Re-purposing

Think I am developing a greater and more deeply rooted awareness of and appreciation for re-purposing materials.  I read somewhere once that the true meaning of frugal didn't imply lack or stinginess, but rather, utilizing something to its optimum capacity or ability.  Seeing how you can use something in varying ways. I love this.


I think this propensity has always been strong within my constitution, and I love seeing it begin to develop in Nate. Isn't mindfulness a natural complement to frugality? Being aware of what you have? 


No surprise I love to thrift. We had a couple of plain shades in our den/living area that were in desperate need of color. For $1.56 I picked up a floral print sheet at the thrift:

On first go, there were a few bubbles under the fabric- the cotton is thin and I didn't back it with anything. One of my best friends, JoAnne, recommended using a wrapping paper roll tube to help evenly lay out the fabric. It helped tremendously.  Working with these materials made me desperately miss my sewing machine, to work my hands along that beautiful, old machine. It also reminds me I need to spend more time with my creative self.  As for the machine, anything lost comes around in another form, I suppose. I am just waiting for the other form. 


Though when it comes to re-purposing, I haven't been creative enough to figure out what to do with our stainless steel paper towel stand. I'm not even sure where we inherited it- I think the last time we bought paper towels was a small pack sometime last year. Aside from toilet paper, our home is essentially paper-free. We use cloth napkins, cloth rags to clean, and cloth towels in our kitchen. So the holder is going to the thrift this weekend. More on impact later.

Morning at the park, with Grandpa

When I woke up this morning and opened the downstairs windows, the first thing I thought was, "this is going to be a really good day." When I called my dad and spoke those words out loud, they felt really good to say. The air was cool, like Indian Summer, but sweet with the energy of early summer plant-life and none of the humidity that has constituted so many of our recent days.


The weather reports have been threatening awful, sweltering heat for the latter part of this week, and if you've read anything here or know me, you know I am not a fan of heat and fierce sunlight. At. All.  It is expected to be 99 degrees and sunny on Thursday. I remember nearly fainting once in Monument Valley when Andy and I were there for a work meeting. My mind and body just can't take the heat.  Times like this I struggle living in an area where the summers can be so dry and hot. It's not like we're living in a southern state, but with the very mild winter, we are expecting a hot, hot summer. 


So I figured, with a toddler who can't be out in heavy heat, and my tolerance for the impending heat wave no doubt wearing thin, we needed to seize this day to spend as much time outside as possible.  


So we went to the park with my dad.

Bread

Bread.  At its core, it is a simple food that often gets lost in the mix of all the fanciful food options available today. We tend to keep our food habits pretty simple. For awhile, we were on our way to becoming bona fide foodies, but somewhere along the way, we realized that a simple meal: pottage, minestrone, rice, potatoes, a vegetable hash, were more in alignment with our true food personalities. Then one night, in the midst of all our food exploring, I had made a dish of low-simmered pinto beans over rice. We were low on groceries and were in the process of clearing out all the pantry items to restock.  As if it were truly a break from the food with layers and layers of varying flavors, Andy said the rice and beans reminded him of the wholesome, nurturing, earthy foods of his time in Africa. I think that was a turning point for us.  We still love to enjoy rich foods with flavorful depth, and if you know me you know that food is one of the most important ways I nurture my family.  Especially since we cook and eat 99% of our meals at home.  But for us, just as there is nothing that quenches a deep thirst more than a glass of ice cold water, nothing satiates an appetite in our house like simple, wholesome, homemade foods.

We've been baking a lot of bread lately. Over the past week, we have baked four loaves:  whole wheat, cinnamon raisin (for my father), Mediterranean bread (with balsamic, red onion and tarragon), and today, an oatmeal bread.  The bread is so hearty that with just a little herbed olive oil, or butter and honey it can literally constitute a meal.  My father had bought us a breadmaker several years ago, and we've been putting it to good use lately.  I've made bread by hand a few times, but the maker is so convenient, and Nate loves to be involved in the process: measuring, pouring, watching the dough rise.  When the weather cools down this fall or winter, I may try my hand at the original process again.  

