The Perfect Home Pedicure

OK, well, maybe I lied.  Maybe it isn't perfect.  It's weird, cuz I get asked a LOT, "where did you get your pedicure?" or "Oh, you got a pedicure!".  I've never had a professional pedicure in my life.  I don't like people touching my feet.  It bugs me.  But I've been doing my own pedicures since probably grade school.  My husband is always a little taken aback if he sees me with "naked toes" or "sans polish".  It happens so rarely.

How I give myself a pedicure rarely happens all in one day.  It is a process...something I do in between other things, because I just don't like to take a long time on one task.

First step is, I remove all old polish.  Now, this is key...and sounds weird...for a good and easier pedicure, cutting or trimming the nails is LAST.  Yup, you heard me...let them grow a bit and don't trim them until the pedicure is complete.  That's how you avoid painting more on your toes than on the nail.  And for Pete's Honkin' Sake!  It take so little time and is so easy, don't wander around with chipped polish...if it starts to come off, remove it!  It's just gross to see feet with one little chip of color remaining here and there.  Yuck.  Better to have none than those little clinging final chips.

OK, second step is a good soak.  I have a old dish pan that I will sometimes use.  Hot water in the winter, cool water in the summer.  And I may or may not add a bit of peroxide and epsome salts (to draw out some toxins through the feet at the same time).  Or, the lazy way is, I simply wait until my next bath or shower, OR, since I now have a daily water aerobics class, followed by a brief soak in the hot-tub, followed by a shower at the gym, I work on the nails after that.

I know you are not supposed to, but I use nail scissors and I clean out the underneath of the nail (wiping any, um, "junk" or "nail scoobies" on a piece of TP).  I then gently scrape the cuticle.  I know you are not supposed to, but I do.  The "proper way" is to gently push back on the softened cuticle with an orange stick (why the hell do they call them that?).  But, either way, it is good to get the cuticle pushed back and trimmed if needed.  Keep the nail long...trust me on this...it's key.

So it might go something like this:  before bed, I remove all the polish.  The following morning while still at the gym after aforementioned soaks, I will clean the nail and push back the cuticle.  After I get home from the gym, I will put on a base coat.  I never go without a base coat.  You can use a ridge filling base coat, a strengthening base coat, or a cheap base coat, I don't care.  The base coat does a couple of things, it helps to create a smooth surface on the nail for the color application, it prevents the nail from yellowing (which is gross), it may help strengthen the nail AND it will prolong the life of your pedicure by creating a better bonding surface with the nail polish.

Also, a digression while we talk about working on calluses and cracked skin on the feet.  Do it.  It makes me want to gag when I see women or men with deep cracks in their heels or feet where dirt sticks and no amount of scrubbing will make them not look gross.  Sometimes mine look like this and I spank myself.  With a little work, you can avoid this.  And there are a variety of ways.  You've all seen the PedEgg on TV right?  I don't like it.

It's like a cheese grater and I think it's creepy.  It does shave off some layers but it still leaves them rough.  The Ped Eggs come with an end that has fine sand paper on it but it sort of needs an in between step.  Anyway, I just don't like them.

One thing I've used with good success are those little paddle things with rough sandpaper on one side and smoother grit on the other.  I either do this sitting outside, or I kid you not, I sit on the bathroom counter with my foot in the sink.  I've tried it with my foot over a waste paper basket but lots of it flies around in the air.  Or do it over a towel...then you just have a messy towel to shake out, but that's doable.

 And I am totally serious, and you won't believe me, but the absolute BEST thing I've ever used is a Black and Decker Mouse Sander.  It takes care of business in a fraction of the time you will spend sawing back and forth with the sissy tools!  Yeah, OK, it looks a little "Deliverance", but who cares? I live in rural Eastern Oregon.  If your heels have really gone to pot, or as a friend of mine once posted on Facebook, she was sanding the floors with her heels, try this.  Plus, you can use the Mouse Sander for so many handy projects!

Also, I TRY, but don't always manage to be successful, but I take one of those soap-shaped pumice stones with me to the gym every day (or keep one in the shower) and EVERY day, I try to take just a little bit of time and put a dab of soap on it so it slides well, and I scrub the rough spots on my heels or feet daily.  Then I also TRY to remember, to put a good cream or lotion on my feet every night when I go to bed.  But these two steps can be a bit hit and miss...so then I go outside and unpack the Mouse sander.  I shit you not.

 So now that we've got that cracked foot issue taken care of, lets move on.  After your base coat, I put on whatever color I've chosen, or if I'm doing a french pedi (which I don't do often...it's a lot of dang work), I would then put on the white tip coat (and they are making some interesting products to help make that easier, but avoid the sticker guides they just get gummy and I hate them).  So color coat, or white tip coat.  Wait for this to dry.  Really wait.  Sometimes, in fact, often, I will put on my first coat and not put on a second coat until the next day.  If it is too wet it takes too long to dry and can get gummy or bubble.  Then you gotta start all over.  I don't follow the magazine rules about starting in the middle of the nail and working out.  I slap it on however I want, just not too thick.  Wipe off the brush a little or you'll just have a runny mess that gets on your toes and cuticles.

So then, put on your second coat when the first is GOOD AND DRY.  Then lately, what I've been adding is these fun little nail stickers.  I got mine cheap at Wally World

They come in plenty of variety and there are usually several styles in each pkg.  Buy them where nail polish is sold.  So I choose my stickers and where I want them, trying to contrast a bit with the polish.  Typically, I put a single sticker in the center of each big toe, but do whatever floats your boat.  Less tends to be more in having it look like a pro job.  After your sticker is in place, slap on a clear top coat.  This will help the sticker to stay in place.

Then be SURE that ALL is dry.  Maybe leave it all to gel for another day.  Then and only then, is it time to think of trimming the nails.

 I'm often asked how I manage not to get polish slopped onto my toes and keep it only on the nail.  The answer?  I don't.  I slop it on my skin just like everyone else.  But, the very next time I'm in the shower or tub and the skin has softened, take your fingernail and gently scrape it all off the skin.  It comes off super easy.

The last thing is trimming the nail.  It's a weird phenomenon, visually, if the nail is left natural (no polish) or with a French Mani, it is best to trim fairly short or you just look like a snaggle-paw.  But if the nail is painted a color, it looks best to leave the nail longer. I don't know why, it just does.  I don't mean that you leave the nail so long it extends beyond the end of your toe. I've seen that.  EWWWW!  Trim the nail (again, I use tiny scissors vs a nail clipper), in what is now being called a "squoval".  They used to say trim straight across, never in a curve.  But they are finding that those sharp pointed edges can embed and become ingrown toenails, and nobody wants that.  So AFTER all of my pedi work is done, and the nail is DRY and usually I trim them after a shower or soak so the nail is soft and less likely to split, I trim the nail straight across so that you can see the tip of my toe, but not so short that they look like you chewed them yourself.  Then I take the scissor and gently clip the sharp corner off...just barely, just enough so it isn't sharp.

