SHINY+ODD

Pictures from today

2011-06-19T19:04:00.003-04:00

Roger's (the duck) eggs for the past two days (the one on the right is marble size! I almost threw it across the yard thinking it was a rock in the coop!)

Poppies - we brought these seeds back from England 10 years ago, and finally we get decent flowers from them...not a lot, but they are beautiful!

First cucumber! This is a Poona Kheera cucumber just starting. They are so sweet, I can't wait!

Squash Flower - misc volunteer squash plants - Brett's babies this summer!

Duck Update

2011-06-16T09:25:00.012-04:00

Here's a recent pic of Roger the duck. It's certain she is a girl...she quacks loudly and apparently boy ducks are very quiet and don't really quack.

There's been a troubling development recently...Red chicken is pecking at Roger's eye! (you can see it a little in the above pic.) She managed to mangle her eyelid pretty well, and it's now ragged but still functional. The eye is still there, which, according to many duck/chicken websites, is very fortunate! I couldn't imagine finding my duck with an eye missing, but that's pretty common! Ugh! I've been trying to keep them separated, keeping the duck in the yard all day while the chicks are in the pen, but the duck likes company...she really does! She sits next to the fence by the chickens pen! I put her in the coop at night, but recently I've found myself up at 530/6am with the sun, worried about the duck getting pecked, so I get up and let her out along with the rest of them...and then I'm up. WOW! It's really been messing with me. I need to sleep in!

That method seems to be working, though. She's in the yard happily foraging around, and I'm able to give her garlic in her water to help with the healing of her eyelid. Oh, I must note here that ducks have multiple eyelids. At least 2 that I've seen...one that goes up and down on the outside- that's the one that's damaged; and one that goes sideways and is clear so they can see underwater. It's so weird when she blinks that one when I'm looking at her damaged lid! So cool! I want one!

Brett and I have talked about putting a muzzle on Red but I'm more a fan of duck goggles. If anyone knows where I can get them, or maybe one of those little hats with goggles attached. Like this...but custom made, 'cause duck's eyes are on the side of their head...If you know anyone who could make that, let me know!

2011-06-16T09:23:00.000-04:00

Toad...I love spring/summer!

Our Vacation 2011

2011-05-29T17:21:00.006-04:00

In South Carolina

Freshwater Springs in Ocala National Forest - Brett finally saw a Florida Scrub Jay!

In the Everglades

Camping at the Beach In the Keys

Our friends from North Lauderdale joined us for 3 days in Bahia Honda (in the Keys)...
yes, that's right, two kids and a dog! (Charolette refused to be in the family portrait, but there she is in the sea) They are such troopers! I think they had some fun...

Roger - growing.

2011-03-30T09:34:00.003-04:00

Yes, this is the same duck, and the same bowl. Roger at 5 weeks old.

2011-02-15T17:47:00.000-05:00

New Adventures in Urban Fowl

2011-02-06T08:29:00.006-05:00

The Short Version -

I got a duck. It was free. I named him Roger.

Roger is the green one.

The Long Version -

I was at the PASA conference this past weekend learning about agriculture and sustainability. JM Hatchery had a display of hatchlings…ducks, chicken, guinea fowl…and I blurted “I want to take one home!” The guy told me they were giving them away at the end of the conference and he added my name to a list…I was 3rd. I was playing with one of the ducks and it was climbing all over me. The owner of the hatchery, Joel, told me if I put it in my pocket it would just relax and get quiet…it worked! Just then I saw some of my classmates arrive for the conference and got a real kick out of going up to them and saying “I have a duck in my pocket!” then pulling out an actual duck! HA!

I named him Roger and put him in a small envelope box for the ride home, however, I had to take him with lunch and the afternoon session to go. Mostly he stayed in the pocket of my hooded sweatshirt, which I had to go to the car to get…he really likes it there! You’d think people in a lecture would be annoyed that someone would bring a duck in their pocket to a lecture, but not at PASA. And at lunch, the duck under my chair was not a bother…one of the women at my table wanted to let it run around the table!

So the ride home was an adventure. Duck in pocket, duck in jacket, lots of weather to deal with so I kept him locked in my coat most of the way. I had to stop at a rest stop and took him inside with me in my pocket…he jumped out and fell down 3 feet onto the floor! He seems to be OK. Here’s a video of him eating when we took a break.

After he ate and played in the bottle cap of water on my dashboard, he hopped down onto my lap, climbed into my arm pit head first, and just stopped. So cute…he got under my wing! He stayed in my pocket quietly, most of the way home after that.

When we got home I put water in the tub for him. I read that since the baby ducks don’t have oil in their feathers the mother splashes them, so I figured I should splash him, not sure why. He got soaked and looked miserable, but he paddled around happily for a bit. I took him out, dried him off and back in my pocket. When Brett got home and I put him in the tub, his down fluff repelled the water and he was dry! Does the water help build oils in the feathers? The mysteries!

The little guy follows me around the house. Its so cute! But scary, too...he’s so small. I'll get some pics of that up soon…Brett says I’ve imprinted on him. I had to look that up, but basically it means he thinks I’m his mommy! AHHH!
To answer your questions, FOOD - he’ll eat chick starter feed, then laying feed – they have the same nutrition requirements of chickens; SHELTER – he’ll live with the chickens, maybe even think he’s a chicken, for now he’s in a box with a light and my hat to snuggle into; ROGER THE DUCK– I’m not entirely sure it’s a boy…still 50/50 chance. Don’t know when I’ll know, if the coloring will change or if an egg will be layed, I’m just winging it! (pun intended)

For now, Roger the duck lives in my pocket and on occasion in a box. Ducks get very emotional, I’ve read, and they grow to full size in 30 days. We’ll have some hard days ahead if I don’t get bigger pockets!

NEW YEARS EVE!

2011-01-20T13:46:00.005-05:00

Spent with good friends by the fire. Welcome 2011!

Updates

2011-01-19T10:05:00.007-05:00

In September 2010 I started Grad school at Chatham University. The first semester was full immersion and I didn't even think about blogging. So, now I'm on a campaign to update my blog. Here's a link to our England 2010 trip.

I plan to post at least a picture every day. Hold me to it!

Carnivore.

2011-01-18T18:35:00.005-05:00

My new pet lives in a quart mason jar. It's a Mantid, but I'm not sure what type.
Here he is eating his first fruit fly.

A close up of the meal.

I took this shot with my Panasonic Lumix camera...LOVE IT!

My new pet!

2011-01-17T16:22:00.005-05:00

This is a baby praying mantis Brett found on our kitchen door...inside. It's so cute! Not even an inch long. I can't help but be impressed with my camera for this shot.

We discovered that they eat flightless fruit flies, and further discovered that the pet store sells flightless fruit flies! So, we got some and fed the little guy. He seems happy!

England 2010 - Part I

2010-08-20T12:44:00.000-04:00

Here are some pics from our trip to England.

We took a little prop plane to Toronto, then big jet to London. Here's Brett with the Folks.

Rose Cottage is the family home. It's a lovely place, with a great view. The property just out back is owned by an Arabian prince who breeds race horses, so we get baby ponies every year. The horses come right up to the fence every night if they see us and we feed them mints.

We have a blast with the folks! Lots of great company, great food, long walks in the country side, short trips to visit museums and interesting places...it's a great time.

Diana's sister, Nicki, and her husband Peter are a lot of fun,too! We went to a restaurant in Windsor with them. Windsor wasn't prepared for us to pour out on the sidewalks!

From left: Peter Needham, Adrian Day (dad), Brett Day, Diana Day, Nicki Needham

We try to get up to Leeds, which is in the north of England, when we can.

This is Theo, Conrad and Mich's son. Last time we saw him he was just 11,(I asked him if he was going to Hogwarts and, without skipping a beat he said "I hope so!") the time before that he was 5! He's 14 and plays the steel drum, guitar, bass and whatever else he can get his hands on! Fun kid!

This is Brett and Conrad in the conservatory having coffee. We're heading out for a hike!

Here's Brett and Mich...Brett went to school with Mich and Conrad way back in the 80's!

The Yorkshire dales are my favorite. Lots of rolling, green hills, dry stone walls and sheep dotted across the landscape. Yorkshire never disappoints with the sky effects!

Conrad was building a sculpture while we were there that required a huge scaffolding. Theo couldn't resist. Neither could Con!

