My Hero

 



My mother was a stay at home mom, and a great one at that. She got up with my father when it was dark out and made him dinner and packed his lunch, every single day that I can remember. Then she cooked for my older sister and got her off to high school, with me in middle school and with my younger sister in elementary school. And while we were gone she cleaned the house, shopped and did all that other underappreciated stuff like having dinner on the table at almost the same time every night. Amongst a million other tasks.  And my mother didn’t just help us; she helped girls in trouble every day. Girls whose own mothers and fathers had turned their backs on them due to an unplanned pregnancy.  She drove miles and miles, at all hours and in all weather, to help girls who had no one to turn to before calling an anonymous telephone number in the phone book. As her daughters, none of us could understand what that was like, to have to turn to a stranger before your own family.  And those girls could have gotten anyone coming to pick them up, but they were lucky enough to get my mother. Who would listen to them and not judge them no matter what they said, and they said a lot. Something about my mom made these girls want to talk, to tell her details they had never told anyone. She understood them and supported them, because she believed in the decision they had made to keep their baby, even though that was sometimes the hardest and least popular choice.

Over months, she would help them find housing, diapers, food, a job. Or sometimes it was just providing an ear to listen with. And slowly, these girls would get on their feet, and leave the nest. They would fall out of contact, moving on with their life with their child and my mom would continue to answer the phone that rang at 2am and run to help a nameless, unknown girl. But then my mom would get a school picture in the mail of a smiling little girl, or a delivery announcement for a baby boy, and she would share it with us with a smile of pride, like they were her kids. And in a way, I knew that they were. Because they, much like me, wouldn’t be here without her.

  I love you, mom. Happy Mother’s Day.

Bathroom Barfer

Occasionally, you come across something that you have to share, as a service to those around you. Sometimes, it’s useful information like recipes, coupons, DIY tips. And sometimes, it’s something so stupid, ridiculous and hilarious at the same time that it actually makes you question yourself because you sat for the last 20 minutes reading it. Not that I do that. But I “have a friend” who does. So, in honor of taking a few minutes out during the day to just make yourself laugh, let’s talk about Craigslist “Missed Connections”.

It’s no secret that I had been out of the dating game for well over a decade, and even when I was dating, I didn’t like it. So, when I did start dating again after my split, I realized that I still hated it. I had a single friend who was glorious at dating. Now, she is naturally sports-oriented. Me? Not so much. So she approached it like a sport, she was organized, she kept her eye on the ball and I swear she had a play book and roster hidden somewhere. I had none of that; I am a naturally crappy sports player and dater. And now I know why. Craigslist “Missed Connections” solved it all. I was going about it ALL wrong!

Some people (my friend) are naturals. The rest of the world is still fumbling around, split between hot messes (again, see “Missed Connections”) and me, who in my dating awkwardness still happened to land a guy who holds the door for me, laughs when I spit something out that was probably left better unsaid and is the last guy I can imagine writing a missed connection labeled “Bathroom Barfer”. I’d like him to stick around for a while, so that I can avoid being any of these following titles taken directly from MC, under the section of guys looking to reconnect with girls they’ve admired in these various situations:

Apr 28 - i'm a big fat guy and you're a big fat girl - m4w - 24

Apr 28 - two drunk girls on Lancaster walk - m4w - 22

Apr 26 - That Fine Lady In Pants At Target - m4w - 33 * just a note here, I thought EVERYONE wore pants to Target?! Guess not.

Mar 22 - sorry i was needy on friday - m4w

And, of course, the Bathroom Barfer, who garnered this lovely sentiment of adoration from a stranger: “hey i was going to puke my guts out and you were already puking i think thats great and i want to get to know you with the chance you will look at this; i think i found my soul mate learched over a potty heaving rotton love into a toilet bowl !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Clearly, my aversion to throwing up in public toilets (or at all), my intolerance of improper grammar and my insistence on correct capitalization of the letter “I” has been holding me back all along. Thank you, Craigslist MC, for clearing this all up. I owe you one.

Local Events This Weekend...

If you're a Bucks dweller, with a penchant for local food and/or wine (Ooh me! Me!) then check out these local events this weekend. And checkout my sweet little tulip from my garden. Had to slip that in, because it makes me smile every time I go outside and see it greeting me. 

It's important to me to highlight the local farmers markets here. We've gotten so used to running to the big box stores for everything that we have lost sight of how this little convenience to us has really affected our local farmers and artists. Not to mention, our loss of a connection as a neighborhood and community. And in turn, we also end up buying "easy", highly processed foods and meats, and veggies and fruit coated in pesticides and chemicals.  So please think about heading to a farmers market by you this weekend, talk to the growers and your neighbors there. Make a connection, you never know who you might meet and what they might bring to your life. And check out one of my favorite chicks and her blog on Earthfoods, which can give you some tips on what to make with that food you buy there:  http://earthfoodexperiment.wordpress.com/

Friday is First Friday in Doylestown, http://firstfridaydoylestown.com/. Good night out for the family. Or, you could stop by Shady Brook for the Wine Concert Series, which will have the Mango Men this week, http://www.shadybrookfarm.com/summer_wine.php.  Both events run from 6-9.

On Saturday, try to make it to the Doylestown Farmers Market between 7-12, where you can find seasonal, chemical free, and low input vegetables, herbs, flowers, fruits; bedding, vegetable, herb plants, container gardens, and orchids; jams, pie filling and preserved products; pastured chicken and eggs, duck and duck eggs, turkey, goat, and lamb; artisan bread, baked goods (cookies, cakes, biscotti, pies, stromboli, Greek pastries); handmade soaps, lotions, and skin care products; goat cheeses, yogurt, milk and meat; mushrooms, honey, maple syrup, granola, and prepared foods. Locally handcrafted woodenware, beeswax candles, alpaca yarn and other products, glass jewelery. Whew! That's a lot, all in one place. Support your local farms and artists!  This is located at W. State & Hamilton St., Doylestown, PA 18901. I'll be there, maybe I'll see you!!

