inspiring and tasty lately

good sourdough from Trader Joes

coarse grain sea salt from Big Tree Farms in Bali
check out how the grains are little pyramids!

I have been dying to indulge in this salt since I read about it a year ago.... so cool! I finally indulged and am glad I did! It is an incredible taste which is meant to be savored.....

the sea salt on mashed avacado
drizzled with fabulous balsamic vinegar

fabulous locally grown squash .... roasted and smashed with butter and local maple syrup

so scrumptious and filling on a blustery fall day!

stay the course

have you seen this?

Unbelievable. But I don't know if things will really change, no matter who is in office. Makes me want to flee this messed up country. Gotta download the application and work on gettin' outta Dodge......

This is what Laura from wmtc wrote in her post about this video clip:

You might think in this media age, where every sound bite can be captured and preserved, those in power wouldn't have the audacity to do this sort of thing. But these guys are always pushing the envelope, testing what they can get away with. So far they've gotten away with everything. I'm astonished that people still call them incompetent. If there's ever been a more efficient and skillfully disguised dictatorship, I'm not aware of it.

There oughta be a new word for Orwellian. Something that would out-Orwell even Eric Blair's most Orwellian nightmare.

I think she is spot on.

fall beauty nearby

looking through my neighbors yard...
she lives right on the lake and has a pretty view

the cliff behind our house...
we have this good view of it when we walk down the road

Whose are these?

My clothes don't fit me anymore. Oh, I don't mean they are too small or too big... just wrong. They aren't who I am. I look in my closet in the morning and try to figure out what to put on. Most of it doesn't feel like me. The clothes seem to be a different me. I need a little more funkiness in my clothes. I am a bit more hip and a bit less "buttoned up" than I have been.

I have changed and feel like I am evolving, which feels good and right. But my clothing is not reflective of who I am now. Wish I could afford to go out and overhaul it all. Have never spent much on clothes. It isn't a place in the budget that is in the "need" category, it is in the "want" one. So I try to pull together things that might be okay, and accesorize a bit- belts a bit more hip, scarves, and maybe a cool necklace.

I want to knit something cool too- maybe an icelandic with really cool colors- like maybe the main color a lime green, with accents of ... hmmm- not sure... would need to look at the yarns.

I would love a good new coat, and some great winter boots- the furry kind that everyone else but me seems to have. I love looking through the Gorsuch catalog- but holy smokes- like I have $900-ish for a pair of jeans. or a few grand for a really ultra cool coat. But I do feel like those clothes "fit" me.. just not my budget!!! Yikes! but I can find things for less, and need to hunt diligently.

I also love things from Sundance... including all of the jewelry and more. I think that Sundance does such a good job finding great artisans and showing them due reverence. Things are far more reasonable than the Gorsuch things- those are for people who have more money than they know what to do with. Sundance is definitely not cheap- but good quality, well made, beautiful things, both clothing, jewelry, and housewares.

I did indulge a few years back and got a medium sized hurricance candle holder that I still use so much, and love. I think this year I will be more diligent about checking what they have on sale, and loving what I find and order.

It would be so nice to have only what I really love. I don't need alot of 'things', I just need a few things I absolutely love and enjoy on a regular basis. I much prefer quality over quantity.

Strength

a nice warmblood in switzerland
from when I was visiting Yvi

I was thinking about this photo today- not sure why. I think I needed this horse's strength. (emotionally)
I love how this big beautiful horse has such a fabulous neck.

weekend photos

It was a beautiful fall weekend, and I got the boys out- a school fair on Saturday, a renaissance fair today.
The batteries in my camera died after a few photos- bummer. So, I missed out on taking a bunch of photos of this cool playground that the boys had a blast on. Would love to recreate some of it at our house, especially the climbing web- challenging and easy and fun!

