The weekend started with an inclement weather day on Friday. Since I'm on overhead (between contracts) for the company right now, I figured it just wasn't worth risking my life on the icy roads to go sit and hold down a chair for 8 hours, just to be there. So I called in ICE. That was Friday. The kids were home as well, as school was canceled, and Mary stayed home, since she had only one class that was an hour long, and couldn't justify driving in for 2 - 2 1/2 hours each way for an hour class. So we all stayed home and had a good day together.
Saturday was lovely too. Not much going on. Just reading and such. I just finished the Dan Millman book "Everyday Enlightenment". Dan is the author of "The way of the Peaceful Warrior". Everyday Enlightenment was about how to get the most from life, and I enjoy reading "self help" books sometimes, just to see if I'm on anywhere near the right path. I am. I am on the path that works for me, and for my family. I think that I've got the ability to get to that enlightenment, in just a little while longer. Now, if I could just convince my sub-conscience of that...
Sunday was nice, and I built a fire to relax by. I did some gardening work - staking fruit trees, and a bit of cleaning up. I split some more kindling, and tossed some wood chips down where the old ones have broken down into soil. I put some reminder sticks up around the new daffodils that are trying to come up. I'm getting that spring fever, so it must be getting close to time to get my seedlings started indoors.
I have lots of good ideas for the gardens this year. And if I fill up my freezer, I'll give away the surplus.
Peace and harmony!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
Psychopsis Orchid
I finally got the picture of the psychopsis orchid to post. It is lasting a long time.
Really beautiful flower.
Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Muffins!
Muffins.
Simple and frugal creations, able to be grabbed from the kitchen by the kids, my wife and me. All love them, and they come in individual serving size. I love the silicone baking pans that I've been using to bake them. The muffins come right out of the little cups, and they are much easier to clean than the old metal pans. (I use the metal pans to hold the silicone pans, and they insulate them perfectly, so that my muffin bottoms don't get scorched.) And with the silicone, they don't stick to the inside, so no oil is needed either.
Anyway, how wholesome is home-made, goodness? Better than "grandma" used to make? No, but great anyway. Home ground whole-wheat flour, rolled oats, a little bit of raw sugar, some baking powder, chocolate chunks, cocoa powder, dash of salt, ground flax seeds, apple sauce, vanilla, and some water to make it into a batter. Spoon into cups, bake for 28 minutes, and perfection! Yummy VEGAN, low-fat muffins that nobody would guess were vegan, or low fat. Absolutely delectable. Oh, and no added flavor enhancers!
I sometimes make these "dessert" muffins to take to pot-luck lunches. Mainly because so many people love chocolate, they always go over well.
I think I use about $2 worth of ingredients, and come out with 24 muffins. Can't beat the price of home made.
Simple and frugal creations, able to be grabbed from the kitchen by the kids, my wife and me. All love them, and they come in individual serving size. I love the silicone baking pans that I've been using to bake them. The muffins come right out of the little cups, and they are much easier to clean than the old metal pans. (I use the metal pans to hold the silicone pans, and they insulate them perfectly, so that my muffin bottoms don't get scorched.) And with the silicone, they don't stick to the inside, so no oil is needed either.
Anyway, how wholesome is home-made, goodness? Better than "grandma" used to make? No, but great anyway. Home ground whole-wheat flour, rolled oats, a little bit of raw sugar, some baking powder, chocolate chunks, cocoa powder, dash of salt, ground flax seeds, apple sauce, vanilla, and some water to make it into a batter. Spoon into cups, bake for 28 minutes, and perfection! Yummy VEGAN, low-fat muffins that nobody would guess were vegan, or low fat. Absolutely delectable. Oh, and no added flavor enhancers!
I sometimes make these "dessert" muffins to take to pot-luck lunches. Mainly because so many people love chocolate, they always go over well.
I think I use about $2 worth of ingredients, and come out with 24 muffins. Can't beat the price of home made.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Simple Weekend
Mary arrived home on Saturday night from Hawai'i. She was tired, so she had a bowl of soup, and sorted out her luggage and then we went to sleep early, so that she could get her biological clock reset.