And I have weird nails on both hands and feet.  They tend to want to easily split sideways way down below where I could even trim them...into the quick...where all they want to do is catch on things.  They make artificial nail glue that is basically SuperGlue with a very fine tip on it made for nails.  I just glue the nail back together (which I may have to do several times), before I do any of the pedicure stuff, when the nail is clean, dry and polish free.  I keep gluing it until the nail has grown out enough to trim it.  I have to do this quite a bit.

It might take me all of 5 minutes over a two or three day period.  But then the pedicure will usually last me about three weeks.  I can spot touch little chips, and/or slap another top coat to freshen the shine if I want, but usually I don't need to.  And in that period of time the nail has regrown out, so you start again by doing the pedi FIRST while the nail is longer, and trim it last.

Don't peel or pull your nails and tear them off.  Looks gross.  Stubby and gutter-snipe.

There.  I think you have all of my secrets now.  And I bet it is not what you would hear from pros, so take it for what it's worth...free advise.  For whatever reason, people notice my pedis, so I thought I would share how I do it.  Go out and cure your pedi!

Product Review: RSVP Ceramic Kitchen Compost Crock

As you may have seen from an earlier post, we built a really nice cedar compost bin in our back yard this summer, from plans we found in My Home My Style Magazine.  So now, we needed a way to save our kitchen compost (peels, egg shells, veggie ends, tea, coffee grounds etc) so that we didn't have to trek out there with each and every scrap.

I've been to plenty of people's houses where they keep a bucket or pain under the sink or a bowl on the counter top and quite frankly, it stinks.  I hate that plan.  So I started looking around for units made for this very purpose.  The one we decided upon is the RSVP Compost bin.  It comes in both a ceramic version and a stainless steel version.  The ceramic was less expensive, so I went with that option.  It is roughly the size of an average cookie jar, has a rubber sealed lid, and replaceable charcoal filters.  We also purchased fully compostable liners for it.  You could just dump your stuff in there and then have to wash it out between empties, but, um...no, I didn't want to.  Plus, you can carry the BAG out to the bin instead of the crock (and risk dropping/breaking it).

I purchased my compost crock from my local kitchen supply store.  It cost $37.99 (holy cow, that seems expensive!), and was only slightly less ($35.99) on Amazon.

The replacement filters come in a package of four filters, but there are two different sizes and you need one of each (or two) per filter change.  Again, I purchased these at the local store for $6.32 for a total of 4 filters or two changes ($6.50 on Amazon).  They are said to last approximately 3 months, and you know to change them when you start smelling the compost.

 The compostable liners are made somehow from corn and are like a thin plastic bag.  Now, you don't have to use these.  You could just dump your compostable items directly into the crock.  But then you have to wash the crock after each time you empty it.  Or, at least, you SHOULD.  Or you could use plastic waste paper liners, but then, you have to empty out the plastic liner and either reuse it or throw it away.  Sort of defeating part of the purpose of composting.  The liners are expensive, and I may see if I can use them for a couple of fills before they start getting too thin or start to decompose.  They are $12.95 where I bought them locally (for a container of 50), or $11.95 on Amazon.

So far, I'm adjusting well to composting.  I would say, of this crock (and I can't speak for other kitchen compost systems), that what I don't like is that the lid has almost a two inch lip that sits down that far into the crock.  So it limits how full you can make the crock without getting yucky food stuck to the lid.  It really didn't need to have that deep of a lid edge on it.  Or so I think.

Items that can go into your outdoor compost are any veggie item, except you might want to avoid seeds/pits, since they can sprout and grow in your compost, egg shells, coffee grounds, tea bags with the staple removed, loose tea, herbs from making tinctures or other herbal remedies, hair and the like.  Don't put meat or any meat juice soaked veggie as this will attract animals and STINK when it decomposes.  Stir it in a bit to your compost heap so that it isn't just food laying on top with ants and flies on it.  Toss it in with your grass clippings and leaves.  The larger lawn items (stalks and stems and leaves) I throw on the lawn and hit it with the bagging lawn mower to chop it all up first.  We've only been doing this for a month or so, so I'm not expert and we have much to learn.

Movie Review: The Expendables

You know how guys joke about "chick flicks"?  Well, this is a "dick-flick".   I'm sure my husband enjoyed it.  I didn't.  It just pissed me off.  Too much splattery violence, stupid-ass story line and nothing but noise and explosions.  Now, see, women will bond together and go see chick flicks in groups.  But guys won't.  I've even heard that guys won't go to the movies with each other, and if they do, they have to leave an empty seat between them so people don't think they're gay.  How lame and sad is that???

Back to the movie, I digress.  It WAS fun to see a group of the old dog action heros together on the screen.  They still have the chops for the work, if only they had an actual script to work with.  I don't like splattery violence.  And there it was.  And, the movie trailer led me to believe that all of these old dogs were major players in the movie.  Bruce Willis and Arnold Swartzenegger (no, I'm not even going to BOTHER to try to spell it right or look it up) only had cameo parts.  Of all of them, I think the most impressive acting was done by Mickey Rourke...and I think he was pretty much just playing himself...which is rather alarming.

And dang!  There is this plot in the second part of the movie where Sly decides that a pretty woman needs to be rescued...and she has expressly told him she does not WANT to be rescued.  The whole lot of them deserved to blow up trying.  It wasn't really like they had a romance going (thank God...that would have just added icing to the dick-flick), but she must be rescued.  She can't possibly know her own mind.  Even if she's chosen death, he can't let her do it.  He has to risk himself and his entire team and kill countless people saving a woman who didn't want saving.  Figures.  It just figures.

If your a woman and you liked it, I want to hear from you.  If your a man and you liked it...DUH.

Book and Movie Review: Eat, Pray, Love.

I love, love, love Julia Roberts and almost everything she's ever been in, but, at the risk of being lynched, I was very disappointed in this movie.  I'm not sure how they could have done things differently, but to me, they portrayed the female lead as flippant in her approach to relationships; as someone who flitted easily from tryst to tryst dumping a perfectly fantastic husband.  And it lacked depth.

Now in contrast, I loved the book.  In the book we see that the ending of her marriage devastated her, that she spent much time curled up in a ball on the floor unable to move, unable to figure out what to do.  She didn't come by the decision with such ease and only a trickle of a tear.  What the book has that the movie doesn't, is the depth of her inner dialogue, the depth of her spiritual journey.  It wasn't just a vacation to eat her way through Italy, hang out in an uncomfortable cultish ashram, and then have an affair in Bali.  It was deeper.  That was my sadness in the movie; it's lack of depth.  It was an entertaining chick-flick, but cannot even hold a candle to the book IMHO.

