Fifty, Forty, Thirty or Twenty Years Old

As I surveyed our outdoor  wrought iron furniture I was reminded of its age - over 50 years old. Then I thought of my car, nearly 20. Much of our indoor stuff hovered around 30. Only those items containing a motor of some kind were subject to elimination at some point in their future. Being a mechanical genius gave life to those pieces, oft marginalized, when that skill was missing from its owner. 

Money saved is money needed for another day to pay the bills ensconced in our daily lives for that rescue puppy or near death kitten, still arriving to greet us.  Buying inanimate objects whose trappings encapsulates us for the moment must be eschewed. Poor buying decisions can ruin a life or a lifetime; its frequency, a reminder that tomorrow is coming. Raising children to respect money's power starts with using some of their own money for that special 'gotta have it moment'. 

Vocabulary used to buy or sell can sometime determine the life and longevity of items we use - chairs, tables, sofas, to name a few. Instead of used, preowned or second hand, we give royal life to those items labelled historic, antique or vintage in the hopes that its value is greater, thus a higher price. Know the difference. Buying preowned is a good thing.

We have online shopping and delivery, in a heartbeat. Shopping has never been so easy. quick and in some cases, without thought. An unimaginable side trip with dire consequences awaits. A quick click, here and there, repeated often, can send us towards bankruptcy.

My cell phone was 26 years old when, in short order, my number was lost and sold. The service provider, the oldest in Canada, no longer accepted its duty to the client we were told by its service technicians. Too many people wanting too many things? And who made that happen? Necessity forced us to change again. Connections were in another language. Communication was gone. We were in a wasteland not of our making. No one was listening. We were forced to 'move' again.

I look around and realize the importance of loving not liking the items you buy. If clothing cannot be guaranteed a long future then its purchase must be seriously considered, if not ignored. There is no money tree. Remembering long loved items from a time forgotten helps recall the memories of a life well-lived. Missing out on an item gives rise to one important fact:, I was never meant to have it!

Decades ago our then 7-year-old faced his first buying dilemma. The item he saw in a store was 'yelling' at him. (I had mentioned the emotional context we all have with shopping. Inanimate objects can talk to us, a gut reaction we can't kick easily). A strong emotional connection had been formed not to be dismissed easily. Saying no to him in this instance would have been unfair, I knew. (Self worth matters to a small child). In this instance, the playing field is not level and the child is powerless.  A deal was proposed to give him half of the selling price, tax included. He was happy; the deal with mom, fair.    .  

After working tirelessly to pay for his share, our son ended the deal. He had worked too hard, for too long to waste money on something not that important anymore. His shopping future was waiting with unlimited choices to be made. Companies did not care about his bottom line. He did. Waiting was a valuable tool with a lesson learned. The 'yelling' game or this gut reaction helped determine this buying moment. When money is not spent foolishly we win.

I had moved the decades old 5-foot wrought iron bench to a spot closer to the garage. The work would start this summer. I was ready and able but tired of waiting. Years spent 'weather-waiting' and providing kennel care for a multitude of family fur balls had kept me in a holding pattern. This beautiful outdoor treasure, awash in rust and other weather related horrors suddenly became the attention of another whose skills would do it more justice than I ever could. I was not an artist. He was. 

As I surveyed its current status, recently, I was amazed at the transformation. Like new, in dramatic fashion, with more work to come, however, it was a treasure beyond belief, worth a king's ransom. Nothing like it existed in the marketplace today, I knew. I had seen its potential and so did its new owner. Its beauty, nearly restored and brought back to life, was now a priceless work of art.

Simple. Elegant. Divine.

It lingered long past the visit. The warm feeling felt, stayed with me till the next day at brunch or lunch, not sure which. Stress was knocked out of the park. I would have to wait for more of the delicious meal tomorrow. But at least I had experienced fine dining perfection, again, at this welcoming place of love and caring. And there was no restaurant in sight.

It was just a barbecue our son had said. It did not matter to us, never does. A little girl was becoming two tomorrow. We were seeing her today on that special birthday. It is the people, not the accoutrements that surround them, that matter to me. Wanting to spend time with us mattered to them. How lucky we were. Illness had spread to our families so we kept our distance to be sure. (Easter had been postponed.) We were just the grandparents. Other family would arrive at another time.  But we were here today with  simple clean food that took center stage on this celebratory day. Simple acts, maybe, but not to us.

The special all beef hotdog, on a toasted brioche bun, was delicious. Then the side dishes arrived. It was perfection. Even grandpa, known as silly pops to the girls, was happily engaged. Their attention was on sliced watermelon and the game silly pops had begun with them. A moment in time caught on video.

