Tag Archives: Yes we can

Questions, questions, I have questions

Posted on by
4

If I use a strawberry dump cake recipe but replace the strawberries with blueberries, cherries, and a diced peach, what should I call it?

When the rain barrels are full and there’s more rain coming, should I put out buckets to save even more rain water?

If I water a strawberry plant with the leftover liquid in my coffee cup, will the strawberries have caffeine? Is there such a thing as a decaf berry?

Why is the city-planted grass in the terrace playing host to more weeds than grasses?

How much of the terrace should I actually weed, given that we’re going to have our service sidewalk replaced and a new baby tree planted and more people digging in the terrace dirt?

Health and circumstances have cut into my time and energy. Does anyone really mind the weeds?

Will the city crews avoid the water and gas lines this time? Don’t. Even. Think. About it.

Why does Krumpet the bunny get so worked up when I’m grinding herbs in my mortar and pestle?

Why is Sadie the bunny shedding – in July?

When should I schedule our garage sale? We have plenty of good things to sell, and the little collectible junk will make people happy, too.

And why has Grandma Daisy been so quiet lately? There’s plenty going on, and I’m sure she has opinions on just about everything coming out of Madison and Washington, among other places.

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Repurposing and Replanting

Posted on by
1

I have a plan. I plan to repurpose these drawers- old dresser drawers, not the other drawers. Quiet down, peanut gallery.

Drawers, ripe for repurposing

Drawers, ripe for repurposing

Here’s their eventual home: under the mock cherry tree. Before I set up the drawers and turn them to their new use as planters, I need to clean up the suckers beneath the tree. That’s really what they’re called, peoples. Really.

cherry underThe flats from Fleet Farm’s garden department, seen on the right, will eventually fill the drawers. That is, they’ll fill the drawers after I get the cherry garbage out of the way.

Eventually, folks, I’ll get there. And when I reach my destination, I’ll share.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Guerrilla Gardening

Posted on by
1

I do my gardening in the open, mainly. Tomatoes behind the garage, ever-growing raspberry patch nearby. Lettuce, spinach, dill, a few more herbs, and squash are all in place. Give it a few years, and we’ll have asparagus, too.

I enjoy hearing stories of unconventional gardening. My latest fun forays into serving dandelion dishes can be part of this. I don’t grow these greens on purpose, but they do come up in generous quantities.

The walking onion is its own guerrilla plant, too. This year’s crop is taller than ever, and I don’t know why. But anyway, when the onion reaches its full height, it develops a bulb. The weight of the bulb pulls the green stalk to the ground, where the bulb sends out roots into the soil and begins to grow again. I intentionally brought a few over to this corner of the garden, and the onions seem happy campers – or hikers – there.

Walking onion grounds

Walking onion grounds

Bulbous Entity

Bulbous Entity

And new guerrilla onions.

And new guerrilla onions.

I didn’t plant these! I may have planned them, though, I must admit.

Seed bombs are great fun if you’re really brave. According to The Maker Mom, a seed bomb is “a hard ball made up of seeds, compost and clay that can be tossed into a garden or, even better, a vacant lot to create green space.” Her son made many seed bombs to raise money for – well, here’s her post. She said it best. 

 

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Reduce and Recycle?

Posted on by
3

Our fair city made the transition to a city-owned, uniform, city-distributed recycling bin. Garbage already goes in a city-owned container and gets picked up by an automatic truck. It’s quick, the truck is run by one worker, and all is well with the trash world.

We opted for the smaller no-fee garbage bin. With our basic green living habits, we generate very little garbage. We take pride in the fact that the small bin is perfect and even saves us a few pennies.

Next to the little garbage can, the recycling container looks huge. It looks like it’ll hold three times the volume that the garbage bin does. Come to think of it, that’s about right. If our family misses a garbage collection day, it’s no problem. We don’t overflow. If we miss a recycling pick-up, however, it’s huge.

Reduce (small garbage bin), recycle, and repurpose - foreground

Reduce (small garbage bin), recycle, and repurpose – foreground

That could be my next project in green-living: minimize the cans and bottles we use and recycle. Let’s see. We already –

  • avoid plastic water bottles in favor of a filter pitcher
  • use and reuse jars for jam, pickles, applesauce, and other home-canned goodies
  • there’s more, I’m sure. I’ll think of it after I hit “Publish.”

We can improve by —

  • drinking less soda (that’ll be me, replacing it with water or iced tea from a reusable pitcher)
  • making juices from concentrate instead of buying them in bottles
  • what else? Suggestions, readers?

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

To Be is To Do, To Do is To Be

Posted on by
Reply

Do Be Do Be Do!

Long ago, when Amigo was a baby, I had a sweatshirt that proclaimed to the world:

shirt

 

Mine was white, not black, and credited Plato rather than Sartre with the second form of To Be. And so it goes as I give away the source for my latest posts announcing what’s done and what’s still To Do (be do be do).

With the help of a rake and a light rain, I managed to get the stepping stones a.k.a. old boards out of the garden. Now I can turn the soil, if the weather will ever cooperate. If not, it may be another year to plant no-till style.

Boards!

Boards!

More Boards!

More Boards!

Then the seeds will go in, and hopefully the seedlings will follow sooner rather than later.

Those patches of brown may look more like patches of growth soon.

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Boston Stays Strong – Honors the Resilient

Posted on by
Reply

Boston Strong. It’s the new tagline, but it’s much more than a slogan. Prior to the Red Sox – Royals game, the first at Fenway Park since Monday’s Marathon attack, MLB took time to remember the horrific event and praise those who contributed and helped.

