Second Childhood Creations

A Few Kind Words

2012-02-13T10:18:00.000-06:00

"Everybody likes a compliment." Abraham Lincoln

The Most Handsome Man in My Life - Dad, about a year before he died

I have a confession to make. Besides sitting out in my art studio and making stuff for many hours of the day I also waitress at my son's restaurant two nights a week. I have been dabbling in restaurant work for over 45 years, oftentimes as a manager, and I love the interaction with the guests as well as with the restaurant staff.

Through all those years of connecting with the public I've learned how effective a compliment can be to establish rapport. I've also learned that most people can spot a false compliment a mile away. False compliments are like the bar talk between singles just before closing time. You get the picture.

At any rate, on a recent, busy Saturday night a young couple came into the restaurant. I'd guess that they were in their early 30's. The waitresses all noticed the young man immediately because he was tall and slim and had a soft, rugged look. One of the waitresses wondered if he might be a model. The waitress who had their table said that he was extremely polite. Well, I just couldn't let the moment pass.

As the couple was leaving I walked up to them and said to the young man, "The wait staff took a vote and decided that you were the best looking man in the restaurant this evening." He not only smiled, he glowed. The young woman with him was also beaming.

Too often, however, I notice something about a person, such as a kindness they do, and fail to mention. Fail to simply move my lips and put into words what I'm thinking. What a shame because it's just as easy to notice and speak. And as Honest Abe tells us, "Everybody likes a compliment." Wouldn't that be a nice little gift to give to people in your life for Valentines Day!

A Life More Fully Lived

2012-02-07T09:52:00.006-06:00

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions." Oliver Wendell Holmes

Sometimes I find it easy to be swept along by routine. It's such a protected place to live. But growth, according to a myriad of authors, comes from stepping outside of our comfort zones, which are entrenched in our routines.

I recently came across a book that is designed to force readers, especially the readers who choose to participate, out of their routines. It's touted as an action plan to change your life forever. The book is, "The Nine Intense Experiences" by Brian Vaszily. I prepared myself for some sky diving or bungee jumping. "Bring it on, Brian!" I thought, as I started to read.

Instead, the book takes readers out of their comfort zones with activities that can be performed in their own homes. Intense Experience number one nudges the reader back to the spontaneity of childhood. There are suggested movies to watch and books to read. I read, for the first time, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll. Also on the reading list was "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint Exupery, my favorite book of all time.

But then the tasks for Intense Experience number one included more participatory challenges, such as, singing out loud or dancing around the house. Now that sounds rather easy, doesn't it. A small step outside of my comfort zone in order to expand my world. As the disclaimers state, individual results might vary.

When you see me this year at activity professional conferences notice if I spontaneously break into dance steps. If you'd like to try some life altering experiences for yourself, Brian's book is probably available in your public library system. The book is delightful and, in a strange way, slightly challenging. Happy dancing!

Sabbatical

2012-02-01T09:15:00.000-06:00

This past month, January of 2012, I took some time off for myself. I spent the month mainly in my art studio, reconnecting with the things that I love to do. I also spent a large part of my time cooking, which is another creative activity that I love. My freezer is now filled with containers of easily accessible meals and my recipe blog, loveyathemom.blogspot.com, is bursting with new recipes and information about the foods that we eat.

As much as I believe in the value of the work that people do with and for others, I also believe in the importance of good self-care if a person is to be of value to others. To continually take without replenishing leaves me tired and wondering when in the world I'll ever find the time to do the things that I believe need to be done.

As part of my jumping back into the fray I decided to explore websites and blogs dedicated to care of the senior population. Some of the sites had sections about creative ideas. Almost every posting was at least 40 to 60 months old. Have the last 3 to 5 years been especially difficult and overwhelming, or did caregivers simply loss interest and a sense of purpose? Maybe it's time for an all out recharging of personal batteries. What do you love to do? Have you given yourself the gift of time to enjoy whatever it is that buoys you up and keeps you at your best? This could be the perfect time!

Recycling Furniture

2012-01-13T09:28:00.000-06:00

OK. So maybe a hand-painted dresser isn't within your artistic capabilities. Start with a smaller piece of furniture. But if there are some drab looking dressers sitting around that might cheer up the surroundings if they were spiffed up a bit, try this.

The dresser in the picture sits in our guest bedroom at home. It was an old, inexpensive piece that didn't add much to it's surroundings. The transformation was brought about by first priming and then applying a coat of pale green paint to the dresser.

For the floral decor on the front I took a poster and cut it into strips that were the size of the drawer fronts. That's right. I did not paint the flowers onto the front of the dresser. It's a poster cut into strips that are glued onto the drawer fronts. Remove the drawer pulls first and then reattach them when the poster is in place.

Next I sponged some of the green paint along with some cream colored paint along the sides of the poster to blend in the edges. Voila! A lovely piece with not a lot of work or skill. Just a good way to use and use up in order to make surroundings just a little nicer.

Happy recycling!

Jewel-Toned Bottles

2011-12-31T09:37:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year! For those of you making resolutions let me recommend those put forth by one of my personal heroes, Jill Conner Browne, also known as the Sweet Potato Queen. Jill urges people to make resolutions they can succeed at in order to boost their self-esteem. One of her favorite resolutions is to "Eat More". Needless to say, and so I won't.

One of my resolutions this year is to create projects with a recycling twist to them. Another is to use metallic paint, which make projects simply pop. Prang metallic paints, user friendly and inexpensive, are available online. I discovered one overstock site that has a set of twelve 16 ounce bottles of Prang metallic for $33. Explore and see what shiny things you can come up with.

This project is simply torn, used dryer sheets glued to glass or plastic bottles with my favorite adhesive, gloss gel. Assemble your supplies of glass or plastic bottles, old brushes about 1-inch wide or foam brushes, gloss gel, and used dryer sheets cut or torn into squares that are 2 inches or smaller.

Simply brush gloss gel onto an area of the bottle, apply a piece of dryer sheet and brush a bit more gloss gel on top. Continue until the entire bottle is covered and has a nice textured look. I sometimes do two layers or more simply to get more texture, which I like.

When the bottles are dry, which is generally in a day or so, dab on a few colors of the metallic paint, sticking to basic matches like green and blue or orange and gold. Of course, gold simply looks great with everything. Some of the bottles have an added piece of bead trim at the top, stuck on with gloss gel. When finished, these bottles make lovely vases for artificial flowers or simply as a grouping of glowing bottles.

Happy Creating! Happy New Year!

Laughter

2011-12-13T09:13:00.000-06:00

Personal from the Saturday Review - "Important notice: If you are one of the hundreds of parachuting enthusiasts who bought our course entitled 'Easy Sky Diving in One Fell Swoop," please make the following correction: On page 8, line 7, change 'state zip code' to 'pull rip cord'."

I was recently given a copy of the book "Head First, the Biology of Hope" by Norman Cousins. Cousins is the gentleman who had wonderful recovery results from serious illness using all that the medical community had to offer along with laughter. His recovery astonished the medical community and he became an advocate, teacher and fellow researcher on the relationship between human spirit and wellness.

The part of the book that especially caught my attention was the section that talked about the practice of using "Laughter Wagons" stocked with humorous materials and other items likely to amuse residents in nursing homes. One group of Laughter Wagon volunteers wear buttons that read, "Warning: Humor may be hazardous to your illness."

Other suggestions in the book include sending a resident a book of jokes or silly toy instead of flowers. Other suggestions include silly sculptures, comical photos, and mobiles. Or why not consider a joke or riddle of the day on breakfast trays or on a bulletin board?

During this time of year when it's too easy to focus on all that needs to be done and other stressors of the season, it might be good to share a chuckle rather than stories of our all too busy lives. And while humor and a positive attitude do not change the reality of lives, it can influence the way people deal with their reality. As Cousins advises, "Don't deny the diagnosis. Try to defy the verdict."

"Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." Mark Twain

Light Up Your Life

2011-11-30T09:07:00.001-06:00

This is about following my own advice, which is to Just Go Play. (See November 14) I started playing in my art studio everyday, placing playtime at the top of my priority list. No, I have not created anything that will land in a gallery, but I'm having a great time. My focus is to re-do and spark-up plain items or to recycle packaging material into works of art. I'd like to share one of my pieces with you, and maybe inspire you to take some quiet, creative time for yourself.

I began with one of those paper lamps that you can purchase at Pier 1 and other such stores. This one has been hanging around our house for about 10 years. I combined this with yards of ribbon that I've also collected over the years. Most of the ribbon was purchased for pennies at garage sales.

I attached the strips of ribbon to the top of the paper shade with my favorite adhesive, gloss gel. I'm now waiting for some additional strips to curl (they're wound tight and held together with tape) so I can add them as a final embellishment. The lamp now looks a lot like a hot air balloon and glows beautifully in our living room.

I'm also looking at other lamps in our house and imagining them embellished with ribbon or strings of beads. Also, some of my chairs don't stand of chance of escaping unscathed.

Happy play time!

Puzzle Cards

2011-11-18T15:13:00.001-06:00

This week's project was to decorate some blank puzzles that I purchased from Dawn Wooderson of WoodSong. The puzzles we used were 8.5 x 11 and by placing a layer of removable contact paper onto the backs of the puzzles they remained wonderfully stable while we decorated. Our plan was to make them into some kind of a greeting so the could be disassembled, placed in an envelope, and given to a friend or family member for the holiday season.

Our medium of choice was acrylic paint but crayons or markers would also be good on the paper surface of the puzzle. Even the most timid artist was able to paint their puzzle. After that we stenciled on designs and lettered on greetings freehand with additional paint or wrote with marking pens.

One of the participants decided to keep her puzzle together and keep it in her room. Others had already chosen family members who would be gifted with their creation.

For those wishing to purchase puzzles Dawn has puzzle blanks available in:
   8x5.5 12 pieces    pkg of 12 for $7 or pkg of 24 for $13.50
   5x7       9 piece with frame pkg of 12 for $7
   4x5.5    9 piece     pkg of 24 for $11
   8.5x11 12 piece   pkg of 12 for $16
Prices do not include shipping.

The best way to order is by email - wwodsong@aol.com. Dawn will then contact buyers to get payment information. Best yet, Dawn is offering a 10% discount until the end of the year for those who mention seeing this offer on the Second Childhood Creation blog!

These puzzles proved to be an inexpensive and fun project for our weekly gathering. Also a unique way to create a holiday greeting!

Just Go Play!

2011-11-14T08:18:00.001-06:00

I recently watched a TED video that got me thinking about play. The speaker is Charlie Todd. You can go to TED.com and find his name under speakers. His topic is shared absurdity. I loved the event he staged where dozens of people dressed in blue polo shirts and khaki pants went into a Best Buy and stood around. Or his no-pants event on the New York subway. And most of all, I was moved by his insights into play.

As children, we were often told to just go play. Or, perhaps, we've used this phrase on our own children. It's also probably true that no one actually sat down with us when we were children, or we never actually sat down with our own children, to explain the benefits of play or what exactly play is. Children naturally know how to play.

I know that I never even considered whether telling my children to play included talks about future benefits in the job market. "Don't color, build something with your Lego's so you can put that on your resume'!" And when I Googled "play benefits children" this morning I got 289,000,000 hits. Conversely, when I Googled "play benefits adults" I got 81,200,000 hits. Does this mean that play is much less important for adults? Or is play simply a time waster for children who are too young to hold a good paying job?

As professionals, who are focused on activities, can we ensure that residents are engaging in an activity and not simply observers? Not that easy if I focus on creating an activity with all the correct criteria. But what if we decided to just play, which is important and incredibly beneficial for all adults. Check out Charlie Todd. He's not only motivating but the video is a good giggle.

Aftermath

2011-11-09T08:48:00.000-06:00

Yesterday our Tuesday afternoon group met. The idea was to work on our Christmas table decorations. This is a long term project that we started a few weeks ago by creating some paper to cover boxes before we'd add some ribbon. We also painted the insides of clear ornaments. But that wasn't the high point of the afternoon.

As I reported last week I had a creativity meltdown and couldn't get an idea to take shape the way I had envisioned. As a fallback plan we painted small flowerpots in fall colors and added some silk flowers along with a bit of bling.

When I arrived for this week's session the residents were happy and excited. It seems that there had been a luncheon and their creations were used on the tables. The women at the luncheon marveled at the pieces and asked where the facility had purchased them. When they heard that they were made by the residents they asked if more could be made and sold at next year's craft sale. Some of the residents from the Tuesday group were in the area and heard and saw the commotion.

It was immensely gratifying for the residents to have their work acknowledged. It was a lesson for me in going with the flow. Not all plans go according to plan. And that's OK. Creating community is, perhaps, the most important thing we create. The rest is bonus.

Improvising

2011-11-02T10:03:00.002-05:00

Success is Being Together!

My original idea was to paint pots, place some kind of branch-like object into each pot, and then attach leaves inscribed with "things to be thankful for" onto the branches and call them our Thanksgiving centerpieces. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

The problem occurred when I tried to find branch-like objects that would work without actually skulking around in the middle of the night, hacking away at the neighbor's shrubs. Time to shop! I finally found some glittery branch-like fronds that I thought would work. Problem was, as I worked on the idea at home, that the frond were so lightweight that any amount of weight on them brought them down and the whole thing began to look like a spider. I am not thankful for spiders, though I'm told that I should be.

I obsessed about this, trying different ways to attach and different things to attach, until about 2 hours before the group was to begin. Then I did the next best thing and sat down with a good book, forgetting about my creative "challenge". I also reminded myself that the purpose of the group is to have a good time and create community, along with creating the project at hand. So why not get out the bags of artificial flowers and make Thanksgiving/fall centerpieces. This thought occurred to me about an hour before the group was to meet.

We began by painting our flower pots a dark green. Onto that we dabbed copper and iridescent yellow. Next we pushed a piece of florist foam into the pot and stuck the glittery fronds along with silk flowers into the foam. A good time was had by all. Our tables are lovely. Good things happen when we go with the flow!

Communication

2011-10-31T08:30:00.001-05:00

I was recently shopping at Marshall's, hoping against hope that I would find something that would make me look ravishing, world-wise, and capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time. Dare to dream. I did manage to find a pair of jeans that did not make me look ridiculous.

In the next aisle over was a young couple - she, looking through sweaters and he, dutifully tagging along. After a few minutes he said, "I thought you came here to buy shoes." I guess with communication would come understanding. Not all men understand the communication of what exactly is going to happen when some women go shopping for shoes. Not all women understand the understanding of some men when they hear a woman say that she's going shopping for shoes. Do you think that men and women should shop separate from each other?

I believe that it's important to know what we're communicating, and what the other person is hearing, when we use words. I also believe that it's important to be aware of what we're communicating with our facial expressions and postures. Once again I was at a training and had some professionals come up to me and state unequivocally that their residents will not do activities.

Flash back to an enlightening weekend spent learning about myself at an event known as Landmark Forum. When dealing with communication and behaviors, the participants at The Forum, were asked to consider the question, "Who am I being?" If a spouse or child is difficult to deal with we were urged to ask, "Who am I being that this person is behaving that way with me?" This was not done to assess blame, but rather to examine other ways of being with that person.

Bottom line, as anonymous said, "If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you always got." Perhaps it's simply a matter of changing the way we do what we do. And then learning how to walk and chew gum.

Christmas Centerpiece - Part 1

2011-10-19T08:50:00.002-05:00

This year we decided to get a jump on Christmas and turn our centerpiece project into two sessions. For session one we made our gift wrap print that would cover our boxes. Session two, still to be completed, will have us covering boxes with our original papers and adding ribbon and a star to the center. That session will happen in about two weeks, giving us a session in between to create a holiday gift for giving or something for Thanksgiving.

At home, a few days before the session, I made up samples, using red, green, and gold acrylic paint, of what the paper could look like. I used simple stamping tools that included cardboard tubes from paper towels, corks, and strips of cardboard that were dipped into paint to make lines and dots. The samples looked like this.