Neither of us remember being pissed off, although this looks like we are. Just a funny picture of us! This is Brett and another college friend, Andy Beresford. The first time I met Andy we were at the beach. He cut a cast off his leg with a hatchet and later, at dinner, sand poured out of his prosthetic arm...good times!

Malham Cove is a place Brett has wanted to take me forever! When he started at Leeds Poly (his undergrad school) this was where one of his professors took the class to introduce them to the Yorkshire country side. If you saw the latest Harry Potter film you may recognize some of it!

Brett on a distant hill....a bird flew between us...what a chance of a shot!

And always reward a hard day of hiking with a nice pint!

...and a few curries!

We spent a day in London with William Potter (no relation to Harry) and Nono (they got married December 2010)

We went to a couple museums, and Brett placed himself beneath a full sized plane hanging from the ceiling...scary!

England 2010 - Part II

2010-08-20T12:23:00.000-04:00

OK, where were we...oh yea, we were visiting William and his soon-to-be wife Nono in London. Had a lovely day and back to Rose Cottage to spend time with the nephews before the big annual Day Family Party!

These are the "twins"...Brett's cousins. They are lovely girls and next time we're in England we plan on visiting them in Dorset. (I said it out loud so now it must happen!)

Diana's birthday was just after the party, so she was birthday girl for the Day bash as well.

This may surprise you, but the weather in England in August is unpredictable. To assure a good time is had by all, regardless of weather, dad got a few tents that we installed the night before

Here's Brett with his cousin Sue, and Sue with her kids.

This is a great shot...not sure what's going on here, but I can tell you no one was really mad...like the shot of Brett & I in Leeds....timing.

Some shots of the family having fun. All told there were 30-40 people there. Uncles, Aunts, cousins and friends eating, drinking and reconnecting...a tradition for 17 years now. The first one I attended was in 1995...our England wedding (well, party) and honeymoon. I met the whole family at once...whew! Always lots of champagne...but (I KNOW!) only before lunch, not after as well.

The next day we went to Henley on Thames for a picnic party for Diana's birthday. The little ones are Diana's nephews kids...so cute!

We went for a pub lunch the day before we left with just dad and Diana. My two favorite things to do in England is pub lunch (how can you beat a nice pint with lunch in a real English pub?!) and getting curry take-out. Got to do both a couple times this trip!

Couldn't resist this shot...

Oh, and my father-in-law pointed out these great cows for me...he even pulled over special to let me take this shot! XOXO

Air Travel 2010 - part 1

2010-07-23T15:51:00.002-04:00

Things I'm grateful for today -

The view from a plane...That is the BEST part of flying- the view! You can’t get this view from anywhere else, except maybe google maps satellite images. That view is worth all nervousness I get from flying! I can see the clouds from the top…I get the 3-D version of them! A puffy white landscape, big white mountains! It’s fantastic! I love it!

Air conditioned airports...It's like 100 degrees outside!

Nice fellow travelers...it's amazing how things like people talking on cell phones in public becomes acceptable when you're stuck in an airport for HOURS! I'm sitting in a bar, at a high table with a bench seat on one side and chairs on the other. Usually you'd be horrified to bring a large purse or briefcase into a place like this but they really accommodate travelers here. There is luggage everywhere, most people are single travelers and we are all packed into these tables...4 tops...and doing a variety of things, like talking on the phone, blogging, surfing the web, texting, drinking beer, eating dinner, having conversations, more phone calls. And it's all fine, we're all in a zone, together, but separate. I had to use the restroom and a total stranger offered to watch my stuff...first time I'd been with out my 20# bag since 3am! and I was so grateful! Nice Fellow travelers!

Friends...especially those who can tell you "you need to calm down, deal with what has happened and figure out how to fix it" when you're having a melt down and feeling sorry for yourself. Thanks Cindy!!!

What a crazy day!

2010-06-29T21:17:00.001-04:00

I can’t even begin to know where to start. It was a weird day. Started out with a plan. Go downtown with Brett, I go to the census and he goes to get his green card renewed, then to get his PA state ID so we can get the loan for the car on Thursday. We meet afterwards and connect with my mom, who I haven’t seen in weeks (she was spending time helping my aunt and visiting my uncle, her brother, who is in the hospital with brain cancer) because she’s leaving tomorrow morning for Texas. Plus, since I haven’t had a car she offered to take me on errands…I desperately needed chicken feed!

So we get up and are getting ready to leave when my mom calls and has to cancel because she’s not feeling well and she has a ton of stuff to do…totally understandable…I can find another way to get chicken feed, but I’ll miss seeing her for another 2 weeks. Then the guy I’m buying the car from calls with questions and concerns about paperwork, and my bank guy is away for two days until we close on the loan at 9am on Thursday…so how do I get info for car seller? OK, leave for downtown.

On the way, I can’t find my wallet…ok found it. Whew! Brett & I go our separate ways and I meet up with him at DMV for ID. At this point, we need the id to get the loan. Brett has sent in his passport to be renewed and the bank will only accept certain ID, passport or PA State ID…now I find out that the state ID requires a PASSPORT! So we are waiting in hopes that the green card, which is SOOOO difficult to get, and is a federal ID, will work.

In the meantime, I go outside to make some calls to my staff for the census and somewhere between the street and our seat in the waiting room I lose the list of employees! I look everywhere! Can’t find it! I ask everyone in the waiting room and look in all the trashcans. ARGH! This is very bad. I could be fired for this! OK, stay calm. Brett suggests walking a 2-block radius and seeing if it blew away. That’s what I do…checking trash cans all the way…no sign of it. I call a co-worker and tell her what happened and I stop at the curb while getting sympathy…I look down and there, in the sewer grate, is MY LIST!!!! All I have to do is grow 3 inches on my arm and I’ll have it!! I run into a bar and grab some straws to use as chopsticks and they do the trick…it’s kind of funky smelling, but I’m not getting fired today!!

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. We shopped and had lunch with my mom, then Brett went to work and I rode my bike up to the farm where I weeded and planted and watered and harvested. When I was getting ready to leave I saw a group of sparrows forming a cloud in the sky…there was a hawk that they were defending against. The cloud was amazing! I’ve never seen a defense cloud before…you’ve seen the clouds of birds just dancing in the sky, you know what I’m talking about, I’ve seen them too, but I haven’t seen a hawk trying to eat the birds and the cloud split and flow…wow! It was a sight!

I feel very accomplished today! It’s 9pm and I’m sitting on my porch about to go in and make a pizza for dinner! I just had to remember why I feel like it’s been a LOOONG day!

Get this out of my head!

2010-06-03T09:59:00.001-04:00

I’m going to try to summarize what has been keeping me busy lately…

Need a Car – but riding bike everywhere good, Looking for a car is endless and there’s always a reason the car could be bad…so I don’t know what to do. With no “verifiable income” I’m kinda stuck scraping at the bottom of the barrel.

Census job – The fun ia almost over. I’m gonna miss my crew…they’ve been supportive and fun. I love project work, where you get to meet people, create a team, get a job done figuring it out along the way. It really is an adventure!

Oakland Community Garden – planting this weekend! Yea!

Stuff that’s in my head stressing me out….

Brett’s Birthday in July – Brett loves surprises and is astonished when I don’t get hints about things he wants for Christmas and birthday…it’s always a lot of pressure for me and I usually just throw money at it, or take him somewhere (last year we went kayaking on the Allegheny and then had friends over for pizza) but this year I have no car and no money because I’m saving for a car, so I don’t know what I’ll do!

Trip to England for father-in-law’s 70^thIn August –That’s not the stressful part… Brett needs his passport renewed. It expires at the end of this month. To his credit it is a complicated process, and no phone number to call for help…you just have to follow the instructions, get it right, pay them and hope they think it’s correct, or you have to start over and PAY over…so he’s very nervous…but a good time to do this would have been during the huge snow storm that kept us in the house with nothing to do for WEEKS! Not 6 weeks before the trip! ARGH! We haven’t booked a flight yet either….

Silpada Designs Conference in July – only stressful because I have 3 of my team going and I don’t know yet when the trip to England will be….can’t overlap.

Sisters wedding in California in September – I’m making something for them for their wedding and haven’t even started! But I’m looking forward to hanging with my old friends, and seeing my sister get married!!

This doesn’t even mention that I’m still looking for a job, which has taken a back seat to finding money for grad school at Chatham…I think I’ll have a great internship, I talked to the director of the program yesterday, but I still need to find money and what kind of time will I have.

