Praying For...Gayle and Jason...the children of the world...the great United States' upcoming election
Scripture Meditations..."If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14
Bibliophilia...to me the statement 'so many books, so little time' is more than true. The little time I have now to study is somewhat disconcerting but is teaching me great lessons. Although I enjoy writing, I prefer studying. Right now my stack of books to study on my various study lists is extensive. I study with Through the Great Books, LDSMommyUniversity and Hillsdale College Constitution 101, all wonderful and free. Additionally, I work with several young scholars to mentor and usually read what I assign even though I've read the material before. I study scripture and Spanish and history and literature and herbs and nutrition and gardening as well as research many subjects for my writing projects. It's getting to the point that I don't finish each week but am strangely calm over it. Learning deeply like this makes me realize on a daily basis that I am far from wise and know very little about anything. A few books that are especially on my mind right now are Aristotle for Everyone, The Philosopher's Way, The Road to Serfdom, and The U.S. Constitution: A Reader.
Garden Gate...I'm back to using dirt for indoor micro-greens ala Ann Wigmore. None of my experiments worked. If I want to do this, I have to pay more attention. Around here we simply can't get enough greens and sprouts.
Deliciousness...Lately to get more raw greens in our guts, I've begun to top our soups with ribbon cut greens and a handful of sprouts even if we are having salad with our meal. Almost every day for lunch we eat lentil soup with greens on top in addition to the ones in the soup. This week I turned Turkish Red Lentil Soup into Red and Green Soup. (1 onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 lb. yam or sweet potato, 1 c. red lentils, 1 T. best quality sweet Hungarian paprika, 1/2 t. red pepper flakes, 1 c. chopped fresh parsley, 1 c. finely shredded cabbage or lacinato kale-dry saute onion and garlic over low heat until golden. add chopped yam and lentils with several cups of water. low-heat for a few hours until tender. add spices and simmer another 30 min. Stir in parsley and kale, 3 min before serving. Top with a large handful of ribbon cut spinach and a bunch of sprouts or micro-greens.) This is packed with flavor and nutrients but lacking in excessive calories and fat.
Thimble News...I've been missing Hawaii mightily. Since I can't visit any time soon, I decided to make a bit of aloha. While I'm not the full mumu type, I love cheerful Hawaiian prints. At hawaiianfabric.com, I found a great piece that I am half way done making into a dress. Using a favorite easy pattern, Simplicity 3842, with several inches added to the length and shortened sleeves, it promises to be aloha. I made it 3-4 years ago a few sizes larger in denim. Even though I loved it, I didn't wear it much. Joseph said I looked like a polyg. Since I never got around to making it for Christmas, I bought the fabric today to make a little red riding hood from Oliver+S Little Things to Sew for Oakley's 5th birthday next month. I'm hoping to make one for Claire's 3rd birthday, too. I'll see how the first one goes together, before I decide.
The Herbalist...my friends stopped by on their walk a couple days ago. One of them is having trouble with shin splints and wanted to know my advice. While I couldn't give her any of my new Deep Healing Joint, Bone, and Tissue ointment, I directed them to two products that together are similar, Dr. Christopher's Complete Bone and Tissue plus Dr. Schultz' Deep Tissue. My healing, pain-reducing salve contains sweet almond or extra virgin olive oil, tocopherol, wintergreen oil, botanical menthol, habanero pepper, arnica, calendula, St. John’s Wort, white oak bark, comfrey root, mullein, black walnut leaf, gravel root, wormwood, lobelia, skullcap, lavender, and beeswax. It's great for minimizing pain and healing sprains, arthritis, strained muscles, fractures, etc.
Living Fearlessly and Well...There is more than a little scientific literature that supports the idea that curiosity and continued learning quell dementia. I want to know for myself; history, science, languages, literature, divinity, and so many more fascinate me. Since I will never exhaust the knowledge God has revealed in His infinite wisdom, I'll keep exploring until my eyes are dim and my ears grow quiet.
Project Joy...spent some lovely times with my beloved; the long conversations were the best part. It's been sunny and mild all week, which makes for nice walking.
