Fall Closet Cleanout

The change in seasons is an opportune time to clean out your clothes closet. While I get out a few warmer clothes that are good to layer for cool fall mornings, I take a look at every single garment that has been in the closet all summer and make a pile that will, one way another, leave the house. The key question

Will I ever wear this again?

Should be easy to answer.

If the answer is no - then it goes in the pile. Most of my pile goes into a bag to donate to charity. The key is to not store it away for another time. Once you have made the decision that it is not something you will wear again, follow through so that you won’t have to spend any more time revisiting the decision.

If the answer is yes - then make sure the garment is in good repair (no missing buttons, clean) and make the decision to keep it in the closet of the upcoming season or store it somewhere else so that it can be easily retrieved next spring.

Hopefully, by the time this process is finished, you’ll have plenty of room to get all your winter clothes into the closet!

Around our (Maryland) Yard in October 2012

October is the key fall month in Maryland. The leaves are turning and falling. The onions blooming in September now have seed heads. The dahlias are still going strong and there are more puffballs that ever. There were lovely pink mushrooms growing in the grass. There is a new group of caterpillars on the parsley that may not get to chrysalis stage before it gets too cold. Enjoy my October slide show below!

Shelf fungus

Puffballs

Tulip poplar leaf

Sycamore leaf

Hydrangea

Pink mushroom in the grass

Maple leaf

Maple leaf

Maple leaf

Pyracantha

Dalhia

Black swallowtail caterpillar on parsley

Posts from previous months are here.

Of Hot Tea and Mugs

Now that the weather is occasionally cooler, I’m migrating from iced tea to hot tea.

I like to make a pot (in my coffee maker that has always been used for tea rather than coffee) of homegrown mint and stevia with white tea every morning. The brew smells and tastes wonderful alone or with a splash of unsweetened almond milk. Sometimes I make a second pot by just adding a Bencheley’s Apricot tea bag (black tea) to the basket on top of what is already there. The smell of tea is an important aspect of its appeal. It is the prelude to drinking tea and lingers in my kitchen - invigorating and comforting at the same time. Isn’t it nice to have a ‘comfort food’ that is low (or no) calorie?

I never drink small cups of tea…because I like a larger amount to drink and because I have such a wonderful collection of mugs. Some of my favorites are in the photograph above. There are holiday ones - the Santa with the beady eyes from an office party ‘secret Santa’ many years ago, the poinsettia, the valentines - which I use around those holidays. There are reminders of vacations or events - the Texas bluebonnets from a family, the Chesapeake birds, the green and white mug that was a gift for judging at a high school science fair, the silver travel mug that used to have a Cornell emblem on it. Last but not least there is the oldest mug of the bunch - one with a botanical theme in white and green and rust - that was a gift from over 35 years ago when I first decided that I really wanted something larger than the cups that came with our set of dishes!

New Foods

Usually when I do my grocery shopping, I focus just on what is on my list and, since I am very familiar with the grocery store I go to every week, I don’t look at anything else. Just this past week I was distracted in the aisle where the nut spreads (like peanut butter) were displayed and found a lot of spreads I didn’t recognize. I decided to try one with the very long description: “Lemony Flaxseed Spread with Ginger and Honey.” It sounded like it would be good on toast or pancakes.

I got home and decided to slather some on the last of the sweet potato bread.

Wow - it had more kick than I anticipated!

Maybe the combination of ginger and chile pepper is even greater that the spices individually?

Whatever the case - this is a successful experiment in the sense that I am using less butter on toast (i.e. this replaces the butter) and I’ve also used it instead of maple syrup and butter on pancakes.

Maybe one of the keys to eat less fat and sugar is to lean toward more ‘spice’!

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 22, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article:

Another Way to Think about Learning - from Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of the One Laptop per Child Foundation

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #22 - from the Wild Bird Trust

Antlion  - otherwise known as doodlebugs…find out what the ‘bug’ at the bottom of that conical pit really looks like?

Antietam 'Death Studies' Changed How We Saw War - 1862…. photography of the aftermath of the battle at Antietam

Does cracking your knuckles cause arthritis?

