mishmash

chocolate for brownies


we put down the carpet.



I've been having issues with the AB5 method for forever - it sticks; no matter how thickly I coat the pizza peel with corn meal, I can never smoothly shift it onto the stone. The loaves get all distorted. I've been greasing & cornmealing cookie sheets and even that doesn't work so well, obviously. It was even uglier with pans. I am reflecting on the idea that their doughs are basically heavy sponges, and wondering if I can just use them as such - add more flour, knead, and get a less sticky result...


the Joy is aiding my reflections.


planted old morning glory seeds in a pot nestled in a broken cart today. Hopefully the viability is enough to get some nice growth.

made a little network of sticks to help them reach the trellis.



If you wondered... this is a typical exchange on whether earth day is worth Catholics' time (or more broadly, environmentalism) from a trad point of view. I just read through the comments. How depressing. Why do I do this to myself and visit fisheaters, especially on hot-button issues (the environment, women in pants, nursing in Mass, oh my) when I know it will just make me mad? Riddle me this. I could just puke when I think how ridiculous this must look to outsiders.

hobbit home

If there's a problem with earthships, to my mind, it's that they are sort of ugly? This Welsh guy has the right idea!

the tyranny of the moment

"One way of obtaining a snippet of people's attention thus consists in making certain that time is fast and cut into conveniently short lengths. Everyone has 8 seconds to spare; but who has two years? (This may be the time required to understand the history of Western philosophy.) Another, related technique consists in filling all the gaps. The WAP telephone technology makes it possible to read e-mail, news and bus schedules in the lift, on the beach or while playing soccer with one's children. In the spring of 2000, a new WAP telephone was launched with an integrated MP3 player. This means that in the breaks between scanning written information or talking on the phone, one can use the telephone to listen to music. This ensures that the empty and boring pauses; the gaps, the time that might have been used for free-floating slow thoughts, are eradicated. WAP as such is probably a passing fad, but the Japanese equivalent, i-mode, had an incredible 14 million users in late 2000 - a year after its initial launching."
Thomas Eriksen, published in 2001 in English, previously in Norwegian.

The iPhone was first launched in 2007. This poor guy thought (hoped?) the technology was "a passing fad"... no such luck. This book is similar to the shallows - the author, where I am now, is discussing how the increasing speed of everything influences journalism, advertising, leisure time, school curriculum planning, etc. Scary business. I find it incredible when people think it's perfectly acceptable to text/check facebook/etc over lunch/during conversation/in bed/etc.

I thank God for back yards, sunshine, gardens, not having a TV, having a nursling who likes to move slow.

washer & dryer

for sale - by a family who's moving out of the country in one month, on May 19. They are in excellent condition, having been used for only 4 years, originally bought new from the Bay. Washer is top-loading, dryer works very well with one cycle (I mention this because I know Tony and I can't be the only ones whose dryer doesn't dry very well...!). This family is very close to my heart, so I'd love for them to have one less thing to worry about and that much more money in their pockets. They'll need to use them right up to their departure.

Let me know if you or anybody you know is interested. Price is, I think, to be negotiated.

a little jaunt

We went home early because it started to hail and my batteries were dying. I wrapped my scarf around my head and felt right at home in the Italian neighbourhood. I'm so glad I married an Italian. I can now do things like: look like a weather-beaten Italian lady, feed everybody too much, make pasta, have a ridiculous garden that hipsters come take pictures of.

travel and diapers...

We'll be going to the States with family in July. We're pretty psyched. One aspect I was a bit worried about was diapers - I'd researched and located a laundromat close to each of the two places we'll be staying, and was all ready to weigh the coin machine prep options, but at the same time was feeling some pressure to not make waves and bring disposables. This was making me uncomfortable, but I was researching eco-friendly options and was sort of open to it. Attitude seemed to be the best but I wasn't really convinced, still thinking I'd just put my foot down and bring cloth. At the co-op yesterday I browsed what they have and found gDiapers, and ultimately bought a pack that should fit him of m/l refills. Basically they look like paper pads, but with no sticky part (they're plastic free... but come in a plastic bag). They're quite compact and thin. gDiapers makes their own gPant, but I think it should fit into his regular covers with no problem. The best part is that you can compost or flush them. How friggin cool is that? Friggin flushable. I will be bringing his regular night diaper system, as I can handwash those in our room without setting off our itinerary or requiring a ride anywhere or anything. And I'd rather stick with what I know works for nighttime anyway! I'll bring a few prefolds in case we run out of the gDiapers by the end of the 5 days - it's a pack of 32, so it should be okay? But who knows.

I am compiling lists of things to do, research, and pack, as this will be our first real trip with baby, and I'm a planner anyway.

One other thing I'm worried about is food. Going to research organic places to eat/buy in the area, and vegan places to eat/buy, failing that. I sort of hate being a pain in the ass, but to me vacation time isn't a time to ignore reality, ingest chemicals and destroy to the environment, eh? Even here at home I've not made up my mind on restaurant policy. We don't eat out often, so I haven't had to decide yet. It's sort of hard. Hah actually it's like being a vegan again. Basically opting for Aux Vivres whenever I can, and if we are going somewhere sketchy out of politeness, trying to find the best options I can? Not sure yet where to draw the line. It's an issue for eating at other peoples' houses, too. I'm thinking I'll try to avoid eating meat if I don't know the source, which should be pretty doable, as I normally choose small portions of meat and rarely am anywhere that doesn't have side dishes one can healthily fill up on. Should probably research organic restaurants here too!

Catholic Motherhood

I have a guest post featured today at the Natural Parents Network. My calendar is marked with the reminder today, so I went over, and eek! Indeed, it's up! I was like, hey, that's me! Check it out. If you want. (There's one picture of me nursing bébé, if that's an issue for you.)

wordless Wednesday

links & etc.

