Author: louisaenright

I am passionate about whole, nutrient-dense foods, developing local markets, and strengthening communities.

Interesting Information: Why Not To Buy Cut Flowers

Interesting Information:  February 13, 2014

Why Not To Buy Cut Flowers

 

I had no more put up a picture of a vase of cut flowers to which I had treated myself–a practice I do from time to time in the winter–when a post came in from Dr. Joseph Mercola saying NOT TO BUY cut flowers for a loved one for Valentine’s Day.

Why?

They are chock full of pesticides!

And, of course, HOW they are grown is also an issue–lots of fertilizers that spoil the soil, etc.

Here, again, are my pretty flowers:

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Enjoy the sight, as I’m not buying any more.

It makes sense, of course.  Mercola writes that if at a border/port inspection, the inspectors detect one tiny little bug, the whole shipment is rejected.  So, growers and shippers drench the flowers with pesticides.   I hope you are remembering the recent post I put up about statistics that worry me.  If so, you’ll know that we have got to back ourselves out of the system that is poisoning us in countless ways.  And, know that even tiny amounts of these harmful chemicals are…really harmful.

There is a new documentary out that I am planning to see as it is going to be shown locally.  Take a look at the trailer for Unacceptable Levels:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVB6XSyBTVE.  Their web is http://www.unacceptablelevels.com/.

Secondly, the pesticide issue is one thing–a BIG thing, but, again, I was ALSO not practicing what I preach–which is to live within the seasons, to live sustainably.  Cut flowers (like out-of-season fruit) are shipped in here from across the world–which is a terrible use of energy that we are depleating way too fast.  What was I thinking?  NOT…

So, I’ll be living without flowers in the winter from now on.

Here’s Mercola’s post:   http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/02/11/cut-flower-pesticides.aspx

Turkey Tracks: “Celtic Solstice” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  February 13, 2014

Celtic Solstice Quilt

“Celtic Solstice” is Bonnie Hunter’s 2013 Mystery Quilt.  Bonnie writes a few weeks before Thanksgiving about fabric choices and releases the first “clue”–which unit we will make first–the day after Thanksgiving.  Then we are off and running–making hundreds of units each week until she reveals the finished quilt and how to put it together sometime before New Year’s.  Some of us finish right away; others take longer as life circumstances are all different.  We had the option to sign up for a Facebook “secret”/closed group to connect with other quilters making CS, and I have to say I have really enjoyed seeing their comments, their work, their different color choices, and the many different ways they put together the quilt.  Some reversed the chevron unit, which made that block more like a star, for instance.  And there were many, many different border treatments.

My CS has been finished for about two weeks now, and it’s been hard not to “share” it here until I could send it to DIL Tamara Kelly Enright for her February 12th birthday.  Tami KELLY Enright is part of the amazing Kelly Clan of Charleston, SC–which has been a boon for all the Enrights.

Two of my friends held it upright at our last quilt meeting as I can rarely get this kind of a shot of a quilt.

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Bonnie designed this quilt after a trip to Ireland last summer.  You can see that it has the colors of the Irish Flag (green, orange, white) and that blue figures prominently.

Here’s what it looks like thrown over a queen-sized bed.

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This is a two-block quilt.  Each block is a nine-patch–and you can see them in this picture.  The block with the green square on point is a Bonnie Hunter design and has appeared in a recent book from Quiltmaker magazine (I think that’s right) of 100 blocks.  The star block–see the blue points with the orange and green four-patch in the middle–is made with Tri-Rec rulers and forms the blue circles.

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Here is a close-up of the very interesting border–and you can see that I quilted with a medium green thread–using a pantograph called “Circle of Life” ordered from Urban Elementz.  I specifically wanted a pantograph with this “New Grange” circle symbol for this quilt.  (New Grange, in Ireland, is an ancient site where the solstice light figures prominently during the solstice.)

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Here’s the backing, binding, and the quilt.  I chose this bright orange backing because I know that Tami likes orange and bright colors AND BECAUSE IT HAS FAIRY BEES all over it.  Tami is a bee keeper and Executive Director of The Bee Cause Project in Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA.   See their url:  http://www.thebeecause.org/home.html.

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And, the other way:

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Here’s a close-up of the fairy bees:

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I knew very early that this quilt had to go to Tami.  I could hear John whispering in my ears–she’s a Kelly for Heaven’s Sake.  And while there are MANY of my quilts in Tami’s home, even one I made for her when she was pregnant with Bowen, there isn’t a big one that’s just for her.   And I didn’t realize until recently that she likes BRIGHT quilts.

