tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79606674160141676492024-03-13T21:35:40.893-07:00The Holdfast Seekerkatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-47143421718891164412012-05-22T07:17:00.000-07:002012-05-22T07:19:05.853-07:00Field trip to my new garden!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iblYXCNNuow/T7ue3KOPyOI/AAAAAAAAC4U/eFvluBuvSWU/s1600/IMG_0620.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iblYXCNNuow/T7ue3KOPyOI/AAAAAAAAC4U/eFvluBuvSWU/s200/IMG_0620.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our view</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Wow, I realized it's been a year since my last post. What have I been up to? Well, mostly chasing around a very energetic 22-month old and a three-and-a-half-year-old. But on top of that we sold our old house with my beloved garden, bought a new house right on the Ipswich River and have taken on the task of completely relandscaping it with native plants and shrubs. Plus, adding a veggie garden, of course.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b-7L1D0sM3A/T7ue5LKgJ4I/AAAAAAAAC4c/krYZZv1o9l4/s1600/IMGP5105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b-7L1D0sM3A/T7ue5LKgJ4I/AAAAAAAAC4c/krYZZv1o9l4/s640/IMGP5105.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One completed section of woodland border</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UW0DtJ4IU-E/T7ue9oOfhlI/AAAAAAAAC4k/H1WdB8JW_m4/s1600/IMGP5099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UW0DtJ4IU-E/T7ue9oOfhlI/AAAAAAAAC4k/H1WdB8JW_m4/s320/IMGP5099.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two yards of loam: BEST TOY EVER! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So come on over to my new blog: <a href="http://slowtheflowgardenmakeover.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A Riverside Garden Makeover: from nothing to native paradise in one summer. </a>Our landscaping project is also partially funded by a <a href="http://www.pieslowtheflow.com/" target="_blank">Federal gran</a>t from the<a href="http://www.fws.gov/northeast/parkerriver/" target="_blank"> Parker River National Wildlife Refuge,</a> which means our yard will become a demonstration garden for the grant program (the pressure is on!) It's going to be quite the journey for me and my whole family, and we're really excited about it. You can never have too much playing in the dirt!katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-69590428567330822742011-05-04T12:29:00.000-07:002011-05-04T12:37:44.349-07:00First milk jug greenhouse salad of the year<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TdFlSnzAjfk/TcGphR7qGRI/AAAAAAAACx4/msX4mnNxZiQ/s1600/IMGP4684.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 261px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TdFlSnzAjfk/TcGphR7qGRI/AAAAAAAACx4/msX4mnNxZiQ/s400/IMGP4684.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602945800640010514" border="0" /></a><br />The milk jug greenhouses Lizzie and I planted back in early March are finally ready for their first hair cut. The black seeded Stimpson lettuce has been growing for about 6 weeks now and I just harvested these two jugs for our first salad. This is a full six weeks before salad greens start coming in from our local farm CSA share.<br /><br />These are so easy to do and care for, for directions see this <a href="http://holdfastseeker.blogspot.com/2011/03/milk-jug-greenhouse.html">this earlier post</a>. If you have a toddler who drinks two gallons of milk a week you pretty much have everything you need to get started. I wish I knew about these last fall so we could have been eating home grown salad all winter long. From what I've read, you can leave them out in the snow on a sunny day. Mine stayed on an unheated, but glassed-in, porch even on nights with temps in the teens and the salad grew just fine. I've also grown spinach, collards and a leaf lettuce mix. Can't wait for dinner time!katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-26941878035097871202011-04-07T12:10:00.001-07:002011-04-07T12:27:48.115-07:00Lizzie's new and improved chickadee houseA lot of people land on this blog because they google "should I clean out a chickadee nest box". The short answer is: yes.<br /><br />Last year, when I cleaned out <a href="http://holdfastseeker.blogspot.com/2010/03/lizzies-chickadee-nest-box.html">Lizzie's chickadee house</a>, I took out a really cool nest made mostly of the neighbor's dog's hair. You can see the picture by <a href="http://holdfastseeker.blogspot.com/2010/03/lizzies-chickadee-nest-box.html">clicking here</a>. This year, when I cleaned it out a few weeks ago, it was entirely different.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--cEghLGCnqE/TZ4NBKkRw4I/AAAAAAAACtk/RB4UZgZPo9s/s1600/IMGP4561.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--cEghLGCnqE/TZ4NBKkRw4I/AAAAAAAACtk/RB4UZgZPo9s/s400/IMGP4561.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592922100908278658" border="0" /></a><br />The nest was almost entirely twigs and feathers. I never got a really good look at the bird going in and out but I know for certain it was either a marsh wren or a house wren and not a chickadee. Who knows who will nest in it this year but the little old bird house has competition with a new house on the block. I bought Lizzie a paint-your-own bird house kit and this is what she made:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wgFgULCHYR4/TZ4Otej_vqI/AAAAAAAACt8/awwrwGJgeSI/s1600/IMGP4649.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 319px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wgFgULCHYR4/TZ4Otej_vqI/AAAAAAAACt8/awwrwGJgeSI/s400/IMGP4649.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592923961701678754" border="0" /></a><br />Your guess is as good as mine as to what bird will decide this is its dream home. All I know is there's a two-and-a-half-year-old eagerly awaiting move-in day.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-58935557380856984552011-03-23T11:37:00.000-07:002011-03-23T12:08:13.734-07:00Milk Jug Greenhouse<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J9hRloBxpT4/TYo-ynuY_8I/AAAAAAAACss/IKLpdRWEm8Q/s1600/IMGP4599.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 306px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J9hRloBxpT4/TYo-ynuY_8I/AAAAAAAACss/IKLpdRWEm8Q/s400/IMGP4599.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587347327084462018" border="0" /></a>Want home grown salad in winter? Live where your garden is under four feet of snow until April? Have a child obsessed with starting seeds? Yes, yes and yes! So we started milk-jug salad greenhouses!<br /><br />My little girl demands to plant seeds everyday and I'm running out of flat surfaces on which to start them. Luckily, last week I heard about milk jug greenhouses!<br /><br />Of course you don't have to be a kid to make these. It's a great way to start cold hardy plants if you have a sunny glassed-in porch, as I do, that still drops below freezing at night but can hit up to 90 degrees during the day. You could also keep these indoors if, unlike me, you have sunny surfaces not already taken over by flats of non cold-hardy seeds.<br /><br />It's easy:<br />-take an empty gallon milk jug.<br />-poke a few holes in the bottom.<br />-cut almost all the way around it about three inches from the bottom (see photo above). Leave a few inches still attached so it stays together but so you can open it up to get the plants out later.<br />-add a few inches of dirt and your seeds.<br />-tape it back up.<br />-you can also cut the very top off (as I have in this example above) so it's easier for a little face to peer inside every half hour to see if the seeds have sprouted. If you do this put some clear tape or plastic wrap over it to keep the heat in.<br /><br />Had I stumbled upon this idea in the late fall we'd be <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6x5NyV49uJE/TYpA9JA4ejI/AAAAAAAACs8/-ZnwCYScRso/s1600/IMGP4594.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 233px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6x5NyV49uJE/TYpA9JA4ejI/AAAAAAAACs8/-ZnwCYScRso/s400/IMGP4594.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587349706842339890" border="0" /></a>eating milk-jug salad by now. But, sadly, I just planted our first one on March 15th. So far we only have these little black-seeded Stimpson sprouts to the right but they came up in four days even with the porch getting down to 20 degrees at night.<br /><br />Hopefully we'll be able to eat our greenhouse greens long before I'm able to plant seeds right in Lizzie's Organic Garden. It's just emerged from the glacier that was my backyard so it will be some time before she can demand seed planting out there. I already have plans to build another raised veggie bed before she stomps her little feet when I tell her we've run out of room and can't plant anymore. Luckily for me she likes to weed!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pOts_j_lNaU/TYpBtrWefwI/AAAAAAAACtE/dHEPvaT_0Rs/s1600/IMGP4597.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pOts_j_lNaU/TYpBtrWefwI/AAAAAAAACtE/dHEPvaT_0Rs/s400/IMGP4597.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587350540693438210" border="0" /></a>katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-39024606629844886192011-02-21T11:04:00.000-08:002011-02-21T11:23:48.272-08:00Teaching your toddler to love learning<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NSbHbNFucww/TWK3PhcHjSI/AAAAAAAACrk/xKjAPsGj13o/s1600/IMGP4548.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 340px; height: 507px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NSbHbNFucww/TWK3PhcHjSI/AAAAAAAACrk/xKjAPsGj13o/s400/IMGP4548.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576220765940321570" border="0" /></a>My kids will be nerds, they kinda have no choice. Their dad is a computer/surfing/road bike/barefoot running nerd and their mom is a nature/science/bird watching/aquarium nerd. Basically, both my girls will end up going nuts over something. Right now my toddler is into birds as well as Thomas the Train, insects, seeds and anything that she can check on every two minutes to see if it grew or changed in anyway.