Motto 01/05/2010
10.32am :: pros⋅per⋅i⋅ty –noun, plural -ties. a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, esp. in financial respects; good fortune. This years motto. I have been beating around the bush for too long. It's time to just be direct about my desire to be able to pay bills and travel to visit friends and family. Quote of the day "Why didn't I learn to treat everything like it was the last time. My greatest regret was how much I believed in the future." — Jonathan Safran Foer 3 am 01/05/2010
...& have been up for almost an hour, which is normal. Believe me, I am NOT complaining! When Sophie was this age she didn't sleep. She was a bit fussier. Hindsight being what it is, I'm sure it was my fault. I think I know more this time around. I'm sorry Sophie, and thanks for putting up with my ignorance and "mommy education" while you grew. You are still putting up with my learning curve! You are such a great sport about life. Thea, you are so funny, "talking" up a storm at 3am! You are an amazing little one! Puzzles!! Sophie is so good at puzzles! Thea, totally discovering her voice! Uhoh, we are in trouble now! When Sophie discovered her voice, she didn't discover the off switch to it. We are still looking for it. Although, she can read now and she has been enjoying reading to herself. I am proud. Made side by side photos of Sophie & Thea at similar ages.  Sophie on the left, Thea on the right  Here Sophie is in the top frame. Under Reconstruction 11/22/2009
I am doing some major remodeling on this website. Stay tuned. This will take months. It's almost impossible to not come into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is. While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu): 1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications) . 2. "Hands-off-the- face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap). 3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt).H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method. 4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population. 5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C. If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption. 6. Drink as much of warm liquids as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm. All these are simple ways to prevent, within means of most households, and certainly much less painful than to wait in long queues outside public hospitals. gulp! 08/27/2009
Today, I received my daily Etsy Finds email and gasped... Halloween costume ideas. EEK! I find this especially spooky this year. It is still august (last time I checked), but what got me is that October, and before Halloween, I will be holding a teeny tiny little human person in my arms. Where does the time go? Wowzer Wednesday! 08/19/2009
Much calmer now after yesterday's storm... During the middle of my appointment with my midwife, I recieved a phone call from David saying that a tornado just touched down in Lake George! When I got home two hours later there was still hail all over the ground. Some of the hail nuggets were the size of a quarter... wonder how big they were 2 hours prior! Glad I had the truck in town... it would have been hammered. Today is sunny, warm and a typical glorious august day in the Rocky Mountains. David is out today documenting the carnage left in forested areas.  The little girl in the video is too cute to not share... and this topic is pertinent these days as we, apparently, have been having monster and ghost invasions in the middle of the night. With the advice of some wise, experienced mothers (including my own) Sophie and I mixed up a special concoction to deter the pest of the monster variety. We are still working on something that will deter ghosts. Sophie thinks a new and different spray might work. I guess we will try that. Pixie dust hasn't worked yet. Oh yes, the update from the midwife appt; I have gained approximately 20-25 pounds so far, all measurements are on track and the heartbeat is strong and healthy (Old Wives tales predict boy according to the heartbeat rate). I did have blood drawn this time but do not expect that there will be anything strange about it. I have been feeling pretty good. Been taking more vitamins lately, especially calcium because it helps my hips from hurting when I sleep. I have a concoction figured out that has worked three nights in a row so far... I first drink an emergenC vitamin drink, then have a tablespoon of liquid calcium in juice. As well as a prenatal vitamin. It seems like a lot, but most of that stuff doesn't store in the body and just gets peed out if I don't need or cannot absorb it all. Other than that, i need to eat just about every 2 hours or so, and take a nap if I can in the afternoon. Naps only happen about half the time, but I'm hanging in there. I know, I know, I need to update my belly photos. I haven't done a photo for a while. I'll try to get one soon. Tomorrow is an end of summer gathering with a bunch of homeschooling families. Some of whom are in Sophie's cottage school program, others are just people we know whom homeschool. Should be fun. I'll be bringing a chair to sit in :0) I'll take photos!! Xo A bit of it 08/16/2009
