An interesting thing happended to me the first week of June: I found out I have a vitamin B12 deficiency. I'm not a vegetarian, I'm not a vegan -- I do eat meat products once a day and I eat red meat usually twice a week.
I found out because I signed up for a program here in Ontario to get complete physicals to those who do not have a family physician. So we signed up with a nurse practicioner about 30 km away. No more sitting in the emergency waiting room when wondering if the cold I have is maybe pneumonia or bronchitis. The first phase of the complete physical is a complete round of tests -- six vials of blood -- but my insulin level is okay, so is iron, my cholestral is a little high. I'll get more definitive information on the start of heart and circulatory system when the cardiologist comes back from summer vacation. But the NP called me in when she found I had the vitamin B12 deficiency.
So why is vitamin B12 important? It impacts red blood cell development, your metalobolism (and subsequently your energy level), and your circadian cycle (sleeping through the night!). It also affects your nervous system too.
On the NP's recommendation, I went to a health food store and got a substantial vitamin B12 supplement. Since taking it I've noticed a real increase in energy (I do stuff in the morning, afternoon, and evening), sleeping better (usually a solid four hours before stirring away for a needed run to the washroom), a change in appetite so that cravings for high-energy (and often high-calorie) foods have vastly decreased, more stamina when I'm out bicycling, and less tingling in my arms and hands.
I still have to find out why my body has gotten so bad at absorbing vitamin B12. The health food store owner said that as we age we produce less of the enzymes needed to absorb vitamin B12 from food. I don't know if there is any healthy way to reverse/ameliorate that.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Massive Diabetes Association Donation
I should have taken a picture: two stuffed boxes and four garbage bags that filled the bench on our porch. All gone now, taken by the Canadian Diabetes Association, who will sell it to Value Village, who will sell it to thrifty shoppers.
One bag was clothes and cloth. Another was a bread maker: I do no-knead artisan bread all the time now and I can store the pot I use for it where the bread maker used to be. The third bag contained a rice cooker: it did the rice nice enough, but it was horrible to clean the cover and my thermal cooker does a nicer job with far less mess and a lot less energy too; I'm storing a classic cast iron Dutch oven that I just purchased at a yard sale in that space. The fourth bag was a big plastic grater/strainer thing that I never used. I'll appreciate having the storage space back, probably for food stock-up (beans that I can cook in the Dutch oven in our fire pit if the Catastrophe comes).
One box I started several months ago with a few items that never gotten taken when offered on Freecycle. I kept adding more things as I came across them this spring: travel Scrabble which we never use, a cream whipper which uses gas cartridges (my manual egg beater works just fine for small amounts of cream), an expandable plastic water carrier, and other things I don't remember because that's how important they were to me!
The last box had a wicker wine rack we never used, a light we never used, and some books I'd not yet taken in to the library for their semi-annual book sales.
One bag was clothes and cloth. Another was a bread maker: I do no-knead artisan bread all the time now and I can store the pot I use for it where the bread maker used to be. The third bag contained a rice cooker: it did the rice nice enough, but it was horrible to clean the cover and my thermal cooker does a nicer job with far less mess and a lot less energy too; I'm storing a classic cast iron Dutch oven that I just purchased at a yard sale in that space. The fourth bag was a big plastic grater/strainer thing that I never used. I'll appreciate having the storage space back, probably for food stock-up (beans that I can cook in the Dutch oven in our fire pit if the Catastrophe comes).
One box I started several months ago with a few items that never gotten taken when offered on Freecycle. I kept adding more things as I came across them this spring: travel Scrabble which we never use, a cream whipper which uses gas cartridges (my manual egg beater works just fine for small amounts of cream), an expandable plastic water carrier, and other things I don't remember because that's how important they were to me!
The last box had a wicker wine rack we never used, a light we never used, and some books I'd not yet taken in to the library for their semi-annual book sales.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The Hell of Asparagus
So I had to pick the beginning of heat spell to make an opportune purchase of 10 asparagus crowns at the farmers' market.
Then I had to plant them...
... but first I had to decide where to put the asparagus bed.
Oh, did I mention that we've been having a very dry spring so the ground is turning into a brick? Each asparagus crown requires a square foot. They have to be placed 8 inches below the ground surface -- and covered over two inches at time as they grow. That's a lot of shovelling! I'm glad I didn't buy 20 or 30 crowns!