<br /><br />I heard a sad sad fact on our <a href="http://www.wbur.org/2011/02/14/children-reading">local NPR station</a> last week that an alarming number of five-year-olds are starting kindergarten not even knowing the parts of their own body. I can't imagine if my two-year-old couldn't name her own nose or feet! NPR claimed it all comes down to parents not reading with their kids or spending enough time teaching their kids and planting them in front of the TV instead.<br /><br />Sure my kids like Thomas and Super Why! and a number of other PBS cartoons (it's been a LONG and snowy winter), but I try to limit what they watch. I could have turned on the TV all morning today but instead I got out my laptop, downloaded pictures of the birds we've been seeing in our backyard and made a chart with my toddler (click photo to enlarge). OK, she did the gluing and I helped her figure out which column to put each bird in, but at two and five months she can already identify a chickadee, squirrel, crow, hawk, owl, loon and a junco. And that's not because she's super smart but because I took the time to teach them to her, and I was excited about it, and excitement is contagious.<br /><br />I know parents who claim they don't have time to do activities like this with their kids, but every minute of the day is a minute you could be teaching your kids something. Even if it's just the parts of their face, or in my kid's case more bird species than most adults can recognize. As soon as they wake up from their naps I must go out and buy a bigger piece of poster board since we've run out of room and it's not even bird migration season yet!katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-41357513941137553042011-02-11T08:00:00.000-08:002011-02-11T11:20:55.778-08:00'Volcanic' Winter<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BJeW9yudM8I/TVWItEHHKmI/AAAAAAAACrc/_MBvmD-n93c/s1600/Picture%2B5.png"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BJeW9yudM8I/TVWItEHHKmI/AAAAAAAACrc/_MBvmD-n93c/s320/Picture%2B5.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572510421719919202" border="0" /></a><br />Blame Iceland. Yes, Iceland. To anyone experiencing crazy weather this winter there is a <a href="http://www.examiner.com/freethought-in-national/cold-weather-due-to-iceland-s-volcano?render=print">theory</a> that it's all because of the <a href="http://holdfastseeker.blogspot.com/2010/04/volcanology-is-cool.html">Eyjafjallajokull volcano</a> that erupted in Iceland last spring, spewing ash all over northern Europe and causing air travel to grind to a halt. While this eruption might not have been big enough to cause a true '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_winter">volcanic winter'</a>, our local weather guy reported the other day that the ash in the northern atmosphere pushes the cold air down from Canada giving us more snow.<br /><br />Who knows if he's right but we sure have had A LOT of snow. Here in New England we have received almost record amounts (I think it was over 71" at last count by the <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/weather/graphics/2011_snowfall/">Boston Globe</a>) where a lot of that would have been rain if the temps would actually get out of the 20s.<br /><br />A true volcanic winter is caused by a really really big eruption, where the ash in the atmosphere actually obscures the sun causing a global dip in temps. You can read a list of the past volcanic winters <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_winter">here</a>, many of them causing famines that lasted up to three years.<br /><br />Here's what got my attention today: latest news out of Iceland is another big volcano is acting up, and this one is big enough to cause a volcanic winter. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/iceland/8311924/Icelandic-volcano-set-to-erupt.html">The Telegraph</a> reports that the Bárdarbunga volcano is showing signs of increased activity. This volcano dwarfs Eyjafjallajokull and what's really cool is this as reported by The Telegraph:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"The last recorded eruption of Bárdarbunga was in 1910, although volcanologists believe its last major eruption occurred in 1477 when it produced a large ash and pumice fallout. It also produced the largest known lava flow during the past 10,000 years on earth." </span><br /><br />Wow, this news was cool enough to snap me out of my blogging break (caused by two very energetic little girls) and find the time to research this more. Hopefully if Bárdarbunga blows it won't cause a planetary mess, but it will at least remind us that humans are most definitely NOT in charge. I was planning a return visit to Iceland in the next year or so, perhaps I wait and see....in the meantime I think I'll work on expanding my garden and storing emergency "volcano food".<br /><br />A quick thank you to all my followers who have contacted me to see how I'm doing since I've been "off the air". I'm doing very well, just busy with two kids that are a handful, luckily a very happy and giggly handful, but still a <span style="font-style: italic;">handful</span>.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-53985424008450660172010-08-29T09:38:00.001-07:002010-08-29T10:18:31.805-07:00Lizzie's toad house<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/THqNJlkDyOI/AAAAAAAACmc/aCTsUwdmLZ4/s1600/IMGP4133.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/THqNJlkDyOI/AAAAAAAACmc/aCTsUwdmLZ4/s320/IMGP4133.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510872289882917090" border="0" /></a>Yesterday Lizzie and I found a little <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_toad">American toad</a> hopping around in our grass. Never having seen a real live toad Lizzie was pretty excited, and so was I! We immediately caught it up and transferred it to the carrot patch where I've seen numerous garden snails and other pests that make tasty toad-treats. I was hoping the toad would make a home of my organic garden, and sure enough he was still there this morning.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/THqN07-SRSI/AAAAAAAACmk/KV1v-5S2_sk/s1600/IMGP4119.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 206px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/THqN07-SRSI/AAAAAAAACmk/KV1v-5S2_sk/s320/IMGP4119.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510873034632873250" border="0" /></a>"Let's make a toad house!" I said to Lizzie and "YEAH!" was her immediate enthusiastic reply. I rummaged through a pile of old clay pots, found a hammer and we smashed a side off each pot and had instant toad homes.<br /><br />You can buy toad homes online and spend around $20 for each house. Or you can knock a small opening in the side of a clay pot, or even stack a few bricks to make a small shelter. Toads will be attracted to the shelter, use it during the day and <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/THqN9_OFWHI/AAAAAAAACms/VUI-jpBU4LY/s1600/IMGP4126.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/THqN9_OFWHI/AAAAAAAACms/VUI-jpBU4LY/s320/IMGP4126.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5510873190123264114" border="0" /></a>claim it as their territory coming back year after year. Each night one toad can eat up to 100 slugs, grubs, grasshoppers, tomato beetles, cutworms...anything you don't want eating your garden. The tadpoles also eat mosquito larvae! And the average adult toad can live for nearly a decade, that's a nice family pet you don't have to feed or take for walks.<br /><br />So give your toads some houses and enjoy their stay in your garden. Lizzie's already moved the houses around three times this morning and can't go a minute without looking to see if anyone moved in. I'm trying to explain to her that she should leave them alone so the toads don't get afraid and move out. But you try explaining that to a curious two-year-old.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-80361167975523109442010-08-25T16:15:00.000-07:002010-08-25T16:48:25.651-07:00And all is right with my world<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/THWmZ0qlaeI/AAAAAAAACmI/89YrXcx_tbA/s1600/IMG_0031.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 422px; height: 316px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/THWmZ0qlaeI/AAAAAAAACmI/89YrXcx_tbA/s320/IMG_0031.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509492681721866722" border="0" /></a>Well, almost. I wish I had a little more time with two free hands to do things like blog, clean my house, and take a nice bubble bath. But, I really can't complain. I had another beautiful little girl on June 27th and we call her Poppy, short for Penelope Rose. My two-year-old daughter Lizzie just adores her.<br /><br />We're very lucky since a lot of my friend's older children don't even acknowledge their newborn siblings let alone try to play with them. It's not unusual for Lizzie to pile Poppy under all her favorite stuffies, including Bear-Bear (in the dirt above) her most prized bear of all. Poppy doesn't really like to be piled under four or five bears but she'll learn someday that her older sister is being very sweet. It melts my heart to see them together. I wanted nothing more than two little girls and I got them! How lucky am I?!<br /><br />Lizzie's garden (formerly the <a href="http://holdfastseeker.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-monsanto-sucks-michelle-obama-rocks.html">Michelle Obama rocks, Monsanto sucks, honorary organic garden</a>) is flourishing. Lizzie took it over by moving her lawn chair in there one morning and saying "I LIKE MOMMY'S GARDEN!" and then proceeded to eat a carrot right out of the ground, dirt and all (luckily <a href="http://holdfastseeker.blogspot.com/2010/06/dirt-can-make-you-smarter.html">dirt makes your smarter</a>.) So I've had to rename my little six foot by fourteen foot patch after my older daughter since she's apparently claimed it. And if I can grow it she'll eat it. I've had other mommy-friends look on in wonderment as she devours homegrown carrots, green beans and cucumbers but leaves her mac and cheese untouched.