I made my husband go.  He made me go to Expendables the day before (yuck), so he had to sit through this one.  I was struck by 1.  The lack of men in the audience with their woman and 2.  The tittery high-school behavior of the middle aged women in attendance.  My husband remarked that the chit-chat and noise in the audience was worst than any children's movie.  Did they all have 2 martini lunches and then go to the movies?  It appeared to speak to women who read the book and resonated with the feeling of unrest.  I think that was what struck a chord with me:  the feeling that somehow, our traditional choices of marriage and motherhood had robbed us of our union with self, and our development of our full dimensions.  They were/are our own choices, nobody made us choose the way we chose, however, I think that longing for "more" and to know oneself more deeply resonates with middle aged women.

OK, and another pet peeve about the movie, which I honestly don't remember from the book (remind me if it was there), the jeans shopping scene.  Here we have Julia Roberts and her friend eating too much in Italy, and deciding that guilt is not the way they want their lives to go, so, why not just by "fat jeans" or buy bigger jeans and say the hell with it?  And they go shopping, and do they buy comfortable pants with room to grow?  Oh Hell, no!  They fit right into the stereotype they were trying to discard, by working to SQUEEZE themselves into pants that STILL don't fit and aren't comfortable.  WHAT-FREAKING-EVER!  Buy some sweats and thumb your nose at the world.  And their "fat pants"?  Oh, probably a size ZERO!  Don't talk to me about fat!  I would have SO much more appreciated them just saying..."let's just buy bigger pants and learn to love this experience and all the richness it is bringing to our lives".  Because, let's face it, women, left to their own devices, would NOT worry about weight loss and looking good...that's a patriarchal construct we bought into...again...by our own choice.

My New Psychic Friend

A friend introduced us.  One of those "oh, you and my friend are both psychics, you should get together."  I always internally groan when this happens, because I'm anything but typical and anything but "out there" with my gift/craft.  And when I met this woman, we hit it off, and we were both laughing about our image of psychics or "wannabes".  Long wavy hair, a broomstick style skirt and Berks, maybe a tiedye shirt, and some spiritual jewelry...perhaps a Wican pentacle.  And they use jargon, and they are, well, weird.  They don't fit in, and can't blend in and either never try, refuse to, are totally true to their own drumbeat, or are trying to play a role and be special.  The latter is my gut feeling on many.  Even those with very unique gifts.  I also find them largely to be utterly wounded and not dealing with their wounds.  That's a generalization of course, but I'm happy to say that this gal was none of those things.

We sat outside on a freaking hot day and we shared ourselves, our experiences and our timidity in stepping fully into our callings.  She primarily does phone work and I'll give you her contact info later...if I forget, remind me.

At one point, she asked if I minded if she looked at my palms.  Sure, no problem.  I don't remember it all, but there was some oooing and ahhing and something about me having a mark that fewer than 1% of the population have...although I don't remember what that was for.  Psychic ability I think, but I can't swear to it.  If she reads this, maybe she'll fill in the blanks.  Lines that depict a spiritual teacher, someone who NEEDS to be alone, high degree of spirituality, creativity.  She also said she felt I would be good at assisting people with past life information and...now here is the tie-in with my previous post:  That I was going to be very successful in some aspect of this field when I quit doubting and second-guessing and holding myself back.  And that she felt that we would speak of our meeting 6 months from now and it would be hard to fathom all the movement that had taken place since that day.

One of her suggestions, that truly brought on almost a panic attack was to start giving readings...just set people up and start practicing, to see where it went when I put my focus to the task.  That makes me want to barf.  But, time will tell.  Who knows?  All of the things that go through my mind are that most of my intuitive information is random, and comes when it comes...what if nothing comes? What if I'm wrong?  People, including us, think psychic are "weird"...so what if I just add to that notion?  What if, what if, what if?

Anyway, she was very "normal", whatever that is.  I was very comfortable and "at home" with her.  I'm SURE we have had past lives together.  It was like I had always known her.  She also does pet communication.  Oh, yeah, I was gonna give you her contact and web info:

Her name is Michelle Molotte and here is her webpage, and blog info.  You can contact her through her web page info.  If you do get a reading, let me know how it goes.  Post here.

Being Pulled Forward While Holding Back

Yesterday, I was posting about the uneasy feeling of being in a transitional space of seasonal shift.  Today, I'll take it a step further.  There appears to be that, and more going on here.

For a few weeks now, I've been struggling with back pain, AND what feels like an aggravated abdominal muscle.  The pain has been enough to keep me awake, restrict activity and make me wonder what the heck I've done differently to injure myself.

You see, that's where I always go first.  You would think I would learn.  Especially after working with so many other people looking for the physical cause to their problems, rather than looking for the spiritual message in the communication from their body.  But I'm just like everybody else.  Oblivious.  Finally, I did lie down into a dream/sleep-like/meditation and the image I saw was of me being pulled forward from the spiritual realms...being asked to move ahead into some other great unknown.  To grow.  The place in my abs that hurts is dead center, right smack dab where my rib cage ends, in that little upside down V...above solar plexus but about there.  And I recalled having worked with a healer some years back talking about this heaviness or pull I was feeling there, and he said "that's where your silver cord is".  Now I'll give you a couple of different links on that, but it's a bit hard to explain.  You may also want to go back to my previous post with a YouTube clip about Astral Body and Astral Travel which gives a little better visual representation of it.

In it's most basic terms, a silver cord can best be described as an energetic umbilical cord that links your physical body to your astral body, or your physical body to the spirit world.  Apparently on different people the cord may be attached to various areas of your body.  Note in the picture above, it appears to be attached to the forehead or the third eye chakra (the chakra associated with psychic ability).  On me, it is located in that spot I just described which is within the region of the solar plexus chakra but also not far from the heart chakra.

OK, onward.  In the meditation I'm being shown a tug and pull.  The spiritual world is asking me to move forward, to become more, to step into the fullness of who I am.  The pain in my back is me.  My ego.  Me digging in my heels and refusing.  Me being afraid of the unknown.  Me distracting myself with pretty much everything in the physical world and nothing, currently, of the spiritual realms.  And the pain is that pull.  And, as I tell others who have pain, look for the rich metaphors of the body part or the words that come up when you describe your pain.  And when I think of the word "back" and "pain" I am thinking of being held back, of holding back, of trying to go back to someplace safe and known, of pulling back.  Just think of how powerful it is to connect the words and sense of retreating of "pulling back" with having something pulled in your back.  It truly does manifest that your inner world will be reflected in your physical world or physical body if you're not following the path as called.  And the abdominal pain wouldn't be there at all if I wasn't resisting the directional pull.  If I went forward with it, there would be no pull.