There was about a quarter of the Mediterranean loaf left when I decided to make croutons for salad.  I love homemade croutons. Seriously love. Since the croutons were so hearty, I made a simple salad with romaine and red onion for myself, and added spinach and blue cheese to Andy's. Dressed it with a simple vinaigrette. 

croutons made with day-old Mediterranean bread

 whole wheat bread

oatmeal bread

These breads make fantastic toast, too.  I love feeding these breads to my family, because they contain absolutely none of the chemicals found in most processed breads that line so many of the bread shelves at our supermarkets.  Making bread is starting to feel like walking into a bookstore: once you open your eyes, you realize all the options in front of you.

For our sweetest tooth, Nate and I also make chocolate chip muffins. Added walnuts and espresso to half of them for Andy and I.

Enjoying this beautiful, cooler weather in Columbus today.  What a relief from the fiercely hot, sunny weather we've been having. 

Comfest-ing, birthday-ing, nature trailing

Friday and Saturday were mellow, no itinerary kind of days this weekend.  So all the activity seemed to gravitate to Sunday. 

In the morning, we went to Goodale Park for Comfest.  Andy and I have been going to this festival for years, and usually on Friday/Saturday nights.  But this year, a few of his colleagues, who form this band were playing Sunday late morning. The overall mood of the festival Sunday morning much more subdued, which I suppose is to be expected.  The music itself was awesome, but to know a few of the musicians made it that much more awesome.

  

Mid-afternoon we connected with one of Nate's very best friends to mutually celebrate his and a little girl's birthday.  

On our way home, we decided to stop by a nature trail near our house for a short, end of the day, reconnect with nature.

  

A full day, but a very, very good day.

Father's Day

Our current kitchen table vase

Yes, that's Queen Ann's Lace, also known as a weed, in a bourbon bottle.

A few days ago we walked up to the store to buy some bourbon.  This is a special treat for us, as we don't typically spend much money on alcohol. We have more important things than alcohol to spend our money on. Like a kid and a house. It was a beautiful evening so all three of us made the walk.  

I offered to venture inside, which typically isn't the scene.  Andy pointed me in the direction of the bourbon from outside, then walked Nate over to the cookie counter.  I came across a bourbon that was $2 off with an additional mail in rebate to equal nearly 50% savings on the liquor. So I went for that bourbon.  The catch was that it had a hint of cherry flavor. I didn't think it would be a big deal.  But as I was paying the clerk, that 'feeling' said Andy wouldn't be thrilled with the hint of cherry.  I didn't listen to that small voice.  Oops.

I walk outside the department doors, and see Nate going to town on this cookie.  Then I tell Andy about this great deal on the bourbon.   Being a fiscal conservative, he thought it was great.  Then I mumbled it had a hint of cherry.  His response? "I knew I shouldn't have let you go on there" with a half-cocked smile.

We laughed and drank the bourbon anyway, and shared it with one of his friends Nick. Later, I found the bottle in the recycling bin, and with the shame of not impressing Andy with my  bourbon selection still simmering, I washed it out and went for a walk to pluck some Queen Anne's Lace. Many memories of Queen Anne's Lace from my childhood, so they are not just a 'weed' to me. 

Waterfire with FloMoJo

Tonight we went to the Waterfire with FloMoJo. Fun.


They light the fires around 8:30, so after wrapping up dinner with our friend, Nick, we packed up the car and drove downtown.  We lived downtown for a couple of years, and I lived on campus throughout undergrad, so I inevitably feel a bit nostalgic whenever we drive through certain parts of the area. Tonight, however, we weren't on or near campus, but Genoa Park.

We parked Andy's big red Wittenberg varsity blanket on top of a small hill next to an older couple with a dog.  Nate saw older kids running up and down the side of the hill, so all he wanted to do was run up and down the hill. I love how perceptive he is. As the light gave way to darkness, he became much more interested in the fire, so we walked along the water, enjoying the music and the perfect night weather.  


