Sloppy Joes!!

This is modified from the Uncle Ben's version; I didn't use the rice. I tried it with rice and it was good, but we felt like putting rice on a bun was a little overkill in the carb category. The sauce was tasty, though.

We served it with leftover potato salad and veggies from the graduation party. No cake for dessert; it's all gone!

Sloppy Joes

1 pound ground beef
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup ketchup
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon Worcerstershire sauce
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 cup water (if needed)

hamburger buns (I like whole wheat buns best)

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat and add the ground beef. Stir to separate the meat and then add the onions, peppers, garlic, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking until the meat is cooked and the onions are translucent - about 5 minutes.
2. In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, vinegar, and 1/4 cup water.
3. Drain meat. Add liquid ingredients to meat in skillet and stir well. Continue to simmer for about 5 minutes to meld the flavors.
4. Serve on whole wheat buns.

Mmmm: a simple staple, done well.

For the original sloppy joe recipe, look here.

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Jammin' with my Bloggy Friends

In generations past, cooks would exchange advice over the backyard fences, over coffee in each other's kitchens, or over the phone. In today's world, we're not all that different; we exchange advice through our friends. Some of those friends, however, are not in the immediate neighborhood; they're online.

I sought advice on twitter. I asked friends on Plurk. I visited City Slipper's jam/ jelly tutorial on his Home Kitchen Garden blog. I visited Green Girl's home kitchen and garden! Well, her raspberry patch, to be more accurate. After seeking advice from friends on Plurk, on Twitter, on blogs, and in real life, I did it. I successfully made three kinds of jam.

First I had to clean the kitchen. There was no room to work.

I didn't take any pictures of the jam-making process. Trust me; it all went as planned. The house smelled wonderful. After the initial kitchen clean-up, the mashing of berries, the stirring of fruit and sugar, and the heating of jars, I cleaned up once again.

Oops, I forgot one sticky pot.

There. Now it looks better. Three kinds of jam: strawberry, strawberry-rhubarb, and raspberry. Organic strawberries from the farmers' market, rhubarb from my backyard, and raspberries from Green Girl's yard: wow. This is pretty darn cool, impressive even for the locavore in me.


Very cool - or rather hot. The jars will be cooler in the morning. Ooh: which should I spread on my toast for breakfast? Maybe I should bake bread, too.

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Summer salad: Chicken, apple, walnut, and brown rice salad

Here's another resource using rice from Uncle Ben's! I made half of this because only three of us would be eating. Served on a bed of lettuce with a few more random veggies, it was delicious and filling.

Ingredients:

2 bags Uncle Ben's Boil-in-bag whole Grain Brown Rice

2 cups cooked, shredded skinless chicken breast, cooled (I cooked mine on the grill the previous night; planned-overs rule!)

2 thinly sliced medium green apples

1 cup finely chopped red onion (Optional: I like onion, so I included it)

1/3 cup toasted coarsely chopped walnuts

6 Tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette

1 Tablespoons fresh chopped sage or parsley for garnish

Instructions:

1. Prepare rice according to directions. Let cool.

2. Cook chicken. Shred with fork.

3. In a large bowl, toss together rice, chicken, green apple, red onion, walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette.

4. Serve cold or at room temperature; garnish with sage or parsley.

Serves 6.

Daisy's tips:

Daughter requested more vinaigrette.

Chuck suggested more walnuts or perhaps sprinkling them on top rather than tossing with salad.

I dipped the diced apple in fruit juice to prevent browning. Lemon juice works, too.

This was not a sponsored post. I had more Uncle Ben's Rice left over from a previous review, so I tried another of the recipes they'd provided. It was a hit - I'll make this again on the hot, hot days of summer!

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A high tech and low tech day

Readers, are you old enough to remember MegaTrends? In the early 1980s John Naisbitt wrote a book called Megatrends in which he predicted a global switch to high tech in business and in personal relationships. He balanced the high tech with what he called high touch: the low tech connections still necessary to keep our emotional lives balanced.


Yesterday I had a day that swung from low tech to high tech. High touch, maybe. Let's take a look, and you can decide.


