some thoughts...

this week was trying. i babysat. it was rainy, humid and gloomy (with spurts of sun). we lounged around and the kids wanted to watch a horrible little show called fairly oddparents repeatedly. (though i had to laugh when jay leno's superhero character said, "i put the man in mandible!"=).

at least this week the ruby gloom theme song didn't torture my brain.

i'd rather they not watch tv at all so we craft, paint, and play games, but with 1-6 year olds, that doesn't last more than 20 minutes. (yes, the one-year old paints. beautifully.) so what do you do with the other 500 minutes? lots and lots of thumb wrestling, tickle tirades and staring contests.=)

i had to practically carry them outdoors to play in the sprinkler (mrs. wiggles), where we stumbled upon another animal their cat oscar got a hold of.=( i kind of feel responsible because oscar started getting out on my watch. but what do you do when an animal is begging to be let outside?

we're dealing with it with kati. we let her out once to see if she'd stay with us, but she strayed. we've tried a harness from a local pet store and it fit terribly. she did ok with it and even walked with me around the block the first time it was on, but you could tell she felt uncomfortable.

so now we're waiting for a jacket type of harness to arrive in the mail. we think she'll do better with that, and we're hoping if we walk her and play with her enough, the urge to go outside and kill animals won't be so strong.

this week was supposed to be the week i eat healthier. yeah right. though i did sprout some alfalfa and make raw nut tuna and nori snacks. gotta focus on the positive.=)

so i think i'm starting to feel a smidge of how stay-at-home mom's feel. i can't explain it, but it's just a draining feeling. children, though adorable, sweet bundles of joy, can really suck the life out of you! they can't help it, but sometimes it's just too much for one adult to handle all day alone. especially when you're watching five at a time.

i think villages where mothers all sit around and breast-feed and help out with each other's chidren really have the right idea. those children may not have nice sneakers and nintendo games, but i bet they feel rich with love from their mommies.

what the heck are we rushing for in our society anyway? the finish line? which is what - retirement? death? i do not do well on a go-go-go schedule. i need time to breathe it all in. i'm not talking holidays or vacations. i just want regular days at home where i do laundry, play in the garden, and contemplate the meaning of it all. is that too much to ask?=)

for those who say "you have to work", oh, know that i sure do work. i despise cleaning, so that's hard work, and gardening is no joke. i work on my health, my relationships, and keeping my cat happy and healthy, and most tryingly, i work on my bitchy miserable self (the side of kelli i try my best to shelter you from, poor john knows her best these days) and that takes more energy than anything! whose to say paid work is more important? how did we ever fall victim to that mentality?

this weekend i will rest. and clean. and play with kati. sunday is the american vegan society's garden party. i'll be volunteering in the bookroom. come and visit if you're in the area!

i want to sincerely thank you for reading my ramblings. it's nice to connect with people from all over the globe. makes my world feel sweet and cozy.=)

have a wonderful weekend! the sun's starting to come out. i hope it shines on you as well!=)

my saturday

in june i did a post of what a weekday may look like for me (which can be found here). i thought it would be fun to document a weekend day, so let's begin.

 good morning, morning glory

(these volunteers came up from plants in the 2009 garden!)

madj woke me up at 5:30 for her first breakfast. i fell back asleep and she let me go 'til 9:30, when she wanted her second breakfast.

after feeding the madj, i made coffee and admired the 26 pounds of peaches i picked yesterday (some soft ones are in the fridge). most will be used for peach jam and my favorite, peach and pepper jam.

then i sipped my small cup of coffee diluted with water (for the IC) while perusing some blogs and peach jam recipes. i could spend hours reading blogs and recipes, but i had some things to do in the garden.

first i weeded a bit and harvested some herbs.

 oregano

 spearmint

 coriander seeds

 sage

a lunch break was needed, and a smoothie was made with ripe bananas that i keep stocked in the freezer.

this sweet smoothie consisted of banana, peach, cucumber, collard greens, beets, parsley, mint and vanilla bean. 

after lunch, the herbs were rinsed and spread out on a dish towel to dry.

then the greens were placed upside down in brown bags to dry out a few weeks, and the coriander seeds were placed in mason jars.

while looking for a place to put the jars, i finally got fed up with the mess called my spice cabinet.

 before

 after

(we'll see how long this lasts!)