And I haven’t been up to the farm much. I’m supposed to work 5 hours a week and I’m maybe doing 3…I only hope Barb considers all the work I did over the winter and last summer, and I’ll be getting back up there once the Census job is over.

**SIGH** is that all? I think it may be….

One Month Catch-Up

2010-05-13T08:01:00.002-04:00

Whew! It’s been quite a month! I didn’t get the job at the Audubon, but I did get a crew leader position at the census, so I’ve been working for the US Census since April 12^th. As with any short-term government job (actually, I don’t know if that’s the case with government jobs, it's more like a political campaign gig) I was notified just days before and then hit the ground running. I’ve been trying to get organized and find some kind of routine ever since!

So, here I am on a Thursday morning, just before the start of my 42^nd year, trying to summarize my last month of my 41^st year. My thoughts are: I didn’t get the job at Audubon; I did get accepted to Chatham University’s Food Studies Masters program; my census job is fun and challenging, I have a great crew. Along with my fellow crew leaders, that fulfills my need for coworkers; my 17 year old car needs a $1,000 head gasket so I’ve found a car to buy-a 2006 Subaru Forester-and I’m having fun with my bank to get the $12K for it; the Oakland community garden is coming along nicely; right now is the peak of busy-ness of all my projects!

Did get the job- I’m kind of relieved…I know that sounds like a defensive statement, but how was I going to do a Masters program with a full time job? I have to find $30,000 to pay for school, plus my expenses while I go to school (I could just have 2 Silpada parties a month and pay for my personal expenses…) but I’m not worried…I probably should be, but I’m not. I’m just so excited about the future! Who knows where I’ll end up!

The Census job is great! Its kind of crazy in that the rules change every day…you’d think an organization that’s been doing this for 230 years would have their system down pat! But it doesn’t work that way. Very interesting and challenging, and I love it! My crew is fantastic and I hear I’m the only one not complaining about her staff…maybe I’m just a positive person and don’t want to bother people with details, but that doesn’t sound like me…

OMG I had the craziest week back in April…my second week with the Census. I was hoping my 1993 Honda Civic would last through this summer. However, the head gasket problem escalated and was sucking the radiator dry, so the car was overheating. I couldn’t deny it anymore. My folks were still in Florida and my mom offered me her car while I searched for another. She got friends to take it from her house to her mechanic to get inspected; I got a ride up to get it. (About 45mins north of here) I used it for Census training on Tuesday and came home, got changed for the gym and got back in the car. I put it into drive but the light on the dash, the one that indicates what gear you’re in, didn’t move…humm…nothing. Turns out the cable that connects the gear shifter to the transmission had snapped! WHEN DOES THAT EVER HAPPEN!!???!!?? So, I had to manually (under the hood, at the transmission) shift the car into drive, take it to my mechanic. However, I had a meeting the next day, so I thought, OK, I’ll ride my bike. Well, half way there my tire goes flat. I fill it at the station and I end up pushing it home after pushing it to my meeting! I was afraid to walk anywhere for fear of breaking my legs! (and I recently sprained my ankle, but that’s another story) BTW, the selector cable for my mom’s car cost $400!l

My folks have a friend who buys cars at auctions around the country. I’ve been working with him to find a car. I wanted a Honda Element, but that seems to be the hot car of the season and couldn’t get one in my price range. So I cast my net a bit wider and found a Subaru Forester that I like. I really like! Have you ever driven one? They are so much fun! I can’t wait to get it! It’s higher off the ground than my Civic and even higher than the Outback, which I thought I wanted. It’s got a lot of space for camping gear and stuff, and it’s a seriously tough vehicle! I’m so excited! But my bank is giving me a hard time loaning me the $12,200.

First, let me say that my go-to loan guy is on vacation. He went on vacation the day after I applied for a loan and left it in his coworker’s capable hands. The underwriter, however, is taking advantage of this fact. The poor woman, she said she would be sympathetic to my plight if I were the only one she was having that conversation with…every loan she is working with is getting the same treatment. She wants to hide under a desk until my friend gets back so he can fight with the underwriter!!!

Here’s how it went. I applied for the loan. The car is worth $13,000 online at Edmonds.com (blue book) but they needed info from the dealer about the car. I put Bobby in touch with the bank. (turns out they didn’t ask him anything different than what I could have told them) Next, there is an outstanding balance from an account I closed in 2007…What? Turns out that there was a series of unfortunate overdrafts while we were on vacation, camping, no access to bank, internet, etc. and the bank offered to waive some of the fees and, in their words “Settle the account” for $150…which left a balance of $182…apparently “settled” doesn’t mean the same thing in Dollar Bank language as it does in normal English. It means “Ok, we’ll take $150 now, and wait till you need something, then we’ll bend you over this barrel and see how much you really need us!” So I paid the $182, and expressed how unhappy I was, but was paying it anyway. The next day, the underwriter still wasn’t happy with my credit rating…my husband’s is a bit better, but he’s not comfortable with giving me $12,2000. I, apparently, can’t talk to him directly, so I plead my case with a nice woman on the phone. Over the past 2 years, (while being unemployed, I tell you but didn’t tell them), I have managed to pay off my student loans, all my credit cards, my loan to them (Dollar Bank), and completely wiped out all my debt ($10K). We don’t have a mortgage; we don’t have credit cards (F**K them!) …We don’t have ANY debt….and I have good credit…I’ve paid on time and more than was due most of the time. What does he have to be “uncomfortable” with!?!?!? He won’t disclose details about what he doesn’t like, so I have nothing to go with. He’s offered me $11K…what am I supposed to do with $11K?!?!? No, it’s all or nothing, my friend. I’m confident that I qualify, I’m worthy and I deserve it. So if you want to make me wait until Kevin comes back, fine. You’re so ON!

I am not desperate. If I need to, I can put the $1000 into my 17-year-old vehicle and drive it another few months until I save up enough money to buy another car. I could start a campaign to get people to withdraw money from their Dollar Bank Account and hold it until Dollar Bank gives me the money…I’m sure I can get $12,000+ removed from Dollar Bank in less than a day. I guess they could argue that if I know people with money, why don’t I just borrow it from them…But THEY ARE A BANK! That’s what they do. I can wait.

Thanks for letting me rant this morning. I now have to go get ready for my busy day. I have census work, then I have to make signs for the farm’s plant sale tomorrow, and I have to do a final drawing (Large!) for the Oakland garden…called Frazier Farms…for Saturday. Oh, yea, I have to prepare to turn 41 on Sunday. Wish me luck!

I'll be blogging more about Michael Pollan soon!

Micheal Pollan - I ONE

2010-04-05T18:56:00.001-04:00

The age of Nutritionism: ONE-From Foods to Nutrients

Since the early 19^th century scientists have been trying to figure out how food turns into flesh and energy. They started with Protien, Carbs and Fat. Sailors still got sick on voyages…oops! Forgot vitamins! They isolated nutrients from foods and then synthesized them in a lab.

Epidemiologists observed that during the war years, when dairy and meat were rationed, heart disease went down only to leap up again after the war. Based on this “lipid hypothesis”, in 1977 the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs chaired by Senator George McGovern created the Dietary Goals for the US which plainly suggested that Americans “eat less meat and dairy”. Of course the lobbyists were outraged and McGovern, being from South Dakota, really took the heat (Lots of cattle in SD) The recommendation was changed to read, “choose meats, poultry, and fish that will reduce saturated fat intake” What the hell does that mean to your average person!?!? Lobbyists are powerful and the food industry has many! Never again did the US dietary guidelines mention a particular food…only the obscure nutrients.

Because of this, we now have a large picture of misinformation. Studies show that groups with higher cancer rates consumed more fats and fewer plant foods, so the cancer could be caused by dietary cholesterol OR lack of plants. Scientists study the nutrients that fight cancer and other diseases, but how do we know it’s not something else in the orange besides the vitamin C that’s helpful? So, we have recommendations that say “avoid saturated fats and eat antioxidants” instead of “eat less beef and more broccoli”.

Because of the 1982 National Academy of Science report we speak in terms like polyunsaturated, cholesterol, monounsaturated, carbohydrate, fiber, polyphenols, amino acids, flavonols, carotenoids, antioxidants, probiotics and phytochemicals instead of FOOD. We don’t eat food anymore, we eat nutrients!