If it's one thing I've learned over the years of doing projects with seniors, is that their ability to interpret projects takes creativity to new levels. Their stamped papers looked like this.

Guess Who's The Class Clown

For the sample box I cut the paper into two inch squares and pasted on the squares, overlapping as I went along. For our group session we'll cut their creations into large enough pieces to cover an entire side of a box to better exhibit their work.

Enjoy your holiday projects!

Witches and Monsters and Fun, Oh My!

2011-10-13T10:14:00.000-05:00

This week we did a quick and fun table decoration for Halloween. Next week we're going to start on a more complex Christmas centerpiece project for the tables, interspersing their creation with a Thanksgiving project. The holidays are upon us!

For our Halloween project we used mailing tubes for bodies, Styrofoam balls for the heads, a bit of paper for arms, and pipe cleaners for hands, hair on our monsters and witches, and the handles of the brooms. We also used pony beads on the faces for mouths or noses, depending on where they landed on the face, and some googly eyes. To attach the head to the body we used my favorite adhesive, gloss gel.

Supplies:
Styrofoam balls
Mailing tubes or Pringle cans or some such tub
Craft paint - purple, green and black
Googly eyes
Pipe cleaners
Pony beads, optional, you could paint on mouths and noses
Paper to create wrap around arms, broom bristles, and witch hats
Gloss gel
Pushpin for monster neck embellishment (every monster needs a bolt in his neck)

We began by painting the mailing tubes for the bodies, black for the witch and green for the monster. I painted the Styrofoam balls ahead of time at home because they took a bit of time to dry. I did the witch heads green and the monster heads purple.

Googly eyes were then attached to the heads with gloss gel and a pony bead pushed into the head for a mouth, or sometimes a nose. When the pony bead landed in nose position a mouth was painted onto the face with a small brush and some of the black paint used for the witch body.

To get matching paper for the arms I painted a brown paper bag on one side with the same paint used to paint the monster's body. Next the painted paper was cut into a two-inch wide strip. Gloss gel was spread onto the inside of the paper and a small loop of pipe cleaner set onto the end with an extra dab of gloss gel. Finally, the strip was folded shut and glued onto the body.

Witch hair was made by winding a bit of pipe cleaner around fingers or paint brush handles to create little springs that could be pushed into the side of the head below the hat. Monster hair was two short pieces of pipe cleaner stuck into the top of the head. Meanwhile, helper, Cathy, sat to the side constructing witch hats and brooms. Brooms were fringed paper wrapped around a pipe cleaner and glued in place with gloss gel. Hats were made by googling "making witches hats out of paper." The real directions used compasses and protractors. We used paper plates and jar lids to make our circles. Not as exact but fully functional.

To attach the heads to the mailing tubes a goodly amount of gloss gel was put onto the rim of the mailing tube and the head set in place. Next the head was lifted off of the mailing tube and the circle of glass gel imprinted onto the head marked the place where an additional amount of gloss gel was dabbed onto the head before it was once more placed onto the mailing tube to dry. Witch hats were then attached with gloss gel and the final monster touch of a pushpin into the neck completed the projects.

Resting With Friends After a Job Well Done

Nice to Know Notes:
Because our mailing tubes had a cover on the bottom we were able to insert a few stones into the tubes for weight. Although yarn would work equally well for hair and brooms we happen to have a considerable supply of pipe cleaners. And as Miss Piggy said, "You got to go with what you got!"

Attitude

2011-09-28T10:41:00.000-05:00

I recently spent an afternoon in a social situation with some acquaintances that I'm in contact with on a rather infrequent basis. One of the women in the group is an absolute strobe light when it comes to attitude. She enters the room with a beaming smile, tells about all the wonderful things going on in her life, and draws out people and their stories. She physically applauds other people as they relate incidents from their lives.

One would think that this woman has a charmed life. Not exactly. For work she's a nurse in a hospital unit for children. She deals with children and dying on a daily basis. In her personal life she is the mother of a mentally challenged daughter who is now a teen with the mind of a toddler. Yet she celebrates every small ability that her daughter has and every small accomplishment that her daughter makes, sharing with other the wonders of her special child.

The day we were together was a rainy, cloudy fall day. "Isn't the sky lovely when it's overcast like this," she said. There is no false bravado in this woman. Just an ability to look around and see and celebrate what's good in life and what's good in others. I'm grateful for people like this who I can call to mind when I'm doing the drama queen bit over some small inconvenience in my life. Thanks, Cathy.

Meetup

2011-09-22T10:14:00.003-05:00

Last night I attended our local book discussion group at the library where we discussed "A Reliable Wife." I liked the book and the group, which led me to invite the group to my house at the end of this month for an evening of Yahtzee. I've been meaning to get together more often with people that I enjoy being with but one thing always seems to lead to another and such things keep getting pushed to the side. The invitation is out there and I'm excited to have an evening with friends, old and new.

As the book group was preparing to leave one of the women, who was new to the group, came up to me to tell me about groups that meet and share common interests. The groups function under the title Meetup. According to her understanding, these groups began 10 years ago after 9/11 as a way to help people connect in their communities. She said she's been going to a Scrabble Meetup group that gets together once a week, during the day, to play Scrabble. The members of this group decided that they didn't want to drive after dark so set up their meeting time to accommodate this group decision.

I searched the Meetup site in my area and found walking, biking, dining, yoga, meditation, vegan, moms, and singles groups, just to name a few. These are offline clubs, as opposed to the hundreds of online friends a person might have as they sit home alone.

Numerous studies show that people with friends have better health, both physical and mental, and live longer. As people who work in a caring profession it's also important to care for ourselves. One way is by nurturing friendships. Meetup makes it easy.

Our Paper Quilt

2011-09-14T09:10:00.001-05:00

Artfully Arranging

At long last our lovely quilt is finished. We did it using 10x10 inch designs that were colored in by the residents using crayons or markers. Markers gave a darker more vibrant color while the crayons resulted in lovely, soft shades of color. Next, the residents arranged the squares on a piece of black poster board. Finally, the squares were attached and the board was hung as a wall hanging.

What I especially liked about this project was the many levels of involvement. Residents were able to choose designs that were of varying skill levels and also choose either crayons or markers to work with. I like when participants can have choices about the project. I also like group projects and projects that can be prominently displayed for residents and visitors to enjoy.

Our Lovely Quilt

One oversight in this project - we did not make copies of the designs before they were colored in for a repeat performance of this activity in the future. Live and learn!

Thirty Days

2011-09-09T09:36:00.000-05:00

In July I posted about a TED presentation given by Matt Cutts who challenged people to try doing something for 30 days, stating that anyone can do anything for just 30 days. Right on, Matt! I said that I was going to take up that challenge and report back on the results. Well, Matt was correct about one thing. It is possible to do something for thirty days, whether it's an exercise, eating or cleaning course of action. But something else happened during those thirty days.

I found out that I accomplish more during the day if I have a check list to follow. I found that I had a less stressful day if I attack the check list first thing in the morning, rather than telling myself that I could get to my tasks later in the day. I found out that I can quite easily become an obsessive person. But the biggest surprise of all came when I realized that there were some things that I passionately enjoyed doing and some things that I eventually decided I could live without. The surprise part was realizing the things that I enjoyed as opposed to things that I thought I should be doing.

What I enjoy, or how I spent 30 days this summer. I found that I thoroughly enjoy reading, cooking, and cleaning. I am now in the midst of purging my house of unused objects and general clutter. I found that such a home is EASY to maintain and a delight to live in. Plus it absolutely freaks out my husband who had heard me state in regard to cleaning, "After four years it doesn't get any worse".

As far as cooking I'm finally using all those cookbooks that I've collected over the years, which led to the creation of my recipe blog. My current experiment is with raw foods and the incredible world of raw foods beyond salads. Exploring flavors has become a delight for me and a terror filled experiment for my husband who thinks that Twinkies are a major food group.

And finally, summer reading. I've read more books these past few months than I generally read in a year. A great resource for a reading list is the book "Tolstoy and the Purple Chair," by Nina Sankovitch, which led to her "read all day" blog. Check out the blog for 365 book reviews on books written by 365 different authors.

Well, have you tried anything for 30 days? Any discoveries about yourself? I'm still using my daily check list and accomplishing more of the things that I love to do which gives me more time to explore other options for my life. Who knows where this may lead. I'm looking forward to finding out.

Silk Scarves Revisited

2011-09-05T08:17:00.000-05:00


Orange Pink and Yellow Scarf

I recently visited a facility and conducted an activity period where we dyed silk scarves with bleeding tissue, a project that I've shared in the past. The challenge to working in the space provided was the lack of space. I love a challenge.

First of all, it was obvious that we'd not be able to set up the Styrofoam board that we usually use as a base for the scarves. Long story short - I experimented at home and came up with a quick and easy method to dye the scarves using a minimum amount of space. The trick is to place the scarf on a piece of plastic that's slightly longer and and about two and a half times wider than the scarf. The scarves, of course, had been soaking beforehand in a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water for about 30 minutes. This removes the sizing and makes the scarf ready to absorb color.

Once the scarf was in place on the plastic I covered half of the scarf with selected colors of bleeding tissue, the Spectra brand, which is absolutely the best. The tissue was already cut into squares that were about 3x3 and I used 4 to 5 layers of tissue to provide a rich color. Next, I folded the other half of the scarf on top of the first half of tissue covered scarf, patted it down, and spritz it with water using a spray bottle. Finally, I folded the scarf into the plastic, which was actually a piece of drop cloth cut to size, and rolled it up into a sausage shape. At this point it was a matter of squeezing the plastic enclosed scarf for about a minute to make sure that the color was being absorbed.

Voila! Once unrolled and dried with a hand held hair dryer the scarf was lovely and ready for the final steps, which include allowing the scarf to rest for 24 hours, and then giving it a final 30 minute vinegar water soak (1/4 cup vinegar to a quart of water) to set the color. A final clear water rinse and pressing and the scarf is ready to wear.

Note: Scarves we use are the 8x54 silk scarves available online from Dharma Trading. At present they are selling for $2.39 each or $2.24 if you purchase 12 or more. What a deal! Spectra bleeding tissue is available online from Dick Blick. Drop clothes are available in any paint department.

Final Note: Make sure you use colors that will bleed well together. Blue and yellow will create green while red and yellow will create some lovely shades of orange. Enjoy!

Music and More in Iowa

2011-08-26T08:52:00.001-05:00

A facility in Iowa recently took me up on my Music and More offer, so off I went to a lovely little town just an hour past Dubuque. The plan was to play my accordion, musical instrument of ages, and then retire to the dining room for an activity, namely, dying silk scarves with bleeding tissue.

As I arrived early I was given a tour of the facility by the Activity Director, Lisa. We headed for the dining room where lunch was in progress. I was immediately struck by the atmosphere in the dining room and couldn't help but comment. As the lunch progressed the staff went about their business with pleasant smiles, while the residents ate and visited with each other. When the staff did speak to the residents they spoke to them as if they were cherished friends, not a task to be accomplished.

After lunch, when the resident gathered for the music, they were full of care for one another as they got themselves seated. When the music began the residents spontaneously sang along. As for the activity, I decided to find a less cumbersome way to work with the scarves by eliminating the Styrofoam boards. Yes we did! That new and improved scarf dying method will be posted on this blog early next week.

Thanks to Lisa, the staff, volunteer Irene, and the residents for blessing me with a beautiful day. How fortunate they are to live and work in such a caring facility.

The Far Shore of Aging

2011-08-15T07:59:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have not yet explored the American Public Media program, On Being, (formerly, Speaking of Faith) with Krista Tippett, I highly recommend this series of programs. I recently checked in and found a presentation. The Far Shore of Aging by Jane Gross, author of The New Old Age blog at the New York Times.

Gross addresses issues of aging and care-giving. Currently, a large portion of the population is involved in the care-giver roll as seniors live longer, but not always healthier, lives. She calls this the in-between time when people are caring for their parents but also caring for themselves. The other in-between happens as caregivers are caught between guilt and exhaustion. As care-giving professionals it's nice to have resources that address all the issues that are faced day to day.

To listen to the entire podcast, which aired on July 21, Google "On Being". There you'll find a wealth of food for the spirit with a new program posted every week.

What's Cooking!

2011-08-08T13:13:00.001-05:00

Lately my involvement in healthy food and recipes has grown and outgrown this blog and taken on a life of its own. Constant researching and tweaking of dishes along with foisting some of my favorite discoveries on friends has expanded into a new creative outlet - a separate recipe blog at loveyathemom.blogspot.com.

The name of the blog comes from the usual sign off I use on letters and emails to family and friends - Loveya, The Mom. And this blog is filled with not only love but longing. I have a great love of good food and a longing to be able to enjoy such food without placing my health in jeopardy. For those of you who have not yet heard the annoying fact, today's generation of young people, for the first time in modern history, will have a shorter lifespan than their parents. It seems that fast food consumption along with the myriad of processed and/or modified foods that fill the shelves at grocery stores are taking their toll.

So join me at my new recipe blog, which is easily accessible by clicking on the "Recipes" link under Resources at the top of this page. One of my goals is to nudge people toward consuming at least 75% of their meals from the vegetable category. Another goal is to find delicious foods that contain easy to find ingredients as well as to introduce readers to new ingredients that please the palate. Yes, my focus will be on vegetarian dishes with a strong bent toward vegan, as I believe in the benefits of such an eating plan.

Good food, good health, and lots of energy. What a great payoff for just a little more effort!

Loveya
The Mom

Quilt Design II

2011-07-27T15:18:00.003-05:00

This is one of my favorite designs for the quilt squares that we're coloring for our wall-hanging, paper quilt. It's also one of the most difficult to explain. But here goes.

The name of this design is called Rick's Paradox and is done within a triangle. The first four triangles in the example show the progression of the design, while triangle #5 shows the finished design. You begin, as shown in triangle #1 by drawing a straight line from one of the sides down to a corner. Next, turn the triangle and draw another line from the next side down to the corner. The red lines in the drawings show the line that's added.

Turn the triangle once again and draw your third line, always bringing your new line to a point against the previous line. Continue turning and drawing lines until you come to the middle. As you can see in sketch #5, the design looks as if it is a swirl design in spite of the fact that the entire design is made up of straight lines.

A nice size for the triangle would be about 5x5 or larger. While some residents might become proficient at drawing the design, others might color it in a two or three color pattern. A great addition to a wall-hanging quilt.

Cork Trivets

2011-07-21T14:18:00.001-05:00

Three Trivets

In the past we've made cork trivets for our arts and crafts group. The first time we purchased the wooden frames, which were a bit pricey. The second time we had a generous volunteer, handy with woodworking, who said he could whip up the frames in no time. That he did but declared that the job was a bit tedious and required way too much time.

But being the recipient of a multitude of corks from a local restaurant I knew there had to be an easier and less pricey way to do the project. So I got out my favorite adhesive, gloss gel, and wondered if I could simply stick the corks together without a frame. Voila! It really works.

Trivet Done in a Pattern

I simply put a nice dab of gloss gel on the parts of the corks that would be touching and they stuck together quite nicely. Next I let the trivet dry for a few days. As I final step I'm going to gloss gel them to a base of cardboard, perhaps covered with a nice wallpaper scrap. I also have some thin pieces of cork tile that might work as a base and give the trivet a little more stability. An easy project and a delightful way to spend some time together!

Fennel, Optional

2011-07-13T09:05:00.000-05:00

First I'm going to give you the original recipe, which is so delicious and easy. Then I'm going to give you the options. The reason that there are options is because I went to the produce department of our local grocer and asked if they had any fennel. The person in charge looked at me as if I had just asked for the head of a walrus on a platter. No, you won't find fennel in every produce department. When you do, however, it makes one tasty summer salad.