Sliced red onion, a simple green salad, alongside the simply adorned potato salad with a homemade dressing of lemon juice, mayo, spices were the hits of the party, with cucumbers diced for me by my 3-year-old granddaughter. Simple gestures performed by everyone let us relax and watch. Oh my. Even the large mug of black tea was perfectly delicious today. It did not seem that way at my domicile. What was missing, I wondered?

Her magic touch makes the difference And I had no part to play in this delightful spread. My ever present daughter-in-law made sure everything was perfect. Always is. Her attention to detail is everywhere, especially in the kitchen. (We are both in love with carefully grown and harvested Italian OO flour. Respecting the gluten makes all the difference in the world, it seems)

As the entree was being grilled, the buns were being toasted. Another delightful act of love and yummy. The green salad of romaine, orange bell pepper and tomato with fig balsamic dressing, new to my dressing repertoire, came next, in droplet form, food heaven for me as I ate red onion slices, leaving some for others. Remember, always share. (Red onions increase blood flow to the brain!)

We packed to leave knowing that fussiness is downplayed here. It was always about the people. I learn each and every time. If you are paying attention, learning always happens, slowly and with joy. Simple and plain at home becomes elegant and divine here. How does that happen? I must take copious notes.

Keep the steps clear and concise. At home I do it all. Here, I do very little, if anything at all. We are treated like royalty. The skill and nuance happens elsewhere, too, where another son, 'daughter' and  their children live. 

Looking forward to the magical salads tomorrow. Can hardly wait. Am I silly? Probably so. A new day; a new meal made by magical fingers sprinkled with love.

Laser in A Dog's World

It was introduced to me, years ago, while our then middle-aged Labrador Retriever needed something more than my talents to augment her health. Proper diet coupled with daily rigorous excercise with her very able-bodied younger brother was not enough. Laser treatments became a remarkable departure from the norm. It was the fortification needed in her formidable day of running, walking and being silly.

Recently, as our 12-year-old yellow retriever, Mr. Wiggles, all 86 pounds of kindness and love, alighted from the stairs to the patio outdoors unexpected cries of pain greeted me and the neighbouring dogs. What had happened since morning? It was now 7:00 pm.

Pain medication for our pup was available, naturally, but as a pet owner of over 55 years, much has evolved in pet health. (Food is medicine, Movement is medicine. Motion is lotion.) ... Processing strawberries, blueberries with celery and cucumbers has become the order of the day for my wiggler. 

These nutritional pain relievers help support the next step - cold laser treatment. (Lumps, previously checked, would be covered with bits of surgical tape so as to be easily seen and avoided. (Bringing heat/energy to lumps can 'energize' them if they are possibly precancerous lesions.) And so it began.

Laser treatments are a serious route to medical health. Medical miracle? For pain management, healing and the reduction of inflammation, preparation is key for this medical treatment. Goggles are worn to protect the eyes of everyone in the room, including the animal. (A towel on top of his head aids in his safety.) All metal surfaces are covered. The device must never be aimed at the eyes. Blindness can occur.

As I entered the animal clinic, the signs were there. ..DANGER!....The door to one room was still open, awaiting the participants while its contents, the covered metal table with the tools of laser were waiting for my Mr. Wiggles to enter. I had been here last week to watch. The miracle had begun its work on him since then.

Laser is not a toy. It is an affordable miracle in a healing device. Rules and regulations have not kept up to this remarkable medical treatment for our dogs. It is buyer beware. It is not a game to play but a powerful, healthy addition for what ails our pets. ..

My Dumb Phone

I have what is now being referred to as a dumb phone, the flip-phone. Interesting. The internet leaves no door open. When this new device entered my life, earlier this year, I thought a new service provider would be the beginning of something satisfying, after having replaced my old flip of 27-years. 

I own another flip phone. It is brand new and was sold to me in a store where young people were working. Perhaps jealousy reigns when a person decides to buy what serves them and is not influenced by the latest local or worldwide trend. Today the smart phone is king while directing us in all facets of our lives. Even our fridge talks to us if we want it to.  

The smart phone is a remarkable tool of the modern era, a camera in disguise, an insurance and medical device that offers up everything, non-stop. It's can be an addictive tool that can rob us of priceless time and put us at financial risk. We are its instrument of change, non-stop. The act of scrolling takes you everywhere: choosing a car, vacation spot, restaurants a la mode and on and on. Dating sites. Well, I 'll leave that one alone.

My flip phone is cute, costs less, is smaller and does whatever it wants all the time. Once upon a time, a very long time ago, one rotary black phone ruled the roost and somehow I managed to live, go to school, get a career going, get married, have children of the human and animal kind just as the chat room was looming large.

Life is more hectic because some other entity - large or small - has figured out we're easy prey while making the rules some of us live by. Who is in charge anyway? Websites that look the same yet only one is real..... Now what? 