I wandered around with my tape measure in hand, finding plenty of spaces that wouldn't work. I didn't really relish digging up a 2 foot by 10 foot patch of heavy sod (I have heavy sod because we don't water our grass, which forces it to root to about 4" below the surface). Then, aha, the space between the two melon boxes spanned by a trellis and covered with boards that do a mediocre job of stifling the couch grass. I measured it: 36 inches by 60 inches. I took up the boards and on Sunday night I watered the spot so it would be softer to dig.
Monday morning I was out before 7 am. I watered the would-be asparagus patch again and then went on to water everything else that I had planted the night before because Sunday had been the big Ecology Park plant sale and I bought 14 tomato plants, 4 pepper plants, 4 parsley, a wild plum tree, and a blueberry bush and they all had to be planted before the heat got them.
I got out the big garden cart to hold the dirt that I would be layering back into the patch, a spade, a round tip shovel (holds more dirt than the spade and a longer reach for dumping into the cart), and a bin for the couch grass and bindweed roots that would go out as green waste and not into my compost heap. Our local green waste program does high-temperature composting; my humble piles can't reliably cook things such as bindweed and couch grass roots.
The watering I had done softened up the patch nicely (and the boards had hoarded some moisture in the soil as well). It's sandy loamy. I cut the long side of the rectangle between the two boxes with the shovel, then another line a shovel blade length in. I got into a rhythm of cut a scoop, throw it into the big cart, shake dirt off the roots and/or pull them out of the soil, and toss the roots into the bin.
Only two thirds of dirt was removed when the big cart filled up. So I toddled off the get the smaller cart off the shop shed wall. I got the patch dug out and leveled at several inches below the sod root line. How to keep the couch grass and bindweed invading the new patch? I had plastic corrugated board from the box my greenhouse came in two years ago, so I cut lengths of that to line the empty patch (with overlapping ends) and keep out invasive roots.
By then the sweat was pouring off me, the sun was beginning to fully hit the patch area, and it wasn't even 9 in the morning. Should I plant the roots or wait until evening? If I put down the little heaps of compost that the crowns would rest on and I dampened the roots, they should be all right. I filled a bucket with compost and made 10 little mounds. The crowns were in a plastic bag; keeping them in the cellar had kept them from drying out. I put some water over them. I laid out the crowns two at a time and quickly covered them with soil from the smaller cart. The last third of the cart I dumped in the middle of the patch and then smoothed. I soaked it down and covered it over with the melon trellis so the neighborhood cats wouldn't use it as a litter box.
I'll see if I score an asparagus heaven in two years' time!
Then I had to plant them...
... but first I had to decide where to put the asparagus bed.
Oh, did I mention that we've been having a very dry spring so the ground is turning into a brick? Each asparagus crown requires a square foot. They have to be placed 8 inches below the ground surface -- and covered over two inches at time as they grow. That's a lot of shovelling! I'm glad I didn't buy 20 or 30 crowns!
I wandered around with my tape measure in hand, finding plenty of spaces that wouldn't work. I didn't really relish digging up a 2 foot by 10 foot patch of heavy sod (I have heavy sod because we don't water our grass, which forces it to root to about 4" below the surface). Then, aha, the space between the two melon boxes spanned by a trellis and covered with boards that do a mediocre job of stifling the couch grass. I measured it: 36 inches by 60 inches. I took up the boards and on Sunday night I watered the spot so it would be softer to dig.
Monday morning I was out before 7 am. I watered the would-be asparagus patch again and then went on to water everything else that I had planted the night before because Sunday had been the big Ecology Park plant sale and I bought 14 tomato plants, 4 pepper plants, 4 parsley, a wild plum tree, and a blueberry bush and they all had to be planted before the heat got them.
I got out the big garden cart to hold the dirt that I would be layering back into the patch, a spade, a round tip shovel (holds more dirt than the spade and a longer reach for dumping into the cart), and a bin for the couch grass and bindweed roots that would go out as green waste and not into my compost heap. Our local green waste program does high-temperature composting; my humble piles can't reliably cook things such as bindweed and couch grass roots.
The watering I had done softened up the patch nicely (and the boards had hoarded some moisture in the soil as well). It's sandy loamy. I cut the long side of the rectangle between the two boxes with the shovel, then another line a shovel blade length in. I got into a rhythm of cut a scoop, throw it into the big cart, shake dirt off the roots and/or pull them out of the soil, and toss the roots into the bin.
