feast your eyes.

here are some pictures of my trip to beautiful Lexington, KY. (apologies in advance for the scarecrow at the university of kentucky's arboretum i forgot to rotate, and for my dirty car window in the sunrise picture that is last) I am blessed to have eyes to see and experience this gorgeousness. happy week to all of you. i've got a big batch of homemade bean and TVP chili simmering away on the stove, and it smells wonderful. candle burning in a window, and public radio music on. very relaxing. i'm hoping to end the night knitting, reading, maybe watching the ella fitzgerald documentary i keep putting off.

peace and love,

karen

simple life ponderances

For the last few days, I've been gazing longingly at my "to-read" bookshelf ... well, at TWO of the to-read bookshelves ... lol.

Here are some of the books I'm dying to open (I currently am reading three books, but can't seem to find one of them....).

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Agar Nafise
Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
The Poisonwood Bible by same author
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Mortal Flower by Han Suyin
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Abundance a novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund
Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

.......... there are TONS more in my collection but these are most of the titles I've been staring at, wishing I could somehow read them all at once.


I have a question for the vegetarians out there: I notice that I shed more hair now than I ever did. It's by no means falling out of my head, but I am constantly shedding what looks like dead, thin hair. very annoying. Would a B Complex vitamin help this? I've started taking 25mg zinc/day ... and already take a comprehensive multivitamin daily which as far as B vitamins go has only Niacin 10%, B6 and B12 100%each. I don't want to shed! I only wash with baking soda and apple cider vinegar, and those not every day. I do wear by hair up a lot ...??? and bobby pin back my growing-out bangs quite frequently. help ... i just want healthy hair! i do notice that my skin seems to be a little yucky, too ... prone to crazy bruising (but this is not alarming, i've bruised easily all my life) and just kind of having this weird uneven look to it. Would B Complex also benefit this? Just wondering ............... ok thanks.

on the positive side, i seem to be in excellent health otherwise and have been giving myself the gift of more sleep during the week. I've also been attacking little moles with daily applications of apple cider vinegar. this stuff is amazing! I really really REALLY want to switch over to being a morning person; like everything else in my life, I'm going to have to just plunge into it. But I love the idea of getting out and walking while the world still has that ethereal quality to it. I love the idea of actually enjoying a hearty breakfast rather than waking up 10 minutes before I need to rush out the door. Maybe get some reading or knitting done. As I get older and my "social calendar" (haha) is virtually (and thankfully) nonexistent (i'm talking about the party days being over), I look forward to enjoying mornings more. But still ... it's so so hard to get up. I will try valiantly, however.

Thanks for frugal trenches and my other British friend with the pink blog (sorry don't know your name and i call you bridget jones but it's affectionate as i loved those movies) ... for their resposibility and absolute dedication toward paying down their debt. i've reached the last straw with mine, and it took crazy bank overdraft fees to do it. It's also, of course, part of all the simplifying I want to do generally, anyway ... being debt free and being extremely frugal in order to clear away what's truly unecessary and see the enjoyment in pure life ... I am tempted to bring a small notebook with me everywhere I go and write down every piddling penny i spend but i know that will just annoy me. So instead ... I'm just going to have to be very strict with myself. Continually reading all of your blogs helps me with that so much. Please keep writing about your own struggles to achieve a "normal" debt-free lifestyle. It's great therapy!

I guess that's all I have to write for now. On a funny note, my oatmeal tasted an awful lot like garlic this morning. guess the stink wasn't fully washed from the pan. oh, well. i ate it all anyway. tonight i'm going to make up a batch of vegetarian chili, cooking with textured vegetable protein for the first time. I hope I don't overcook it. I think i'll add it near the end of simmering. I'm also hoping to get a good walk in today. Weather is still beautiful here, but turning chillier. Slept in woolies last night -- sweater and socks. I'm so far on strike against my heat, and plan on calling the landlord over soon to inspect the chimney for fires-burning. i hope it passes the test!

OH!! the farm day was great. it was fun to watch the kids go wild at the craft table, doing stamping with shapes cut from root vegetables ... and lots of messy paint. afterward, beer and bean salad and greens and veggie salad were had. I am hoping to join their CSA and get a box of vegetables each week. and, of course, to keep volunteering and learn more about farming for when i can do it.

in the meantime, i have perfect windowsills for growing herbs ... so i'll put that on my priorities list, too. i'd like to do rosemary, even though it's a tough one. probably also some mint. not sure what else yet. any suggestions? remember i live in a very small apartment. but it gets lots of light, and like i said, has great windowsills.

any advice on the hair/skin/herbs/debt would really be greatly appreciated. in the meantime, i'll keep learning from you all .. and the library!

peace, love, happy sunday.

