Sunday, March 28, 2010

here's to keeping busy sans camera

oh goodness, i am so sorry for the current lack of pictures on this site ... i don't know what to do about my camera :-( i might just reorder the same one if i can find it. the first one was refurbished.

so what's a blogger without a camera to do except wince a little whenever she sees a great photo op? well here's a few ideas::

teach herself magic loop knitting (not so bad!! if i can do the toe i can do the heel when i get to it!!) AND how to knit front to back (very easy!) :-) yayyyyy for awesome internet tutorials.

talk to her swiss chard (stubborn....) and cat grass (tons of sprouts emerged yesterday!!), and plant romaine seedlings from the first farmer's market visit of the year, and plant basil seeds next to the romaine

see her farmer friend Nick, who's reserving a portion of a CSA (produce only) share for me, yay!

bake a vegan lasagna off the top of her head, no recipe, and having it come out awesome, then bringing said dish, still very hot, to a vegetarian Earthsave potluck at someone's home

read more of the awesome book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

attend the second meeting of the Louisville vegetarian club, discussing healthier ways to eat living (not dead!) foods, and planning a bi-monthly book club!! Eating Animals by (Jonathan Safroer?) is the first one. I'm so excited.

look up recipes for parsnips, which I got from one of the few local farmers setting up shop at the market

troll town for yard sales (only found one, and was too late for another) .... will do this again next weekend!

bake the following, all from the modern ayurvedic cookbook: Blueberry/Almond eggless muffins, bean pilau, coconut/vegetable tofu medley, steamed swiss chard with balsamic, and of course ... green smoothies.

try hard to catch up on some montessori homework (oy vey.....)

plan a trip to Asheville, N.C. with my best friend for spring break week.

listen to jazz all day on NPR

guess that's not too bad .... but i still miss my camera! :-)

happy week, everyone. mine gets to start with two parties at friends' homes: a clothing swap monday night, and a social-justice group fundraiser tuesday night, complete with two bands. this will make me miss yoga not too much, as i recover from what must be a shoulder-area muscle pull (ouch!) all week.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

just a beautiful spring day

how i *wish* i could post pictures! my camera still takes them, but you have to hold the on button while you do it. :-(

so much beauty in this sunny, warm, spring day!!

children collecting beech flowers on the playground

children planting carrot seeds

talking to my plants (yes) ... my swiss chard and cat grass, which have yet to poke through the dirt! and watering them.

stored winter veg (i'm really going locavore again soon (shopping at the farmer's market this weekend!), and joining a local CSA this year, and GROWING MY OWN!! I'm reading soooo quickly through Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and already dreaming of the heirloom seed catalogs I'm gonna be ordering from next spring) -- sweet potato and acorn squash -- roasting along with olive oil and spices in the oven ... easy dinner with brown basmati rice

my sunporch at 5:45 p.m. with me and computer on it

an evening walk around my pretty neighborhood

40-in. circular needles that have finally come in -- here we go, knee socks!!

getting re-inspired to finish the rest of my Montessori assignments by a friend who I just found out is doing the same training this summer that I did!! She's going to LOVE it, I sure did!! Wish I could do it again (without all the work! lol)!

dreaming of getting a pasta maker for christmas

dreaming of living on a working organic farm

dreaming of knitting an Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater

dreaming of trips to Asheville, N.C. (possibly in another week!) and Montana

a co-worker is in the hospital and not doing well. I get paid Friday and will send her some flowers over the weekend. it's looking like it's going to be a common surgical procedure, but she's in a lot of pain and i'm sending healing energy her way. I can't imagine going through it, and I am terrified of hospitals.

don't you love the smell of spring hyacinth? I'm so lucky to have some on my porch!

Sunday, March 21, 2010

vegan carrot/pineapple muffins

you must make this ... SO good! DON'T skip the icing! I halved the recipe and it made 20 good-sized muffins. I used agave instead of honey ... I'm a vegan girl that does use honey (ONLY local), but all I have is two huge bottles of raw and that's not pouring stuff. By the way when you buy agave ... make sure it's RAW BLUE ORGANIC agave...the other stuff might just be processed like the evil stepsister, HFCS.

http://breads-muffins.suite101.com/article.cfm/vegan_carrot_cake_muffin_recipe

happy spring baking! took a lovely walk at twilight tonight in a very gentle rain ... the smell of spring was everywhere, from honeysuckle to mud, and I saw some magnificent buds and blossoms!!