New Test House to Generate More Energy than It Uses - a stereotypical suburban house that can generate as much energy as it needs to run

U.S., Russia Move Closer To Sharing Their "Beringian Heritage" - Beringia National Park in Russia to be linked with Bering Land Bridge National Preserve and Cape Krusenstern National Monument in Alasak

Crews Uncover Massive Roman Mosaic in Southern Turkey - 1,600 square feet of mosaic….from a Roman bath

Rx Guide for High Blood Pressure - BP medications are currently failing millions. The author of a new book on the topic says “Despite their best intentions many physicians continue to place their hypertensive patients on blood pressure medications, drug combinations or doses that may not be the best treatment available to them”

Give peace (and quiet) a chance - Is there any place to hear the early morning bird song without the backdrop of traffic?

Feeling Energized at Home

It is easy to feel energized in September. Maybe it’s prompted by the cooling trend in the weather or the year after year jangling of a new school year - even if we are not actually in school this particular year.

New projects started…the garden harvested….the house and car ready for winter…house guests invited and welcomed…all good ways to channel that energy and enjoy September.

I’ve never quite synced with the notion of ‘spring cleaning’ because the burst of energy toward homemaking has always caught me in the early fall instead. In the past week I’ve cleaned out under bathroom sinks and the linen closet. Spending an hour or two a day on cleaning out storage areas of the house and cleaning those areas that only get cleaned about once a year seems very appealing right now.

And then there are the gardening pots on the deck. The sweet potatoes will be the last things I will harvest (picture on right) - just before 1st frost; the plant has at least one very large sweat potato that has pushed its way above the soil twice (I’ve added soil to cover it!). All the other herbs are going to be started along the drying process this week. I also have a bucket of day lily bulbs that were too crowded in their bed; now I need to replant them in new flowerbeds.

And I have 3 sets of house guests scheduled to arrive at various times over the next couple of months!

September is definitely a high energy month for me. Is it for you too?

Saturday Mornings at 10 AM

What are you normally doing at 10 AM on Saturday morning?

Are you sleeping in…getting children to a practice/lesson/event…shopping or running errands? Is it different every Saturday or pretty much consistent?

For years - I was putting away groceries. Saturday morning was my time for weekly grocery shopping. I always did it as early as I could along with the other errands of the week. Generally I was done and home right around 10 AM. It was a very regular rhythm.

Now - I do my grocery shopping on a weekday morning and avoid the Saturday shoppers. That leaves my Saturdays in the ‘different every week’ category. Sometimes there is a scheduled community event on Saturday. 10AM is about the earliest they start. There are some Fall Festivals coming up that I’d enjoy; I’ll have to put them on the calendar as I hear about them.

Taking a time check like this highlights how significantly my life has changed over the past months…and it’s all for the good! 

Around the House Macro Photos

The series of photos below shows ordinary objects from around the house photographed ‘close up.’ It was a fun project and one I will do again in several months (Christmas time with decorations out would be good). There are some I intentionally did not include - the antique crocheted doily with cat hair and the wooden puppet with grime/dust on its nose - but I did get motivated to a new level of house cleaning!

Enjoy the slide show!

Steps….and More Steps

It takes steps…and more steps to transition from a mainly sedentary to an active life style. Yes - some cardio workout is required too but if you haven’t increased your overall level of activity yet- focusing on ramping up the number of steps is a better place to start along a path toward improved physical fitness and healthier life style. That’s what this post is about. Think about making the transition by integrating more activity into the way you live every day.

Wearing a pedometer is a good first step. It provides a metric that can be used in setting goals; having a measurable goal that aligns with the ultimate objective (of becoming more active) is a motivator for many people. 7,000 steps a day was my initial goal. Now, my goal is 12,000. You’ll figure out pretty quickly that grocery shopping takes more steps than gardening; vacuuming takes more steps that cleaning a bath tub. Gardening or cleaning a bathtub are still good activities in your plan to integrate more physical activity into your daily routine, they just won’t count as very many steps.

Graduating from a simple pedometer to something like a Fitbit  means the level of activity can be tracked throughout the day. I wanted to reduce the length of sedentary blocks of time and the Fitbit has graphs the show the steps all through the day. Airplane or car travels are about the only time when I have prolonged sedentary times any more. Moving - even for just a few minutes - every 30-60 minutes makes a positive improvement in how well I feel at the end of the day.