Morning: prepping strawberries! I bought a flat of strawberries at the downtown farmers' market. It's best to prep these right away, but Amigo and I had a high-priority plan: a road trip to Miller Park to watch the Milwaukee Brewers play! Major League Baseball; now there's high tech and low tech melded into one experience.

But back to Sunday's tasks. I rinsed the strawberries, cut the tops off, and diced them into smaller pieces. The ripest and softest berries went into one container, and the more solid in another. The bucket of softies will become jam; I flash froze the rest. On top of a baking sheet lined with wax paper, I froze a single layer of berries for about an hour. At that time, I dumped the lightly frozen berries into a bucket. The strawberries are now frozen individually rather than in clumps. When I want one cup of strawberries for a cake or muffins, I'll thaw exactly one cup. This worked so well for us last winter, I almost wanted a bigger freezer!

While the strawberries were freezing, I composted the tops and buried the juice-soiled containers in the squash section of the garden. Small as they are, they'll be weed barriers until they decompose. It works for me. In addition, I picked a batch of rhubarb for either jam or cookies, also making the rhubarb plants smaller to simplify their transplanting later on.


So far, we're looking at low tech. Very low tech. Fresh, organic strawberries, produce straight from the producer. Compost. Natural weed barriers. Rhubarb.

Here's the first hint of high tech: I used a food processor to dice the rhubarb.

Now the main high tech action of the day; a politically active friend came over and trained me in data entry for the local chapter of Organizing For America. She handed over the data sheets from the area canvassers, and I took over from there. Canvassing, whether door to door or by phone, is not my strength. Data entry is one way I can contribute to the cause. High tech, perhaps! But my convictions remain high touch as I focus on issues that can truly make a difference.

But off the political soapbox for a bit. I finished off the evening with one more low tech, high humidity, hands-on, high touch task. I moved the rhubarb plants to their new home. I worked up a sweat in the muggy weather, but it needed to be done. Now the rhubarb is moved, the mint is gone (well, for now), and the raspberries have all the room they need to grow and spread.

And I'll be patient; no matter what kind of high tech goodies I have at my disposal, the only tool to make raspberries grow is time.

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Throwing a greener party

It wasn't fully green. We did use paper plates; you can see them here. However, there were many green elements to the graduation party at our humble home last weekend.



There were plastic cups available, but no one used them. Those who chose not to drink out of the cans and bottles (yes, we're a casual crew) used real glasses and actual coffee mugs. We used regular flatware instead of plastic utensils. Between our own set and the stash from La Petite's apartment, we had plenty of forks and spoons for the picnic-style meal.

Serving dishes were all reusable. They didn't all match (not by a long shot!), but they all fit in the sink or dishwasher later for cleaning.

Can you see them, behind Chuck's German potato salad and my mother's baked beans? To the right of the coffeepot? The basket in the corner has cloth napkins. Yes, you read that correctly. We used cloth napkins for the party. We own plenty, and they were easy to wash with the rest of the regular laundry.

The end result: one bag of garbage. One. Thirty to forty people (give or take a few) had supper at our house, and we only generated one bag of garbage. If we do this again, I might collect the paper plates separately and bury them in the compost bin.

Maybe. If someone else does the dishes.

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True or False: did you guess?

First: did you see the true or false quiz yesterday? No? Then go to Friday's post first. Go ahead, I'll wait. Guess which one (yes, one) is false.

Okay, you're done now? Here's the list again, but with commentary, of course.

What did Daisy do recently?

1. Amigo and I got well-deserved haircuts.
Yes, we did. We were both overdue, too. I feel lightheaded but well-groomed now that the haircut thing is done.
3. Plumbing and electrical inspectors stopped by to check on the recent remodeling project.

Yes, they did. They were quick and efficient, and I didn't have to wait around home too long. That's good, because Amigo and I needed haircuts.
4. Amigo and I went out to lunch at a tiny hole-in-the-wall grill downtown.

