Waiting for Mama

There's just really no substitute

for the Mama bear

Baby bear will just wait

this mornings typo

Now, you may not think this is as funny as I think it is, but pay careful attention to how many children of what gender this lovely normal American mom has...

Jenny's diet blog

in other news, I've finally aqquired a bay tree...

I'm very excited, even though I probably won't be able to
harvest
from it for several months

also I've finally got some vegetables! Little mini
bell peppers
from some I bought from Costco and ate

the little garden
on Beretania street

now has a bean plant
and a
lemon basil
and an
oregano plant

* An update on the mango/menstrual correlation: ate 5 or 6 mangos throughout the month, the owie song is not so bad. No shaking, no fake heart attacks, no crazy unfocusedness.

validation

this is my new favorite movie.

It's been raining here. A lot.

I've been perusing Youtube. A lot.

I found some funny and humorous things.

Putting on your pants, one leg at a time? Not so!

These boys spend a lot of time jumping into life with both feet.

occasionally i'll look around casually on craigslist to see if a smashing opportunity is just waiting for me to snatch it up. yesterday, to my suprise, i found this:

YOU ARE NOT A NUMBER WITH US – Become a Caring EGG DONOR in 2008. We are looking for healthy young women who have a desire to help couples struggling with their fertility. To be an Egg Donor: • Have a BMI of 27 or less( weight to height proportionate) • Between the ages of 18-30, • Healthy, not currently on Depo-Provera • Non-smokers and no recreational drugs • College not necessary Compensation starts at $5,000 plus additional benefits and support. We are a professional agency and treat our Egg Donors with Care and Respect! There is a For questions and Answers section on our website in the Donor Section that can answer many of your questions. Please visit our Web site at www.extraconceptions.com and complete the online Prospective Donor Application . Please email questions to marni@extraconceptions.com

• Compensation: Compensation starts at $5,000 plus additional benefits and support
• Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
• Please, no phone calls about this job!
• Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

PostingID: 946233297


hmm... i actually thought. that is a pretty good chunk of money. and easy right? it's something i produce naturally. haha. having some logic in my head, i did a little research about the process. you take a bunch of hormones for a month, to get a bunch of eggs to mature, then you get sedated and a long needle is poked into you to withdraw the eggs. ouch. and it can really mess up your future fertility. and you could possibly die from it.and 5000$ just doesn't seem worth discomfort and risks like that. so i decided (duh, huh?) that passing on my genetic material, as superior as it is, to strangers is just not a good idea.

mango for menstual stress?

i went to bed last night with the vague notion that there'd be trouble this morning. i awoke singing the owie song. that's the one where you rock back and forth, kick you legs, moan, rub your feet together, rub you arches, your inner thighs, your lower back, heat up the heat pack, drop things, watch your hands shake, feel your heart try to explode in waves, owie owie owie...

jacob is very good. he has some great acupressure tricks:

zusanli (stomach 36)
xuehai (spleen 10)

and recently for the heart explsion ( i don't feel panicked emotionally)

yinxi (heart 6)

and i am generally pretty good, monitering my diet, excerzing (usually ahem.)

those all usually work pretty good, along with mydol when i just can't stand it. but when all those things together don't work?

meet anica. she and baby atira have come to live with us for awhile. she suggested potasium, in the form of a mango. yum yum, that's my kind of medicine. and you know what? the shakes and jitters are mostly gone. maybe it's dietary defficiency instead of excess this time...

so the next time the owie song gets you, try some mangolove :)

jacks got a mullet

when did mullets start to look a little more attractive? when skinny jeans did. i was looking for tips in alteration, and i stumbled (quite appreciatively) on this humerous number. maybe martin can give us some real dance moves for skinny jeans?

and now i'm digressing even more, but this is cool too. dancing and rock climbing at the same time.

