Golden Oyster Mushrooms

Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting Jen from The Mushroomery out of Lebanon, Oregon at the First Annual Next Step Recycled Arts Fair. To say that Jen is passionate about mushrooms may be some what of an understatement. She had bunches of gorgeous mushrooms for sale at very reasonable prices. I was admiring them with wonder and a fair amount of delight until I spied a curious bag filled with - well I couldn't tell what was in the bag. Upon closer inspection, I discovered it was a grow at home mushroom kit! So for $15, I bought my darling N. a Golden Oyster Mushroom kit.

To keep our mushrooms happy and growing, we have to mist the outside of the bag with water a few times daily to maintain the humidity inside the bag. It is important to keep the bag in a place that gets lots (about 8 hours) of indirect sunlight. We put it in a corner of our kitchen. They also need abundant oxygen and a temperature of 65 - 85 degrees F. We should be able to get 3 maybe 4 harvests out of the bag. After that, the contents of the bag can be emptied into the yard and next year should bring a whole new crop. Exciting!

Oyster mushrooms have surprising nutritional value, and are high in protein and B vitamins among other things. I promise to keep you updated as our mushrooms grow!

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Have you heard about Carol?

She is shouting from her Fabric of Life boutique rooftop about issues that are important to her.
Carol Schillios has gone up on the roof to live in a tent in Edmonds, Washington until she raises 1 Million Dollars for the Fabric of Life Foundation. Carol created the foundation to help young women in developing countries go from beggar to businesswomen. She promises that every dollar given to the 501(c)3 Fabric of Life Foundation will go to support women, children and their communities both in developing countries and in the U.S. All she is asking for is $1 from 1 million people.

Carol lists 3 reasons for her relocation.

1. To inspire action and celebrate what people are doing to make a difference in their world.
2. To create bridges of understanding through learning about our global community.
3. To raise $1 million; $1 at a time from 1 million people for the Fabric of Life Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization supporting cooperative development projects around the world.

Donate

You can follow along:

Carol is on Twitter as @schillios.

She’s also on Facebook.

Read Carol's Blog Up On The Roof With Carol 

via http://www.itsjustbrent.com/ photo via Up On The Roof With Carol 

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On the McKenzie River with Zeke

First, apologies to all for taking an extended unannounced break from Pocket Full of Stones. Life happened.

You may have noticed that I've been quite busy launching and building That's So Northwest - Northwest Community CU's blog and Social Media extravaganza. If you haven't popped in over there, it's worth the click. Lots of fun, variety and a heck of a great group of people speaking their peace if I do say so myself. 

Now for what I really want to talk about. One of my all time favorite topics - the sweetest, smartest of dogs, Zeke. He is NOT spoiled.
This past weekend, we took a short jaunt to the McKenzie River with Zeke, and our new video enabled iPhones (say YES! to on phone video editing). Now I get to regale you all with pics AND video. Woot! 


Zeke loves the water. Without doubt, that is an under statement. In the dead of winter, he will beg us to break through the inches thick ice in his kiddie pool so that he can submerge himself in it's frigid bliss. In the snow and pouring rain he will lay in the river with just the holes of his nose and his eye's visible for so long that many people ask us if he is ok and stare at us as if we are somehow abusing him. We aren't - I promise.

 
For hours on end, Zeke will happily swim after his tennis ball in most any body of water ever eager to meet nearly any challenge to retrieve his ball and do it all over again. I've witnessed that dog create his personal version of Groundhog's Day over and over again in utter ball-retrieving-glee. Zeke learned to swim in the McKenzie River. In fact the video below is shot at the very spot on the river where he journeyed his first rapid and I thought I would have a heart attack. He was totally fine. It took me a little long, but I too made it through. He is a good judge of water. If he is uncomfortable with the water, he flat won't get in, even if we do. What's that say about us? If the current is too swift, Zeke wisely whimpers from shore as he donates yet another tennis ball to the river.  

Now on with the show. Here is Zeke, fishing for river rock on the McKenzie River.

And a little footage of the tennis ball action, just because I talked about it so darn much.
We are working on our video technique. That's all I have to say about that.

All photo's and video in this post are courtesy of my darling N. and his iPhone. He has been waiting for me to post this since this past Sunday. Check. Finally!

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Down Home Cookin' - Papa's Soul Kitchen - Eugene, Oregon

This is not diet food. This is serious down home food. Not that I've ever lived in or near the South. But I have traveled there and every once in a great while get to cravin' some hush puppies, black eyed peas and fried okra. mmm hmm.