Making previously sedentary times into active ones is a good strategy. Almost all my reading and talking on the phone is done while pacing, bouncing on my Swopper , walking on a treadmill or bouncing on an exercise ball. I don’t watch much television but the same activities could be used then too.

Taking the stairs rather that the elevator. If there are multiple flights of stairs this could be the bridge to a cardio regime - but here I’m mainly talking about the one floor at a time. The current Fitbit  measures ‘floors climbed’ to provide a metric. If there are stairs in your house - the initial goal of 10 per day may be quite easy.

Becoming more active happens with steps....and then more steps....and never going back to the sedentary ways of yesterday.

Snail Mail

There aren’t nearly as many instances these days that I send something through the mail. There is a lot that can be done electronically that we used to do via mail. Even gifts can be ordered online and sent directly. The majority of items I receive in the mail are catalogs or ads that are sorted directly into the paper recycle pile. There are the occasional notifications and coupons for items I actually want to buy; it’s a challenge to find them amongst the things I am not interested in at all.

The only snail mail cards and letters I send these days are to individuals that, for one reason or another, are not online. Reverting to an older style of communicating takes a little extra thought - maybe a little more time - but it has the reward of overcoming a barrier that could end a relationship too soon. It has a dimension that email does not have - the physical paper or cards, envelopes, address labels, and stamps. There is tremendous variety. My favorite elements of variety are the stamps celebrating the 200th anniversary of statehood for Arizona, Louisiana, and New Mexico.   

Around our (Maryland) Yard in September 2012

September is the winding down of summer. I have onions blooming - a brilliant display over the lemon balm cut back last month. The insects really were enjoying the flowers.

The dahlias are still blooming profusely but sometimes one just dries out to look more like a sculpture than a flower.

The mushrooms are still growing around the old oak stump. The ones on the stump itself just get bigger and bigger. The puff balls a little further way on the mulch grow and then the puff opens to send spores out to grow other puff balls. It seems like we always have new pristine white one somewhere in the mulch around the oak stump while the older ones still disperse more spores when the wind is just right.

And finally - a feather in the grass. It must have come from a good sized bird. Since it was the only one - I’m assuming it was from molting rather than a death.

Previous Months: August 2012, July 2012, June 2012, May 2012, April 2012, March 2012, January 2012 

Rainy Days and Mondays

Rainy days and Mondays DON’T get me down! I think it’s because I like things I do on rainy days and Mondays:

Whether is raining or not where you are this Monday - enjoy the day!

‘Stuff’ with New Purpose

I’m in the mode of getting rid of ‘stuff’ - all those things I’ve accumulated that I don’t use currently and can’t imagine using in the future. Of course - there are sets of ‘stuff’ that I use partially and that presents a dilemma. One such example is my collection of Blue Tulip Depression Glass. I use most of the pieces frequently - but not the cups. I like larger mugs for my hot tea or chocolate - not smallish tea cups. I certainly don’t want to get rid of the cups….so my idea was to find some other use for them. Here’s what I did.

I arranged the cups in a drawer and then put necklaces, pins, buckles, and other small objects into them. It is better for the necklaces to not be hanging and this keeps them gently cradled and organized. Another plus - the drawer looks quite lovely.

So - I’m celebrating the beauty and new purpose of the tea cups today!

Little Celebrations of Each Day

Finding a way to be happy about life is easier if we celebrate - even in a small way - each day. Sure - there will still be the more substantial celebrations that happen less often but, for me, the little celebrations are more closely linked to feeling happy.

I am starting a project to write down one thing I celebrated at the end of each day to become more overt about recognizing and acknowledging the little celebrations. I’ve looked back over my notes for the past few days and picked one thing that stood out. Basically - I have a lot to celebrate so picking only one thing may be the challenge rather that searching for something.

Yesterday the little celebration was seeing one of the heron chicks from Sapsucker Woods on the heron cam. It was such a short few months ago that the chicks were just hatched and looking very fragile in their high nest…with owl attacks.

On Friday, I celebrated being able to eat banana. This may not be a celebration for many people but bananas made me violently ill for many years and I only recently discovered that I can eat them again. They are a great ingredient in smoothies.

