My One Weakness

Bleeding Heart

Sweet Woodruff

I am enjoying my garden, the community garden where I volunteer, and PLANT SALES! I put the Central Valley Plant Sale on my calendar, and it worked out that I was able to attend, albeit briefly. Which was a good thing, since I got there 20 minutes after it opened and the inventory was quite diminished..

Candy Tuft

Red Tulip

I spent $8.50 and came out with catmint, pineapple mint, 2 scented geraniums (gerania?), and a native plant called fringe cup to replace the one that I killed last year. It was a short, delightful, rather cheap activity that will hopefully give me much joy in the future.

Bluebell

Yellow Tulip

Borage

Calendula

Johnny Jump Up

Strawberry

Grape Hyacinth

Here are some plants from my garden that are doing well and giving me hope for the future of my little plot here in the space we live between East Bremerton and Silverdale, WA.

Infant Gift-Giving on a Budget

I am being invited to many baby showers right now, for some reason. Many of my young friends are multiplying!! I love these parties, but it can be expensive and sometimes limited if you simply look through the register (if there is one) and get something on the list. I have loved receiving hand-made gifts, and give those whenever I can. Right now, with our gift-giving allocation in the budget at about zero, it's a great time to brush up on my hand-making skills and make the shower gifts for friends' babies.

A young mom told me how much she liked some hand-knit washcloths I had given her in the past, which made me feel like my little bit of trouble was appreciated and the gift was actually useful. In the past couple months I have made some flannel blankets with crochet edging [modified from http://sewchic.blogspot.com/2007/07/crocheted-edge-blanket-tutorial.html ] . Pretty easy and fun, and I thought very cute, too. (A great friend of mine made these many years ago, and I was thoroughly disappointed not to get one when I had my last baby!) Also in my repertoire have been burp cloths, of which Mom can never have enough. Not really a keepsake novelty, but practical and (possibly) cute nonetheless. Bibs are another reliable standby. Even sweet toys are beginning to pop up on my radar.

What do you enjoy giving as baby gifts? What is the favorite gift you received when your babies were born?  

Light Reading

I haven't been reading much in the past few months, but it seems as if the library requests I have made have all come in at once. A story on NPR caught my interest a few months ago about Bringing Up Bebe (add accent marks) and it finally came in--just as I have found some time to settle down and read. 

Though I'm only about a third of the way through it, I am finding this great reading. One reason is that it's in an easy conversational style. Another is that I agree with the French ideal of parenting. Why should having kids ruin your life and the experience of all people around you?? 

The book starts with limits around getting the baby to sleep through the night, teaching young children the concept of waiting, and treating infants like "tiny little humans" capable of learning. 

One thing it points out is that French aren't interested in comparing and competing like Americans. I remember sitting with some young mothers soon after my first baby was born and listening to them compare percentile rankings of their babies, as if these rankings were important. So what if your kid is so fat he's in the top percentile for weight? He won't be able to roll over until he's 3 years old! 

I'm surprised that this book is even interesting, because I am well through the times of raising and training children. But it is an interesting look at the way people in our culture view parenting and children on an anthropological level. 

I am past halfway through Jane Austen Made Me Do It, a collection of short stories inspired by Austen's writings. Every story is really different: some are extensions of the familiar stories, some are twists or turns from the stories, some are ghost stories set in modern times, etc. I am not that fond of Jane Austen's tales, nor am I generally into short stories, but these have been rather fun. I actually ordered a copy for someone's birthday later this year.

The House at Sugar Beach is less light, and I'm not exactly reading it. I am listening to it in the car. It is the autobiographical work of Helene Cooper, who grew up in Liberia. I never knew freed slaves from the United States had the opportunity to settle in Liberia in the 1820s and beyond, but they did. This woman grew up wealth and status in that country in the 1960s and '70s as a descendant of the freed slaves, only to have to move to the U.S. as a result of violence and extreme political unrest in Liberia. Her story is moving and enlightening. 

Are you reading anything interesting? 