In response to this, here is a mango recipe I'm looking forward to again when mangos are in season here:

Mango Omelet

Ingredients:

4 eggs
2 Tbsp whipping cream
1 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp butter
2 large mangos, in chunks or slices 1 tsp salt (optional)

Instructions:

1. Beat eggs, whipping cream, sugar and salt lightly in a medium sized bowl.
2. Melt butter in a medium sized or 9" skillet over medium high heat, tilting pan to coat bottom and sides
3. Pour egg mixture into pan.
4. Cook, lifting edges to allow uncooked eggs to flow to bottom of pan. Continue to cook until omelet is set, but top is slightly moist.
5. Layer mango over top of omelet and cook about 30 seconds.
6. Fold like an envelope and slide onto serving platter.

Oh so yum. Eventually, we took out the sugar and replaced to whipping cream with yogurt and halved the butter, but I have to admit I did like it rich and sweet!

"your ever lovin' joh"

here i am again, racing the clock to try and get some thoughts on the screen before work, while i still have them. i just finished reading the latest installment the smiths in malawi and i'm filled with affection and sympathy for my 'ever lovin' joh'. she signed a letter to me that way once, and now every time i think of her, that epithet always crowds into my thoughts too. along with another term she coined: daffodillovely.

in short, my sweet, ferocious and thoughtful sister is fully in my thoughts today.

up to interpretation

I spend a lot of time imagining the possibilities. I haven't actually mentioned it out loud -I don't think- but every once in a while I wonder if I could keep a goat on the roof. That kind of possibility. Maybe it's not entirely impossible, but it's highly impractical.

Ideas always look exciting and interesting from far away (a sunny grassy slope extending to a beautiful ocean bay), and then when I actually examine, I realize there's a lot of work involved and maybe I'm not so excited about it after all (that's me realizing that it's really muddy and slippery and steep and to boot, volcanic). Sometimes, I'm in the middle of it by then.

I've also split myself into three people. Now don't panic, I know I'm not three people, just in my dream to explain it better to myself. I have:

1. Me, my conscious in charge of things me
2. The workhorse me (WM), who doesn't think too much but is always around to do things like the dishes, or vacuuming, or the laundry. Work for the sake of work.
   
3. And I have the explorative me (EM), who doesn't follow rules very well because she is off doing her own thing. She's also not very concerned about time or safety. She is very important however for processing feelings. She just does it at inconvenient times.
   

So in my dream, I've hopped the guardrail to go check something out (the grassy knoll). WM sticks pretty close, and when I decide I've spent too much time on something that isn't actually productive, she's on board to leave.

EM on the other hand, is busy doing her own thing, digging around to see if there's anything interesting; lo and behold, she finds a body. Now this could represent a couple of things. It could be something I thought I finished with that I've been thinking about revisiting, or it could be my old dead schedule from before I started my new job. Also, I've spent a lot of time on a small jewelry business and I haven't actually made any money. Maybe it's time to ditch it and just be a hobby jeweler for now.

What I'd like to accomplish in my dream: I'm not sure yet. But I think I'd like all three of my people on the same page, working together.

Anyone else want to join my dream analysis club? What have you dreamed recently, how has it affected you? Emily, I like the talent idea. I'll have to think about talents I've been trying to dig up. Joh, I want to hear your untrained opinions; I love your oppinions.

speaking of dreams

this morning i dreamt that i was exploring a marketplace with two other girls ( i forget who now) and eventually we came to a bridge that over looked a grassy hill going down into the ocean. of course, i immediately wanted to hop the guardrail and check it out. on closer inspection, the grass was pretty muddy and slippery and the hill was pretty steep. the other two girls turned out to be much more adventurous even though i instigated the expedition, and also, it turned out to be an active volcanic area, kind of like yellowstone. at one point i can actually feel that i'm sitting on an uncomfortable hot spot and i move. before i realized it, it was almost dark and i was trying to hurry the other girls back up the hill. two of us were almost at the top when i turned around to find the third and she was across the bay and had found a small dead body. the water is not very deep, but there is a lot of coral so the footing is tricky. we told her to bring it and just get up the hill and out of the ocean before it got too dark and treacherous and then my awake anna mind suddenly recoiled at the idea of a small dead body being found in the ocean close to me and i woke up breathing hard and heart beating fast. so, my question, is what does it mean to find a dead body in your dreams? anyone know?