<br /><br />Last year I posted a running tally of everything that I grew in my tiny 6'x14' patch and I will again soon. Tomatoes are just coming in now and we can barely keep up with cukes. More than one neighbor has come home to a cucumber or two on their front steps :) I'm already coming up with expansion plans for next year since Poppy will want in on those homegrown carrots and green beans by then and I want some too!<br /><br />I've been a lot more successful than last year due to the hot weather and a better layout, tucking over-zealous zucchini in a back corner and not right out front where they shaded everything. So far we've also been spared <a href="http://holdfastseeker.blogspot.com/2009/09/late-blight-hits-my-organic-tomato.html">late blight</a> which destroyed my tomatoes last year. There's a late blight warning for the western part of Massachusetts but no word of it on the North Shore yet. I keep knocking on wood though.<br /><br />The Ipswich River is also running again, finally. We're currently experiencing our third day in a row of rain and I am ecstatic! The <a href="http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ma/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&period=15&site_no=01102000">USGS gauge </a>went from 0.88 cubic feet per second on Sunday to 75 cfs today! I know it won't stay up there forever but a three day soak is just what the watershed needed to last the rest of the summer. Happy fish!<br /><br />I will sign off now and hope my state of contentment sticks with you. It helps that my full-term baby is already pulling eight hour stretches overnight so I'm getting a lot more sleep than with my preemie first-born (where I was up every hour and a half for the first two months!) I hope to visit all my follower's blogs soon, but even though life is good it is super super busy. Plus it's summer so we're outside getting dirty as much as we can!katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-60063132274225861152010-08-05T09:00:00.000-07:002010-08-05T12:37:41.434-07:00Ipswich River DroughtIt has been a very busy six weeks up here in Ipswich. As of late June I now have two little girls vying for my attention. But, I wanted to bring everyone some dramatic photos from our little dam, which is always causing trouble. This was the dam yesterday. But where's the water?<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/TFsO_Xdd90I/AAAAAAAAClI/jW-lLhhpWA4/s1600/IMG_0078.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/TFsO_Xdd90I/AAAAAAAAClI/jW-lLhhpWA4/s320/IMG_0078.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502007851555354434" border="0" /></a><br />Some of you may remember a mere four months ago when my town seemed to be underwater. I published some very dramatic <a href="http://holdfastseeker.blogspot.com/2010/03/ipswich-river-flood-2010-photos.html">photos </a>and <a href="http://holdfastseeker.blogspot.com/2010/03/video-of-ipswich-river-flood-2010.html">video</a>. The river was running at a record 4,000 cubic feet of water per second then:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/TFsPA6wwMvI/AAAAAAAAClg/xwPFnmiK3Cg/s1600/IMGP3872.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 163px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/TFsPA6wwMvI/AAAAAAAAClg/xwPFnmiK3Cg/s320/IMGP3872.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502007878211351282" border="0" /></a><br /> This morning it was running at 1.8 cfs. Yes, 1 point 8. That's the lowest recorded number for this date in the 70 years the <a href="http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ma/nwis/uv?01102000">US Geologic Survey gauge</a> has been keeping track. This was the fish ladder (below) with no water running through it. So fish are basically stuck below the dam preventing them from using the entire upper part of the river.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/TFsPXXIAm-I/AAAAAAAAClw/w29M80ypwt4/s1600/IMG_0080.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/TFsPXXIAm-I/AAAAAAAAClw/w29M80ypwt4/s320/IMG_0080.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502008263782210530" border="0" /></a><br />This was the same view in March. Hard to believe we ran out of water:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/TFsPW3yfYCI/AAAAAAAAClo/KV0kqyF4Vb8/s1600/IMG_0079.JPG"><br /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/TFsPAC-ythI/AAAAAAAAClQ/hN5sqrhlraU/s1600/IMGP3867.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/TFsPAC-ythI/AAAAAAAAClQ/hN5sqrhlraU/s320/IMGP3867.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502007863237850642" border="0" /></a>So if you live in the Ipswich River watershed area please please turn off those sprinklers and let your lawn die. The grass with come back to life but the fish can't.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-72062213221327698922010-06-08T08:45:00.000-07:002010-06-08T09:04:17.703-07:00Dirt can make you smarter<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100524143416.htm"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/TA5oxUAUrbI/AAAAAAAACkY/kFa-BNl7qFI/s320/Picture+4.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480432992949415346" border="0" /></a>I have always prescribed to what I like to call the Eat Dirt method of parenting. If my toddler hasn't gone through at least three outfits by the end of the day and has clean hands then we haven't spent enough time outside. I encourage her to play in the mud, sand, even the compost pile. She's been known to dip her crackers in the sand at the beach and eat them and I don't freak out like a lot of other mothers we often hang out with. Purell is most definitely not allowed in my house.<br /><br />Why? Well, I've always known that a challenged immune system is a happy immune system. Too many antibiotics and not enough bacteria can cause one's immune system to go haywire. It actually needs something to do or it gets out of balance. And now, there's <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100524143416.htm">new research</a> showing that playing in the dirt exposes humans to the bacteria <span style="font-style: italic;">Micobacterium vaccae,</span> which not only decreases anxiety but stimulates brain function, making you smarter. From <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100524143416.htm">Science Daily</a>:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"This research suggests that </span><em style="font-style: italic;">M. vaccae</em><span style="font-style: italic;"> may play a role in anxiety and learning in mammals," says Matthews. "It is interesting to speculate that creating learning environments in schools that include time in the outdoors where </span><em style="font-style: italic;">M. vaccae</em><span style="font-style: italic;"> is present may decrease anxiety and improve the ability to learn new tasks."</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">As I rapidly near the birth of my second child (the reason I have not been blogging lately, thank you everyone who has contacted me in concern, I am fine, just tired :) this only reminds me more and more that it is so important for kids to get out and play in the dirt.<br /><br />I am blessed with a child who is far more happy being outside than watching TV. In fact just the other day my husband gave her the very rare opportunity to watch ten minutes of TV by asking her "Do you want to play in the backyard or watch Elmo?" and "BACKYARD!" was her enthusiastic response. Which is the best answer we could have received. So if you have children in your lives show them your love and let them eat dirt.<br /><br /></div></div>katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-38718597217532889462010-04-22T08:00:00.000-07:002010-04-22T11:48:47.713-07:00Volcanology is cool<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://feww.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/eyjafjallajokull-on-iceland-map.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 260px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S8zufScoueI/AAAAAAAACWM/bBMR_wH6yWU/s320/Picture+8.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462002669388872162" border="0" /></a>A quick apology for being off the air for a month. When I'm not chasing a toddler I'm sleeping as I near my due date with my second child. But recent geologic events in Iceland have grabbed enough of my attention to get me off the couch, back online and reminded me on this Earth Day that Mother Nature really is in charge.<br /><br />For those of you who have been reading this blog for a while you know I'm a science geek. Nothing is cooler than an erupting volcano. Especially an erupting volcano that I've been to! In April of 2001 a friend and I took a long weekend adventure to Iceland, and it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Now that the ash is clearing, and air traffic resumes to this magical land, I recommend everyone to go visit. You won't be disappointed.<br /><br />My friend and I spent a day driving all over southwestern Iceland which brought us right past the Myrdalsjokull and Eyjafjallajokull glaciers on our way to Vik, a beautiful black sand beach at the southern tip of the island. The only picture I have of the volcano area is of the Myrdalsjokull glacier (below), which on the map above looks like it's the same piece of ice as Eyjafjallajokull.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S9CQ8ilZJGI/AAAAAAAACWU/arpsjmva43E/s1600/iceland+glacier+jpeg.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 397px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S9CQ8ilZJGI/AAAAAAAACWU/arpsjmva43E/s320/iceland+glacier+jpeg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463025717750604898" border="0" /></a>And under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier is the current erupting volcano.