Summer has just been this endless stream of physical activity and labor.  I'm outside, I'm in the yard, I'm out, out, out, and there is always this resentful part of me that wants to pull in, in, in and back, back, back.  So what happens?  My soul wins out by literally pulling my back.  And the spirit world calls by literally pulling so hard on my silver cord that it hurts.  At night I find myself pushing hard on that area, like I need to push it back in...like it's herniated or something.  But I'm beginning to see that it isn't really about my workouts or yard work being too strenuous.  It is about my higher self giving me a smack with a two-by-four to get my attention.

OK, so now it has my attention.  But now what?  I'm in that transitional place between seasons which is always uncomfortable anyway, and now I'm being pulled one way while I resist in the other way.  That never works.  But I don't yet know what I'm being asked to do or be or move toward or away from.  That place of waiting.  Gee, my favorite place.  NOT!  I DO know, however that I need to be paying attention.  Because that two-by-four will literally knock me to my knees.  It will manifest in illness or injury as it does with so many other people who refuse to heed the deeper underlying messages and lessons.  I just don't know what they are.

I have done a few more short meditations (because I have the attention span of a gnat right now) and asked, "what is my next step?"  "what am I do do?"  "I'm listening, please guide me".  All I heard was "meditate", "be still".  Oh, right...give me something easy, why don't ya! :-)  I'm in such a squirmy place right now that meditation and sitting still is the last thing I want to do.  But I sense it will not get better, will only get worse if I do not.  So at least I am AWARE of the need, and thinking about doing it, and planning on doing it, I'm just not yet doing it.

Another interesting metaphor that showed up is, in the last few days somewhere, somebody stole 5 solar lights from my yard.  It really pisses me off.  But just as I'm writing this, I realize it could be just another message.  I'm being asked to step forward into the unknown, or the dark, without a light, to trust that I will be shown the way and that I will be taken care of.  "Someone" stole my light.  And at the moment, my impression is that the light is not there in the place I am being asked to move forward into, and it appears to be more illuminated in the back, behind me, in the territory that I am familiar with.  And, the lights were only stolen from the front and side yards, not the back yard.  Interesting don't you think?

Tomorrow I 'll tell you a little more about my visit with a friend of a friend, who is a psychic/medium also. It ties in with this...you'll see.

In a Summer Slump

In Eastern Oregon the season is already showing signs of changing to fall.  For a couple of weeks, I've been aware of the grass yellowing (despite water), and many of my flower bed plants are looking worse for wear and I've been cutting large sections of things out.  And internally, I'm feeling that same wilting feeling.  Like I want to cut large sections out of me as well.  I can feel the shift.  Already our nights are cooler (some nights, are near freezing already), and some days it's hot (like today will be in the 90's) and some are in the low 70's.  Both the weather, and me, have no idea what we're doing, but we're changing.

I'm feeling resentful of any obligation (like getting up to take my exercise classes or doing my "Dobby the House Elf" chores), and I don't feel like doing the things I need to do.  I'm tired, I'm wilty, my energy is low.  And, I'm feeling cranky.

I sense there is a directional shift upcoming in my life but I don't have any idea of what that is or how I will know it when I see it.  It is the transitional place between the seasons where one type of growth is ending and another type is about to begin.

I will have to look, but I'm getting pretty close to the one year mark on my blog too.  Where to from here?  Does anybody care?  Does anybody read?  Am I being real?  At the moment, I'm having to drag myself to post.  Sitting in front of the computer and concentrating, even for a few minutes is just not on my priority list (if, indeed, I even have a priority list right now).  I want so sit and stare...or eat sugar, or do both simultaneously followed by a nap.

Hang in there with me as the next seasonal transition unfolds.  It always brings something worthwhile.  But transitions are about as uncomfortable to me as I'm sure it must feel to go from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly.  Hey, that can't be comfortable!  Imagine turning yourself totally inside out, hanging upside down for a few weeks, then emerging something totally new and different.  To go from crawling to flying!  I think as beings we are often being asked to do no less than move from crawling to flying.  But transitions...well...I'm not a fan.  I notice I had a post called "Winter Slump", so I think I do this every season.  I'm most aware of the change from long winters into spring, and the summer slump of moving from summer to fall is not as difficult, but still not fun.  I'm not sure if I even notice the switch from spring to summer, or at least it doesn't seem uncomfortable.  Seems that I move from high frenzied activity (planting), to low energy tending.  Now I'm even tired of tending.  I'm tired of people, I'm tired of my routines and bored with myself.  Anybody else?

Here is a link to a book that speaks of just this...the spiritual journeys through the seasons:

Movie Review: Nanny McPhee Returns

Admittedly, this is a children's film, and as such has it's share of corn.  However, I found it utterly entertaining and as in the original Nanny McPhee, very Mary Poppins-ish.  My favorite line from both the first and second films is "When you need me, but do not want me, I must stay.  When you want me, but do not need me, I must go."  You would be amazed at how many things that statement applies to.

The most obvious of course is parenting in general.  And not as obvious, try applying it to all of the "teachers" and guides in your life, both on this side, and perhaps on the other side.  Think even of the most annoying people in your life.  They are there to teach you something about yourself.  Once you've learned whatever the lesson is, those people either go on their merry way, or they just don't bother you anymore.  Next time you are vexed or going through something that just won't seem to go away, think of Nanny McPhee ("Little c, big P) and her prophetic statement, and ask yourself, what it is you NEED to learn but do not WANT to learn.  Best way to make it all go away is to learn to come to terms or be at peace with it.

And Emma Thompson is just a pure delight, onscreen, and seemingly off screen as well. The movie is good clean fun, with no swearing, no sex, and if there was inappropriate content, I missed it. Here's a short little clip which you've probably already seen.