Funday Friday! Yes, we like to go out to lunch on Fridays in the summertime. Our favorite places are locally owned, smaller restaurants or even diners. Today's was very tiny; most of their business is through catering and through the pub next door. Sound good? Yes, it was.
5. La Petite took care of Krumpet (the bunny) post-surgery.

Yes, indeed. Krumpet the adorable was spayed yesterday.
6. I made half-caff coffee: decaf fair trade from last week's farmers' market, full-caff Door County coffee, chocolate raspberry truffle flavor.

Yes, surprising though it may be, I made half-caff. It was delicious. I sometimes drink more coffee during breaks than during the school year, so I often cut down on the caffeine by brewing half and half.
7. I cleaned the bunnies' litter boxes.

It's almost a daily chore. It feels so good when that's done. The house smells a lot better, too.
8. I chased a bluejay away from my garden. You're welcome to the worms, Mr. Jay, but leave my seeds alone!

I suspect there are plenty of worms to keep the soil healthy. But why is there almost no spinach, but lots of lettuce? Who's munching on the beans, but leaving the peas alone? BlueJay, can you tell me that?!
9. The rain barrels remained full, despite several days of sunny weather.

Even though I used the rain barrels to rinse the litter boxes (see #7), they're still filled to the brim.
10. I wrapped up nine packages for Paperbackswap and mailed them all!

Yes, yes, and yes!! Nine packages containing ten books. Two were audio books, worth two points each. When all arrive at their destinations, I'll have 12 more credits with which to order books!

Ah, but I hear you. "Daisy, what happened to number 2? You're a teacher; you can sequence and count and make accurate lists!" Yes, I can. Here's number 2, the statement that was false.

I did not uproot the rhubarb. I am, however, working on transplanting it. At the moment, it is surrounded by raspberries. Rather than continue pulling out raspberry vines, I'm aiming to move all the rhubarb to a new home. We moved one plant already, and it's doing well. Here's the new home:

You can see one rhubarb plant on the left. The rest is mint. Tall, spreading, incredibly aggressive mint. But what's that in the middle? There are three or four of these stray plants in the middle of the mint.

It vaguely resembles a lily, but the lilies La Petite put in are much, much shorter. This tall piece has no flower, either - at least not yet.

Well, I gave in. I took it all out. Mint, the mystery plants, and the remaining sickly looking hollyhocks. The rhubarb is hanging out all by itself now. Soon, it'll have friends. And I will have lots of rhubarb for cakes, quickbreads, muffins, crisps, cookies...

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Fun Day Friday -- True or False

It's Friday! In the standard workweek, it would be a TGIF. It's summertime, though, and in a teacher's world that makes the schedule a bit different. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to decipher which of the following items or activities is False. All are True but one.

What did Daisy do recently?

1. Amigo and I got well-deserved haircuts.
2. I uprooted the rhubarb in the backyard.
3. Plumbing and electrical inspectors stopped by to check on the recent remodeling project.
4. Amigo and I went out to lunch at a tiny hole-in-the-wall grill downtown.
5. La Petite took care of Krumpet (the bunny) post-surgery.
6. I made half-caff coffee: decaf fair trade from last week's farmers' market, full-caff Door County coffee, chocolate raspberry truffle flavor.
7. I cleaned the bunnies' litter boxes.
8. I chased a bluejay away from my garden. You're welcome to the worms, Mr. Jay, but leave my seeds alone!
9. The rain barrels remained full, despite several days of sunny weather.
10. I wrapped up nine packages for Paperbackswap and mailed them all!

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BP or not BP: Accountability, not apologies.

Republican Congressman Joe Barton personally apologized to BP in a congressional hearing this week.

Apologized. Told the huge international company, the one responsible for eleven deaths and an unprecedented environmental disaster, that he was sorry. He called the $20 billion victims' relief fund a "shakedown."


What the #%$%!^&*#!?!?

President Obama and many members of Congress are working hard to ensure that BP provides relief to the victims in the Gulf region -- and that the oil giant is held accountable for the damage it's done. This is not a shakedown. This is accountability. This is responsibility. This is Taking care of the world in which they do business.


On that note, here's my apology.