Only two thirds of dirt was removed when the big cart filled up. So I toddled off the get the smaller cart off the shop shed wall. I got the patch dug out and leveled at several inches below the sod root line. How to keep the couch grass and bindweed invading the new patch? I had plastic corrugated board from the box my greenhouse came in two years ago, so I cut lengths of that to line the empty patch (with overlapping ends) and keep out invasive roots.
By then the sweat was pouring off me, the sun was beginning to fully hit the patch area, and it wasn't even 9 in the morning. Should I plant the roots or wait until evening? If I put down the little heaps of compost that the crowns would rest on and I dampened the roots, they should be all right. I filled a bucket with compost and made 10 little mounds. The crowns were in a plastic bag; keeping them in the cellar had kept them from drying out. I put some water over them. I laid out the crowns two at a time and quickly covered them with soil from the smaller cart. The last third of the cart I dumped in the middle of the patch and then smoothed. I soaked it down and covered it over with the melon trellis so the neighborhood cats wouldn't use it as a litter box.
I'll see if I score an asparagus heaven in two years' time!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Dandelion and Other Wines
The dandelions have been popping their blooms two weeks ahead of time. I went out today to harvest two quarts of petals for a gallon (five bottles) of wine.
It's a lot of work. I'm not clear how I was able to do two batches of wine last year. Maybe I just don't have the energy I had in early May last year. Maybe my biological clock is not in sync with the early warm weather here (though it still gets cool at night).
It's important to get full-blown yellow bloom for the most flavor. You don't want to get any green leaves or stems mixed in with them either or you'll have bitter wine. I have some small scissors that are just perfect to clip the petals and leave the stem and all the little green leaves that form the outside of the blossom bud behind.
It seems this year that the blooms are smaller. Many are closer to quarters rather than being bigger than loonies. That means nearly twice as many blooms are needed to make two quarts.
I'm hoping I get good elderflowers this year. You only need twenty bloom heads to make a gallon of wine. Easy-peasy compared to the two thousand or so dandelion blooms I clipped!
Then there's rhubarb. It makes a wine that you can combine with other wines and it will take on their flavor. I know that rhubarb ade made with an elderflower in it tastes divine. Or possibly with a spearmint wine -- if my spearmint spreads like the peppermint does. (Peppermint I prefer for tea.)
All something to think about as I have a glass of rhubarb ade (from last year's concentrate) and read some of The DaVinci Code in the sun outside.
It's a lot of work. I'm not clear how I was able to do two batches of wine last year. Maybe I just don't have the energy I had in early May last year. Maybe my biological clock is not in sync with the early warm weather here (though it still gets cool at night).
It's important to get full-blown yellow bloom for the most flavor. You don't want to get any green leaves or stems mixed in with them either or you'll have bitter wine. I have some small scissors that are just perfect to clip the petals and leave the stem and all the little green leaves that form the outside of the blossom bud behind.
It seems this year that the blooms are smaller. Many are closer to quarters rather than being bigger than loonies. That means nearly twice as many blooms are needed to make two quarts.
I'm hoping I get good elderflowers this year. You only need twenty bloom heads to make a gallon of wine. Easy-peasy compared to the two thousand or so dandelion blooms I clipped!
Then there's rhubarb. It makes a wine that you can combine with other wines and it will take on their flavor. I know that rhubarb ade made with an elderflower in it tastes divine. Or possibly with a spearmint wine -- if my spearmint spreads like the peppermint does. (Peppermint I prefer for tea.)
All something to think about as I have a glass of rhubarb ade (from last year's concentrate) and read some of The DaVinci Code in the sun outside.
Is This Really April?
It was unseasonally warm where we were on vacation: highs in the nineties (Fahrenheit) in Williamsburg, Virginia the last three days we were there. It was unseasonally warm here in Peterbrough as well. We came back the Wednesday after Easter. I hastily uncovered the garlic and the herbs. I got out the heat mat and began sprouting seeds.
It's now the last week of April. Our grass could really use a cut. The rhubarb is almost ready to pick. The dandelions are ready to pick for wine -- it wasn't until Mother's Day last year that they were ready. By Mother's Day this year they will be all fluff and gone.
I've got strawberries blossoming. I covered them one night we had frost so they wouldn't all die. Will I finally get red currents this year? I don't know. It looks like the bush is blossoming but I'm hoping it's not done it too soon.
I put my tomato seedlings in the green house -- after I fixed the vent lifter. Without venting, the inside temperature easily tops 100 F.
As far as April showers bringing any May flowers ... we haven't had any rain for nearly two weeks. The one rain we did have only half-filled one of my two rain barrels.