Michael Pollan – In Defense of Food - Intro

2010-04-04T13:55:00.001-04:00

For my friends and family, I would like you to read this book, however, it may not fit into your schedule. This book has changed my way of thinking about food and I want to absorb it even more, so I’m going to re-read it and post summaries of it here on my blog. I’m realizing that so many of our guidelines about eating are based on outdated recommendations and that’s why we have such a problem with our school lunches, and why people like Jamie Oliver is starting a “Food Revolution”.

If you’d like to know about this Michael Pollan guy, here’s a link to his website. http://www.michaelpollan.com/about.php He’s a journalist and has written about the food system for some time.

In the introduction to In Defense of Food he talks about why he wrote this book. He’s done a lot of research on the history of the Western Diet and the details are fascinating! In summary, we westerners, particularly Americans, have lost confidence in what we choose to eat. We have stopped looking at food as food, and think of it more at nutrients. We depend on scientist to tell us what to eat. An orange is not an orange, it’s a source of vitamin C, never mind the other benefits to eating an orange that isn’t in a vitamin C pill.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. That’s the short lesson of this book. He’s not telling us what to eat, just getting us to think about the choices we make. We are caught in between the food scientists telling us what to eat (no butter, marg…oops! No marg, butter) and the “thirty-two-billion-dollar food-marketing machine that thrives on change for its own sake.” This country’s industrialization of the food system began in the 60’s and it’s taken this long…over 40 years…to get back to basics. Food chemistry creates flavors that make things taste good, like that chicken sandwich from your favorite fast food joint; the feed lot chicken doesn’t have much flavor or nutrition, but they add it so you think it’s good and wholesome food. It’s not! There is so much added flavor, sugar, corn syrup and fat to our food, and the labels are so confusing, most of us just give up and eat whatever.

It seems ridiculous that there is need for a book to be written, with the first rule “Eat Food”. It seems obvious, of course we eat food…but we don’t…we eat foodlike substances. Through this book you’ll see what I mean. It’s really changed me and I hope you enjoy it too!

Dream - The Company

2010-04-02T11:43:00.001-04:00

I have always had very random dreams, and occasionally throughout my life I have had friends who ask about my weird dreams. This blog is the perfect outlet for those stories!

I had a dream last night about interviewing for a job. I was dressed in a suit, but forgot to change out of my slippers. And I forgot to brush my teeth. The company was housed in a big complex, and I wasn’t sure what they did. My friend from high school (and the island game on FB!), Janette, was working there and got me in for an interview. It took me awhile to figure out the elevators because they went up, down and sideways…everyone else seemed to move so efficiently! My being around bothered no one. I didn’t get in for an appointment, but they told me to just hang around. I was trying to figure out what they did, so I could form my argument for why they should hire me but no one could tell me…they just smiled and asked me what I wanted to do. After awhile, I just put down my bag and started cutting fabric into shapes and sewing them together…there was a whale and a bear and a raccoon and a bird. They were cute stuffed animals, I called them prototypes, and the company loved them. They set me up with a desk and sewing machine and handed me money. I got a parking spot too. They said I could wear slippers everyday if I wanted to. No one seemed to notice I didn’t brush my teeth.

Grad studies Essay part III

2010-03-31T18:38:00.001-04:00

The Urban Farm

The food bank’s farm was organic. Before I really knew what “organic” meant, I would joke “It grows therefore isn’t it organic? Duh!” Like most people, it didn’t occur to me what was happening in our food production in the U.S. Until that time I never thought about what methods of pest control or fertilizers were being used or how far food was traveling to get to us. I started shopping at the local farmers market. That’s where I met Barb and Randa, owners of Mildred’s Daughters Urban Farm. They had a dream that everyone in Pittsburgh would grow their food. They own the last remaining legally zoned farmland in the City of Pittsburgh and wanted to share it! Their plan included tours of the farm, sessions on cooking and preserving the harvest, a CSA, and even a school! Barb and Randa, together with a fellow urban homesteader, Mindy, called their dream “Grow Pittsburgh”, a sort of call to action. After a couple years they hired an executive director. The first funded project was the Edible Schoolyard and I was hired as the project coordinator.

Grow! Pittsburgh

I worked with Grow Pittsburgh to help establish the first edible schoolyards in Pittsburgh. (There are currently 4 school gardens in Pittsburgh Public elementary schools) It’s so rewarding to see kids excited about growing food! They are astonished when they see a vegetable magically appear on a vine that grew from a seed THEY planted! It changes their view of plants and food in a positive way. I learned a lot about people’s perceptions of a garden, too. A parent at one of the schools found a picture from 1910 of a group of kids in a garden holding up vegetables they had grown. It was their school garden! It got me thinking about how relatively recent our disconnection from our food source is.

CHICKENS!

Our office was in the Penn State Agricultural Extension office along with the 4-H program. Like many 4-H programs, they would send eggs out to schools in March and April and for two months small batches of peeps came and went around the office. After chick sitting over Easter weekend I couldn’t resist. Most of the peeps went to local farms but I brought home 5 chickens; 4 hens and a rooster. After some research my husband and I built a coop in the back yard next to the garage. The chickens grew quickly and loved to wander the neighborhood, getting over the fence even after I clipped their wings! After 5 months, like clockwork, they started laying beautiful, tasty, huge eggs.

Discovering the Joy of Farms

The first summer after the Edible Schoolyards were established Grow Pittsburgh had the dilemma of maintaining the gardens while school was on summer break. We got funding to hire a 6-member crew of teen interns. The program was designed with a focus on workforce development but it also included gardening skills, field trips and nutrition lessons. The field trips were as fun for me as they were for the interns; we held 2-day-old piglets, ran a grain mill and even (accidentally) visited a Hare Krishna commune food farm! The following summer we expanded Summer Intern Program to include 3 garden sites, 21 interns and 3 college-age supervisors. The program was successful — no one quit, no one was fired and many of them wanted to work with us again! Unfortunately, the economy took a turn for the worse and Grow Pittsburgh didn’t get funding for the 2009 season.

Search for Garden Space

My neighbor whose yard I was using moved so I couldn’t have my vegetable garden anymore. For a couple of years, I had a spot at a shared garden at the top of the cemetery but the deer broke down or jumped over every fence I built. I managed to integrate some potted tomato plants and basil into our backyard. I joined Mildreds Daughter’s Farm CSA but I could only afford a half share the first year. They started a working member group after that, and for 5 hours of work on the farm every week I received a full share of the harvest.

Expanded Homesteading and Conservation

This past summer, being unemployed, I spent more time at the farm. I was able to work directly with Barb Kline, co-owner and main vegetable grower for the farm. I learned a lot from Barb everyday, from planting methods to soil enrichment, pest control and crop rotation. I started to think about the food I used on a daily basis and how I could grow it myself. I spent a lot of time making jams, canning peaches, tomatoes and beans, and I experimented with fermentation making pickles, dill beans, Kim chi and sauerkraut.

Over the years, my husband and I have grown increasingly aware of the waste in our lives…food, water, energy, etc. We’re big on recycling, we save rainwater and we have a compost bin. One year I received a multi-level vermicomposter for a birthday gift! We even started using our dishwater in the garden using environmentally friendly dish soap!

I got a feeling

2010-03-29T20:52:00.000-04:00

It could just be me and it could be the gloomy day or maybe the fact that I feel like I’m coming down with something but I don’t have a good feeling about my job prospect. I’ve been thinking of my alternative plan which consists of either working for the county elections division training poll workers, or working for the census (they offered me a job for 2 months starting mid-April), plus doing the community garden for the Oakland Planning and Development Corp, still doing Silpada parties, working on the farm, working farmers markets for Mish Farms and becoming a Green Irene consultant. It’s a patchwork income flow but it would work. I would be working from home mostly, setting my own schedule so I’d still have free time to take Brett to work and take days off for working on the farm or canning or whatever. That wouldn’t be too bad, but I was looking forward to the security of a full time gig and the environment with co-workers. I miss a workplace, I really do. Maybe I need to get a group of work-from-home people to make a co-worker coffee group…but I haven’t heard anything concrete from the Audubon… it’s just a feeling. I hope I’m wrong!