Ingredients:
1 bulb of fennel, sliced thin
1 small red onion, sliced thin
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
1/2 to 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Simply place the thinly sliced fennel and red onion on a plate, sprinkle with a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and top with the Parmesan cheese. I have made this original version as listed above and it's delicious. But not every dish works out as planned

One particular day I couldn't find fennel, or the head of a walrus, so I used napa cabbage. You could also use regular cabbage but I like the mild flavor of napa cabbage. Also, I had planned to make a meal out of this salad so I began with a layer of lettuce from the garden before I put down the napa cabbage and red onion. And finally, to give the dish a bit of color, I added some slices of tomato, which look amazingly like red pepper in the picture. Actually, almost any veggie would be lovely.

For the non-vegetarians a bit of chicken or tuna or crispy bacon could be added.

Enjoy!

Thinking Inside the Box

2011-07-07T13:16:00.001-05:00

Here's another group of designs that can be used for a paper quilt wall hanging. All of them are based on a checkerboard design with slight variations on that simple pattern. These variations can create more interesting and sometimes challenging patterns which allows for participation at various skill levels.

The most basic checkerboard design shown is made more complex by doing an X pattern with a second color inside the uncolored squares. For even greater complexity sections of the X squares can be colored in, which was done in some of the sample squares.

The dark blue pattern is simply straight horizontal lines intersected by wavy vertical lines. The green and blue design has the vertical lines going off at a slant. Both of these designs provide larger spaces for coloring in but could be made more challenging by drawing the lines closer together.

The orange designs has both the horizontal and the vertical lines drawn on a slant, with the white space decorated with a circle. Triangles, squares, stars, or simple stamps could also be used to decorate the uncolored squares.

The sample shown is simply a piece of card stock divided in four with designs made with markers. Remember to keep it simple, create community as you create your designs, and sometimes know that it's alright to think inside the box.

2011.5

2011-07-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

Yes, it's half way through 2011 and many of us have conveniently forgotten our New Year's resolutions. So maybe it's time for a 2011.5 resolution. I was inspired along this train of thought by a TED video. Have you discovered Ted.com yet? Give it a look.

This week on TED a video by Matt Cutts urges viewers to try something new for 30 days. Cutts goes through his own list of new adventures. He wrote a novel, which is basically a 50,000 word book, which comes out to less than 1700 words a day for 30 days. Cutts says that his novel is no good, but he now has the right to introduce himself as a novelist rather than a computer scientist.

Other adventures on Cutts list included riding his bike to work for 30 days, not eating sugar for 30 days, and taking a picture every day for 30 days. The gist of the presentation is that small changes are sustainable, so it's possible to do just about anything that you've always wanted to do for a period of 30 days.

My 30 day goal? I also watched a TED video that said that people who announce their goals are less likely to do them. I'll let you know in 30 days.

Swiss Chard

2011-06-28T17:13:00.001-05:00

My Happy Swiss Chard Bed

This is not so much a recipe as an Ode to Swiss Chard and its abundance. Last year I planted four rows of Swiss Chard and was buried in it. This year I planted two rows and am still overwhelmed by it's ability to thrive. Next year Swiss Chard has an iffy future when it comes to my garden. Perhaps it's the vegetable scraps that I bury in my garden that turn to compost and nourish my crops. Whatever.

At any rate, if any of you are also suffering from veggie overload, I have a few quick recipe ideas about how to dispose of your surplus.

One of the good things to know if you're dealing with crops such as Swiss Chard and other green leafy vegetables is that they wilt when lightly steamed. That means that you can get rid of a very large amount simply by searing it in a hot pan with just a little bit of oil. The water left on the leaves from washing the greens provides the necessary moisture to create the steam. Then, for your more finicky eaters, just slather on a tablespoon of butter.

No takers on that? Steamed greens can also be added as a lasagna layer or chopped fine and added to the top of a pizza and camouflaged by a light sprinkle of cheese. Chopped and steamed greens also blend well in casseroles, especially those made with rice or pasta.

Still in need of ideas? Large, shiny greens can also be added to floral bouquets. Can you hear the desperation in my voice? You should see my flower bed's lettuce border!

Dad

2011-06-23T09:49:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, on June 17th, Dad died at 6:40 AM. He was 96 years old. I was called on Thursday at midnight by the nurse on duty at the nursing home and told that Dad would probably not make it through the night. After sitting with him for two hours I went home to get some sleep. I returned at 6:15 in the morning, greeted by the nurse, and told that she was happy I made it back in time.

Dad's passing was a gentle event. It left me with a great feeling of peace. I believe the nurse knew, through experience, what a gift it is to be with loved one's at the time of their death. The biggest problem for me is that I've been going to the nursing home every morning for over four years and feeding dad his breakfast. I feel as if I'd been fired from a job and now need to readjust my mornings.

The celebration of dad's life was a happy and slightly raucous occasion. People described dad as one of the kindest and most humorous people they had to privileged of knowing. My brother, Dan, read a list of dad's sayings, including his critique to golfers - "The trouble with your swing is that you were standing too close to the ball after you hit it."

Thanks, dad, for all the great words of wisdom.

"I was waiting for such a long time, she said. I thought you forgot. It's hard to forget, I said, when there is such an empty space when you are gone." Brian Andreas - Story People.

Four Little Words

2011-06-15T12:34:00.000-05:00

One of my new favorite books is a small publication entitled "Four Word Self Help, Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives" by Patti Digh. I wrote about attending a presentation by Digh back in April. In this book of hers, Digh (pronounced to rhyme with sigh) distills wisdom for life into four well-chosen words, suggesting that the complexity of life may well lie in simple actions.

In the section on generosity some of the four word statements include, "Show up for someone" and "Be kinder than necessary." Under community Digh advises readers to "Create your own tribe," "Let other people in," and "Give up toxic people."

The four words that caused me many moments of reflection came from an incident in Digh's life when she was relating to a friend all the things on her to-do list that were eating up her time. Her friend asked her what in her life gives her the greatest joy. He listened as she explained her passion for writing and then asked, "Patti, what would it take for you to clear your calendar so you could do more writing?" Digh concludes by musing that sometimes out "stop-doing" list needs to be bigger than our "to-do" list. Summed up in four words - "Leave some things undone."

I hope you have a chance to pick up some of Digh's books, all of which are filled with thoughts about being alive in this world and seeking a life of quality. She also challenges readers to write their own phrases of four word self help. Try it for yourself. You can do it!

Ode To A Watermelon

2011-06-07T12:02:00.000-05:00

This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a real recipe, unless you count the fact that you have to cut something up and put it in a bowl as meal preparation. I have been known to stretch lesser incidents into facts of great merit. What this really happens to be is a bunch of facts about the goodness of watermelon and an attempt to get out of cooking for a whole day. Doesn't that sound like a worthy endeavor?

This all came about because one of my dear friends, Molly, told me that every now and then she takes one day in the summer and eats nothing but watermelon for the whole day. Sometimes she might repeat this kind of a day depending on the weather and the availability of sweet melons. She said that this makes her feel really good because there is so much water in a watermelon (hence the name) that her kidneys get a good flushing. I believe it makes her feel really good because she doesn't have to cook for a whole day.

Anyway, the temperature has spiked up into the 90's and our local grocer has sweet, seedless melons on sale for $3.50 each. But not wanting to rush into anything that might be detrimental to my health, I Googled "watermelon" to find the nutritional lowdown. Of course, there was not complete agreement on all of the facts, as one site said that a cup of watermelon contains 2 grams of fat and all the other sites say 0 grams of fat, but on one thing they all agreed - watermelon is really good for you, but don't tell the kids.

First of all, watermelon is packed with some of the most important antioxidants in nature and is also a source of the potent carotenoid antioxidant, lycopene. Yes, that's the same antioxidant that's found in tomatoes, but I'd much rather sit down to a bowl of watermelon chunks. Maybe that's just me. This means that watermelon helps fight inflammation that contributes to conditions like asthma, atherosclerosis, diabetes, colon cancer, and arthritis. When paired with green tea, watermelon may greatly reduce a man's risk of developing prostate cancer. One article suggests brewing up some green tea, chilling it, and whirling it around with some watermelon chunks and a splash of lime juice in a blender.

Well, the list goes on and on talking about macular degeneration, erectile dysfunction and insulin sensitivity, but that was not the information I was seeking. The questions of the day were, how can I pick out a good watermelon and will eating a whole watermelon make me fat?

To choose a good watermelon, according to one expert, look for a melon that is heavy for its size with a relatively smooth rind. Also, look for an area that has a distinctly different color from the rest of the melon - a yellowish or creamy tone. This is the place where the melon rested on the ground and probably means that the melon was allowed to ripen on the vine. Melons without this marking may be negatively affected in taste, texture and juiciness.

As far as the impact on my girlish figure, it seems that watermelon is about 92% water. which explains the kidney flushing properties. Calorie wise, a whole watermelon is only about 1000 calories. But the best part is the impact that a day of watermelon has on my attitude. Just imagine a day of eating whenever you feel like simply by dishing up a bowl full of watermelon chunks. I highly recommend cutting up an entire melon early in the day so the prep work is finished once and for all.

My own regime was to begin the day with my usual smoothie, have a large, lovely salad for lunch, and spend the second half of the day munching on melon. A great day, indeed, with very little time spent in the kitchen.

Quilt Design I

2011-06-04T10:52:00.005-05:00

We're about to embark on an ongoing project. The idea is to draw and color quilt squares and then hang them directly on a wall or attached to ribbon in order to make a quilt wall hanging. For this project we're going to use some of the designs that I learned in a mini-course that I took this spring. The designs are easy to create and result in some awesome patterns.

This first design is done by laying out a square of dots that are equidistant apart. On the samples shown the dots are 1.5 inches apart. A smaller distance would work but I wouldn't get much

Dots and Beginning "S" Lines

larger than that.

After the dot pattern is set begin by making the letter "s" from one dot to the dot directly below. When all the dots are connected in one direction, turn the paper 90 degrees and repeat, creating "s" sided squares. Don't worry if all of your "s" lines are not exactly alike. It will still look great.

Finished Square

When your designs is finished you can color in the squares in any number of patterns. The materials used in the examples are card stock and a black sharpie.

We'll be showing more simple designs in the next week or so and also our final quilt. What a fun and easy way to quilt!

Summer Soup

2011-05-24T10:49:00.002-05:00

This is a cold vegetable soup recipe I came upon, changed a bit, and served to two different sets of guests. All requested the recipe. It takes about 30 minutes to prepare but can be made a day or two ahead. Nice way to use all that great produce that's on it's way. Keeps well in the fridge.
Serves 8 to 10.

Place in a blender:
6 Roma tomatoes
1/2 red onion, peeled and chopped
4 cloves of garlic
fresh basil and dill to taste
2 T lemon juice
2 t salt or to taste
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup raisins
1 red bell pepper, chopped
pickled jalapeno to taste (optional)

Blend well on medium speed.
Slowly add 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes while blender is running.

In a large bowl combine:
5 more Roma tomatoes, diced
another 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, diced
1 avocado, peeled and diced
3/4 cup frozen corn
1/2 sweet yellow pepper, diced

Poured blended mixture over the chopped vegetables in the bowl and stir well. Chill and serve garnished with finely chopped parsley.

Enjoy!

Two Questions

2011-05-21T06:57:00.000-05:00

The other day I stopped at my favorite yarn shop. After purchasing a few skeins of yarn for projects that were skittering around in my brain I stopped at the counter up front to get a coffee drink to take with me. Behind the counter was a quiet young man wearing a top hat and stripped apron. He is the question man.

Regular or decaf, milk or soy, hot or iced, here or to go. I thought that was the about the extent of his questions. Then, while concocting my iced decaf latte with soy to-go he asked, "So, what have you done so far today that was fun?" Silence. Think, think. Then I told him that I had just played my accordion at the nursing home for my dad. Then I thought, did I really have fun, or was it simply on my Friday morning to-do list? What can I do to make sure that it's fun?

He seemed satisfied with my answer and we talked about the resurgence of the accordion, and I taught him the definition of perfect pitch. Perfect pitch is when you toss an accordion into a dumpster and it hits a banjo. Some people actually think that that's funny.

But he wasn't finished. Next he asked, "What do you have planned for later today that you're really excited about doing?" I didn't have an answer. I just never thought of planning my days with those questions in mind. What have I done that's been fun, and what's in my plan for the rest of the day that has me excited. It seems I've been coasting through my days guided by a to-do list. It seems that I'm sinking into the state of becoming a human doing instead of a human being. Silence. More silence.

How about if I start every day with those two questions. Maybe check up on my progress at lunch. I think I'll give it a shot. I'll let you know what happens.

Summer Sandwich

2011-05-14T15:16:00.000-05:00

It came to my attention that I did not share a recipe last month, which is inexcusable as I have been trying new recipes right and left. This month there will be extra recipes that are just perfect for the warm weather that is now creeping across the country.

This particular sandwich is made in a pita pocket bread and can contain almost any vegetable that can be cut into thin strips. I've included my favorites in the recipe below, but don't be afraid to experiment.

Ingredients:
Beets, carrots, peppers, and/or radishes cut into thin strips
Sprouts - alfalfa or mung bean or your favorite
Pita bread
Magic sauce, which consists of a mixture of:
1 t honey
1 t mustard
1 T mayo
Play around with the ingredients of the sauce until it's to your liking.

Warm the pita over an open flame or in a hot oven to make it pliable. Cut it in half if need be and gently open each half. Insert the veggies of your choice. Top with sprouts. Drizzle on some sauce. Absolutely delicious.

Confession - For those of you who have not caught on yet, I am a vegetarian and so all of the recipes I'm sharing are vegetarian recipes. Also, I was out of beets so the sandwiches in the picture contain daikon, tomato, sprouts and sauce. Still delicious.

Weaving

2011-04-26T18:20:00.000-05:00

This is a simple project that requires just a bit of prep time putting together the base, which consists of some light, plastic fencing edged with duck tape. For two of the edges I used a plastic edging that someone donated to our project stash.

I did the prep work at home and then took the edged pieces, along with pieces of ribbon and other simple embellishments, to our Tuesday activity group. Because we used the plastic with the larger holes it was rather simple for the residents to weave the ribbon. We did have some rather wide ribbon, which we cut down the middle to make sure that all of the ribbon strips were a bit narrower than the holes.

The actual size of the base we used was about 12x15. The residents wove along the 12 inch length, making each row quite manageable. Because we added flowers and butterflies the finished projects will be hung on resident's doors to encourage warm spring weather to hurry along.

Oops

2011-04-23T06:38:00.002-05:00

The other day, while visiting dad at the nursing home, another visitor that I've come to know stopped by with news and pictures of a new granddaughter. There were smiles and excitement as we marveled over the peaceful smile on the babies face and the amount of beautiful, dark hair. I enjoyed the pictures and handed them back to the new grandmother, who then handed them to the CNA who was there.

It was only after they left with the pictures that I realized that none of us had thought to share the pictures with the two residents who were sitting with us at the table. Even though it was the memory care unit, both were women who are communicative and known to all of us. But there they sat, smiling as we talked about the baby, but not included in the picture viewing or conversation.

How sad that we so unconsciously contribute to making the senior population invisible. So sad that we've also taken away their voices. A number of years ago there was an uproar over security cameras in senior care facilities. The argument against them was that they would infringe on the privacy of the residents. Perhaps they could also be the eyes and the voice for the residents, documenting their lives for our edification and/or education. Sometimes it's just too easy not to see.

Unhook Your Buttons

2011-04-21T09:57:00.000-05:00

There are some wonderful advantages to aging. For one thing, aging keeps a person from the option. When an elderly relative of mine would lament, "Don't get old!" I would always ask, "What's the option?" Aging means you haven't yet experienced that option and there's still time to clean out the junk drawer, or whatever you see as necessary in order to fulfill your personal definition of success.

The other advantage of aging is the gift of time which offers the opportunity to develop perspective. The word, impossible, can morph into the words, I'm possible. And then there's that blessed gift of time that allows us to better understand our most interesting selves. We get to see, if we're brave enough to look, our quirks and foibles, but also our strengths and beauty.

