a new blog in town

there's a new blog in town, and it's a good one!

Kathleen has many years experience in mobile living and has a wealth of information to share.....check out her blog at:

http://roadworthywanderers.blogspot.com/

this is gonna be resource intense, i have to head back there now cause i got a glimpse of something about a paddling potty....it floats!!!

good job, Kathleen!

a constant stream of good things coming out of Portland....

the town is rockin' out in portland. all the time. this is some of the latest goodness to be coming from there. please read this, and pass it on. before it's too late.....

http://blog.whereareyourkeys.org/2011/04/18/you-are-about-to-become-obsolete-forever/

eat your violets

spring is finally here. i have been walking the fields and wooded areas on the farm waiting for the first offerings to make their presence known. fiddlehead ferns should be up shortly here, and this will be my first year to try to preserve them....i am going to try pickling them. i'll let you know how it comes out.

i have been inspired by some of my favorite blogs this winter. i'll be watching for thistle for a new experience.....Feral Kevin says the stems are similar to cucumber when raw; like green beans or asparagus cooked:

http://feralkevin.com/


Rebecca Lerner talks about violets in her blog this morning, "First Ways" :

http://firstways.com/2011/04/17/five-things-to-do-with-wild-violets/

i follow Rebecca's blog via email, and on Facebook. in a sleepless moment last night, i read her latest entry on my cell phone, and thought of violet jelly.

Violet syrup:

fill a qt. canning jar with the blossoms, packing tightly for richer syrup. pour boiling water over them, just covering blossoms. cap tightly, and let sit 24 hours. strain.

to each cup of liquid, add juice of 1/2 lemon and 2 cups of sugar. bring to boil, pour into pint jars and seal.

**use as a gentle laxative and cough suppressant

Violetade: add 3 tbsp. of syrup to cold water.

sprinkle on anything from pancakes to fresh snow. (fresh snow becoming somewhat of an oxymoron, sadly enough)


this definitely needs re-doing without sugar. suggestions welcome!

Violet jelly:

follow procedure for syrup. to each cup of liquid, add the juice of one lemon and 1 pkg. of Surejell. bring to boil, add 4 cups of sugar. hard boil for 1 minute, and pour into jelly jars.

yikes, the sugar! i haven't made this stuff in awhile, looks like some experimenting is needed.

Violets are rich in vitamins C and A. 1/2 cup of greens supplies as much vitamin C as 4 oranges, and more than RDA of vitamin C.

i do not know where this info comes from, and cannot vouch for it's accuracy.  i've been making this off and on for a couple decades, and can vouch for the beautiful color in the jelly jars, and the delicate flavor.

the orchard / 10,000 ways

upon request, this is a reprint from a post i wrote at Vandwellers to a newcomer, trying to find his way.....


Hey, R, welcome to the tribe! I am very impressed that you already have a
plan and a goal and the ability to save to meet that goal. Good for you! You are a good example to many of us here.

I say go for it. Listen to your heart. Keep your mind open to ALL the
possibilities out there. Cause as you are reading here, they are unlimited.

Life is like an orchard full of every kind of tree in existence. Some of the
fruit on those trees is sweet and nourishing. Some will give you the sh!ts like
you wouldn't believe, even though some folks can eat 'em all day long and
exclaim "these are the best fruits in the world!"

10,000 fruits! (10,000 ways to live) what do you eat?

I can't tell ya that. I can tell you DON'T CUT DOWN ANY OF THE TREES! Let them grow, whether they look appetizing or not. Someday you may find that you just love that fruit. And it'll be right there for the picking.

The good thing about this group is the wide range of experiences we can share
and draw upon. The bad thing about this group is we sometimes are so caught up in what works for us that we forget that there is no one right way to live our lives. Then we kinda get stuck on the details and try to figure out who's right. It's usually the ones not talking :-)

I graduated from nursing school when I was 30. Gave me some of the best
experiences of my life. I never heard the end of "you'd a been a great doctor".
Did I wrongly cap out at a nursing salary? Don't know, don't care. I made a
difference in the world. And I did it when I was ready to do it.

Prune and water the whole orchard, richard. And don't be afraid to try the
fruit......

Kate

P.S. And if a fruit does give you the sh!ts, don't do like I often did, and eat
it anyway (waaa, but I LIKE that fruit!).....move on to a different fruit!

timelines

it's not very often i read something that moves me to tears. not just the blurry eyed, flick-away-with-a-finger-move-on-to-the-next-blog-post kinda tears, but the heart-squeezing-purging-grief-i had-forgotten-was-there kinda tears.

i have alot of friends on the internet. in my wanderings around the country, i have had the joy of meeting so many of them, and deepening those relationships. it has been a hard road, finding community in my life, something to do with knowing from an early age that the world had another story, that there was another way to be....it has been through this "artificial" means of cyberspace that i have cobbled together my community, my tribe. however far-flung they may be, whether or not we have met in the flesh, they are as real and solid as any i have had in my life. and there is something particularly binding in the shared beliefs.... the knowing....that draws us together.

this month i celebrated 26 years clean and sober. i've spent some really peaceful time reflecting on those years these past few weeks, and the nightmare years that preceded them. this is as opposed to all the times i have agonized with guilt and shame, wishing for a different story. to really embrace the path that brought me to this place, this now....that is the miracle of my life today.

i made a new friend recently on facebook. i have already learned much from him, in his postings and links, but did not know much about him: his story. he gifted us all in a big way with a blog post on his birthday, and he has given me permission to share this with you here on my blog.

his story is real and raw and in so many ways my story, our story.  *"i am he as you are he as you are me as we are all together"*  it was a sharp reminder to me of all the years, so often lost in the blur of time, that are simply moments strung together, like bread crumbs left in the wilderness in order to find our way home.

thank-you Danny, for this gift of your story, to not only  know a deeper you, but also a deeper me. i believe this connection is the only thing that can save us in the end.

here is what he shared:

http://fire-eater.tumblr.com/post/3925441727/my-name-is-danny-and-i-turn-34-today-i-still



*"I am the Walrus" spooky tooth*

brian's baja adventure

my friend Brian the Younger just wrote of his trip to mexico. a worthy read:

http://giffordsrvdream.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-time-in-baja-mexico.html

i only just got it tonight that he didn't take his rv.....that photo of the hammock under palm fronds? that's his! check it out!