Eggplant and Cantaloupe

 My first eggplant for the year.

 This is my first time to grow
cantaloupe. I am growing an
heirloom variety from BakerCreek.  If it is good I'll post the type of cantaloupe it is.   I was so excited I went out yesterday and I have little baby ones everywhere.

Great Things I Love for Gardening

These are some great items to have if you do much gardening.  The wagon was a gift from my daughter, Annie and I love it.  It has saved me hundreds of steps.  The gardening bucket was also a gift from a dear friend.  I have everything in the bucket I need; my gardening gloves, hammer, nails, wire and wire cutters, twisty ties, gardening shoes and all my hand tools for gardening.  I put the bucket in my wagon and I'm off.  I was always leaving something in the barn and I would have to walk all the way across the yard to get what I needed and then some times needed something else and I would have to go back again.  It was wearing me out.  Now, I have everything with me and I just love it.

If you have a big yard and if you do a lot of gardening you will love these two items.

Great Sugar Cookies

This is the best sugar cookie I have ever eaten.  The saying, you can't eat just one.  Well, it's really true about these cookies.  It is very hard to stop eating them.  They are not to sweet and they are chewy and soft. Yum!

I had made up the cookie dough for a fruit pizza on Friday and I had some dough left and made cookies for Gary to have this afternoon.  I wanted to eat them instead of dinner.  Here's the recipe and I hope you like it as much as I do.

5 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 sticks butter
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of cream or milk

Cream together butter and sugar.  The add soda, salt, vanilla and eggs and mix well.  Then add milk and gradually add flour.  It is best to refrigerate the dough for about an hour.  After the dough is chilled roll into balls about the size of walnuts and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 to 13 minutes.  Take out of oven when slightly golden.

My Editorial

This is the letter I have wanted to write and send to the Daily Oklahoman for several years.  After watching the local news yesterday morning, I was once again moved emotionally by what I saw and the old feelings that I have toward sports all resurfaced.

The news covered a story about the teachers in the Moore area who were being shown a little tender loving care.  The teacher who was interviewed was so meek, a little surprised, humbled and very grateful for the attention they were being shown.  They were being given new free clothes.  These were her words, " I can't believe it, we can get as many clothes as we want and there are people to help us carry our clothes, to show us to a room to try them on and they have cold bottled water for us to drink.  Everyone is so helpful." You could tell she was surprised by the treatment. I felt sorry for her .

Then my mind went back to several years ago when the Thunder was on strike because they were not being paid enough money. REALLY!!  At the time, it sickened me.  I wished I was in charge of that decision making process at the time because there would not be a basketball team for Oklahoma City.  At the time, I thought how screwed up our society is that they will pay millions to people to play sports when our educational system is a wreck and the teachers trying to teach our children should be paid the millions the sports figures are getting.  I know that one of the players donated a million to the storm relief but they all should have making that much money.  I know what you are thinking, I understand all the revenue this brings into our city but I still don't like it. 

This is something I have wrestled with for many years.  All of our children played sports mainly soccer and basketball.  For years our family has loved Coach K and we always root for the Duke Demons.  My husband and I started the Oklahoma City Homeschool Basketball Program and I really wish I could tell you that we made a more substantial contribution to the homeschooling program than starting a basketball team.  By the time our last child was graduating from high school, I had pretty much made up my mind that sports was a waste of time and money.  Nothing is gained from sports.  I will grant you that children can get scholarships to go to college but that is probably the only advantage.  For me personally, if I had it to do over again my children would not play sports.  They had fun playing sports but they do see that for them in their adult life now that it profitted them nothing.

I would love to see the current educational system dismantled and all the money that is spent on sports put into creating a new educational system and for teachers to get paid for what they are doing.  They are teaching your children all day, five days a week.  If you have never taught there is so much time that goes into teaching.  Research, reading, planning and grading papers.  I really have just touched the surface.  A good teacher is worth their weight in gold and that is what they should be paid. 

