in the 25-44 group. Can anybody say...JOBS? We've got to stop sending everything overseas. Support your local economy, people!
We took time out this week to do some browsing at antique shops and estate sales (we weren't really shopping--we have enough stuff to deal with right now) and had lunch at some local establishments. Jamestown is especially bustling right now with the Lucy Fest--celebrating hometown gal Lucille Ball's 100th birthday. This brings in fans from everywhere--and being a milestone year, there is special entertainment with big names like Joan Rivers and Paula Poundstone. This Saturday at 2 pm, everyone is being urged to "Be a Lucy!" (for a $5 registration fee, you even get a basic costume to help you out!)--as an attempt is made to set a Guinness Book record for the most Lucy impersonators in one place at the same time. Tracy Plaza will be the site of this people watching event extraordinaire. I'll be there with my camera!
This morning we went out to the farm in Cherry Creek (Roots & Wings, our CSA) to say hello to the chickens and pigs and put in a couple of hours of work. It's been a very hard year for the farmers (and gardeners!) because of the lack of cooperation from Mother Nature. The weeds always manage to come out ahead in the struggle, which is why they are weeds, I guess. Well, we took part in a weed massacre and uncovered a couple of rows of potato plants! It's also garlic harvest time, and we spent some of our time laying them out in trays to dry.
Afterwards, we stopped by the "Wild West Side" garage sales in the Royal Avenue neighborhood, which is one of the Renaissance Block Challenge groups. These are older neighborhoods engaged in collaborative efforts to make improvements and revitalize their neighborhoods. They are eligible for matching funds, discounts from sponsoring merchants, and design assistance. The old houses are looking good, their porches dressed with flower boxes and hanging planters...which I think of as "jewelry" for houses. And the organizing efforts of some residents are evident in their well planned garage sale event. It gives me ideas.
But right now, I'm ready for a nap.
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