Already there are too many#s all over the place. Clubs abound everywhere. Only a few are worthwhile. Food clubs and delivery for our lazy selves. It takes one salmon sandwich or a 'healthy hot dog to fill me up. The salad is here to compliment my health and the meal.

Whatever happened to “user friendly'? Email has replaced telemarketers to annoy us forever. A manual for those appliances and cars would be nice reading. I do not want or need to be on the computer, my phone ignoring all those real parts needing me. Mr. Wiggles' life would be diminished. My 'dumb' phone is not dumb. I might be if it was the center of my life. A phone did not save my 8-year-old's son's life. I did. My phone serves me not the other way around. Where is that black rotary phone I used to love? And 'email is easy'. Oh, how it is.

Touch is overrated. Walking past my clothes washer a week ago I accidentally locked it. On other occasions cycles were started. (I knew the secret to unlocking this decades old appliance as it sat there smiling smugly at me.) 

Improving our lives with streamlined devices- large and small - is not always a step in the right direction. ... Too many things on one device can cause too many other things to simply malfunction. Bankruptcy is but a click or two away. When does the work day end?

Leave the phone inside where it belongs. Where is my calm and happy boy? Let's go outside again to bounce, breathe and chase each other. That is so fun just like reading a book, eating an apple as I hold it for you my boy or massaging your legs at night. There is nothing dumb about any of that! It is called   real life on my terms.

Best Blueberry Pancakes

It was blueberry pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A business trip had taken him away till Thursday. Since Sunday evening, cleaning out the fridge of leftovers was the aim of my cleaning out the fridge game.

Sometimes, leftovers were just the best. I did not have to remind the cook of no salt, low salt and fry only till golden. She knew what was expected and why. Then came those blueberry pancakes. When blueberries were in the fridge pancakes happened. Blueberries can be added on top of pancakes as they are fried or in a small amount of batter to be used. Common sense rules in the kitchen!

Making pancakes is an easy filling meal. Blueberries, when available, upgrade my pancakes to gold star status. I'm ready. No recipe required, only the desire to do it. Even a mistake is still delicious. Begin with flours of your choosing. I use organic, always, then add 00 Italian flour ( a more optimistic version of a sort of gluten-free) This mix pleases everyone. A wire whip to sift through the dry ingredients adds air for light, cloud-like pancakes. Adding baking powder and a tiny amount of baking soda prior to using the wire whip lightens the dry mix and is needed for leavening..(When an acid is added, baking soda rides along.)

Adding eggs with olive oil/avocado oil or melted grass fed butter with 'buttermilk' to create a 2 to 1 ratio of liquid to dry ingredients results. Vanilla can be added into the liquid 2-cup measure. Buttermilk can be made using oat milk, regular cow's milk or any other milk. (I have discovered that oat milk makes the best buttermilk.) Adding fresh lemon juice to the milk transforms it into buttermilk, the homemade cheaper, delicious and custom made version. Organic is now available. My dad used to drink ready made buttermilk. I could not. But in baked products, a zesty flavour results, nonetheless.

Adding the liquid into the dry ingredients transforms the mixture into an airy glorious batter. Leftover batter can be used again with a myriad of other ingredients such as chopped chicken, salmon bits, veggies, red onions and mushrooms - just like a sub or a burrito. You decide the framework of those rolled yummies.  ... A hearty meal results saving you time, cost and effort. 

Some foods, dressed up as meals, can transform meal time preparation into the simplest of food fare with time leftover to do other important things. And in a pinch, cooled leftover blueberry pancakes can stand in as a snack for mom and dad and 'cookie' for the kids.

Out of The Mouths and Hands of Children

It began in earnest. Being invited to a Lego city/airport event near the kitchen made this baba feel very special. I had to follow them, I was told. These two radically changing grandsons were quickly becoming thinking people, ready to tell and show me the world in so many words and blocks..

Thinking for oneself is a critical life skill, of course, but remember dear children, your mom and dad are the bosses of you till you are 18. I will remind you. The moment to move to another locale this morning was followed, enthusiastically. How would the afternoon unfold? There was so much to say, show and explain to me. It was time for a break. Into the kitchen we went. I sat at the table replete with learning material. Their mom was a genius. There was nothing that did not excite her as she home schooled these  brilliant scholars in readiness for her visionary school of the future. Fractions were already on the table. Three hours a day. that's all. Cursive writing was on the menu, too, between sports, whales and butterflies. So many parts all in one. Anything, even pasta making and doughnuts were curriculum material.

The former three-year-old, now 4, went on about not drinking dairy. “Well, I replied, in my day that was what was offered and we drank for health and strong bones. It was my story back then. "But I also believe what your mom says."There was no choice then. We bought dairy products from a dairy, a close connection to the farm, a higher quality choice. Cabbage rolls and pierogies needed these toppings. The older boy - all of seven - began his tirade about glucose-fructose. You have learned that lesson well, my sweet boy. This sweetener was everywhere, I knew, the reason many products are not for sale in our family.