Mary and I had lots of connecting time on Sunday, and she did manage to get some reading for school done in the afternoon. We got laundry done and also went for a walk in the beautiful day. The temperature was up to 50F but the wind was blowing in, so we bundled up a bit. I got dishes done, and messed around with the orchids, nothing really taxing.
I managed to get some reading done, and am almost done with a 7 book series. The catch... I have to wait for the final book to be published in July! Arrrrggghhhhh!!! Oh, well, it could be worse. I could have just started reading the first book in a series that has no end in sight...
Energy saving tip: Keep your cars tires inflated to the proper amount. Bonus tip: you'll save muscle energy if your bike's tires are inflated to their proper amount also!
Mary and I had lots of connecting time on Sunday, and she did manage to get some reading for school done in the afternoon. We got laundry done and also went for a walk in the beautiful day. The temperature was up to 50F but the wind was blowing in, so we bundled up a bit. I got dishes done, and messed around with the orchids, nothing really taxing.
I managed to get some reading done, and am almost done with a 7 book series. The catch... I have to wait for the final book to be published in July! Arrrrggghhhhh!!! Oh, well, it could be worse. I could have just started reading the first book in a series that has no end in sight...
Energy saving tip: Keep your cars tires inflated to the proper amount. Bonus tip: you'll save muscle energy if your bike's tires are inflated to their proper amount also!
Saturday, February 09, 2008
I love you, I missed you, You were gone foreEVER!
Mary's coming home this evening. I have about an hour to go. I checked the BWI arrivals, and it says that her flight is about 25 minutes early, so I have to go to the airport soon.
I'm a bit excited to have her back in Maryland. I know the saying is that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I don't think I can grow fonder of Mary. I just miss her terribly when she is gone. And when she returns, it will be a few days before she gets back into the rhythm of things here.
She did a great job of helping Paul out in Hawaii, and helped him do a lot of things around the house that he couldn't have done. So I'm thinking that Mary thinks the trip was worth it.
I'm happy to be able to support Mary when she needs to go and take care of family. Mary is just as supportive of me when I do the same. Fortunately I haven't had to do that for quite some time.
So I made Mary some veggie soup, and have a lovely loaf of sourdough bread to go with the soup. Great eating for a winter's day. (The veggie soup has some homegrown green beans, so I count that as part of our local eating challenge.)
What is simple about all of this traveling? Not much, really. However, living a simple and frugal lifestyle gives us the time and financial freedom to be able to go on short notice to take care of family. And isn't family (and friends - i.e., community) what life is about? No? Not for you? It is for me.
This brings me to the question of how I define family. Is family just blood kin? Or is it really a mixture of blood kin, dear friends, and chosen people in our lives? Those people who are there to teach us about life, spirituality, or whatever, just as we are ready to learn? Family for me is all of those people and more. Those people who are a part of lives, our past, and our present who are there for us, even when we are difficult to be around, and even when times are tough.
So living simply gives me time to be able to find these things out.
I'm a bit excited to have her back in Maryland. I know the saying is that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I don't think I can grow fonder of Mary. I just miss her terribly when she is gone. And when she returns, it will be a few days before she gets back into the rhythm of things here.
She did a great job of helping Paul out in Hawaii, and helped him do a lot of things around the house that he couldn't have done. So I'm thinking that Mary thinks the trip was worth it.
I'm happy to be able to support Mary when she needs to go and take care of family. Mary is just as supportive of me when I do the same. Fortunately I haven't had to do that for quite some time.
So I made Mary some veggie soup, and have a lovely loaf of sourdough bread to go with the soup. Great eating for a winter's day. (The veggie soup has some homegrown green beans, so I count that as part of our local eating challenge.)
What is simple about all of this traveling? Not much, really. However, living a simple and frugal lifestyle gives us the time and financial freedom to be able to go on short notice to take care of family. And isn't family (and friends - i.e., community) what life is about? No? Not for you? It is for me.
This brings me to the question of how I define family. Is family just blood kin? Or is it really a mixture of blood kin, dear friends, and chosen people in our lives? Those people who are there to teach us about life, spirituality, or whatever, just as we are ready to learn? Family for me is all of those people and more. Those people who are a part of lives, our past, and our present who are there for us, even when we are difficult to be around, and even when times are tough.
