Tag Archives: it’s the economy

Crocks for Planting: The Auction Chapter

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I have a 3 gallon Redwing stoneware crock that I bought at an antique mall. I also found a very large (6 gallon, I estimate) that had a huge crack in it. I caulked the crack in the crock, and then set it aside. I plan to plant in both crocks.

I lost out on a few crocks in online auctions, and I was bummed. Then I saw a generic label of “Lots of Crocks” in another auction. On closer examination, I recognized that one was a 2 gallon Redwing crock, dirty and possibly cracked. The others might or might not be good enough to use as planters along with those I already had, but it was worth a try.

Yesterday I brought them home.

the five new pieces in front of the 3 qt in back

the five new pieces in front of the 3 qt in back

You can’t get a good look at them in the dark garage, so I moved them outside for some natural light.

Here they are in the sunshine.

Here they are in the sunshine. Some are in better shape than others.

Kaukauna Cheese!

Kaukauna Cheese!

Did it cost one dollar and 59 cents, or one and 59/100 of a penny?

Did it cost one dollar and 59 cents, or one and 59/100 of a penny?

Butter from Sheboygan; and a lot of stain or rust.

Butter from Sheboygan; and a lot of stain or rust.

And finally, the crock that led me to bid on this lot.

And finally, the crock that led me to bid on this lot.

My plan: with baking soda and salt, perhaps a vinegar/water rinse, and a lot of bow grease, I’ll see how these pretty little crocks clean up. Then I’ll decide what to plant in each one. Chives might do well in the #3.

What do you think, readers? Do you think these crocks have a future? Do you have advice for cleaning them?

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A Little Paranoia is the Prepper’s Friend

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Actual conversation on social media (name of network not used for confidentiality)

Friend of Daisy: Green beans, tomatoes (yes, more) and cucumbers are on the canning list today. Whew.

Friend of Friend: Busy, busy. It’ll be lovely to have them all come winter.

Friend of Daisy: Yes it will. It was great last night when we were without power. Just needed to open some jars of yumminess to make a satisfying dinner. But we need a better camp stove.

Daisy joins in: Ah, the camp stove. Our next door neighbors have one. It’s good to be prepared!

Daisy adds: I filled my minivan with gas today. I don’t like going below 1/4 tank. I don’t know if it’s a touch of paranoia since 9/11 or something else, but I don’t want to have to refill in an emergency.

Friend: That’s brilliant! I do the same thing.

Daisy: It feels more paranoid than brilliant, but it helps me keep calm and carry on.

Friend: Well, paranoia is the friend of “preppers”.

Daisy: Exactly!

On that note, I think I’ll put down the laptop and bring up a jar of tomato sauce to use with supper. Enchiladas!

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Prepping for – What?

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I have joked in the past that I prep for the Walker Apocalypse. Many teachers I know are in a Cautiously Paranoid condition; we know the future of public education in our state is shaky, at best. We’re looking to provide for our families one way or another. My method consists (in part) of filling the freezer and the pantry with decent food, mostly organic, much locally grown.

I’m still cautiously paranoid about what happens in my state capitol. Education budgets keep going down, down, down. My pantry stock keeps going up, up, up. This year’s new project is jelly. I’ve always made jam, with pieces and chunks of fruit. Jelly is clear, and it takes an extra step: draining the juices through a piece of cheesecloth or through a jelly bag. Jelly also can take a little longer to set.

strawberry-rhubarb jelly in the making

strawberry-rhubarb jelly in the making

So far, the jellies are looking good. I remade one batch that didn’t set right away; it’s on my counter now, looking much better.

cranberry - cherry jelly

cranberry – cherry jelly

Even as I work toward electing Hillary Clinton, I’m prepping in case of a Trump apocalypse. Expect the shelves in the basement to fill up and the freezer to be stuffed.

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Perception is Reality

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Public school teachers learn this truth early in their careers: perception is reality.

Elections are similar – all too similar. Let’s take Melania Trump and her famously plagiarized speech at the Republic National Convention. Melania and her writers included a few lovely and meaningful phrases that, perhaps unknown to Mrs. Trump, originated with Michelle Obama. This “oops” created a new perception of Melania Trump: the copier. The word thief. The unoriginal one. Based on this perception, social media exploded with jokes at her expense along with the hashtag #MelaniaTrumpFamousQuotes.

