Thursday before last I did my regular errands. Actually my main errand was to stock up on the previously-blogged chocolate. Those Ghirardelli chips are $1.50 at least until January! This could be very dangerous. In any case, after my errands, I returned home, and realized it was likely the last nice weather we would be having for a long, loooonnngggg time. You may have noticed my sadly-un-updated To Do List on my sidebar which has included "paint the hallway" and "finish refinishing dining table" for just ever. If I was going to paint without poisoning all our brains but also without freezing us to death, it had to be right then. So I went into the garage and searched for the paint. I had finally found the clear finish for the table (which had brought that project to a halt last summer), so I thought I'd just need to touch up it's paint (which was also the paint I intended to use for the hallway) before applying the clear finish.
It didn't work out that way.
The paint I found had a "Home Depot" sticker on it, and I was sure I hadn't shopped there in ages, outside of the desperate trip at 9 months pregnant for shower plumbing. But it was the only possibility. It was the right color. It was still mostly full. So I pried the lid off it (I assumed Hubby had left it outdoors to rust along the edges at some point) and set to work. I did a really great job. I covered up all the smudges, pen marks, finger prints, and just everything. I touched up the table paint so I could put the clear coat on the next day. But as it dried, it didn't look dry. I looked closer, and saw that it was semi-gloss. I was sure the table paint had been satin. And then I turned around and saw a nice, new, mostly-full bucket of Valspar satin finish paint sitting in the pantry. *sigh*
The next day I hauled the table to the porch and put the right color over the wrong color, and then the clear stuff over that. I couldn't drag the hallway to the porch, and it was too cold to vent the house.
So now my hallway is shiny.
As is one section of kitchen wall around the corner.
I'm not so sure I like it, but I'll have to wait until spring to change it. Maybe by then I won't mind as much?
9 comments:
I've discovered painting isn't my favorite thing. Too bad for me I have lots to paint! Ah the joys of home ownership. It may be too cold for you to paint, but it's too damp here. Yuck.
I looked up your Weston A. Price link, and didn't understand who he was and why I should be listening to him. So I wiki'd him. Interesting! It seems he believed a lot of things I do, especially about our readiness to put toxins in and on our body and the obvious (to me, anyway) consequential diseases. I've been meaning to blog about this, but haven't gotten all my words to form coherent and intelligent sentences yet.
I moved this discussion over here because I, too, have real-life people who read my blog and I'm not really interested in getting comments from family about yet another cause or concern I've raised. :) They already think I'm nuts for choosing to eat the way I do and the desire we have to buy (and someday raise) whole foods. My parents are forever telling me that I'm going to die of something and the sickest people they know are the ones who denounce McDonald's and claim health food. My parents and I have a long-standing tradition of me adopting some not normal practice (barefoot wedding, organic eggs, cloth diapers, non-plastic toys before my daughter was even born...) and them giving me grief for it.
Of course, I did eat two spoonfuls of chocolate fudge frosting before I sat down to type this comment. :) I'm sure that doesn't fall into the "whole, clean foods" category.
I didn't see anything about flouride, but I will google it and maybe something will pop up.
Anyhow, I didn't mean to take over here. I'll look more into this Mr. Price stuff. Raw milk has intrigued me for some time but I don't have a clue where I could find it, outside of raising my own dairy cow. We don't live ag zoned. And I'm not sure I want my life to be chained to a strict 12 hour milking schedule. I can't find goat's milk anywhere here, either, though it seems that's because it's illegal in Florida. I do know someone who knows someone who buys goat milk for human consumption. Maybe I'll ask her about it.
Thanks for the information! And I'm glad to "know" someone else who is concerned about the poison in everyday living. And making holiday gifts! I've done this for years because I've been dirt poor since college and concerned about the amount of waste the holidays generate. Now I can claim green living and being environmentally aware and not be considered too out there. :)
Happy Thanksgiving!
Annie, Thanks for your comment! Feel free to 'take over' anytime and keep your 'secret' discussions here...:)
This similarity is striking me as a bit odd; I thought I was the only one who was barefoot at my wedding! Well, I WAS the only one barefoot at MY wedding (wait, my bridesmaids were too..), but you know what I mean. Wild, huh?