My Take on the Health Care Law

2010-03-27T12:37:00.007-04:00

To be honest I wasn’t sure how I felt about the health care bill. Everyone being forced to have health insurance…I just wanted to be able to see my doctor when I needed to and be able to afford it. Like a couple years ago when I had a sore throat I wanted to be sure it wasn’t strep throat. I knew my doctor’s office charged $65 for a visit and then the test and medication would be even more, so I went to one of those “Take Care” clinics in Walgreen’s. Turns out that they charge $75 if you don’t have insurance! I was thinking that $25 - $35 would be reasonable. The nurse in the take care clinic wouldn’t even LOOK at me, at my face, never mind my throat, once she found out I didn’t have insurance! It was horrible. So I’m not a big fan of what the health insurance companies have done to our medical services, and I wasn’t thrilled about all of us being at their mercy.

But a thought occurred to me the other day…they have to pay for everything for everyone. They can’t turn you down or shut you off, they can’t drop you or pick and choose what they will cover anymore. Our health is their responsibility…our health is their responsibility! The largest lobbying group in the country will have an interest in our HEALTH…are you getting it yet? They will WANT US TO BE HEALTHY! They’ll want us to eat better and get more exercise so they won’t have to pay out so much… and they will make it happen. That is my theory. All the people working to get people to eat more fruits and veggies, and less factory farmed (which is less nutritious anyway) meat, and less sugar and less fat – from Alice Waters to Michael Pollan to Morgan Spurlock – will now have the health insurance companies looking to them for guidance. This could be the best thing to happen to this country ever. Studies prove that better nutrition, like better school lunches for example, decreases bad behavior in children. Then they are less likely to become “the bad kid” in class, and they’ll have more confidence, and are more likely to succeed. They won’t turn to drugs and thuggery and won’t get arrested and will become respectful members of society. Not that those problems will completely go away, but it will not be the norm like it is today. Good nutrition could also help with ADHD and lots of other disorders as well.

Call me an optimist, but I think I’m on to something here. I don’t like the idea of someone telling me I MUST have insurance, I’d rather pay as I go, at a reasonable rate, and have insurance only for emergencies and trauma, but if this law does what I think it will do, and the insurance company’s lobbyists are more powerful than the food industry lobbyists, then Jamie Oliver will really think he’s a miracle worker with his food revolution because that type of thinking will spread in no time. Look for it in about 2-4 years. You heard it here...I think first.

Routine Pondering

2010-03-26T10:18:00.001-04:00

OK, maybe someone can explain to me why I have such a rebellion to routine. I have my things I have to do in the morning… floss and brush teeth, make coffee, feed chickens, drink coffee, eat breakfast, do dishes, watch Ellen…some simultaneously…but then it falls apart. I was hoping to start doing regular blogging, then maybe reading – 30 minutes educational, 30 minutes for fun (a guideline my 9 year old nephew had last summer and one I think we should all have) then a little house cleaning. But things get in the way, I guess. I’m not as free as I think. Email and Internet really throw things off, then there’s the occasional assignment I’ve given myself, or proposal that I have to work on and if I have to leave the house it’s all over! I guess I’m not so disorganized, now that I write this. No one can have their day scheduled so completely that there is no wiggle room. Maybe I’m (gasp!) normal in my not wanting to have such a rigorous schedule. Some of my best thinking and ideas come from times I’m in between tasks…I guess daydreaming would be the word for it. I have my to-do list from Monday that still isn’t finished, but there are only 2 more things to be done, both of which require tape, and going to the store to buy tape was not one of them so I have to add it to my list in order to complete my list…and so that’s what happens.

OK so we all go through this, right? I guess I’m at a point in my life where I can sit and think about it, and ponder it, and learn from it. And that’s just the way it is, so now I can think about something else!

Prairie Days

2010-03-26T10:03:00.001-04:00

I would love to live back in the day before grocery stores. Where you had a goat and made your own cheese and bread (from the wheat you grew) and saved all your own veggies that you grew and had chickens and pigs and just provided all your own food. I’d miss running water, but I’d love to have a composting toilet. I’d miss TV, but my husband cracks me up so much, and we’d be so busy with life tasks anyway. And there are books! Wood burning stove, great! There are a lot of things that would be lacking, but so much of our life that we leave outside would still be the same…the birds, the wind and the sky. The stars and the sun. The bugs and the plants and the mice and rats. Some things we’d rather pretend aren’t still there, but they are! And they have their place, whether we like it or not. You can spray, poison and kill but they’re out there and they’ll keep coming back.

I think most of the items of convenience I could find a reasonable substitute for, trash bags, Tupperware, to-go mugs, even cars (I’d have a great horse!) but you know what I’d miss? Sharpies! Yes, the marker! They are so handy for so many things! You know you can write on something and then get it wet, take it anywhere, leave it in the basement for years, and you’ll still be able to read it and see what’s in that jar, or bag, or container. Yes, if we were shot back to the prairie days, I’d want to take a sharpie! Oh, and probably toilet paper…that’s a pretty good invention, too!

Long week

2010-03-26T09:48:00.002-04:00

OK, again, I fall down on the job of blogging. But I’ve been busy! I had a meeting on Monday that secured a gig with the Oakland Planning and Development Corp. then helped transplant seedlings at the farm. Then Tuesday I started a booking contest with my Silpada team, so felt guilty doing anything but making calls and trying to get parties. Wednesday was my big second interview at Audubon…I think it went very well but I’m still trying to brace myself for disappointment...not possible, if I don’t get it I’ll still be devastated. Yesterday I spent the entire day at the farm, transplanting and cleaning out the greenhouse to put the seedlings in. Its so nice to be growing stuff. I picked carrots and lettuce from the hoop house and turnips right out of the field…they are so good! And tons of them! Took me hours to clean and get them ready to roast, and the Kim chi I started on Sunday was neglected until last night, too! So finally got that finished and on it’s way to tasty fermented goodness! But I do have a lot to say so I’m back on the blogg. And I’ll make several posts today to make up for a lazy week (blogging wise, that is!)

OH, my prospective new boss, Jim (Hi Jim! Hire me!! :) reads my blog…not sure if he’s a fan or just read it once, and I’m not sure when, so have no idea if he read the entry where I assumed my unemployed life is over, but whatever he read, he got me. In my second interview, when asked how I would separate my work life and personal life, particularly on social media, I said there is no separation. At this point in my life I’m hoping to be doing something I love, and something I can share with everyone. You, my friends, know what I mean. When I’m involved in something you know about it. Everyone with in a 10 foot radius of me knows about it. That’s just the way I am and I like it. I’m an open book with nothing to hide…which is why I have a blog…and also why I won’t run for office! I hope there is an organization out there that can appreciate that about me and we can be happily ever after!

Grad studies Essay part II

2010-03-21T17:00:00.001-04:00

The Big Move

When I was 10 years old we moved to Fountain Valley, California. We drove across country in our Jeep Wagoneer, all 3 kids in the “back back” for over a week! We played and slept and watched as the landscape changed from grey, damp hills, to mountains, to vast green and brown plains and endless sky. The moving truck broke down every day, which gave us time to see a lot of the countryside. We picked cotton that was growing along the side of the road. I didn’t believe my mom’s explanation that it was really cotton…it was too dirty and full of sticks and seeds.

When we got to our new home, it was such a dramatic change! I spent my teenage years climbing over the concrete walls that surrounded every house in southern CA to get to the fruit trees. There was so much fruit that people would use only as decoration! We ate fresh pomegranates, oranges, lemons, limes, avocados and bananas. I’d never seen a pomegranate and it was so exotic to me! We didn’t have a vegetable garden in California, but the flowers, foliage and fruit were very significant to me.

A Different Way of Life

In college I studied art and spent a semester in Bratislava, Slovakia (Czechoslovakia at the time). It was a simple place and it really opened my eyes to how out of touch Americans have become with each other, with their wastefulness and with their food. Food shopping was hard to get used to because every product was sold in a separate store! Meat at the butchers, vegetables (when you could find them) at the open markets, bread at the bakery, cheese and milk at the dairy shop and eggs at what I can only describe as the Chicken store, with freshly harvested chickens hanging all around and lots of eggs. The open market was full of home-preserved items like dried meats, sauerkraut in large wooden barrels, even wine and beer!

