PREGNANT BITCH - PART 1

This pregnancy has been over six years in the making. Initially, I wasn't even sure, I want to do it at all. But then my neighbors and even total strangers told me that I simply HAD TO do it. Eventually, I began to like the idea. But then the search for the perfect man started.

Let me tell you, it is hard to find a great guy in Los Angeles. Yeah, what else is new?!

Let's start at the beginning.... Initially, I wanted to adopt. But someone adopted my chosen boy right infront of my nose. Heartbroken, I started looking again. A little later, I received Schoko as a present (a chocolate Labrador). And she soon became my BFF!

People just love this dog and I have often been asked to breed her, so they could have a baby of hers but thinking of the vast amount of unwanted dogs in shelters, I was never really into it.

That all changed, when at the same time my Mom and another close friend of mine lost their BFF's and with Schoko being already over six years of age, I had to start facing the fact that she would be gone at some point as well and BOY, did I not like that. 

To me, she is a one of a kind dog: She is sweet, smart, loving, kind, fun, playful, loyal, easy to train, calm (I for one can't stand yappers or hyper dogs), beautiful, foregiving (most important characteristic if you have kids), good with dogs and people (little & big), with one word: Perfect!

As I said, we searched and searched... even considered stud services. Noone was ever good enough for my BFF. They were either snipped (which is the right thing to do!), not a Lab, not the right Labrador (had to be English), not a chocolate Labrador, not akc, of mixed breed or had other boxes unchecked.

Anyhow, the painful seach is over: We have found perfect boy for perfect girl: He is a English Chocolate Labrador Retriever, like her. We found him through Craigslist late last fall. His mom, Cheryl, was looking for a girl to breed her pretty boy to. She, too, is looking for a replacement of her perfect-dog. So it's not just me who wants to keep her doggie!

I am proudly announcing that Ms Schoko vom Taunus has started her heat on February 24, 2011 and if everything goes to plan, she will be pregnant and have puppies on or around April 28, 2011, my late Dad's birthday (ein Baby fuer Dich, Papa!).

Needless to say: We are very, very excited!!!

And here is Schoko with her MAN!

So, stay tuned and keep following the pregnant bitch...

"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis
55 AD - 138 AD

LURING FOOD CRISIS FOR THE NEXT DECADE

I get it: Not everyone is into saving the planet. Well, good for you that you have a second one in the trunk of your big FUV.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw


The most important global food staples are rice, wheat, soy and corn.

As always in agriculture, the weather conditions determine production. In 2010, we have had several failures: Russia and Ukraine region had a third of their wheat crop fail last summer, the Phillipines and other Pacific countries reported major crop failure as well due to storms (hint: global weirding), we are facing rising food and gas prices in 2011.

The USDA has even predicted that high food commodity prices are here to stay throughout the coming decade. How come?
High food prices are caused by government policies (agricultural output, choice of crops, and prices), supply and demand, rising energy prices, speculation, unsustainable population growth, the US dollar's value, and inflation rates which vary by nation. Current annual food inflation rates are globally at and above 10%; they are caused by overall growth rates and currency fluctuation of these individual countries as well as national policies concerning agriculture.

Diesel, fertilizer, pesticides, equipment, processing, manufacturing, refrigeration, storage, transport and infrastructure costs are a big part of modern agriculture and they are highly dependent upon fossil fuels.

Corn burning to produce ethanol while using coal and natural gas to distill the product is a political policy under the disguise of "green" to support corn prices. This US policy drives global high food prices since productive corn acres are not being used to produce food. High corn prices cause higher meat, dairy, wheat, and soy prices for consumers. It should not go unmentioned that corn is being fed to cows, making them sick and in the form of high corn fructose syrup it drives obesity. Shocking 35 million acres of corn fields are devoted to ethanol in the US.

Ergo: When corn crops fail, it becomes a domino effect: Higher prices for corn = higher prices for feed = higher prices for gas = higher prices for meat = higher prices for other crops.

What can be done, you ask? Well, government policies, encouraging smart foresight in planning to meet the challenges of future agricultural production (or the US will have their agricultural Detroit coming) and family planning (the question is not whether you can feed your seven children; it is whether the planet can sustain them and their children and grand-children and the answer is NO!)

But hey, most probably the Frankensteins will develop more SciFi food in an effort to remove the symptoms as opposed to dealing with the cause. . . In any event, I am SOO glad, we have started our little project. This way, I feel better about what goes into our mouths.


Remain ignornant (yeah, it's bliSS) or read on and do something:


"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis
55 AD - 138 AD



http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/02/15/is-the-world-producing-enough-food/corns-domino-effect

http://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/category/social-tags/world-food-price-crisis

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-02-21/farmers-fail-to-meet-demand-as-corn-stockpiles-drop-to-1974-low.html

http://www.harvestpublicmedia.org/article/361/world-moves-closer-food-price-shock/5

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/sri-lanka-says-rice-losses-at-35-percent/

http://www.alnap.org/pool/files/ALNAPLessonsFoodPriceCrisis.pdfhttp://www.worldbank.org/foodcrisis/

GOALS FOR 2011

As I have learnt working in Marketing with Procter & Gamble, you need to write down your goals to be able to achieve them. So, I made a list of (almost) all the projects, we are intending to complete in 2011 (not in any particular order). Please check in on our progress...