Melania’s script writer eventually stepped forward and took the blame for the stolen phrases. Mrs. Trump was no longer personally responsible for the plagiarism.  This announcement pushed the perception of the candidate’s wife in a new direction.

Suddenly, Melania Trump was a sympathetic character in the drama. It wasn’t her fault! Give the woman a break! Those who stuck with the plagiarism program were now perceived as haters, daring to criticize. Public perception had made a 180 degree turn.

Perception shifts like this are dangerous. Those on a candidate’s staff, speechwriters or otherwise, need to be constantly aware of changing public perception. And then, people in the know need to analyze and act on the perception as it stands. In this case, the excerpts Melania “borrowed” from Michelle Obama distracted people from the real issue: the scary possibility of a Donald Trump presidency.

Melania Trump is not running for office. The brouhaha over the content of her speech distracted voters from the candidate himself and his capabilities or lack thereof. Those working with the Democrats need to make sure that the strengths and capabilities of progressive candidates attract more attention than the sorry plagiarism on the other side. After all, perception is the reality that will guide voters in November.

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Pea Pod Soup – a classic pantry raid

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It was a day full of food prep. I’d picked a large amount of rhubarb and slashed the leaves off the stems. While the rhubarb was soaking in the sink to get the dirt off, I’d been shelling peas. I looked at this huge pile of pea pods and thought about the big pile of pods I’d dumped in the compost last week. You can see where I’m heading, can’t you? There had to be another way to use the pea pods after the peas were out.

Soup broth was an option. Pea pods, green onion, garlic scapes – a decent broth, probably. It had potential. But where there was broth, could I also find soup? I did what resourceful cooks do all over the world; I searched the Interwebs. Here’s the result.

Ingredients:

2 lb. fresh, whole pea pods

6 cups water

4 Tablespoons soup base (chicken, beef, or other)

1 small onion, diced (I had a yellow onion on hand)

Garlic Scapes (I used 5)

2 Tablespoons margarine or butter

1 1/2 teaspoons flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Wash pea pods. Pull off strings.

In medium saucepan, bring water and soup base to a boil. Add pea pods, onion, and garlic scapes. Return to boil; lower heat, simmer for 20 minutes. When pea pods are tender, remove from pan. Push this mix through a food mill or use immersion blender until smooth. True confession: I did both. Mix flour, salt, pepper, and sugar. Melt butter (or margarine) in saucepan. Gradually add flour mixture until thickened. Add soup mix little by little, allowing soup to thicken. Heat through.

Serving options: Add diced ham or chopped bacon; top with sour cream and chives; add saltine crackers; add peas, corn, & carrots during the last ten minutes of cooking.

Amigo ate all of his. Chuck did, too, and proclaimed it “Not bad.” I was rather pleased at how well I raided our pantry and freezer all week long without hitting a grocery store for anything other than milk or bunny food. On the other hand, our next shopping trip is going to carry sticker shock. The kitchen looks like Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard.

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Trump isn’t very bright. Now what?

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Let’s see. Where to start? Let’s stick to June. Early in June, Donald Trump faced a question about the upcoming Brexit vote. He didn’t know what Brexit meant. As recently as last Wednesday, he refused to comment because he hadn’t been following the issue closely.

As soon as the vote results came in, Trump claimed to have predicted the result. “I said this was going to happen, and I think that it’s a great thing. Basically, they took back their country.”

Trouble? Trump was in Scotland. Everything was different in Scotland.

Trump’s Tweet announced in less that 140 characters that he had “Just arrived in Scotland. Place is going wild over the vote. They took their country back, just like we will take America back. No games!”

Oops. Palm to forehead. Scotland’s majority vote supported staying in the European Union. Scotland recently voted to remain part of the UK, too. The Donald didn’t know that. Or – maybe he just didn’t care.

Responses on Twitter were brilliant. Brilliant, I say! Tweets blasted the man for his ignorance. (Run a search for it. I’m not going to reprint the language on my rated G blog.) But it’s not the presumptive nominee that worries me right now.

Trump doesn’t know much. He doesn’t stop to think, he doesn’t do the research, and he definitely doesn’t count to ten before he opens his mouth. He appears clueless, to put it nicely. Ignorant. Thoughtless. Racist. Stupid. Misogynist. Rude. I would hope that Americans would absolutely NOT want a president with those attributes.