“With Bowl and Spoon”

I was invited to a party my first week in Bratislava. The invitation said “…with bowl and spoon”. It was an art show so I wondered what they would do with all those bowls and spoons…and since I wasn’t able to read the invite myself I wasn’t sure that it wasn’t a joke on the American girl: ”Oh look, she did it, she brought a bowl to the party!!” Once I got there, I realized that it was simply practical. They were serving goulash and bread, and since there were no disposable plates or silverware, and there were no catering companies, everyone brought their own. In most of Eastern Europe, there was no “to-go” food or drink either, so any time we wanted a coffee we would have to go to a shop and sit. At first it made me crazy, but I grew to appreciate the slower pace.

Cooking

When I got married I started cooking for two every day. No cereal-for-dinner-because-I’m-too-tired-to-cook meals. I discovered that I like cooking! I started reading about different kinds of diets, learning about “perfect proteins” and nutrition. I was intrigued by wild edibles and took a class at the Frick Environmental Center. I bought a book and started identifying edible and non-edible weeds around my neighborhood.

Intro to Nutrition

Around this time I opened a juice shop in downtown Pittsburgh. I did a lot of research on the benefits of juicing as well as vitamins, minerals, general nutrition and health. Raw whole food seemed like such a luxury! There was no grocery store in downtown Pittsburgh at the time and when I closed my shop I realized that the residents, many of them senior citizens, would have no place to buy vegetables, so I worked with the Market Square Association and created a Farmers Market…the first time vegetables had been sold in Market square in almost 50 years!

A Yard of Our Own

In 1999 we bought a house and I took an office job. The house had a little backyard that was overgrown. We spent the first summer removing plants and weeds from the yard and I spent the winter going through seed catalogs, picking out plants and planning for the spring. We put in lots of perennial herbs and flowers, which I loved, but also because we wanted a low maintenance garden. A vegetable garden was out of the question in our small space. I did manage to integrate peas and some salad greens, but the slugs didn’t leave much for us. I explored my interest in herbal remedies, attended garden swaps and took every opportunity I could to get my hands in the dirt.

A Real Farm

My employer participated in a “Day of Caring” and I had the opportunity to volunteer at a food bank farm. Our task was to dig potatoes. It was magical! My coworkers thought I was crazy being so excited about potatoes, but the thrill is still there to this day every time I harvest potatoes! I enjoyed my day at the food farm so much that I started visiting with my husband. The farmer was an Irish man named Patrick. We would spend cold Sunday afternoons walking the fields, pulling carrots in the snow, carrying wood, playing with the dogs and goats, and riding horses. He was the first real farmer I ever knew, and by that I mean I learned a lot about the realities of the land from our visits. The dogs ate moles and voles right in front of us and when the rooster was violent one too many times he ended up as dinner. In the spring Patrick forced a hen to brood by keeping her and a pile of eggs in a 5-gallon bucket with a brick on top! He let her out a couple times a day for food and water and then back on the eggs. A few weeks later we watched a baby chick hatch!

A Garden of My Own

Since we didn’t have room in our yard for a vegetable garden I started a garden in my neighbor’s yard just a few doors down. He was in his 80’s and had to hire someone to cut the grass every couple of weeks, so as long as I maintained the area he was happy. That summer I created a garden with a group of neighborhood kids whose ages ranged from 4 – 11 years old. They helped me with some tasks but mostly asked questions. I grew everything from seed either directly or under grow lights. I learned about companion planting and had tomatoes with marigolds and basil, sugar snap peas with nasturtium and spinach, pumpkins and beans in between corn plants that made up a swirl across the entire yard. I transplanted some of my perennial herbs and flowers to pretty up the yard and used the “Lasagna Gardening” method to make my life easier! It was interesting to see how the parents reacted to the fresh veggies. I’m not sure all the produce I sent home got eaten.

Almost the end of an Era

2010-03-20T11:36:00.001-04:00

I’ve been thinking about the fact that my 18-month vacation may soon be over. I do want a job…being an independent direct sales person of jewelry doesn’t seem to move me enough; I’m quite happy with what unemployment gives me and I am not motivated by gobs of money. In the time I’ve been unemployed there have been a few jobs I really wanted, so few I can count them on two fingers. This one is the third.

Since I’ve learned to live on such little money, at one point I had a thought – make a pile of money with the sales skills I have and then take a few years off. So I looked into medical sales, pharmaceutical sales and other sales type jobs that I thought would make me some money…not cause big bucks motivated me, remember, but because I had a bigger picture in mind. I considered going back into politics again, and really building myself a political fundraising business, since I’ve seen what qualifies as a kick-ass fundraising team and I could be there in a year and have all the big guns asking me to join them…but I’d have to want it, and politics is more than a full-time job, and I like my life.

So, after a bit of panic and putting feelers out there and not getting a lot of positive responses I took a step back and decided to just keep looking and not very actively at that. I committed to Bioneers (like pioneers, but with the environment…I’m working on their local branding) and to Mildred’s Daughters Urban Farm for the May Market, and a friend referred me to Oakland Planning and Development to do a community greening initiative.

Then the job at Audubon was listed. They have a Native Plant Center that was started when the highway to the north was built. 279 ran right through some undeveloped wilderness where they found quite a few rare and some undiscovered plants. People from the Audubon Society of Western PA got a group of volunteers together and went out and dug up the specimens, and started propagating them. Now, almost 10 years later, they received funding for a staff person for the center. And that will be me!

The position will be mostly out and about, visiting prospective clients and organizations that we want to partner with and spreading the good word of using native plants! Some of the job will be in the greenhouse growing plants, working with volunteers and making sure there are enough supplies. Totally a job I would love!

However, I am trying to wrap my head around the fact that the things I do around the house at a leisurely pace will, when I am employed full time, be done on the weekends or before or after work, or they’ll not be done. I’ll have to plan meals better, and ahead of time-we haven’t eaten out more than once a month in a long time! Brett will be assigned to dishes again, and he’ll be left with the house to himself all week. My farm hours will be in the evenings and my jam making will be limited. I’ll have to get out of bed in the morning and actually have a routine. Weekends will be special again, and Monday will be the beginning of my week.

On the upside, I’ll have money! I can save up my money and get a new car; I can buy some much-needed clothing and shoes. I’ll have medical benefits so I can go to the doctor and dentist for regular check ups. I’ll have a routine and get more done…that’s usually the way it goes. I can participate in fundraising dinners and make donations to organizations I like. I can get a membership to the museums and conservatory, and support local artists. I can save up money and take trips to places like Mexico, the Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Peru, Australia, etc.

The one thing a job and money can’t give you is time…so I’ll have to come up with a balance. But I’m definitely looking forward to a change of pace...I think…

Love and death

2010-03-19T17:41:00.000-04:00

Today I ran into a woman, a neighbor of mine, who I’ve known for 10 years. She is on the public safety committee so we worked together a couple times and we give each other moral support. Her husband died suddenly on Feb 10^th. I’ve been meaning to call her or stop by or send a card or something but just didn’t know what to say. Well, today I saw her in the plaza where Brett works and I got out of my car and ran after her to tell her how sorry I was. She is still a wreck! I didn’t know what to say. But she agreed that there wasn’t anything to say. She’s just so sad and everything makes her cry…even the sales people at the mall. She’s sad that she doesn’t have him to grow old with, that she has to take care of the dog he only knew for 2 months, and his birds (he had lots of bird feeders) and his sunflowers when they come up, and everything reminds her of him. She’s not ok and she won’t be. And as cruel as it seems, that’s how it should be… I never met Spiro but I heard about him and his typical crazy Greek ways. Sounded like quite a character! But what matters is that Jan is lost with out him, and there is nothing anyone can do. We all should hope to love and be loved like that in our lifetimes.

Getting in the habit...

2010-03-19T17:19:00.001-04:00

OK, clearly I need to develop a habit of writing on my blog…or is it writing in my blog? Either way, the act of sitting down to write is not a habit for me yet, so I need to work on that. I will try the 21 day challenge. I’ve put it on my calendar…wait – OK, now I’ve put it on my calendar for the next 21 days. I’ll make it a habit eventually!

Essay for Grad School Part 1

2010-03-03T20:52:00.002-05:00

For your reading pleasure, I am posting the essay I wrote for my grad school application to Chatham’s Food Studies program. Haven’t heard yet, but I’ll let you know!

About Me

My name is Shelly Danko+Day and I moved to Pittsburgh 21 years ago. I’ve been married to my husband Brett for over 15 years, I have a BFA from Slippery Rock University and I love gardening. I’ve been looking for work for over a year, and most of the jobs I’m seeing don’t entirely appeal to me, although I have applied for many. When I saw Chatham’s ad about the new Food Studies program, something just clicked in me. It’s a passion that I have not recognized until recently and I’m very excited about the possibilities!