 

Reprint From Robin Rose re "Help Me" Reminders

"Help Me" Reminders Friendship is so important. We need each other. Friends often reach out when they need help, and you can be a person who is really "there" for your friend - especially if you have good helping skills. Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind the next time you're on the receiving end of a "help me" moment. [They're also useful to remember at work and with family members or relatives.] Remain in your thinking brain when others are in their survival brain. Notice your breathing. Get your breath, so they can get theirs. (Remember, breathing patterns are contagious, even over the phone... Go slower and deeper - in and out from your belly.) When someone is in survival mode, try to remember that it's not about you. What people say and do is about their needs and their wants. Get it clear in your mind - it's not about you. Fully engage your listening. This may take some practice... We're used to partial listening and interrupting. But remember, two minutes of being heard can bring a person back into their thinking brain. So get good at listening. (Everybody you practice on will appreciate it as well.) It's helpful to acknowledge and validate their feelings and their reality. You don't have to agree with them - you may have a completely different perspective - but you can acknowledge and validate that they have the perspective they have. If it feels appropriate, help them turn on their thinking brain. Try adding some humor to inspire laughter. (Keep it clean - no denigrating humor.) Get them moving - go for a walk together. Tell them something you admire about them in that moment. Any of these actions can help guide a person back into their thinking brain. Helping moments are a great time to amp up your self-awareness. The more you can stay connected with what's going on inside of you in the moment, the better you will be at actually helping your friend. If you feel an urge to "manage" then manage yourself - but try to steer clear of overly managing your friend. It may be that they are right where they need to be in that moment, even if it seems "stuck" to you. You can consider it a learning opportunity - maybe you get to practice letting go. And you can always check in again later. Don't judge. Remember, everyone has problems that they feel overwhelmed by at times. It feels good to help. It's a very tangible expression of connection. I bet you'll remember these tips the next time someone comes to you for help. You can be a person that others turn to because they know that you have good solid skills - so you are actually able to help. StayWell, Robin These practical tips are excerpted from Robin's book, Shifting Gears: A Brain-Based Approach to Engaging Your Best Self. Click here to look inside the book; click here to purchase a copy. (c) 2010 Robin Rose. Be your best when it matters most... www.RobinRose.com                              Listen to the CD... Staying Calm and Thinking Clearly Under Pressure      Why proper breathing & drinking water matter + How thoughts and values are the keys to controlling negative feelings + Strategies to remain calm + Skills to improve your relationships - with your kids, coworkers, and others + Lots of field-tested techniques you can start using immediately to be more productive. "This CD will positively change the way you live your life..." $22.00 (includes shipping)  Click here to buy the CD Get the Book... Shifting Gears: A Brain-Based Approach to Engaging Your Best Self "This book is great!!! It is SOOO easy to read. I find useful little tips every time I open it - even if only for a few minutes. I'm calmer, I'm managing stress better, and I'm liking my work and enjoying family time a whole lot more. Plus my productivity has skyrocketed. Really, truly... Thank you!!!" $14.97 (plus $4 for shipping)  Click here to buy the book Do you have friends, family members or colleagues who would benefit from reading this book? Purchase in bulk and save: 10 books for $10 each (plus $1 each S&H) 50 books for $7.50 each (plus cost of S&H) To place bulk orders, please call: 503-873-3649 Increase your happiness and satisfaction -- give your maximum energy to the things that really matter.

Book Review: The French Gardener by Santa Montefiore

The French Gardener by Santa Montefiore is a novel about lost love, the pull between the stable family life and exciting romance, and, of course, love of gardens and creativity.

Set in the English countryside it appeals to our sense of romance about, well, life in the English countryside.  Doesn't it just SOUND romantic?

The story crosses a generation while weaving the similarities of the estate's inhabitants.  Without the gut-wrenching emotion, think Bridges of Madison County.

I'll admit it, I'm a tough nut when it comes to impressing me with books.  The French Gardener by Santa Montefiore is, pardoning the pun, what I would refer to as your garden variety women's fiction.  Pleasant, but forgettable.  I hate to say that, because as writer, I know that writing isn't easy and what the writer writes becomes their baby.  So I say it with the greatest of respect. There are dimestore novels that entertain and pass the time and they have their place and I'm not knocking them.  I enjoyed the book and would recommend it for what it is:  average escapism.

I'm often drawn to stories that depict life in a far-off, rural place.  I can see myself there.  And, this story will appeal because it seems all too common that real family life can become ho-hum and routine, and many long for that little something extra...that zig that tells them they are still alive and more than just wife/mom.  A good beach book. It could end up a movie on LifeTime.

Book Review: The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly

You're not in Kansas anymore, and this is not Dorothy's Scarecrow.  The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly rivals any episode of Criminal Minds.  It's creepy and disturbing, and you just sort of have to keep reading.

The basic story is the search for and capture of, a serial killer and sidekick who do some pretty gross things prior to killing their victims.  The Scarecrow is the signature name and M.O. of the killer.  I'll leave it to you to discover how/why.

Not overly gratuitous in detail, it is chilling in the present day as it depicts the many ways that a brilliant deviant who is computer savvy can get into Facebook, email and business accounts to learn pretty much everything they need to know about you...to plan...to stalk, to lure.  The killer also knows how to ruin the lives of those who might be on the trail by planting porn on their work computers, canceling their credit cards, turning off phones, lights, and cleaning out their bank accounts.  And that's if the killer is feeling generous.

I really enjoyed this thriller/murder mystery.  There is enough relevance in our computer age to keep it within the realm of believability.

Book Review: Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

Published in 2009, Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls captured the nostalgia of family history, rural life in the old west, and evoked the images many hold of their grandparents and great grandparents childhoods.  Throughout the book, I kept glancing up at a framed photo that sits on my shelf of my grandmother when she was a girl on the prairies of the Dakotas.  In the photo, she and her sister are standing next to their horses.  My grandmother kept her lifelong love of horses despite the fact that due to being abandoned by their father, all of the livestock had to be sold...a bitter pill my grandmother never quite let go of.

The story is a fictionalized version of the author's ancestors.  Many facts are real and photos are included.  In the book description it says "Lily Casey:  amateur schoolmarm, rodeo rider, bootlegger, poker player; you name it, she did it..."  It is the story of a woman's life, loves, struggles and strength during harder times that most of us will ever know.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Here is a quote from the book that sort of sums up my thoughts on cooking:

"I kept the cooking basic as well.  I didn't make souffles and sauces and garnished this and stuffed that.  I made food.  Beans were my specialty.  I always had a pot of them on the stove, and that usually lasted two to five days, depending on how many cowboys we had around.  My recipe was simple:  boil beans, salt to taste.


When we weren't having beans, we had steak.  My recipe for steak was also fairly simple:  fry on both sides, salt to taste.  With the steak came potatoes:  boil unpeeled, salt to taste.  For dessert, we'd have canned peaches packed in tasty syrup.  I liked to say that what my cooking lacked in variety, it made up for in consistency.


Once when some milk had spoiled and I was feeling ambitious, I did make cottage cheese the way my mother made it when I was growing up.  I boiled the clabbered milk and cut up the curds with a knife.  Then I wrapped it in a burlap sugar sack and hung it over-night to let the whey drain out.  The next day I chopped it again, salted it, and passed it out at supper.  The family loved it so much they wolfed it down in under a minute.  I couldn't believe I'd worked so long over something that was gone so quickly.


'That was the biggest waste of time,' I said.  'I'll never make that mistake again.'

