Category Archives: Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts at the Grocery Store

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Years ago, when I successfully canned my first batches of jams, I was warned. “Jam is the gateway drug for canning. You’ll never be able to stop.”

It’s true. My home-canned inventory grows every year. Part of the joy of canning is getting downstairs to bring up a jar of cherry-rhubarb jam or home-grown salsa instead of writing it on the list and shopping for it. Another pleasure in the canning world is walking down the grocery store aisle and thinking, “I don’t need to buy that. I make my own.”

Let’s see. I had that thought as I walked past…

  • jams and jellies
  • pickles
  • salsa (but we still buy the chips)
  • applesauce (and pear sauce! yum!)
  • tomato sauces
  • herbs (I don’t can them, but I grow and dry them)
  • soup stocks (not canned, but homemade and frozen)
  • frozen vegetables (I grow them or buy them at the farmers’ market, then freeze them)
  • “fresh” strawberries and other berries (again, I freeze them in season)

Meanwhile, I kept distracting myself from the actual shopping trip by thinking about spring and summer. Organic more expensive? I’ll grow it in the backyard. No problem. Chuck getting picky about breads? I’ll make some in the bread machine. He’ll eat it. What kind of ice cream should I make? Well, I still have a few strawberries in the freezer and a small amount of cherry concentrate. This could be delicious.

On further review, the rhubarb is already coming up, and I have quite a bit in the freezer. I must find a way to barter this rhubarb for something I don’t have. Ideas, readers? What do you do with too much rhubarb? And furthermore, was jam the gateway drug for you?

 

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Random Thoughts on a Rainy Sunday Afternoon

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Questions. I have questions.

Where’s the NFL? If I’m stuck inside on a Sunday afternoon, I want football.

NASCAR! Amigo likes NASCAR. The announcers just said, “This isn’t Richmond, this is I-95!” Oh, there are times the track looks a lot like I-94 around Milwaukee.

Why does the remote control continually fall into the couch behind Amigo? No, don’t answer that.

Trent, the last American Idol, really rocked the National Anthem. He wowed the crowd – and he wowed us. That’s a statement, not a question.

Which Mountain Dew is better: Baja Blast or Pitch Black? And truly, who cares?

How are the Milwaukee Brewers doing this afternoon? Is the roof open?

How many school days are left until summer?

Can I start a few more seeds indoors? Maybe peas or beans?

Why are so few of the marigold seeds coming up?

Should I consider raising monarch butterflies?

Most of these questions have no answers. Some have answers that don’t really matter. With that in mind, I think I’ll hit “Post” and watch the race with Amigo. Boogity Boogity Boogity!

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Signs of Spring – more in a series

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Similar to the mini mums and tulips, each spring the daffodils come up next to the old roses. I plan to dig up the daffodils after they’re done blooming. We have other plans for that area, including moving the roses. The stones will join their friends in the rock garden on the other side of the house.

See the markers? I'll find the bulbs this time, I will.

See the markers? I’ll find the bulbs this time, I will.

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Signs of Spring – the series

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It seems like every year I post signs of spring and then – bam! – we get more winter. This time, my signs of spring will be one post at a time.

The barrels are back!

The barrels are back!

It’s a true sign of spring: the rain barrels are set up! Last year – well, last year was difficult. I’m glad to see one of my favorite garden tools – or should I say supplier? this is my main water source – is up and running.

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Influenza – I spoke too soon.

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It’s my turn. I cared for the boys, washed my hands frequently, stayed out of range of their coughing as much as I could — and it wasn’t enough. I’m on my second day home today. Chuck is back at work, but Amigo is still suffering.

In the category of Simple Pleasures, also known as For What it’s Worth, there are some reasons to feel (almost) good these days.

We have a new couch – with dual recliners on the ends. With this set-up, two of us can lean back and relax with the tissue box between us. No one fights over the couch because we can both stretch out.

Spring weather might return late in the week. Right now, none of us want to step outside into the cold air for fear of setting off a coughing fit.

I did the shopping last weekend, and I stocked up on chicken noodle soup. I’ve also thrown together crock pot meals to tempt our meager appetites while not spending precious energy in the kitchen.

Positives aside, I need a nap. After that, I need chicken soup.

 

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Apathy; We can’t afford to go there.