I feel connected to the past, my past and the future through agriculture … planting, growing, nurturing and harvesting are all major parts of my life. It wasn’t until recently that I realized it has always been a large part of my life. Even when I didn’t notice, gardening was influencing me. From one end of the US to the other I was affected by nature in ways that shaped who I am today. It’s hard to imagine a time when I wasn’t growing something but there were many years when I was disconnected from it. Now I am fully engaged in homesteading activities. I raise chickens, have a small home garden where we grow herbs and tomatoes, and I’m a key member of Mildred’s Daughters Urban Farm working group in Stanton Heights.

First Dig

Until I was 10, my family lived in a small town in northeastern PA. I was a pretty intense kid and in addition to spending large chunks of time watching the minute hand on a clock move or staring at the sun as it slowly disappeared behind the hill, I spent countless hours playing in the un-planted areas of our garden. A favorite thing for my sister and me to do was dig for worms in the spring. We would go out with flashlights and get the juiciest night crawlers for my dad to take fishing.

One of my first memories was of picking scallions; they were the first things to come up in the spring. We also grew potatoes, carrots and garlic, and our neighbor had a big old rhubarb plant. My father made sauerkraut in a huge wooden barrel, and once he ground his own horseradish by hand.

Green Granny

Both my grandmothers had gardens, too, and were very green by today’s standards. My Grandma Morley was always doing “crazy” things like throwing coffee grounds on her plants and saving her food scraps and paper in a milk carton on the sink…even tissues! She had a makeshift rain barrel, and she saved her bath water to flush the toilet! My favorite food at Grandma’s was macaroni and tomatoes made with elbow macaroni and canned tomatoes from her garden…she made special batches without seeds just for me.

Happy as a Clam?

2010-03-03T20:50:00.000-05:00

Are clams really happy? I mean, what do they have to be so happy about. Lobsters taste good, they should be happy, but I guess their lives are pretty stressful…I’ve seen them in the ocean and they’re pretty skiddish…backing into their hole at the bottom of the sea when we’re just lookin’ at them! Clams have that hard shell, so maybe they just appear happy. No one can see them and we think they’re all content sitting there in their shells. But I guess that’s one reason to be happy, they’re safe. There are few incidental predators that can attack them. They’re pretty secure, and they see tragedy all day with other creatures getting eaten right n front of them. Like little fish and shrimp, even sea urchins with their big spines get eaten. The clam just sits there, filtering out his food from the sea water that floats by. But then again, they aren't so happy when the sea otter comes by. Or if they’re in a tide pool and a raccoon grabs them! Who’s happy then? Not the clam!

I was just thinking, of course, that I’m happy as a clam. I’m very content with life. Not sure how I’ve made it through this year + being unemployed (oh, yea, unemployment benefits!) but I have and I’m not stressed. Today I was offered a job, just for 5 weeks, but it’s something I really love to do, so I took it. Doesn’t start until April 16^th, so I’ll still be able to get some stuff done that I wanted to before I go back to work. The list was made back in October 2008 when I first was officially with out a job. I can’t let the second winter being unemployed go by without finishing that list. And since there are only 20 days left, I better get on it! I’ll update, I promise.

Oh, as for the gap in postings, I was a resolution, and as most resolutions go, I broke it. Sue me!

Olympics and other thoughts

2010-02-20T16:15:00.000-05:00

Watching the Olympics…wow! Love to see such feats of strength, skill and grace! I really got into the Olympics in 2002 when I had my big cut abdominal surgery. I was hopped up on percocet and unable to move much, except a mandatory walk around the block every day. It’s a great thing to watch when you can’t move…I just soared with the skiers and won every gold medal with them! It made me feel like I could accomplish anything! I tried skiing once and enjoyed myself, but I also hurt myself…not too bad, but I will never be an Olympian. Besides the fact that I am over 30 and not even close to being in shape, I don’t have the drive, dedication or motivation to be an athlete. I have drive, dedication and motivation to do other things, just not anything quite that athletic…and if I did I would still prefer to watch these guys (men and women) perform. They are amazing, and I’m a huge fan of all types of skiing, skating, sledding, jumping, luging and snowboarding. I’d like to attend in person some day.

I’m a little confused about some of the sponsors, though. When I was a kid I remember being shocked when a fellow kid, in training of some sort, had never eaten at McDonalds! Their parents didn’t let them eat any kind of junk food. Now I see that to “eat like the Olympians” you need to eat McNuggets with a special sauce. Weird. And what does Coke have to do with heart health?

I’m over-caffeinated today, thanks to the great coffee at a meeting I want to this morning. Thanks Chris! It’s a beautiful day and the decision is to go for a walk or watch a movie before the hubby goes to work at 6. Humm. We really should get outside, but I want to just watch the Olympics and take a nap! Caffeine is a weird thing!

Things that remind me of people...

2010-02-19T10:30:00.002-05:00

I skipped a day of blogging but I had good reason. I had paperwork to do and I applied for a job, which takes longer than one would think. My writing is always time consuming, that’s why I’m doing this blog, so I can get better at writing…how’s that goin’? The job is with the Audubon Society of Western PA the title is “Native Plant Center Coordinator”. I’m perfect for that position…I hope they hire me!!

I thought of a couple topics I want to cover, but I can only remember one right now…Things that remind me of someone. For example, when I wax my legs I think of my friend, Carrie Quinn. She introduced me to leg waxing and the pain associated with it. She also taught me to exfoliate or you’ll get ingrown hairs…not pleasant! I met Carrie on the bus. I often think if it had been after the cell phone became popular or the ipod, we probably wouldn’t have met, everyone being in their own little world. But this was at a time when you read on the bus or stared out the window or watched people. On this particular morning, I was people watching. I was watching a couple people across from me talk over an open seat, and Carrie was standing, being polite. After 5 minutes or so, I suggested that the two sit together so Carrie could have a seat. OH! What a concept. That’s how I remember it. We were friends from then on. Carrie is my kick-boxing, ballerina friend who taught me about leg waxing. She was there the moment I discovered that my business was over because my partner had gone behind my back and taken over the lease. She introduced me to bad movie marathons, although that was mostly her and Brett…boy were they bad movies! She moved to California, married a guy from college that she was secretly in love with the whole time, and now has a gorgeous daughter. I’m so happy to still have Carrie in my world and now in my daily life…thanks FB!

The microwave reminds me of my friend Bill. We were friends in the 80's in Southern California, until he went to the army. I lived with his mom and brother and sister my senior year of high school when my folks moved to Pittsburgh. He came back form the army and it was a full house. He loved the microwave! He would cook hot dogs wrapped in a damp paper towel. He used the microwave for everything from drying herbs to fireworks displays (he came home from a night out and decided he wanted to see just what would happen if you put metal in the microwave!) Bill was a trip! Don’t know what the army did to him…before he left we were such good friends, but when he came back he was stuck in his own little world... in his head…sometimes trying to talk to him I felt like an interrogator, he wouldn't peep! The army prepared him for the enemy, unfortunately it seemed that's what I had become to him. I saw him once after I left California, and now I hear he’s "born again" and has something like 5 or 6 kids. Good for him! I hope he’s had a good life! (sincerely) I still think about him when I’m using my microwave!

That’s all for now…second install after I finish my essay…

Wednesday February 17th

2010-02-17T10:16:00.002-05:00

Well, as promised I’m writing this morning, although I don’t have a list ready…thought I’d stick to the method of writing on the fly. For the first time in over 3 years of owning chickens, today I really didn’t like going out to feed them. Not that I don’t love my chicks, and not that I don’t love the winter and all this snow, but I don’t love all this snow! It wouldn’t be so bad if it was the initial 3 feet or whatever, but EVERY FREAKIN DAY there is new snow on the ground, on the feed bins, on the compost, on the lanai (the chickens lanai) and it gets on my pant legs in my boots (cause I don’t lace my boots to run out to the coop with water and food for 5 minutes) and my hands get cold and the chickens are running away from all the falling snow…it’s just so stressful for both me and the girls. Oh snow falling from the sky, I see you in slow motion today but you can’t fool me, you’re still falling and will accumulate! I’m pretty tired of it. We’ve had over 35” of snow this MONTH! And it’s only been 17 days! Average snowfall is less than 5”! I’m just pretty tired of it. Not the cold, just the constant new snow.

