weather and stress

We had snow in early august, not inches of depth but enough to make you know it was snow, then the reoccurring heat wave from hell, no air conditioning or insulation makes this house an oven, the cold is easier to deal with, we have a forced gas heater as well as a gas burning pellet stove and gas oven.....anyway it got hot and humid about last week and I had a HUGE amount of fresh farm stand produce that was not getting eaten fast enough and led to the lovely addition of fruit fly annoying insect things into our mix of enough spiders and mites to start a mite farm........sooooo my cooking was diminished by heat and disgust, we ate lots of fruits and vegis raw and in salads and sandwiches, but gourmet faire it was NOT and everytime I cut into something I would curse at the flying bombers attempting to beat me to my prize......no fun I think the flies are on the wane and the rain finally came sunday morning, whether caused by chem trails or mother nature I am just glad to have the humidity decreased......in this same week we have had many extending family medical stress, pending results causing more stress than good, by tuesday we should know the path of treatments for the multiple family members in the care of specialists, so knowing will lesten the stress but I suspect some of this underlying waiting stress has helped the three year old discover new boundaries to push.........and saturday was a true brat fest and refuse to use the potty day, after 3 good potty days......just makes me scream louder NO, stop, please do not do that.........and more than one night of the 3 year old rolling and tossing so much in his sleep that he fell out of bed more than 3 times in 2 days.......literally moving and crying most nights, growing pains, nightmares.....all just more than normal! I have had my escapist moments into books and I watched some movie on Lifetime just to escape, somehow I neglect to acknowledge how truly lucky I am, to be able to be present in my son's growth, the mistress of laundry that never ends, the dishes that call my name only, this week ends with me on the high of a julia child story, some peaches to replenish my peach cucumber fest, blue skies revealing a lovely sunset and hopes of restful sleep for all!

my local source

I love our local south lake tahoe farmer's market, as I have mentioned in previous posts...and older posts....out of town farm stands..as a matter of fact I started my blog with a farmer's market love.....it makes me happy......my favorite farmer had beets this week, the sweetest most perfect small beets with perfectly sweet tops.......biodynamic farming....I am thrilled with the grapes being available again, pesticide free and a toddler favorite from the booth that sells organic raisins, nuts, peaches and tomatoes....I have been buying his tomatoes since the first week of this year's market, he has had greenhouse grown tomatoes since MAY....yummy and perfect both raw or cooked in tomato goodness! I was happy to get some onions, eggplant and peppers from the market and made ratatouille this week twice! I also bought a crusty loaf of bread and drooled at the pot pies and pastries! Great photo pool of tots @ the farmer's market, and a giveaway here http://foodietots.com/2009/07/31/foodie-tots-love-farmers-markets/

passion

I think part of the reason I loved the book Farm City was that Novella Carpenter's passion is evident .......in every word you read you can hear her breathing with passion the air of the east bay and today when the happy coincidence of hearing that she was being interviewed on KQED made me find the link and listen to the streaming audio on the laptop while I processed 3 bunches of beets and watched the toddler while doing 2 loads of laundry...it was a GREAT interview, her diction and cadence perfectly beautiful in words and passion, the passion I have for eating yummy food and photographing it all needs to hear that my small world which collided with Flickr and the inspiration that is TheseDaysinFrenchLife led me to read the book written by the sister of Garlic Breath and that is a good thing!

Here is hoping I get some passion injection from seeing Julie&Julia tomorrow.....if that book was made into a movie, I totally think Farm City would make a great movie since her characters are so well drawn and from real life as well!

shadow and light

I felt fine yesterday, bright, energy laden, and then today a dead battery....just no energy, somehow when hubby got sick I seem to have gotten it back......I love this photo with the playing munchkin and the shadows and bright sun...taken in emeryville at the city hall....yesterday this 3 year old and I dug up part of the front yard.....where nothing ever grows, not even weeds or clover......i dug some of the most concrete like earth i have ever seen.......we pulled up tree roots and then mixed a whole 20 pound bag of soil ammendment into the remaining broken up dirt.....we watered it heavily, stomped in the mud, made sure the dirt was draining and holding water rather than acting like concrete and just sheeting it off.....then we planted marigolds and sunflower seeds.......no photos, just 2 messy and sweaty gardeners that came back in the house for showers........now, today, I marvel that i did it, since my energy has vanished I just fear i have the cold again.........here is hoping the light returns and i am back to myself soon!

I am crabby and craving crab

I came home from the bay area, with the slightest bit of sore throat, I thought from reading aloud to the family the whole book, FARM CITY.....but in reality it was the beginning of some cold.

UGH I hate being sick, and am a horrid patient......hint number two that I was sick should have been my taking a nap with the munchkin, usually I use that time to get work done.......I went to work on Wednesday with sniffles and came home early with the desire to lay and sleep, anywhere, bed was not neccessary....just the sleep.......now I am just hungry, crabby and from overhearing the show deadliest catch in my on and off sleep last night, I want CRAB, fresh and now, I still have a headache, never had a fever but did get HOT then cold, for no apparent reason, kind of just been out of it.....I worried that the munchkin was sick....especially when he threw up all over me and the walls and bathroom at work......but he seems full of energy and shows no signs of illness.......granted every time he coughs I go running with a towel......I am getting dizzy again, I better go lay back down to dream of crabs and crab pizza and crab cakes and crab salad......

one saturday in july

What a glorious saturday we had, canoeing at kiva beach on the shores of lake tahoe with our free within 4 miles from home commute, just easy parking, early enough to literally park right next to the trail to the shore......yes we got a bit sunburned and tired but it makes the living in a tourist resort seem understandable, there is a reason tons of people flock here for their vacations, there is a reason most summers we are at fallen leaf lake mid week after work, to avoid the crowds and still appreciate all the natural beauty we live in the midst of

then driving home after the birthday bar b que for hubby's birthday we were blessed with the most incredible sunset, raspberry and blue and just magical.....the magic and beauty are there all the time you just have to look for it!

gratitude

I awoke friday morning by noises, sure it was a bear, never saw it but knew it was here......I am overwhelmed with a sense of happiness, lucky to live in an area so rife with natural wonder and beauty as well as man made history and innovations. I am so blessed by our family situation to see my son experience new milestones up close and personal....to be home most of the time with him and living our little simple life, laundry, dishes, home cooked food, mending and stretching what we have, trying not to be influenced by the trends of the day......it is the little things I notice most, the askew bird feeder, that has been empty for weeks, but put back on the stand since we had company, to make it look nice. This friday morning the bear had looked at that bird feeder for sustenance, but I KNEW it looked askew............later in the day a neighbor confirmed it, they had seen the bear in our yard...took photos even, but in the dark of the early morning no visible evidence........I am grateful that we spent the day together today, just the 3 of us, running errands to the hardware store, playing in the yard......watching a glorious sunset together and hearing our 3 year old tell us about things he has gleaned from his overhearing us talk or answering his questions, one small example was this morning when I was hanging the sheets on the line to dry, he was playing underfoot and picked up 4 sticks then told me he was building a see-saw car so it could be taken apart when he moved it and when i glanced at the piles of sticks.....he had two in each direction rolling along like axles supporting the top 2.....something in me just pounds harder when he exhibits this "natural" learning...not from our direct instruction but maybe just from our providing the environment for him to experiment.......