GrandMuMMing Monday

Slow Recipes                                                                         By Joellen Heckler

Dragging your little chair across the floor

to be my “help,” you stand

tiptoed upon it much too close

for me to stir ingredients,

open drawers, or think.

The apron tied beneath your chin

reaches to your knees.

You wait

with silken hair and skin

like milkweed drifting from the pod,

wait

for me to measure so that

you can proudly pour.

We blend important things

in flowered bowls

using the long hand of a yellow clock

this year

when you are four.

The poem was published in the Ladies Home Journal, November 1978.  I carefully cut and lovingly taped it to the inside of my red and white Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  Through all of these years it has caught my gaze when I opened this treasured friend.

Zesty Friday

Zesty, exciting, full of life, complete joy, savored blessings.  Thinking of zesty in those terms connects with life at the moment.  There is a special lesson about love, God's love, unconditional yet incomprehensible, infinite yet so very personal.  People are such complex creatures.  Relationships, an exponential expression of that.  "Judge not, lest you be judged..."  That admonition from Jesus teaches so much about love.  Yet, it is just as complex as it is simple.  Zesty, I will consider that as we taste rattlesnake tonight with treasured family numbering about 30 here at Kamp K.  Rattlesnake, zesty, yes!

Old Favorites Thursday

The Relatives Came, a delightful children's book is a treasured "old favorite."  Chosen for today because we are in the midst of Kamp K 2012.  Each year our grand nieces and nephews and other treasured ones come up to our foothill home from the valley to make memories together.  My favorite line from the book, "It was different, going to sleep with all that new breathing in the house."  Family is one of life's cherished gifts!

Healthy Habits Wednesday

Sleep, good sleep was something I easily enjoyed until menopause.  Well those hormoneeeeeez reorganized themselves and now I sometimes find myself awake in the middle of the night.  Ten deep cleansing breaths was a tip from my mom.  Sometimes that works.  Prayer was a tip from Kathy at the office copy machine.  Sometimes that works.  Avoiding alcohol and caffeine has been heard from countless resources and given a "hear! hear!" from my Mormon friends.  Counting sheep is the old classic.  To just lay and rest, even if I'm awake seems the best for my body.  If I've laid awake for more than an hour, I may make a cup of herb tea and read.  For more tips, read an article on the subject any month in some popular magazine.  This seems to be a common topic.  Sleep, good sleep, is a cornerstone to health and healing.

Fresh Food Tuesday

One of my favorite fresh food problems is bounty.  "Putting food by" is an old phrase used to describe preserving fresh food bounty.  The ping of a sealing mason jar is a titillating sound.  The sun's rays on drying meats or fruits, the cold cavern of the family deep freeze all warm my homemaking heart.  The satisfaction of feeding family and loved ones, especially teen aged sons, is at the top of my list of favorite things.

GrandMuMMing Monday

I watched with delight as my little Alexa squealed and leaned toward the rope swing GrandPoP hung from the tree.  She remembered her first ride last week.  Serious and enthusiastic unintelligible chatter followed as I strapped her in.  Giggles and laughter from both of us came next.  Everyone needs a rope swing.

Zesty Friday

Zesty.  Well, I'm thinking beer tonight.  A nice hoppy IPA.  A Sierra Nevada Torpedo, empty, is just to the left of me.  Pliny the Elder can be found by quest in our county, a pilgrimage to Russian River Brewery is necessary to savor Pliny the Younger.  Hops, that vigorous vine.  Our friend Mark is nurturing hops planted on his property during the Gold Rush.  He makes a nice brew as well, in fact 60 big bottles are waiting to be served at the wedding reception for his son tomorrow.  Zesty, yep...makes me think of beer...a pleasing adventure in the grain group family.  My German gramma told the story of how her dad had an open vat of his home brew in the basement of their Minnesota farm.  Her brothers would sneak down for a taste.  I enjoyed labeling and storing my love's home brew in our cave storage.  He even won some ribbons at our local county fair.  Time to crack open the fridge for an Acme IPA from North Coast Brewery in Fort Bragg.  Zesty Suds, a favorite adventure beverage.

Old Favorites Thursday

One of my favorite Dr. Seuss books was published after his death, My Many Colored Days.  It is a celebration of feelings, an affirmation that feelings just are, they are not good or bad.  Feelings are just a part of being.  What we do with our feelings truly shapes our daily life and its unique course.  So, what is your feeling color today???

Healthful Habits Wednesday

Just Dance. 

Fresh Food Tuesday

Knowing my food is especially satisfying.

Our little flocks of hens have come and gone through the years providing eggs, but mostly food for local fox, raccoons, skunks, and bobcats.

Wild turkeys wander.

Brad, a local peacock, escapes his pen and joins the flock of turkeys.

I found two of his feathers this morning as I was moving water hoses.

Brad was named by our treasured neighbor, Lee.  Brad Pitt.  Her hens were all named after movie stars.  She taught me the joy of gathering eggs.

Blackberry picking time for today.....