At least I'm not worrying that the hose will freeze overnight. It's just not getting that cold.
It's now the last week of April. Our grass could really use a cut. The rhubarb is almost ready to pick. The dandelions are ready to pick for wine -- it wasn't until Mother's Day last year that they were ready. By Mother's Day this year they will be all fluff and gone.
I've got strawberries blossoming. I covered them one night we had frost so they wouldn't all die. Will I finally get red currents this year? I don't know. It looks like the bush is blossoming but I'm hoping it's not done it too soon.
I put my tomato seedlings in the green house -- after I fixed the vent lifter. Without venting, the inside temperature easily tops 100 F.
As far as April showers bringing any May flowers ... we haven't had any rain for nearly two weeks. The one rain we did have only half-filled one of my two rain barrels.
At least I'm not worrying that the hose will freeze overnight. It's just not getting that cold.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Eating Down the Fridge
In two weeks we'll be gone away for more than a month. I want to have the fridge empty and turn it off when we go.
Yes, we'll "cheat" by throwing some things in the freezer, but that's all right and is the last resort.
Some of the things we'll have "eat down":
Afternote: the fridge did not get completely eaten down. My husband was adamant that we not turn it off while we were away. We did lower the temperature and I was able to wash out bins and clean a couple of shelves. It was a much nicer fridge to come home to.
Yes, we'll "cheat" by throwing some things in the freezer, but that's all right and is the last resort.
Some of the things we'll have "eat down":
- eggs
- milk (extra bag(s) go in the freezer)
- mushrooms (last will probably go on travel pizza)
- peppers of all colours (last will go on the travel pizza)
- andouille sausage -- one portion will probably go in the freezer downstairs
- cheese
- margarine
- citrus
- apples
- broccoli
- carrots
- zucchini
- pickles (maybe a small amount will travel with us)
- canned fruit
- jam
- baking yeast (into cold storage for that)
- hemp seeds (freezer)
- salad dressing (travel with us?)
- celery
- roasted red pepper sauce
- relish
- chipolte mustard
- soy sauce
- fish sauce
- lemon juice
- frozen veg (to the freezer of course)
- frozen seafood (ditto)
- frozen meat (ditto)
- frozen fruit (ditto)
Afternote: the fridge did not get completely eaten down. My husband was adamant that we not turn it off while we were away. We did lower the temperature and I was able to wash out bins and clean a couple of shelves. It was a much nicer fridge to come home to.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
The Electronics De-clutter
My husband has a room that he uses as an office and a studio. He took out all the old lathe and plaster and partial cellulose insulation. After building out the wall studs to 6 inches, he insulated, vapor-barriered, sheathed in OSB, applied pine paneling, painted and over-stained. The wall now look great and it is the warmest room in the house.
He's also gotten rid of a lot of other stuff. The electronics de-clutter began because he wanted to get rid of a metal secretary cabinet that had sorts of old things in it: a couple of inkjet printers with their dried-out cartridges, cables, dried-out dry-erase markers. I had a bag of obsolete computer stuff upstairs.
Then when we began putting the pile together so I could move it to the car a half dozen more boxes and things came out of the renovated room: an old music keyboard with one irreparable key, a subwoofer, a couple of speakers, a box of auxillary cards, a box of old modems and cables, a small bag of old inkjet cartridges. It filled half the cargo space of our Honda CRV.
At the hazardous waste depot they had a big box for computer electronics, another big box for other electronics, and the inkjet cartridges had to be dropped off at the station that took paints, stains, and household petroleum-derivative products.
The car left pleasantly lighter and we have more space in the house.
He's also gotten rid of a lot of other stuff. The electronics de-clutter began because he wanted to get rid of a metal secretary cabinet that had sorts of old things in it: a couple of inkjet printers with their dried-out cartridges, cables, dried-out dry-erase markers. I had a bag of obsolete computer stuff upstairs.
Then when we began putting the pile together so I could move it to the car a half dozen more boxes and things came out of the renovated room: an old music keyboard with one irreparable key, a subwoofer, a couple of speakers, a box of auxillary cards, a box of old modems and cables, a small bag of old inkjet cartridges. It filled half the cargo space of our Honda CRV.
At the hazardous waste depot they had a big box for computer electronics, another big box for other electronics, and the inkjet cartridges had to be dropped off at the station that took paints, stains, and household petroleum-derivative products.
The car left pleasantly lighter and we have more space in the house.
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