Good Luck Omens

The new spa job is working out pretty well. I'm packing my work schedule as tightly as a I can in the hopes that someday I'll pay off the debt I've accrued and also hoping that someday sooner I'll have enough money to travel to see Joh and Andy and Scout and Fin in Malawi.

It's a nice little place, we cater to Japanese tourists, and although tipping is not a cultural norm for Japanese people in general, being on time for appointments is and I really appreciate that. While I was raising my table before my appointments started the night before last, (I am the first giant they hired, and the tables are always set at gnome level) this




scurried out of its hiding place and I caught it and brought it home to live in the garden and eat bugs. Yay for geckos!

mrrowwee

things that have happened recently:

i started a new spa job to supplement the existing and slow one. now i'm trying to learn at lest a few phrases in japanese so that i can ask my clients to turn over. it's actually been a little difficult but kind of funny... one of my first clients couldn't figure out what i was talking about when i asked him to take off his robe. he finally had his robe down to his waist and no underwear before i went to get some comunication help.

we went to mauii a month or so ago, you can see some lovely and not so flattering pictures right here.

we found some very funny cats on youtube

other than that, it's a little rainy and gray, wintery and chilly. brrr.

How personal

is it really? It feels very personal because it's from the core of myself, but really, looking at this, I know that it's ok to blog about. I dropped a layer of fear that's been coming up reflexively for a long time. Doing that unlocked something in my ability to create again; I can focus better and think through concepts better. I am more decisive. I feel like the world has shifted and now I get more sunlight. I should mention that my diet has changed a bit this week too. More fresh raw veggies and fruits, more beans, less carbs like rice and bread. Funny, those are the foods that I sedate my fears with. Bread and cheese. Yum.

This is how my emotional breakthroughs went this week:

well.

you know.

enh.

hmm.

BANG! It clicked and my brain is back!

A Jacob Quote

I can't help it, I have to share. I just can't keep it to myself any longer, I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry when I think of it.

"I intend to have the best relationship and the happiest woman in town!"

Consignment and Fishy Personalities

I've checked all you blogs, you're all too busy to write right now, so I guess it's my turn.

I've been doing a few things lately. It seems like a very few things now that I think about it.
1. I've become a jewelry sweatshop.
2. I've spent a lot of time thinking about and remarking on the personality of my fish.

It's true, my fish has a definite personality. She comes to hang out when we sit down to eat, she blows bubbles at us and plays little fishy hide and seek games. She swims to the top of her bowl to say hello in the morning and ask for her breakfast.

She can be traumatized. We had a little 4 year old fiend over (that was supposed to be friend, but I think it's funny, so I'll leave it.) who poked the glass and startled her. For a couple of weeks she was just not herself. She didn't chase her food around, she hid every time anyone approached the bowl. I was a little distraught and spent a lot of time standing next to her bowl, feeding her one little piece of food at a time and talking to her softly. After a week or so, she started to express herself a little more.




Then 4YOF (Julia) came over again, and remembering the game she had started, she reached out to poke the glass again. I moved faster than I thought I knew how, and was kneeling in front of her holding her hands and saying " that is scary for the fish. see how she hides under the rock? let's feed her instead." (I think I actually said " if you'd like to interact with her, come get me and we'll give her some food." I've become stuffy Auntie Anna, why would I use the word 'interact' with a 4 year old?) But, Paco the fish seemed to understand, she came out of her hiding place and gracefully accepted a few flakes of fish food.

The next interaction Paco and Julia had went much smoother. Julia went and stood in front of the fishbowl, I hurried over to help her feed Paco, and then she said
"I want to poke her."
Me: "Oh, but that's not allowed, is it."
Julia: "I didn't do it!"