Whew! Breath...focus...

I felt like yesterday was a really great day. Not sure why, but after reading my post, I feel like I’m on the right path, whatever path that may be. I’m going to focus on what I’m passionate about and would love to do and have done for free for many years…grow stuff! I’m talking legal stuff…food! Even before my job at Grow Pittsburgh I had a garden in the neighborhood with local kids. I befriended them and let them participate mainly because when I told my neighbors what I was doing, everyone said, “good luck! The kids will just destroy it! You won’t get anything.” So I figured if they felt like it was theirs they wouldn’t want to destroy it. I was right, or the kids that would destroy it didn’t notice it, either way we had a nice harvest of peas and tomatoes, a great big “S” shaped cornfield and pumpkins! Yes, pumpkins, that I’m sure no one actually knew were there. But, alas, my neighbor whose yard I was using was moved to a nursing home and the house sold and was broken into apartments and the land was trashed with drywall and crap. That’s when I got a spot in a shared garden at the top of the cemetery. A valiant effort for 3 years resulted in little harvest due to the deer, groundhogs and other misc. critters that ate anything that sprouted! That was all before the farm and Grow Pittsburgh and now I’m working at Mildred’s Daughters Urban Farm, the only zoned farmland in the city of Pittsburgh. Last year we grew enough to feed 15 CSA families. It’s a great farm and working with Barb is great! She knows so much and she’s always learning, too! I’m glad to be a part of it…next best thing to owning a farm with only part of the responsibility!

So, I guess what I’m saying is for the first time in over 18 months I finally feel like I’m not trying to force something. I’m happy with where I am and confident in my new path…not exactly sure what that is but I’m almost there! One thing that makes me more confident is the fact that yesterday I was checking my bank account and discovered that the consolidation loan I took out 5 years ago is almost paid off. That’s all the debt I have from a span of 8 years of and 2 businesses. The amount in my checking account would cover the loan and leave me with $6!! Except for a parking ticket, I’m free and clear! No student loans, no credit cards, no mortgage, nothing! It’s a liberating feeling. I’m not going to clear out my account just to be done with it…it is February and the house and car may need something…but it’s really good to know that I’m almost done with that phase of my life. Now if I had just listened to Brett in the first place I wouldn’t have had credit cards and wouldn’t be in this mess, but in your 20’s you think you’ll eventually start making the big bucks and the bills will melt away. I just wasn’t that driven to sell my soul and generate that type of income…always trying to do the right thing and follow my heart…. which is how it should be.

Ten minute free flow of my day

2010-02-16T21:31:00.000-05:00

Woke up late, thinking about how long I’ve been unemployed, it allows me to sleep in and not worry about what I’ll do with myself…I just get through the day, not that its bad I’m really enjoying myself for the most part. Sure I don’t have a place to be outside of my house but I have my house, my husband, my computer and I stay connected. I’m involved with the farm and Bioneers, an environmental group, and I have a lot of friends and contacts, and I am happy really happy. I can’t explain it. I guess many people get their self worth from a job, what they do is who they are, I’ve never had that problem when I have a job I am fully engaged, loyal, dedicated but I’ve changed direction quite a few times in my life and I’m sure I will again, so this brief, ok lengthy, hiatus has been really eye-opening! I don’t have a lot of cash but I don’t really need anything. I’ve got a warm house, I had food from the farm work I did all summer, and now I have food I put away that we are eating…tomatoes, peaches, lots of jams, celery, pesto, and assorted squash, beans, peas and still getting carrots from the farm, at least we were until 3 feet of snow blocked the doors of the greenhouse! So, I don’t need food, house is paid for, and the utilities are covered by Brett for the most part. I don’t like that sentence and I want to delete it but this exercise won’t let me…drat! I made a nice breakfast of potatoes, turkey bacon and eggs – oh yea! I have 5 chickens that give us plenty of protein! - And then took him to work at 1pm, spent a couple hours on the computer there, reading about food issues, the missing Pittsburgh mayor (he’s been found :() and checking email, then I went to the gym where I did 4 different cardio sessions and the weight circuit…first time in 3 weeks! What a slacker! While at the gym I was reading a magazine I picked up a few days ago called ODE, the cover has a woman holding a pile of dirt and the heading is “the joy of dirt” so I had to have it. Interesting mag, only read about 10 pages but lots of interesting info. That’s where I got the idea for this exercise (http://ilikezen.com/)…since I already committed to writing everyday, this is perfect! Just sit down and write every word that comes into my head…well, almost every one! So this is what I’ll do. I think I’ll start every morning, before Brett gets up, but after I’ve had some coffee!

Oh, I just remembered something I wanted to mention. Why do people suck? Ok, it’s not worth getting into, but I’m so sick of people being idiots in the snow, bullying other cars when there’s only one car width cleared, so someone has to back up all the way down the street, and trucks that can clearly get through deeper snow won’t park off the road…right in the road. And with Jamaican accents! ARGH! Ok, see why it wasn’t worth mentioning?!?!

I’ve now been at this for more than 10 minutes so I should close. I’m going to write a list of topics that I want to cover in the future, and I’ll post that tomorrow. G’night!

I am connected!!

2009-12-15T15:24:00.000-05:00

Still learning how to navigate my new macbook keyboard...but I have (what I think is) free internet service from my house!

Now I'll be connected to everything I want in the world (well, the www.!) When I have some time I'll post more, but for now, Just a note to mark my entry into connected-ness!

Shelly

Did you know...?

2009-09-06T14:43:00.000-04:00

Pickles are fermented! Well, some pickles. I recently was brave enough to try kimchi and realized that it's just like saurkraut! Nothing scary. I honestly don't know what I thought...fish heads? That's actually possible, I know some recipes call for fish sauce.

About 15 years ago I was determined to make hot and sour soup at home. I dont' like mushrooms and I hate fishy things, but the soup was so good, and I wanted to make it, so I bought 3 different types of mushrooms and a fish sauce that I found in the strip district. I got everything ready and made the soup...all but the fish sauce! I just couldn't bring myself to put the fish sauce in...it was a jar of whole fish just ground up with eyeballs and scales and everything! I just couldn't!! I looked up all kinds of recipes and called a friend. "Fish sauce is clear!" she yelled! THANK GOD! I breathed a sigh of relief. The soup never did turn out right...and the jar of fish parts has been with me ever since.

Anyway, back to fermentation, I learned that just as saurkraut is just fermented cabbage and salt, kimchi is just fermented veggies and salt, and pickles...like the ones you find on deli counters in NYC, the big, fat, tangy, juicy ones...are fermented cucumbers and salt! Isn't that awesome! My eyes have been open to a whole new world! I'm gonna ferment stuff!

My first blog post

2009-08-12T13:07:00.000-04:00

Hello blog-o-sphere! I'm excited and pretty intimidated to be here! I'm not sure what I'll write about...I live in Pittsburgh PA, sell jewelry, garden, raise chickens, and, apparently, I'm shiny and odd!

The shiny and odd thing came about one day when someone said I reminded them of Phoebee from Friends, and the others around agreed. I asked my husband "Do you think so? What does that mean?" he thought for a minute and said "Yea, that sounds right. You're shiny....and kind of odd." He assures me that's a good thing. Well, that's what I've got!

I joined a gym a couple years ago...a YMCA in a rough part of town...mostly black folks, so I really stand out. When I first started going to Hip Hop aerobics and the Abs Blast classes, I did the workout and kept to myself. Kept comments to a minimum...trying to keep a low profile. I thought I was being really cool! One day in Abs class, about a year into my membership, I was paired with another woman who was really kooky! Someone made a comment "oh, not those two together!" and I realized...They're on to me! OH NO!!!! But until that day no one let on that they KNEW! hmmmm...

I had a conversation with a friend while walking on a lovely boardwalk in Southern Florida this spring. I was lamenting not having heard from a friend for awhile and it was probably because I gave some tough love advice and maybe she didn't want to hear it. My friend said "Did you ever think that when people are around you, they expect you to be honest? People hang out with you because they know you'll say what you think! That's what people appreciate about you!" I'd never thought of it that way! It's so liberating! Not that I'm going to call up all my friends and tell them what I think about every aspect of their lives, but I'll feel more confident about the advice I give from now on.

Hey, it's Shiny + Odd and it's ME!