Sunday, August 29, 2010

Weekend of Mother part 2


So the next evening I went to my sisters to see my Mom and let the cousins play. My Mother and the rest of my family were watching a baseball game on the Telly. SO i was pretty much bored out of my mind. I am not a sports person and never will be. Maybe you could get me to watch Ice Skating if i was in the right mood.

So in my boredom I took pictures. My sister did not wish to be photographed so I got her feet.



Than I got a shot of both my niece and nephew.



Than my sister showed me her gardens.







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Soon it was time to leave much to my daughters chagrin. You know how kids try to make 5 minute goodbyes last 30 minutes. So while waiting for her to pick up her stuff i got a picture of the bunny and the cat.




So Mom went home the next day, and soon after my roommate crashed the minivan so I will not be seeing my sister again anytime soon. I do have plans to see my Mother in a few weeks though as the ex husband is going to go on my vacation with me. That should be interesting.

Sorry if this blog was short and choppy and not my usual stuff. I am tired and just trying to get something on here. So you do not think I have given up altogether.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Weekend of Mother

My Mom came to visit a couple weekends ago and stayed with my sister. We had to take the minivan and go pick her up though. Which made for an interesting weekend and journey. My Mother lives on Cape Cod which this time of year is traffic central. If you have ever been to the Cape during the summer or lived there you fully understand what I am saying. If you have never been I advise you to not go and maybe go in early fall or spring traffic still not so great but you will live through it much better.

The way down was a pretty uncomplicated trip except for a short amount of time on the way to the bridge which connects the rest of Massachusetts to the Cape. I do not drive so to be honest most of the time I did not even notice what was going on. I usually read or fall asleep. I think I slept a lot which annoyed my sister I am sure. Maybe a part of me likes that. I wonder if she will read this blog?

We did not bring lunch figuring my Mother would have something to feed us when we get there. On the phone she said hot dogs but she had changed her mind by the time we got there. I wish I had taken a picture of the sandwiches my Mother made because it was not your normal everyday lunch that is for sure. Turkey sandwiches on Cinnamon Raisin bread. I did not mind them but we left a few for my brother to find later.

Getting off Cape was pure boredom because we were stuck in traffic for hours. My Mother needed to get out and walk every now and than as her legs were bothering her. SO I would go with Mother dear while my sister drove next to us. I also took pictures of strange branches or whatever pleased me as I had nothing else to really
do.




It took us eons to get to the bridge or at least it felt like it. I also started taking pictures of clouds.





When we finally got close to the bridge we stopped at a Starbucks for a bathroom break. Well it was supposed to just be for me. After I came out my Mother decided she was going to. So I bought her a water and a banana while I was waiting for her. She only ate part of the banana as it was bruised. Nothing ever is good enough for your Mother is it?

Pretty Flower.





I know that was random wasn't it?


We did finally get her to Vermont in one piece. We stopped for dinner and My Mother got us Boston Market. I had there Asian chicken salad it is really good too!

We decided I would meet up with them at my sisters house the next day after John(the roommate man thing) got out of work. SO be ready for part 2 of weekend of Mother!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Blueberries forever!

This year I wanted to try and get in as many fun inexpensive activities with my daughter as possible. One of these I decided was blueberry picking. I have a discount with Dwight Miller Orchards because that is where I get my farm share. So a couple of Fridays ago I asked the ex husband to come along and we went to go get those blueberries.

First off we stopped at the farm stand area and took a look at the pigs.


My daughter really enjoyed looking at the little piggies!



We than went in and asked whereabouts to go picking. They gave us some gallon jug containers with rope on them to put our berries in and gave us some directions.

We of course got lost and had to ask someone in one of the greenhouses. They told us to go up the hill behind the main house. We than went back to the main house and drove up what looked like a driveway but turned out to be a road up to the Orchards. Than my ex did not think the car would be able to make it up the hill. So we bickered for a moment than of course we drove right up cause i am always right after all (snicker).

Although the sign for the parking area was behind an Apple tree so we could barely see it. This also made us wonder if we took the right turn because we were surrounded by Apple trees. Another vehicle parkedbeside us though and the lady driving explained to us we had to just walk a little ways up the hill and the berries would be there.

So on we went with our gallon jugs and soon we were picking away while listening to others conversations while they picked as well. My daughter did not do so much picking as dancing around while eating all the big fat blueberries she could get her hands on. She also asked some question about the upside down plastic cups hanging in the bushes. Which apparently are there to catch the flies from the manure. YUM!

So after we filled a couple jugs we made our way back down the hill.





After all that we went back and picked up my farm share and paid for the blueberries. I just love Dwight Miller Orchards and if you want to know more about them check them out here



After all this we did make a lot of stuff over the past 2 weeks with these blueberries including some refrigerator jam and oatmeal blueberry cookies. We had the jam one day on french toast as suggested by my good friend Jenny.