Dear Representative Barton and colleagues:

I'm sorry that you've been misled by your Grand Old Party. Successful business is good, and oil is important. But the cost in human lives, animal lives, and massive environmental damage, is not something to be taken lightly.

I'm sorry you think it's wrong to expect accountability. Paying for damages is not a shakedown; it's restitution. Putting up an escrow account for the future to rebuild and restore the beaches and marshes and fragile ecosystems; that's not a shakedown, either. It's called responsibility. Average citizens, the "small people" so condescendingly mentioned by BP executives, call it insurance. We pay premiums in case of disasters that we hope will never happen.

Most of all, Representative Barton and associates, I'm sorry that you have the power to make policy and write laws. If taking responsibility for our world, accepting accountability for mistakes that cost lives, and planning for the future are alien concepts, I don't want you in office. You certainly don't represent me.


Sincerely,

Daisy

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The good, the bad, and the ugly in the garden this week

The bad: darn these baby maple seeds! The helicopters landed, I picked up as many as I could, and now I'm pulling the sprouts of those I missed. If I ever let natural succession take its course, I'll have a lot of silver maples.

The ugly: Poor Chuck! The bunnies ate his new shrub. The rain and the construction kept him from putting up the fence, and the neighborhood fuzz-balls thought they'd enjoy a salad.

The good? My tomatoes are supported! I couldn't decide which type of support to buy, so I bought all three. This will be the experimental year. I'll see what works best and invest in that kind of support next summer.

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Oil, oil, everywhere - how to help?!?

Some people use skills and knowledge to clean oil-slicked birds.
Some set up barriers and hope they'll hold.
Some apply their knowledge toward capping the devastating leak.


Some raise the money to help pay for the frighteningly extensive clean-up and restoration efforts.


The Nature Conservancy contacted me and asked if I would use my blog to help spread the word about CNN's Larry King Live telethon Monday night at 8pm ET. The 2 Hour Gulf Coast Relief Telethon will help The Nature Conservancy raise funds to help restore the Gulf Coast.


The Nature Conservancy has launched the Fund for Gulf Coast Restoration to expand our work in the long term recovery of the Gulf of Mexico and key surrounding states. Money raised from this fund will help scientists and staff devote their energies and expertise to aiding in the recovery of critical ecosystems - the future of oyster beds, marshlands and estuaries is now at stake. Celebrities lending their support to the telethon include Sting, Philippe Cousteau, Kathy Griffin, Ted Danson, Robert Redford, Harry Connick Jr., Aaron Neville, Anderson Cooper, Edward James Olmos and more. For more information about how The Nature Conservancy plans to help the Gulf coast, its wildlife and the people that depend on it please visit http://nature.org/restore.


Do you feel powerless to help with this huge disaster? The Nature Conservancy suggests these five methods to help raise money for the Gulf restoration fund.


1. RSVP to the related Facebook event.
2. Stay informed; follow Nature Conservancy bloggers as they report directly from the Gulf.
3. Post updates to Facebook & Twitter. Use the hash tag #CNN#HelpGulf.
4. Watch the CNN Telethon.
5. Make a donation to help restoration efforts in the Gulf.


Please tune in Monday night on CNN. The telethon airs at 8 PM Eastern Time and lasts two hours.

The Nature Conservancy is a trustworthy nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting nature and preserving the diversity of life on Earth. They did not compensate me for my post. Nor should they. Blogger friends; please help spread the word. Others, please use your networks, live or online, to inform others of this opportunity to make a difference.

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Farm Market Therapy

I've been feeling really down lately. The weather, keeping me out of the garden. The virus, keeping me under the weather for several days. The never-ending construction, forcing me to the laundromat and covering my bed in a layer of dust. I found myself wondering if our carpenters like tomatoes and zucchini - and then thinking "oh, no, that would mean they'd still be here in August!"
Some women go shopping and call it Retail Therapy. I can do that - if it's thrift shopping or surfing the garage sales. In general, spending money doesn't make me happy.
Some people work in the garden - the heavy rain took that option away.