~~karen

in the words of jewels

I'm off to a tiny bit more knitting and then sleep land having decided to mostly in great detail read the last two or three posts of jewels. jewels the way you have raised/are raising your family is so so inspiring, that with all that's come to pass in this day and age you can be so akin to ... well, the ingalls family. that's meant as a dear and delicate compliment to you.

here are some of jewels' words, which, while I myself am not religious, brought the hint of moisture just behind my eyes. I will enjoy contemplating them, and hopefully acting on them, whenever the need arises. Thank you, Jewels, for sharing your life of simplicity and beauty, and the loveliness of your children with all of us.

Jewel: I hope that each of you have a special day with those you love. I hope you're able to enjoy today, and not worry about tomorrow. Do remember, that you're free to do so. My heart does go out to those of you that are carrying especially heavy burdens, and I pray that God would not only carry them, but lovingly carry you. And, as only He is able, put your hearts and minds at rest. I pray that He holds you especially near to his tender heart....and loves you, loves you, loves you, deep inside.

I hope that each one of you will be entirely free to be yourselves. Just as you are, Right where you are. Without apology or feeling like you have to live up to anyone else's expectations--group or individual--and know that that's your special, priceless, gift to those around you. A gift that no one else can give.

love and peace,

karen <3

this post suits me better, and i wear it well and with pride.

okay, after baking 63 (yes, five dozen and three) chocolate chip oat cookies from scratch, drinking chamomile tea, knitting, and thinking about my favorite movie (Lost in Translation), and talking to a very old friend, I am feeling much much better than I was earlier, mired in concern over my finances and the world's finances while I was at it. So ... I decided to delete my miserable post. I have no intention of sugar coating my world ... in fact, I think most of us are here because we recognize it for what it is and want to better it/conserve it ... but I also think that living as positively as possible is the most effective strategy toward such an end ... and by positively I mean both by action and by attitude. So much of our world is the way it is today because inaction and sour attitudes, i.e. complaining people, have paved the way. They are great destroyers. Our job is to tend to our small gardens -- gardens of life, family, hobby, friendship -- with as little destructiveness as possible. Our peace form the seeds, our care the garden, our intentions the sun, and our determination and grit ... well, the rain and wind.

I will try hard to keep my optimism in times that are trying to both myself and to my country. It will be needed, because from optimism springs positive, productive practicality and frugality. Sounds ironic, that product can emerge from frugality. Sometimes the truth is in that irony.

I'm realizing that I'm going to have to really, really plunge in if this lifestyle is to ever work for me. Not just do little scrapings of the bowl here and there, such as recycling and reusing bags and cooking almost everything from scratch. No, radical change is about really NOT spending on a bagel here, a coffee there, a cute pair of shoes on sale at Target. It's about making your own facial moisturizer from olive oil (anyone have good recipes? what about sunscreen? how to get natural sun protection for your skin? can't wear a floppy hat ALL the time ... and it doesn't protect the arms in warm weather) .... knitting your own cleaning cloths ... at LEAST whittling my ridiculous $20/week cell phone plan to a pre-paid plan etc. etc. See some steps are necessarily small when you're venturing into a "new world" ... but how do toddlers learn to walk, right? They don't just start running marathons. And there's that Rome cliche ... but in this case I think we're hoping not to DEconstruct Rome in a day. ; )

I'm scared to completely flip this life I've been raised into and become an adult in on its head. I see my minor changes making big waves with some people, many of disbelief. Or ... "wow it's great to talk about this stuff but you're actually doing ....?!?! uh .... ok." and i get these bewildered looks ... somewhat piteous expressions ... (i can't believe these, but i'm sure many of you know what I'm talking about here) .... and still, I soldier on. Not for my cause. For my children's cause, and for their children's cause.

Not everything in life can be trusted to politics and government, whose oft-atrocities are becoming so transparent ... by the minute, seemingly. No, it's about individual responsibilities. Forming a bridge to the future that the government, that politicians, can't rob from you, can't tax you on. Your handmade clothes. Your homegrown vegetables. Your stockpiles of food. Your reusable containers. Your knitted scarves, mittens, socks. Your library books and DVDs. Your homesteading skills. Your penny-pinching grip. Your pennies, stashed wisely and tucked away well for use on what's really important. (and which, materially, amounts to very little). Your donations. Of time, money, and love. Your friendship.