As a society, we need to look at where we are and what we value.  I don't have money to buy tickets to the Thunder games but if I did, I wouldn't.  I'm not just picking on the Thunder it is professional sports everywhere.  I think it is a disgrace that Americans spend millions to support such nonsense.

Quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Let's see, where do I begin?

Let me start with the first time I heard of Eckhart Tolle.  It might have been the same place you heard of him.  From the Oprah Show.  I saw the world wide study they were going to have and I hope you were not like me but I thought Oprah had jumped off the deep end.  I couldn't believe she was having this guy on her show who obviously wasn't getting his information from the Bible.  I wouldn't even consider hearing what he had to say and even for a very short time I stopped watching Oprah.

Lots of things happened between that time and January of this year.  In January, I decided I wanted to read The Power of Now.  As I have mentioned in other posts, I had the terrible vice of prejudging people before knowing the whole story and also taking other's opinions as gospel without finding out for myself what I thought. 

I started reading it and I couldn't put it done.  It is the best spiritual book I have read in a long time.  I do want to mention one other book that I think is excellent and holds a very close second to Tolle.  It is The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer.

In my spiritually journey, when I was an adult I heard a man speak on dying to the flesh.  I had always wanted to know what this scripture meant - unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains alone, but if it dies it produces much fruit. (paraphrased) I never really understood that until I heard about dying to the flesh.  The flesh nature being I, me, mine get all you can and can all you can get.  That made sense to me the flesh nature is the opposite of the nature of God.  So I started to apply the principles I learned from him and for the first time in my life I noticed my life was changing.  In my heart what would have normally been my response to a person or situation started to change.  Really miraculous.

In The Power of Now, Tolle talks about the ego which is the same thing as the flesh nature and he simply states that unless the ego is put down there is no advancement spiritually. I totally agree with him because that has been my own experience.  He makes it very easy to understand how we are manipulated by our egos and that our egos are not who we really are.  Stop and think about what you think about during the day.  We all think about the past or the future we do not live in the present moment. Peace comes from living in the present moment and not worrying about what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow.  It is a fight to keep your mind in the present moment because your ego wants you to live in the past or the future.  Just become aware of what I'm saying about your thoughts and you will see it.

It's a life changing book and he hits the nail on the head.

Reporting In

Well, I'm back where I started on the second week.  I lost 2 pounds this week.  It made me realize why I don't want to go backward because it takes time to get back where you were.  I didn't swim this week.  :(  Not that I didn't want too but I have been busy work in the yard and I didn't want to stop to go swimming in the morning and in the evening I was too tired to swim.  The yard and garden are looking really good though.  I plan to get back on track this week. 

With all the rain, I haven't been able to stay on top of the weeds so I finally bought mulch and covered all the dirt which will help a lot with the weeds.  They were literally popping up overnight.

I had another thought yesterday about projects.  If you don't enjoy sewing I thought about getting your pictures in albums.  That's a biggy for me.  I have a huge box of pictures I need to get into albums plus an album I want to make for my youngest son from his senior year.  Just a thought,  we all take lots of pictures and most people don't get them into albums timely.

My mom was very organized and when she passed I was so impressed how all of her pictures were in albums and the really old family photos of people I didn't know she had labeled who they were and the year of the photo. 

Have a great week!  Get out and enjoy this beautiful summer we are having, it's going too fast.

Baby Quilt

No, I'm not going to be a grandma.  Years ago my aunt was cleaning out her closet and I stopped by her house and she had this baby quilt that she was going to give to the thrift store.  It was still in the package, had never been touched.  She asked if I would like it and I said yes.  It's cross stitch and that was not my idea of a baby quilt that I would want to make for my future grandchildren but I took it anyway.  Now, it has been in my work room for years and when I was cleaning out things I ran across it.  I decided to start it and it is really turning out to be a lot cuter than I thought. I'll be sure and show you the finished product.