<br /><br />There's a million things you can find online about this volcano, besides of course the air traffic disruptions (ironically the ash from Eyjafjallajokull kept my Icelandic travel partner from returning from Boston to her teaching job in Russia, she just made it back today, five days late). But there are a few fascinating things I've learned about this eruption:<br /><br />The first is that it could go on for a year or more. And when Eyjafjallajokull erupts if often sets off the neighboring volcano of Katla, which is three times bigger. So if you're planning any air travel to or from Europe anytime soon you may want to buy travel insurance.<br /><br />Secondly, as the glacier melts from the volcanic activity it releases pressure on the earth's crust which usually results in more volcanic activity. Scientists are predicting that with global warming we'll see more volcanoes. The <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/earth-environment/article7100906.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797084">Times UK </a>reports that "...the eruption may be only a taste of the future if climate change causes ice sheets to melt further. As the last ice age ended, volcanic activity in Iceland increased 30-fold because of reduced pressure on the earth’s mantle."<br /><br />And third, the volcano is probably releasing enormous amounts of fluoride, which could possibly poison livestock that might drink from glacial melt water. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kull">Wikipedia </a>reports "In 1783, 79 per cent of the Icelandic sheep stock were killed, probably as a result of fluorosis caused by the eruption of Laki. The effect also spread beyond Iceland<span style="text-decoration: underline;">. </span>Ash from the current Eyjafjallajökull eruption contains one third the concentration typical in Hekla eruptions, with a mean value of 104 milligrams of fluoride per kilogram of ash." That toxic ash that is currently spreading all over Europe.<br /><br />So for those of you who just thought a little ash was affecting air travel and nothing else, this volcano is doing a lot more than even I realized.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S9CVAjS_EUI/AAAAAAAACWc/4wOdRGnrECw/s1600/skogafoss+BW+jpeg.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 312px; height: 468px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S9CVAjS_EUI/AAAAAAAACWc/4wOdRGnrECw/s320/skogafoss+BW+jpeg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463030184707821890" border="0" /></a>I'll leave you with a few photos snapped back in 2001 with, believe it or not, <span style="font-style: italic;">print film</span>. Luckily I have a scanner.<br /><br />To the left is Skogafoss, one of the most amazing waterfalls I have ever seen and very close to the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. To fully see its size that's me below in front of it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S9CVqu29aJI/AAAAAAAACWk/SrMfGgCIS14/s1600/skogafoss+jpeg.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S9CVqu29aJI/AAAAAAAACWk/SrMfGgCIS14/s320/skogafoss+jpeg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463030909366003858" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This photo below was taken literally standing in the zone between the American and European techtonic plates. All those sea stacks are old volcanoes. If you look out to sea from this spot old volcanoes dot the horizon all the way south.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S9CWJWLwn2I/AAAAAAAACWs/vd4_clXPdIM/s1600/iceland+rift.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 402px; height: 263px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S9CWJWLwn2I/AAAAAAAACWs/vd4_clXPdIM/s320/iceland+rift.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463031435318304610" border="0" /></a>katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-89642151035594482832010-03-17T09:00:00.000-07:002010-03-17T11:22:48.662-07:00Video of the Ipswich River Flood 2010Again, as promised, here's a video of the flooding at the EBSCO/Sylvania dam in downtown Ipswich, MA. The first half is from the west bank and the second is from the east bank looking right back at where I shot the first half. The photos I put up yesterday are OK, but to really feel the power of nearly 4,000 cubic feet per second of water rushing past you really need to see, and <span style="font-style: italic;">hear</span>, the river in motion:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='445' height='369' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxhVNkdOjZJU0MJOg2R-MPRv-xtFWzFtcyOVrTDgtbv5H6Ha8bT72bQB2QbM315aNmL2nJxSz8tROLIsm1bdg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /></div><br />For those of you not familiar with this spot, the Ipswich River is usually a peaceful river winding through the North Shore at about 200-400 cfs. This dam is a drop of at least six feet if not more and at late summer low-flow I've seen kids actually walking across it. Not something you'd want to attempt right now.<br /><br />According to the <a href="http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ma/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&period=1&site_no=01102000">USGS gauge</a> the water seems to have crested about 6 AM this morning, which is good. A lot of my neighbors in the "alley" are pumping out their basements, but we seem to have been spared :)katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-57994380866326916822010-03-16T13:00:00.000-07:002010-03-16T15:38:06.444-07:00Ipswich River Flood 2010 PhotosAs promised <a href="http://holdfastseeker.blogspot.com/2010/03/ipswich-river-flood-stage.html">in last night's post</a>, I took a walk around town today and can now bring you some photos of the flooding. According to the <a href="http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ma/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&period=1&site_no=01102000">USGS gauge </a>at 6 PM this evening the river was at 9.85 feet and running at 3,840 cubic feet per second. That's a lot of water. "Normal" stream flow for March is 300 cfs. Click any photo to enlarge.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6ABILBfcMI/AAAAAAAACUI/LBP-TFCtuy4/s1600-h/IMGP3868.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6ABILBfcMI/AAAAAAAACUI/LBP-TFCtuy4/s320/IMGP3868.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449356789027926210" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6ABCX7zOLI/AAAAAAAACUA/I53dXBKR3Cg/s1600-h/IMGP2370.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6ABCX7zOLI/AAAAAAAACUA/I53dXBKR3Cg/s320/IMGP2370.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449356689414502578" border="0" /></a><br />For comparison purposes, the photo to the left is of the <a href="http://holdfastseeker.blogspot.com/2009/03/awaiting-herring.html">herring ladder</a> right at the EBSCO dam. It was taken last March 18th at "normal" flow. The photo to the right was taken today. I just hope the water recedes before herring counts start on April 1st! Notice the approximate six feet of clearance from the water surface to the bottom of the foot bridge at the top of the photo on the left, and the lack of clearance on the right.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Looking towards EBCSO Publishing right at the dam. The dam starts at the end of the causeway on the left.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AA6q6XtaI/AAAAAAAACTw/nVc-w-QCz1Y/s1600-h/IMGP3864.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 392px; height: 189px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AA6q6XtaI/AAAAAAAACTw/nVc-w-QCz1Y/s320/IMGP3864.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449356557069825442" border="0" /></a><br />Standing on the footbridge looking right at the dam, there should be a significant drop where now there's just a wave.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AA7HXH9EI/AAAAAAAACT4/JC9Ibl3LDKk/s1600-h/IMGP3872.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 375px; height: 190px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AA7HXH9EI/AAAAAAAACT4/JC9Ibl3LDKk/s320/IMGP3872.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449356564706620482" border="0" /></a>Standing on the Choate Bridge<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AAL9BHIEI/AAAAAAAACTo/oOqcWvXom-w/s1600-h/IMGP3860.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 381px; height: 217px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AAL9BHIEI/AAAAAAAACTo/oOqcWvXom-w/s320/IMGP3860.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449355754476085314" border="0" /></a><br />Standing on the west bank looking downstream at the footbridge.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AAJNWlniI/AAAAAAAACTI/LX4hSj-s5Gw/s1600-h/IMGP3849.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 387px; height: 191px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AAJNWlniI/AAAAAAAACTI/LX4hSj-s5Gw/s320/IMGP3849.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449355707321523746" border="0" /></a><br />The parking lot behind Zumi's. The river's normal channel runs at least 20 feet behind that shed.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AALTqGtAI/AAAAAAAACTg/BtEli8FFu7E/s1600-h/IMGP3857.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 392px; height: 203px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AALTqGtAI/AAAAAAAACTg/BtEli8FFu7E/s320/IMGP3857.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449355743373734914" border="0" /></a><br />Playing in the flooded parking lot<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AAKvNB3KI/AAAAAAAACTY/yR7pDmnLh1A/s1600-h/IMGP3855.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 398px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AAKvNB3KI/AAAAAAAACTY/yR7pDmnLh1A/s320/IMGP3855.