<3

a little spring post accompanied by a broken camera


bad news! my camera appears to be broken ... and just in time, i had some beautiful spring-happening pictures to share. Oh, well. I must figure out what to do .... a local place that repairs them maybe? sigh ... far and few between these days.

on today's agenda:

coffee and menu planning
grocery shopping
a stop at our local art museum for possible prints for next year's classroom walls
montessori homework
plant swiss chard seeds (i planted cat grass seeds yesterday!)
mop kitchen floor and give stovetop a full clean
possibly full clean bathroom, but erm maybe that can wait :-)
read Stones into Schools or Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

I'm giving my body a break from anything. Friday night and yesterday morning, I participated in half a yoga workshop and my body is feeling all the poses I'm not used to. I'll be back to yoga and my 2.5-5 mile walks this week coming up, though.

next weekend, I'm hoping some yard sales will be out. It's nearly that time of year again! I'm also hoping to clean out my very messy car and take it to a carwash for its yearly (lol) clean.

i'm considering renting out my house for the weekend of the Kentucky Derby. It'd make me rent money for my summer (when I'm not paid) and pay for food, etc. I'd drive them to and from the Derby (no paying for parking/worrying about how much they can drink), and make them a vegetarian breakfast each morning and have snacks available for late night. Hello organic cheese section.

the daffodils are up.

happy planting, and happy spring gallivanting to you! it's finally here!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

This is what happens when you "just stop in quick to goodwill." (among a few other items I did not photograph, but they are all *adorable* classroom stuff)



a rare, vintage $15 find. I immediately thought of the red chair in your kitchen, Heather at Beauty that Moves! The seat flips up and becomes another step ... oh-so-cool. look at that cheerful spring color!

pic of eclectic lime-green and wood $71 armchair to come ... oh, i just couldn't leave it there!

(i assure you, there is an ING account with saved money going into it regularly!)

This weekend, I'm going to plant things for the first time in my life. Here are my goals: (don't know why it loaded sideways, lol!!)


Knitting projects of late include dishcloths and headscarves (easy), challenges soon to come are magic loop socks and mayyyyybe the February lady sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman (loved yours, Soule Mama!) or something similar. I am terrified of doing both but going to plunge ahead ... I've been knitting almost two years already and nothing past headscarves, simple hats, scarves, and dishcloths. Here we go!

My BEST friend in the world is coming to stay with me for a few weeks next week! I've already started cleaning this house I've been so lazy on. It's amazing how much better the energy moves through the rooms when you've picked up just a very little! On deck for this weekend (not so much for her sake, but she's the excuse!):: a full kitchen-floor and stove clean, a full bathroom clean, and sweeping of all my wooden floors and shaking out of rugs.

The crocuses are up and the daffodils are on their way! Now if only the sun could come to visit ...



The vegan -- yes, VEGAN!! -- pizza came out very good. The dough, out of the book Vegan with a Vengeance (i highly recommend it!), makes two crusts. The pizza I made tonight to last through the rest of the week's dinners is the same, but with broccoli added. Poor broccoli, scorched a bit. Oh, well. It will still taste good, I'm sure.

Hopefully I can find a cup of peppermint tea, fold a tiny bit of Laundry Mountain, and get to bed before midnight.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

A little update


Hi, there.

Still chipping away at the Montessori work ... not nearly as quickly or diligently as I'd like. I've got a bit of seasonal in-transition weirdness going on internally. Almost like I'm not sure where my feet are, so I'm kind of half-heartedly into everything. It's hard to explain. My spirits are up, but my intentions are kind of everywhere, thinking about everything all at once ... a bit confusing, really. I try to ground myself as much as I can but I can do better here. I guess it's normal for this time of year ..??

Had a nice weekend, going to see Norah Jones, who sounds just like her albums live. She's very sweet and unaffected by her fame. I love that she has stayed very true to herself and hasn't "sold out" to an industry that expects too much from young women. I also attended the monthly vegetarian potluck for Earthsave Louisville, and saw yet another band fronted by a very energetic and lovely woman named Genevieve. Check out Company of Thieves, they're amazing! I'm going to knit her a headscarf. Seriously.

I slept in very late today, made later by daylight savings ... grrr. At least the sun will stay out longer now! I'll be home all day, making pizza dough from scratch (thanks Vegan with a Vengeance!!) ... pesto and mushroom toppings. Getting a tiny bit (bah) more Montessori work done.

I hope to start learning the magic loop technique for knee socks this week. I also hope to get my sewing machine turned on within the next couple of weeks and setting to work making some cloths for my classroom next year. I have no idea what I'm doing beyond winding the bobbin (and barely at that) ... I still have no sewing table .. but I'm hoping my dining room table will work for now as both a cutting table and sewing center.

I need to get Swiss chard potted ... maybe next weekend. This will be the first edible thing I've ever grown! I'm beginning to also think about a tiny herb garden outside the classroom next year. I have no idea what I'm doing and I hope the Internet will help.