On Thursday, I celebrated because there were a lot more iris rhizomes in my garden than I thought there were. They had not bloomed very well in the weed clogged and shady location but they were still making rhizomes every effectively. They will make a beautiful display next spring/early summer in their new location.

On Wednesday, I finally got around to asking my husband here the converted videos from our daughter’s babyhood were located on his computer and did some early celebrating of her 23rd birthday by watching some video of her 1st.

What have you celebrated today?

Summer Morning Gardening

The gardening time rule-of-thumb for me in August is - every morning from 7-8 that it is not raining. There is always something that needs to be done and something unexpected to note. The unexpected yesterday was this beautiful little mushroom with its gray pleats and white filaments.

I’ve caught up enough on the weeds to move iris and day lilies that have not done well in their current location because a young sycamore has gotten big enough to deny them enough sunlight - and they were getting too crowded. I didn’t realize the extent of the crowding until I started digging them up and found very dense bulbs/rhizomes. Next year there will be lots of flowers in the sunny bed where I’m moving them.

While I was digging and separating - I thought about how these plants are part of my heritage. The day lilies were a house warming present from my mother-in-law when she moved in with us 23 years ago. She’s been gone for about 22 years now - those day lilies are a wonderful reminder of her. I’m glad I remembered to dig them up to take with us when we moved to our current house. The irises are descended from some my mother dug from her Texas garden; they had been very prolific in her garden and she planted the excess for that year in my Maryland garden….over 15 years ago.

There were other items I’ve added to the garden over the years that I happened upon as I was digging

A small chunk of pale green glass purchased in a shop on the road to Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Shells picked up on some beach

And tomorrow there are still more day lilies and iris to dig up and move!

Keeping Cool in the Summer Time

August in Maryland - it’s hot. Today let’s remind ourselves of some ways to keep cool in the summer time. 

• Eat and drink cool/cold foods. Save the soups and chili for winter. Go with cool/cold foods when it’s hot outdoors.
  • Smoothies. See the post from earlier this month. These are a wonderful icy treat that can be different every day. Yesterday mine was a banana, ice, almond milk, and 1/2 teaspoon coconut flavoring. Today its frozen tomato, orange and 1/2 teaspoon lemon flavoring.
  • Salads. Eat veggies while they are still cool from the refrigerator. Think finger food like: cucumber slices sprinkled with seasoning, cucumber slice ‘sandwiches’ with basil leaf and deli sliced smoked turkey filling, celery with peanut butter, broccoli or cauliflower florets. Or combinations of ingredients with your favorite dressing. Most salads are fairly quick to prepare and with a little prep ahead of time are about the fastest meal around.
  • Fruit. Watermelon is the best it will be in August. The hybrid seedless forms don’t have the marvelous flavor of the older melons but are still tasty. Peaches are also in season. Again - eat them still cool from the refrigerator.
  • Ice cream. In moderation because of the fat and sugar calories. I’ve almost converted myself to the frozen banana with milk substitute.
  • Iced beverages. Water - lemon water - herbal tea - watered down juice. Keeping hydrated with something cold is a great way to keep cool. Combine the idea of smoothies and iced beverages by putting your iced beverage in the blender; you’ll ‘drink’ the ice along with the beverage that way.
• Be active early in the day (when its cooler). Plan the day to be outdoors in the morning. It’s cooler and it will be more enjoyable. Walking, jogging, gardening….it all is better in the morning.
• Water your skin. Every time you wash your hands - dry them on your forearms before the towel. You’d be surprised how much cooler you’ll feel. Splash your face too if you are very hot. Carry a mister for children or yourself in very hot weather.
• Go barefoot. Shoes may be required to protect the bottom of your feet or if you are out and about…but go barefoot at every opportunity.
• Wear comfortable clothing. By this I mean ‘not tight’ and ‘breathable’ --- also lightly colored.
• Seek shade. If you are going to be out in the sun - wear a hat so that your shade moves with you. Even if you are wearing a hat, stand in the shade whenever possible.

Serendipity at the Grocery Store - A Sunflower

My grocery store seems to have a new display of plants just outside the door almost every week. This week it was pots of sunflowers and I couldn’t resist.