Meet Papa's Soul Kitchen. The other night, N. and I were looking for some reasonably priced eats and were weary of our regular dining establishments. We were stuck in a rut. We were looking for change. Enter handy iPhone app UrbanSpoon! A couple of shakes and we were on our way.

There is no point in postponing the truth. We had a blast. Live Bluesy-Jazz. Outdoor Seating. Lemonade served in a mason jar. Cool, laid back atmosphere. You know that feeling you get when you walk into a place and it feels just right? Yep, that was it. And the food... was just what the doctor ordered for to soothe my soul.

We started with hush puppies and fried okra. Then moved to fried chicken with mac-n-cheese. N. had corn and I had black eyed peas and they did not disappoint! The fried chicken was some of the best I've had. And it looks like they are doing some construction to move the band and fun outside. We can't wait!

Papa's Soul Kitchen & BBQ is located at 400 Blair Blvd. Eugene, Oregon. In my humble opinion, it's worth a visit if you haven't already made the trip.

All photo's courtesy of me and my aforementioned iPhone. So, please do pardon the quality. It's meant to give you just enough taste of the experience to want to try it out for yourself. Or not. I suppose it's worth mentioning that Papa's Soul Kitchen & BBQ wouldn't know me if they saw me. I have received no kick backs - ha!, no free food or drink, no special favors of any kind for writing this post. This is just me sharing with you.

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How to have a bang up doggie Birthday Party. Or, Zeke turns 4!

On June 14, 2009, Zeke turned 4! Hard to believe how our sweet little pup has grown up. I've always said fourth birthday's are a good time to do something you've never done before. Like say, go on a bike ride which from Zeke's perspective was more like going on a run while attached to a bloody leash as his parents were riding their bikes. It was a big moment and he was a little nervous at first. As I've mentioned before, we've training Zeke to function in the world with hand and voice commands without a leash. It must have seemed like I was trying to torture him. But then we got the hang of it and in typical Zeke fashion, all was well in the world. We headed to the river OF COURSE! When we got off the main road we took Zeke off of the leash where he discovered the joy of racing his parents on their bikes. On the way to the river, Zeke won. On the way home from the river, parents won.

Any decent fourth Birthday party includes water and ball time. It's a must.

It's all about the ball. Zeke doesn't even bother to shake off. He is so confident that he is going back into the river to chase the ball, shaking would simply be a waste of resources.

After he ran home with the bikes, it was water time again. He did his bird bath imitation wherein he ducks his nose under the water and tosses it up over his head. I didn't catch it on film. Sorry. Then he had some canned pumpkin, cause it rocks. That's how you can tell we are related - I adore anything pumpkin and so does Zeke.

To top the day off, Zeke cuddled with laid on his favorite kitty cat, Cecil. Which made Cecil purr. Loudly.

I do believe he had a great day! I swear we did not "stage" these photos.

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And he's off...

N. got a bike today. It's a hybrid built for road and path. It can commute and take on a Triathalon. Perfect. Oh, and it's a lovely shade of blue. He is riding it home from Paul's Bicycle Way of life right now.

Look close, I told you I was going to start braiding his hair in two braids. Nice.

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My New Band Love

I fell head over heals instantly!

Ghostland Observatory.

Sad, Sad City

Ghostland Observatory - Sad Sad City (Official Music Video) - The best bloopers are here

Dancing to Vibrate

...its ok, N. is in love too. Ghostland Observatory, my new house cleaning/exercise music. Oh, and I am going to start braiding N's hair in two braids. Oh yes I am!

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Walkies- this time it's about the dog.

Zeke and Bono met for the first time one day this week for early AM Walkies. As previously mentioned, Bono is a Great Dane. Very sweet and sensitive and accustomed to walking on a leash. Zeke is not. We have trained him to walk with us sans leash, so walking on a bike path, (what mom? seriously no running? where's the ball? can I take a quick swim in the river? pretty puleeeaaase?) on a leash with a Great Dane, my girlfriend, and I along a lovely river was an excursion into unknown territory. I mean the path we walk is laden with squirrels (SQUIRREL!) and ducks and geese oh my! Zeke has very firmly identified as a bird dog. And a water dog. And a dog on a mission to finally catch a squirrel one day. And a dog that can contain himself without a leash thank you very much.

All that said, my biggest concern was actually Bono, who as stated, is a real sweet heart that can't help his SIZE. Better stated, I was worried about how Zeke would react to Bono. Brace yourself for a painful confession, Zeke has a thing against what he perceives to be aggressive dogs. It makes him...oddly aggressive for such a cute Golden Retriever.