In the foible department, I've finally come to recognize some of my personal buttons. You know, those things that annoy the dickens out of me. My hot buttons. What those actual buttons are is irrelevant. How I react when one is pushed becomes the issue. You know those discussions that are like a hamster on a wheels. They go round and round and never get anywhere, and yet we engage in them because...? Beats me.

So what, I asked myself, would happen if instead of reacting to one of my favorite protagonist's annoying remarks (am I biased, or what!) I simply smiled. What if I responded with, "That's an interesting way to look at things." Another smile. I'm here to tell you that it drives that particular friend absolutely crazy! It also slows me down enough to listen and sometimes find out that they do have an interesting way of looking at some things. Emphasis on the words interesting and some. I'm not yet in the running for sainthood.

So try unhooking some of your hot buttons with the people in your life. It will give you more energy to develop the you that you long to become before this age thing runs out. And it will drive those disagreeing people crazy!

What You See Is What You Get

2011-04-19T10:35:00.001-05:00

Visions of Spring to Come

Time for a motivational speaker that will knock your socks off? Go to TED.com and under speakers look for Caroline Casey. This is a woman who was fortunate enough to have her parents lie to her, if omission is a form of lying.

Once again, her story supports the adage that we live into our beliefs no matter how askew they might be of what other people consider "reality". This short video makes me wonder if reality should be ranked right next to normal. Two very interesting words.

A word of caution. If you Google Caroline Casey the first listings you'll come up with are for Caroline Casey of Coyote Network, a visionary activist. OK. I've had the experience of hearing this Caroline Casey present at a conference I attended and she was another rattle your beliefs type presenter. But if you scroll down about a half dozen listings you'll see the Caroline Casey TED listing.

Great viewing while waiting for spring to burst forth. Come on, Spring!

Disclaimer: One of my creative writing teachers said that I was not allowed to capitalize the word, spring, unless my name was Emily Dickinson. So much for obeying all the rules. I repeat. Come on, Spring!

Meeting Patti

2011-04-18T09:15:00.001-05:00

In my last post I referenced a book, "Life is a Verb," by Patti Digh. By checking her blog I found out that Patti was scheduled to speak in various large cities around the United states, and also in Menomonie Wisconsin, a town of about 14,000 people and numerous cows. Serendipitously, Menomonie is but a four plus hour drive from my home and on the way to Minneapolis. Is this making any sense to you? Hold on!

The night of Digh's presentation in Monomonie was the night before my husband and I were planning a weekend in Minneapolis. There's more! My husband is a truck driver who drives to Minneapolis and back. He would actually be in the area the morning after the presentation and maybe (big maybe) he could convince the company he drives for to allow him to leave their semi-trailer at a truck stop for the weekend. We could then meet the morning after the presentation and save hundreds of miles of driving. Of course they wouldn't let him leave a trailer for the weekend, I thought. But of course, they did.

Early in my reasoning process (does this sound like I was being reasonable?) I almost brushed aside the possibility of hearing an author that I greatly admire. How foolish. I continue to learn that stepping into plans nudges things into place.

Patti Digh was beautifully marvelous. The first 100 attendees received a free copy of her new book, "Creative is a Verb". Yes, I did. I also purchased "Four Words Self Help: Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives" and "What I Wish for You: Simple Wisdom for a Happy Life". I also learned that life presents itself in response to effort. That's a really big thought that's going to take a bit of time to process.

Thanks to Patti for the beautiful evening, to the company that allowed one of its trailers to park for the weekend, and to my husband for stepping into these plans with me. A good time was had by all!

Lightening Up

2011-04-12T09:40:00.001-05:00

I just held a garage sale. The idea for this event came to me through a number of happenings in my life. First, I attended a presentation by a feng shui practitioner who encourages people to rid themselves of 90% of their possessions. Her question behind this suggestion is, do you own your things or do your things own you? Upkeep and storage of items caused me to use my energy on things I didn't necessarily want to be doing.

I did not hit the 90% goal with my sale. I aimed for 50% and hit about 20%. But even at the 20% mark my husband and I notice a new calmness in the house. We now have space to breathe. Things I seldom or never used no longer take up space. Did I really need 6 pie plates when I never bake pies? I saved my favorite pie plate for quiche baking, but a rectangular pan would work just as well, especially with a crustless quiche.

The second catalyst for my garage sale came from reading and mulling over the book, "Life is a Verb" by Patti Digh. The book is based on the time that Digh cared for her step-father during his 37 day end-of-life experience. It was a mere 37 days from his diagnosis to his death. She urges people to ask themselves about the important things in their lives - what they are and how to bring them front and center.

My goal this year is to simplify. I'm also being more thoughtful with the use of my time and energy, allocating them to the people in my life and to those things that I always meant to get around to. Spring sunshine and 20% less things to take care of seem to be a good start for me.

Paying Attention

2011-03-31T12:32:00.003-05:00

The other day I was visiting a senior care facility at mealtime. It was also at this time that the RN on duty was passing out meds. She was going at a pretty fast clip, but still taking time to interact verbally with each resident. Her comments were upbeat. This enabled her to dispatch her duties with little or no resistance from the residents. But maybe she was going a little too fast.

As she approached one woman in a wheelchair the resident immediately picked up her water glass, obviously knowing the drill. "I can see that you're a lefty," the nurse said in a cheerful voice. "You picked up your water glass right away with your left hand when you saw me coming." The resident didn't comment. An appropriate comment from the resident might have been, "Did you notice that I don't have a right arm?"

Just a little extra time. Just a few seconds more. Slowing down to inhabit their space and their world for just a little while. That shouldn't be too much to ask.

Pretty Kitty Waste Basket

2011-03-30T14:11:00.000-05:00

The reference to a cat in the title of this piece has nothing to do with the finished project presented this month. It has everything to do with the container that's recycled for this project, namely, a cat litter jug.

To create this project we simply cut the tops off of the containers so they resemble a small waste basket. I did this with a box cutter to start, and finished off with a scissors. Next, we took scraps of paper and some embellishments and attached them with our favorite adhesive, gloss gel. This is most easily done by brushing a section of the container with the gloss gel and placing a piece of decorative paper onto the section. We used paper cut into 2x2 inch pieces. Torn pieces of paper would also be nice to use.

It's good to start your first row about an inch from the top. The row that you place above that can then fold over the edge of the container and create a nice, smooth edge around the top, even if your container is cut a little uneven.

As far as choice of paper you could use old greeting cards, pictures from magazines, or old calendars. When the project was finished one of the activity people took the containers home and coated them with a few coats of polyurethane. This did not seem to affect the paper or the embellishments.

Besides using these containers for waste baskets, they could also be used to store magazines or mail. So very pretty, and the residents loved them!

Dry Clean Only

2011-03-28T14:11:00.001-05:00

I recently attended a presentation by a feng shui practitioner. It had a good news/bad news effect. Coupled with the "Spring Cleaning" bacteria that infects my psyche at this time of year, my house and possessions were in trouble.

Being the type of cleaner that I am, living by the motto, "After four years it doesn't get any worse," I approached my cleaning enthusiasm cautiously, starting with a few simple areas. But finally, I had to face my nemesis. Namely, my bathroom.

Although the above mentioned room is sanitary, if you don't count dust bunnies, the room had one irksome cleaning dilemma. The shower curtain, which in spite of it's beauty, had collected a bit of soap scum on one of its corners. Aside from that it hangs there in all its glorious gold and cream brocade, sporting a little tag that says, "Dry Clean Only." And so you ask, who would be the idiot to purchase a dry clean only shower curtain. Guilty as charged.

Realizing that I was unwilling to live any longer with the soaped up corner, and also unwilling to take a shower curtain to the dry cleaners, I grit my teeth and threw the shower curtain into the washer, wishing it the best of luck. The worst case scenario would be a ruined curtain which would allow me to shop for a new one. There are worse things in life. Magically, however, the shower curtain came out of the washer in pristine condition. Soap scum gone, fabric unscathed.

Isn't that the way it goes. Sometimes we live with irksome conditions, unwilling to take a chance and ask that simple question, "What's the worst thing that could happen?" Armed with this success, the rest of my rooms, and perhaps other parts of my life, are in for some makeovers. My new question is, "What's the best thing that could happen?"

Why We Talk

2011-03-12T12:18:00.000-06:00

I recently read an article with ideas on why people talk. Instinctively, I'd probably respond that people talk in order to gather or give information. The article took a different slant and caused me to take another look at my interactions with the senior population.

According to the article, we talk in order to make ourselves known and to position ourselves. We make ourselves known by revealing things about ourselves and making a noise that tells other people that we exist. We position ourselves by getting reactions to, and repeating our stories that get positive reactions.

For instance - if a young child you know, such as your own child, a grandchild, a niece or nephew, or some other small person, does something that you consider interesting or note worthy, it's likely that you're going to share the story with those you come in contact with. So, you might come to work and relate that this child corrected a teacher in math class and proved that they (the child) had a better understanding of the subject matter than the teacher did. You tell a co-worker who says how proud you must be and what brilliant children you have in your family. Score! A story, obviously, worth repeating throughout the day. You bask in the accolades given to someone that you know.

But what if the reaction you encountered ran something like, "What a belligerent little snip that child seems to be. I only hope you're watchful so the child doesn't grow up to be a mass murderer!" Whoa! Get that reaction a few times and you might file your story in the "Do Not Share" file.

So we tell stories that will reflect positively on ourselves and on those who are part of our lives. There are also those stories where we're wronged or where we're heroes. These seem to be some of our culture's favorites.

So how does this affect the senior population in our care? All too often, when I work at or visit a facility I observe staff talking to each other instead of talking with the resident that they're dealing with. Whether it's feeding or exercising the resident, the staff member, all too often, is talking and looking through the resident. This is, of course, normal. That's because we're generally not going to get a reaction from the resident about the incidents we have on our story board for the day and which we consider worthy of note.

The other thing I've observed is that many times when a staff person passes other staff in the hall they greet each other, even though they both may be pushing a resident in a wheel chair or walking with a resident. Most often the residents look detached from what's going on around them. As an experiment I decided not to greet staff who are with residents. Instead, I'd make eye contact with the resident and give a greeting. It's amazing how their faces light up and they come into the present, delighted that someone is aware of their existence.

Finally, I'd like to give recognition to the vast majority of staff who share themselves, listen, and are present to those seniors who are cut off from social interactions in so many ways. It's a kindness to give them their opportunities to make themselves known and to appreciate the lives they led in the past and the time their sharing with us in the present. You are a blessing to their lives.

Thank you for all that you do.

Quinoa and Veggies - Recipe for Life

2011-03-09T08:47:00.000-06:00

This probably won't even qualify for sharing a recipe with you this month, which will make a little more sense once you read through the rest of this entry.

To begin with, the following recipe calls for, among other things, celery, small carrots, frozen peas, brown mustard seeds, paprika, coriander, and cashew pieces or sunflower seeds, all of which I did not have in the house when I decided to make this dish. Did I go to the store? Guess again. I substituted frozen carrots, broccoli and cauliflower for the veggies that I didn't have on hand, prepared mustard for the mustard seed (is that legal) and I ignored the rest of the missing ingredients.

The recipe also calls for soy sauce, which I had on hand, but failed to add. Go figure. Just one of those days. And isn't that what life is sometimes like. As Miss Piggy would say, "You got to go with what you got." She also said, "Never eat more than you can lift," which I consider words to live by.

But on to the recipe in its original form. What you do with the recipe once it's in your hot little hands is up to you.

Quinoa and Veggies

Ingredients
2 cups cooked quinoa
2 T cooking oil
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 small carrot, peeled and sliced
1 cup frozen peas
1 t brown mustard seed
1/2 t dry ginger
1 t paprika
1/2 t ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
1/2 t turmeric
pinch cayenne
1 T soy sauce
1/4 cup cashew pieces or sunflower seeds
1/4 cup chopped parsley - optional

In a large, shallow pan heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds and cook on medium high heat until the seeds begin to pop.

Add the carrots, celery, peas and nuts and stir-fry for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining spices along with 2 T water. Cover and steam until the veggies are tender. Mix in the quinoa and steam for a few more minutes until everything is hot. This would be a good time to stir in the optional parsley.

Serve and enjoy.

OK. You'll notice that the picture with this recipe is not a picture of quinoa and veggies. That's because we ate it all. Every last bite. It was simply delicious in its cobbled together form. The picture included is dad at age 96 and still finding things to smile about. Isn't life just full of wonderful moments!

Pretty Paper Part Two

2011-02-23T14:48:00.001-06:00

As promised, I have pictures of what we did with the decorative papers that we made by painting brown, paper bags. The most simple thing to make would be cards, which we still might do in the future. For our recent gathering, however, some residents combined our handmade, patterned paper with bits of other paper and ribbon to cover boxes to use as plant stands. There are always those plants with trailing vines that could use a little bit of a lift above the fray.

Some of the other residents used the patterned paper with other paper and bits of ribbon to cover boxes that can be used as trays for their dressers. A good place for earrings and other odds and ends. I did some larger pieces of paper, which I'm planning to make into wall hangings.

And as always, we created a sense of community and a sense of fun. And isn't that the whole point of activities!

Lentils and What!

2011-02-16T13:52:00.002-06:00

There are many reasons to eat. Sometimes eating fills in time while we're bored, or is a habit we perform while we're doing certain activities like watching TV. Sometimes I fall into these eating behaviors and forget that food is supposed to provide the nutrients to fuel and repair my body. When I come to my senses I make a few resolutions and try again.

And then there are a category of foods that I know are superior and would be a good addition to my diet. These are the foods that I struggle with, especially if they're not some of my favorites. So when I find a recipe that make them not only palatable, but delicious, I celebrate. Here's one of those recipes. It's a recipe for lentils and beet greens. Sounds interesting, doesn't it.

First a bit about lentils. Lentils are one of the cheapest forms of protein that you can purchase. They're also a rich source of dietary fiber which is beneficial for lowering cholesterol and prevents the sudden hike in blood sugar levels after a meal. Whew! As if that's not enough lentils are also good for the heart as they contain significant amounts of folate and magnesium, which inhibits damage to artery walls. There are also the flavonoids, good for preventing cancer, especially breast cancer. Almost makes you want to cheer! There's other good stuff about lentils but this is getting rather long and I'm sure you know how to Google. Also, it's time to talk about beet greens.

Beets are also cardiovascular friendly and offer protection against coronary artery disease and stroke, lowers cholesterol, and has anti-aging effects. Now that alone would be enough for me, but it seems that the leafy beet greens are considered more nutritious than the roots and contain more iron, vitamin A, potassium and calcium than the roots. Whew, again!

So here's the recipe that combines these two super foods and makes them delicious.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 t curry powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1 t ground ginger
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t cayenne
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 cup lentils, rinsed and drained
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
12 oz beet greens, washed and chopped
salt to taste

Optional garnishes, which I don't consider optional: diced tomatoes, diced avocado, Greek yogurt.

Combine everything except the beet greens and salt. Place in a slow cooker on low for about 6 hours. At the end of the 6 hours wilt the beet greens in a skillet for 3 or 4 minutes, add to the lentils, and cook for another 30 minutes. Salt to taste. Garnish, Eat.

To simplify this recipe you can put the beet greens into the slow cooker right at the beginning, which will cause them to become the same color as the lentils. I'm into simple. I can live with that.

My personal tweaks to this recipe involve adding a bit more broth than called for, diced celery and carrots. I also love the Greek yogurt, which has all the benefits of yogurt and tastes like sour cream.

Enjoy!

Awesome

2011-02-07T15:03:00.001-06:00

I recently viewed a TED video that "revels three secrets to leading a life that's truly awesome." Well, if that isn't an enticement, I don't know what is.