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449355733588106402" border="0" /></a>Another one of EBSCO's buildings just before the dam, the water isn't usually right up to the bricks.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AAKHwn_3I/AAAAAAAACTQ/6kXepCPQRIw/s1600-h/IMGP3850.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 411px; height: 195px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S6AAKHwn_3I/AAAAAAAACTQ/6kXepCPQRIw/s320/IMGP3850.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449355722999988082" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I shot some great videos which I'll download later tonight and get up for you. You can't really feel the power of the river until you see if in motion and hear the sound. Luckily our basement is still dry even though we're only 100 feet from the river. The last time our house got soggy the water level went over 10 feet, hopefully we'll just squeak by with this flood....<br /></div></div></div></div></div>katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-44493372999319518292010-03-15T15:00:00.000-07:002010-03-15T18:53:29.192-07:00Ipswich River Flood Stage<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S57T-5sX0xI/AAAAAAAACSw/zuouRftWEuY/s1600-h/P1010501.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 456px; height: 295px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S57T-5sX0xI/AAAAAAAACSw/zuouRftWEuY/s320/P1010501.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449025676757160722" border="0" /></a>In May of 2006 the Ipswich River north of Boston, MA, reached a flow of 4520 cubic feet per second, higher than any gauge reading since records have been kept. Most of downtown Ipswich went underwater, including our basement. It was a unique situation where an already saturated water table was then hit with a week of solid rain.<br /><br />In this photo, taken by my husband during the 2006 flood, there should be a dam with a significant drop. You can see the "bump" to the left where the water is going over the dam. The EBSCO publishing building in the background had about five feet of water in it and old copies of periodicals floating all around.<br /><br />A similar scenario happened again this past weekend. Anyone living in New England went through a massive nor'easter at the end of February. Winds topped 80 miles and hour and damage was comparable to a category two hurricane. There was a lot of rain but rivers stayed within their banks, although the Ipswich <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ma/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&period=18&site_no=01102000"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 192px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S57YxHbAfgI/AAAAAAAACTA/AFJVw2tLj-4/s320/Picture+3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449030937482395138" border="0" /></a>River did hit its seven foot flood stage, topping off at 7.09 feet (you can see the peak from February 28th/29th to the right, click graph for the most recent <a href="http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ma/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&period=18&site_no=01102000">USGS data</a>).<br /><br />Then this past Saturday it started to rain, again. More than four inches were predicted. This morning I heard on New England Cable News that Topsfield, MA, (one town upstream from mine) received ten inches of rain in the past two days. TEN INCHES! There was no way the Ipswich River was not going to flood.<br /><br />I'm headed off to bed in a minute with my sump pump plugged in, float switch ready to trigger it on if needed. The sump pit is full of water but the gravel floor is dry...for now. The river is at 8.5 feet, you can see it in the<a href="http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ma/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&period=18&site_no=01102000"> graph above updated by the US Geologic Survey</a> at 6 PM tonight. The river went over ten feet in the 2006 floods, so we'll see what morning brings.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S57WnlRyqpI/AAAAAAAACS4/pfj-4avjmMc/s1600-h/IMGP3837.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 186px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S57WnlRyqpI/AAAAAAAACS4/pfj-4avjmMc/s320/IMGP3837.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5449028574674856594" border="0" /></a>On the bright side, the sun is supposed to come out tomorrow and all this rain gave Lizzie and me an excuse to wear our matching ladybug boots. A big promise to bring you all photos of the flooding tomorrow, hopefully the sun will be out and the light will be good...and we'll still be high <span style="font-style: italic;">enough</span> and dry.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-34560078700897851502010-03-13T08:00:00.000-08:002010-03-13T11:10:11.980-08:00Lizzie's chickadee nest box<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S5vXrfOik1I/AAAAAAAACSQ/jHLf1jfwlVg/s1600-h/IMGP3833.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 284px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S5vXrfOik1I/AAAAAAAACSQ/jHLf1jfwlVg/s320/IMGP3833.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448185316351578962" border="0" /></a>When I moved up to Ipswich, MA, four years ago there was a bird nest box already hanging from the neighbor's Eastern Red Cedar. My husband can't quite remember who put it there, possibly his old roommate, but either way the box hung on our side of the fence and I have adopted it.<br /><br />In the four springs I've lived here I've never bothered to clean it out, which I know is an important thing to do if you want to have healthy birds nesting in it. Last year was the first year I really paid attention to the box and I caught an adult chickadee exiting it many times. I knew someone must be using it, but I never looked inside, not wanting to disturb a potential nest.<br /><br />A few days ago my toddler and I were doing a yard clean up (well, I was raking and she was sprawled on her stomach, completely covered in dirt, digging in my veggie raised bed with her bare hands, she totally takes after me) and I noticed the box had fallen in the wind storm the New England coast went through a few weeks ago. Meteorologists say we had winds up to 80 miles an hour and damage equivalent to a category two hurricane.<br /><br />I picked up the box, located the chain buried in last year's leaves and carefully pulled off the bottom sliding piece of wood. Inside was a wondrous site, click to enlarge:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S5vYftb2bFI/AAAAAAAACSY/jmdoFOL0GNk/s1600-h/IMGP3828.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 402px; height: 309px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S5vYftb2bFI/AAAAAAAACSY/jmdoFOL0GNk/s320/IMGP3828.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448186213518699602" border="0" /></a>The old nest fell out in two pieces. The bottom half was soft sphagnum moss most likely collected from a few houses away where my neighbor has a patch of it along the river. The moss layer was an inch thick. Did it start as a tiny piece and grow in there? Four years of not cleaning it out could I suppose grow moss that thick.<br /><br />The top layer was the nest, a little cup mostly made of animal hair. The neighbors who own the cedar tree have an enormous, friendly, shaggy, golden retriever named Baker. I have a feeling a lot of that hair is his.<br /><br />I pointed out all the parts of the nest to my 17-month-old who has far too many words for her own good. As I hung the box back up in the cedar tree she ran around in circles screaming "BIRD NEST BIRD NEST BIRD NEST!!!"<br /><br />Just this morning over her sippy cup of milk and my mug of coffee, which we always drink in a big chair looking out at our bird feeder and the nest box, we saw a chickadee going into the box. I'm not sure she could see it so I told her a chickadee went in her nest box. An hour later we went outside to play and she ran over and said "Chick-chee bird nest?" "I sure hope so, and you can take care of it" I told her, and she laughed. Having one's own little nature pupil is the best thing in the world.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-74747918408567016872010-03-10T07:00:00.000-08:002010-03-10T10:41:20.942-08:00Where is your milk from?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://whereismymilkfrom.com/"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 155px; height: 247px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S5fhJnZMi4I/AAAAAAAACSI/b83fe6JJP4Q/s320/Picture+9.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447069829637639042" border="0" /></a>A friend showed me a very cool website yesterday, <a href="http://whereismymilkfrom.com/">whereismymilkfrom.com</a>. For any of you in the US who are trying to purchase more locally produced food, or who are just curious about where the cows who made your milk are from, this website is for you!<br /><br />It's super easy. All you have to do is find the code on the side of <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S5fhFfRUGDI/AAAAAAAACSA/9x0QIhX54g8/s1600-h/Picture+10.png"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 129px; height: 124px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S5fhFfRUGDI/AAAAAAAACSA/9x0QIhX54g8/s320/Picture+10.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447069758737618994" border="0" /></a>your milk (or yogurt, cheese, cream, ice cream, etc.) container and enter it into the milk box on the website. Most codes are easy to find, they're usually right next to the sell-by date. The one on my box of <a href="http://www.theorganiccow.com/">The Organic Cow</a> milk reads 36-4016. So I entered 36 4016 (no dash) into the site and it spit this factory out at me:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S5fg83HCQJI/AAAAAAAACR4/IyaR_Dle1ts/s1600-h/Picture+8.