Shut your cabbage hole

I confess. I play video games on my iPad, my iPhone, and almost anywhere else I can get them. I like them.

screen640x640   My newest fav is Fairway Solitare, which I have to warn you is so addicting it has the potential to breakup marriages if played late at night.

So what does this have to do with cabbage?   Unknown

Well, as I was listening to the running golf commentary of the Scottish sportscaster, I heard him say: “Shut your cabbage hole” to the other sports guy.

That got me to thinking: We in the U.S. of A. don’t say that. We say, “Shut your pie-hole!”

And, so my random mind–which I have to tell you is on high alert during video game play, got to musing about how typical that is between our food intake and Europe’s–or at least Scotland’s.

They use cabbage as the image that is always in view, and we use calorie-laden, double-crusted pie as our typical fare of mouth.

That is so wrong!  Unknown     Unknown-1

I won’t give my usual rant (see Figs vs. Food assassins) about this, but I just want to reiterate one point: we (because of our powerful  food industry, for instance, Ellen Moyer’s blog post The Power of Our Food Choices on Huffington Post–and our government’s ever-growing support of lobbyists who care more about profit than health: www.eatdrinkpolitics.com post on lobbying and Interference, we are poisoning our children, creating epidemic obesity, and lacking the basic nutrition our bodies need and crave, while the Europeans ban GMO’s, lean on vegetables as a major dietary category, not a side dish, think of dessert as a treat–not a triple-times-a-day or more indulgence–and don’t use the partially-hydrogenated oils, like Canola, and high-fructose additives that are most assuredly adding up to FAT, FAT, FAT. They also ban things like bromated, bleached white flour, which our local gourmet, Whole Foods wanna-be, uses in all of their pastries. Ugh–you go to prison for 20 years in Thailand for using bromation in flour. It’s that bad. We go–“Oh, let’s give it to our children!”

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The blogs, sites and research is overwhelming, and I am citing just two of many. Do your own research too, and:

Please stop buying this junk.

They can’t sell it if you don’t buy it. Save your loved ones from heart disease (See Dr. Mitchell Gaynor’s The Gene Therapy Plan), and change your genetic destiny, by eating whole foods and avoiding the packaged, processed junk and “food-like products” that we are passing off as actual food.   41p+vFDTJUL._SX324_BO1,204,203,200_

By the way, Dr. Gaynor was the 11th Natural Foods advocate to mysteriously die recently. Hmm. I’m just sayin’. Hmm.

In any case, you can buy whole foods on a budget–try farmer’s markets from May to October. You can buy imported foods that do not contain our “bad stuff.” And, you can just decide that it is worth the extra bucks to live a life of health.

And, no, I will NOT shut my cabbage hole about this. I really, really care about your health–and mine.

Vegetables 101

I hate to sound like I am talking down to the American public, but lately, after reading labels to avoid Canola oil–poison alert–I have found an alarming trend. Companies are no longer simply listing Canola as the ingredient, but now are saying things like: may contain one or more of the following–safflower, sunflower or Canola oil; or, worse, they say the ingredient is a vegetable oil on the general label, and then list sunflower, safflower and/or Canola as the vegetables.

So for those of you who may fall for this scam, let me illustrate.

Vegetables

Not vegetables

But what stretch of the imagination are safflowers, rapeseed, and sunflowers vegetables?

Why are they doing this?

My guess:

So at the risk of insulting your intelligence, let me suggest–they think you are stupid–they being big food corporations, lobbyists, and the U.S. Government, which, as already pointed out in an earlier post, is using your money, your taxes to promote Canola and to try to convince you is it a healthful oil. Evidently the protests have reached their ears and their wallets, and they are now changing the labels to call Canola a vegetable, and to hide it in a list of seed oils, that, though probably not processed healthfully, are at least not poison as is Canola.

PLEASE!! Stop buying products which have this bad oil. Please do not let it gradually attack your family’s brains, livers, kidneys.