But today was the day with the best therapy of all: the first Farmers' Market of the summer.

I was so involved in the process that I forgot to take a picture while I was there. Here's a partial collection of my haul. The strawberries are in a colander in the sink. The cheeses are in the refrigerator. I'd already sliced one loaf of bread (white with flax seed, yum) and put it in the fridge, too. The toast with jelly came from that loaf. Onions, tomatoes (greenhouse style), asparagus, fair trade coffee, bunny food (also in the sink at the picture-taking), and more -- it was a good day.

But even more important than the fresh and organic goodies: the change in my mood is dramatic. Why? Let me count the ways.

Seeing the crowd: families, singles, couples, people of all ages. Strollers, wagons, wheelchairs, canes.

Crowds of people caring about buying locally, buying fresh, and buying organic.

Sunshine, aromas from the coffee shops and kettle corn stand.

People smiling and laughing and interacting.

The cheese vendor offering a sample to a sad toddler and getting a smile in return.

The young vendor handing our samples of her kettle corn, and people saying thank you.

Music from buskers and local orchestra students.

My wheeled bag getting more and more full of good foods for my family.

I'm feeling much better. I hope you are, too.

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Remodeling the old Homestead: the runaway bunny

It's not the State of the Union. It's not even the State of the State. It's just the state of my bedroom mid-project. Awaiting installation are two brand new energy efficient major appliances: new LG washer and dryer. They're waiting -- in my bedroom. The shiny cover on the bed is the tarp: clear plastic, it keeps the dust off my sheets. See the chair behind the bed? It's sitting on a cedar chest, keeping the box fan company. Don't ask.



Last night a tiny bunny named Krumpet who lives in Amigo's (dusty but otherwise unscathed) bedroom found her way out the door while the carpenters moved the famous toilet into its permanent home. The tiny and adventurous bunny was nowhere to be found. Trust me; we searched and searched and searched. Finally, I shook the treat jar. We heard a thump in a corner. She came out - and then hid just out of reach under the bed.

Finally, we got her near the door, only to lose her again to the safe place under the bed where neither Chuck nor I could reach her little furry tail. If bunnies could laugh, she would have been pointing and gloating "Ha, ha! You can't get me!"

We managed to force her to one side and Chuck grabbed her. He held her close, settled her down, and with a sigh of relief we moved her back into Amigo's room, sans toilet. Oh, the drama!

Why didn't we just let her roam? Well, there was danger for a small furry adventurous creature. If she had gone into the open ductwork, she could have fallen and been hurt or even killed. There were electric cords out, too - big ones. If she'd chewed on one of those, the damage would have been major - to her and potentially to the house. We kept her in Amigo's room for her safety.

I'll be happy when this project is done - for so many reasons.

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True friendship lasts: The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow

The phone rang just as President Obama started speaking. I thought, "Oh, no! I'll let voice mail catch it." Then I saw the caller ID in the corner of my TV (technology is handy that way), and I leaped out of my chair.

It was a close friend calling to tell me that another close friend had lost her father to kidney disease. He'd been failing for a while, and they all knew it was coming, but she needed us. All of us, her closest friends.

We became friends through work and school: five teachers in the same elementary school building earning our graduate degrees together. The others in the program nicknamed us the Fab Five. We car pooled together, we exchanged ideas on projects, rehashed the good and the bad from our weekend on Mondays in the teachers' lounge. And after our final projects were mailed and graded, after the diplomas arrived, even after I moved to a new job in a different school, we remained friends. We still share the good, the bad, the hilarious, and the traumatic. We email each other. We turn up in each other's dreams. We still get together to drink coffee and shop, but mainly to talk.

I imagine the ten women who call themselves the Girls from Ames are a lot like us.

The Girls from Ames: a story of women & a forty year friendship is true. It reads like a novel with history and flashbacks, but the back stories are based on scrapbooks and diaries, not an author's imagination. The book is illustrated with a photos from then and now, but more than that, it's illustrated with the stories of relationships.