Here is the cookie recipe which turned out wicked good!

Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies


1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups oats (old-fashioned or quick-cooking)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup fresh blueberries

1.Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl beat the butter, oil and sugars until creamy; beat in the egg and vanilla.
3.Add the flour, oats, baking soda and salt and stir until combined; add the blueberries and fold them in.
4.Use a cookie scoop and drop onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

This makes about 2 dozen cookies.





I wish we had picked even more! I just love blueberries!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Squash and Chicken Fajita's

Last night I decided to make something Tex Mex or Mexican because my daughter was not home. She does not care for such food so I usually avoid it when she is with me. When she is at her Dad's its time to fiesta with food.

I just love trying out different flavors in my food rather than traditional. Fajitas are usually sliced grilled meat, onions, peppers, and maybe some different condiments to go on it. I decided since i have so much summer squash from my CSA i needed to use it in my Fajitas. Also i had no Bell Peppers so squash came to my rescue.

First there was all the slicing of the veggies. Than of course i took out my saute pan and threw them in there with some olive oil.


After the onions Squash was soft but still slightly firm ( I do not want mushy squash!) I put them in a bowl and than threw the sliced chicken breasts chicken in. I also poured in some taco seasoning mix. I sometimes make my own and it comes out pretty yummy. This time however i used a premade seasoning mix.

After the chicken was cooked through I also put them in a separate bowl. Than scrubbed the pan down since the spices get all gunky on it. Out came the whole wheat tortilla's.



I warmed them up in the pan and flipped them over.




Than laid each one down on a plate filled them with veggies, chicken, and some pickled Jalapenos I had in the fridge. YUM!



After that I spooned some brown rice next to them and called it dinner.

It was a nice dinner for the night and quite healthy as well.

Next week I hope to blog about Dwight Miller Orchards where i get my CSA, and also about my favorite cat Waffle!

Cheerio



Tuesday, July 20, 2010

A Berry Berry Crisp

Today I noticed I still had a lot of produce from my CSA last week, and knowing that i only had a few days before my next pickup I decided to make something.

First off in case someone does not know what a CSA is. It stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it is basically a farm share with your local organic farm or orchard of your choice. It is a great way to get organic produce and even sometimes Meat, eggs, etc... at a lower cost while also helping out the local farms in your community.

Now back to the produce waiting for me in the fridge. A half pint of blueberries and some strawberries awaited being made into something scrumptious. So I pulled them out and decided a crisp was in the need of being made. Also because my roommate John had brought home a huge bag of oatmeal and I wanted to make use of them as well.

I asked my daughter if she would like to help me however she was far more interested in eating ramen noodles and drinking Apple Juice at the moment. Not to mention playing Zoo Tycoon on the computer. She had totally ignored the dinner i had made and instead wanted Ramen. Go figure.

Sadly I did not take pictures of everything I was doing so i only have pictures of the finished product. I do have to say it came out splendidly and I was very pleased with it. This crisp is less Sweet than others you may have tried so if you like things super sweet add a bit more sugar to the berries.

Berry Berry Crisp

1 cup fresh blueberries ( do not use frozen unless you plan to thaw them out and squeeze out all liquid)
1 cup sliced strawberries
3 Tablespoons of white sugar

Topping
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup of butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl toss berries with sugar than pour them into either a brownie pan or pie plate as this is a small crisp.

In a separate bowl combine the rest of the ingredients well until crumbly. Than pour on top of the berries spreading them out lightly so that it is all even.

Bake in a preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until fruit is bubbly and the top is golden brown.

Serve with some vanilla Ice Cream while its still warm. It should look as yummy as this..


Cheerio

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Birthday nature Walk

Today is my birthday, and I am 35 years old my beautiful daughter is 11 1/2 and all is right with the world. Well maybe not the whole world. Not so crazy about the oil spill crap going on, or the fact that people are still watching The Bachelor and Survivor. Would like to see less GMO's around as well. My little world here in Brattleboro is alright by me though.

Anyways today the Bean and I set off on a nature walk. We had John drive us over near Wal-Mart where the trails are near the mountain. There were not many people walking the trail at 1pm probably because it was a bit hot. I myself did not feel it was so hot we could not go walking though, and we set off to walk the flat trail instead of going up the mountain. on the way I saw these trees that kind of looked like a gateway into faerieland.



We walked along and I took pictures of flowers, plants etc....