As you can see, I have some ambitious reading planned -- I need inspirational words right now. It's like the fuel that keeps me going.

Yoga practice is going strong ... I'd like to do some Zen "sitting" at home for even just a few minutes a couple times a week, to start.

There are robins about everywhere. It's nice to see. Some of the trees are showing tiny buds, and daffodils are just now poking themselves out of the ground. Take the time to notice these things, slow yourself down.

Have a good week.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

i'm grateful, really ...

sometimes one must use a blog to get out some frustrations, like ...

never enough time in one day

too much solo cooking, cleaning, no one to just curl up with and watch a movie with at day's end with a bowl of popcorn in between

messy living room that looks more like a Montessori classroom

huge annoying pile of paper waiting to be shredded for the compost

lack of husband, child, and large old country home where i homeschool said child

cats who scratch, scratch, scratch the furniture to pieces

too much homework left to accomplish, and weekends that don't help the cause by being bright and sunny with lots of goings-on.

not being a morning person but forced to get up wayyyyyyyyyy too early every day.

soooo little time for sewing ........... knitting .............

okay i'm done :-) and really, i'm grateful for so many things. this was just a vent.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

re-prioritizing

It's good to do that from time to time. My restaurant habits have been kicking in again, despive the fact that I am making a conscious effort at saving. I truly think it comes from, a. living alone and not always wanting to do ALL the cooking, and b. wanting healthy food when I don't have the time or energy to cook, and c. not wanting to eat every meal alone in my messy apartment.

:::recent dinner "out" at health food store:: vegan sushi

If you live alone, how do you deal? For a while, I was making meals every Sunday from scratch and freezing them/portioning them for the week ahead. But with all this Montessori school-preparation stuff I'm having to do, I want to feel as though my weekends are a bit more restful. It's a delicate balance to achieve. A continual work-in-progress, I guess. I've thought of a once-a-week dinner at a rotation of friends' houses, that would take the pressure off for at least one meal. But there are lunches and dinners for six other days here. I guess I just feel overwhelmed by it sometimes. Hmm.....

Other than that, and buying stuff for my classroom in the fall, I haven't been too bad. Part of the problem is I often don't go home right after school, and I end up getting snacks at coffeeshops and health food shops to sustain me. (I've always had a large, healthy appetite and I can't go more than a couple of hours ever without eating SOMETHING) I was walking in the park yesterday on a gorgeous, spring-like day (FINALLY!), five miles, and it occurred to me that perhaps I need to start packing a cooler the night before I know I'll be out all day and pack it up with healthful mini-meals. I know that I need to just MAKE the time throughout the week to chop fruits and veg, and cook. And that not every meal can be an Iron Chef spectacular ....

anyway, enough about all that. here are some goals I'd like to work on in the near future -- in the spirit of reprioritizing. what does your list look like?

getting onto the sewing machine to make materials (cloths, aprons) for the classroom

playing the guitar just a few minutes every day and practicing my chords

reading reading reading ... i recently realized that since christmas, I've ONLY finished one book and gotten into 100 pages of another. that's it! fie, for shame! I'm currently reading Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson. Next up: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.

saving $$ .... this is ongoing. I'm still looking for something very part-time ... the personal assistant thing did not work out, not due to any fault of my own. sometimes (more often than not, actually) craigslist is a black hole. sigh ... back to the drawing board here

planning ... possible trips to asheville, n.c. (not too far from here, seven hours maybe?) and montana ... ahhhh big sky country.

picnics in the park where i often walk

knitting socks ... knee socks ... using the magic loop method. must read more on this. i bought the yarn yesterday ... waiting for my circular needle to arrive in-store.

cleaning out my disgusting car, and taking it to the carwash

making a pile of clothes for an upcoming community clothing swap

making a vegan chocolate cheesecake!! maybe a vegan PEANUT BUTTER chocolate cheesecake!

growing ... something edible ... swiss chard, maybe? in a container on my porch.
i'm reading some old thrifted gardening books I have to try and make this happen.

here is some homemade salsa that I made recently. tweak to taste, so i'll just list what I used here after the picture. It tastes great mixed with black beans, brown rice, vegenaise, blue tortilla chips, and fresh avocado.


2 fresh tomatoes
1 yellow bell pepper
fresh cilantro
almost 1 whole can of pineapple rings, plus some of the juice
lime juice
agave

chop/blend it all up in a food processor and tweak to taste, as I said before. Tip:: don't overdo it on the cilantro. start small and add more if necessary because of its strong flavor and ability to overwhelm all the other ingredients if too much is added from the get-go. ;-)



hope you all have a good, busy week ... and find some peace in it when you can. :-)