Look at him. So sweet and adorable and sensitive and cuddly and racist. I can't believe that I have to admit to this. It is not something N. or I abide in our lives, and yet...Zeke has a definite issue with certain breeds of dogs. He is not at all fond of Boxers, Pit Bulls, Mastiffs, or Rottweilers. By not fond I mean he growls at them. The lips raised, rushing the fence spittle flying like a maniac kind of growling at them. Maybe its because he tries to be alpha wherever he goes. Maybe its because he had a tired, old Rottweiler teach him some doggie manners as a pup. Maybe its because...I don't know what it's because. I do know we taught him better than that.

Needless to say, I was a bit uncertain about how Zeke would respond to Bono - the horse dog. Good news! Apparently, Great Danes aren't on Zeke's list. They got along just fine. (Candice got them both up on a stump for the photo op.) Zeke did quite well on the leash too. He really is a great, smart, loving and kind dog.

ps. Zeke grew up with a Boxer in our Neighborhood, TO THIS DAY they play with each other. Duce comes over to get Zeke to come out and play. I can always tell when Duce is here because Zeke gets all excited, pacing to and from the door whimpering until I let him out for dog time. All racists, it seems, can make exceptions. This gives me hope on so many levels.

Zeke turns FOUR on Sunday. Happy Birthday Zeke!

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Quilting Weekend

Maybe I should say, piecing weekend. I've had the fabric in the closet and the idea/pattern in my head for ... oh... 6 years or so now. After all that time, it's a relief to say that I started and finished the top of the first quilt I've made to keep (aside from my wedding quilt) this weekend! My brain has more room for ideas now too!



The concept of the quilt was to play with color and texture while keeping the pattern relatively simple. I can't decide which way I like it best. Pointed up or down.



Close ups of the pattern.




The solid red is crushed velvet - a TOTAL PAIN to work with, but worth it in the end. It doesn't photograph very well - the depth of color and texture is lost here.



The solid straw color is a really fine corduroy. It's very soft!



The solid green is a waffle like fabric. I didn't notice until just now that all the solid colors are textured and all the prints are cotton. Love it when my sub-conscious contributes to my designs.



The boarders are light straw thicker band corduroy, crushed velvet (honestly... save yourself the torture and use something besides crushed velvet in your quilts!) and a solid kona cotton green.

This was my first attempt at creating a quilt without working from a pattern. The required brain power needed to accomplish this simple pattern brought me to a whole new level of respect for those amazing people out there that create patterns for the rest of us to follow. And, it TOTALLY sparked the urge to Crazy Quilt. I am planning to machine quilt it myself which will be another first (I usually hand quilt or tie)!

Photo Credits: All moi!

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Look How My Garden Grows!

Hello Green Things... we love eating you!



Please ignore the long grass...I was busy quilting this weekend and N. was out of town working on Sundance land.



Say...is that? Why yes, yes it is a baby broccoli crown.



And for a little color... orange begonia's. (Please continue to ignore the tall grass. Thank you.)



More orange...gerbera's, moss roses and something else I forgot the name of. I do have other colors of flowers, but today was all about the orange. It's Monday.

Photo Credit: is all mine and is the best I can do with my trusty snap shot camera, aka the iPhone. Posting pictures taken with my iPhone and of a snap shot nature is good for my health. Its a process of letting go and letting be. Thank you for working with me in this endeavor.

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Moving moving moving, get those feet a'moving...

Today began my official training for the Butte to Butte WALK with my prego  girlfriend Candice.  It may actually be the only time in our lives that we can walk together as she is a super fit runner, slowed down only by her brewing baby girl. I am so excited! It's a nice way to support each other in health and get a little extra girl time in. Oh and Bono (he does have all 4 paws, but he is a GREAT DANE and only one paw would fit in the pic) came along too!

So, for the first time in my history, I will be participating in an official race... holy crap! Ladies and gentlemen, I am telling you, it's just not wise to say never. At least in my life, I end up jumping out of airplanes, training for an OFFICIAL race,  and other assorted oddness when I do. That's a story for another time. 

Our 4 mile walk today was pretty mellow, it was an early, overcast morning. Cool but not raining! I took some springtime pictures along the way to share with you. Forgive the quality of the photos, best I can do with my trusty iPhone while trying to keep the heart rate up!

 

Those are Canada Geese, and their babies along the Willamette River.



A community garden looking good. Updated pics of our garden coming soon! 




We did indeed take a small sweet moment to stop and smell the wild roses along the path ... oh my the scent was all ROSE and heady indeed!




Roses growing in the Rose Garden.



More of the Rose Garden.

