Random musings for today:
- Our lettuce is up, and we should be eating it in another week, I think! Time now to plant the rest of everything. It is my first year of having a garden all my own; I did lots of gardening for 4-H growing up, but always with my dad's help. I'm getting a real kick out of raising the plants all by myself (yes, I'm pretty much that person who goes out and checks her plants every day, so excited to see them grow another half an inch)
- I'm loving not using the dryer. It feels so good to know I'm saving money as I hang stuff on the line. Plus it gets me outside on nice days, and is so much less hassle than I thought it would be. I'm hooked.
- I'm also getting hooked on other "green" things. As I said to my husband as we walked to the grocery store last night - I think I'm becoming a hippie. Not the stereotypical pot smoking, unshaven legged hippie; rather, going back to the earth, back to the way things used to be, choosing mindfulness rather than mindlessness. It started out as a money saving adventure, but more and more I'm realizing that all of our time saving items can end up taking the joy out of life. For instance - dinner really does taste better on the good china, instead of paper plates. And we appreciate clean dishes and clean laundry more when we've put a little work into it. Somehow, I'm finding that my body and mind enjoy the real work of housework - scrubbing, folding, washing, etc, leave me more satisfied at the end of the day than a day on the computer or even relaxing watching tv would. I think this has to do with the idea that our bodies are made to move. So maybe not really a hippie, but rather, a pioneer woman?
- Also realizing how much the way I think has been influenced by the great writers I grew up reading. Tolkien, Lewis, Montgomery, and especially Madeleine L'Engle. I hope to meet them in heaven, and say thank you.
- Planning to make some creme brulee for dessert tonight. Another thank you to L'Engle for that - because of her, I first dared to make creme brulee:
"Mother was in the kitchen cooking creme brulee. 'I'm like my mother,' she said. 'I cook for therapy. And it's as much of an art form, I believe, as painting or writing or making music.'" - A Ring of Endless LightDefinitely an art form, but also super easy. We received a lovely little creme brulee torch and ramekins for a bridal shower gift, and I've finally been enjoying putting them to use. If anyone out there hasn't ever tried creme brulee - here is the super easy recipe that I follow (I halve it, as there are only two of us, which makes four shallow ramekins worth or two deeper ones, and also follow "Chefpeon"'s modifications, on the first comment). Make it. You won't regret it :)
- Finally (so quickly, my blogging time has run out!), I've been thinking about how thankful I am for sites like Faith and Family. Since getting married and having my first baby, I've found it really hard to find like-minded (or even just similarly occupied!) women; none of the local parishes have much in the way of moms groups (maybe that's my hint that I need to start one?), and it is just hard to find friends. It is strange, how possible it is to live on a street surrounded by other people, and yet never know them by name... makes me kind of want to revert to an Amish way of life. Oh, to live on Walton mountain..
With which thought, I am off to the grocery store. Happy "hump" day to everyone! The weekend is looming back into sight!
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6 comments:
I used to hang my laundry to dry until I moved into a small apartment and had no room. But they always smelled and felt better on the line.
Your creme brulee sounds delicious, but my husband doesn't like it. :(
And I had been thinking, too, that if I don't find a mom's group, I'm going to see about starting one in my parish. Because I need out of the house!! And some friends would be nice, too. And friends for my son.
Hump day for me meant a late afternoon lit class with Brigid. I came dashing in the door just after 6 turned on the oven, poured rice and water into the rice cooker, mixed popover batter, drained the water from the rice and put in the requisite two cups of water. Turned on the rice cooker, poured the batter into greased tins, put the popovers in the oven, got peas from the downstairs freezer and set them on the stove ready to cook. Fortunately, your father had started the venison roast in the rotisserie early enough that when the popovers and rice were done the meat had even had enough time to rest. So despite the mad dash we still got dinner by 7 and it wasn't just take out pizza. Popovers always make any ordinary meal special, but venison is pretty special to start with...
I keep thinking in terms of maternity guilds where older moms help younger moms. I haven't gotten beyond the thinking about it stage yet.
My neighborhood was nice when I was a young mom because my mother-in-law lived right around the corner. For some people that would have been a downer, for me it was a very special pleasure. Wish you could live in the neighborhood too...
Creme Brulee rocks. And I thought we were going to be money-saving and green hippies for sure, but what about me growing long hair and a beard, and bellbottom pants??? Also,I do have the political activist inside of me.
Great Post!
Fresh grown vegetables are the best!! I always had a garden growing up, too (yay 4H)! Now I'm growing tomatoes on a bucket on my porch because a) so much better fresh and organic and b) $4 a pound??? When did tomato prices jump so high?
It is hard to find like-minded friends as our communities get more and more diverse. Thanks for posting the Faith and Family Live link-- it looks really interesting and, when I have time, I can't wait to check it out.
I have to say, it is the blogging community, that has, for the past few years, been what has kept me grounded in our faith and mindful of what is really important in life. Even if we can't have a close physical community, it's nice to have a virtual one :)
I bet you can't wait to read to LW from your favorite books! My husband and I have Narnia, LOTR, A Wrinkle In Time etc all ready to go for our son!
Mrs K - Oh, it's so nice to meet another former 4-Her, and garden grower (tomatoes on the porch is a garden to me - it is the intention that counts). I just bought out tomato seedlings today; I agree, they taste so much better homegrown and fresh, and while tomato prices aren't *that* bad around here ($2-3/lb, for non organic anyway), if we get even two tomatoes off per vine it'll be worth it since the plants were $4/apiece. I also picked up some sage, spearmint, basil, & seeds for snap peas. Our apartment isn't huge, and only has a little yard, but our landlord graciously allowed us to dig up a chunk of it for our little garden.
I agree about the blogging community! I'm fortunate, because I do have a goodly handful of like-minded friends in my local area, at least as far as being similarly practicing Catholics. But none of them are married or have babies yet, and as I'm sure you have found, it is nice to just have some women to talk to who are at the same point in life, who can nod their heads knowingly at things like diaper explosions and extreme sleep deprivation. The internet may not provide Walton Mountain, but I am thankful to live in a time when like-minded moms from around the globe can support each other.
And yes - I have LOTR, Narnia, and many L'Engle books all ready and waiting for my daughter :) I actually tried reading her snippets of them when she was a few months old, but she didn't seem to get much out of it. In the meantime, we're savoring Good Night Moon :) I'm happy to know that there are other children out there who will get to feast on all those great books!
Karen - if you decide to really start a mom's group, let me know how you do it! Our parish is huge and has a lot of moms but, being a little shy by nature, it's kind of scary to think about trying to start something. There is a moms group a few towns over, but they meet from 7-9 at night, which interferes with my daughter's bedtime, and since she's currently nursing to sleep, I sort of have to be there :)
Also - my husband (Jim, who commented above) couldn't believe that any husbands out there don't like creme brulee! That is too bad, as it is really good. But some people don't like pudding-y textured things...
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