If we do not buy it, they won’t sell it. Yes, there will always be another cheap, highly processed substitute. But, at least it will not be the worst of the worst being promoted as a good oil.

Thank for listening.

 

 

Opposites attract…but

I think it is a testimony to God having a sense of humor that, to a person, we seem to choose someone as a mate who is our direct opposite in many important areas:

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I like cool crisp September weather and hate hot humid. My honey likes hot, humid summer weather, and the minute he sees 40 degrees F. on any gauge, he instantly goes into what I refer to as his annual winter depression.

“But, it’s not even freezing, I say. “But, it’s gonna be,” he replies. I think he relives his South Dakota ordeal of feeding the critters in sub-zero weather.

He says, “We should move to Florida,” and I say, “How about Maine. He says, “How about New Orleans;” I say, “Alaska!” We have for some reason agreed that someday it will be the desert–so hot and not humid. We’ll try it. I love Montreal.

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On the same note, my sweetie piles up about six blankets (only three in summer) and I am kicking off my half’s three and swinging my leg out on top of the sheet to get cool–we’re still talking winter. They turned the heat on in our manufacturing building loft–central boiler room furnace–so we didn’t even need to turn the heat on ourselves. He came home and 20 seconds upon entering the apartment, he made a bee-line for the thermostat to turn it up. I think the shivers run in his family–maternal side.

Then there’s noise. He likes it. I like calm. He likes motorcycles. I like to go slow. He likes motors. I like quiet. He likes rock music (he is 90 percent deaf, so I think the drumbeat is all he can perceive). I like Chopin and Jewel’s lullaby’s.    IMG_0247293298f

He likes the smell of gasoline. I don’t think I even need to say, I don’t.

When we eat in a restaurant, I call him a fat magnet. He will peruse a menu filled with healthful choices, and opt for anything with sausage in it. And, even though he has agreed to our going more plant-based, he tries my quinoa casserole with roasted veggies and mozzarella cheese or goat cheese, and he says, “It’s really good. th-2Needs sausage.”

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This is by no means an exhaustive list. For instance, I can’t tell you the joy it brought hubby dear when I signed us up for a Groupon shooting lesson. He is a sharpshooter, and I never held a gun in my life–being a city girl. He grew up on a cattle ranch in South Dakota. Guns are just part of ranch life.

But I will never forget the light in his eyes when he watched me hit the target–with pretty good success for a first-timer. Maybe I’ll give you the whole story in another post.  marj

Suffice to say, we actually have very little in common. But after almost 37 years, we are more in love than on the first date. He says, “We live in amazement.”

So I ask you, Isn’t this proof of God’s sense of humor. This opposites thing forces us to compromise, which I suspect is the heartbeat of love and the path to unity. Left to ourselves, we would be, well, selfish.

So in the end, it’s a good thing we are paired with one who brings out our complete other, and who forces us to consider that the preferences of another are valid and valuable too.

I just wish we could move to Montreal. I would be okay with the six blankets.

Summer goodness

It’s July. It’s hot. A good time to be into “bowls” for the summer’s bounty.

For years now, I have been reliving our trip to Spain with it’s Serrano ham and Spanish olives, manchego, and really fresh produce.

Guess what! No more pining away at the exorbitant cost of shipping things from Spain or Spanish food purveyors. I found Aldi’s. Wow. Two miles away.

    So added to my wonderful fresh cucumber and tomato salad with white wine vinegar, olive oil, and a little freshly ground pepper, I now have Serrano ham (Aldi’s for way cheaper than ordering online) and and Manchego (from Costco).

Okay, I know it’s not a gourmet assembly or presentation, but it’s a  perfect little lunch for the 95 degree day today, and it’s only for me.

Hello summer!