The presenter is Neil Pasricha, the recipient of two Webby Awards, one of them for having the best blog in the world. His blog led to offers from publishers and the subsequent book, "The Book of Awesome." Pasricha didn't even know that awards for blogs existed when he started his. He also notes in his presentation that there are 50,000 new blogs started every day. Obviously, someone is doing a lot of reading in order to come up with such awards.

The presentation is 17 minutes and 33 seconds long, keeping to the TED standard for presentations of around twenty minutes. To find Pasricha's talk Google TED. At their site click on "presenters" and then click on "P". It will take you to all the presenters whose last names begin with the letter P. Don't you just love technology!

In a world with lots of doom and gloom chatter I always find it brightens my day to tuck in a few uplifting moments. Pasricha's talk is one of them. Enjoy!

Beet Soup

2011-01-28T09:59:00.002-06:00

I just recently heard on a public radio program about the cardiovascular benefits of eating beets. Sure beats an hour on the treadmill. Here's one of my favorite beet recipes.

Ingredients:
2 large or 4 small roasted beets, diced
1 T olive oil
1 sweet onion, diced
1 medium potato, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
Veggie or beef broth
S&P to taste
1/2 t thyme is nice, too

Start by roasting the beets, which is simple enough to do. Remove the greens from the beets but don't cut into the beet proper. Wrap the beets securely in some foil with a few tablespoons of water and bake at 400 degrees for an hour. Allow them to cool, slice a small amount off of the top and root section, and slip the peelings off under running water.

While the beets are roasting saute the remaining vegetables in the olive oil until they get just a touch of color. Add enough broth to cover, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until tender. Add the roasted, diced beets.

At this point I like to cool the soup and put it into the blender to bring it to a chunky consistency. I also like to serve it with a splash of apple cider vinegar mixed into each bowl. Other great toppings include a spoon of sour cream or some warmed goat cheese.

True Confession - I find it a bit difficult to "write" recipes because most of the dishes I create contain whatever I have on hand or my new, great food passion. Right now I really have a thing for thyme. It goes into just about everything I make. My husband is delighted that I'm past my jalapeno phase. So if you happen to have some mushrooms or other veggies in the fridge that are about to expire, try them in your latest soup creation. Happy eating!

Activity-Centered Care

2011-01-17T09:41:00.000-06:00

I recently received an email from Monica Heltemes, Occupational Therapist and owner of MindStart, a company that creates activities for persons with memory loss. Monica sent an article published this month which once again states something most caregivers know. "Studies have shown that nursing home risidents with dementia spend 70-80% of their time with nothing to do." By not tapping into the remaining cognitive, social and emotions capabilities of persons with dementia living in Alzheimer's units, a state of "excess disability" or disability beyond what is directly attributable to the disease is promoted. Engagement, and how to engage persons with Alzheimer's, are then highlighted in the article with the words, routine, reduce and reassurance.

Routine can mean going with the flow with activities done in a typical order and time line each day. This could include not only activities that are typical to the daily routine of the facility but also activities based on the person's past interests.

Reduce refers to a reduction in the number of steps of a task, reduction in the directions given for the task, and reduction in the level of abstractness of the task. Multiple choice instead of open-ended questions and games with only matching involved are some of the ways toward reduction.

And reassurance offered in the form of praise and acknowledgment gives the person pride in the moment and a feeling that can last long after the activity.

Lastly, Monica has created a number of tools for use by staff, family members, or volunteers working with adults in memory care units. Take a look at what's available at the MindStart site - www.mind-start.com. And thanks to you, Monica, and other caregivers for all that you do.

Pretty Paper Part One

2011-01-10T11:48:00.005-06:00

Right after the busy holiday season we were looking for a fun and easy project. The project? Painted paper.

Supplies:
Brown paper bags or craft paper
Acrylic craft paint
Brushes
Masking tape

First the paper bags were cut into manageable pieces. We cut them into 9 to 10 inch squares. Next, we taped them into place, taping just two sides, onto flexible plastic that we use for work surfaces. This kept the paper stable while residents applied the paint.

We then painted the paper with acrylic craft paint and dried the pieces with a hand held dryer. Finally the paper was decorated with additional colors that were stenciled on, sponged on, or dotted on with a cotton swab. In the picture you can see strips of blue masking tape along the edges of the paper. That will be trimmed off so don't worry about the edges.

Bet you wonder what to do with all your lovely looking paper? That's going to happen on week two of this project and we'll show you next month. Bet you can come up with some great ideas of your own.

Resolutions

2011-01-03T13:07:00.000-06:00

I've often heard people discuss the possibility of a better world. I've also heard the opinion that one way to make a better world is to begin with the self, i.e. if everyone used all of the bettering energy on making themselves a better person, the world would naturally become a better place to live.

Truthfully, in my most cynical moments, I find that it's much easier to see the speck in someone else's eye. Also, it takes a lot less energy to criticize than it does to become a better person. These thoughts came to mind when a group of us got into a discussion about New Year's resolutions. Groan! Well, a person could take the easy way out and resolve to do something that they can't fail at, citing the benefit to their self-esteem, such as, I hereby resolve to gain at least ten pounds during the next year. Feeling good when you reach your goal? Probably not.

But the word, resolution, was causing discomfort in our group until someone suggested adopting an area of emphasis. They pointed out that having an area of emphasis did not have an end goal, such as losing ten pounds, but would rather concentrate on a certain way of being. This particular person said that they were going to focus on being more affirming to other people, pointing out people's contributions rather than their faults.

This could be as simple as a thank-you whenever someone gives an assist, or it could be an observation that puts a positive spin on someone's efforts. "That was nice of you to (fill in the blank). What a thoughtful thing to do." Takes about ten seconds to say. Could really make someone's day!

Breathing Space

2010-12-20T15:36:00.001-06:00

Holidays can be an extremely stressful time of the year. Especially for caregivers. So it's important to remember to take time for good self-care. As an observant botanist on a talk show said, trees grow big and strong because they have their growing season and their rest season. We humans, however, revel in our mile long to-do lists day in and day out, celebrating our exhaustion as a badge of honor. And there's always the anti-depressants to pull us through. Think about that. Does that seem to be the way life should be going?

But you're going to tell me that your life and your job demand constant attention with nary a minute per day for yourself. Been there and know that such situations truly exist. So why not some mini giggle breaks. As laughter is the best medicine, and stated by the infamous "they", I have a reading recommendation, which I'll give with a disclaimer.

The disclaimer is that the author is not shy about using words that might shock your grandmother. If you're in the camp with your grandmother you might want to skip these books. If, however, you just slide past such words and go for the giggles, I think you might enjoy. But enough explanations.

One of my favorite giggle break authors is Sloane Crosley. Two of her books that I've enjoyed are "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" and "How Did You Get This Number." I like her books because they make me laugh and because they're essays, so I can pick up a book and read a short section without having to remember a plot or where I was in the story. Essay titles include "Bring-Your-Machete-To-Work Day" and "The Good People of This Dimension." You get the idea.

After a few pages you might be ready to get back to your real life and figure out what to buy for that favorite person on your holiday list who is simply impossible to buy for. Maybe get them some books.

Peace

Lovely Ornaments

2010-12-13T09:37:00.000-06:00

This month we resurrected an activity that we did last year. It's simple and fun and the residents were anxious to repeat this project which produces such lovely ornaments.

Supplies:
Clear plastic ornaments
Acrylic paint
Small plastic cups

I purchased the clear, plastic ornaments at Michael's. They were already on sale at mid-November which gave us plenty of time to fit the activity into our holiday schedule.

The acrylic paint we prefer for this project, although any craft paint will work, is the Prang metallic paint that comes in a variety of glowing colors. For the ornament nestled on the stars above we used Prang red and gold metallic paint.

First remove the top from the ornament. Next, simply pour about two teaspoons of any color you choose, letting it pour down the inside of the ornament in two or three different places. Select a second color and repeat, allowing this color to flow in between the strips of the first color. Finally, hold a finger or thumb over the opening in the ornament and shake. We also found that tapping the ornament lightly on the palms of our hands got the paint to flow around and coat the inside of the ornament completely.

Tips - choose two contrasting colors, such as gold and red to get a nice effect. Also, choose colors that will create a lovely third color when mixed. This will help avoid the muddy look. Also, don't be afraid to try three or more colors inside an ornament.

Besides decorating a tree in the facility the residents can use the ornaments to give as gifts to family and friends. Happy Holidays!

Update

2010-12-02T15:16:00.000-06:00

Two short things to report. First, I tried the written note with a resident who asks repetitive questions. (See - Leave a Note, from 11/30) It worked! I used an 8.5x11 sheet of card stock and a colorful marker. One of her questions is whether her children know where she is. The note said, "Mary's children know where she is." She read the note on and off and stopped asking the question as we did a craft project and found that that was enough for reassurance.

Number two, for those of you who've purchased Book Two of creative ideas. The project for dying silk scarves with tissue paper lists the company for purchasing silk scarves as Dharma Trading Company. However, to find them on line it's dharmatrading.com, NOT dharmatradingcompany.com. They're two different companies. The dharmatrading.com will get you to the scarves.

Thanks to an activity person who's gearing up to create some awesome scarves for that information.

Leave A Note

2010-11-30T05:51:00.000-06:00

A good friend of mine recently sent me a link to an article that suggests that in some cases there might be a better or more effective way to communicate with persons with dementia. According to the article, it seems that even though words don't always make a lasting impression, and leads to the Alzheimer's patient repeatedly asking the same question, sometimes pictures and/or the written word can prove more effective and comforting to the person.

And isn't it good to remember that even though it can be disconcerting for family members and other professionals to deal with those suffering from Alzheimer's, it can be just as frustrating for the person suffering with the disease. Family members and professionals, it seems, can be not only the caregivers, but also develop tools to become comfort givers.

Check out the article at http://www.parade.com/health/2010/11/21-unlocking-the-silent-prison.html. And thank you for all that you do.

Red Cabbage Divine

2010-11-26T14:15:00.000-06:00

This is one of my favorite winter recipes. Delicious both hot and cold. It's sort of a sweet and sour red cabbage but much milder.

Ingredients:
1 medium head red cabbage cut into thin strips
1 cup pineapple juice
1 t salt
1/2 cup golden raisins
Tarragon vinegar - measurement to come later
1/300 tsp Stevia - that's a very small sprinkle

In a large kettle bring pineapple juice, cabbage and salt to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

While this is going on put the raisins into a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Next, pour in the tarragon vinegar to cover. When the first 20 minutes has expired toss this in along with the Stevia, mix, cover, and simmer for another 20 minutes. That's it. This is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day after it spends some time in the refrigerator getting to blend all of its flavors together.

NOTE ON TARRAGON VINEGAR: I make my own tarragon vinegar by purchasing cheap bottles of red wine vinegar and stuffing fronds of fresh tarragon into the bottles. This tarragon is growing in my garden and comes back every year.

A PICTURE IS WORTH??? I actually did take a picture of this dish. In fact, I took about a dozen pictures. All of them looked like a dish of purple worms. Sorry I had to be so blunt about it and I hope you're not eating right now. So instead of a picture of the cabbage I've included a picture of my dad. He's 96 and doing well and he loves sweet and sour purple cabbage. At least he loved it when he still had teeth!

Talking Turkey

2010-11-18T09:38:00.000-06:00

Here's a quick and easy table decoration for your Thanksgiving table. Supplies include a cardboard tube, some construction paper or wallpaper sample book paper, glue, a bit of ribbon, and googly eyes if you have them. Drawn on eyes also work well.

To begin, cut simple feather shapes out of the construction paper or wall paper samples and glue into a fan shape onto the back of the cardboard tube. Bathroom tissue tubes work well, as do mailing tubes. You could use food containers, such as containers from Pringles, but you'd need to cover them with paper or paint before attaching the feathers. Glue or draw on two eyes. The beaks are a small square of construction paper folded in half and pasted onto the tube just below the eyes.

We then glued the tubes onto circles of brown construction paper and added green or orange feet, which gave us a chance to use up some green and orange construction paper. Finally, we added a ribbon to make our creation more festive.

We did attempt to attach wattles, or that red hangy thing as we called it, but that got a little too complicated so our turkeys ended up hangy thing free. We still think that they're cute as can be and are a nice touch to the tables in the dining room.

Quesadilla

2010-10-30T20:18:00.002-05:00

Ingredients:
Tortilla - I like multi-grain or corn
Veggies or meat or a combination of the two
A bit of cheese

Use a baking pan or a large non-stick pan. Place tortillas on a baking pan that will eventually go into a pre-heated oven. If you're making lunch just for yourself place a tortilla into a non-stick pan on top of the stove. Add veggies and/or meat. Add a bit of cheese. Cover with a second tortilla and heat.

If I make this on the top of the stove I generally use a low heat and cover the pan. Cooking for a group I use a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes. Sometimes I warm the filling to make the process go just a bit quicker.

Some of my favorite fillings include veggies with a splash of salsa or roasted root vegetables and tofu in spaghetti sauce. Try your own favorite ingredients or flavors. Serve with a simple salad. I love this recipe because it's easy, versatile, and allows for variety, which we know is the spice of life. Mom taught me that.

Enjoy!

Attitude

2010-10-26T06:57:00.000-05:00

This has been a busy month of traveling throughout the Midwest to conferences. My last venture was my longest trip, a nine-hour drive that I had to make alone. For those who travel for a living this may not seem daunting, but as someone who generally sticks close to home, I was obsessing over this trip.

The day before I had to leave I dropped in on my hundred-year-old friend at the nursing home to see how she was doing and to share the story of my trip and my concerns. Without missing a beat she said, "Oh, you're going to have an adventure. You're going to see new things and meet new people and it will be wonderful." Reality check. I thought that the elderly were set in their ways and against change. Who is the elderly person in this scenario, I wondered.

So I set my GPS and my attitude and took off, ready for an adventure. I saw new places and I met some wonderful new people and all in all it was a great trip. The day after I returned home I went to thank my friend for her encouragement and her words that nudged me to look at life in this new way. "It's all attitude," she said. "If you look for the good it will be there."

I've been sharing this story with friends and looking at incidents from my life as an opportunity to experience new things and meet new people. I'm looking for the good. I read a book that urges people to start their day with the words, "Something wonderful is going to happen today and I can't wait to see what it is." I just might have to turn in my drama queen crown.

A Rose By Any Other Name

2010-10-17T10:17:00.000-05:00

We are doing the proverbial switching horses in mid-stream. As you can see, the label for this entry is "Resources". This will now replace the former label, "Book Reviews," which is obviously too narrow to cover all the different ways we get information about the work of Activities. So we will move forward from this point on with the label, "Resources."

First on the resource agenda is that Book Two from Second Childhood Creations is now hot off the press and in our hot little hands, ready to get into your hot little hands if you click on the Second Childhood Creations link.

Book Two, like Book One, has twelve, hands-on creative activities, including where to buy and how to dye silk scarves using colored tissue paper. The scarves are awesome! There's also a recipe for making bowls out of paper egg cartons, a puffy paint recipe, happy face pots with bad hair days, shaving cream prints, and a water slide decal project that will give you all sorts of ideas of things to create with them. And that's just the beginning.

And as long as we're on resources ... I recently stumbled on a book by Brook Noel titled "The Change Your Life Challenge, a 70 day life makeover program for women." I found the 2005 edition in a used bookstore. There is a more recent edition available on half.com, my favorite place for purchasing used books.

So what's happened in my life as I plowed along to day 9, doing one day at a time as advised by the author? So far so good! Do I envision a miraculous change in my life? Maybe. I like to keep my options open. And I believe that if I read enough positive works from a variety of authors my life has simply got to get better. As for now, I've been able to find my to-do list every morning without any hassle. Onward!

Pretty Pumpkins

2010-10-12T18:12:00.000-05:00

This is an easy activity and a wonderful alternative to handing out knives in order to carve pumpkins for Halloween. This is also the second year we've done this activity and the residents jumped right in knowing that pumpkins don't need to have faces. Stripes, dots and swirls brought life to our pumpkins that now decorate the tables in the dining room.