Legend:
Yellow font = in the process
Green font = has been completed
Red font = to be done next

* Clean up backyard from overgrown monster-ivy from neighbors (it was seriously taking over our backyard and pulls fence in and destroys walls ...)
* Pull the three huge palm trees out (see my post Reduce Reuse Recycle)
* Pull all other purely ornamental shrubs and trees out
* Terrace the backyard with two parallel running walls 
* Clean and move the pond from the front to the back - for our ducks
* Plant (self fertile) fruit trees and berry bushes (Persimmon, Pomegranate, Lemon, Orange, Apple, Pear, Plum, Nectarine, Apricot, Blueberry, Raspberry, Grapes)
* Build Chicken Coop
* Build Duck House
* Build Animal Enclosure
* Kiwi Arbor in front
* Build Worm Bin
* Build Compost Pile
* Get Khaki Campbell ducklings
* Get fertile Ameraucana eggs and hatch chicks
* Seed and transplant heirlooms Tomatoes, Scarlett Runner Beans, Corn, Asparagus, Artichoke, Red Cabbage, Peas, Leek, Cabbage, Chard, Brokkoli, Brussel Sprouts
* Pull lawn out in backyard
* Set up Bee Hive with a Carneolean Queen (less aggressive)

While working on one or another, don't drop too many of the other balls ....

"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

Tutorial - Bathroom Floormat - knit (from repurposed curtains)

In our new residence, all bedroom windows have pretty wooden blinds, while in our old place, I had sewn and hung curtains in Aurelia's room.

What to do with these old curtains? I am not a fan of the 'throw-away' mentality (growing up in 80's Frankfurt/M. thanks to Joschka and the gang, made me become an environmentalista) and so was thinking about how to recycle these.

I decided to recycle Aurelia's curtains into a bathroom floormat for the master bathroom, which still needs some (errr complete) remodeling. With that, I am also deciding on the colors, hehe (in theory). While I love them, Robert doesn't dig aqua-tones ...

#1 Rip or cut the fabric in strips, I made mine about one inch wide. While cutting won't leave you with all those frail threats, ripping is WAY more fun. Rippah-dee-dooo-uh! Rippah-dee-yay, my oh my what a recycling day ... (ok, I will stop).

#2 Tie them all together at the ends, thus creating a 'fabric yarn ball'.

#3 Knit or crochet or weave. I used super-large knitting needles; they are size 19 ... They are a tad awkward to handle.

#4 Spread, damp, pin and let dry.

#5 Voila. New bathroom floormat. Note: I haven't done #4 yet but wanted to show how it looks ...

With this fabric-strip technique, you can also weave and crochet. I chose knitting because it is somewhat more airy and thus the final item not so heavy.

Need some inspiration as to what to make?

I have made this bathroom floormat, but am thinking to do a grocery tote next. For the tote, I recommend to knit with an airy ajour-pattern or crochet with a pattern from granny's doily patterns since with all that fabric the item will get heavy. On the other hand, pick a pattern that ensures that the tomatoes won't fall out.

New hat and new 'hood

Since we are 'the new kids in' the neighborhood, we are still exploring everything. We feel very 'Dora the explorer' about it. Typically I pack a bag (not a backpack, though) with all sorts of stuff (usually sunscream, food, water and books) in it and we have picnic wherever we end up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W444_V7ETnA

Recently, we hiked and discovered that there is a playground on (almost) top of the mountain, right at the beginning of the (real) hike trail. It's so beautiful.

While Schoko was dieing to go chasing rabbits (which of course we didn't let her), we had picnic.

When we got home, Aurelia decided she needed a new hat. It better be pink, it's for girls, duh. So, we went through all the yarns and found a few balls that we combined to create a new effect. Et voila.

You can get one for yourself, here ...  http://www.etsy.com/shop/countrygirl71

"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

Recipe - SWEETS FOR YOUR SWEET (Tiramisu - 'Lift me up')

Ingredients:
3 Egg yolks
1/3 cup of powdered sugar - you can use regular sugar but it may feel like eating sand
1 1/3 cup of Mascarpone - tricky to get, Whole Foods is where I get mine
1 pack of lady finger biscuits
2 cups of cold black coffee
couple tablespoons of Amaretto - I believe that is the 'lift me up' part
Cocoa - make sure you get the right dark colored real cocoa, not the sugar infused light brown powder. It simply is not the same without the real cocoa. Your local grocery store is unlikely to carry it, Whole Foods may be a good adress to look for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjNiIvUEtIw

#1 Beat egg yolks and sugar. Gently stir Mascarpone in.
(Variation: Some people add a tad of lemon juice to the cream but I was told real Italians don't. I have tried it but didn't like it with lemon. So, my reco is to stay puristic.)

#2 Mix coffee with Amaretto.

#3 Put half of the biscuits in a dish, soak them with the liquids.

#4 Pour 1/2 of the cream over.

#5 Layer soaked biscuits again and end with cream.

#6 Everything goes in the fridge for a few hours.

#7 Before you serve, sprinkle with cocoa.



"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis

You say po-tay-toe, I say po-tuh-toe

From one of my last year's Farmer's Market visits, we had some leftover potatoes, purple skin-purle flesh ones, which had started developping some eyes.

After developping eyes, the concentration of glycoalkaloid can have toxic effects in humans, so we didn't use them for food but I didn't want to toss them when we still lived in the apartment because I was hopefull to be able to plant and grow them once we moved to our property.

Potatoes don't grow from seed. They grow from eyes of potatoes, which is why some people don't throw potatoe peels into a worm bin. The potatoe will start growing.

To plant these nightshades, they need to have developped a couple of nice eyes. Then simply cut them in a way that each piece has at least one good eye.

Potatoes like sandy soil that is easy to work. Since I didn't have too many potatoes, I decided to grow them in a large container.

We mixed sand with soil and put these guys in.

Let's see what happens to grow . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2oEmPP5dTM

"Nature never says one thing and wisdom another." Decimus Junius Juvenalis