The "Girls" became friends when they were young. Eleven individuals, all unique, bonded with each other during their high school years in Ames, Iowa. Their hometown, a Midwestern college town, provided the kind of stability and small-town atmosphere typical of America's heartland in the 1960s and 1970s. After their high school graduations, they separated to attend colleges in different states. In a pre-Internet age, without the benefit of email or cell phones, these women stayed in touch and shared marriages, divorces, children, family illnesses, even the death of one of the original eleven.

I've heard it said that men take a long time to get to talking, while women take a long time to get to companionable silence. This is a book about women, written by a male author, chronicles the uniqueness of friendships that have lasted more than forty years. Jeffrey Zaslow (also co-author of The Last Lecture) earned the trust of the Girls from Ames and learned from their talk and their silences. He pulled together eleven different life stories into one coherent collection, much like the eleven women still pull together for each other. His book is truly their story: the story of friendship, life, and love.


The Girls from Ames has a companion website with pictures, video, discussion, questions, and other women's stories of friendship.


I'll be joining the rest of the Fab Five on Monday to support one of our own friendship circle. Blog readers, as you read The Girls from Ames, I hope you will continue to cultivate your own friendships, strengthening and maintaining bonds for life.


Gotham Books provided me with a copy of The Girls from Ames in order to read it and write this review. I received no other compensation for the review.

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No more cash for caulkers?

Regular readers know that we've been going through the trials and tribulations of a major home renovation. Part of project is a second floor laundry closet with front-loading, energy efficient machines. I'm excited to get rid of my old washer; it wasn't draining well, leaving clothes more than damp and causing the electric dryer to overwork and use way too much energy. The new washer will use less water, less detergent, and even help use less dryer energy. The switch from electric to gas dryer ought to make a difference in the long run as well.

Part of our ever-greener lifestyle includes energy savings and the accompanying money savings. The Energy Star rating on the washer (there are no energy star dryers; even the best dryers are energy hogs) qualified us for a federal rebate in the program nicknamed "Cash for Caulkers." It's a win-win! Invest in energy efficient appliances, save money on electricity, gas, and water, and even earn a rebate in the process!

Or not.

The rebate paperwork came back to us marked (Sing it, Elvis) Return to Sender: Address Unknown. We tried the web site and found out we'd sent everything to the right place, but the program was out of money. Next we tried Big Box Major Appliance Store; we'd purchased in April, and they were informed and told to stop offering the rebates on the first of May. It was simply our bad luck to miss the window of opportunity. No one was at fault.

It's disappointing, at the least. Do the right thing, complete the paperwork, and have it tossed back at us without so much as a "Gee, thanks for being energy conscious."

I believe in the changes happening in our government. I believe in the hope that we can lessen our dependence on petroleum products, ease our need for dangerous drilling. I support the work that's going on, even as the wheels of bureaucracy squeak slowly around and around before significant change occurs.

Watching a positive program shut down seemingly overnight for lack of funds is discouraging - discouraging to an extreme.

Disclaimer: I know the US Post Office doesn't really use a stamp that says, "Return to Sender." However, there's little enough humor in this situation; I thought I'd at least make this episode a musical.

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Trying unsuccessfully to avoid a crabby rant

I'm trying not to react poorly, get cranky, and crab about things I can't control. It's not working.

Yoda, I know, would say "Do or not do; there is no try." Well, I'd say to Yoda, "Old man, walk a mile in my shoes, you should."

Yoda didn't have to deal with a lengthy remodeling project that displaced all of us for days and even weeks (La Petite) from our own bedrooms and beds. Yoda could have used a clean-up of his swamp home, perhaps, but that's a different story.

Yoda didn't have to deal with a nasty virus traveling through the family, sending three out of four of us coughing and honking and nearly collapsing from exhaustion.

Yoda would probably use the Force to figure out what is making my kitchen smell odd. I keep cleaning and cleaning and purging and cleaning some more, with limited success. If I don't find it soon, we'll be forced to move major appliances - without the Force to help us.

When I considered cooking supper on the grill between storms, I couldn't reach the charcoal. See the lawnmower? Well, maybe you can't. The charcoal is back there, on a shelf, behind the boards. Which boards, you ask? Never mind. Tip toe through the mess, I won't. Cook supper in the oven, I must. On the positive side, I cleaned the grill before I realized this modus operandi would be inaccessible.