Ah, Spring! I am sure to have more pictures of our walks, which I will share. We are off to a good start! Say a small prayer or wish me luck as I once again dive into the unknown and challenge myself to do something new!

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Heritage Gorgeous

That gorgeous Peony brings my heart delight!
For several years now, it has lived in it's pot, carefully tended by me and my nostalgia. Never blooming, but I've remained ever hopeful. You see, that peony is from the ranch my Grandparents lived on for over 50 years. The place were my Dad grew up and I learned how to ride horseback. The endless miles of field and hours on end spent with Grandpa saying little more than a few words the whole time, but building volumes of understanding of and with each other. My first memories of an impressive, massive garden that you could actually eat out of were formed there. I adore the Ranch House (even though it is but a memory and another lucky family lives there now) to this day with it's basement filled with Grandma's canned goods and the ping pong table Dad made in his youth, and spiders or course. I learned the wonders of a barn, bales of hay and secret forts on that ranch. Days of library books checked out in droves for summer reading and Cinnamon Rolls baked by Grandma. For me, there was a sense of wonder and earthy freedom that came with that Ranch and my summer visits. Someday having a similar ranch is my dream. This year, finally, that lovely, gorgeous peony decided it was time to bloom. And with it, as always, bloom or no, comes a flood of precious childhood memories.

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All I can say is he's a charmer, a Snake Charmer.

If you are new to Malachi's story, you can read more here and here. Today, the pictures are worth a million words.

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Reflections on Gratitude, Perspective and Living in the Moment.

Since hearing the NPR story about the crossing of Martha Mason, I've been doing some serious thinking about gratitude, perspective and how to better live in my moment.


Martha crossed on May 4, 2009 a month before her 72nd birthday. She spent nearly 61 years of her life in an iron lung, the result of contracting polio at the age of 11. She told her doctors that she would do more than live her life with polio and the Iron Lung, she would live above it. She graduated from High School and College with High Honors. 

In 1994, voice-recognition software allowed Martha to write her autobiography and have a small measure of privacy despite being paralyzed from the neck down,  living full time in an iron lung dependent on the care received from others. Her memoirs, "Breath: Life in the Rhythm of an Iron Lung", was published in 2003 and was the focus of a documentary film in 2005.


On occasion, I slip into the very human and not so pretty habit of judging and comparing my life to others. Hearing Martha's story sent me to that less than lovely place first. "Thank Goodness I don't have to live life in an Iron Lung".

Martha's story is strong enough to survive that humaness. Her story is a clarion call - reminding me that it is what I make of life that matters, not the perceived hardships that come along the way. There is no need for comparisons, we all get the chance to experience the blessing of accepting and overcoming challenge. They look different on each person, but they are there, those opportunities, those lessons, those perceptions. It seems Martha made her Iron Lung a blessing, welcoming it into her life. I image, because it gave her life. As she says in the clip, "I never really give it a lot of thought." hmm Perspective. Acceptance and moving forward to embrace life. Wow. Thank you Martha!

Gratitude is a dynamic process. Giving and taking. Something our tradition spends a lot of time, teaching and energy on. Each ceremony includes a giveaway - the act of expressing gratitude. We are regularly reminded about all there is to be grateful for, and are given many opportunities to express ourselves in gratitude. Giving and taking. While I am often grateful, I am also forever a student of Gratitude. Of how to live more in the moment of giving and taking with a grateful heart. I like that it takes practice.

Thank you Martha, for reminding me to be grateful for my life - just as it is - and to see the blessing in anything that comes my way. Thank you for holding the mirror up for me to take a good look. I am grateful to have touched paths with you, through a radio new progam, the internet and your story. What a beautiful life.One person can make a difference and often never realizes the impact they have had on others. Breathe!

Have a day filled with gratitude, beauty and perspective everyone!
~Thea

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Snake Season Has Officially Begun

We go through the same thing every year. This sweet, fluffy, handsome creature....

Somehow manages to charm these into our house to keep him company. By somehow, I mean we have no idea how he does it. By charm, I mean he has a way with slimy, slithery things like slugs, snakes and earthworms.

Wherein I am forced to deal with them. Which means I take them away from Malachi (and return them to the great outdoors where they belong) which makes sweet, goofy Malachi something of a FROWNachi.

p.s. I think this snake will actually live to resist the charming call of Mr. M another day. You would think by now the snakes in the neighborhood would tell their young the story of the floofy creature with a charming and irresistible call that leads to snake certain death only after a long period of nauseating tossing-about-in-the-air and being pounced-upon. Certainly Malachi is a thing of myth and legend in this snake neighborhood!

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