Working It

I wrote a post for Monday, but something happened and the computer ate it. I was busy and didn't feel like rewriting it....so no Monday post. However I did have a great weekend....one of learning lessons....coming round to change. Saturday was a rainy rainy day til the evening....I saw everyone off on their camping trip...me I have no vacation time...so can't go...which is good and bad....then went back to bed til around 11. Got up, made some Master Cleanse lemonade...then went out. The plan was to get socks for everyone, get some soap, maybe some seeds and potting soil for starting the garden stuff.....go to Lowe's, Target, maybe Kohl's......as I approached the shopping area I thought I would just check out TJ Maxx.......yah. I never made it any further. Ended up doing something that I love to do....kind of like turning up good music loud....and that is indulge in things. Not useless things, but lots of 'things' none-the-less. Things like soaps....I love buying good bath soaps,and found some lovely soaps from Italy, some Caswell-Massey Freesia soaps, these nicely scented "Flamingo" soaps...big thing in their favor is that they weren't colored flamingo pink or anything like that....I dislike unnaturally colored soaps, and also a large bar of a lovely coconut soap. I also found some nice liquid hand soaps for the boys to use....they are much more likely to actually wash with soap on their hands when there is liquid soap than bar soap which if they touch it they think they've used it. Ok. So far so good....soaps are necessary things....not a bad little indulgence. Then I found 3 nesting baskets woven someplace in Indonesia...nice for helping to keep a handle on the clutter in our house, reasonably priced for my budget though probably not for the true cost of having them shipped here....or the labor involved in making them. I also found some really cool smallish oval plates made in Italy (I love good Italian things...) they're called 'Veggie Notes' and have nice veggies wrapped up in sheet music on them..clever and there were 4 different ones...carrots, red onions, tomatoes and asparagus...had to get them for my sister and her husband who is a professional cellist.....and I found Italian pasta in 5 different natural colors, red, orange, yellow, green and black...the black being done with squid ink...I bought 2 packages of different shapes....very cool....thinking of using them at a dinner party to make this wonderful recipe from Matthew Kenny's Mediterranean Cookbook....and I found organic ginger cookies with a dark chocolate coating around the bottoms...and a bag of Lindt dark chocolate truffles for a song, and these wonderful condiments...roasted red peppers, roasted yellow peppers, large green olives, small kalamata olives, a Vidalia onion relish, and Maury Island jam. Maury Island jam is the best....I bought 3 jars of marionberry, 2 jars of strawberry rhubarb and 2 of raspberry, and then a datebook from teNeues....flowers....need it to alert myself to key meetings at work, seeing as the calendar system we use is retarded....lovely water color paintings of beautiful flowers....only $3...and last but not least...socks. 6 packages of socks for 'the boys'.....they should be happy. And that was my shopping extravaganza. While I am very happy with what I got....I do have buyer's remorse. I spent very nearly our week's food budget (and it is a generous one) in one afternoon. I indulged. Kind of like fiddling while Rome is burning, kind of doing it while I still can....but while I like having the things I bought...(I wouldn't return any of it...) I feel guilty for having spent the money. Dakota needs new glasses, we just bought 2 tires for the van, I want to buy stuff for the garden...compost, potting soil to start seeds.....maybe rent a rototiller to till the soil..... but enough about that. Sunday was as sunny as Saturday was rainy...a glorious day to be outside. I spent much of Sunday working in our garden area....pulling up the old dead plants and putting them in a pile....digging up the weeds...the wet earth made it very easy to get out even the most deeply rooted weeds....I left in a few things that looked interesting....a couple of mullen plants, something I have no idea what it is....just a beautiful dark green rosette of leaves, the parsley, cilantro and chives...what looked to be a few lettuce plants and some tiny things growing possibly tomato plants..not sure what they are. What I did not leave were any sunflower sprouts, I apologized to them as I pulled them up but I unfortunately am very allergic to them. Will have to try some other flowers this year. Got a bit of sun doing that....but no lobster face.....and got to hang out with my sweet kitty who loves it when we are outside. Later in the day I went and spent sometime doing some more seedling transplanting for our garden coop....that was very nice. In the evening my oldest son came over for dinner and some movies. It was good to see him...and to feed him. He is living on a shoestring....a rather frayed shoestring....needs to find a better job....so I feed him whenever I can get him over. I cooked a whole chicken....and let him have it all...what he didn't eat at dinner I sent home with him. I have been mostly drinking the Master Cleanse lemonade....but eating some in the evenings. Yesterday was the first day I didn't eat. I did have 4 of the Lindt dark chocolate truffles...but that's all. Today...I hope to not even have those. I very much would like to get rid of this pillow around my middle....not to mention do some serious cleansing. Hope to do this through Sunday.....one day down....6 to go.
7 days is a decent fast. Also went to hear Bill McKibben speak last night...he has a book out called Deep Economy....about what is happening and going to be happening.....and learned about a citizen action sponsored by his group...Step It Up....ie step up what we are doing to reverse global warming...unless it's okay that sealevel rises 25 ft...polar bears have no place to live, large mountains have no snow, all glaciers melt out of existence etc.
Think of all coastal cities being under water. Please google...stepitup2007.org....and find an action in your area...APRIL 14th....fun things...but serious things...need to get our government moving on this. (Not to mention ourselves......)
ciao bellas
Alessandra
ps Bill McKibben has written many excellent books......check them out.....and support your local independent bookstore!!!