I can't work in the garden, either. Can you see the pitchfork, the rake, the hoe, the shovels? No, neither can I. They're behind the big sheets of plywood. Move them, I must, if I am to work in the tomatoes. Yoda, master Jedi that he was, could have moved them using the Force. I don't believe it; and that, of course, is where I fail.

My inner Yoda keeps reminding me, "Daisy, you always say 'Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can.' " while I'm tempted to tell my inner Yoda to go jump on a starship and get out of my galaxy, he reminds me to make something positive out of all this.

So while I cooked a boring and not-very-nutritious meal in the oven, I threw together a rhubarb upside down cake. Enjoy.




I'm at Green Spot-On today, talking a (again) about tomato supports.

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Tomato, tomahto, and tomato supports

The newest dilemma in the new garden area is this: how shall I support the tomatoes? The old cages are no longer suitable. Last time I used them we had a tomato jungle: the plants grew so tall they fell over the sides of the cages, and then the wire cages broke through the stems. They were getting close to six feet tall, and the conical cages were only 48 inches in height.

Last year I planted tomatoes in the wrong place and too close together. They didn't get enough sun, and they fought each other for space and water and nutrients from the soil. We didn't get hit with the blight, but it was not a good year for tomatoes.

I've ruled out the wire cages. I'm using the old trellises to support the peas. Now what? I did a search (on swagbucks, check the link in the right sidebar), and found several options.

Tomato ladders. There's a neighbor who uses these, and I like the looks of the product. They're strong, they're thick, and they're coated steel (no vine breakage!). But I'd need ten at least, and at a cost of $50 for a package of three... deep breath.
Tomato towers. This is also expensive. Could we make our own? Do I have time? Does Chuck have time? I found something similar in a local hardware for $5 apiece.
Tomato Spirals. Now these look intriguing. At $35 for a set of five, this is more affordable. I can use the t-shirt tie-ups from last year if I need them.
Here's a combination of two philosophies: the tomato spiral cage. Again, expensive to purchase outright.

Now the challenge: finding and buying these. I'd much rather buy locally. I've checked two hardware stores, a garden specialty store, and two big box stores with garden sections. So far, no luck. At least, no luck that I'd consider affordable. If I spend too much, we're approaching the $64 Tomato mark, and that's just not reasonable. I know most of these products would last for years, but I still need to make the initial investment now.

There are two stores left on my list, and then I might give in and order online - or create something entirely different.

Ideas, gardener friends? Suggestions? I'm listening.

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Good reasons to postpons a rummage sale

We had in mind a June sale. Garage sale, tag sale, whatever your region calls it: in our neck of the woods we call it a rummage sale. With La Petite moving home for a while, we have no storage space, and our basement is overloaded. It's time for another major purge. However... when I brought up to Chuck that this might not be the best time for a sale, he was easily convinced.

10. June is incredibly full. End of school, graduations, graduation parties, and more.
9. Amigo has a week of camp, including a drop-off and pick-up that need to get scheduled.
8. July is not a good month for sales locally. June and August tend to be better.
7. August is the month from you-know-where for Chuck's work schedule.
6. Our remodeling isn't done. The house is trashed. Truly appears trashed.
5. I still don't have a working washer and dryer (see #6). It's laundromat for the wash, and my old dryer after that.
4. If we wait a year, we'll have more preparation time next spring - with no remodeling project taking our attention.
3. If we wait a year, La Petite will have a better idea how much she'll really need of her apartment furniture, dishes, and other collections. We (she) can sell the rest.
2. If we wait a year, Amigo will have a better idea where he's going with his life and (you guessed it) what he'll need.
1. I'm tired. I'm simply too exhausted to prepare and staff and clean up a sale.

That's it! Ten good reasons to wait a year. Now I just hope I can maneuver my way around the crowded basement until it happens!

Stumble It!