Movie Review: The Other Guys

Yeah, so, against my better judgment, I thought this looked like a slap-stick fun movie. Will Farrell can either by hysterically funny, or just plain annoying.  He was a little of both in this.  And Mark Wahlberg does a good job at playing the straight-man.  Jackson and The Rock are only in the movie for the first little bit.  So they don't really even figure into the scheme.

That being said, and admitting that I did laugh at some shockingly stupid humor better suited for frat-boy viewing, all in all, I was left disappointed.  The funniest bits were shown in the movie trailer that I had already seen a billion times on TV.  Mostly, it was stupid.  I think the target audience was teen and early adult males...or just males in general.  And since I'm neither male, nor in the teen to young adult category, perhaps that's why I missed the point.  But you tell me.  If you saw it, what did you think? 

Opinions are like assholes...everybody's got one :-)  Mine are just mine.  Me personally, I would have been happy to rent it for a dollar, not so happy to pay full price for two tickets.  And for Pete's sake...have a clue and don't take young children to it.  There is a LOT of sexual humor and swearing.  If you feel like trying to explain to your little kid what two consenting adults might do with an electric shaver taped to the end of a golf club (don't know?  me neither!), then leave the kids at home.

Book Review: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

In an earlier post, I reviewed the first book in this trio entitled The Hunger Games.  Catching Fire is book two where the saga continues.

The topic is still hard to wrap your brain around, but then, so is the concept of romantic teenage vampires (if you get my drift).  The story of Katniss continues where The Hunger Games left off.  She has just won The Hunger Games, but has royally ticked of "The Capital" by her desperate move to save her friend by threatening a suicide pact.  The Capital doesn't like being tricked, there is only to be ONE winner, so she's in trouble.  Big trouble.

I'm not planning on including spoilers, but you get to go on another journey into The Hunger Games, with its many twists and turns.  The love triangle (hmmmm, can you say Team Jacob and Team Edward all over again) between Peeta, Gale and Katniss is not resolved in this edition either.  We can only hope we get to find out who Katniss choose or who gets killed off (making her choice a bit easier) in book three!

The Third (and I think final) book in the trilogy is called Mockingjay and it is slated for release August 24th 2010.  I borrowed both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire from a friend, and she says she has the final one on order.  So, with any luck, I'll get to borrow that one too.

Since these movies will eventually become movies, they are noteworthy and I predict, they will become much more popular once the first movie comes out.  I'm not sure that they will gain the phenom status that the Twilight Series gained, but they are going to be very popular. Mark my words.  Mark them I tell you!

Our Compost Bin Project from Hell

The Magazine "My Home My Style" (previously known as WorkBench) had a design layout and online downloadable plans for a redwood compost bin that was oh-so-lovely.  So we bit.  Hopefully the link to my photos and process works, if it doesn't, let me know.

It was hard for us.  We're very novice do-it-yourselfers.  The plans in the magazine were not complete, the downloadable plans online were not complete, and there was no working supply list included.  So each piece and measurement and how many of what had to be calculated.  Even with Lowe's help, even THEY screwed up the cuts.  They will, however, make your basic rough cuts free of charge.  I'm sure Home Depot will as well.  Our nearest Lowe's and Home Depot are about two hours away!  Our local lumber places usually have much higher prices and much crappier service.  Sad but true.  And if a woman walks in, most of the time, locally, they won't even acknowledge your presence. Phooey on that!.

It ended up being way over budget.  Lowe's gave us a price of $187.  We left Lowes after $230, and then discovered that they cut the sides and bottom pieces out of plywood...which will never do because those pieces come in direct contact with the compost.  And we found out that those pieces would cost us an additional $200 locally (we didn't find out we had the wrong wood until we got home).  So for $30, we had the pieces re-cut out of cedar.  Cedar should weather OK unfinished.  We hope.  The manager of Lowe's got a piece of my mind.  And I had so little left to spare!

Growing a Sweet Potato Plant

I thought this would be fun.  Too much time on my hands you say?  Try growing your own sweet potato vine.  It's a fun activity for kids too. 

I found some instructions here, but there are many ways to do it, all you have to do is Google "growing sweet potato vine" and you'll fund links and videos galore.

Basically, put three toothpicks around a perimeter of the sweet potato (they say to use one that has already sprouted some eyes, but I just used one I bought at the store).  Then balance the potato over/in a jar full of water with the slender, pointy side in the water.  Keep track that the water doesn't evaporate and in a few weeks the potato will begin to sprout leaves, and shoot out roots into the water.  You may have to change your water or even scrub your potato a bit from time to time, I found that the water wanted to get moldy and sometimes the potato would get slimy moldy stuff on it while I was waiting for it to sprout, so I would clean it off a bit.

Then, as you can see from this photo, I placed it in a pot with potting soil (or in this case CocoTek) with the exposed sprouts and part of the potato showing for effect.  This one is fairly new, but eventually, it will become a trailing vine.  Then I may put it on top of the fridge and let it trail down the side.  From what I read, it will also produce little sweet potatoes under the soil.  You could plant this in your yard in the summer too.  I'm going to see how long it will survive as a houseplant.

I'm also trying to sprout soap nuts, an avocado pit, and a piece of ginger root.  So far, no success, but I'm going to keep trying.  There are instructions for these online all over the place too.  If you've successfully sprouted any of the above named items, post comments about what you did to make it work.

Growing Your Own Sandwich Sprouts

As you can see from my photo...my sprouts runneth over!  The jar was so packed full, I had a really hard time getting them out!  And they came out in an elongated cylinder shaped just like the jar.  Perhaps I put too many seeds in it.

Especially in the warm summer months, it only takes a couple of days to make a giant mound of sprouts like this, and you'll know they are fresh, because you saw them grow!

I can find several types of organic sprouting seeds at my local health food store, and among the ones I typically use are alfalfa, clover and radish.  And in this batch, (and in fact, most batches), I mix the three types for added nutrition, flavor and texture.  I use them in sandwiches, but they can be used in any way you want.  Salads...whatever.  I also purchased a screen-type lid that screws onto most any wide mouth canning jar.  You can often find these at your health food store as well.  I once had a three-screen set that had graduated sized mesh depending on the size of the seed or the size of the sprouts.  I just have a single size, fine screen lid now and it works just as well.  You could even make your own by simply cutting a piece of window screen to fit the inside of a jar ring.