In my path

Lately, I have noticed ordinary things that initially seemed like they were in my path, obstructing something. But, after reflection, I have discovered a new angle:

  1. On my walk, I came across a turtle (or a tortoise–not sure.) It was small, had its head tucked in, and was right in the middle of the our little narrow, dead-end road. I thought about taking my foot and pushing the little critter to the side, so he wouldn’t get run over, but decided not to because–                   a. I might get a toe bite, b. he was smack in the middle and probably would avoid the car paths, c. wasn’t sure I would be helping. As I passed, I looked back, and after my warm presence had passed far enough away from the reptilian cold-blooded sensors, he slowly moved himself to back off the road, into the woods. I was glad I let nature take its course. this made me wonder how often we “help” nature, and actually do harm, not good.
  2.    I was sitting in church in the very seat where the large wooden cross hanging from the ceiling obstructed my view of the screen with our worship lyrics on it. I thought, the cross is in my way. I felt a strong sense of God agreeing–“Yes, it is.” Wow. that hit hard. The cross is in my path–not by accident, but by design to remind me that sacrifice is a large part of my faith, and trying to work around that is not a good idea. It is supposed to be in my way. It is “the way.” That changed my worship considerably.
  3. Leaves and weeds abound in my little river house gardens and lawns. I find them ugly and annoying. But, I asked some teens at church to help me with my gardening, and it seems this has become a huge blessing to them. Their mom informed me that they are telling everyone how excited they are to help. So my annoyance has become a source of great blessing.  How often am I unaware of that, and try to erase annoyance instead of making it a part of giving someone else a blessing?
  4. I recently had to go to the dreaded DMV to get a replacement title for my 21 yr-old car I was selling. I would not have needed this if I had sold to a CT resident, because the car is exempt in CT. But I sold to a MA resident, and they need a title. After almost 3 hours at DMV,  I left seeing 35 numbers ahead of me, and at the rate of 4 per hour with it being 2:30pm, my math said, I wouldn’t get in, not to mention that another 4-5 hours of waiting wasn’t my idea of a good time. I mailed in the request form with my check, only to have it returned and denied because it is exempt. So had I waited the other hours, I would still have had the same answer. Ugh. So when my buyer drove away with my plates while I was inside getting him some additonal paperwork.            I was in panic because the plates  still registered the car to us, meant we were liable. So another trip to the dreaded DMV and I was in a snit. The thought of another whole day there was so upsetting. But, this time, I got to the first window in 2 minutes, Dennis gave me an experss ticket, and Linda cancelled my plates in under 5 minutes, and I was out. I did promise Dennis to pray for his ailing dog, and to bless both him and Linda. Amazing. Miraculous. I drove away in a cloud of surreal joy. Why had I not realized I was not in charge of the plan for the day. I then  proceeded to look for a printer for a client brochure, since my regular printer was too busy, and frankly rude. Finding a new printer was also something I wasn’t looking forward to. As it it turned out, the new printer was way better, closer, and will treat me like an agency, not a single job customer. This was an amazing serendipty. As my daughter said, good to find the right printer before my volume of work increased. Wow. My time at DMV took me to a new high, and my discovery of this amazing local printer, kept me in my joyful state of mind and spirit.

So my path was disrupted, but  I am learning to trust the God of the universe to guide me in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake.                                                               I believe I have been put here to bless. That day, blessings abounded and I am grateful to have learned again how Great is God.

And it’s no April fool

Well, as I predicted–well actually as the metereolgoists predicted, it snowed in April. We had a lovely Easter April 1, no fooling, but April 2nd has brought us, hopefully, our last winter weather. REALLY! I guess I should count my blessings. it’s going to be in the 40s today, so I know this couple of inches won’t be here long. It’s just that…OK…I know.

One of our longest almosts…

I know I have told you we almost had our 2nd bathroom.  Was that September?

Pretty ceramic tile

Well, now we are waiting for a 65 degree day to finish painting the wooden tray that will hold our beautiful brass pedastol sink.

But I think we may be regressing. They’re  predicting snow for April!

I have friends waiting for their upstairs suite to be ready. And, they aren’t planning on getting snow in April.

Oh, well.