He was pretty exhausted, and how that he's safely tucked in and passed out in bed, Andy and I have a few moments to catch reruns of this (For years we have watched shows after several seasons have aired.  There's something about being able to watch them in succession that we really like.  Some of our all-time favorites?  This and this. Currently this and this. We don't have cable -one of our money-saving decisions- so we have to wait for available copies at the library or if they ever put it on Netflix.) This probably sounds like we have all the time in the world to watch television, but that couldn't be farther from the truth.  It's why, when we do watch shows, we  watch ones that have already aired- we can watch as many episodes as possible when we do have a free moment.  


We haven't mutually found a new series to watch, so we have been taking turns watching each other's current pick together. Guess who picked this? 

Friday Thoughts

I have been thinking quite a bit about parenting the past week and had some thoughts I wanted to share here.  Nate has entered an age where pretending not to listen, purposely changing his mind to test his boundaries, and even all-out tantrums are happening with greater frequency.  Most of our time together is fun and undramatic, but he, like anyone else, has moodiness- good days and bad days. He's just at a place in his development where he is not able to fully express his thoughts and ideas.  And, when they conflict with mine, he has trouble understanding why it must go my way: why can't he get too close to the road, or eat too much candy, or, as this morning, cut the tag out of his own t-shirt with a pair of sharp scissors.  If I were wanting to do something, and it always went the other person's way if we didn't agree, I'd be frustrated too. 

With watching how I approach these potential conflicts, I've been changing my language.  We don't do time-outs, I don't banish him to his room to be alone.  We talk through the conflict rather than Andy or I telling him what do do.  And I always reassure him that he is heard and loved.  If he is having a difficult time, I offer to help walk him to his room if he'd like to spend some time alone, but if he doesn't want to spend time alone- and he has only wanted to be alone once- I never, ever force him to be. Most of the time all it takes is rubbing his back, encouraging him to slow his breath, and giving him hugs.  As a parent I assume responsibility for nurturing Nate's need for love, for attachment. 

Looking forward to a weekend celebrating the fathers in our lives.  We begin with Waterfire Columbus downtown tonight, brunch with my father tomorrow, and a cookout with Andy's family on Sunday.  I plan to make French toast for my father and a pearled couscous salad with basil from my little yard for the cookout.  How blessed are we to have this food to eat and family to share it with?  

Buck Family Garden

Along with Andy's parents and uncle, we have planted a Buck family community garden on a stretch of land behind the Buck & Sons operation.  Several weeks ago, we (Andy's parents, uncle, Nate, Andy and I) went out to the land to plant: tomatoes, sunflowers, green peppers, banana peppers, garlic, cucumbers.  Andy's grandfather gardened on this very plot, and stalks of asparagus he planted years ago still grow on the land.  It is a peaceful place, and I can feel how happy his grandfather was tending to his land all those years ago.  I never met Andy's grandfather, as he passed the month we started dating, but I always tell Andy his grandfather 'handed' him over to me- Andy was very close with his grandfather, which I admire.


Yesterday we stopped by the garden- which is about a mile away from our home.  

One day I dream of keeping a large garden on our own land. Every bit as much as beautification, I would love lots of land to grow and harvest food.  My parents gardened every year, a huge garden of corn, tomatoes, peas, broccoli, lettuce, carrots, onions, basically any seed they could get their hands on they grew.  This year, in our own little backyard, we are fortunate enough to have planted five tomato plant varieties and a pepper plant, rosemary, basil, peppermint and lavender.  But I really yearn for a huge garden- one that will supply all our produce for the summer and fall. Produce large and small.


One day.  I believe it is entirely possible.

(I love this little spot just beyond the garden.  I imagine packing a picnic and spending the whole afternoon here with my family.  Or, camping out beneath the stars.)