Life has been hectic and I have let things in my cyber nest ferment... I mean, age, like a good wine ;0) I have been feeling guilty about it, however, and came up with a tentative plan. I'm not going to explain it here, because that is boring. Instead, I'll just start! OK, so this summer has been quite a whirlwind. Pregnancy leaves my brain foggy a lot of the time anyway, and adding to that all of the activities that the calendar can accommodate makes it tough to keep up at times! We are hanging in there nonetheless. We are gardening and doing quite well this year.  Some items we are trying as an experiment, others are tried and true and haven't ever failed us! We have one greenhouse (a portable, pop-up tent-like house) that is full (and I mean FULL) of tomatoes. 15-20 plants, I can't remember how many exactly. That is David's pet project. He's doing really well with them and the rewards are starting to come in. We have had maters at dinner three nights in a row now! Yummm! The other greenhouse has broccoli, scallopini squash, zucchini, cucumber, habaneros & cayennes. As well as a bean plant. We are trying bean plants inside the house and on the deck to see which will produce, if either. We have never really gotten any edible sized beans up here, but that doesn't stop me from trying... mostly in vain. The tried and true are the greens. They never fail us. I have to have a salad a day (sometimes 2) just to keep up and I don't think I'm keeping up because the lettuce is growing so fast! We are getting big heads and spicy mustard greens. So many varieties and all are delicious. Very tender. I love my salad time! All this thinking about those salads is making me want to go make one right now!! (I think I will in just a minute!) Some of our other "crops" are potatoes, onions, carrots and a variety of herbs.  This year I planted very little within reach of deer/rabbits, etc. I did however try poppies! They are a big success! And so lovely! They mostly turned out white, but we do have a few surprise purples... We are collecting the seeds and definitely expanding our poppy collection next year! Well, that salad is calling, as is the laundry, so I best get on my way... I have loads of photos to upload so keep an eye out for those in my flickr... I'll post a few here as well. Including the gorgeous purple poppy & the twin fawn that run around here (so adorable!!) I'm going to update the baby page and then call it a day for blogging. xo   Reviewed By Mishkat, EFA 06/24/2009
Peace to All Creatures: 'Zine Review 'Zine reviews! 06/22/2009
 Etsy Stalker Review "Armed with this knowledge, I waited for my inaugural copy of Peace to All Creatures to arrive. This ‘zine is a collaborative effort. While Jessi and Pippi Howard of Uber Duper Creations edit it, there are contributions from seven other authors and artists, many of them members of the Vegan Etsy Team. I’ll be honest. I sort of expected a glorified newsletter. What I got was a sturdy 36 page booklet with a beautiful full color cover, bound with a hemp cord." Read the entire review by visiting Etsy Stalker!  Reviewed and originally posted by Neva Vegan nevavegan.blogspot.com The first thing I noticed when I got my copy of the Peace to All Creatures zine was the beautiful cover artwork, which showed in vibrant colors the artists love for birds. Throughout the zine I found other gorgeous art and eye-catching photos. This zine is certainly a feast for the eyes as well as food for thought. The art showed with great visual impact that loving and helping the animals all around us is not just about sacrifice and hard work, it’s also joyful, loving, and rewarding. I love how this slim volume covered such divergent topics, whatever your interests or current involvement in animal issues you’ll find something in this zine custom-tailored to you. Topics ranged from an amazing recipe for Choco-chunk cookies (and who doesn’t love cookies) to a humorous take on that experience familiar to all rescuers—loving an animal with hygiene, health, or odor issues. I consider myself pretty well-versed in animal issues but even I learned many new things, how artists create masterpieces out of trash and the intricate, peaceful lives of snails just to name a few. You’ll also find instructions on how to do more to help animals and reduce your environmental footprint. I found the article on using nutrition to prevent skin cancer engrossing since skin cancer runs in my own family. Articles on freegansim and expanding our concepts of equality will challenge the reader to look a little more deeply at our culture and ourselves. In the end, this zine certainly lives up to its name, as it shows all of us, no matter how busy we are or how much we currently do to help animals, that we really can try to bring peace to all creatures, including our fellow human creatures, and all the non-humans who share the planet with us. Many thanks to all the contributors and to editors Pippi Howard and Jessi VanPelt for bringing us this lovely and thought-provoking publication. Hot off the presses! 06/10/2009
 Our first issue! 36 pages of awesomeness about art, animals, veg'n diet, health, social and green issues, and much more! High-quality laser printed, hand bound with hemp cord. Comes with extra surprises too! Writers from the U.S., Canada and Europe. Designed and edited by me and my fabulous friend that I met through the Etsy for Animals Team. Visit her shop at GingerCardCo.etsy.com - jewelry, notecards, notebooks, and more.  In This Issue: - Pet Snails - The Village Veg - Frankincense - Upcycled Art - Freeganism in a Capitalism Society - Vegan Diets for Dogs - My Gross Furbaby: An Essay - You Asked: Converting to Veg'n - Preventing Skin Cancer with Nutrition - Editorial: Equality - Hippie Tips: Reduce Your Waste - Anyone Can Help Animals - Recipe: Choco-Chunk Cookies 10% goes to these charities: 5% to Pet Rescue by Judy & 5% to For The Animals Sanctuary |      { Categories }All { Archives }
June 2010 |