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 245px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S5fg83HCQJI/AAAAAAAACR4/IyaR_Dle1ts/s320/Picture+8.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447069610518134930" border="0" /></a>The code for New York, the site tells me, is 36, the first two numbers in the series on the box. I'm a little disappointed since The Organic Cow claims to be "New England's Original Organic Milk" it says so right on the carton. But, last time I checked, Elma, NY, was not in New England. In fact it's about 482 miles away by truck from Ipswich, MA!<br /><br />My family doesn't follow a strict 100 mile diet but we do like to try to buy food from New England, since it's a pretty small area of the country and is a good limit to focus on.<br /><br />This doesn't mean I'm going to stop buying the Organic Cow all together, but I'll definitely be entering codes from other organic milk products I can find into <a href="http://whereismymilkfrom.com/">whereismymilkfrom.com</a> to help me make better decisions when I shop. A little code cheat sheet for fellow New Englanders out there:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">25 = Massachusetts<br />23= Maine<br />44=Rhode Island<br />09=Connecticut<br />50=Vermont<br />33= New Hampshire<br /><br /></div>I'm going to try to stick with those numbers!katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-13434439087366248992010-03-08T22:00:00.000-08:002010-03-09T01:27:30.676-08:00Health care hypocrisy: Sarah Palin went to Canada for treatment<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S5YNd8cBGTI/AAAAAAAACRg/t8ZMmK5pAFM/s1600-h/Picture+7.png"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S5YNd8cBGTI/AAAAAAAACRg/t8ZMmK5pAFM/s320/Picture+7.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446555607442200882" border="0" /></a><br />For those of you who have been following this blog for a while you know I have my share of health issues, the biggest of which is Crohn's Disease. Over the years I have spent an insane amount of out-of-pocket money for uncovered expenses like copays, acupuncture and experimental drugs. In 1990 my parents even imported an FDA unapproved drug from Canada at a dollar a pill. They also paid for my COBRA for two years after I got too old for their insurance but didn't have my own yet. COBRA alone was nearly $300 a month alone, the pills...I don't even want to know.<br /><br />I just opened an email from my husband with a link to the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/08/palin-crossed-border-for_n_490080.html">Huffington Post</a> informing me that Sarah Palin, one of the most outspoken opponents to government run health care, and who has openly criticized Canada for its single-payer system, recently admitted she actually went to Canada when she was younger for her health care. Sarah, you should keep your mouth shut.<br /><br />I'll leave you with reading <a href="http://www.blogger.com/The%20irony,%20one%20guesses,%20is%20that%20Palin%20now%20views%20Canada%27s%20health%20care%20system%20as%20revolting:%20with%20its%20government-run%20administration%20and%20%27death-panel%27-like%20rationing.">their article</a> but this quote makes my stomach turn more than usual, "'We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada,' Palin said.... The irony, one guesses, is that Palin now views Canada's health care system as revolting: with its government-run administration and 'death-panel'-like rationing."<br /><br />So go ahead Sarah and not be ashamed to have used Canada's system where no one goes without coverage and having to worry about how they're going to pay for their medications, treatment and emergency care. But don't let us have any of it. Oh, and that reminds me, I owe Beverly Hospital a $100 copay for the six stitches I received from their ER on New Year's Day after falling on the ice. I'm just glad I have insurance, but still, $100!!? If my family were one of the millions without health coverage in this country I'd probably have slapped a Bandaid on it and have an even worse scar on my forehead. Maybe I should send Sarah Palin the bill....katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-70798866611788868802010-03-02T03:00:00.000-08:002010-03-04T07:35:58.688-08:00Science is cool: Chilean quake moves earth's axis by 3 inches<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://pauldeanno.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/earth_axis_0821.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S40PySSlGhI/AAAAAAAACQ8/s0L51Bg_Aa0/s320/Picture+4.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444024881138440722" border="0" /></a><br />While most of us last weekend were watching the tragic scene unfold in Chile, or waiting to see if a tsunami was charging towards Hawaii, scientists were discovering that the 8.8 quake in Chile last week not only shifted the earth's axis but it also shortened our day. Yes. Seriously.<br /><br />According to <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-01/chilean-quake-likely-shifted-earth-s-axis-nasa-scientist-says.html">businessweek.com</a> , “The length of the day should have gotten shorter by 1.26 microseconds (millionths of a second)...” and “The axis about which the Earth’s mass is balanced should have moved by 2.7 milliarcseconds (about 8 centimeters or 3 inches).” And, if you already didn't know, the massive 9.1 Sumatran quake in 2004 "...shortened the day by 6.8 microseconds and shifted the axis by about 2.3 milliarcseconds..." So I guess this happens all the time.<br /><br />To most of you this tiny three-inch shift in the earth's axis might not seem like a whole lot, but when you think about it from a scientific point of view I'm sure it really throws off a lot of calculations. I can imagine a bunch of physicists and geologists are now doing long, complicated, equations trying to reset clocks and change known data points.<br /><br />I find this really really cool - what can I say, I'm a science geek. I grew up with a dad (he reads this and will back me up) who instead of reciting us traditional bedtime stories would show us books on plate tectonics and volcanoes. I was probably the only seven-year-old who understood that Hawaii was drifting northwest and a new island was forming way below the ocean surface. My older sister, no surprise, majored in geology.<br /><br />A mere 1.26 microseconds probably won't change a thing in your daily lives. So don't worry, you were only 1.26 microseconds late for work or school this morning, no one will notice. And there's no need to reset your watch, well, unless of course you're NASA.<br /><br />For a cool map of the tsunami waves a Chilean quake sends out check out <a href="http://astrayinalatinworld1.blogspot.com/2010/03/chilean-quake-pacific-fears.html">Astray in a Latin World. </a>katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-31391205931320803562010-02-25T08:00:00.000-08:002010-02-25T11:16:27.203-08:00Eat yogurt = offset carbon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S4bIVKFSOWI/AAAAAAAACQ0/V3V-223rYqE/s1600-h/Picture+1.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 307px; height: 192px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S4bIVKFSOWI/AAAAAAAACQ0/V3V-223rYqE/s320/Picture+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442257465533151586" border="0" /></a><br />OK, I know that title sounds kinda silly. Yogurt is produced from milk produced from cows that spew a whole lot of carbon into our atmosphere. But Stonyfield Organic Yogurt, based right near me in Londonderry, NH, has started a <a href="http://www.softcoin.com/p/handler?target=general&action=getHome&sid=3791"> rewards program </a>where you can save up points from their containers and redeem them for things like more yogurt, snacks and even carbon offsets.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">So I redeemed 25 points just now and offset 1/4 ton of carbon via <a href="http://www.nativeenergy.com/">Native Energy</a>, enough to offset 500 miles of driving, which pretty much covers last weekend's trip to see grandma and grandpa in Westchester, NY. But wait, we still drove about 450 miles, our car producing CO2 the whole way. So what does this mean? According to the <a href="or%20every%20kilowatt%20hour%20of%20electricity%20a%20renewable%20generator%20generates,%20it%20also%20generates%20a%20one-kilowatt%20hour%20renewable%20energy%20credit.%20The%20generator%20can%20sell%20both%20commodities%20together%20as%20%22renewable%20electricity%22%20or%20sell%20the%20electricity%20as%20%22generic%22%20electricity%20to%20one%20buyer%20and%20the%20RECs%20to%20other%20buyers.%20Legally,%20it%27s%20all%20about%20who%20owns%20the%20RECs">Native Energy website</a> a renewable energy offset is explained thus:<br /></div><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">For every kilowatt hour of electricity a renewable generator generates, it also generates a one-kilowatt hour renewable energy credit. The generator can sell both commodities together as "renewable electricity" or sell the electricity as "generic" electricity to one buyer and the RECs to other buyers. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Legally, it's all about who owns the RECs</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The way I see it my redeeming this renewable energy credit is supporting a wind farm, a farm methane gas generator, solar plant or other kind of renewable energy source. Kinda makes me feel good. Think my toddler and I will go eat more yogurt! One more container and I'll have enough points to offset another quarter ton of carbon!!<br /></div><br /><br /></div>katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-55358420062650036322010-02-14T11:07:00.001-08:002010-02-14T14:51:03.359-08:00A maple flavored Valentine: maple cookies<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S3h9s0bEa9I/AAAAAAAACQQ/bOtH18jPj64/s1600-h/IMGP3804.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 309px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S3h9s0bEa9I/AAAAAAAACQQ/bOtH18jPj64/s320/IMGP3804.