This went on for a while and than we came to a sign that i had not noticed when walking the trail before. I am sure it was always there it just never caught my eye. Part of the sign had an arrow pointing to the left, and the words "To the River" were written on it. So I say aloud to Bean "Lets go and see the river". I sometimes do not think when I speak. The way to the river goes down a very steep hill, and yes there are stairs but not like the kind in a house. These are stairs covered in leaves and rocks and are quite slippery. My daughter of course is far ahead of me wondering what is taking me so long. I told myself well i wanted an adventure, and now I was getting one.

Once at the bottom though it was quite worth the steep climb down. The river is beautiful and we were both wearing our swim shoes so it was no problem to wade in a bit. The scene is beautiful.



The climb back up the hill killed my knee though, and i vowed not to do it again! I doubt I will hold to that vow as I did enjoy wading in the water and would like to take a picnic there sometime. Bean waited patiently at the top of the hill telling me not to quit. I just love how she has all the energy in the world and seems to think I will just stop moving and lay to die in the middle of the steps.

After that I needed a breather before walking on even further along the main path that I was now wishing I had stuck too. Bean decided to inspect a mushroom, and eat wild rose petals. As long as she does not eat the mushrooms I am fine. I willed myself to walk some more.

While walking I took some more pictures of Bean.




Than it looked like someone made a fort.


Bean became fascinated with anthills so I took a picture of one.


This large rock always looks like he is making a face at me.

We than waited for John to come pick us up and I did a small 3 card Tarot reading for Bean. She liked the outcome of it and was quite pleased. I was happy to be using my new Tarot deck, and extremely relieved to be sitting down.

Now we are home and Bean is drawing away while I sit here on the Internet as usual. Later i will do my earth ritual for today my focus is on Earth!

Cheerio

Monday, July 12, 2010

The Basics

Well it took me all day to pick a name but finally it is done. After much contemplation and discussion this is the name chosen for my new blog. I hope its catchy and you all like it. I spent some considerable time thinking of a Title that would really say me! This seems to work.

Now to get into who I am and what I am all about. I am known by many as Badbadkitty and on occasion Waternymph. The first suits me far more than the second name. I adore my cats and I am always getting into something. I also like a bad cat really do not care what others may think of my choices or of my logic. I suspect I will eventually have some people who will read my blog and not like what i have to say, and that is alright by me. I have always been different and its not a rebel thing like some may think. Its a I just am going to be me thing despite you telling me I should not be.

For starters I grew up in a Pentecostal Christian home and it just was not my bag. Do not expect me to christian bash though as I have many fine christian friends and we get along just fine. I just see things differently and never got into church or the Bible. I do think the Golden Rule is awesome though and is not that different than me believing in Karma. So no big deal I believe in something other than the normal standard of religion.

In fact right now I am doing this 13 day ritual transformation. Each day I have a different focus and an affirmation which has been posted to my facebook. Today was Fire and so I started this blog to get involved in my creativity. I used to write quite a bit but in recent years I keep falling behind in my writing. I get busy with my daughter or friends and what they need.

Yes I am one of those people who likes to be involved in my friends lives. I like baking especially and making them something yummy to eat. I may post recipes in the future or discuss how to make whipped cream. My answer to a problem is usually eat this cookie and you will feel better. Now you might think my friends are all really fat but most are pretty normal sized and i try to make a lot of stuff healthy for the most part. Except for a few things that you just have to have it the old fashioned fattening way or its no point in it at all. Also sometimes i make something high in calories just for my daughter because she really needs them.

Which brings me to my beautiful daughter who happens to have Cystic Fibrosis. Everyone thinks it is a disease of the lungs but it is more than that. People with Cf are missing certain enzymes in there body that we use every day to keep mucous out of our lungs and also to digest our food properly. My daughter has more o the digestive problems and so we really have to push her to eat high calorie food. Not always so easy. She would rather eat Salmon and Mangoes than a cheeseburger and cake. She does have a G-tube which feeds basically liquid lunch into her while she sleeps every night. Bean (my old nickname for her) also has ADHD and Bipolar disorder so that makes things even more crazy in my house.

I also have Bipolar disorder and sometimes I can get a little weird myself, but not too much I take some medication which usually balances me out. A lot of people have little understanding of this disorder and think that it is just an excuse to scream and yell a lot. Well its no excuse and if I do scream and yell I still take responsibility of those actions. Usually I just get really manic and bake a lot or play with the kitties.

I have 6 cats to play with and take care of. Well actually only three of them are mine. Waffle (the tabby), Gnocchi (my black and white girl), and Jasmine ( my all white fluffy girl with two different colored eyes) all belong to me. Sugar( the black fluffy gal) belongs to Bean, and Jack(Black and White boy with double paws), and Shadow (little gray boy that looks an awful lot like a rat) belongs to my roommate John.

John is my off again on again ex boyfriend that has his own room in the house who is generally a good guy but sometimes drives me up the banana wall.

Well i think I explained most of my basic life to you and so I shall post again.

Cheerio