Often, you will find directions for sprouting your seeds in the same area where you purchase your seeds, or your screen.  And if not, the web abounds with instructions.  I put a tsp or so of each of the three varieties mentioned above in the jar.  I fill the jar with water and let the seeds soak in the water overnight.  The next day, and every day thereafter until the sprouts are as I wish them, I leave the screen lid on, and fill the jar with water and drain it, once in the morning and once at night.  I leave the jar in the window sill or near a direct source of light (but not too hot).  Then when they look done to me, I take them out of the jar, and place them in a covered bowl with a paper towel in the bottom.  I like to vent the bowl a bit so the sprouts don't get sweaty and slimy.  Keep in the fridge.  And it is good to try to use them in a week or so.  Here is a video on sprouting from the good folks at Mountain Rose Herbs (I order all my herbs online from them).

Another Weird Dream Visit from the X

For someone that I divorced in the mid 1980's, never saw or heard from again after that, and who died in 2000, This man sure does manage to drop in a lot.

Once again, I have sensed his presence with me in the car and the radio manages to play songs during that time that were his faves back in the day.

Then last night I had a dream that I can't really seem to make heads or tails out of.  Not sure if it was astral stuff or just symbolic dreaming.

In it, I am with a family of people, I recognize two of them as neighbors I hung out with some as a teenager.  We're sitting in some darkish place at picnic tables (but I think we're inside).  Someone tells me my X is coming.  Even in the dream I know that it has been some 25 years since I last saw him, and on some weird level, I also know he's not alive anymore.  He arrives.  White-haired (which he was when he died but he never was when I had last seen him), heavier than I had ever seen him.  Not fat by any means, as he was always rickety thin, but he had more weight on him.  Still did not seem healthy (well, I don't suppose you would be all that healthy, DEAD, now would you?).  He was walking with a cane and a limp and seemed old and frail.  He limped toward me, and I stood and walked to him and we embraced.  There was a connection of our hearts that transcended all the rough stuff and hard feelings.  He was crying when we released.

I'm thinking that my current husband had left the room to go do something or get something and I'm wondering how he will feel to walk in and see my X (who in this life has never actually ever seen or met).  I keep watching the door for his return but he doesn't return.  I begin to get concerned.  Then my X mentions something about knowing where he is and some vague story unfolds about my X having had something to do with his disappearance.  He's going to help me find him...be a big hero and all..thinking that will get him into my good graces, and yet not realizing I might hold him responsible for his disappearance (since he IS responsible).  At some point, I say that I hope he is ok and my X says "He isn't".

So then some weird nebulous search begins with my X acting like he's helping me find him, but in reality he must KNOW where he is and what's going on, since he did something to kidnap him.  The dream never resolves with me finding my husband, or with the X putting two and two together that this stunt isn't working in his favor.

Any ideas on what this could mean?  My dead X better leave my living breathing hubby alone.  That's all I've got to say.  Or I'll bust a cap in his raggedy ghosty butt :-)  Good Lord, where are Lisa Williams and John Edward when I need them?  Far away and out of my price range, that's where.

Book Review: Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd

In Dance of the Dissident Daughter, Sue Monk Kidd shares her personal spiritual journey of moving from "Christian Tradition" (steeped in patriarchy), to the "Sacred Feminine" (reclaiming the female voice of Divinity).  It is a brave, and I'm sure at the time,  risky professional choice, given that Sue has written and spoken extensively on more traditional Christian topics.  It is highly personal, and we get a view into the process she went through (and continues) to define her spirituality for herself; to allow her spirit to take the lead rather than patriarchal dogma passed down as "gospel truth".

Sue Monk Kidd, you may or may not know, also wrote The Secret Life of Bees (which later became a movie) and many other books.  She often writes about the lives and struggles and dreams and spirits of women.  There is much in this book that resonated for me as I walk a similar, and perhaps even more pagan path; moving away from the religion of my raising, to the calling of my soul, and trusting it.  I also thoroughly enjoyed her book "When the Heart Waits" as it came to me while I was having retreat at a monastery and my soul was in a place of waiting...waiting for the next step.

This is not a lengthy book (228 pages) but it took me a surprisingly long time to read it.  I could only digest it in small bits.  I underlined extensively in it, wrote in the margins and it became a workbook for self exploration.  I think Sue is a woman I would greatly enjoy spending time with.  She doesn't cram a view down your throat, and shares it as HER truth, it is her journey. She does not poke fun at or disrespect anyone's religious view.  She is showing us her process in moving toward that which speaks more completely to her soul.  I'm going to give you a rather lengthy quote, one that spoke volume's to me:

"Goddess...teaches us to embrace the holiness of every natural, ordinary, sensual, dying moment...to embrace them, to take our human life in our arms and clasp it for the divine life it is - the nice, sanitary, harmonious moments as well as the painful, dark, splintered ones.


If such a consciousness truly is set loose in the world, nothing will be the same.  It will free us to be in a sacred body, on a sacred planet, in a sacred communion with all of it.  It will infect the universe with holiness.  We will discover the Divine deep within the earth and the cells of our bodies, and we will love her there with all our hearts and all our souls and all our minds.


I remember a moment when that happened to me.  We were in Crete on a far, southern side of the island, gathered on a remote stretch of beach.  We'd had a long hike up a mountain, and now, tired and hot, with the sun setting and our feet aching, a few of the women began to peel off their clothes for a swim.


The beach was strewn with a billion rocks of all sizes, and I was coming through them at the water's edge when I happened to look up.  A number of the women, most over fifty, moved toward the sea, picking their way together over the rocks, holding hands to help steady one another.  Their bodies were nude, sculpted by long years of life and love.  Full breasts, prolapsed breasts, Venus of Willendorf thights, dimpled thights, skinny thighs, gray hair, brown hair, puckering veins, silver scars, taught bellies, bellies stretched out from bearing children.  They moved together, laughing, and I was touched by how beautiful they were.  It was like a transubstantiation on the beach, the "real presence" coming into their flesh.


As I grounded myself in feminine spiritual experience, that fall, I was initiated into my body in a deeper way.  I came to know myself as an embodiment of Goddess.  This awareness, so crucial to women's development, has been shut away from us.  In Christianity, God came in a male body.  Within the history and traditions of patriarchy, women's bodies did not belong to themselves but to their husbands.  We learned to hate our bodies if they didn't conform to an ideal, to despise the cycles of menstruation - "the curse," it was called.  Our experience of our body has been immersed in shame.


Waking to the sacredness of the female body will cause a woman to "enter into" her body in a new way, to be at home in it, honor it, nurture it, listen to it, delight in its sensual music.  She will experience her female flesh as beautiful and holy, as a vessel of the sacred.  She will live from her gut and feet and hands and instincts and not entirely in her head.  Such a woman conveys a formidable presence because power resides IN her body.  The bodies of such women, instead of being groomed to some external standard, are penetrated with soul, quickened from the inside" (pp. 160-161).