With jewelry, I suddenly had a rush of interest in consignment, which is great. So yesterday, I made these






to send to a store in Florida. Woo-hoo! My ultimate goal is to have work that I can take anywhere and still have an adequate income. Then I can go visiting and still be making money and paying bills. Small ambitions? Maybe, but they're mine all mine all mine.

6 little nuggets

these 6 little nuggets are in response to this and this.

1. i pace when i talk on the phone.
2. i like pickles and mustard with almost everything.
3. i really want to plant most of the things i eat.
4. i read in the bathroom, but not openly. i usually sneak books in.
5. i frequently play on the internet in the morning until i'm almost late for work.
6. i have an almost irristable urge to pick up anything shiny off the ground.

Sweet Sweet Sour

Jacob has just left for work; it's pretty cool here this morning because we've been having some good rain. It's starting to feel a little bit like Hawaiian fall. The dichotomy of the silky air and noisy traffic always startles me, leaving a little feathery trail of confusion about whether the world is a beautiful peaceful place, or a busy hectic place; Honolulu is full of contrasts and contradictions like that for me. It develops it's own little rhythm: sweet sweet sour, bitter funny funny, still still crazy, go go go. It weighs out with sweet, funny, still and going. And rainbows. There is a giant rainbow stretched across the entire horizon right now; the doorway frames it into a painting with power lines and stair railings, gray sky and a brilliant rainbow at the very top of the canvas. Ah the sweet and still, despite noisy traffic.

When I moved here, I had one major driving thought: I didn't think I'd ever get enough sunlight. Most of my life I've enjoyed finding sunny spots and lounging in them, but now I need need needed steady warmth and predictable temperatures and bright enough light to look closely at my surroundings. Well, I've gotten plenty of sun. I've got steady predictable temperatures in most areas of my life. Being close to the equator will do that for you.

Let's start with a book review, shall we? By Haven Kimmel, The Solace Of Leaving Early. Difficult. I really liked her memoirs. I absolutely and utterly loved them. Which, on reflection, is funny, because I didn't love them right away. They've grown on me over the past few days as I've thought of them more. The Solace of Leaving Early, like a said, is difficult. I hated some parts and loved others. I give it a 3 of 5. I do have a favorite quote:

"We are happiest, I believe, and God is certainly happiest, when we allow ourselves to fall into beauty. God is luring us there, even now, breath by breath." pg.33

You have people who have issues they haven't yet dealt with. In the end, they learn to accept themselves and the people around them and love each other better. Pretty simple? It took them a lot of beautiful agonizing to get there.

I have thought about the process of learning and beautifying oneself (however you want to take that, I mean more internal beautification) a lot the past little while as my lovely grandmother lay quietly waiting to be free of her body. She died on Saturday, leaving everyone in the house with the impression that she was happy and triumphant, and that absence, whatever it will mean in the days and years to come, makes me want to be a little like georgia and take stock of the things I am grateful for here and now.

There have been some beautiful things here lately.

In this case, wild strawberry guava. Dried into hard little sweet clovey hiking treats.

Avacados gathered on the side of the road by the trail we didn't have time to actually hike this morning.



Artwork left by someone at a construction site.

We spent some time with Julia while Yoko and Sterling went on a date.

She and Jacob raced around and jumped off of things while I tried for action shots

Fun and games at a Bon dance with Abby and Felix



Jacob and Felix won these Chinese Handcuffs (is that really the name?) while playing games with the keikis.


Abby put hers to good use as well.

We love our cousins.

spirulina curry

Saturday afternoon Jacob and Julie (visitng from Utah; I'm not the reason for the trip, but as a happy side effect of her vacation, Jacob and I get to entertain her Friday evening and Saturday day) and I went to a "made in Hawaii" fair. Woohoo! I love trade fairs, looking at a million different jewelry booths, being inspired by all these people who get hundreds of different products made and displayed to sell.

And then there's the food samples. fudge, dips, cookies, juice... it's perfect for my brain. A little look, a little taste, a little picking something up to touch it, over and over again in random order while poor Jacob drags along wondering how many craft artists does it take to screw in a light bulb or invent the wheel or whatever.