when i was done cleaning out the cabinet, i took a mid-afternoon rest out on the porch in a cozy papason with farmer boy and carrot cake super cookies.

farmer boy is the third book of the charming little house series by laura ingalls wilder. our local library has the whole set. farmer boy is based on the young life of laura's husband, almanzo. these books were written for children but are enjoyable for adults interested in pioneer times.

the carrot cake super cookies are super tasty and nutritious. if you can't read the ingredients on the package, they include unsulphured coconut, sprouted sesame seeds, carrots, dates, and nutmeg - all organic. i'm going to try to make these when we harvest our carrots.

speaking of, check out this atomic red carrot i picked yesterday. it's the largest one we've grown in our raised beds!

after my rest, john and i did some chores, like dishes, vacuuming, changing the cat litter, and other crap. to keep my IC symptoms in check, i made some plantain tea. reading jane's blog post about plantain and finding it growing like crazy in my own yard was truly a blessing!

dinner was take-out of non animal-friendly food, so we won't talk about it here! as i mentioned before, i do my best, but sometimes convenience and old habits get the best of me. in my defense, i did suggest leftovers for dinner, but john said it's a holiday weekend and everyone else is having good stuff and wha wha wha. of course i could have had something different, but what can i say, i'm weak!

while we were waiting for dinner to be delivered, sammy came to say hi. sammy is an outdoor cat that eats and sleeps at a neighbor's house.

he's very friendly, but biggles wants nothing to do with him. she hisses when he comes to the door. i think she hears us when we talk about adopting another cat, and she's showing us how she feels about that!

after dinner, i did some more fall planting at the community garden. beets, kale, spinach and lettuce seeds were sown. broccoli and kale transplants that were started on our windowsill went into the ground. seeds that were planted in the previous weeks are coming up and growing nicely.

brandy the garden's mascot was there. isn't she sweet?!

so now i'm here typing, sipping a glass of live-a-little organic white wine. i really shouldn't be drinking wine on account of the IC, but it's a holiday weekend and everyone else is having good stuff and wha wha wha!=)

my day...

began at 5:40 am when i was woken by a furry paw tapping my face for breakfast. she fell right back to sleep, but by the time i fell back asleep it was time to wake up.

after doing the usual morning stuff, i picked sugar snap peas and basil to go with my lunch. i'm amazed the peas are still producing with the heat we've been having.

something's eating my basil again this year...

breakfast was an apple and plantain tea. the tea helps ease the pain from a bladder condition i have called interstitial cystitis. coffee is one of the main agitators because of its acidity, so i haven't had any since the start of my flare-up about a month ago. grrr.

it was a hot one today... the temperature read 86° at 8 am! coming home it read 104° yowza!

there's my exit... (don't worry, i was very careful taking photos in my car - just pointed and clicked.)

(i like how these folks re-purposed automobile chairs.=)

oscar greeted me when i got to the porch. he's so sweet.

the kids and i played outside, took a walk around the neighborhood, painted, blew bubbles...

then made peanut butter and fruit sandwiches for lunch.

i had leftover raw pizza and salad. the pizza was so yummy, the kids kept asking me for more bites!

after babysitting, i made a pit-stop to pick up biggles' favorite coconut oil.

they were all out but i grabbed some other things on sale. i also had a 20 percent off coupon.=)

when i got home i found my csa newsletter in the mail. the season starts monday - woohoo!

using the roasted pepper hummus i had just picked up, i made john and myself a snack.

then i laid down in bed to unwind and fell asleep.

when i awoke from my nap it was time to water the thirsty plants.

our zucchini has taken off and is starting to produce fruit.

the echinacea will soon be blossoming, finally. i started the seeds in april of 2010!

john watered the home garden with the hose since our rain barrel has been empty for over a week now. we're supposed to get rain this weekend *fingers crossed*.

i rode my bike to water our plots at the community garden.

most plants are doing well, except the nasturtiums. this is my third year trying to grow nasturtium with no luck. hmph.

on the bright side, this is my first year with pole beans and they are starting to vine.

when all the watering was done i picked veggies to go with our dinner - sugar snap peas, kale and sweet peas.

din-din was a scrumptious stir-fry over quinoa. i don't like to use my stove often so i made enough quinoa for veggie sushi to have another night.

my day tomorrow will look pretty similar, except i'll be going swimming after babysitting. it's supposed to be even hotter. ugh. two heatwaves and it's not even summer yet!