I am in total support of saving our eating "sins" for things like chocolate fudge frosting. Like, raw (healthy) eggs are really good for you.. and go down easiest in cookie dough.. :)
Other resources for Weston Price's information are in Nourishing Traditions (cook/health book by Sally Fallon, who administrates the Foundation, link in my reading list I think) and you can search Francis Pottenger. He did some interesting raw vs. cooked diet research ages ago also. You can find raw milk rules and availability by going to realmilk.com and clicking your state. It's a partner site to the Weston Price site. In my secret location (I'm so paranoid, I know), raw milk is not legal, cow shares are not happening that I know of, and I too am unable to tie myself down so much. I need a neighbor who would like to literally "share" the cow, and we can walk her back and forth each week, taking turns. If my neighbor (dairyman) was at all natural or organic (he's not), he'd probably find me in his barn at midnight helping myself to a gallon from one of his Jerseys (I'd tack a few dollars to her tail, of course).
It's not easy when the world around you (that is, family, friends, etc) don't understand (or want to) your lifestyle choices. We've had to face it with Hubby's choice for 'alternative' treatment for his borderline-hypertension and related issues, and our choices for 'alternative' definitions of "okay" for our kids. Sometimes it's out of a heart of concern, and sometimes it might be others' feeling 'judged' because their choices are different. I wish I had the answer to that. I usually tack phrases into conversations like, "well, you know we're really out there anyway," and "as if our eating/buying habits weren't crazy enough..". I don't want others to feel like I view them as anything less. I struggle sometimes because I want everyone to "know" some of this stuff, so they can make their own informed decision, but I also need to understand that sometimes people don't want to know. I've definitely established a pattern of being different enough that I'm not questioned too much, nor expected to go with the status quo. Most of my family, however, supports this kind of lifestyle - though they live far away. Hubby's family smiles and nods at our insanity sometimes, but they don't 'give us grief.' Barbecues and get-togethers can be interesting though. :)
By the way, I'm loving 'coconut-oil-as-moisturizer' for my face. Don't tell my MK customers! haha! It's hard to imagine that at $16-30/quart it's cheaper than facial moisturizer...
Okay, the realmilk site changed a bit. Click "where" then "sources of raw milk in USA" THEN your state. Or just click here to go to the states list. At a quick glance, there's lots listed for Florida. Remember, raw milk is sometimes only sold for pet consumption. It makes sense to me that I can only afford homemade Christmas gifts but I buy expensive raw milk for my, *ahem* pets. :D
Okay, I have a question...Our son is allergic to milk and cheese. He gets, um, stopped up, for days when he has any of it. So, we switched him to soy milk and it's working. I know you have mentioned soy not being good before, so do you have any ideas on what else I could use? I can find goat's milk in the powdered form at Wal-M, but that's it. I've seen Rice milk too...
MamaJ; my concerns with soy are two-fold. First, as far as it being the "perfect" health food because traditional asians use it and live forever is faulty; they use it in TINY amounts (a bit of tofu for soup) and/or naturally fermented, which adds a lot of benefits (again, Nourishing Traditions has more info on this). The way America uses and processes soy makes it something entirely different. Mercola has info on this, if you do a search for it there. Secondly, soy is high in plant estrogens, which is great for some women wanting to avoid hot flashes, but not so great for others. My midwife banned soy from my diet while pregnant due to this. I wouldn't want to overdo it in children (boys or girls) either. That said, your little one obviously can't do the conventional milk/cheese thing. My midwife also wanted me off milk while pregnant (I got a pass for some grass-fed, organic, low-temp pasteurized stuff) and recommended Rice Milk. Looks (and kinda tastes) like water to me. If your budget has room, it helps to "spike" the rice milk with a more-expensive almond, oat, or hazelnut milk. I love the hazelnut. You can also make your own nut-milks and that might be far more affordable. Add a dash of vanilla and stevia or evaporated cane juice. Another option is to give raw milk a try. You can click the link in an above comment to see if you have it available in your area. Many with dairy problems can handle raw milk because it hasn't been pasteurized (cooked) and therefore still has all of the enzymes in it that help with those digestive issues. Enzymes are the first to go under heat-treatment, and we're left with the complex sugars and proteins without the natural enzymes to take care of those. IF it's even available, I'd pursue a pasture-based operation, with no or very little grain in their feeding. Please research and inform yourself, of course. If your son has a compromised immune system for any reason, he should avoid raw milk. Healthy people can handle the amount of bacteria found there (healthy milk has actually been found to 'kill' some bacterias when they're introduced under a microscope), but I wouldn't be drinking it if I was on chemo or had aids or anything. Goat milk is often an option too. Of course, it's pasteurized when bought in the carton, and cooked-to-death in powdered form :), but it's much closer to something our bodies can handle well. There is also goat cheese. I lately found a "chevre" or something for Hubby. It's like a goat-ey cream cheese. :)
I hope some of these ideas help. Be in prayer about the whole soy thing; we avoid it but that might not be God's plan for everyone. :)
I'm kind of digging the odd similarities...I really don't know too many people who think and act the way I (and my family) do. I really have become the runnimg joke of my side of the family, because no matter what, I'm bound to say or believe or do differently. My husband's family just thinks I'm "cute." :)
There are lots of places for raw milk in Florida. Too bad it's all for pet consumption. ;) The one place that is super-close to me seems to have moved away, but there are a few others. Maybe I can call and see if they do anything near me or go by near here sometime.