As usual, we used our favorite paint from Blick Art Materials, blickacrylic. Not pictured, but also painted, were a group of butternut squash, which took on the appearance of nesting dolls. Try your hand at painting the gourds of the season. Enjoy!

Question Answered and a Book

2010-09-30T12:30:00.000-05:00

One of my friends saw my last post for a meatless beef broth and asked, why bother when you can get real beef broth right out of a can. Short answer and big question - I'm a vegetarian and, have you read the ingredients list on a can of beef broth lately? Besides sugar there's generally a list of polysyllabic words that sound like chemicals. I like to know what I'm putting into my body. It's all about choices.

A book I recently read is called "Keeper' by Andrea Gillies. It's subtitle is "One House, Three Generations, and s Journey into Alzheimer's." The focus of the book is on the author and her mother-in-law, Nancy, who's journey into the depths of Alzheimer's is documented. The impact of that journey on the family is also honestly glimpsed.

Keeper won the 2009 Wellcome Trust Book Prize, the United Kingdom's preeminent popular science writing award and the 2010 Orwell Prize.

While the book was compelling and gave numerous reasons to fear Alzheimer's and aging, I felt that its emphasis on the loss of self and loss in general gave the book an oppressive tone. Look around the room where you're sitting right now and notice everything that's the color blue. Now close your eyes and tell me everything in the room that's the color yellow. It's hard to focus on the yellow when you're looking only for the blue.

Quote by actor, Tony Curtis, who died this week at age 85. "Service to others is the rent we pay for our time on this planet." Wonderfully said.

Meatless Beef Broth

2010-09-28T17:45:00.006-05:00

OK. So you're wondering about my sanity. How can a beef broth be meatless. But I promise that when you cook up a batch of this broth, which can be used as the base for many wonderful dishes, the aroma of beef broth will fill your abode.

Ingredients:
   3 Tablespoons soy sauce
   2 teaspoons Kitchen Bouquet
   2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
   1/2 cup chopped onion
   1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
   1 teaspoon oil
   2 cups water

Combine everything in a saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes. That's all there's to it!

Optional - go nuts and add some sliced mushrooms to make this into a delicious mushroom soup. The broth in the picture is loaded with sliced mushrooms. A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top is delicious.

Footnote: If you're wondering about nutritional yeast it's a source of vitamins especially the B-complex vitamins and is a complete protein. It's also naturally low in fat and sodium. Really yummy when sprinkled on popcorn. Available at stores that sell organic and vegetarian products.

Enjoy!

Indoor Windsock

2010-09-22T06:59:00.002-05:00

Supplies:
Mailing tube or oatmeal box
Lid for the aforementioned
Paint
Paintbrush
Glue Dots or other adhesive
Ribbon or rickrack - 6 or 8 pieces, about 3 feet long plus 1 piece about 18 inches long for the handle
Embellishments

If you're using an oatmeal box or other similar container you're going to have to cut the bottom out or make slits into the bottom edge in order to insert and attach the ribbons.

Paint your mailing tube, oatmeal box, or other container of that shape. Add stripes or dots or stencil on a design. You could also glue colored tissue shapes to the outside of the cylinder once the paint is dry.

Attach the streamer to the lower edge of the cylinder, sticking them in place with Glue Dots or other adhesive. Attach embellishments to the ends of the ribbon if you'd like.

Attach the final 18-inch piece of ribbon and attach it to the top as a handle. Snap the lid onto the container, which will hold the handle in place.

This windsock brings a splash of color to the indoors. It's easy to construct and fun to decorate.

Enjoy!

9/11

2010-09-11T06:41:00.003-05:00

It would seem that everything that could be said about 9/11 has been said. But everyone has their own particular story. The way that my husband and I experienced the event probably put us outside the box. As we went through those days we were repeatedly tempted to say, "But wait..."

On 9/11 my husband and I were driving back to our home in the Midwest from Portland Maine. We were listening to an audio book in the car and driving through Pennsylvania at about the time the plane went down in that state. We were returning from an Aids ride, bicycling 400 miles in 5 days in order raise money to find a cure for Aids. We were clueless as to what the rest of the world was experiencing.

When we finally stopped at a rest stop a gentleman outside the building said, "It's kind of strange not seeing any airplanes." By our blank expressions he could tell we hadn't heard the news and told us to go inside the building and watch the TV. We watched the interminable replay of the towers coming down. The assembled travelers stood in silence, having no words to express what they were feeling about the images before them. My husband and I, for reasons we had yet to discover, felt outside of the group. Not a part. We later discussed our feelings and guessed that it had to do with the week we had just experienced.

We had just come from a week of living with a diverse group of 2000 riders and hundreds of support personnel. Emphasis on the word, diverse. We were a mix of ethnic, abled, sexually orientated, and any other group that you want to throw into the mix. The group had one goal in mind - to help everyone succeed. I especially remember a veteran of many such rides who rode through the group dressed as a super hero with his cape flying out over the back tire of his bike. As he pedaled past the novices in the group he would shout out, "Go, you super heroes! You can do it!" There were no "we" and "they" in the group. There was only "us" working together to accomplish a common goal of making everyone a success. We came away from the experience with a different mindset than the mindset that we began with.

We knew that people did not have to be about groups, about "we" and "they." We knew that people could work together for the common good. We had experienced it and believed that this could be translated to the world. We experienced 9/11 with a profound sadness, not only because of the event itself, but also because of what we knew and wanted the rest of the world to know. We had, and still have hope for creation of a world where everyone can be a winner. So may it be.

Let it Grow

2010-08-25T10:06:00.000-05:00

Behind our garage, which is not visible from the street, there exists a wondrous vegetable garden. Actually, it's not all that wondrous and that's why I'm delighted it's in such an inconspicuous location. My gardening skills hover somewhere between out of control weed infestation and dumb luck. This background information will explain a lot about my next confession.

In front of a small building that sits directly behind our house there is a plot of ground that I've designated as a perennial bed. That should mean that the bed will be alive with flowers and other plantings that are a delight to the senses. Dare to dream. Before I was able to say Miracle Grow three times fast my plantings got leggy and ragged and were surrounded by numerous areas of bare ground. And then nature, and my vegetarian lifestyle, intervened.

You see, as a vegetarian, I generate a lot of peels and seeds. Not personally, but as a result of my meal preparations. And as a striving earth and tree huger, I work to waste not want not. Therefore, all of the peelings and seeds that are generated from my culinary explorations get buried in my garden where they turn into rich soil, an avocado tree or two, and various mystery plants.

Well, that's what happened in my intended perennial bed. A rogue vine started to grow, obviously a result of my composting efforts, spreading it's happy arms in all directions and singing "Born Free" at the top of it voice. At least, it looked as if it would sing "Born Free" if it could choose a song and have the wherewithal to accomplish such a feat. Immediately I began to wax poetic about my admiration for the tenacity of this vine and how I must let it grow and thrive. Truthfully, the vine was covering all the bare spots in the flower bed.

Yes, I admire tenacity. In plants and in people. So while I might not have a full-fledged perennial bed this year, there's always next year. This year? We might have some watermelons. There are six green orbs that look promising.

Puffy Paint

2010-08-18T14:32:00.001-05:00

When you finish making shaving cream prints (see July 20th) you end up with a lot of shaving cream mixed with paint. It's easy enough to rinse down the sink but it's also easy to turn this mixture into Puff the Magic Paint.

The recipe for Puffy Paint is:
1/2cup of shaving cream
2 T of white glue
2 T of acrylic paint

Note that these measurements are approximations. More shaving cream will give you a foamy texture when it dries, and more glue will give it a smoother texture. Extra paint creates deeper colors.

We had the residents mix the colors with forks on small paper plates and then apply the paints to pieces of cardboard that had circles drawn on them. Circles were drawn using jar lids of various sizes, overlapping some of the circles to make a more interesting design.

True confession - Week one we mixed up the puffy paint and had the residents apply it to simple drawings of flowers or butterflies using cotton swabs. This did not work. The impulse was to try to paint with the cotton swabs and the paint needs to be piled onto the picture.

Week two we gave out the circle designs, hid the cotton swabs, and passed out plastic spoons for the residents to use. Every resident who participated (9 of them) was adept at getting paint to paper, thick enough, and with some semblance of order. We do not advocate staying inside the lines, but their proficiency was outstanding.

Week three, which has not happened, will be a new piece of cardboard cut to fit inside a picture frame so they can create something suitable for framing, frame it, and have an original art piece to give as a gift or for their room. It's a great way to use up all the picture frames from storage. There were excited conversations about ideas for their final pieces. Practice pieces are a wonderful way to spend an afternoon. Everyone is looking forward to next week's gathering.

Above is Lillian with her practice piece and activity staff person, Delores.

Watermelon Salad

2010-08-12T10:57:00.001-05:00

Stumbled upon this recipe and made a few tweaks to it so I didn't have to go out and purchase parsley and fresh mint. No, I don't have them on hand but when I do I'll add them to the mix and amaze my taste buds. What I did learn from this recipe was how to bring down the bite in red onions. It's simply a matter of soaking the thin slices of red onion in lime juice, which in my case was whole (minus the peel) limes, pulverized in my VitaMix. A lovely, gentle onion taste results. You all probably knew that already and are wondering what planet I've been living on, or on which planet I've been living, for those of you who don't like to end a sentence with a preposition.

Ingredients:
Small red onion
2 - 4 limes, depending on their juiciness
1/2 medium sized watermelon cut into cubes
1 cup feta cheese, cubed
3 - 4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup sliced black olives, more or less to suit your taste
Black pepper
Something green

Peel and halve the red onion and cut them into thin slices. Juice or peel and pulverize the limes and add to the onion slices in a small bowl where they can rest together while you continue.

Cube the watermelon. Cube the feta. Gently toss the watermelon and feta in a bowl. Add onions, oil, olives and something green and gently toss one more time. Top with a good grind of black pepper.

Disclaimers:
1. So what exactly is a medium sized watermelon? Depends what part of the country you're from or how good you are at lying. "We don't grow any watermelon under forty pounds around here!" Get a grip. You want 6 to 8 cups of watermelon unless you're feeding a family gathering.
2. The salad needed something green so I went to my garden where my Swiss chard has taken over the neighborhood. I chose a few smaller leaves and rolled and sliced them as thin as possible. The green added a nice touch. You can use parsley.
3. Is it obvious that the salad in the picture does not have lovely cubes of feta? Our local grocer only had the "all broken up in pieces" feta. It worked well and tastes great.
4. There are green beans on the plate with the watermelon salad. The picture was just crying for a little contrasting color.

Enjoy!

Paul and Me

2010-08-10T06:45:00.000-05:00

I recently read a biographical account by A.E. Hotchner entitled "Paul and Me," about his decades long friendship with Paul Newman. Hotchner was there for the first batch of salad dressing, mixing the concoction with a canoe paddle while Newman poured in the ingredients, as well as a number of other schemes and dreams.

The book not only brought out the wonderful human qualities of Paul Newman, but also his tenacity. The incident that sticks in my mind happened when Newman decided to build his Hole in the Wall camp for special needs kids. He decided he wanted to open it the following summer. All of the experts, architects and contractors, said it couldn't be done. They gave a more realistic completion date involving a couple of years for this massive project. Newman said it would be done.

When construction workers were unable to work in the severe winter that descended on the work site, Newman hired Canadian construction worker who were acclimated to severe weather. Of course, the facility opened the following summer as Newman intended.

There are other such accounts of accomplishments in the face of seemingly, insurmountable odds. Reading these had me thinking about the times I've taken the more logical path, lining up my good reasons why something can or cannot be accomplished. Or as my good friend, Linda, says, giving away my power.

"Paul and Me" is a fun and inspiring read. It's probably sitting on the library shelf right now just waiting for someone who could use a little inspiration.

Lesson Learned

2010-07-28T07:11:00.000-05:00

We had our usual arts and craft group yesterday at the senior care facility (doesn't that sound better than Nursing Home) where I volunteer. Our project was to create crushed paper art pieces. It was a learning experience, especially for me.

Although I've created a number of these in the past and brought some of these pieces as examples, the actual "How To" was not as obvious as I imagined. In my ignorance, I simply directed the residents to crush up the paper I provided and glue it to squares of cardboard. The residents struggled. Finally, I demonstrated. Ah! So that's how it's done.

Truthfully, I should have known better. I'm a person who learns best by being shown. Written or verbal instructions never quite sink in the way a demonstration does. So here's what I learned.

Take the time to demonstrate each week at the beginning of each session. Don't assume that because the process seems evident to me that it will be evident to everyone else. And even after a demonstration, watch and guide without being intrusive on people's individual creative processes.

Also, while we in the midst of creating, it was evident that one of the participants was not as engaged as the rest. It was then I noticed that she was having a hard time reaching supplies that were placed at the table where she was working. Once supplies were moved to within easy reach she engaged.

There's always something to learn. Hopefully, I will keep my eyes, ears, and heart open to what the residents have to teach me and make our mutual learning an enjoyable time together.

Speaking of Just About Anything

2010-07-26T13:31:00.000-05:00

Although this entry is under the label, Book Reviews, once again it is not a book. This is rather a site I stumbled upon which led me to American Public Media and a program, Speaking of Faith. I don't believe this program is broadcast in the area where I live.

Once again, thanks to the miracle of technology, which I intermittently decry, I have been able to listen to some pretty amazing presentations. One of their offerings was an interview with Matthew Sanford, a paraplegic who is also a yoga teacher now working with injured soldiers returning from war zones. Another program I enjoyed is "The Ethics of Eating," a conversation with Barbara Kingsolver. Then there was Desmund Tutu's God of Surprises.

The good news is that there are numerous programs in the archives just waiting to be enjoyed. The bad news is that I am one of the last people on earth not to own an iPod and so must sit at my computer to listen to these wonderful programs. Other bad news is that I've run out of busy work (cleaning and sorting) so I have nothing to do while I sit at my computer and listen to these offerings. The solution to my dilemma would be to find more busy work or to purchase an iPod. Anyone out there with an old iPod for sale?

Check out Speaking of Faith. Presenters and topics to feed a hungry mind.

Shaving Cream Prints

2010-07-20T17:23:00.005-05:00

This is a fun project that takes just minimal supplies.

The supplies include:
Shaving cream
Liquid paints
Paper
Plastic spoon
Mixing stick
Scraper
Styrofoam or paper plate

Simply spread a coat of shaving cream onto a plate and smooth it out with a spoon so it's about 1/4 inch thick. Next, dot on some paint, as seen on the plate to the left. I used acrylic paint on this but liquid watercolors work just as well. Next, mix the colors together using a mixing stick (a pencil works well) as seen on the plate to the right.

Take your piece of paper that is slightly larger than the paint area and press it down onto the paint. Pat it lightly to make sure that the paint transfers to the paper. Now lift the paper off of the paint and behold something that looks like a mess. Fear not.

Take your scraper, which could be a square of cardboard, and scrape the shaving cream off of the paper. Voila! This will reveal your beautiful design. At this point you can smooth out the shaving cream left on the plate and add additional colors to make another design or start again with fresh shaving cream and new colors.

In the above picture you can see the paint dotted onto the plate and paint mixed with wild abandon. Actually, I mixed it with a plastic skewer that once held a fruit kabob. The paper I used for the print that's shown is cardstock. I find that I get the best results with watercolor paper or white construction paper. Dark colored paper doesn't seem to show off the design as well.

You can also write on the paper with a dark crayon, messages like "Happy Birthday", before pressing the paper onto the swirls of paint. This way you could design our own birthday cards.

Besides birthday cards, designs can be cut into bookmark sized pieces and used as bookmarks. When doing this activity with senior residents we took some of their creations and framed them in 4x6 frames so they could have them as art pieces.

Experiment and enjoy!

Holy Cow!