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5438234758989769682" border="0" /></a><br />For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while you might know I have a sensitivity to cane sugar which exacerbates my Crohn's Disease. What you might not know is that I also detest chocolate. I know, I must have some sort of rare recessive gene. What woman hates chocolate? It actually makes me gag. I swear. So no heart-shaped box of chocolates for me on Valentine's Day!<br /><br />I've had a little too many store-bought cookies and Swedish Fish over the past few weeks and it set off a nasty week-long Crohn's disease spell. Considering I'm 20 weeks pregnant I have my growing baby to think about now, so back to cane sugar-free eating for me. Which isn't as hard as you might think. Yes, cane sugar seems to make its way into just about every product on the shelves. But a little internet research, and a lot of home cooking and baking, and you can have your sweets and eat them too!<br /><br />So on this Valentine's Day in lieu of nasty, sugary chocolate (Yuck!) I've made myself a sweet treat of my favorite maple cookies. Next to vanilla, maple is by far my favorite flavor. A warning: these are in no way a "diet" cookie. Just because they don't contain cane sugar, they do contain a whole cup of butter, YUM!<br /><br />This recipe comes off an <a href="http://www.sweetsavvy.com/recipes/recipe.php?id=R26">excellent website </a>full of cookies and treats with cane sugar alternatives, I altered it slightly by using only one cup of maple sugar and replacing the extra half cup with maple syrup since it's slightly cheaper than maple sugar. Enjoy!<br /><br /><center><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> <b><span style="color:#9933ff;"> <a href="http://www.sweetsavvy.com/recipes/recipe.php?id=R26">Debra Lynn Dadd</a></span></b></span></center><p> </p><p align="center"><a href="http://www.sweetsavvy.com/recipes/recipe.php?id=R26"><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> <img src="http://www.sweetsavvy.com/SSimages/recipes.gif" alt="Recipes" align="MIDDLE" height="50" width="121" /></span></a></p> <a href="http://www.sweetsavvy.com/recipes/recipe.php?id=R26"><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> </span></a><center><a href="http://www.sweetsavvy.com/recipes/recipe.php?id=R26"><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> </span></a><h1><a href="http://www.sweetsavvy.com/recipes/recipe.php?id=R26"><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Maple Cookies</span></a></h1></center> <p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">As autumn leaves fall, I love to make these maple cookies cut out with leaf-shaped cookie cutters. They are crisp and crunchy like an autumn leaf and are flavored and sweetened with maple syrup, which, as you know, is the sap of a tree. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> They can also be used instead of graham crackers to make a flavorful cookie-crumb pie crust. </span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"><i>Makes about 4 dozen medium-sized cookies</i></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">NOTE: <b>Dough needs to chill at least four hours</b>, so don't make these at the last minute for a party. Make the dough ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator. My dough was delicious after chilling for a week, and seems to improve with time. </span></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature<br />1 1/2 cups granulated maple sugar or unrefined cane sugar (such as Sucanat or Rapadura)*<br />2 large eggs<br />1 teaspoon vanilla extract<br />1 teaspoon maple extract<br />1/4 cup maple syrup<br />4 cups unbleached white flour<br />2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder<br />1/2 teaspoon salt </span></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> </span></p><ol start="1" type="1"><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> <li> In a medium bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer. </li><li> Gradually add the sugar while you continue to beat. </li><li> Add the eggs, vanilla extract, maple extract, and maple syrup, and beat until light and fluffy. </li><li> Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. </li><li> Mix the flour mixture into the butter mixture. </li><li> Bring the dough into a ball, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. </li><li> Chill at least four hours. </li><li> Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. </li><li> Roll the dough out 1/4-inch thick. Cut out cookies and transfer them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat. </li><li> Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. </li></span></ol><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> * Granulated maple sugar is more expensive and hard to find, but would result in an all-maple cookie. unrefined cane sugar (such as Sucanat or Rapadura) is less expensive, available in most natural food stores, and has the added benefit of causing less blood sugar rise. </span><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> </span><p> <!--End of recipe--> <span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> </span></p> <span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"> </span><center><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.sweetsavvy.com/recipes/index.php"><b>BACK TO RECIPE INDEX</b></a></span></center><p> <span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"><b><center><a href="http://www.debraslist.com/specialty.php?subtopic=Sweeteners" target="blank">BACK TO DEBRA'S LIST: Sweeteners</a></center></b> </span></p><p> </p><center><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Copyright ©2005 Debra Lynn Dadd - all rights reserved</span></center><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /> </span> <p align="center"> </p>katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-86134279516830159952010-02-04T15:00:00.000-08:002010-02-07T10:43:25.452-08:00If a tree falls, would a hawk notice?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://funkydeadtrees.com/images/dead_tree.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S2t-Qq03sDI/AAAAAAAACQA/s8ABQMuTbWw/s320/Picture+3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434576200191684658" border="0" /></a>If an old, dead tree along the highway was cut down would anyone notice? Well, I did, and I wonder about the red tailed hawk pair who used it as their perch.<br /><br />On the north bound side of Route 95 in Danvers, MA - just north of the Center Street overpass and before route 62 - there was an old, dead tree that stood twice as tall as anything around it. I doubt anyone would have taken notice of this tree unless you were a birder or had an inclination towards the natural world. Most people probably drove past it everyday while on their cell phones or sipping their lattes and never knew it was there. But I knew it, and every time I passed I'd look to see if the hawks were there. And they almost always were.<br /><br />Sometime this past fall it was suddenly gone, just a clean-cut stump and a hole in the space it occupied in the sky. I assume State highway workers removed it to prevent it falling over in a storm and blocking one of the most traveled routes through northern Massachusetts. I can see their reasoning, but did they think of the hawks?<br /><br />I thought about the tree again this morning, as I always do, when I drive past the stump. And I thought about it even more because I saw both of the hawks, perched a few hundred yards apart, one on a highway sign and one in another not-so-nice dead tree. Do they miss their old tree? Do they even remember it? Do they fly towards it expecting it to reappear as mysteriously and suddenly as it disappeared?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/99/278288675_376bfcce9d.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 301px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S2t-rwG4FJI/AAAAAAAACQI/nX0NsvWkBpA/s320/Picture+4.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434576665465853074" border="0" /></a>If I could be another species for just five minutes I've always wanted to be a hawk or an eagle -I know, you're surprised not a dolphin or a whale? It's true. I would love to see through their amazing eyes, feel what it would feel like to fly, and find out if they miss their tree. What sets humans apart from most other animals is our ability to feel empathy for others. And I feel sad for these hawks even though I'd like to think that they don't mind their tree being gone and have found other perches that suit them just as well. Perhaps I'm anthropomorphizing a bit too much, but I am only human.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-1771694278657855462010-01-30T12:00:00.000-08:002010-01-30T17:42:43.225-08:00A promise to bake more bread<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S2Tdo6TBI_I/AAAAAAAACP4/42TOoVkY600/s1600-h/IMGP3771.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 450px; height: 251px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S2Tdo6TBI_I/AAAAAAAACP4/42TOoVkY600/s320/IMGP3771.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432710745429189618" border="0" /></a>There is something very simple one can do in the kitchen that I'm going to make a very good effort to do more of: bake my own bread.<br /><br />We go through a lot of whole wheat bread in this house. I love toast, my toddler loves to share my toast, I love to make French toast and my husband loves an evening snack of bread and butter and hummus (especially if I make his snack FOR him :) We usually go through two loaves a week.<br /><br />I did a quick calculation and that's about $250 to $300 a year in bread, if not more. If I make it at home it would only be about $50 a year in ingredients. Not to mention by making it here I can control what goes in it, substituting local honey for the processed cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup and a myriad of preservatives I can't pronounce. I always believed that a simple loaf of bread should only consist of flour, yeast, water, milk, honey, salt and butter. Maybe some oats on top to make it look pretty.