Sunday, November 23, 2008

the absent minded domestic goddess

So I made that pie I was talking about, even made the crust myself (I was so proud it came out beautifully). The pie itself left some things to be desired. It might hae tasted better if I had remembered to put in the coconut milk. I got all wrapped up in the mashing the potato and mixing it with the other ingredients that I completely forgot until I put the pie in the oven to bake, by then it was too late. All in all it was a good first pie making experience.

Friday, November 21, 2008

cooking in the Co-op

Here is the account of my last cooking shift for this semester. A friend of mine from high school came to visit me for a little bit and ended up helping the cooking shift which was cool. There was so much food left over from the co-op thanksgiving that I had no idea what to make or use for lunch and she just popped in with a great idea. Pasta with mushrooms, tomatoes (from the "turkey" meal), and wilted spinach mixed in. It was tasty. I was so happy to see her, not gonna lie. In the end the shift made 2 soups (one reheated from the "turkey" meal with a few additions and the other made for that day) our pasta thing, chocolate chip cookies, and some cauliflower thing that I wasn't hungry enough to eat because I ate a late breakfast. All in all a good last shift. Here's to hoping if I get another cooking shift that its as awesome as this one.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Plant Post!

I have a thing for pretty/different plants. I was admireing a plant last time we were down in florida called a croton. Its a pretty cool plant. The leaves are multiple colors and the colors will become more varible on each leaf the more the plant is in a place where the sun intensity changes alot. Sadly it is poisonous to kitty life so it needs to be kept out of reach of cats (which is just about impossible). I have seen some of these plants get quite tall.

Cause this is a short ass post I'm going to talk about something else. I get to repot and wake up my amarylises....amaryli (i have no idea what the plural is but there are 2 of them). I'm excited cause they are pretty *crosses fingers that I can get them to flower this year.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Every religion has thier religious holidays

And ours seem to overlap so often with Chistianity....hmm, I wonder why?



So there are 8 Holidays Samhain (halloween), Yule/Winter Solstice (Christmas), Imbolc (groundhogs day way back when), Ostara, (same thing as easter), Beltane, Summer Solstice, Lughnasadh, and Mabon. Each one corresponding to a certain time of year. Obviously the solsices are easy, then there is the autumnal and spring equinoxes at Mabon and Ostara, Beltain is a yay its spring/fertility day (yeah you have the right idea, you do not want to know the symbolism of the may pole). Lughnasadh is a harvest festival (there are a few but this one was the begining of the harvest). Samhain is the begining of winter (the dark time) as well as the pagan new year....why that is the new year it never made sense to me would make more sense to have a Imbolc as new year beacause its after the dark time. Imbolc is the time when the days are begining to be noticeably longer and that makes everyone happy up here in Ohio.

Many of these are celtic holidays originally and depending on ones pagan tradition you may celebrate more or not, or not even celebrate these...like I said its whatever floats your boat. One thing that I read that Dianne Sylvan wrote smacked me upside the head and I will share it. She talked about how if you live in the Southern hemisphere your seasons are different so don't celebrate Yule on the summer solstice, celebrate things the way the seasons in your area are (I had a holy crap I wonder how many people are celebrating Yule on the Summer Solstice moment). It makes a whole heap of sense but this is what we get for being so used to our religions be so rigid and strict, we read something and automatically think it cannot be changed even if it doesn't make sense. Later I will be reading up about Samhain and see if I can't change my own personal tradition so the new year is somthing more sensible (at least to me).

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Wind Power

Its a pretty sweet idea this wind power. Harnessing the wind itself for our use, we have been doing it for years in smaller form with sails and kites and even hot air balloons. Sadly there are a few problems with using it to make electricity still. Problems like whole flocks of birds flying into the windmills and getting chopped it itty bitty bits.....yeah its a bit of a problem. There are so many endangered species of birds that setting up wind farms is a little bit of a concern. Now don't get me wrong wind farms are flipping genious but we need to figure out another way, or at least a way to make the birds fly around the wind farms, not through them. Even trying to minimize damage would be a good thing, like if we didn't build wind farms in the areas where a lot of different speices migrate through, but I have a feeling that there is a reason they migrate through that area, could be that the wind patterns there are pretty awesome and make them do less work? I don't know much on that I will admit. But if it is the reason that would be a great area to put up windfarms....oh darn we did it again, still in the way. We need big signs that say birds no trespassing you'll get chopped to bits.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Its stuck