2010-07-15T06:47:00.000-05:00

I recently picked up an audio book entitled, "The Way We Eat, Why Our Food Choices Matter" by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. I expected a discourse on nutrition with a smattering of food ethics thrown in for good measure. And I've been more attracted to non-fiction just because so many fiction books have dust jackets that announce, "Mandy was anxious to return home after her honeymoon and begin life as a married woman. And then they found that dead body in the basement." And then there is always, "They were a happy family. Typical in so many ways, until the accident and that dead body in the basement."

Anyway, with my interest in nutrition I thought this would be something I'd enjoy. And maybe a bit of information that might help me decide how much I want to pursue vegetarianism, which has been my general path of choice. This vegetarian bent began when I read that the fossil fuel fiasco we're facing could be solved if everyone ate vegetarian. Eat your grains, beans and veggies and save the planet. I can do that!

Hold on to your socks, and don't continue reading this blog entry if you're squeamish or are eating your lunch. This book traces three families and their food choices, going from a typical American diet of meat and potatoes with a good dose of fast food, to a family that chooses organic. And then the authors went on to investigate where the food comes from, what labels really mean, and how animals that produce the bulk of our meat are farmed. This includes cows, pigs, poultry and their eggs, fish, shrimp, and other seafood.

The image that keeps dancing around in my head are two of the methods for disposing of chickens who are no longer able to produce eggs at a profitable rate. One egg producer, with the aid of a bulldozer, simply dug a large pit and buried the chickens alive. Another fed the live birds into a wood chipper. Yes, these were the extreme cases, but many other stories of animal treatment were not all that inspiring. Unfortunately, there are no general standards against torture when it comes to farm animal treatment in many segments of the industry. It's basically a nod to common practice.

A good thought provoking read. And maybe another reason to give the vegetarian life-style some serious thought.

Ch Ch Ch Chia

2010-07-08T10:46:00.000-05:00

I recently read a book (so is this a book review or a recipe) called "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall. It tells you everything you've ever wanted to know about running, running shoes, and the greatest runners of all times, the Tarahumara people who live in the Copper Canyons.

In this book is a recipe for a beverage consumed by the Tarahumara people which seems to give them incredible stamina. It's known as iskiate. One of the ingredients in this drink is the chia seed, that innocuous little seed used to grow hair on the infamous Chia Pets. I've been acquainted with the nutritional value of chia seeds and already had a supply that I would occasionally slip into my morning fruit smoothie.

The recipe for iskiate is simple -
     10 ounces of water
     1 T Chia Seeds
     Squirt of lime juice
     Dash of Agave nectar for sweetness (optional)
Shake up all the ingredients in a jar or bottle and allow to sit overnight. The chia seeds will soften. Drink and go find something to do with all of the wonderful energy that you'll feel.

My version of this drink is to put the water and a whole peeled lime into my Vita Mix and liquefy. Next I add the chia seeds and the agave nectar. And if you remember from the incredible chocolate dessert from some weeks back, agave nectar is a preferred sweetener because of its low glycemic index, which means it goes into your system slowly and does not cause a spike in blood sugar. But back to the subject at hand.

For those of you unfamiliar with chia seeds let me quote from the book. "As tiny as those seeds are, they're superpacked with omega-3s. omega-6's, protein, calcium, iron, zinc, fiber, and antioxidants. If you had to pick just one desert-island food, you couldn't do much better than chia, at least if you were interested in building muscle, lowering cholesterol, and reducing your risk of heart disease; after a few months on the chia diet you could probably swim home."

In a pinch I've used plain orange juice and chia seeds when I was out of limes. It seemed to work just as well. No jitters or other effects. Just lots of energy.

So now we come to the warnings and other things to think about. The first time I concocted a batch of iskiate and drank it I wanted enough energy to get a good start on redoing an overgrown flowerbed. I decided that if I got a good start I might have the project finished in a few days. Actually, I had the project finished in a few hours with enough energy left over to do a second flowerbed, and all before lunch.

Wanting to see how much more I could accomplish that day I had another glass of iskiate after lunch. Caution! Come bedtime I was still vibrantly wide awake. Tried this a second time about a week later to see if this was a fluke or a result of the drink. Spent another night alert and ready for action.

Finally, like any other nutritious food, iskiate is not a magic bullet. Don't expect to indulge in a diet of junk food and have one ten-ounce drink make you feel great. Also remember to hydrate. Water is magic and essential to life. Happy running!

Oh, You Beautiful Doll

2010-06-26T13:09:00.000-05:00

The other day I was visiting one of my friends who now resides in a nursing home. We sat and visited for a while outside, enjoying a lovely summer's day together. When we went back inside the fun began.

On the way to her room we passed through a group of elderly gentlemen who were sitting and visiting and telling elderly guy stories. As we approached one of the men said, "There she is!" and reached for my friend's hand. She gave his hand a warm squeeze. Another of the gentlemen said to my friend, "I'm not even going to ask you how you are because you're always wonderful."

A third joined the conversation as we passed and said, "She feels wonderful because she was looking at me," to which a fourth replied, "No she wasn't. She was looking at me!" In all the years I've been volunteering at this facility I have never witnessed such a genuine and warm outpouring of admiration for true beauty.

"You have quite a fan club," I whispered into her ear. She smiled her lovely smile. Did I mention that my friend was in a wheelchair and is 100 years old. I guess beauty and charm know no boundaries. So much for the myth of youth and beauty.

Let THE SUN Shine

2010-06-22T18:28:00.000-05:00

This isn't a book that I'm going to tell you about, but it's certainly one of my favorite reads. And a funny thing happened on the way to my reunion. We'll get to this good read in just a minute.

It seems that I've reached that time in life when high school reunions pop up. This is year number 50 for me and my classmates from an all girls school. Women were arriving from all over the United States for the celebration. One of my good friends from high school was driving up a day early and we were going to have a pajama party. We hadn't seen each other in 45 years and felt we had a lot of catching up to do.

Our lives had been diverse - she married to a rancher out west and raising 10 kids, while I lived in urban settings all of my adult life. When she arrived and the hugs and lies about, "You haven't aged a bit," had been exchanged, my friend said she brought a copy of her favorite magazine to share with me. The name of the magazine was The Sun. I no longer buy numerous magazines but subscribe to only one. That magazine is The Sun. I guess that after all these years we're still pretty much alike in our tastes. Now, I'd like to tell you why I like this publications and recommend The Sun to you.

First, I like this magazine because it's ad free. That alone is worth about a zillion points in my book. Next, it always has something in it that will make me think or expose me to people and ideas that enrich my life. There's always an in-depth interview, a short story or two, and comments from readers on various topics.

On the down side, the magazine is only about 50 pages and I generally read it cover to cover on the day that it arrives. Then I have to sit there patiently tapping my foot until the next issue arrives.

You can go to the website of The Sun, edited and published by Sy Safransky, and get a taste of what to expect. There's even something about a free trial. Free is good.

Do you have any favorite reads to share? Sharing is also good.

New Twist On Tabbouleh

2010-06-17T14:40:00.001-05:00

In the summertime I like to eat something that's nutritious, easy to make, and on hand. Add to that, made by someone else, and it would be the perfect food! Here's something that fulfills almost all of those goals. It's a slight twist on one of my favorite grain salads, tabbouleh. The twist is to substitute quinoa or millet for the bulgar wheat.

Start with 2 cups of cooked quinoa or millet.
To that add:
2 chopped tomatoes, or 1 can of diced tomatoes well drained
Small cucumber, peeled, seeded and dices
1/4 cup minced onion or thinly sliced scallions
1 cup or more finely chopped parsley
1/4 cup fresh, chopped mint
Any other veggie that you know and love

Dressing:
1 lemon, peeled and seeded, or 1/4 cup of lemon juice
Up to 1/4 cup olive oil
Clove of garlic, or more
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the dressing ingredients into a blender or Vita-Mix and blend on high until it's well blended. Toss it with the other ingredients. Enjoy, or chill your masterpiece to enjoy later.

NOTE: I leave out the mint because I don't particularly enjoy mint and I usually don't have it on hand. Tabbouleh purists around the globe are probably up in arms and ready to tell me that I'm not creating real tabbouleh but I've already substituted quinoa for bulgar so just get a grip on yourself. I've oftentimes made this recipe without the mint and the world continued to spin on its axis. Whew!

Taking Time

2010-06-09T19:00:00.000-05:00

I recently received an email from one of my granddaughters. It was one of those emails that was full of accusations and lies. They're easy to spot because they're done up in a lot of large red font and they talk about patriotism and our Christian nation. They go on to rail against an individual or a company or a segment of the world population. They're also easy to discover as lies by simply doing a Google search.

I was especially disturbed to get this from someone so young. This particular grandchild is a pre-teen and gleefully spreading dissension. I immediately thought about an incident I read about in one of the books by Anne Lamott.

It seems that Anne was out with one of her friends. This woman was in the last stages of cancer and her friends would take her out in her wheelchair whenever she was feeling up to an outing. Anne took her along that day when she was shopping for clothes. Anne set her friend's wheelchair outside a fitting room and would come out to model dresses as she tried them on, asking for input.

After trying on one particular dress Anne came out of the fitting room, turned right and left, and finally asked her friend, "Does this dress make me look fat?" Her friend replied. "Anne, you don't have time for that." Her friend died two weeks later.

So with the precious time that we have upon this earth it might be good to ask ourselves, on occasion, exactly what we want to use our time for and whether activities, such as spreading dissension, is worth our time. I'm still waiting to get an email that asks me to send to everyone I know some facts about and incredible company, human being, or segment of the population who is making this world a better place to live. I think I might actually send on such an email.

The Big Bang

2010-06-03T10:27:00.001-05:00

Here is an easy project for a Fourth of July decoration that's suitable to hang over tables in the dining room or use as a centerpiece on table tops.

Supplies:
Mailing tubes
Paint - white and blue
Paintbrush
Red paper stars
Painter's tape
Glue Dots or other adhesive
Sparkly things to poke out of the top

These firecrackers were easily made using mailing tubes that we painted white. Next, when the tubes were thoroughly dry, we taped them with painter's tape and added the blue stripes.

Red stars, cut out using a punch, were then attached to the side of the tube with Glue Dots. The sparkly sprays that we used were purchased at Michaels for a mere 99 cents each. We did stuff a bit of white tissue and paper toweling down the tube in order to hold the sparkly spray in place.

Lacking a shopping trip to Michaels you could also use pipe cleaners with cutout stars or sparkly beads attached. Some red, white and blue silk flowers would also be nice, especially if used as centerpieces.

The best part of this activity? We actually completed it well in advance of the holiday. Funny how those holidays seem to sneak up on us.

Swimming Against the Current

2010-05-29T15:15:00.000-05:00

I recently heard a discussion about swimming lessons for infants and toddlers. It seems that after many years of belief in the value of swimming lessons for infants, pediatricians came out with a statement saying that this practice, especially for children under the age of four, would give a false sense of confidence to mothers as well as to the children. Talk about putting a damper on things! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Well, it turns out that pediatricians have now reversed their advice. It seems that they've come to the conclusion that swimming lessons for children as young as 12-months could actually be beneficial. They even have statistics to back this up, which is something they, obviously, didn't have to back up their initial declaration.

This caused me to think about the amount of advice that's out their and question what's worthy of belief. It also made me wonder if people are losing their ability to follow their instincts and trust their feelings. Or have we come to believe that it's more important to find and listen to experts, especially experts with a lot of letters after their names.

Visiting with dad everyday in the Memory Care Unit where he now lives and getting to know the other residents as individuals, rather than as people in various stages of dementia, has changed my view about this condition. Also, whenever I attend meetings with those who work in the field of dementia it's rather easy to pick out those experts who probably don't spend a lot of time in such settings, but rather learn through meetings and continued study.

Let's hear it for continued study, but let's also go swimming with the toddlers every once in a while.

Take Your Oxygen First

2010-05-25T18:08:00.000-05:00

I recently picked up a copy of "Take Your Oxygen First" by Leeza Gibbons who co-wrote the book with James Huysman, PsyD, LCSW and Rosemary DeAngelis Laird, M.D. It's a book that documents the challenges of living and coping with a family member who has Alzheimer's. The difference with this book is that it emphasizes the importance of good self-care for the caregiver.

"Take Your Oxygen First" covers not only an overview of Alzheimer's, but also writes on the importance of exercise, eating well, sleep and other self-care topics as they relate to the caregiver. There is also a section of caregiver resources, directing care-givers to organizations for information and/or support.

Along with the scope of the book I especially like the clear writing style. It's a great resource for anyone whose life has been impacted by Alzheimer's Disease.

Lovely Scraps

2010-05-19T14:09:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy doing this project not only with other people but also on my own as a way to clean up some of the odds and ends that I've accumulated in my studio. You know the things I'm talking about - too small to be a major player in an art piece yet too nice to throw away.

The supplies I use for this project generally consist of:
cardboard or scrap of some such board, about a foot square
paint
odd bits of paper, fabric, yarn, trim, and things that glitter
gloss gel to use as an adhesive

I simply paint the piece of cardboard one or more colors, allow it to dry, and glue on the odd bits of pretty things that have been collecting. Saved bits of yarn after a knitting project or fabric scraps are especially useful for this project. And the resulting pieces are often pretty enough to frame.

I've recently been experimenting with box covers using random pieces of paper and ribbon to make interesting pieces. "Interesting" is a kind word to use for some of the results!

Enjoy!

Person Care

2010-05-10T19:50:00.001-05:00

OK, this isn't actually a Book Review, but rather a review of a company that I was recently introduced to at an Alzheimer's conference. The company is Person Care and the representative of the company that I had the pleasure of visiting with is Bob Finnie.

Person Care has a wide range of products that address the needs of the aging population. The product on display that I was most fascinated with was the Medication Center with Talking Alarm Clock. This system allows you to set up medications for an entire month. For those of you needing to provide such a reminder for someone you're caring for or for yourself, this is it!

A link to the Person Care's site is listed right at the top of this page under "Resources". Take a look around at all the wonderful information and products that they offer.

Spring Spinach and Strawberry Salad

2010-05-07T14:07:00.003-05:00

This salad is so lovely because it's a great base for all sorts of creative additions. But let's start with the basics which are alliteratively wonderful.

Ingredients:
Fresh spinach
Sliced strawberries

Dressing:
1 T apple cider vinegar
3 T olive oil
1 T orange juice concentrate
Dash of curry powder

Place the spinach and strawberries on a plate. Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Drizzle.

Some of my favorite additions to this recipe include avocado and sliced mushrooms. You can also top this salad with sliced chicken or seared tuna and turn it into a main course. Just add your favorite bread and you have a light summer lunch. Add a hunk of chocolate cake for dessert and you have another pound on your hips.

Whatever.

Mayday!

2010-05-01T13:37:00.003-05:00

Isn't it odd that the internationally recognized distress call is also the name, with a slightly different spelling, May Day, of the celebration of the coming of spring. The second, May Day, involves dancing and May poles and bonfires and cavorting, which just might lead to a distress call. A slightly humorous and ironic juxtaposition.

Another such ironic juxtaposition is shown in the picture of the road that's in front of our house. Yes, after 110 years we are finally getting new sewer, water, sidewalks, curb and road. Everything will be beautiful once it's finished. The sign in the quagmire tells us not to park on the street between the hours of 7AM and 5PM. Thank you, to those concerned about our safety amidst the construction, for the helpful and necessary (?) sign.

And finally, I want to tell you about a juxtaposition of words that makes me laugh every time I share this incident. My husband and I were driving back from visiting some out of town relatives. I was doing the driving. I soon realized that my husband was looking at me. Softly he touched my face with his fingers and said, "When the sunlight hits your face like that" (Oh my goodness, I thought, a beautiful, romantic moment!) "I can see this really long hair growing out of your chin." I explained the facts of aging to that man that I love and told him I would pluck as soon as we got home.

When I related this story to the Tuesday arts and crafts group at the senior care facility the women, as expected, burst into howls of laughter. Then the group got quiet and the women started to relate how much they longed for simple, romantic gestures. "Men just don't realize how important it is," they said, nodding to each other. These are women in their 70's and 80's. There's still time to let them know.