Tami was hard hit with the loss of John–they had a very special relationship, and I’m so glad she could come spend time with him not long before he died.  I put this old Irish poem on the label for her:

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And our loved ones do not totally disappear.  We hear their voices inside ourselves all the time.  They have just gone on before us, to prepare our way.

I have so enjoyed making this quilt and so look forward to next year’s Bonnie Hunter mystery.  Meanwhile, Bonnie’s other mystery quilts are in her books, and there are many I would truly love to make.

Thanks, Bonnie!

Turkey Tracks: Diva Update and Winter Pleasures

Turkey Tracks:  February 10, 2014

DIVA UPDATE and WINTER PLEASURES

 

The Diva Queenie continues to heal and hang out.  She is picking up weight not and is noticeably heavier when I pick her up.

If I’m going to be in the kitchen at all, I let her out, and she strolls around investigating, flying up to the counters (where she is immediately removed), and following my shoes and picking at the buckles.  I’ve almost stepped on her at least twice.

Here she is with the straw basket that is driving her crazy.

Winter pleasures include pulling a bag of frozen tomatoes out of the freezer so a few can grace a lamb stew.  What a treat in mid-winter.  I also put in some of my dried zucchini and frozen green beans.

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AND, winter pleasures include a bunch of flowers.  These did double duty–at the Coastal Quilters Meeting last Saturday and, now, in my dining room–with all the snow outside.

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Actually, that picture shows a line of turkeys coming into the yard.  I have about twenty to thirty around the house most days–which is another winter pleasure.  This morning they all talked to me as I let out the chickens.

Interesting Information: Some Supplement Dangers

Interesting Information:  February 10, 2014

Some Supplement Dangers

Calcium, Vitamin D, Folic Acid

 

Shane Ellison is The People’s Chemist and has a blog with that name.

Shane Ellison is brash and angry, but he’s also very smart.  And he’s had a bird’s eye view of Big Pharma products as he worked in a big industry lab until he saw that the dangers he was finding were going to be ignored and those products were still to be sold regardless of their danger.  That’s where his anger comes from, I think, and since I have a lot of it myself–it is simply incredulous to me that poison is allowed to be sold, put on plants, put on our food, put on our soil, put into our water, put into our air, put into our veins, and so forth–I can overlook how he sometimes chooses to express himself.

In the post below, Shane takes on the wide-spread supplements that are themselves harmful or are harmful as being given.  I’ve read this information elsewhere, many times, so I don’t doubt it.  But Shane’s synopsis of what’s wrong is instructive and ALL IN ONE PLACE.   One takaway is DO NOT TAKE A COMMERCIAL MULTI-VITAMIN.

Shane sells supplements, so you can skip the ads and the video if you like.  That he sells things does not negate what he’s saying about crappy supplements and their impact on the body.  He has a weight-loss system that is built on regulating hormones, and hormone imbalances are what cause obesity.  The trick is to STOP eating what’s causing your body to gain weight, and in most cases, that’s too many starchy carbs.  Maybe Shane’s system also helps.  I do not know.

Anyway, here’s the url with the above-mentioned good information:

Daily Dose – Store » | ThePeoplesChemist.com.

Blog Readers’ Quilts and Quilting Information: Lunch Bags!

Blog REaders’ Quilts and Quilting Information:  February 10, 2014

Lunch Bags!

Red Flannel Pantry has done it again.

Another great idea and fun sewing project:  making lunch bags.

RFP discovered that oil cloth has phthalates in the fabric coating, so has come up with a grand solution.

Take a look?

CLICK ON THIS URL FOR THE FULL POST:

red flannel pantry | red flannel pantry.

Interesting Information: Statistics that Scare Me

Interesting Information:  February 6, 2014

Statistics That Scare Me

 

1 out of 2 people are now getting cancer–so don’t for a moment think we are “winning” the “war” on cancer.  Or, curing it once you’ve gotten it.  The “standards of care” cures are horrific and carry their own horrors.

Interesting documentaries to watch:  both the Burzynski documentaries as they show that the cancer industry is not interested in a bona-fide cure that means they don’t make money and will do anything to stop such a marvelous thing from happening.

1 out of 50 children now have autism according to the May 2013 statistics from the CDC.  And, no, these figures are not because there are better diagnostic tools.

1 out of 6 children now have a neurological issue.