And that’s where the worst comes up. Many of Trump’s followers actually like the rude and thoughtless, loud and biased candidate because they think he’s just like them. However, they’re wrong on that point. The wealthy businessman’s simpleton supporters don’t realize that the Donald looks down on them. He doesn’t like the low income folks who think he might Make America Great for them. He likes the idea of an economic crash because he, a wealthy opportunist, can swoop in and buy properties at bargain rates. Those made homeless by his actions? He won’t care.

So there you have it, readers. Our job, as progressive activists, is to educate as many of the potentially misled voters as possible. They don’t get Trump; and they don’t know that he definitely doesn’t get them.

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Winter – and Prepping for Winter

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I am a public school teacher. My work schedule coincides with the (arguably outdated) agrarian calendar. I start my school year at the end of August, and I end that school year in the beginning of June. I have my Summer “Off” in between.

In an earlier post, I mentioned a quote I’d heard on a fascinating television show called Unplugged Nation. The expert told the people starting their off-grid trial period that “Off the grid, there are two seasons: winter and preparing for winter.” I’m not off grid, but I can see the sense in this statement. Here at the O.K. Chorale, I spend a great deal of my summer prepping for winter, too.

I prep for winter to make my school year easier on me and the family. My workload, like that of teachers everywhere, is much more than the calendar might suggest. By canning and freezing foodstuffs all summer long, I save money, save time, and provide a better quality product for my family. Here’s an example: rhubarb.

Eating in season and eating locally means harvesting and cooking while it’s ripe. I make rhubarb desserts and rhubarb jams and rhubarb barbecue sauce each and every June. Any rhubarb left after that gets diced and stashed in the freezer. If you have a source of rhubarb growing like a weed in or near your home, here’s the rhubarb barbecue sauce recipe with a few Daisy twists.

Ingredients

8-9 cups of chopped rhubarb (approximately 9 pounds)

1 cup chopped sweet onion

1 medium jalapeno pepper, diced and seeded

2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup honey (local, of course)

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground or crystallized ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large pan and cook over low-medium heat until mixture comes to a gentle boil. Allow mixture to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking and burning. Blend gently with an immersion blender until mixture is smooth.

Ladle sauce into clean, hot pint jars, leaving at least 1/2 inch head space. Add lides and rings on pint jars. Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the jars to rest in the boiling water bath canner for 5 minutes. Remove the jars to a safe place (for example, on a towel at the back of the counter) to cool. Label and store after 12 hours.

To use rhubarb barbecue sauce: pour over a pork or beef roast in a slow cooker. Simmer all day until meat can be shredded with a fork. Serve on buns. Heck, serve any way you wish!

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Conflicts Avoided on Facebook

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Subtitle: What I didn’t say out loud.

I’d shared a picture of Paul Ryan with this quote attributed to the Speaker of the House: “Kids from single mothers turn into welfare moochers, criminals, and ‘takers’. The second picture showed Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton with a title announcing “We disagree.”

A buddy from my college days was offended. He ranted at me that I’d been unfair to Paul Ryan.

“He’s spent serious time in inner-city neighborhoods with no publicity, learning from people in the trenches about what works and what doesn’t about alleviating poverty and promoting sustainable development rather than soul-sucking dependency. There are other Republican office-holders (not to mention the radio blowhards) who fit the stereotyped line better, but Ryan is not one of them.

Though it should also be noted that children of single mothers ARE at higher risk for just about every kind of social pathology (low achievement in school, arrest and imprisonment, teenage pregnancy, poverty, divorce, drug abuse, etc.). Not all have those problems, of course, and there are children of intact families who do, too, but the overall rates are notably different. It’s hard to solve problems when you deny they exist.”

Deny problems exist? I teach. I’ve taught in public schools for 20 years now. I’ve worked with single parents, mothers and fathers, people who faced challenges the honorable Speaker can only imagine.

I could have reminded my angry old friend that I live in Wisconsin, Mister Ryan’s home state. Teachers who are also his constituents have written letters, blog posts, and more to show the Congressman’s lack of knowledge and real-life experience. The evidence I’ve seen doesn’t point to “learning from those in the trenches,” but rather creating his own truths and announcing his own generalizations.