Hold the Dead Bodies

2010-04-27T17:49:00.005-05:00

One of my favorite pastimes is reading light fiction, which is sometimes difficult to do while performing any number of tasks in the course of a day. Let's hear it for audio books!

Fortunately, our library has a large selection of audio books. And our librarian is constantly adding to the collection with newly released titles. That's the good news and the bad news. The good news part has to do with the number of audio books available. The bad news has to do with subject matter. Reading the back of an audio book container to get an idea of content I 'm all too often met with the same, "Marjorie and Milton weren't expecting to find a dead body in the honeymoon suite when they entered their room blah, blah, blah." And so I made a request.

"Is it possible to get some audio books without dead bodies in them," I asked our librarian. She told me that someone else is requesting more romance novels. Hers is not an easy life. It seems that publishers give the public what it wants and right now the public wants murder and mayhem. As an example, the other day, while waiting in a check out line, I overheard a young man tell his companion that he only needed a few more kills to reach 10,000. I do believe he was referring to his video game expertise.

But fear not, I have found a few good stories without undue amounts of blood. If you're looking for the same I have some recommendations. I'm in love with any book by Alexander McCall Smith, who's done the "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series as well as another series set in the UK. I've recently listened to "Major Pedigrees Last Stand," and many months ago enjoyed "The Elegance of the Hedgehog." And although some of these books would never be classified as great literature, I didn't have to mop up any blood when I finished listening to them.

Do you have a favorite author or series to share? Would love any suggestions.

Earth Day - Give it a Rest

2010-04-22T06:25:00.003-05:00

In an attempt to live a more sane life I'm always looking for ways to extricate myself from self-induced madness and my endless to-do list. You know, take time to stop and smell the roses.

Recently I read a suggestion that it might be a good idea, in our hurry and do more world, to go back to the biblical example of a day of rest. I've also heard that there's actually some good science behind the idea of taking time to take time to, you know, smell those roses. I decided to give it a try.

Instead of using Sundays as a day to catch up with my work, I decided to use it as a day to catch up with myself. On Saturday evening before I go to bed I turn off my computer and my cell phone. They stay off until Monday morning. That goes for TV and electronic games of any ilk.

What do I do all day Sunday? I only do things that would not appear on my to-do list. I try to have food prepared ahead or to eat foods that are simple to prepare. I'm going to clean up my bike during the week and have it ready. It's that bike that's been sitting in the basement for the past two years while I keep saying to myself, "I really should get my bike out." I'm planning a field trip to an art museum with my daughter. I don't take the time to see her often enough. And isn't it all about taking the time? Was I waiting for someone to give me the time to do these things?

I'm now starting to get into the rhythm of this Sunday thing, which I admit, had me a bit at loose ends. I felt I should be doing something. Perhaps I've morphed into a "human doing" and it would take some time to get into the mode of a "human being". On the plus side, my Mondays are more productive and I re-enter my work world with renewed energy.

So on this 40th anniversary of Earth Day I'm moved to ask if this could make a difference. What if everyone turned off their computers, cell phones, and the host of other electronic devices that we just can't live without for one day a week? What if we all gave it a rest.

Stoned Bugs

2010-04-20T14:13:00.004-05:00

When perusing cute idea sections of magazines I always linger over pictures of painted rocks or stones that people use as accessories for their gardens or as table decorations for garden parties. "We should paint some stones," I would hear myself thinking. The "we" is the Tuesday afternoon group at the senior facility where I volunteer.

The one problem I found with this project is getting the right sized stones, which would involve scrounging through the neighbor's rock garden or the city park in the middle of the night and risk arrest as a stone thief. And so I decided to make my own stones.

Stone Recipe, better known as Play Clay Recipe on the Argo Starch Box:
1 cup Argo laundry starch
2 cups baking soda
1 1/4 cups cold water
1 Tablespoon oil - the recipe recommends Mazola corn oil but I only had olive oil in the house and it worked just fine.

Mix together the starch and baking soda in a medium saucepan. Add the cold water and oil and stir until smooth. Cook over medium heat until the mixture reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Turn the mixture onto a plate and cover with a damp cloth. Refrigerate until it's cool enough to handle. I found that this took about 10 minutes, or the time it took me to cook up another batch.

Remove from the fridge, knead, and form into round and oval pieces for bugs and bees, or some round flat pieces for faces and free hand creations. Allow the pieces to dry. At this point I painted my "stones" with primer before I took them to the group for decorating. I'm not sure if the primer is a necessary step.

I did get a comment from someone that Argo Laundry Starch is not that easy to find in most grocery stores. However, the starch box recommends it for use with irritated skin, including diaper rash, which leads me to believe that cornstarch might be a likely substitute. They both seem to have the same consistency. I'll have to give it a try.

You can also use this play clay for making other wondrous things, like bowls and statues. The clay can be kept in a tightly covered container in a cool place for up to two weeks.

Enjoy!

Chocolate!

2010-04-15T17:05:00.008-05:00

One of my most ardent searches as I pursue a life of healthy eating has been for a wonderful, creamy, chocolaty dessert. Get real! However, I do believe I'm on the right track with this particular recipe.

For one, it contains agave nectar as the sweetener, which has a low glycemic index so it is slowly absorbed into the body preventing spikes in blood sugar. It's also dairy free even though it's as creamy as can be. However, it's still high in sugars and carbohydrates so moderation is appropriate. As Hugh Mackay says, "Nothing is perfect."

Recipe:
2 ripe avocados
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Whip all the ingredients together. Place into a covered container and cool it in the fridge or the freezer for about an hour. Serve.

A few lovely scoops of this concoction along with some sliced strawberries make a lovely dessert. I recently served this to three of my friends and they gave it six thumbs up. Then we went outside with bubble wands and sent soapy bubbles throughout the neighborhood. I have some pretty neat friends.

Enjoy!

No Body But Me

2010-04-12T19:21:00.002-05:00

Here's a fun experiment. Ask a friend or acquaintance how much money you would have to pay them in order for them to let you put some sugar in the gas tank of their car. Tell them that you've always been curious as to what, exactly, would happen to the engine and how far you could actually drive and other fascinating things like that.

OK. That's probably not a great idea. So let's talk about pets. Do you know some loving and responsible pet owners who would never feed their pets people food. Note: people food is food that people eat. Sometimes guests in the house might sneak a pet a cheesy chip or some kind of fried puff and the owner of the pet gets rather bent out of shape explaining how unhealthy, yadda yadda, while refilling the bowl with more cheesy chips or fried puffs for the guest to eat. People are peculiar animals.

And finally, why do people spend decades ingesting non-food items and generally abusing their living bodies, only to be front and center when someone dies, explaining how important it is to have proper respect for the body of the deceased. A little late, don't you think?

Did you already guess? I'm a reformed junk food junkie, which is almost as bad as a reformed smoker. When I'm not looking up recipes for tasty salads I'm fantasizing about bacon cheese burgers. Would love it if you have a tasty salad recipe and would be willing to share. Perhaps a salad that tastes like a bacon cheese burger.

Thank you

Sweet Onion Bread/Crackers

2010-04-08T14:16:00.003-05:00

According to the Mayo Clinic website, wheat allergy is one of the most common allergies in children. There goes the old peanut butter and jelly sandwich! But fear not. All is not lost. There are some pretty darn good options out there that don't take a lot of work. This is a recipe I got from my daughter-in-law that requires just a few ingredients and a dehydrator. She said that the grand kids love these and there's a wonderful aroma that fills the house whenever she makes these. Better yet, there are as many variations out there as there are imaginations.

Ingredients:
1 large sweet onion - Vidalia onion is great
1 cup ground raw sunflower seeds
1 cup ground golden flax seeds
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Bragg liquid amino
Optional - Splash of Agave nectar - I don't do this option

Process the onion in a food processor with the S blade until very fine. Most recipes warn about doing the onion in small batches and not letting the mixture get mushy. I do mine in my Vita Mix and get it mushy.

Pour this into a bowl with the other ingredients and mix to blend well. Spread about 1/4 inch thick onto teflex sheets for a bread-like product and thinner for crackers. If you don't have extra teflex sheets then parchment paper does just fine. After about five hours or when the top is dry flip it over onto the mesh tray and carefully peel the teflex or parchment paper off. Continue dehydration until desired dryness or crispness is reached. Round dehydrators tend to keep the center moist even with a longer drying time. I have the Excalibur, which dries bread and crackers evenly.

Variations I have known and loved include adding a can of drained, dices tomatoes along with some of my homemade pesto. I've also added salsa and a dash of cayenne pepper for a Southwestern flavor.

Although I prefer the crackers, I sometimes make a large bread-like square. It's flexible enough to use as a delicious sandwich roll up.

Enjoy!

Jamie Oliver

2010-03-26T09:28:00.003-05:00

With all the talk about health, good eating, and decreased life expectancy, (Yes, Virginia, your children will probably have a shorter life than you) it's nice to find someone who's working at the grass roots level for change. That person is Jamie Oliver who's started a food revolution.

I initially saw a presentation by Jamie Oliver on TED.com. And now he's bringing his message, ideas, and recipes to the American public via network TV and the Internet. Starting this evening on ABC at 8:00 Central Time, Jamie Oliver will hit the airwaves. If you miss it, you can see the full episode with minimal commercials by going to abc.go.com/shows/jamie-oliver-food-revolution.

I watched the promo for the show this morning and also looked around Jamie's website which is packed with great recipes. I hope you give yourself the gift of this wonderful resource and enjoy the caring compassion brought to this sometimes incomprehensible subject - food.

Beaded Trim

2010-03-20T09:24:00.003-05:00

This month I want to teach you how to add beaded trim to your creations. Beaded trim looks great on the edge of a painted flowerpot or along the edge of a decorated box. Other trims, such as tasseled trims, also look great. You only need a small piece so this is a good way to use up what you already have on hand or to shop the remnant bin for small pieces at a bargain price.

The way I'm going to teach you is through a 2 minute video that I posted on Youtube. Just go to the Youtube site and then go to scckits. It's the top entry that comes up, "flower pots".

The secret to attaching trim so easily is the adhesive that's used, which is gloss gel. Even though gloss gel is sold as an additive for acrylic paint in order to get a some wonderful texture in brush strokes, it's actually a great adhesive that I've used for all sorts of applications, many of which will be coming up in other Fun Time Projects.

Enjoy!

Nutty Sandwich Filling

2010-03-17T10:38:00.005-05:00

This is one of my favorite sandwich fillings because it's easy to make and tastes delicious. There are all sorts of variations that you could do with this but let's start with the basic recipe.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raw almonds

1 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/4 cup finely diced onion

1/2 cup finely diced carrot

1 T soy sauce

Juice of 1/2 lemon

S&P to taste

Place the almonds and sunflower seeds in a food processor and process until very finely chopped. You also might be able to accomplish this with a blender.

Put the nuts into a bowl and mix in the onion and carrot. Blend well. Mix in the soy sauce and lemon juice. Add S&P to taste.

Store in a container in the fridge. That's it! You now have a healthy and delicious sandwich filling.

Additional Notes:

Although the recipe specifies almonds and sunflower seeds, the seeds I had on hand when first making this recipe, you could also use walnuts and pumpkin seeds. Once I had some cooked broccoli on hand so diced up the stems and put those in too.

Taste before adding the salt because the soy sauce is already salty and you might not need any additional salt.

I especially like this filling in pita bread or rolled inside a large lettuce leaf. Romaine works well.

Enjoy!

Mister Roger's Neighborhood

2010-03-11T08:54:00.002-06:00

I recently had lunch with a business acquaintance who is also a dear friend. It was a time to catch up with each other and talk about what's been going on in our lives. We hadn't visited with each other for about a year.

The best part of visiting with this gentleman is the fact that he lives within a sphere of possibilities and his upbeat attitude is wonderfully contagious. I always leave our meetings in a positive frame of mind. This time when I left the restaurant I also realized that I was but one short block from a used book store. Bonus!

Book stores, especially used book stores, are high on my list of places that I like to visit. I enjoy simply walking through the aisles and looking for something to catch my eye. That day I happened past a cart with a collection of audio books that had just come into the store. There, in the top row, was a slim box that contained the audio book, The Simple Faith of Mr. Rogers." It was on sale for $4.95.

For Mr. Rogers' fans or for anyone who needs an uplifting reminder of a man who blessed the earth with his presence and his devotion to children, as well as the child in all of us, this is a great read. I'll admit that disk one had me in tears. Figure that one, Mr. Freud. Later in the book I felt that the author focused a little too heavily on her own experiences while I wanted to hear more about Fred. This will not keep me from listening to this book again in the near future. It was a great boast during the rainy days of spring when it's too easy to forget the sunshine and growing season that are just around the corner.

Two positive encounters in one day. Thanks, gentlemen!

Tempeh

2010-03-07T09:44:00.005-06:00

What, you may ask, is tempeh, and why would I want to put it into my body? Great questions! Tempeh is a fermented soy product that's high in protein. And although tempeh is like tofu in that it's made from soybeans, it is a whole soybean product with different characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh's fermentation process and use of the whole bean gives it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins compared to tofu. It also has a firmer texture and a stronger flavor than tofu. And because of its nutritional value it's sometimes considered a meat analogue. That means that some people consider it a great meat substitute for vegetarians.

So now that you know all about the great nutritional aspect of tempeh and are a rather adventuresome type of person, you probably want to know what to do with a block of the stuff once you get it home.

I once had a recipe that made tempeh into a fake chicken salad, which was actually quite tasty. However, it contained gobs of mayonnaise, which can make most any concoction rather tasty, but doesn't do much for heart health.

What I do with Tempeh -

I simply slice a block of tempeh into strips about a quarter inch thick and place it into a non-stick frying pan on medium heat with a splash of soy sauce or tamari or Bragg liquid amino. I saute it about 3 or 4 minutes then flip it over to get the color and flavor into the other side.

Once browned and flavored I sometimes use it hot in a veggie stir fry. At other times I cut it into pieces and toss it into a cold veggie salad. Tasty and filled with good nutrition. What more could you ask for?

Enjoy!

Happiness

2010-03-03T16:57:00.004-06:00

I recently listened to an audio book, Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. As the cover asks, "Think you know what makes you happy? This absolutely fantastic book will shatter your most deeply held convictions about how the mind works."

That it did. However, the author, as he admits, doesn't give any definitive answers about how to be happy, but rather explores how inaccurate most people are when they try to predict what will make them happy or how happy they will become if certain things occur in their lives. The arguments and examples are compelling but, as always, I was looking for easy answers. Sorry, Sparky.

The good news is that Gilbert, while conveying a bunch of good information, writes in a laugh-out-loud style that made listening to his work completely enjoyable along with compelling. I think it's worth a second listen.

Author, Daniel Gilbert, is also a speaker on TED.com if you want a taste of his style before you commit to his book.

This Aging Thing

2010-02-22T14:34:00.004-06:00

In an attempt to further clear my mind of clutter and superfluous thoughts I decided to clean out my email accounts. It seems that everyday there are more and more companies that add me to their email lists. My "Inbox", therefore, was becoming a swampland of unwanted ads and promotions. Easy enough to take cure.

I took two days to unsubscribe to every email that I didn't absolutely long to read. Now, instead of 20 plus emails twice a day I receive one to three of the little darlings. Every one of them is a welcome guest. I did, however, have to go through a day or two of emails telling me that I had been unsubscribed from various emails. My favorite was a notification that came from the local university. I had taken a workshop there a couple of years ago on dementia and aging and as usual, provided my email address as part of the registration form. When their last email came telling me of another workshop on the elderly I went to the bottom of the page and clicked on the unsubscribe button.

The next day I received one of the most exciting bits of news in my Inbox. The message read, "You have been unsubscribed from 'aging'." I can imagine all of my friends asking - "How does she manage to look so young?" I'll never tell.