Jacob likes to go to these fairs because he can get Kauai noni products for much cheaper and he also likes to talk to the vitamin supplement people (something i find insipid and inscrutable). Well, we came home with a new kind of spirulina. One grown in hawaii. And two new books about said spriulina.

Spirulina is awsome. Not only is it about a million times better than any vitamin supplement, but it's like a million times better than real food! It gives you tons of protien, vitamins, is easily digestable, boosts your energy, and when I was reading about indigo children about a year ago, several of the authors thought that spirulina was very beneficial for things like ADD and hyperactivity, and cleptomania. Just kidding. I don't know whats good for cleptomania.

Anyway, I've decided to do an experiment. I haven't been eating spirulina up to now, because I was kind of turned off by the green color it makes everything and I thought it tasted kind of funny. Funny thing about my taste buds though, the less sugar, preservatives and salt I eat, the better everything tastes. Fruits, vegetables, grains, suddenly they have flavor, and not gross flavor but rich and layered and yummy. When I tried spirulina this morning, suddenly it didn't taste too bad.

So, I'm going to eat one teaspoon a day for a week, and see if there's any difference in me. In how I feel about life, in how I concentrate, in how much energy I have and in how much I like myself. I'll let you know at the end of the week. And by the way, it's actually really good mixed in with left over curry.

so many internet things to do and so little time before work in the morning

usually before i go to work, i check my blog, check all of your blogs to see if there's anything new (sorry, i haven't gotten around to subscribing, i kind of like the suspense of not knowing) check my email, but lately i've been a bit obsessed by two things. getting jewelry pictures onto the internet, and project runway. i watched all of season 2 last monday on youtube. now, when my boss at the jewelry store wants to talk about her favorite show, i can be just as outraged at what santino said about nick, or how they just didn't give daniel a real chance. seriously, it's like a soap opera for crafting nerds. i love it. we even had a project runway party last night, breanna came over, jacob skipped wingchun because he got sucked in, and we watched the finale of season 2 on youtube, pausing every 10 minutes to click on the new section.

as far as guva goes, i went back later in the week and picked more, dried more and am finding it delicious except that there are seeds to spit out and so it's better if you're somewhere that you can spit seeds onto the ground.

i also found an interesting music video.

and i'm trying to figure out a good name for my etsy shop. i don't think that hawaiian magpie is going to stick. it is kind of how i see myself, an little invasive species on this island looking for shiny beautiful things and places.

warning, this is a rant

Uggh. Grubs! How on earth did I bring home grubs?! Oh yes. I picked fruit with other people and didn't keep track of what I picked and they picked. You see, I very carefully inspect before I deposit into my container. Because I don't do grubs. I know that it just a part of gathering wild fruit for most people, and I know that other people just avoid wild fruit so they don't have to deal with it, but I've found that if I look carefully, and I don't pick fruit with rotten spots, or giant holes in it, if I'm, you know, careful enough that I don't mix leaves in with my fruit, I don't really have to deal with too many grubs. Like none, really. I feel a little bit betrayed, honestly. I shared a secret with someone I thought would appreciate it, I shared the fruit that I had so carefully gathered, and in return, I got rotten bug ridden compost. I couldn't face that first thing in the morning, and I just chucked it. I know, it's a colosal waste, but let me repeat: I DO NOT DO GRUBS OR GRUB-LIKE THINGS. PERIOD. If I ever deal with things like that for you, know that I must love you more than my life, because I feel like my life is threatened by those denizens of the decomposing world. Let me elaborate just a little more. I feel a little faint, I want to puke, my skin feels itchy and crawly and I don't want to eat (that is truly abnormal for me, especially first thing in the morning). Next time I'm keeping a tight hold on my own bucket.

guava berries

last night jacob and i took a leisurely walk in the state park above st. louis heights. it's so pretty. the strawberry guava is ripe, so we filled the one little container i'd brought (just in case, you never know) and then emptied out a water bottle and filled that too.