There is one bloom on the plan - and a lot of potential with at least 3 buds. I’ll plant it out in the garden after a few weeks and hope it produces seed that will sprout next year so I’ll have many sunflowers next year. The goldfinches may visit the garden to enjoy the seeds as well.

Now that I have it home it is still a day brightener - just the thing for a humid August day in Maryland. Enjoy the slideshow below!

Preserving Herbs

August is the time to start preserving the bounty of the herb garden. I have basil, parsley, mint and stevia this year.

I prefer drying rather than freezing because it is ‘greener’ (uses less energy). Here’s the basic process (shown with basil but will work with most other herbs as well):

Gather herbs. I use kitchen scissors and the basket I use over the sink to rinse them so they are immediately ready for the next step. I leave a few plants to continue to use fresh and may harvest again for drying if enough grows back before the frost comes.

Rinse the herbs. You don’t want bugs, spider webs or insect eggs along with your herbs.

Chop them up. If you want small pieces, use a food processor. This time, I plan to use the herb in stir fry and soups so cutting with scissors was good enough.

Place in a breathable bag and hang where the herb can dry thoroughly. I chose to use a washable veggie bag this time. The drying can take several days or longer depending on the humidity in the air. Shake the bag or otherwise move the herb around in the bag to make sure it is drying evenly.

When thoroughly dry, place in an airtight container….and enjoy your herbs in the months to come.

Around our (Maryland) Yard in August 2012

I waited until I thought the dew would be dry from the grass - but misjudged it. At 9 AM, the grass was still very wet and I had to take my flip flops off to make it back up the slight incline of our back yard!

August is a month to start thinking about drying mint and basil. Both are blooming and growing profusely right now. Maybe I can get several harvests from the plants this month. I’ll do a later post on my technique for drying herbs.

Dahlias are the showy flowers in my flower beds this month. Other things are blooming too but somehow the dahlias always stand out above everything else.

I planted a sweet potato under the dahlias (I had one that sprouted before I could bake it) but the deer found it….it’s recovering but may not have enough time to actually grow sweet potatoes.

There are at least three different kinds of fungi in the back yard. The big bulky ones at the top of the picture collection below are the same ones growing on an oak stump from the ‘yard’ posting last month (and I posted about them at mid-month as well) - they’ve weathered from white curves to structures with rings and almost a clay like color. Two puff balls are a little further down on the mulch from where the oak stump is rotting. Then there are the very delicate mushrooms that come up in the grass. There always seem to be one or two in the back yard.

Previous Months: July 2012, June 2012, May 2012, April 2012, March 2012, January 2012 

Kindle Fire - 8 Months of Experience

I’ve had my Kindle Fire  since last November - long enough to settle into a pattern of the way I will use it. I’ve experimented with application that I still use occasionally but there are three main ones that have made the device worthwhile for me:

Reading. I’ve read over 100 novels - mostly checked out from the public library. Sometimes I use the highlight feature to mark passages. The Kindle makes it easier to read in poor lighting situations although I find having some ambient light other than the Kindle screen reduces eyestrain. The brightness of the screen makes it more comfortable for me to read without my glasses; this aspect actually makes it a better form than physical books for me. Probably over 90% of my Kindle use is for this activity and I’m finding it challenging to work down my pile of physical books! I also find that I can put it on a music stand and read while I bounce on my Swopper Chair  to get a little exercise while I read.

Grocery list. My husband and I have settled on the OurGroceries app since we can use it from all our devices (including the Kindle) and then I can use it when I am in the store to mark off items as I get them. I don’t spend a huge amount of time in the app but I do use it frequently and those little bits of time add up.

Email. I have one of my email accounts directed to my Kindle so that I can send and receive emails any time I have connectivity. I have reduced the paper I carry with me when I travel because I can simply turn on the Kindle and have all the details. I also send recipes via email to this account since I actually prefer using the Kindle for my recipe to a cook book; the Kindle is less bulky and it stays positioned on the stand much better than a bulky book (I use a stand for it to keep it above the spills and splatters of cooking).

There are times I wish

• it was a bit lighter in weight
• the screen did not smudge as easily
• the Marware case was some other color besides black (somehow black tends to blend in with the background making it hard to spot the Kindle on some surfaces)

but most of the time I’m just enjoying the device. It has been worth its $199 price tag.