Also, I saw Katia Gordeeva at the school fair, being mom to her little one, who is about emmett's age. Kind of cool to bump into her a few times a year. I have always been enthralled by her, and her skating. She is somehow etherial and so quiet, busy being mom when I have seen her. I did tell her that I have always enjoyed her skating, but left it at that. We each enjoyed the day and being moms....

sunlit cosmos in the school garden

fish printed t-shirts... out to dry

Today at the renaissance fair, Eli and emmett had fun doing knightly things and people watching too. I had never been to one of these. My friend Sheila came too, and she and I were having a blast with the people watching... amazed at the boobs smooshed up and almost out of the garb! I was torn between wanting to photograph these people in their get-ups, and just thoroughly taking it all in. I chose the latter. It was a fun day there, people really get into it. Was also fun to see how nice people were, truly invested in being helpful and friendly to everyone. Interesting to see some social norms put by the wayside too.... saying things to people (not in a bad way, just putting things out there), that, in normal situations, you wouldn't do. Overall, it was a great experience, and we will go again sometime!

emm, Eli, and Sheila... watching the sword fighting... the guy was incredibly entertaining.

jousting... I wanted to be riding with these people....
man that would be fun!!! and I loved the colors of this girl on the horse..... she rode well too!

emmett with Eli..... about to fire the "frog-apult" at a castle...

emmett sword fighting.... he told the guy he could "totally win" (picture it being said with an impish little grin.....

fall food

Been eating good fall food lately, mostly local things.....

roasted turnips with a honey lemon sauce, mushroom phyllo triangles on the side


local apples, simmered in fresh cider, with some steel cut oats


warm potato salad with carmelized onions and goat cheese


cranberry walnut tart

School Struggle

I struggle with schooling for my older child. He is alot like me. Okay, a ton like me. But not on the expressive side. I am fine in this area. He is really, really, really reserved. Unless you get him going on something he is really interested in. Then you can't get him to stop.

It makes me wonder if I can find somewhere else for his schooling that is a better fit. He does go to a school that is somewhat based on Howard Gardiner's Multiple Intelligence theories. But it seems to have gotten away from that due to red tape and obligatory testing (if they want state funding). But he is not happy, and not blossoming as well as he could. And he is miserable in many ways and so often sad. It breaks my heart. I know he is really bright and his teachers are aware too, but unable to really facilitate his learning because they have their 'curriculum' to follow.
I came across the following, which pretty much sums up some things about how I feel traditional schools work for many kids, as children need to learn many things that don't come from a book....

The Animal School

Once upon a time, the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a "new world". They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming, in fact better than his instructor, but he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school so nobody worried about that except the duck.

The rabbit started at the top of the class in running, but had a nervous breakdown because of so much make-up work in swimming.

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the treetop down. He also developed a "Charlie horse" from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and a D in running.

The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class he beat all the others to the top of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get there.

At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceedingly well, and also run, climb and fly a little, had the highest average and was valedictorian.

The prairie dog stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to the curriculum. They apprenticed their children to a badger and later joined the groundhogs and gophers to start a successful private school.

Author unknown

Things I think one should learn in school: not everyone can or should do everything. It is good to have some excel at some things and not others... this is not bad! It is reality. Sudbury Valley School has things right I think. I wish he could go there.

Reading this recent article in Psychology Today was really helpful for convincing Adam that SVS is great.

100 miles (and less)

The whole idea of eating locally, and the commitment to it, is something so commendable. I have been reading alot of the Pocket Farm blog written by Liz in Maine. I love the whole concept, and wish I could do the same (ie: having a small farm, and being more self-reliant). She came up with One Local Summer in which people were challenged to create at least one local dinner a week.... meaning everything served was grown or produced locally. I loved it when I came upon it, but found it just in its last week and therefore couldn't participate in the challenge (at least in that way- but now I am doing it every day!).

In one of her latest posts she says:

I do admit to feeling a little lost without One Local Summer, and had toyed with the idea of a One Local Thanksgiving challenge, but someone else beat me to it. The Canadians behind the 100 mile diet have put out the call for a 100 mile Thanksgiving and you can bet I’ll be signing up. Anyone else interested? Head over to their site for details.

The 100 mile thanksgiving is such a cool concept. I like that they have both the Canadian and the American Thanksgiving on the site too bringing awareness to both sides of the border. I would like to try to meet this challenge. They have a little tool on the 100 mile website that you just plug in your zip or postal code and you can see your 100 mile circle.

As I am now mostly vegetarian, I will make a bounty of great things, yet also have a local, organic turkey to match. A friend of mine has a farm that raises turkeys, and I will barter something with her to get one for the meal.

For those of you who would like to meet the challenge, more power to you! I am certainly going to work on it to really succeed.