this morning i went back with a girl i work with (breeana) and her boyfriends little sister and father. we picked and picked. ah the pleasure of picking wild fuit. anything. tiny wild sweet strawberries of sault st. marie, or the blackberries walking home from school with chris, or raspberries with joh who was so determined to make jam. or blueberries on blueberry point. we even found thimble berries by pebble beach once.

i'm going to put the dehydrator back to work and dry me some guava. if i don't eat it all right away, maybe you'll get some in the mail. if you're very good.

while i was trying to find a link for a more rural sault ste. marie, look what i turned up: our very own dad and some research he did and some more, this one though, seems to be top secret.

accross the sea read/listen-athon

Gorgeous Georgia generously gave me a great idea. If you go here you'll find an on-line audio recording of Jesus the Christ. And a downloadable version. I just finished chapter 2. Anyone want to join? Love Annie.

so.

so. it's been a little while, and i'm so sorry i have no photos up yet, i got distracted because jacobs mother and sister and niece were here visiting for a week and a half, and then we haven't been able to find the camera since they came. and i've been wearing the fabulous skirts and now they're dirty and i've been too lazy to wash them (i hate hand washing things.)

having visitors was really really great. you should all come visit. or you can all just move here and we'll start an organic farm. one of my good friends just told me that i could farm her land on the big island for free. sigh. i have to pay off this rotten debt so that i can go do fun things!!!

my seed planting obsession is only getting worse. i'm slowly taking over the roof of our apartment building with potted trees. i don't know why i love to plant trees so much. so far the total count is:
1 date
7 lilikoi
5 sprouted lychee, 3 planted not yet sprouted
1 sprouted mango, 2 not yet
2 sprouted kalaupapa oranges, 3 or 4 not yet
4 as yet unsprouted local clementines
42 kumquat seedlings. sheesh. i really overdid it here.
1 avovado tree, 11 pits, trying to be sprouted
1 unsprouted mountain apple
20 or so key lime seeds just planted yesterday.
plus all of our other plants. someday i want to have a yard. or a field, or just a farm. a farm where i can grow things and have a goat and a dog and a miniature cow and do massage and make jewelry and paint.

"what are you worried about? come on, let's just go look, it really looks like your kind of style. "
jacob and i are at the mall, looking for a prepaid cell phone. jacobs sister anica is coming to visit and her cell phone carrier doesn't give service in hawaii. we've just passed the kiosk where they sell the double layered wrap-around skirts. i've been looking at these from afar. very far off, generally, because the israeli saleswoman is too good a saleswoman. i have no defenses. my plan was to look and look and then maybe approach the seller at the farmers market. she's american and not as likely to convince me that i need this many right now! my plan has been to craftily buy one at the 40 dollar asking price (i did get close enough to the farmers market stall to ask that) and then craftily make my own for much much cheapah.

i have to tell you a little bit about me and haggling. when i bought my old car, (the new one that i had for a year) i spent a lot of time getting a lot of advice from a lot of different people on how to look like i knew what i was doing and talking about so that i wouldn't get ripped off by a salesperson. i even did some role playing. then i walked into the car dealership, took a deep breath and said, "i really don't know what i'm doing, please don't take advantage of me." thats it. thats all there is to know about me and haggling.

so we stop and say hello to the very beautiful tiny bouncy sales lady. she's the type of girl that makes everyone feel like they too can be beautiful and tiny bouncy. she shows me with a twirl and a whirl how easy it is to make this and this style. flipping the fabric and posing for a second before whipping the design into a completely different shape. oh i'm totally smitten. and besides, today there are sales and discounts (some skirts have a sale, some have a discount). and what color do i like? oh blue? oh yes, she thought i'd like the skirt, because i look like her (i couldn't look less like her but of course i swallow that because i think she's beautiful) and she likes the skirts better. and she has a perfect blue one just upstairs...