We still have power. Lots of it. Let's harvest and use it to make our own "machine." Aligned with nature and independent and fully functioning, always. Circular. There is hope, and it lies within us, manifest in our hands, our vocal chords, and, most of all, in our great big hearts.

i love you all. happy week-end to you.

~~karen.

JOIN THIS.

it's going to be amazing. heck, it already is!!




thanks so much to several blogger friends whom i already read regularly for starting this up and continuing to inspire the rest of us out there. you rock my world!!

**link to it from my links on the left side of my page, look for Simple Green Frugal Coop.**

waking up from a long, too long, sleep.

Has anyone noticed the Corn Refiners Association ads lately, touting that "High Fructose Corn Syrup" is okay in moderation?

THEY MADE ME FURIOUS. as i'm sure you can imagine.

All you have to do is read the Omnivore's Dilemma to find out why. Or watch a documentary like Future of Food. I've also heard King Corn is good but have yet to see it. I think these ads have been out for a while now, but as I don't even have cable television because it's garbage, it took me over a month to see it elsewhere.

Ads like this make me even more afraid for the state of our country, but at least our governmental corruption is becoming more and more transparent. Am I paranoid, or preparing? I'd like to think ... preparing.

I want to do all I can to help introduce seasonal, local eating not only more to myself (though I have zero percent HFCS in my diet, admitting to the once or twice a year can of coke), but to low-income communities where fresh organic fruits and vegetables are scarce to nil, but where fast food restaurants abound by the baker's dozen. and, as michael pollan will tell you, that 99 cent mcdonald's hamburger is not cheap when you get under the bun and really look at the chain behind that pretty yellow wrapper. This is why I've signed up to volunteer at a local sustainable farm that teaches all children, even inner-city/underprivileged youth, about growing their own food. It's an excuse for me to learn, too. I mean, I was a "food comes from the supermarket" kid during the 1980s. In the microwave era. The era of margarine and mcdonald's. Enough is enough. I'm hoping to join a co-op for my year-round fruits and veggies, as I can't at this time have my own garden. The food will be produced locally.

These ads have really stuck in my craw for a while now, and I've been itching to write about all my thoughts that have stemmed from seeing such blatant lies being frosted onto the general american consciousness. literally, frosted. like all the fake icings we see in aisle after aisle of our mass supermarket fluorescent wastelands. I feel like I'm in a hospital in that place ... all the bright lights, waxed floors, waxed foods, sick-looking people, and the beeping ... ugh scary. In fact, I was in there tonight for oats, organic cans of tomatoes and beans ($5 total), and it's like Mission Impossible to me: get in and out alive, and don't make the mistake of looking into people's carts to see how much farther they're miring themselves in misery.

I won't go on forever, as I have a natural bent to be positive, and a real goal to try and accept that I can only control my own small corner of existence. I'm privileged, through rhonda's new brainchild, the frugal co-op, to have made the acquaintance of a young British gal my age whose goals for frugality ... i believe she called it downsizing or something like that ... ah. downshifting. ... helped remind me that i've only just begun scraping the surface of what i could, and should be doing for the world in that very small corner i do inhabit. here, below, are some of my near-future goals:

*cancel ultra expensive for no reason cell phone and buy a prepaid phone for occasional calls and emergencies.

*reuse bread and veggie bags for putting cat crap into.

*save glass jars

*join community farm coop for fresh, organic fruits and vegetables

*go car-free once a week to start, walking or bussing it instead (buses here are hybrid-electric, awesome).

*really use "spare money" (i.e. money that would be otherwise spent on frivolous, "oh, that's cute!" purchases, or silly things like "i'm craving a bagel today") toward paying off debt. I HATE THE FACT THAT I HAVE DEBT. AND WOULD LOVE TO BE DEBT FREE BY 32.

*invest in a good yoga video to avoid high class prices ($15/class is really ridiculous, and this is very unfortunate, as i do love the whole environment). maybe even find good yoga vids. through freecycle.

*use the library as an information/entertainment resource far more regularly.

Obviously, there are more. I just can't think of them all right now. But I was just feeling inspired today, I guess ...