First, does anybody know what this is? It's a Sikh thing, it's on peoples' cars and windows a lot here (I live in a pretty Sikh neighbourhood) but we don't know the significance of it. It's a man holding a spear thing.

Pictures from our nature jaunt earlier:



LINKS

Baby-Led Weaning - I'm into it! I sort of knew this from Julia's stories, but it's so different when you face it yourself. Tony and I have been discussing this a lot because of my anxiety about his 6-month appointment last week ... Ambrose just doesn't seem to be ready, and we don't want to push him. Why waste the food? Why make him mad? Why waste our time? He's getting so much good stuff from my milk, and he has iron, more than some babies, because we did delayed cord clamping - so why rush a natural process? Babies "in the wild" didn't get to use food processors, and nobody told wild mamas to separate egg whites from yolks or any of that stuff. Think about it! Anyway I am into this website and can't wait to share it with T-bone.

Mmm, mango pit left from Daddy's breakfast...

A Poem from the Middle of the Night with Baby - beautiful.

HealthyStuff.org - a handy third-party compilation of a variety of products and their safety level, with problems explained. Scary and informative, eh. Thinking a lot about switching to natural toys only, and doing a purge... We shall see.

Hypnobabies - everybody who uses the internet has probably heard of hypnobabies, and I know of some people (internet acquaintences) who've used it successfully, but it remains very mysterious to me. I thin I'm sort of into it, though. Maybe for the next baby.

Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!" - LOL. It's so true, it's so ubiquitous, and it rubs me the wrong way. If you don't see the problem and need data, here's a snippet:
Mary Budd Rowe, a researcher at the University of Florida, discovered that students who were praised lavishly by their teachers were more tentative in their responses, more apt to answer in a questioning tone of voice ("Um, seven?"). They tended to back off from an idea they had proposed as soon as an adult disagreed with them. And they were less likely to persist with difficult tasks or share their ideas with other students."

birdsong

Hearing birdsong after this long freeze is so arresting - it's like seeing the light when you hadn't realized you were in the dark - it's been so long that I forgot to long for it.
I want to give my children the gift of stillness and silence. My mom was encouraging me to make more noise at home because Ambrose gets startled when there's sudden clanging and clashing going on. And we're opening the windows and turning off the heat now, so there's much more background noise, and I've wondered whether it may account for his trouble sleeping these last few days. He is used to quiet. I ask myself, is it a gift to him to habituate him to noise? Or would it be a greater gift to habituate him to quiet?
To habituate him, to make his base comfort level, center around a city, a place with cars, with an itch for nightlife and the comfort of noisy people close by, with the security and trappings that goes with that?
Or to a country pace? Where he can see the stars, where the quietness allows a depth to grow in his soul?
As an adult, do I want him to be drawn back to the comforting rhythm of his babyhood characterized by noise, or silence? Do I want him to be drawn to living places where his own children will be unphased by loud, sudden sounds, or to places of quiet, where they will be able to hear and cherish the sounds of birds? The satisfaction of walking among the trees?

Baby teaches me so much. I can't wait to move off the island.

craftiness afoot

I've meant to make this for a long time. I made a prototype the other day with beads from a cheap necklace I found. But I thought, why not fruit pits instead of beads? So natural and nice and textured for those little gums. And with a sexier fabric?





Next project will be a stitched verse from Proverbs: "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb: sweetness to the soul and health to the body."

I used laundry bags at the old apartment to lug things to and from the laundromat, and was using one to haul groceries last month when it split. It is being given a new life - lettered on the words with brown watercolour.

& other


Lookin good. If you look closely at his hand you can see his new diamond tattoo (he can't wear his wedding band on the job, you see - his idea, not mine!).


Morning sunlight.

help!

What is this? It looks too light in colour and distorted at the bottom to be cast iron (which is what I'd been hoping it was, actually; Dr. Google cleared that right up) but too heavy to be aluminum (it's about 4 1/2 lbs). What's it made from? Can I put it in the oven? I mostly bought it hoping to make deep-dish pizza, and I'm thinking that would work, but it would be nice to know for sure.

freecycle, links

April!

Rules - must be stuff you already have. Don't buy stuff for us. Preferably free but if somebody wants a few bucks for something we're looking for that's cool. If you want to give us a few bucks for something that's cool too. Local only. Please feel free to join in and post on your own blog.

LOOKING FOR: popsicle molds (in-laws), natural woven baskets for laundry, a coffee table, an old dye pot (in-laws), dark blue or brown cloth dye (Value Village - I've dyed my napkins and have olive green, royal blue, and maybe something else if anybody wants in on my next dye pot), a haircutting cape, a non-plastic toolbox, a compost bin, an oven-proof cast-iron skillet, some 12-month footie baby sleepers (in-laws, Value Village).

GETTING RID OF: a fondue set, fondue lighter fluid, a yogurt maker, an alarm clock with large display green number and very effective (ie. annoying) buzzer, a variety of makeup, some of which is unopened, body wax and cotton strips to go with it (opened).

OTHER FREECYCLERS: Julia.

***

Have you hugged your small farmer today? (On this note, I also need to link to Rheintal Meats, a company I discovered a couple of months ago based around Montreal, and for whom I did some translation work for their website on a volunteer basis - not fully up yet from what I can see though. They sent us a freezerful of meat as a thank-you gift. Amazing, generous people. Available by direct order and at Co-op La Maison Vert.)

wordless wednesday

passed-out baby


tea in the almost-empty honey jar means no honey wasted


mamababy

thoughts

Being a mama means you feel scandalously indulgent when you sneak away from your sleeping baby to floss your teeth and cut your nails. The luxury! The quiet!

And,

I hate ebooks.