when she comes back down i've already fallen under the spell of a very deep pink one. bright solid colors make me weak at the knees. i usually have a small desire to ingest them. she pulls out a solid blue one too and it's time to see how much they are. while she was gone, jacob asked me "how much do you want to pay?" he's noticed that there aren't any price tags. well, with the sales and discounts the prices definately vary. " if you buy two, you can have a third one free! all for 100 dollars." but i've seen them for 40 dollars and wasn't planning on spending more than that and besides, i was really just going to get one. how much is just one? "well, you're really just interested in these two, right? well i'll tell you what. if you buy these two, i'll give them to you for 80, and these are my favorites!"

now, that is a 50% off the "original" price of the skirt, and those are such succulant colors, and ok. i'll get it. " of course you'll get them." said with a smile. then, maybe i'd like a dvd with another 80 ways to wrap this skirt? no no. i don't need that. ok ok. she rings me up looking very carefully at my id to make sure that i'm using my own debit card, and then says, would i like to just buy a dvd for a dollar fifty so that her register will come out evenly? i've got two dollars, great two dollars for a dvd. so i bought the dvd that i just said i didn't want. and i walk away with my two beautiful new skirts, laughing at myself, vowing to avoid all kiosks for the rest of my life. i'm aware again of this weakness (awarness is the first step right?) which kind of pleases me because sometimes i feel jaded and battle scarred. while jacob gives me another run-down on bargaining, i bask in the glow of deep silky colors and think of the quote on keely's myspace page: 'the sky is all sorts of pink pink pink pink'

new job

i just did my first real dog training session in about 3 years. it went very smoothly and the owner wants to continue two sessions a month indefinately. i'm doing approximately 1 hour sessions at 50 dollars a session. yee haw! after months of dreading it, it was actually pretty fun and i didn't end up feeling clueless.

going greener

i've spent the morning searching on line for composting solutions. how do you compost when you have no yard? and i mean absolutely no yard. now, we do have some dirt in pots... but that amounts to at the most, 5 gallons at a time. while on line, i found this:

http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/02/15/replace-your-garbage-disposal-with-bokashi-bucket-composting/

you do have to bury it eventually, but i think it can be done in small quantities and since the turn over time is only a month and then a month, i think it might work for our garden. so briefly, this is how it works:

you throw your food scraps into the special bucket



then you add some of the micro bacterial stuff




then you let it sit, and periodically drain of the bokashi tea, or bokashi gold

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OuRoDBlYoA

which can be used for all sorts of great things including fertilizer. then after about a month of letting it ferment, you bury it in some dirt. let that sit for a month an voila! fabulous dirt/compost! now if you feel ambitious, you also make you own bokashi active bran (the microbial stuff)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=96fSXccQx9Q

also while cruising along the super fantastic internet highway, i found this:

http://pathtofreedom.com/

so so cool! like really COOL! heidi found recipes online to make em, but i think the best way to start for me will be to buy the pre-made bucket and bokashi and then after it's been started try to make my own. happy reading and then compost scheming!

ground fruit, the child of dumpster diving

when joh and i were living together, a long time ago at this point, something like 6 years? (i never thought i'd live to the point when i remembered '6 years ago' ) we used to raid the provo bakery dumpster after they closed at night. so so yummy. day old pastries and breads, if we were really lucky orange rolls. the bakery staff must have felt bad that they had to pitch it all because they would double wrap all of the good stuff in clean bags. one time our elders corum president, who lived across the street watched quietly in horror from behind his screen door... later that night we brought their house a plate full of doughnuts. hee hee. well, anyway, jacob and i have been gathering here in honolulu... mangoes, more than we can process! i ate 3 accidently yesterday for breakfast. by accident because i had cut them up and removed the pit - which made it basically mango mush, or a jam of some kind but the only ingredient was mango - and i put about 7 or 8 in a jar and ate half a jar. yum yum, but too much fruit at once will give you gas, so beware. also we went out to diamond head yesterday to swim like fishes. it's getting to be summer time and the water is getting warm again. so so nice the feeling of being surrounded by water, moving through it and diving under to sweep the hair away from your eyes.