We went upstairs to see Legoland in action. They were anxious to show me with an intensive conversational landscape what was happening there. I asked why with every breath I took. Even the 'puppy' crawled underneath the bed to be near her brothers. It was action, born of words. More miracles to be seen and heard. Then it happened. A week later a look at the single serving box of Fruit Loops, in the hands of the 7-year-old during a family visit brought me to attention. Here we go again.

RFK Jr. had spoken about the food dyes ruining health and causing disease in America. In Canada it was a different story in a few cases perhaps. Fruit Loops had been the exhibit under cross examination today. More processed foods beckoned for that closer look. But there were so many more foods under the microscope. 

This child's red pen began circling the real food colours listed on the side panel, an exercise in homework, I thought. Such insights, Big words indicating the health benefits introduced him to another world of health and discovery. He showed me the proof, happy to know that in Canada, in one instance, anyway, a healthier choice had been produced. Nice touch but not enough. My grandson  seemed pleased at the revelation, nonetheless, And so we continued. ....

Making Health #1- (March 30th post- during power outage)

Making America healthy again should have been the mantra, all along. Optimum human health should be at the top of all government agendas. There was a time when I was naive that I believed all the nutritionists and scientists, created in universities all around the world, then hired by food companies, were there to protect the food supply - farming, agriculture and food processing - for the human race. Is there a hidden agenda? Is there a money trail unknown to the consuming public that allows food groups to exist in a format that helps create that non-stop desire to eat? We are in charge, are we not??

Food's purpose is to help the body recover, heal and maintain a steady stream of valuable food nutrients keeping it in good condition for growth and development. We have organic, NON/GMO, hothouse, greenhouse and others. The food world of the past was a simple time, a cleaner time, too. Gluten free did not exist. The whole point of eating is to refill our reservoir of health for the human body. Longevity is the name of the human game.

So RFK is now in charge. Someone should have been all along. Glucose-fructose, an inexpensive sweetener, is bad news and has been for decades. I wrote about its deliterious effect on our bodies years ago. ... I was shocked from what I learned. Focus, a British publication, illustrated its journey with a gigantic color filled diagram showing where this manufactured sweetener was heading- straight to the liver where garbage generally goes, arrows pointing to this overwhelmed organ. It was scary. 

Glucose-fructose is still with us today, floating in all manner of products we use everyday. ... Decades ago, its introduction was found in familiar drinks called 'cocktails' but has been found in many 'everyday' add-ons such as ketchup, relish, mixes. When does it end? 

Taking short cuts, too often, with food, is a path to ill health. Even Dr. Oz has spoken about this food dilemma. How are we to discern those things that are 'o.k. for us to eat? Why did additives and preservatives become so prevalent in our food supply. The bottom line. That's why.

The food pyramid has changed. Who's intentions are being considered here? Has it now mandated us to consume more carbs? Should we be concerned? A trip to the perimeter of the grocery store with its live food section called produce, meats, and dairy, selected bakery items should be the first line of defense in keeping us healthy, the purpose for visiting any food market and a requirement for all food shopping adventures.

Eat an apple. It's a composite meal in one, loaded with taste. There are thousands of varieties, I have learned; its history, beginning in North Carolina with over a 1,000 varieties lost then found. Experts estimate over 11,000 heirloom varieties are extinct. Apples' history abound. They are everywhere for us to indulge, yet sometimes overlooked as the food to buy. We are smart creatures. I have heard. Do we know enough of the value in visiting the produce aisle for optimum health and wealth?

As I walked to the local pizzeria for that popular slice of pizza, the young boy passing me complained to his classmate,”I'm still hungry”. He had just finished eating his pizza slice. I looked towards him, remarking that an apple might have tamped down his hunger. Maybe he will think the next time and place one or two of these crunchy delights in his back pack to satisfy hunger when it comes calling. The urge to eat is ever present. Embracing real food helps reduce the mindless indulgence we all face everyday with food. Sometimes it is thirst not hunger that we feel.

A freshly minted body might cope with wrong choices for a time but not forever. The body accumulates toxins from some foods we choose to eat on a regular basis, then one day, responds in ways not expected. 

Homemade can be everything we hope it can be. But remember, the sauces added into the mix of protein and vegetables can cancel the benefits of the food or meal just made. And sugar in all its guises is not required for dietary health. It captivates our appetite to think it is an important link to health. It's not and never was! .... (Healthy fats help with the absorption of vitamins A,D,K,and E into the body) And fries could help. Beforehand, eat that delicious salad, a close ally of healthy fries. I do whenever I can.