The Wrightstown Farmers Market is also going on from 9-1pm, at Wrightstown Twp. Municipal Bldg (parking lot), 2203 2nd Street Pike, Wrightstown, PA. Smaller but excellent for staying local for eggs, soap and in season produce.

And of course, don't forget your Mother on Mothers Day! There are a ton of local wine tastings and events going on. Or a Pork and Sauerkraut Dinner at the Riegelsville Fire Company, if your mom digs that kind of thing. Sorry, mom. You're on your own for this one.

This here's an RV....

 

It's tough to get that across without having that Uncle Eddie accent and shiny white leather shoes.  If you don't know who Uncle Eddie is, run, don't walk, to your computer and immediately log onto NetFlix and order National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. You have been seriously sheltered and left out.  

For the rest of you in "the know", I am conjuring up pictures of Uncle Eddie emptying the "shitter" into the street drains and kidnapping Clark's boss. I will not be doing any of those things, but I am indeed becoming the proud owner of this RV:

  

As you may have guessed by my blog title, I'm a bit of a traveler. My life plan until my early 20's was to buy an old pickup, drive until I came across a little town I liked and become a waitress and settle there until I got bored (which would have been about 1.5 weeks) . However, I hit some hurdles. Like the fact that I once dropped an entire tray of extra-large Wendy's sodas after insisting to my entire family that I could do it. After which I'm certain my older sister screeched something like "See! I told you you'd drop them!" Thus, killing my confidence to be a waitress forever. And don't forget my lack of funds, given my tendency to jump jobs and go surf or camp instead. Oh, and then there was that small little happening of getting pregnant with my daughter. And since I couldn't strap her to my uncoordinated, unemployed back while I drove across the country and found a job other than waitressing, I took the responsible route of forcing my children into a weekend gypsy lifestyle. Which is to take long road trips where they MUST look out the window, enjoy nature and in my infamous words, "suck it up". This "suck it up" quote can be applied to being bored, thirsty, hungry or any other complaint. Feel free to use it.

So back to my RV. I'm traveling again this summer, back to beautiful Nebraska with the best friends to see their wonderful family, and then on to Colorado and Wyoming. And at some point, I did the responsible thing and started to budget.  I realized that a group of five (boyfriend, me, my +two and his +one) was kinda pricey. Which is pretty much what my parents have been telling me.... forever.  My small realization that a trailer would be cheaper and a better investment led me to where so many of my musings do... to Craigslist. And here I am, en route tomorrow to pick it up.

So wish me luck tomorrow and look for updates on rv life, the shitter and my future purchase of white patent leather loafers.  Okay, well maybe not the shitter.

Unique and Recycled Ideas for Container Gardens

Not everyone has space or time to maintain a large garden, or maybe you're just dipping your green thumb into the pool to see how you do. Either way, container gardening is a simple and easy way to get started, and if you're like me you prefer to find an affordable and earth conscious way to do so.  So here are some ideas using materials you probably have in your house right now.

Do your own version of "dumpster diving" into your recycling bin, and pick out the large containers, like the soda bottles or even large cat little containers. Cut the tops off of the bottles, and poke or drill holes in the bottom.  For an added bonus, you can have the kids paint the outside for a charming extra touch. For the cat litter containers,  you can spray paint the outside only, and drill holes in the bottom for drainage. Even better if they're the kind with handles, so that you can relocate them to follow the sun. Don't forget about your yogurt containers (the ones with the plastic lids are great for seedlings as little greenhouses!) and plastic take out or fruit crates.



My personal favorite is using colanders and even metal wire wastepaper baskets.

 

Just line the baskets with peat moss, and fill it with potting soil then plant your seedlings. Plant some herbs in those colanders and there you have it, a perfect herb kitchen garden!

Tired of those #$@*!-ing dandilions? Revenge Salad.

As a die-hard nature chick, I have a problem vilifying any part of nature. This includes dandelions and creeping Charlie, but the latter has become the recent target of blind fury. It's creeped into my veggie garden, which dogs, cat and children in my household know NOT to do unless you're invited. That being said, if you are not the nature lover or are just out of patience, you can exact some revenge on the little suckers with this recipe.  Oh, but if you have a dog, maybe you should pick them from your dogless neighbors yard.

You'll need:

1/2 pound of torn dandelions (that's a lot out of your yard! Hooray!)

2 chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp of dried basil

1/2 red onion

Throw all ingredients into a bowl. I'd toss in a few strawberries to even out the flavor, maybe some goat cheese. Because everything is better with goat cheese. And a strawberry vinaigrette. 

Bucks County Foodshed Alliance Meeting... You should go!

"Bringing Food Production Back Home,” will be led by organic gardening pro Paul Thompson, president of the BucksMont Organic Garden Club. Thompson is a  veteran of 35 years of organic vegetable production, and he'll share ideas about creating a backyard food supply and answer questions for experienced as well as novice gardeners. For example:

• Which vegetables are the easiest to grow?


• Which crops will save my household the most money?


• What can I grow that’s tasty, easy, nutritious — and new and different?


• What are the most efficient and productive organic gardening techniques?


• How can I expand my growing space and increase my yields?

This is a good starting point for beginners!

http://www.buckscountyfoodshedalliance.org/index.php