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“The greatest danger to our future is apathy.”
-Jane Goodall
“Stopping Trump is the short term solution.The long-term solution – and it will be more difficult – is fixing the educational system that has created so many people ignorant enough to vote for Trump.” – Andy Borowitz
In Daisy language, the first quote tells me, “Get up and speak up. Do more than just vote; make sure others are getting to the polls. Get up off the couch and go make a difference. Get back into the volunteer circuit and do something to get a strong, decent, candidate on the way to becoming a strong, decent president.”
The second quote is more difficult. As I read between the lines, I see an indictment of today’s public education system, and I’m part of that system. So how do I address Andy Borowitz when he says the educational system is creating (infer: graduating) ignorant people?
Maybe I don’t need to address Andy. I know our public educational system has limitations. It’s not perfect by a long shot. One of the downfalls comes in the concept that public schools educate everybody; rich or poor, smart or not-so-smart, eager or apathetic learners.
And yet – and yet – that’s what makes our educational system unique. We educate everyone. One of the best lessons we can teach is that: everyone deserves an education.
The tougher lesson to teach, the one Borowitz suggests, is fighting ignorance. To root out ignorance, we (educators and families and whole villages) need to teach high level thinking skills. We need to teach our students to read, to analyze, and to form conclusions. With that in mind, I’ll pull up the late George Carlin. He’s the one who said, “Don’t just teach your children to read…Teach them to question what they read. Teach them to question everything.”
It’s in the questions that we’ll find answers. It’s in the questioning that we’ll find thoughtful, insightful voters. When those analytical, thinking voters get going, we’ll see an intelligent, analytical, thoughtful, insightful, candidate become an intelligent, analytical, thoughtful, insightful president.

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Election on the way: Paranoia Sets In

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Maybe it’s Trump. Maybe it’s the dystopian novels I read so often. My inner paranoid streak or doomsday prepper is begging to get out and take action.

Here’s an example. Trump claimed today that if he carries Wisconsin in the primary, he’ll go to a Packer game in the fall. Does he have any idea how hard it is to get tickets? Or how long the waiting list is for season tickets? Never mind. Don’t answer that.

Our primary election is next week Tuesday. The airwaves are full of campaign ads. The one that makes me slap my forehead and shout “Doh!” is Ted Cruz’ commercial that announces he is the only one who can beat Trump. “Do the math!” the announcer demands while showing a bar graph. Frankly,  the best candidate to beat Donny Boy isn’t on the same primary ticket. Do the math? Someone forgot a variable.

I spent a bundle to restock our medicine cabinet with supplies for spring allergy season. It was costly. It would be more costly if I hadn’t stocked up and had needed a last-minute run to the store. By planning ahead, I was able to use two coupons and buy generic store brands. When all the allergic folks start breaking out in sneezes and wheezes, the shelves will be empty except for the expensive varieties.

I’ve used up the corn in the freezer. If we want corn, we’ll have to buy it from the store. We have one container of peas left, and several of beans (green and yellow). We salvaged the last two squash from the basement and noted that next year we need to cook them sooner, not later. I guess the vegetable of choice for the time being will be beans. As the summer arrives, I’ll put up more corn, an equal amount of peas, and beans? Let me think about it.

Meanwhile, I’m hearing about schools getting budgets zapped, stripped to the bone. Layoffs are rampant. My job is fairly secure, at least for the time being. I just did a promo for open enrollment a few days ago. Maybe it’ll help keep our enrollment up.

But when I go in to vote on Tuesday, I’ll have all of these issues on my mind – and more. All politics may be local, and it’s also personal. Very personal. Do I need to stock up on toilet paper? Build a chicken coop? Hide my retirement fund in a mattress?

Readers, help me silence my inner doomsday siren. Promise me you’ll do the most important prep of all: you’ll vote.

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Snow Day! It’s all in the timing.

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We were expecting 11 inches of snow. Or maybe it was nine. Or 10-12 inches. All depending on which forecast was on the TV or the radio or the computer screen – we just knew there was a storm coming.

So we prepped, as we privileged first world people do. At work, we ordered lunch from a local restaurant in case we didn’t get to do it at the end of the work week. We postponed our office Soup Day because the odds were against having to work the next day – and if we were in business, it would be tough to drag all the crock pots and supplies through the snow piles in the parking lot. As the long day (parent-teacher conference schedule) ended, we took the extra step of cleaning our cubicles and bringing home anything we’d left in the refrigerator.

When I got home, I still didn’t know if the blizzard that was moving in would convince our district superintendent to shut us down. So I prepped as I do, in this privileged first world home of mine. I charged all of the devices. The Kindle, my phone, my laptop – all got plugged in and charged in case of a power outage. I charged my FitBit because it is also my alarm in the morning. We keep a pretty well-stocked pantry, so feeding the troops (ahem, the family) won’t be difficult.

Petunia has been watching the storm from her hospital room on the 8th floor. This pneumonia that side tracked her at least put her in a room with a view.

I have the news, now. It’s official. No school tomorrow! Spring break starts early! You guessed it, people. This blizzard, with its white-out warnings and blowing snowdrifts has added one day onto our spring break. Mother Nature has a sense of humor – I’d better laugh a little, too.

Maybe I’ll start a few more seeds under my grow lights – as long as the power stays on!

 

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