A Second Look--April 16, 2014

We had a warm weekend which encouraged a lot of plants to make an appearance. Among them were several different kinds of daffodils. I'm trying once again to remember how many varieties we have and so far I've counted five. The daffodils were all already planted when we moved here, and I can never seem to keep track of them.

Unfortunately as I write this, it's sleeting and snowing outside. I hope some of the plants didn't make an appearance too soon.

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

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Here's today's poem by Robert Frost.

A Prayer in Spring

Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,

But which  it only needs that we fulfil.

Milk

As most of you know, I track my weekly food waste and last week I had a big surprise. We had spoiled milk. I don't remember having spoiled milk during my entire adult life. And while I remember milk spoiling when I was a child, that too was a rare occurrence. (Back then, we drank whole milk that spoiled faster than the skim milks of today. Also, spoilage usually happened because one of the kids forgot to put it back in the refrigerator.)

During my childhood, we always had whole milk, butter, and ice cream in our house. We even had butter milk, which I hear if you weren't raised on it, is not too appealing for most people. My father was a farm boy, and the way he saw it, dairy products were a must for every day life. We were happy he thought that because we all our liked milk. There was no need to tell my sisters and me that we needed to drink it to get strong bones. We were already consuming it with gusto.

Not only did I enjoy milk, it was a useful tool sometimes during supper. That was on those days when my mother served liver or sweet potatoes which I considered the worst tasting foods on earth. The rule was that you had to have a spoonful of everything, but no more if you didn't like it. So I would get the smallest spoonful I could, then spend the next while taking a small bite, then a drink of milk to wash it down. Another small bite, then a drink of milk. I could easy drink a couple of glasses of milk using this method before a small serving of sweet potato was gone. That seems kind of silly now, but it was my tried and true method then.

Through the years, my milk drinking has decreased and I prefer water today. However, the Carnivores in my family still love their milk. When there were four of us living here, we bought milk 2-3 gallons at a time, and that would happen a couple of times per week. However, with Wally and Theo buying their own milk now, obviously Ward and I don't need as much. I have cut back to buying a gallon a week. Sometimes that's not enough and sometimes that's too much.

I hear there are a lot of uses for old or spoiled milk, however I haven't paid much attention to them before. I never had any reason to. However, maybe that's something I should look into these days.

Do you drink much milk?

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Today's poem is a few clever lines from Shel Silverstein again.

Shaking

Geraldine now, stop shaking that cow
For heaven’s sake, for your sake and the cow’s sake.
That’s the dumbest way I’ve seen
To make a milk shake.
~Shel Silverstein

Thankful Sunday--April 13, 2014

I am thankful for my blog friends.

It seems that one of the biggest surprises people have when they start a blog are the friendships they form. I am no different. I have made many blog friends who provide me daily with kind words, encouragement, and information. Thanks to all of you.

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Today's poem is Excelsior by Walt Whitman. What point do you think Whitman was trying to make in Excelsior? I'm still pondering.

 Excelsior
 by Walt Whitman

Who has gone farthest? for I would go farther,

And who has been just? for I would be the most just person of the earth,

And who most cautious? for I would be more cautious,

And who has been happiest? O I think it is I—I think no one was ever happier than I,

And who has lavish'd all? for I lavish constantly the best I have,

And who proudest? for I think I have reason to be the proudest son alive—for I am the son of the brawny and tall-topt city,

And who has been bold and true? for I would be the boldest and truest being of the universe,

And who benevolent? for I would show more benevolence than all the rest,

And who has receiv'd the love of the most friends? for I know what it is to receive the passionate love of many friends,

And who possesses a perfect and enamour'd body? for I do not believe any one possesses a more perfect or enamour'd body than mine,

And who thinks the amplest thoughts? for I would surround those thoughts,

And who has made hymns fit for the earth? for I am mad with devouring ecstasy to make joyous hymns for the whole earth.