I just wanted to encourage you to start a project.  It doesn't have to be anything this big.  Hobby Lobby has lots of small things you can make.  Start now to make something special for someone for the holidays or make something special for your home for the holidays. There is also a great quilt shop in Norman and there is also one in Casady Square on Britton Road and N. Penn.  They are full of ideas of things you can make and they also have classes.  I think you would really enjoy a visit to either one of these places.  The quilt shop in Norman is on 24th street south off of Robinson, sorry I can't remember the name.  Your children or grandchildren would always cherish something you made.

This summer I have  a routine going where I work in the yard in the morning and in the afternoon I work an hour or two on the quilt.  Before you know it, you will have completed a project. Just put aside some time every day to work on your project and you'll be surprised how quickly you can finish a project.

I've gotten a lot of kidding from my children on making this baby quilt but I'm very optimistic a lot can happen in a year or two.  :)  I believe love is right around the corner with someone special for all my children.

Trees

This is a golden raintree.  All of the yellow blooms turn into little lantern looking pods.  They are interesting to decorate with. Several long twigs look great in a clear glass vase.   I had never seen one of these trees until we moved into our home.  I have love this tree and the beauty it gives.  It is particularly pretty this year because of the rain.  The last couple of years it hasn't produced all that many blooms. 

If you are looking for a new tree to plant try a Golden Raintree.

Wild Flowers

These are wild flowers that I picked from the field behind our home.  We have ten acres all together and we have about six acres that is pasture and this year it is full of yarrow and those tiny daises.  I wish you could see it, it is a field of white....just beautiful.  But I love these flowers.  It has been so long since we have had this much rain that the wild flowers haven't done much.  So thankful for the beautiful display.


This is my hired help and he works for food!  LOL!  Really, it's my hubby and I don't know what I would do without him. 

 

 

Mexican Chocolate Cake

This is my mom's recipe and we have made this cake for years.  It is delicious and very easy.  I'm thinking it is called Mexican chocolate cake because it has cinnamon in it.  You'll have to try this!

Cake:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup oil
4 tablespoons coco
1 cup water
2 cups flour
2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon

In a saucepan melt butter, coco, oil and water. Stir frequently until coco melts.  In a mixing bowl put flour, sugar, baking soda.  Pour coco mixture into flour and sugar.  Then add eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and cinnamon.  Stir together do not use mixer.

Pour into a greased and floured 12x18 sheet cake pan.  Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes. Put icing on cake while still hot.

Icing:
1 stick butter
4 tablespoons coco
6 tablespoons milk
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Combine milk, coco, and butter in saucepan until all is melted and combined well.  Add powdered sugar a little at a time until all mixed well, add vanilla and chopped pecans and pour over warm cake.

Reporting In

Starting week three.  I have gained two pounds.  I blew it on Saturday eating pizza and drinking a pop and then on Sunday we had this delicious chocolate cake.  I'm just thankful I didn't gain the whole four pounds back.

I'm glad I'm blogging this because if I wasn't today I would probably say forget this but I'm back on track today and for the week.  Have my menu planned and going full speed ahead.  Oh, one other thing I was only able to swim one day last week.  They had issues with the pool and it was closed all week.  It is supposed to be open again today.  So, back on track with that also.

Wide Open Spaces

A field of yarrow behind our home. 

I have been working in the garden a lot lately.  I had got behind and the weeds were over taking me.  With all the rain, I can hardly stay on top of everything.  I'm going to buy mulch tomorrow for my flower beds. I'm not complaining about the rain, I love it and we need it so bad.  Everything in the country looks so beautiful and green.  The past two summers have been so hot and with the draught sometimes it looked pretty bad out here. 
 
This is a picture of the wide open spaces.  My neighbor just mowed his pasture and as I was mowing ours and I looked up and saw this view.  It was beautiful.  My camera, unfortunately, didn't capture the beauty like I saw it but I hope you can get the idea.

 

 

 

 

 

My tomatoes are looking pretty good.