<br /><br />So while my bread is rising (hopefully, I can't seem to find a warm spot in the house on this cold New England day) I thought I'd write a little bit about why I love the process of making bread. The yeasty smell of the sponge, the warm sticky dough in your hands, the whir of my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer (without which I'd probably have stronger arms but would make less bread), that fun moment when you get to punch the dough, and finally the amazingly rich and comforting odor of it baking after all the rising and shaping and kneading. There's nothing quite like it....<br /><br />And, now four hours later, I wish I could send you all some of the final product through the interweb but you'll have to settle for the picture above of it cooling on my counter and imagine the sensation of eating a warm piece with melted butter. Yum. I will most definitely do this more often! I'm going to have to since we ate half of one of the loaves already!katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-77993826272234967732010-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:002010-01-26T10:27:38.355-08:00A happy, happy, happy walk around IpswichAfter all of last week's political gloom and doom, and then cold and snow, this morning dawned a balmy 38 degrees. I was determined to take my toddler for an early morning walk around town to cheer us up, banish the cabin fever we've both been feeling and hopefully spot the bald eagle I saw near the town wharf a few weeks ago (when I sadly did not have a camera). One thing I love about my town is that I can step out my front door, walk five minutes down the street and be along the river walk.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S18toW3ORrI/AAAAAAAACO4/96Qob7utS5c/s1600-h/IMGP3744.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 469px; height: 187px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S18toW3ORrI/AAAAAAAACO4/96Qob7utS5c/s320/IMGP3744.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431109846987327154" border="0" /></a>I told my daughter that it won't be long before the chimney swifts are back to nest in the round holes in the foundation of the long building on the right (click to enlarge). They fill the sky over the river in the summer chasing insects.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S18uH1zry2I/AAAAAAAACPA/-hzlhCLT0_Q/s1600-h/IMGP3746_2.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S18uH1zry2I/AAAAAAAACPA/-hzlhCLT0_Q/s320/IMGP3746_2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431110387869928290" border="0" /></a>It was still a bit icy and with yesterday's rain there was a lot of water coming over the dam. This dam has been here for centuries but there's a movement starting in town to have it removed to make fish passage easier and hopefully restore our anadromous fish run. Studies show there's bedrock just upstream of the dam and without the impediment there would be a nice rapid right through town. Our house is just around the bend upstream, we could literally walk to the end of our street, jump in our kayaks and paddle the three miles out to sea. I told my daughter that I hope we can all do that someday, she smiled.<br /><br />She was even more happy when I let her out of the stroller to walk up and down the foot bridge. This is the first time she's been able to do this since she learned to walk as there's been so much snow and ice. I swear she let out a twenty second rapid jumble of words as soon as she ran up to the bars and pressed her little face closer to the falls. I recognized "happy", "water" and "walk" in there. "Happy" was repeated over and over. It's her new favorite word.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S18vVvhkEPI/AAAAAAAACPI/xiTR2UcNRVo/s1600-h/IMGP3749.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 422px; height: 282px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S18vVvhkEPI/AAAAAAAACPI/xiTR2UcNRVo/s320/IMGP3749.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431111726213107954" border="0" /></a>She fell asleep somewhere along the lower river near the town wharf so she missed the beautiful shapes the melting ice takes when the current slows.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S18wE4KKYrI/AAAAAAAACPQ/-EwsFoERXfY/s1600-h/IMGP3755.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 435px; height: 220px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S18wE4KKYrI/AAAAAAAACPQ/-EwsFoERXfY/s320/IMGP3755.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431112535984726706" border="0" /></a>But when she woke up in <a href="http://www.zumis.com/">Zumi's</a>, our local fair trade coffee shop, she babbled "happy" again and again. I think we both feel better. Walks and January thaws (and a decaf caramel cloud latte for me:) definitely make us both "happy". Perhaps when she wakes up from her nap we'll go to the beach!katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-42289003473134356022010-01-22T06:00:00.000-08:002010-01-22T09:34:20.212-08:00Asian Carp invades Great Lakes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://isiria.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/giant-asian-carp1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 236px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S1ngji2nnCI/AAAAAAAACOw/YGNoTGMVV84/s320/Picture+6.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429617727027780642" border="0" /></a>I just got this form letter (below) from the Michigan Attorney General in an email from a former Aquarium colleague. It is sad news indeed: the Asian Carp has been found in the Great Lakes. These guys get HUGE as you can see in the photo to the right. What's even more sad is US federal authorities knew about it and have done nothing to stop them. The future of the Great Lakes hangs in the balance, although I have a bad feeling the Lakes will never be the same again. For a full article from the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/21/asian-carp-michigan-rep-i_n_432255.html">Huffington Post click here</a>.<br /><br />Please read the letter below and if you have a minute stop by <a href="http://stopasiancarp.com/">StopAsianCarp.com </a>to sign the petition that will be sent to Washington:<br /><br />Can You Help? Tell your friends about<a href="http://stopasiancarp.com/"> StopAsianCarp.com</a><br />Thank you for signing the online petition to protect hundreds of thousands of jobs and the Great Lakes at <a href="http://stopasiancarp.com/">StopAsianCarp.com</a>. Your efforts are helping me make our case to President Obama and Congress that residents of the Great Lakes region will not stand by silently as federal officials allow Asian carp to destroy our Lakes.<br /><br />TELL FIVE PEOPLE: <a href="http://stopasiancarp.com/">STOPASIANCARP.COM </a><br /><br />Now you can do even more. Please forward this email to five friends or family members, one for each of the Great Lakes , asking them to sign the petition at <a href="http://stopasiancarp.com/">StopAsianCarp.com.</a><br /><br />We need to act because the U.S. Supreme Court declined this week to close the locks in Chicago that can stop Asian carp from entering the Lakes, ignoring Michigan 's pleas and those of Ohio , Minnesota , Wisconsin , Pennsylvania , New York and Ontario .<br /><br />Making things worse, it was revealed federal authorities knew of new DNA evidence of Asian carp IN LAKE MICHIGAN but did not make the Court aware before it made its decision.<br /><br />The front door to Lake Michigan remains wide open even as these waterborne aliens threaten to devastate the Lakes' $7 billion fishery and hundreds of thousands of jobs connected to the health of the Lakes. The need for each of us to act has never been greater.<br /><br />TELL FIVE PEOPLE: <a href="http://stopasiancarp.com/">STOPASIANCARP.COM</a><br /><br />Please forward this email right now to five friends or family members, asking them to visit StopAsianCarp.com and sign the petition demanding authorities in Washington D.C. and Illinois act today.<br /><br />That's telling one friend about <a href="http://stopasiancarp.com/">www.StopAsianCarp.com</a> for each of the Great Lakes . Please help us sound this critical alarm.<br /><br />Thank you,<br /><br /><br />Mike Cox<br />Michigan Attorney Generalkatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7960667416014167649.post-17357666401463363692010-01-20T15:00:00.000-08:002010-01-20T17:32:54.622-08:00Mass Backwards<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-18-2010/mass-backwards"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_T26sEH5ZYQI/S1er3KurUyI/AAAAAAAACOg/N1nj9J5U800/s320/Picture+4.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428996840079708962" border="0" /></a><br />I could write a lengthy blog about my disappointment at my state's election results. But instead I will leave you with this link to <a href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-18-2010/mass-backwards">Jon Stewart's Monday night clip: Mass Backwards</a>. It kind of sums up how I feel, and it's at least giving me a good laugh, which I need right now as I think of all the uninsured people, and children, that are out there in this country. I am glad to live in a Commonwealth that takes care of its citizens by providing affordable health care. Many of my friends use Mass Health and are very grateful for the program.<br /><br />So I hope you enjoy a laugh and that you aren't one of the thousands who worry about how they're going to pay for their health care. And I hope, for the rest of the country who stands with me on this issue, that next time Massachusetts can put forth a better Democratic candidate that will get the job done.katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07177977094835269643noreply@blogger.com5