See the documentary, The Greater Good

The United States has an abysmal infant mortality rate–the worst among the other industrialized nations.  Take a look at this graph from The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/01/09/graph-of-the-day-the-united-states-has-a-really-high-infant-mortality-rate/

And, for some reasons why, see the documentary The Business of Being Born

* * *

We didn’t get here by accident.

There has been a long, slow change in the structures of how we organize our society.  If you want to understand those changes, those structures, take 90 minutes and watch Robert Reich’s Inequality for All, which quickly dispenses with the Democrat/GOP divide and gets to the historical heart of what has happened.  Understanding a problem is the first step toward solving it.

Best of all is that Reich leaves us with tremendous hope that something can be done, that change can occur, that we can all get out of the now-hot water that is scalding us.

When he is asked what other country we should emulate to get out of our mess, Reich says “America.”

That would be the America of my youth.

Bravo!

 

Blog Readers’ Quilts and Quilting Information: Oh No! Kaffe Fasset Fabrics Degraded

Blog Readers’ Quilts and Quilting Information:  February 6, 2014

Oh NO!

Kaffe Fasset Fabrics Degraded

 

I love Kaffe Fasset fabrics.

I love all of the Fasset books.

I love COLOR!  And the Fasset fabrics are all about COLOR.

I’ve made many a quilt with Fasset fabrics and thought to make many more.

But I’m not buying Fasset fabrics any more.

Here’s why:

Fasset fabrics are no longer 44-45 inches wide, but are now 40 inches wide.

The price is the same.  Or, more.

Most importantly, Fasset has changed to a cheaper griege, or the grey goods that get dyed to make the fabric.  The quality of the griege is what makes a fabric sturdy.  And you have only to look at some of the newer Fasset fabrics to see the difference.  I just bought some polka-dot Fasset fabrics, and they are like gauze.  NO WAY AM I PAYING $10 OR MORE DOLLARS A YARD FOR GAUZE.  I don’t care how “pretty” it is.

I found the Fasset email address and wrote to calmly say why I would no longer be buying Fasset fabric.  And I hope you take a look at the new fabrics, look at the quality and the width, and write him for yourself:  www.kaffefassetstudio.com.

In addition, Amy Butler is part of the Fasset group of artists.  I have refused to buy her fabric or her patterns for some years now.  I believe that when you sell a pattern or fabric, you’re done.  I do not believe you can threaten customers with law suits if they make something from your pattern or fabric and sell it, show it, or whatever.

And, yes, I shared in my email that I also refuse to buy anything of Amy Butler’s.

* * *

Fasset and Butler have gone too far.

They have become too greedy.

As customers, we have to protest and refuse to buy their goods.

It’s the only way to get them back in all their glory.

Turkey Tracks: Snowy Owls in Maine

Turkey Tracks:  February 6, 2014

Snowy Owls in Maine

We’ve had Snowy Owls in Maine this winter.

We don’t usually see them in the “lower 48.”  They are more present in Canada.

One was rescued off the end of the airport runway in Portland, fed, and released.

Their wing span is HUGE.

And of course, they are so dramatic.

Best of all, we have some very near Camden.

Friend and internationally recognized, amazing quilter Sarah Ann Smith took at artist trip, camera in hand, this week out to where Snowy Owls had been spotted.

This picture is from her very-good blog:

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As her blog story tells, there are about three of these owls wintering right near each other.

I think you can get to Sarah’s blog post with this url.  If not she’s easy to google.  The entry was made on Feb. 4th and has lots of pictures of the owls.

http://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/?p=9029

So enjoy Sarah’s blog.  She is extraordinarily generous with her time, help, and talents.  We are so lucky to have her as a fellow member of Coastal Quilters.  And, I am lucky to have her as a friend.

Sarah is primarily an art quilter, but she can make a wonderful bed/lap quilt, too.  Her book and DVD are about machine quilting, of which she is a master.

I wonder if an owl quilt is in her future?

I hope so.

Interesting Information: Mercola Post: Widely Used Antacids Can Cause Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Interesting Information:  February 5, 2014

Mercola Post:

Widely Used Antacids Can Cause Vitamin B12 Deficiency

 

Two observations:

1.  I think that the information Joseph Mercola puts out and his free web site is a real gift.  I do NOT agree with everything Mercola says, but DO think that he has amassed a really useful archive that should always be considered.  And the points where I disagree are small.  I think REAL fermented cod liver oil is far better than any fish oil, and I am not at all sure that a lot of raw food can be fully assimilated by our bodies.  And it’s clear that too much raw food, especially fruit, causes nutrient deficiencies and a lot of cavities.  These differences are where I would favor information and analysis on The Weston A. Price Foundation over Mercola, and the WAPF folks argue that cooked food often has nutrients that are more available to our bodies.  Having said that, I love a good salad and am not suggesting that ALL food should be cooked.