Too bad I live in the 'burbs. I'm a farmer at heart. Well...a farmer who doesn't have to kill, clean, dress, and cook her own chicken!
Annie, good luck finding that milk source for your "pets."
And as for the whole 'burbs thing, I would totally get a few chickens, for the eggs. If you don't get a rooster, no one would probably know (unless you have obnoxious nosy neighbors), and you'd have the prettiest lawn around. Okay, well, if you just let them run loose they'll roost on your porch and poop on the sidwalk. Google "chicken tractor" and see what comes up. A floorless pen that can be moved each day to "fresh" ground is very easy to make and utilizes all those fancy organic farming things like rotational grazing and stuff. Of course, if it was me, half my motivation would be the 'farming, organic, healthy-egg' thing, the other half would be "let's see how crazy I can make them think I am" and "let's see if I can get away with raising chickens in the city". Hmm... I'm not sure if those are godly motivators or not.
Haha, probably not. :)
Actually, I looked into that when we were looking at buying this house last year. Not only do I really have obnoxiously nosy neighbors, I was quickly deterred when I found out I could get slapped with a $5k fine and/or arrested. Insanity, I say. And, truthfully, pre-baby I probably would have tried it.
So, there's a farm I found that's a few miles out of my way on our way home from church. They have organic, free-range chickens and a dozen eggs are going for $1. We may stop by there next week. While my husband is all for it, my parents think we're insane for eating eggs produced by chickens who are allowed to roam outside and eat anything they find on the ground. Why can't I just buy the normal kind at the store, from chickens fed regulated feed without bugs and things in it? :)
The hunt for milk continues. Have you tried raw or goat milk? Is it any good?
I think my hair is finally starting to figure itself out, though I'm not 100% sold on this experiment.
So sorry to stray so far off-topic!
Annie, wow, a dozen for $1??? Awesome! That's about what they are here, from anyone feeding their flock the nasty feed. Tell your folks that conventional chix feed says "not to be used as feed for bovines." My guess (and the old boys at the plant concur) is that it has cow brains in it, among other nasty things. Your "regulated feed," if you will. It's no longer in vogue to feed cows to cows. At least chickens are omnivores (unlike cows).
If you're unwilling to risk the whole chicken-farming-in-da-hood thing, might I suggest another experiment? Google the nutritional differences between factory-farmed eggs (from hens who breathe fecal dust all day, can hardly move as they try to maneuver around their dead compadres in a tiny cage, and worse) and free-range eggs. Google anything your parents might question, and put the information on paper, with references. Then, as soon as they say anything, say, "Oh, hold on just a minute..." and flip through your purse or whatever to find the relevant fact sheet. Then, instead of having the conversation, hand over the information with a lovely smile. If you do this for a while, you MUST tell me the outcome. How funny...
I have tried both raw cow's milk and raw goat's milk. The raw cow's milk was from the same cows as my previously-loved all-grass-fed milk (I visited the dairy). To me it was exceptional, however, I was already "used to" the pasteurized version of the same thing. Some people recognize a 'grassy' taste to milk like that. I'd say it took me a little while to get used to the organic stuff, but trying it raw needed no additional transitioning. My temporary neighbors had a milk goat, and shared with us frequently last summer. My girls loved it, though the taste was a little hard for me to enjoy. I think it really depends on their diet (and they will eat ANYthing, if they can get their mouth to it), and at what lactation stage they are. Goat's milk, is, I believe, easier to digest and closer to a 'perfect' food for humans than is cow's milk. My girls loved it. Due to goat-milk trauma in his childhood, Hubby won't even taste it.
As to MY hair, I halfway gave-in last week. I WAS getting dredlocks, so I used some homemade oatmeal soap on it, mixed with a bit of the ol' bargain-basement purchased TreSemme' or whatever. It helped a lot, and I can tell that my hair is far better after that than it was under the old routine; I think the dredlock-stage was beneficial. I semi-washed it again last night, using a bit of shampoo along where my hair parts. I didn't use much, if any, along it's length. I followed up with the conditioner, as I have been, and it's still very soft and nice. I'm not sure if I just didn't 'let it go' long enough (I should check that blog post, it had to have been a month or more), or if I just need a different routine for my hair. I plan to buy that 'hair bar' when it's available. Maybe that'll be the answer...?
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