Ryan is among those on the high road – at this point, at least. He and my own representative Reid Ribble have both denounced the narrow minded partisan bullying on Capitol Hill. However, I’ll stick to my guns: I experience and understand the daily struggles of families with one parent much, much better than my intelligent yet ignorant friend.

I didn’t respond to his post. I know what he meant, and I know which parts of his argument were inaccurate. Frankly, I keep him on my timeline to keep me informed of how people are thinking on the other side of many issues. It’s too bad he didn’t realize he was talking to one who lives and works in a field about which he knows little.

Readers, how do you react when confronted in this manner online? Leave a comment, please.

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Teacher Shortage? Ya think?

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It was just a paragraph, and it was buried within a much larger article about career education in area middle and high schools. It was just a short statement, but I stopped and read it and reread it.

Wisconsin has a particularly strong need for teachers.

Salute Captain Obvious on this one. The rationale for the strong need is as follows.

Political turmoil has made it less and less popular, and the retirement rate is currently outpacing the rate of new teachers graduating.

Less and less popular. Political turmoil. Is anyone surprised? We teachers would like to say, “Told you so,” but we’re much too professional and polite to thumb our noses at the state legislature that made this possible.

That’s part of the problem. We are professional. We are willing to stand strong, and we are willing to be advocates for the young people we teach. It’s much harder to stand up for ourselves. Getting smashed to bits by our state leadership when we attempted to speak up – well, let’s just say it didn’t make our chosen field look very attractive.

Meanwhile, fewer young people choose to become teachers in Wisconsin. We, the teachers, are not surprised.

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Bias in the Political World

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It’s no surprise when a poll is skewed to one side. Left or right, many pollsters are hired to do just that – make the poll turn out for the candidate, no matter what.

It was a “suggested post” because I don’t follow the guy. Senator Ron Johnson’s headline said, “Wisconsin Values; take the survey.” His comment added, “We want to know what you think!”

Really, RonJohn? I don’t think you truly want to know what this ecology-minded, frugal, progressive blogger and public school teacher actually thinks.

What the heck, I clicked on the link. I was not surprised.  Here’s an example, along with my answers – and my reactions.

  1. What do you think is the biggest issue facing Wisconsinites today? I responded: Education – K-12 and post high school. Budget cutting is devastating to students at all levels. Invest in education; it pays in the long run.
  2. What should be Ron’s priority in 2016? This question offered me several choices, none of which appealed to me. I attempted to click “Other” and type in “Address Climate Change.” My answer disappeared when I tried to submit. I guess he only wanted to hear one of the following.
    • Creating Jobs
    • Other
  3. How important is securing our borders to you? Important, Unimportant, Undecided – what kind of a choice is that? Give me a chance to click Other, and I’ll tell you that “securing” the border is a myth and a misleading statement because immigration is a complicated issue.
  4. Has President Obama done enough to improve Veterans’ care and services? Again, Yes, No, Undecided. Work with me here, Ronny. How about giving me a blank where I can ask “Has the Senate cooperated with President Obama to improve Veterans’ care and services?” Hah. Answer that honestly, if you dare.
  5. How can you help Ron spread his conservative message across Wisconsin? Oh, readers, the nerve of the man. Wisconsin values survey, indeed. He just wants to recruit donors and volunteers. Look at these choices. 
    • Door Knocking
    • Phone Banking
    • Write a Letter to the Editor
    • Host an event for Ron
    • Invite Ron to Your Community
    • Display a Yard Sign
  6. And last, the survey asks for (required) email, name, and zip code. The zip code would verify that I live in Wisconsin. My name – I don’t want my name on any kind of list connected to this science denying, stubborn, narrow minded politician.
  7. Let’s see now. Based on this survey, the Senator doesn’t really want to know what I think and which Wisconsin progressive values I favor. Fortunately, my personal policy is to avoid online petitions and the like. Next time I communicate with the tall blonde guy from Oshkosh, it’ll either be a phone call regarding my progressive point of view or it’ll be my vote. And that, my friends, will show MY Wisconsin values.

As seen on Jeopardy:

Who is Russ Feingold, of course.

Who is Russ Feingold, of course. Campaign finance reform – now that’s a reflection of Wisconsin values.

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