 If you want to read the Mercola/Weston A. Price Foundation debate on cod-liver/fish oil, the WAPF web site has it.

2.  I am fascinated by how often an issue arises in my life and in a few days, the universe throws up useful information about the issue.  Not even a week ago, I was in a discussion about the role of stomach acid in digestion.  And in came this Mercola post.

Mercola’s post here has some new information on why antacids are NOT a good idea.  Specifically, they set into place the depletion of vitamin B12.  Can I just say that if you are not processing or cannot process and use B12, you get dementia.  And I can tell you that that is exactly what happened to my father.

There is now a host of information about how wrong mainstream medicine is with regard to the treatment of GERD, or Acid Reflux.  It’s not caused by too much stomach acid, but by too little.  (I know that I have written about this issue more than once.)  And it does not matter WHY you have GERD or indigestion, the solution is still MORE stomach acid–except in some truly rare cases.  I keep Betaine HCL with Pepsin on hand for the rare occasions when something runs amuk in my body, and I feel I have indigestion.  You can buy it at any supplement store.

 

So, if you have indigestion of any kind, before you reach for an antacid, do your body a favor and read this Mercola post.  Then go to The Weston A. Price Foundation archive and google Acid Reflux.  Then try to figure out WHAT you ate that is causing you trouble–and err on the side of bone broths and clean foods that do not come in a box or can.

Widely Used Antacids Can Cause Vitamin B12 Deficiency.

And also bear in mind that doctors ONLY KNOW what they have been taught and most don’t have time or skills to research this issue.  The drug companies are the “teachers” here, and they are making a HUGE profit on these antacid drugs.

Books, Documentaries, Reviews: THE GOLDFINCH, Donna Tartt–and MORE

Books, Documentaries, Reviews:  February 5, 2014

The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt

And MORE

I promised several people I would report back on what I thought about The Goldfinch.

It’s a BIG novel–some 700 pages.

I loved it.  I loved every page of it.  I was sad to see it finished.

Many themes run through this novel.  Some are listed below:

The long-term impact of the sudden, violent loss of the mother for a child.

The long-term impact of being within a sudden, violent episode–being in close proximity of a bomb going off inside a building.

The long-term impact of having an irresponsible parent in charge of you–with no way out really.

The growing up, the life journey to maturity (whatever that is) wherein you come to grips with how much you are like the irresponsible parent you hate and how much you have refused to see that person’s good points.

The role of strangers in our lives–strangers who make a huge difference.

The depth of a friendship forged within situations that neither person can fully control and what is done to survive.  Or, to hide and just make it all go away.

The role of art, of a painting, in our lives.

Where is good really located in our lives?  And, where evil?   And can good come out of bad?

What does it mean to love without judgment?

I could go on.  And on.

* * *

So, I am reading Jeffrey Eugenides The Marriage Plot before going to sleep at night.  And, enjoying it so far.

Here’s a review:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/books/review/the-marriage-plot-by-jeffrey-eugenides-book-review.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

I’m listening to Alice Munro’s Dear Life while I quilt.  I started it yesterday afternoon–I had to wait my turn to download it on the Maine Library Systems audio book downloads.  I sewed until almost 8 p.m. before stopping to organize some dinner as I was enjoying it so much.  I love Munro’s short stories.  They are brilliant.  And, warrant listening to more than once as they are like a movie, in that the first viewing is an assault and you can’t take it all in, so you have to see the movie–read the story–twice.

Dear Life is the book club’s selection this month–and our meeting is Friday, so I’m going to be sewing a lot today.

While waiting for Dear Life, I downloaded another library audio book:  a P.D. James–An Unsuitable Job For A Woman (1972)–one of the Cordella Grey mysteries.  The depth of James is a pleasure to read/hear.

Having someone read a book to me recalls the pleasure I felt when my mother read to us growing up–which she did constantly.  The all-time favorite was Gene Stratton Porter’s Laddie, which I love to this day.  I read it to my mother not long before she died, while she rested on her back porch, and we laughed and pleasured our way through it.