Clare's Baby Shower

Last week I took the long ride down to Ventura County, CA and attended my youngest sister's baby shower. Here are some highlights of the actual shower.

 Mom-to-be Clare and my sister Meredith.

 Clare and Meredith's daugher, Erin, with the adorable bibs Erin made.

 Clare with mom, sisters, and nieces, sort of. We missed Helene!

 Most who attended. Thank you so much Charmaigne Hanna-Baker for taking all the photos!

 Second cousins Kyson and Daisy. 

 Meredith and her beautiful daughters Stacy and Erin.

 My dad's sister Dorothy and my mother Sharon.

 The hostesses: Kelly, Corinne, Cindy, and Rachel.

 Rhiannon and Kyson.

 Clare and Rachel.

Amelia, Daisy, Stacy, and Erika.

Joblessness and Home Economy

Well, something new and hopefully exciting (the good way) is coming along for us. Allan was laid off on Friday and a new chapter in our life has begun. 

The Bremerton office of his company has been steadily shrinking, and the work he has been doing has been going to other workers in other offices around the country. Ah, well, the end of an 18+-year era. 

What does this mean for the immediate quality of life of our family? We have money to meet our basic needs/bills. Very basic! We have some food stored for events like this. I have skills to use this basic food (prepare it, make it palatable!). I am thinking I will make all our bread from now on, which will make some people around here really happy. 


There are other areas where I can work harder on economizing, too. I can stop my random thrift store shopping, and remember how to tease apart needs from wants. I can be more dedicated in my menu/meal planning, even just for myself. The phone and cell phone bills could be looked into and possibly changed for the better. The cupboards are full of materials that I can turn to in moments of creative necessity. 

What kind of changes will be a result of this bout of unemployment? No more allowance for me, that's for sure!!


Where do you find yourself in this economic climate? Have you needed to economize? What are your tactics for saving money or doing without? 

Traditional Foods

Have you ever heard of this book? It's all about presenting the truth about "research" around healthy eating and teaching us how to eat real food. It's touted as a cookbook (there are tons of recipes), but it's really full of information, stories, ideas, and instruction on how to eat well. And what exactly is eating well? 


Let's just put it this way: I am buying raw milk at about $5 per half gallon. (I think I may be the only one in my family drinking it, but that will change with time.) I have not been a big milk-drinker in the last couple decades, but this milk is delicious!


I have followed a few of the recipes in Nourishing Traditions to make my own dairy products. The first thing I made was yogurt. I am not a big consumer of yogurt, but it's easy

to make and was VERY delicious. I added strawberries and a little stevia powder. Later I tried buttermilk, which I don't really drink straight (though I bet I will--it's so good!), but use mainly as an ingredient in baked goods and dressings. In looking through and old Danish cookbook from the '40s I found a recipe for buttermilk soup. It was actually delightful. And just the other day I made my own creme fraiche (pronounced "crem fresh"), which I use in place of sour cream. Heavenly!


A by-product of some of the dairy products is whey, which can be used to acidify grain and vegetables for preparation and/or preservation. I am looking forward to more experiments with this type of eating and preparing my own food. 


Do you have anything new you're trying in the kitchen?

Stretching and Growing

A friend I rarely see came to a party I attended at the beginning of the year. As she was explaining her progress in school, she asked for help with a college statistics class. She described how she needed this class in order to go forward toward a BS in Business. Although I cringe whenever I hear a statistical term, I offered to tutor her if she really wouldn't pass the class without help. 


So, for most of the month of January, I coached my friend as she "mastered" the chapters in her statistics class together. What a trip down memory lane! She is completing her schooling through a reputable online university, and much of the learning requires extensive self-teaching. 


Have you known anyone who is afraid of math? I find this happens often with women. Leslie is one of those women who is intelligent and capable, but is really frightened about math. 


I feel very lucky about the education I have been able to receive, even from the youngest age. We were going over a problem and I was remembering seeing the concept of a number line for the first time in school (New Math) when I was in first grade. My friend has no such memory. 


Do you have a phobia about math, or know someone who does? How does it affect you?