So living simply gives me time to be able to find these things out.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Novocaine
I will now thank the gods and goddesses of dentistry that there is so much good pain reliever out there now.
I had to get 3 "problem areas" worked on today. It seems that I had a couple of pits, and one filling that had failed, and had some decay underneath. So my dentist wanted to get that taken care of. I was in today for that procedure. I didn't feel any pain, but I sure did feel the high-pitched whine of that drill as it worked on that top tooth. I can't imagine what I would have felt had I not had that Novocaine.
Anyway, all is well, but now my right side of my jaw feels like it is drooling, even though I'm sure my mouth is closed. Very funny feeling. I have a bit of discomfort in my jaw from clenching, and I'm having to remind myself that I need to keep my teeth just far enough apart without opening my mouth (so I DON'T drool all over myself.)
This brings about the frugal point of my post. It is much less expensive to have good dental insurance, brush and floss regularly and have regular dental check-ups and cleanings, than to try to pay for dental damage that isn't caught soon enough. So remember that maintaining yourself is one of the best investments you can make! (Because if you don't maintain yourself, you will later want to give ANY amount of money to get your health back!)
I had to get 3 "problem areas" worked on today. It seems that I had a couple of pits, and one filling that had failed, and had some decay underneath. So my dentist wanted to get that taken care of. I was in today for that procedure. I didn't feel any pain, but I sure did feel the high-pitched whine of that drill as it worked on that top tooth. I can't imagine what I would have felt had I not had that Novocaine.
Anyway, all is well, but now my right side of my jaw feels like it is drooling, even though I'm sure my mouth is closed. Very funny feeling. I have a bit of discomfort in my jaw from clenching, and I'm having to remind myself that I need to keep my teeth just far enough apart without opening my mouth (so I DON'T drool all over myself.)
This brings about the frugal point of my post. It is much less expensive to have good dental insurance, brush and floss regularly and have regular dental check-ups and cleanings, than to try to pay for dental damage that isn't caught soon enough. So remember that maintaining yourself is one of the best investments you can make! (Because if you don't maintain yourself, you will later want to give ANY amount of money to get your health back!)
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Simple Weekend
Sometimes I equate simple, with rest. Like this weekend. I spent several hours doing a whole lot of simple things. Cleaning, laundry, reading, bathing, and such. I even went for a few walks, a bike ride to the bank, and ate up leftovers from the fridge. I didn't feel like cooking, since it was just me in the house, so I ate what I had cooked on Friday.
I turned on the "classical" radio station, and listened to beautiful music all day Sunday. I got my side of the bedroom tidied up, and swept up the floor. I didn't tackle the under the bed stuff, since I didn't want to work ALL day! That can wait until Mary is here to help.
Mary's psychopsis orchid is blooming. I say hers, because it was one of the ones she picked out at the orchid show back in October. Here is a picture of one that I found on the net, but I'll post of picture of hers when I can find a camera. It is really a spectacular plant, and the flower stalk is about 2 1/2 feet high, with that flower sitting pretty right on top!
I'm going to be doing a little bit of cooking for dinner, just don't quite know what I'm going to be making. I need to grind some wheat for muffins, but after that... I don't know.
I do feel well rested, and have soaked up plenty of alone time this weekend.
I turned on the "classical" radio station, and listened to beautiful music all day Sunday. I got my side of the bedroom tidied up, and swept up the floor. I didn't tackle the under the bed stuff, since I didn't want to work ALL day! That can wait until Mary is here to help.
Mary's psychopsis orchid is blooming. I say hers, because it was one of the ones she picked out at the orchid show back in October. Here is a picture of one that I found on the net, but I'll post of picture of hers when I can find a camera. It is really a spectacular plant, and the flower stalk is about 2 1/2 feet high, with that flower sitting pretty right on top!
I'm going to be doing a little bit of cooking for dinner, just don't quite know what I'm going to be making. I need to grind some wheat for muffins, but after that... I don't know.
I do feel well rested, and have soaked up plenty of alone time this weekend.
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