August Already!?!

Oh, boy! Our few beautiful days of summer are flying by. The gardens are loving the warmth and sunshine after weeks of rain. My tomatoes look like a jungle. The bumble bees have multiplied, even saw a honey bee the other day. A friend gave me a magenta butterfly bush last spring. Large feathery blooms have indeed attracted butterflies including a large black swallow tail. Red raspberries and black currants are in the freezer along with chives, blanched kale and local corn. Still have some frozen wild blueberries from last year. My blueberry bushes won't produce for a couple years. Cucumbers are soon to be done producing. Ten pounds of cukes wait in the kitchen to become bread and butter pickles. We snack on sweet peas right off the vine. Green beans made it to the table yesterday for their first meal along with a salad of tomatoes, green pepper, onion, and cucumber - all freshly harvested. The slug population is diminishing but still takes the summer squash and zucchini. They can't stay away from those large yellow blossoms. Peaches, pears, plums, and apples will soon be ready at the local orchard for canning. Bought my first pressure canner last week and will use it to preserve something this season.

Seed selection, planting location, soil preparation, planting, cultivating, fertilizing, pollinating, insect and pest control, water management, harvesting, EATING, and storage...all take concentration and diligence, especially when avoiding chemicals in the process. But all this seems like play compared to figuring out how to feed your family year round from your own garden produce and the locally grown food you are able to preserve.

Start the process of learning to feed your family now.

Years ago I planted a purple coneflower in my back yard. It struggled along then finally disappeared. Last year three coneflower plants grew up near my raised bed - about one hundred feet from their original location. This year they are wonderful. Must learn how to preserve Echinacea (coneflower). As an herb, it has properties that help boost the immune system. Grace is currently in a doctor's care because her immune system seems to be deficient.

LESSON: Trust in The Creator and effort to cooperate with His design brings Blessing beyond your trust and effort alone.

CRUTCH THERAPY

Several years ago it was necessary for me to walk with crutches for weeks.
Perhaps others have learned the love/hate relationship one can have with crutches.

CRUTCH THERAPY
by
Susan Bruso, 2000

Firm calluses on the palms of both hands

Colorful rashes in the pits of both arms

Amazing development of your biceps and pecs

And finally alignment of those thoracic discs

Carrying newspaper and mail upstairs to the kitchen

Dropping both while clinging to railing and crutches

Bathrobe with thermos-sized pockets for coffee

Basket sledding down stairs full of family laundry

A spiral staircase leads to your doctor appointment

And a handicap bathroom with a door you can't open

Slippery soda is splashed on the floor in the mall

And escalators beg for a "911" call

Frustrated at your present condition?

Depressed by the nasty affliction?

Break or sprain, stitch or strain,

Try crutch therapy to ease the pain

"Short Toss" or "Slam Down" depending on muscle

As the crutch hits the ground so will the hassle

"Car Scratch and Dent" is especially soothing

(If it's someone else's car you are using)

The "Long Hurl" takes courage and pride

It's always best done alone and outside

Remember when using this mode of relief

You have to crawl over to pick up the bleep.

God Talk

On May 3, 2009 Stanley Fish, an op. ed. of the New York Times posted an interesting review entitled, GOD TALK. Mr. Fish begins:

"In the opening sentence of the last chapter of his new book, Reason, Faith, and Revolution, the British critic Terry Eagleton asks, 'Why are the most unlikely people, including myself, suddenly talking about God?"

DO OVER

Chile, I need a do over.

For the past ten days my performance in your Quit Now Challenge, quitting an addiction for the month of June, has been weak and pathetic. Oh, I have plenty of excuses - really good ones. In fact my excuses are so good that I had to ask myself where addictions come from.

What makes an addiction? A donut isn't an addiction. A television isn't an addiction. A beer isn't an addiction. These items are inanimate and insignificant. So what turns them into powerful addictions? My answer? Repeatedly choosing the same behavior until that behavior becomes habitual. That habit becomes automatic. That automatic, thoughtless behavior becomes a life style in which free choice is surrendered and the life is taken over. Can addiction be reversed once the addict yields to an automatic, thoughtless life style?

The new path to freedom and independence from the trail of addiction requires stopping, turning, and starting again. But, how can the addict make new decisions if the ability to choose is gone? I believe there is one choice no one can give up. That cannot be taken away. The choice to choose.

The theme of this blog, Choosing to Change, began with a desire to change my established suburban-type life style to an Earth friendly, eco-conscious, crunchy* life style. My husband and I expanded our vegetable garden, started educating ourselves about the environment, bought energy efficient light bulbs. But now I'm up against my addictions, my thoughtless behavior. Now I need to stop, turn, and start again. I choose to change.

*According to the Urban Dictionary, crunchy is an "adjective used to describe persons who have adjusted or altered their lifestyle for environmental reasons. Crunchy persons tend to be politically strongly left-leaning and may be additionally but not exclusively categorized as vegetarians, vegans, eco-tarians, conservationists, environmentalists, neo-hippies, tree huggers, nature enthusiasts, etc."

LESSON: Choosing to change begins at the very heart of who you are.

5, 4 ...

The time is here for a little update on the overall change progress. OK, the only thing left to plant is bee balm seedlings and perhaps more leaf lettuce and greens. Tomatoes need to be staked with longer stakes, peas need to be tied up. Potatoes need to be mulched. Boy, guess this weekend is going to be busy.

Harvested parsley and chives for eating fresh. Drying dill, cilantro, mint. Oh, I canned 7 quarts and three pints of wild blueberry sauce using berries from my freezer, making room for something new.

At a flea market several weeks ago we met a couple selling local honey. This week we purchased 60 pounds of their honey. It is sooooooooo luxurious. Just a living, flowing gold. Our favorite bread recipe contains honey.

All my extra tomato plants have new homes. The first plant I tried to give away was rejected! Probably my babbling about non-hybrid, heirloom varieties and seed-saving made the baby tomato plant too much work. So I backed off on the details and gave a total of 21 away - not counting the three that sacrificed their lives so I could harvest their soil.

Education is coming along the lines of saying "no" to comfort eating. Learning what an addiction is, how to stop, and turn around. It's hands on, or rather hands off, learning. A big thank you to the Quit It Today Challenge by Chile Chews at http://www.chilechews.blogspot.com .