 

I was out working yesterday and I was really hungry.  I was trying to figure out what to eat that would keep me on the straight and narrow.  I remembered that I had baked a chicken over the weekend.  A wonderful idea popped into my mind.  I had a very good head of iceberg lettuce.  I tore off a piece of that put about a teaspoon of mayo on the leaf, several slices of chicken breast and several thin slices of a vadila onion.  It was wonderful.  I ate two of these and drank a big glass of water and it about 15 minutes was totally satisfied.  Wanted to share the idea because it was very tasty and not any carbs.  An avocado or some tomato would have been great but I was out of both. I'm going to start thinking along the lines of what I can put in a lettuce leaf to eat so I don't have to use bread.  Really, you'll have to try it .....it was really good.

Reporting In

It has been one week today that I started my program.  I have lost 4 pounds this past week.  Weight does come off pretty easily for me when I first start.  I just need to keep up my determination and keep going. The week was pretty easy for me as far as cravings.  Everything was under control.  I went to a get together on Saturday night and had a few strawberries with some dip but that was it.

Now for week 2!

ELI

This is "baby E" as the family called him.  He is a Yorkie although he doesn't look much like one in this picture because of a skin disease he has had the majority of his life.  He would have been 15 years old in October.  Our oldest daughter got him as a brand new puppy.  She loves animals and was so excited to get him but with her hectic schedule at the time (going to college and working) he was by himself a lot and when he came to grandma's house he decided he wanted to stay. :)

We had two chocolate labs (Max and Murphy) and Eli thought he was as big as they were.  He would go up to them barking and he barely came to the first joint in their legs.  But that never backed him off. He may have been little bitty but he was mighty in spirit.  Thankfully, they were very playful with him.  Gary referred to him often as our protector dog!

He became my constant companion.  Always wanting to sit in my lap or beside me in the chair.  Coming to the kitchen and sitting and watching when he smelled the aroma of food. He loved to go in the car and he would just sense when I was going to be leaving and follow me from room to room letting me know he wanted to go too.  If I couldn't take him, he was always at the door to greet me when I got home.  I could go on and on about him but I know all those things only mean something to me.

His health had been deteriorating for about the past six months.  Gary and I could hardly talk about the fact that he wouldn't be with us much longer.  We wanted him to go naturally but had wrestled with the fact that we didn't want him to suffer.  The last few months he was like a little old man having good days and bad days. 

Our daughters were having a garage sale yesterday and we took him with us.  I won't go into all the details but he became markedly worse and past from this life in my lap.  I was so glad that he was with us and it happened naturally.  We brought him home and Gary had built him a little box.  We buried yesterday evening in the orchard between Max and Murphy. 

We have cried a bucket load of tears and it seems every where I look I see little remembrances of him.  He was loved greatly and I have no regrets.  In Eben Alexander's book Proof of Heaven he saw dogs there.  In religion, I was told that dogs don't have a soul, but you know what, I don't believe that. I'm believing Eli will be there along with all the other people I love who have gone before me waiting when I cross over.

Doggy love but really animal love is an amazing thing!

Goodbye Baby E!

Thirty More Pounds

Ok, I have decided that if I blog what I am trying to do that it will make me more accountable to you, my readers, and hopefully keep me on the straight and narrow for eight weeks.  I have had 30 pounds that I have needed to lose for almost three years.  You know the story, I will lose ten pounds and gain it back.  About five years ago, I let go of 50 pounds and this last 30 has remained.  But I'm determined that this summer it's leaving also. 

This is my plan. During the summer, the college pool will be open for a morning swim from 9:00 to 10:00.  My goal is to swim every morning Monday thru Friday until Aug. 2, eat low carbs and no sugar.  I think I can handle that.  My big temptation is sugar.  I will put honey in things because I have several salad dressings that call for honey and stevia for Popsicles that I make but no white sugar or any drinks that have high fructose corn syrup.  I want to totally get off of the corn syrup that I swear is in almost everything. 

