According to a well-known domestic scientist, the only things which should find their way to the garbage pail are:

Egg shells—after being used to clear coffee.

Potato skins—after having been cooked on the potato.

Banana skins—if there are no tan shoes to be cleaned.

Bones—after having been boiled in soup kettle.

Coffee grounds—if there is no garden where they can be used for fertilizer, or if they are not desired as filling for pincushions.

Tea leaves—after every tea-serving, if they are not needed for brightening carpets or rugs when swept.

Asparagus ends—after being cooked and drained for soup.

Spinach, etc.—decayed leaves and dirty ends of roots.

If more than this is now thrown away, you are wasting the family income and not fulfilling your part in the great world struggle. Your government says that it is your business to know what food your family needs to be efficient; that you must learn how to make the most of the foods you buy; that it is your duty to learn the nature and uses of various foods and to get the greatest possible nourishment out of every pound of food that comes to your home.

Taken from "Foods that will win the war and how to cook them". Copyright 1918

via Project Gutenburg

Can't keep up!

We've been waiting impatiently for this moment, but now that it is here we just can't keep up. Family and work take priority, so these sit longer than they should on the counter waiting to be roasted and then frozen or canned. Boo.

Slow Bubble Rising

Being a Person

by William Stafford

Be a person here. Stand by the river, invoke
the owls. Invoke winter, then spring.
Let any season that wants to come here make its own
call. After that sound goes away, wait.

A slow bubble rises through the earth
and begins to include sky, stars, all space,
even the outracing, expanding thought.
Come back and hear the little sound again.

Suddenly this dream you are having matches
everyone’s dream, and the result is the world.
If a different call came there wouldn’t be any
world, or you, or the river, or the owls calling.

How you stand here is important. How you
listen for the next things to happen. How you breathe.

Young Photographer

My old camera is temperamental. Sometimes Sahara uses it as a "pretend camera." Other days it works and we end up with hundreds of interesting shots.

A page from Amazing Grace - one of Sahara's favorite books.

Sahara's Nature Table

Little Sister who is now crawling.
She's figured out that cat food has an interesting flavor and texture.

Back To School

It has been a long time since I stood in front of a group of squiggly kids as a teacher. Today was my first day back and even though I only taught for 40 minutes I feel completely drained.
Today I am thankful for rest time. Sahara has grown beyond naps but she accepts rest time and plays in her room quietly for at least an hour. I am also grateful for Carmen. She is our wonderful friend who took care of Sahara at 5 months when I went back to teaching. She was supposed to leave in June and then it got bumped to September and now she won't return to France until December. (I'm hoping it will be June.) Today she was with Lydia for 5 hours and Lydia didn't cry once. I'm super thankful for Pablo who is such a loving papa and husband. He left work and biked up a huge hill to be with Sahara for her first morning of kindergarten.