Who has gone farthest? for I would go farther,
And who has been just? for I would be the most just person of the earth,
And who most cautious? for I would be more cautious,
And who has been happiest? O I think it is I—I think no one was ever happier than I,
And who has lavish'd all? for I lavish constantly the best I have,
And who proudest? for I think I have reason to be the proudest son alive—for I am the son of      the brawny and tall-topt city,
And who has been bold and true? for I would be the boldest and truest being of the universe,
And who benevolent? for I would show more benevolence than all the rest,
And who has receiv'd the love of the most friends? for I know what it is to receive the passionate      love of many friends,
And who possesses a perfect and enamour'd body? for I do not believe any one possesses a      more perfect or enamour'd body than mine,
And who thinks the amplest thoughts? for I would surround those thoughts,
And who has made hymns fit for the earth? for I am mad with devouring ecstasy to make joyous      hymns for the whole earth. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23621#sthash.GYLPkArX.dpuf

Who has gone farthest? for I would go farther,
And who has been just? for I would be the most just person of the earth,
And who most cautious? for I would be more cautious,
And who has been happiest? O I think it is I—I think no one was ever happier than I,
And who has lavish'd all? for I lavish constantly the best I have,
And who proudest? for I think I have reason to be the proudest son alive—for I am the son of      the brawny and tall-topt city,
And who has been bold and true? for I would be the boldest and truest being of the universe,
And who benevolent? for I would show more benevolence than all the rest,
And who has receiv'd the love of the most friends? for I know what it is to receive the passionate      love of many friends,
And who possesses a perfect and enamour'd body? for I do not believe any one possesses a      more perfect or enamour'd body than mine,
And who thinks the amplest thoughts? for I would surround those thoughts,
And who has made hymns fit for the earth? for I am mad with devouring ecstasy to make joyous      hymns for the whole earth. - See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23621#sthash.GYLPkArX.dpuf

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Apr. 11, 2014

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. 

This Week's Food Waste

MILK!!!

We actually had spoiled milk this week. This is the first time I remember spoiled milk happening since I did a science fair project about it in high school. You see the carnivores of the family have always been big milk drinkers--several gallons a week. However, with two of the Carnivores buying their own now, I guess I have to adjust the amount of milk I buy even more.

 Note: more stories about milk coming soon.


This Week's True Food Confessions

Nothing exciting here on the eating front. We ate out for Wally's birthday and ate in with Subway sandwiches. We cooked a few other things at home, but we did not have lasagna. Which brings me to today's silly poem by Kenn Nesbitt.


When Larry Made Lasagna

When Larry made lasagna
all his neighbors stopped and stared.
His lasagna was the largest
that had ever been prepared.

He used ninety yards of pasta
and a half a ton of cheese,
and the sauce, he spread with spatulas
that looked a lot like skis.

With a hundred pounds of vegetables
and wagon-loads of meat
plus a tiny sprig of parsley
his lasagna was complete.

So he lifted that lasagna
with a forklift and a crane
and he placed it in an oven
that was longer than a train.

For a week, while it was baking,
its aroma filled the town,
till he took it from the oven
piping hot and golden brown.

All the neighbors came and tasted it
but frowned at him, and then
they complained, "It needs a bit more salt.
You'll have to start again."

A Second Look, April 9, 2014

I'm so excited because I found a new flower in my yard.  I think it's been there all along, but hidden. However, after we cleaned some brushy areas last year, the Siberian squill has revealed itself. That's why I do Second Looks--to find the unexpected little things among the predictable. And after doing this for three years, I am still finding them. :)

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

If I have done my research right, this is a Siberian squill that still has to open. The snowdrops behind it have finished blooming.

The first daffodil bloomed this week.

Another kind of daffodil also opened. This one is in our compost pile.

New crocus are still blooming.

I found a couple of more bones. I'm not sure what they're from, but one of them looks like a scapula.

In between rains, we've been cleaning leaves out of beds. Now these bleeding hearts have a chance to get some sun.

Usually, the male and female cardinals are not on the feeder at the same time. This was one of the unusual times that they were.

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Today's poem, by William Wordsworth, is in honor of the first daffodil bloom.

The Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
   That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
   A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
   And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
   Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
   Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay,
   In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
   In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
   Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15925#sthash.EsqoOj7j.dpuf

I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and Hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden Daffodils;
Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
   That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
   A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
   And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
   Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
   Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay,
   In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
   In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
   Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15925#sthash.EsqoOj7j.dpuf

I wandered lonely as a cloud
   That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
   A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
   And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
   Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
   Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay,
   In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
   In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
   Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
- See more at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15925#sthash.EsqoOj7j.dpuf