And later, on page 208 she instructs us to:

"Ask yourself, 'What is my deepest passion, really?  What moves me profoundly?'  And let the answer float up from the truest, most vulnerable place in your heart.  Greet this answer like it is your own newborn self being placed in your arms.  Love it.  Bond with it.  Feed it.  Don't push it aside, minimize, make excuses, and starve this thing of beauty, because this answer is the window into your creative life."

Book Review: A Thread So Thin by Marie Bostwick

On the surface, A Thread So Thin is the story of  a group of small town women who share the love of quilting and the fear of relationship commitment.  They, each in their own way and in their own time, work through the wounds of their past, examine what they want for their lives, and how relationships fit into their equations.

While in many ways, A Thread So Thin is your average novel, it touched me and the place within me that has struggled with gender roles, my place within or outside of them, and the inner stabbings that go with the territory of daring to question the status quo for women.

A Thread So Thin by Marie Bostwick, is, to me, a story about women and the rolls they play, the difficult choices that they make that men do not seem to have to make...pursuing their dreams, OR having a husband/partner/family.  While, many would contend that it is possible to have both, what struck at the core of me while reading this novel is that it is somehow harder for women.  Gender roles have often been laid out so that to pursue one's dreams is secondary to the dreams and hopes of one's partner/family.  If there is a way to make them happen within the framework of all of the others who come first in our lives, then it is possible to "have it all".  But only then.

It is also a story of multi-generational women in community with each other, in this case, through a quilting group.  It is a story of changing gender roles and women allowing themselves to take the time to think things through before jumping into marriage and all it entails.  I think it sends the message that it is perfectly acceptable to wonder if marriage is the right choice.  Also in this story are supportive, loving and patient men.  That's refreshing too.

So while it is your average dime-store novel in many respects, there are deeper messages that tug at that place within women who dare to question, dare to think if another way might fit them better than the way of the generations of women who came before.

Madgrip Garden Gloves

Madgrip are my all-time new favorite garden gloves.  We found these the other day while looking for something else entirely and I fell in love with them when I put them on.  They are sold as a multi-use glove for "all purpose utility, lawn & garden, mechanics and water sports" but I've only tried them for lawn & garden use.  And for that, they are fantabulous!

I can do the "Pulp Fiction Batusi Dance Moves" in my MadGrips!

I have other garden gloves that WERE my favorite...the mesh kind with the coated palms and tips, but one problem I had with them was abrasions across my knuckles.  The material would rub my skin off across the knuckles, and, when they got wet, it would leak around to the mesh part and I would still end up with mud and yuck down my fingernails.  That, and the rubberized coating would eventually begin to crack and peel off.

My MadGrip Jazz Hands!

But these are SA-WEET!  They fit well, are super flexible and give you ultra fine fingertip feel.  You can do almost anything with them on.  Yes, they are going to get sweaty like dish gloves will (well, maybe not THAT much), but they are machine washable (hang to dry).  Try on a pair at your local garden center or hardware store and see what I mean. I tried, but I could not find a website for them.  The label lists one, but when I tried it, it doesn't work.  The photo I took above shows you both sides of the glove.

My American Gothic MadGrip

The pair shown above is very new, so if they don't hold up well, I will post again.  Otherwise, assume I'm still in love.

July 27, 2012.  Yes, I'm still in love.  MadGrip sent me a new pair and a couple pairs to give away to readers.  How fun is that.  They've asked me to submit a statement/testimonial for their new website (I'll post that link when I know what it is).  So my gal-pal, Thelma took these photos of me in case one of them will work for their website.

Hey...for fun...send me your best dance move or artistic impression of you rocking YOUR MadGrip gloves.  I'll post them here!  You can submit them to me at wardc@eoni.com and put "Rockin' My MadGrips" in the subject line.  This will be fun!  If anybody plays along, that is :-)

November 15, 2012 Update:  So after all my best efforts, THIS is the photo they have used on their website to pair with my testimonial quote.  I tell you, I HARDLY recognize myself!  SNORK!  Apparently, they had a different look in mind.   Hair color seems similar...I need to grow it a bit longer...and change...um...pretty much everything else.

Making Cheese

Not to be confused with cutting the cheese, making cheese is an interesting task.  "Willow's" sister "Laurel" invited her over for cheese making recently.  Now there's an opportunity you don't bump into every day!

Originally, if I have my facts straight, Laurel purchased a starter kit from CheeseMaking which is an excellent resource for all things related to making cheese.  She purchased the kit for making Mozzarella for around $25.  The kit included butter cloth (which is a finer weave than cheese cloth), a thermometer, rennet, citric acid and instructions for making mozzarella and ricotta cheese.  They sell many other types of kits too.  Once you get the general hang of things, you should be able to purchase all of your ingredients locally.

Rennet is a granulated substance that helps the cheese firm up and citric acid no doubt helps the milk turn into curds.  Rennet is derived in some weird way from the lining of one of the stomachs of a calf.  No, I'm not kidding you.  Click on that link and Wikipedia will tell you all about it.  Yuck.  And I thought how Jello is really made was disgusting!  Well, it IS, but so is Rennet.  You can also purchase a 100% vegetarian version at your local health food store.

So I arrived at Laurel's house, Starbuck's Iced Vente Caramel Machiatos in tow, for my lesson in cheese making.  We made versions from 2% milk that she made into Ricotta, and mozzarella made from fresh, raw goat's milk.  I had never tried goat's milk before.  It tastes like milk, only the sugar content must be much lower because it has an almost salty taste.

I won't go into all of the details, and I'm sure there are many YouTube videos out there on cheese making, but it involved heating a gallon of milk to a stated temp, adding in both pre-dissolved rennet and citric acid, watching the magic happen, gently cutting/stirring, draining the whey, forming the cheese and placing it in an ice bath.

I was amazed at how much whey is left and how little actual cheese you get from a gallon of milk.  There were maybe two or three small balls of mozzarella and nearly the entire gallon in left over whey.  However, if you consider what a gallon of milk costs, and what three balls of mozzarella cost, you're still ahead on the deal.  I looked it up, and the left over whey can be used to boil your pasta, or to cook your hot cereal in or to use in smoothies.  It looks weird and tastes a little odd, but it's just the liquid separated from the milk solid and it is chock-full of nutrients. You can even use it to water your plants.  I think the YouTube clip below says to feed it to your dogs.  I guess that's an option too.

There are guidelines about what type of milk works best, what level of pasturization etc, so be sure to follow some directions somewhere.

Here is a YouTube video of one method.  The method shown here is WAY more complicated than what we did and took WAY longer than it took us.  So there must be many methods.  I say choose the easiest.  But that's just me.  This will at least show you a process.  Much of what we did ended up looking like this, it just wasn't arrived at by the same means.







Have you ever made cheese?  Tell me about it.