I would like to lose ten pounds a month and I realize that it will probably take me until September to get off the full 30 pounds.  For me, with summer starting and all the fresh fruit and vegetables I felt like this would be a good time for me to do this.  I have been asking questions of people who are vegetarians, how they eat and what they eat and I have found out that they basically eat every couple of hours. Whatever fruit is on hand, maybe an avocado, a hand full of spinach.  My daughter, Katie, has a friend who is vegetarian and he will cook a pan of mushrooms and eat them or a pan of Quinoa and eat it.  Not necessarily 3 squares a day but about a cup of something off and on all day. 

I am not necessarily wanting to be vegetarian, I love a good hamburger and french fries but mentally it's hard for me to eat meat that you buy at the grocery store since I have seen how all beef and chicken are raised and processed. I would like to train myself to go for natural snacks like fruit or carrots and celery or a handful of spinach instead of carbs.  I like those natural snacks but I have trained my body to crave the other. I can do this!  One thing I do know about myself, for me to succeed I have to have food on hand that is satisfying and healthy or I will blow it.

I started on Monday and so far I have done well other than I missed my swim yesterday because even though the pool is inside they have windows and they will not let you swim if it is lightning.

One little tip that Katie's friend shared with her, at night when you get hungry and want a snack, and I always do that, he said to eat an avocado that it is very satisfying.  One other thing that really helped me was the mint water.  I really get tired of drinking plain water and I do lemon a lot but the mint is really a great change. 

So, when I'm tackling a big project, I go after it a little at a time and that's how I'm looking at this weight.  Ten pounds this month and then I'll look at July.  Wish me well!

Crispy Kale Chips

I have wanted to try this for two years and haven't.  It is wonderful and so easy.  I really like potato chips especially the kettle potato chips.  My husband does too and he is always bringing them home.
I bought some kale at the store yesterday and made these chips and they are so good, very crunchy which is important. :)

Wash the kale and dry it.  Then take the leaf from the stem.  Tear the leaves into bite size pieces.  Put  the pieces in a large bowl and drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the kale pieces and sprinkle with salt to taste.  Then toss well and make sure all the pieces have some oil on them.  Then arrange on a cookie sheet, single layer.  Bake in oven for 20 minutes at 300 degrees.  Store in a zip lock plastic bag. 

Very nutritious and satisfying snack.

Minty Water

The mint in my herb garden is taking over the whole garden.  It is beautiful, so green and perfect looking after all the rain we have been getting.  I was working in the garden cutting some of it back  and brought in some to use.  I took a big handful and squeeze it in my hand and dropped in into this glass jar and added the water and put it in the frig. 

It is so refreshing.  I get tired of drinking plain water all the time and this is such a nice change, I love it and it is so easy. 

Choosing Love

The sun is coming up, the birds are singing loudly, its cool outside, there are clear blue skys this morning and there is so much to be thankful for.  I'm so thankful for the protection of my family over the last two weeks and yet my heart is heavy for the many families who have lost loved ones and everything they own.

I was moved to tears after the May 20th tornado as I heard of people from around the world sending condolences and thoughts of concern.  Then the outpouring of resources and help from Oklahoma residents and nearby states was very moving.  My daughter found this comment by Maya Angelou and it was my sentiments exactly.

It is sad but true that sometimes we need the tragedy to help us to see how human we are and how we are more alike than we are different. The unspeakable devastation in Oklahoma has brought the human goodness to fore. Men and women from Kansas, from Missouri, from Arkansas, even from New York City, have rushed to offer themselves as aid to the stricken Oklahomans. I sit watching the television and... am proud of how we are able to sympathize with each other and saddened that the only way we come to that understanding is when a tragedy affects us. I have not seen one person ask if the injured were black, white, or Jewish or Muslim or gay or straight. Don’t you wish we could think of each other in kinder ways all the time?

 

As I write this, I'm saying this to myself above all else, that there are two choices in life either love or fear.  Let us stop and think before we start to judge and simply choose to love.  It's not always the easiest to choose but it's the best for me and you and humanity. Nothing in this life is going to change until you love your neighbor as yourself.