Well, there is snow on the ground and it has been there since yesterday. It was snowing yesterday and last night. It may be melting. Now, I hate cold but the snow on all the trees was rather pretty. I am doing my best not to run screaming from the room when I see the white stuff, it is just a season of the year and it will pass just as each winter has passed ever since I have been alive. I will just keep telling myself that and wrap the blanket tighter about my shoulders and wait...just like those in the wild (except some of them get to hibernate). It is a time for introspection, self realizment, a bowl of soup (there is a rumor of potato soup for lunch I'm excited), a book, and a nice fire in the fire place (even though burning actual logs is worse for the environment then those fire starting "logs" go figure). It is a time to stay close to home and be with the community (we really are sort of a bizzare hive species that elects the "queen" instead of however its done with bees and ants or the borg.....yeah trekkie moment) and learn how to tolerate the family after being able to run about and do your own thing for much of the year, at least thats how it used to be. We still do the hunkering down with blankets and books but less with the community and family stuff.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

*Throws open the door* I'm baaack!!!

I know I have said it before but there is something to waking up early, its Gods aweful and painful to do but once I get outside walking to campus its all calm serenity...even in the rain. There was a light rain coupled with mist all over campus and it was beautiful it makes things easier when its beautiful out. I am still horribly busy but life has calmed to its normal pace again, but in the time that life has been a tad too interesting for my own good (having people stay over for the weekend plus a few days unexpectedly, taking that person to the ER, mother getting bitchy cause I didn't go with her decision, mad dash study/paper writing combo for the same class) I have seen some really amazing things. Yesterday my birdfeeder fell off its precarious holding place and broke (crap ass piece of shit) full of this seed that no bird would eat (count on it because I bought a huge bag of it) by the afternoon the pile of seed that had fallen from the feeder was gone and there was a chipmunk with full cheekpouches reaching its little arms and head into the feeder for more seeds. At least someone likes it. The day before that I saw the biggest flock of birds I have ever seen in my life in the "woods" behind my apt. There were so many that all thier chirpings melded into white noise and it was LOUD. A fellow classmate of mine said they were probably starlings (which sadly are an invasive species but it was impressive all the same).
I also had a good looong talk with a friend of mine who always has the best advice and thoughts to give on matters that stress me out. Thankfully he lives close by...for now, he moves around alot, I'll be sad when he moves too far away to visit. He told me to not be afraid of the changes going on around me, don't hide from them (there is a reason we cancers make shells, we like to hide in them). Instead take charge of them, make the changes I want (something that will be very hard for me to do, I am not one to be the person controlling things, in fact I prefer to be the one being controlled). Choices that aren't what will I wear, or eat, or do, or where will I go today worry me in fact sometimes they downright scare me, but we can talk about my sub-y tendencies some other day. He also reminded me that no matter what changes in my life, my friends, where ever I go (or they go) they will always be my friends....somehow yeah, I needed that reminder...go figure. Its part of the unique-ness that is me that when I get upset the mean voice in my head convinces me I'm all alone and will be if I venture outside my current little box *cough cough* school *cough*. Its nice to be reminded that there are people out there who will always care, we all need that reminder sometimes. Oh yes, and I'm also supposed to remember to take breaks and not wear myself out with school and have fun now and then (I'll try, someone might have to remind me now and then).
I'm not sure my body likes nettle tea....I started drinking it this morning cause last time it made my brain super awake and I thought that would be good during the exam but the moment it started into my system, digesting with my breakfast I started getting a headache and last time I used it that evening I had the most blistering headache that made me not even want to go visit my boy I felt like such shit. Even now I can feel the pain just behind the left side of my forehead. I may not drink anymore....we shall see.
I am contemplating making sweet potato pie for Thanksgiving....well...more of a just because and not exactly for Thanksgiving. I'm not exactly all about this holiday and I love sweet potato pie and I want some and its the season for it and I have never made a pie and I feel like maybe its time that I should get rid of my pie making virginity so the other tab-y on this browser is sweet potato pie recipes but I don't know how to choose one. One exam down.....2 more to go but not for about a week. Oh yes, me and the new roomate are getting along well and she brought a tv for watching movies!!!
one more thing. I am totally stoked about this new e-book that Dianne Sylvan put out. See column at right blog name Dancing Down The Moon.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Oh the Chaos

I will probably not get to actual writing of ideas till maybe thursday....maybe later things are so crazy around here right now that I don't even know where to start unraveling the knot.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

new beginings and the chaos they bring

This time of year is generally rather hectic for me. Exams and Advising meetings to discuss what classes I should take next semester. My last time having to do this, THANK GOD. But an added crazyness has come, I am welcoming a new roomate into my apt so bills won't be so bad on my bank account. Ironically I may be paying more in the end because I use so little gas and electricity by myself. $6 electric bill this month. But because of all the running about I have not posted this week (that and getting sick) and probably will not post until next week when things calm down....I hope.