Remodeling the old Homestead: when the trivial becomes overwhelming

Coping has its limits. Sometimes, too much happens and something has to blow. What was the proverbial straw that broke our camel's back? There are many; you choose.

The dust upstairs was so bad that we couldn't sleep in our room. Chuck slept on the couch in the den, and I slept on La Petite's futon, dragged into the living room. Why did we drag it out? Because I snore.

I was feeling under the weather (due to lost sleep perhaps?) with a bad summer cold, achiness, and all-over lousiness. I couldn't find the Neti Pot because we have two bathrooms' junk crowded into one vanity and medicine cabinet.

Chuck was feeling ill because of the dust. He took to wearing a surgical mask around the house to limit the amount of dust he inhaled. It did make a difference; he got better.

La Petite, after she finally moved back into her bedroom, couldn't find anything. She emptied the laundry baskets and suitcases, put all of her clothing in her closet and dresser, and then nothing was where she thought it was.

Amigo tripped on a door and injured his right big toe. I think he caught it on the doorknob or the latch.

Huh? What? He tripped on a door? The doorknob or latch? That doesn't make sense. Doorknobs and toes?

No, nothing makes sense right now unless you have it in context. All three bunnies live with us. Krumpet lives in Amigo's room, Buttercup in the living room, and Sadie in the den. The den doesn't have a door. The entrance is too large for a gate or standard door - at least a standard door in the standard position.

I hear you. "Ah, now it makes sense, Daisy. Why didn't you start with that picture?" Honestly? I couldn't find the camera. It was mixed up in the graduation party invitations. Does that make sense? No, don't answer that.

We will love the results. However, we are so, so ready for this project to be done, done, done! I don't know how much longer our collective sense of humor will drag us through.

Stumble It!

Boycott BP - or not?

Should I boycott BP on the basis of the massive disaster in the Gulf of Mexico?


It's harder than it sounds. I've had a BP credit card for years - decades, really. It's a great convenience to travel with a gas card. I know where the BP stations are along my usual routes, including the drive to and from La Petite's college town. Pay at the pump, use the rest rooms, and then get back on the road quickly and efficiently.


But now that BP is responsible for a terrible environmental disaster, should I cut up this card, cancel the account, and then shop for gas elsewhere? Or not?


I'm leaning toward not. It's not about convenience; I can use my MasterCard or my Visa at any gas station or pay cash, too. In fact, this decision is less about me and more about impact. Boycotts are all about economic impact: hitting a company in its wallet, where it hurts the most.


If I decide to boycott BP stations in my town and my state, the company itself won't even feel a blip on its dollar sign radar. The people who would suffer from a boycott would be the franchisees, those who own the local and regional stations and convenience stores. Those local people suffer when the economy worsens. Any resentment I harbor toward BP is not with local station owners. I don't want them to suffer.


It's not the locals who caused this massive disaster and let it grow, failing to cap the flow at every turn. It's not the station owners who found themselves scrambling to find solutions after the fact rather than planning ahead and installing real, functional solutions to their rigs in case of emergencies.


It's not the locals who failed, who lost my trust.


A personal boycott will not hit the people at the top. They won't even feel a tickle. In fact, even a nationwide boycott by concerned environmentalists wouldn't have a significant impact on the decision-makers at BP.


If my goal is to make an impact, I would do better to lower my dependence on oil over all. It's time to drive less and use fewer petroleum products such as plastics. If I'm planning a long trip, I can offset my fuel use by leaving the car in the garage for several days in advance. I can consider a hybrid or electric vehicle when we replace Chuck's Saturn or my minivan. I can walk, use a bicycle, or take public transportation. My personal impact will still be small, but the inspiration could spread.


What do you think, readers? How can you lower your petroleum use, cutting your contribution to our society's oil dependence? How can I?

Stumble It!

It's summertime again!!

There was celebrating all around! Cartwheels, cheers, shouting in the hallways!

And that was just the teachers!

One talented fourth grader left me this memento. It's a rather decent likeness! She left out the gray streak in my hair, but that's okay. I'll take it.

I hope she and her classmates all have a wonderful summer.

Stumble It!