It IS almost finished. We have beautiful exposed pipes with a brass shower, which I will try to show better when it is finished, and a monochromatic theme, again whiter and brighter than this shows, to allow me to change colors with the seasons. It just wish winter wouldn’t be my only choice.

Snowflakes

Is it just me, or has our culture begun to spiral downward in the character department? I don’t want to seem judgemental, but, really, are we saying that if someone “feels” offended, the speaker is responsible for the other’s feelings.

So, now, in the new millennium, have we decided that I am responsible for your feelings?  

Hmm. Well, I do not accept that responsibility.

I am sorry for “snowflakes” who are somehow so delicate, that any thing they do not agree with, is offensive. Unbelievable.  That means we cannot have diaglogue, discussion, or even debate. That means we are all about conformity.

I recently met a Millennial who told me he is an atheist because he does not want to be a conformist.

Again, wow. I am not much of a conformist, and have never found that to be at odds with my relationship with God.

Please people. Get a grip.

How will we raise strong, healthy people, if they cannot endure any disagreement, any controversy, any thought that is not fed to them by those who always agree with them or with whom they always agree?

This is a real question.  

We must not spiral downwards towards the state-mandated, cookie-cutter thinking George Orwell wrote about.

Or is it too late?

Obnoxious, but effective

I am often torn between being polite, kind and considerate, and keeping myself healthy and wise. Wealth has never been the goal–though the fantasy is appealing.  

  This winter, I am applying that dilemma to air travel, since the predictions are a terrible and deadly flu season, where I am in the over 65 high-risk population.

Therefore, since we fly Southwest and seats are not assigned, I find my ability to be obnoxious somewhat helpful when choosing a seat and a seat mate (even though once seated, I don’t necessarily get to choose my seat mate). What I decided to do was use my never-to-be-conquered sense of humor.  

So when a potential seat mate passenger lingered close to my aisle, and he or she appeared to be healthy, I would half-jokingly, but not really, say, “I would love for you to take this seat, but I do a health check. Are you coughing or sneezing?” If they replied no, I would wave them to sit down. Sometimes they even chuckled with me.

   When they were seated, I would tell them of my flu-fears, and they would understand. Old ladies get away with so much they couldn’t at a younger age. In any case, it seems to have worked.

My travels were flu-free, and my seat mates were congenial and, I guess healthy. Sometimes being obnoxious is effective, if not the height of courtesy and manners. One has to have one’s priorities.

Naked Wines

Hubby recently ordered some motorcycle parts online, and the package arrived with an offer for $100 off on some CA wines. We looked into it. Turns out there is this “club” call Naked Wines, that is composed of CA winemakers–I believe all fairly new at it–and customers, eventually called Angles, who support these winemakers through their online purchases. These wines are not available through stores, so the only way to try them out it to order online.

The original discount was for a case of wine that would normally retail for about $275, which we got for $79 including delivery. Wow.

We also recently began a nightly connection time, where we have a glass of wine and share our day in about 18 minutes–9 each–lol. This way hubby doesn’t think he is signing up for hours of conversation–and he gets wine. This is good. It tends to reduce that distance that happens if the day has been stressful.  

Anyway, back to wine, the initial purchase was so ridiculously inexpensive, and the wines so enjoyable, it became clear that we wouldn’t be purchasing more until we became Angels and got that pricing again. It took us awhile to figure out that even though there were 8350 people ahead of us in line to become Angels, we were on a list.

What evidently happens when you get to first in line for Angel, is they take $40 from your CC monthly, and you apply that to orders. If you want to quit, you get your money accumulated and not spent back. We are now Angels. We ordered about 15 bottles to be ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. But, evidently the State of CT caps our online ordering, so we could only get some of what we wanted. (When you have a glass of wine daily, 12 bottles lasts about a month, unless you have 2 glasses each).

   So, we are happily supporting these new vintners and are reviewing their wines for them, for which they seem truly grateful, and are very responsive. We will probably continue to be supportive, and to order a case about every other month. We still have some local stores we like, and we are really not big drinkers. We also like beer. 🙂