The best part of the ceremony was – the whole thing. Those honored were marathon staff, those who were suddenly pressed into service at a level of first aid they’d never imagined. The FBI and supporting intelligence sources, who used both high tech and old-fashioned teamwork to catch those responsible. Police forces in and near Watertown, Massachusetts, who showed their dedication to protecting their citizens.

The announcer then listed the hospitals by name to recognize their contributions the day of the explosions and the high level of ongoing medical care as the severely injured continue to recover.

Fred Rogers used to remind the nation to “Look for the helpers.” Mr. Rogers would have looked toward those honored with throwing the first ceremonial pitch since the attack. He would have respected Steve Byrne, who shielded his friend’s sisters from the first blast and then was thrown over a fence and wounded by the second. Mr. Rogers would have appreciated firefighter Matt Patterson’s rescue of a young boy. Those at the game also recognized doctor/spectators along the race route, civilians who became heroes, and volunteers who lifted and pulled away a fence to speed access to the wounded. The list goes on, showing the strength and courage of those nearby.

“Boston Strong” indeed. I’ll go a step further and call the natives and visitors to the entire area resilient. They are survivors. They’ve been to hell and back, and with each other’s support, they’ll make it all the way back to everyday life.

b_strong_blue

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Sowing Seeds in the Snow

Posted on by
1

The remnants of snow, I should add. We had a soggy inch or two on the deck and driveway a few days ago, followed by a little rain-mixed-with precipitation. Cold, damp, and just not feeling like spring, this weather.

I take a little encouragement from the green that’s popping up on my shelves. The seedlings are trying. They’re really trying.

Tomatoes, can't you tell?

Tomatoes, can’t you tell?

The others are struggling a little. They’re starting to get the typical indoor stems – weak and thin, that is – and leaning desperately toward the window in hopes of capturing a little sunlight.

Lean to the left!

Lean to the left!

I do have a few solutions to this problem. Watering takes place in the kitchen to minimize dripping on the wood floor. When I’m done watering, I rearrange the containers so they get a different angle at the available sunlight. Don’t laugh – it works, sort of.

As for the wimpy indoor stems, they’ll strengthen when the weather improves and the temperatures go up. The plants will take daily “field trips” outside to build strength and adjust to outdoor conditions, including developing stronger stems. Barring warmer temperatures, a fellow gardener recommended setting a fan to blow on the seedlings. I’ve never tried this, but it makes sense. The breeze will simulate outdoor conditions and stimulate thicker stem growth. Right? Maybe. I’ll try it.

For now, it’s watering time. Just think of those mouthwatering tomatoes that’ll be here in late summer.

 

 

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Reliving Election History with Daisy

Posted on by
Reply

I began my Voter’s Voice series during the Wisconsin Governor’s recall effort in early 2012. Some new readers have expressed curiosity and a wish to read earlier posts. To make that easier, I posted a list of those posts, complete with links and excerpts, on the page titled Voter’s Voice. I planned for this series to run until the first Tuesday following the second Monday in November, 2012. Once in a while, though, the ever-opinionated Grandma Daisy character returns to share new insights.

The most recent posts are on top. If you want to read posts chronologically, start from the bottom and work your way up.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Awareness Again – Can’t we do Better?

Posted on by
1

It’s April, again. Autism Awareness Month. Now that autism numbers are estimated at 1 in 88, shouldn’t we already be aware? Shouldn’t we as a society be moving on?

Moving on beyond awareness means learning about each other, neurotypical or on the autism spectrum. Even under the old numbers of 1 in 166, the estimates indicated so many children and adults with autism that “normal” needed redefinition.

Awareness, people, is not enough. Awareness is a low form of knowledge, and knowledge itself sits down low at the base of the learning pyramid. Awareness means knowing that the student sitting next to your child in class might have autism. Knowledge and understanding come around when that child responds to gestures of friendship, perhaps awkwardly, yet making a step toward joining the social peer group in some way.

Awareness? Awareness means slapping a multi-colored puzzle-design ribbon magnet on the back of the family minivan. Understanding means that when the minivan next to yours at the red light is moving back and forth propelled by the rocking of the teenager in the front seat, you notice but don’t judge. You might offer an understanding smile to the driver if the opportunity comes up. By refraining from negative comments, a parent provides a role model for the rest of the minivan passengers.

The “R” word is also still active, unfortunately. The word Retarded hasn’t been in active use for educational professionals in decades, but it still turns up in verbal put-downs. Awareness means knowing the label Retarded is unacceptable. Knowledge and comprehension would show that anyone with limitations in learning faces enough challenges without getting their diagnosis tossed around as a playground insult.

I wore my “R” Word t-shirt on the appropriate day. That’s my awareness activity. To bring it to a higher level, I vow to stop and comment when I hear the word used: stop and educate those who would otherwise redefine a person in narrow boxes.

Now it’s time to take Autism Awareness to a higher level, too.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares

Flu Family History

Posted on by
2

I was searching and sorting and purging a pile of papers and I found this, a predecessor to Monday’s post. It’s on a scrap of yellow legal pad, so it probably rose from the ashes of a school staff meeting or staff development. This piece wasn’t for the CDC. In fact, I’m pretty sure I wrote it pre-blog. To make it current, it would need almost no changes.

You know the flu has taken over when:

  • Chicken soup and cinnamon toast make a meal.
  • The phone rings and the teenager doesn’t move.
  • The blind family member identifies people by their coughs rather than their voices.
  • The dishwasher is full of glasses and bowls because no one is eating real meals.
  • Each sick person carries around his/her own box of tissue.
  • Suddenly the supply of Tylenol and ibuprofen in the medicine cabinet looks woefully under stocked.

The above list was written with a sense of – well, something close to gallows humor, if I remember correctly. Since that year, all of us have stayed up to date on flu shots. Get your own flu vaccine, people. It’s not too late.

Share and Enjoy !

Shares