Monday, November 3, 2008

An odd display of balance in the world

Near my apt there is this real fancy nice house with a fenced in yard that is perfectly manicured, you poke a code into a thingy and the fence door for the car to get in opens and has 3 yappy pomeranians with a Mccain Palin sign (the dogs aren't carrying the sign). Across the rode is this small property that I swear the whole property that isn't the house is garden...sort of (not flowers everywhere but still somehow screams I am a garden even if I am trying to eat the house). The greenery is just taking over its beautiful. It has a walkway to the back that is covered in greenery and the front door is half obscured by a bush I am not exactly sure how the lady gets out of her house or gets company, it's exactly how I would picture an elf house (Lord of rings or Dianne Sylvan elves not Santa elves). I think it is so interesting how on one side of the street we have rich republican lady and on the other the almost elf house. Complete amd total oposites of eachother. The lady in the elf house does keep an eye on the wildlife that ends up in the rich republican's yard though, in fact she keeps an eye on all the wildlife, espeically the squirrels. Around here she is called the squirrel lady (probably behind her back) but she is lovely and I have talked to her a bit now and then. She always says good morning to me (even when I am trudging to campus for class at 8 am on a Saturday). It fasinates me how this balancing effect happened. I would really like to know who came first.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Pretend it is still friday

This might be a tad long....lots of stuff is going on
My good friend from Living Like a Goddess (LLG from now on) came to visit and helped my cooking shift cook yesterday. It was awesome despite the mad ass lack of vegan food. I said screw it I'm hungry and ate lunch anyway. I made a fruit salad that was pretty damn summery for October 31st. Watermelon, black berrys, and pineapple with the leafy part of the pineapple as garnish for the big bowl of fruit. My friend made garlic bread which thankfully was vegan because she used the old co-op way of making it (bread+olive oil on bread+chopped up garlic rubbed into oily bread=tasty tasty garlic bread) . There was soup, and pudding from scratch, and rice and beans. It was fun.

My friend from LLG also got me some nettle to try for myself and I must say....WHOA. I don't think I have ever payed attention in a class i don't really like so hard in my life. It's just crazy. I am in this horrible state between super awake and dear Gods I want to sleep so I keep feeling the need to stretch because I still feel like I just got out of bed (blame going to bed at a normal time and waking up earlier then I normally do for the tiredness), but it is pretty damn impressive. This is definitely not something I want to drink after say....dinner time. This is the first time drinking it so we will see how things go after this, I have an ounce to play with. So I will probably talk about this again at some point to update everyone. I am definitely keeping some around to help me during exams. I wonder if this would be good for those who have ADD. I don't know about how ADD really works brain chemistry wise and how this would affect them but I know it is less expensive then the drugs they have to buy for the rest of time. May be an alternative...who knows.

Yesterday was also Samhain. Me and my friend from LLG had a dumb dinner in the co-op which was a tad akward because we were worried someone would come in and try to talk to us who were supposed to remain silent for the meal so we could think/remember dead loved ones (or people you knew). It was interesting because I thought about people I hadn't thought about in years and a few I hardly knew at all but whos death changed things so completely around me that I couldn't help but think on them anyway. It was nice though because originally I thought I was going to have to be at my parents house that night and wouldn't have been comfortable with them being there/part of it(for reasons discussed earlier this month). Next year there will have to be vegan food in the dinner (we just ate what was in the fridge) so we can toss it outside or compost food on the plate for the dead ones because you leave a seat empty and plate (with food) at that seat for the dead. We felt bad about wasting it but...we know better for next year. It was interesting eating food, one of the most basic things of life while focusing on the dead. In a way eating for the dead. To those who are gone: Grandpa, Cousin Jim (the first gay man I ever knew and didn't realize it until he was dead but I should have known when he smelled all the lotions at Bath and Body Works), Aunt Marie (even if I can't remember what you looked like), My first riding instructor's dad (even if he did scare the crap out of me jokeing about cutting my hair...I was really young), Grace and Andy (the hall my dorm was on was so much quieter after you died that I never really got used to it). You might be gone, but not forgotten....hope you liked the milk/soymilk mixture we poured outside for you.
Oh yeah. Happy Dia de los muertos.