... and on an ending note for now I must say that a small part of me in my very soul is kind of "happy" (though that's not the right word) all this stuff here in the U.S. is coming to a head so quickly ... it's time people woke up to what their greed/convenience/great need for hurrying up and ??? has done. and i feel that a HUGE shift is going to happen... BACK to the local economy. local food. local people depending on EACH OTHER for their basic needs, not china. not hollywood. not television. i hope, i hope, i hope this for our humanity. we need it so much. we need a leveling. here we go. i'm getting ready .... and so glad all of you are, too. we need to be, to help some others teetering off the cliff.

thanks for listening.

love and peace to you all,

karen

technical difficulties.

sorry to report, but ... i won't be updating until i order a new adapter from ebay and it comes in. mine died. blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. stay tuned .... sorry. i am very bummed. but well otherwise .... talk soon my lovelies.

peace,

karen

Weekly update.

pizza, homemade (crust from trader joe's, whole wheat ... haven't gotten around to making my own yet): basil pesto, mushrooms, tofu sprayed with Braggs, hot pepper, onions. AMAZING. and yes ... no cheese. didn't miss it a bit.

Well, all ... here I am again, as promised. I am glad that you are still reading. I am still reading you all .... of course! Rhonda -- made your scones again this week, adding wheat germ and soy protein powder this time -- they are so fabulous! I did learn that 1/4lb. butter is about half a cup of butter here in the U.S. Anyway, I have lots of pictures to share, most of them from the St. James Court art fair here in Louisville which happens each year. I'll get to that in a minute. First, let me address the points I promised last time:

fried green tomatoes: oh. my. amazingness. I simply sliced up a whole green tomato, and fried it up in olive oil with the following spices: pinch of sea salt, black pepper, thyme, oregano, fresh basil. and some local fresh hot pepper. boy a little bit of that goes a long way! regrettably, no picture ... but they were very good!

homemade shampoo: having grown increasingly annoyed at what little there is out there in the way of vegan shampoos, that doesn't contain SLS and Tetrasodium EDTA (yes even at health food stores!!), I decided to mix up some water and baking soda until I got a paste that somewhat lathered when I rubbed it between my hands. I added some jasmine oil to it for fragrance, but curiously the fragrance didn't last once in the shower. at least i didn't notice it lingering on my hair afterward, and I purposely didn't apple cider vinegar rinse it afterward so i could check. Hm, well I'm still not sure what I think of it. It felt a little weird going into my hair, like gritty. But let me tell you, my hair, which my whole life has been notoriously oily after just a few days of not washing, hasn't had to be washed in days and days. in fact, maybe it's been more than a week. i also thought it would dry it out, because of the salt, but ... nope! Happy to report normal clean hair for days on end. I think it's very telling that these chemicals are very clever ... the marketers get it so it works by making your hair luxurious for a day or so ... then you need more to maintain. meanwhile you're getting continual long-term small exposure to carcinogenic compounds ... and wasting your money/hurting the environment. hm. no thank you. anyway don't have a picture of the paste, either ... but I recommend giving it a shot. I'll post on it again the more I use it; it's still an experiment in progress at this point.

peanut butter hummus: not as good as i'd hoped. the garlic and chickpeas kind of killed the PB taste, which is what I was hoping it would taste more like. Still, it was very good, and lasted a week with crackers, veggies, and in sandwiches. next time I think i'll stick with the tahini, though, and save the PB for other recipes.

the approach of fall: leaves are just starting to turn color here...but the weather has warmed up again, considerably. i did take one of the AC's out, thus giving more light again to my kitchen. i like that. i'm waiting on the two in my bedroom. i hate turning them on to begin with, but it gets sweltering up there in the loft because ... well, heat rises. so i'll wait a bit ... also not looking fwd to lugging four air conditioners (APPALLED at my sometimes energy use here... gah) into storage closet solo .... but also grateful for the opportunity to live alone for once and have to learn to just do things on my own, rather than depending on some man to do them for me.

paint-splattering incidents: ah, yes. was preparing paints for the children the other day when a purple one splattered all over my hair, shirt, pants, shoes, neck ... you name it. the kids thought it was hilarious. i rolled with it. after all, it's good for them to see us make mistakes, too. wish i had pictures ... but was too busy cleaning up! ; )

brown rice with eggplant: was very delicious. I sauteed onion, garlic, eggplant and probably some spices (can't remember, it's been a while) together. meanwhile in my blender i pureed a can of black beans, tomato paste, and a can of diced tomatoes. ah actually this is where i put all the italian spices. Then when the rice was done I just mixed it all together. very healthy and hearty, and lasted a week of school lunches. I'd make it again.

the semi-local greens: came from indianapolis, a couple hours north of us. not half as bad as all the organic greens i usually buy from california. i'm trying ... but it's hard. anyway they made a couple of good salads. Thanks to vegetarian knitters' suggestion to pair vegenaise with olive oil and balsamic. it's like ranch! yummmmmmmmmm...........

the scarf: see pictures below. almost ready to bind off! I spent part of my morning coffee time watching a couple of how-to YouTube videos. We'll see if I can pull it off. My next project will hopefully be good enough to gift, so I may not post pictures of it until after the fact. But I'm excited. I'm finding that knitting makes me have this incredibly calm state about me. I just listen to public radio, which plays awesome music, or the BBC newshour (i LOVE the british accents), and last night, why my, three hours went by like, snap! while i knitted happily. my hand also isn't cramping as much; I'm finding better ways to hold and maneuver the needles. Knitting is great meditation; just as with focusing on your breath, you are focusing only on what your hands are doing. it becomes soso nice. i think knitting probably works wonders on blood pressure, too.

the letter: I wrote it, and didn't end up giving it, and what a cure it's been. Thank god. I was getting a little worried about myself. I feel free again. I mean, why waste my precious time?


a surprise: i got the chance to reconnect with someone from my very distant (high school) past this week ... a really old friend. that has been wonderful. it's great to see how people you still think of from time to time have grown up, and not just fallen into the black hole of your past dreams ... and to have him validate the decisions i've made along the path. that was so refreshing, because i sometimes do feel like the odd girl in the crowd ... i've actually had people kind of laugh off the lifestyle i'm trying to lead, and it really really annoys me. i mean, do you really think you can greedily consume everything forever? it's ridiculous to be so materialistic, and selfish to not take small, everyday measures (such as not drinking bottled water) to conserve our planet's ever-dwindling resources. it's OKAY to be young and enjoy the pleasures of a simple, well-kept home (or apartment, in my case). so, anyway ... talking to him was a reminder to myself of how much i've grown in the last decade. and i hope i can help inspire him to reach for what makes him happy ... i think so many more people could adopt "the simple life" if they just "took the plunge" (actually it's more like climbing a ladder out of blackness if you ask me)...and they'd never look back for all of their increased happiness. i certainly have not.


well, enough philosophizing for the moment. without further ado, here are the pictures I've promised you!!


coffeeshop where i'm always blogging:





















St. James art fair ...


Suzuki student concert ... can't believe the pieces they were playing!!



















asleep at the helm ... lol




















shakespeare sampler


















sights and sounds .... lots of great (and sometimes interesting/unique!) music to be heard. and some beautiful old victorian-era mansions, some of which are for sale ... and for only $200-400K!! hm .... lol.
























































































































































































































































































grown up mac n cheese ... to take with me to school observations in neighboring lexington this week: this is annie's organic mac n cheese made with soy milk and vegan butter (earth balance), edamame, veggie hot dogs, some wheat germ and some chili powder. YUM. the rest of the week, i'll eat rhonda's scones for breakfast. as for the rest ... well ... i'll fudge it. i don't know if i'll be eating with the family i'm staying with, or whether i'll have to get my own meals. i'm hoping the former; I have no cash really to spare again until payday.



















there was a church flea market nearby the art fair. here are the books i scored for just 75 cents. i couldn't resist. i LoVE the one by the naturalist. The orange one is a handbook for gardening with kids from the early 1980s. i love it. The cookbook is from 1961 and is encouraging a move away from the processed foods industry and moving toward cooking from scratch. more than 40 years later and most people still aren't listening. so sad. ....























here is the scarf (nearly done!), and i'll end with some cats!















































so ... i may be somewhat scarce next week, but if i can get online at the house where i'm staying i'll be sure to read all of your lovely, lovely updates. I'll try and take a good amount of pictures, as Lexington is beautiful and more rural than Louisville ... after all, it's the horse capital of the world! I am looking forward to observing new children, and having a mini-vacation to knit, read, relax in someone else's nice home, and hopefully to watch the second presidential debate on tuesday night. The weekend I'm back here promises to be a busy and fun one ... I'm responsible for the crafts table at the local farm's Family Farm Day Oct. 18, so I'll need to brainstorm ... there will also be local garden day, a fall festival, and some great live folk music by a musician and wonderful older gentleman i know personally. and a vegetarian potluck for Earthsave Louisville. and maybe more music at that ... looking forward to all of it. I'll try and keep the camera snapping!



love and peace to all of you ...




~~karen~~