Fantastic Fabe's - yummy all natural baked stuff

this is definitely my favorite part of the job - we got a huge box dumped on the doorstep this week. i opened it up to find several bags of dry ice, but of course that wasn't the exciting part.

SEVERAL pies, a whole chocolate cake AND 6 different packages of cookies!

WHOOOO HOOOOOO . . . i wasn't quite ready to start my weight-loss routine anyway . . .

somehow i can justify them because they are all natural, no sugar or artificial sweetners, vegan, and so far ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!!!

i divided the pile to give some to jen, but i'm afraid we're going to eat her family's ration pretty soon.

check out Fabe's All Natural Foods.

big green thumbs up!

;)

meg

dr. seuss hat

hard to tell from this photo, but this is my latest whacky creation, seen on the head of one of my earlier creations, my daughter mary.

i knitted this hat from this wonky black yarn, which made a really wobbly, fun, dr. seuss style toasty head covering.

here's my doc seuss quote for the day:

"Just tell yourself duckie,

you're really quite lucky!"

found this fun page filled with quote from the prolific and profound - click here for more dr. seuss quotes.

knitting a matching scarf that i was going to give to wayne, but i swear it expanded and it seems wide and it is more like a shawl.

nothing really sustainable to report.

check out some of the new recipes jen and i have been sharing on our website.

:)

meg

let it snow

i can't find my digital camera to capture the thousands of these little buggers that are falling gracefully out of the sky right now. the view outside my window is a whispy white wonderland.

so, i went and found a few cool images of individual snowflakes. it is hard to believe how amazing these little guys are up close and personal. from my window or even standing right next to hundreds of them clustered or floating down for their last individual dive, they don't seem so unique or different.

i just LOVE a snowy day.

happy belated birthday to me!!!!! yesterday marked another year since the original one when my poor mother worked so hard to push me into this thing we call life. go mom. after i started having children, i realized how birthdays are not only about welcoming the new wee one, but i suddenly realized how underappreciated mothers were on that day! i mean, we make a fuss over ourselves because we have lived 365 more days, but it is the anniversary of a day of hard labor for most mothers.

so, 20-something years ago, i started celebrating my mother on my birthday. nothing extravagant, but some type of acknowledgement about her involvement in the process.

my mother has been gone for 13 or 14 years (one of my siblings can set me straight on that one), so there is always a bitter-sweet, emotional moment or two i spend quietly no matter what goes on. i miss my mom, but i know she is around and i thanked her yesterday for all her efforts that day and for all the love for the ensuing years.

now, on my kids' birthdays i have started a tradition of telling them all about the day they were born. they now look forward to that part of their birthday celebration each year.

i had a wonderful day yesterday. i expected nothing and honestly have never been much of a birthday partier, but the true friendship and love i felt yesterday goes way beyond fancy parties and gifts. but, i LOVE the goodie bag jenifer gave me with my beautiful and colorful alpaca gloves and bracelet and tea (she knows me so well); and the really cool pink charging station wayne found for me - so girly, hightech, AND useful! my girls got me exactly what i wanted AND i've been eating myself into oblivion with all the wonderful meals!

i'm going to enjoy this quiet, snowy, post-b-day.

i'll be uploading new goodies to website so, make sure to check that out!

:)

meg

Slow Publishing - Part 3

in case you haven't heard, as part of our slow publishing debate, we've decided to suspend publication of Relevant Times in order to better practice what we preach - although i wouldn't say our general message or method of conveying it is preachy.

while jen and i feel strongly that print is NOT ready to die, when we carefully weighed out and examined all the pros and cons of how sustainable the print facet really is, it just can't win.

so far, everyone we've told and talked to about it is very disappointed. we're trying to keep a positive attitude about it all, but there is no denying that it is a tough decision and whether it is permanent or not, it will change things dramatically.

we are still working through alternative options that may be a more sustainable way to be in ink and get the word out to those who aren't all-digital yet, which is really probably 90% of the population.

maybe we need to do this to prove a point or maybe it is just that the print industry is sliding down the hill into history and it is the wrong time to start what has traditionally been a very difficult, environmentally costly, and expensive (not so sustainable) media venue.

look, we're about practical sustainability. there is nothing practical or sustainable about printing a bi-monthly magazine! while environmental concerns are a huge factor, money comes into play for anyone who is considering practical sustainability.

if we had a huge sustaining supply of money, we could print on the highest quality post-consumer recycled paper using all the least harmful processes now available, using a local printer, distributing the magazine using a fleet of hybrid and/or biodiesel vans.

as it turns out, passion isn't enough to produce those things. investors are interested, but shy in the current economic climate and not quick enough to act to make these things happen. anyone in magazine publishing knows that sales wouldn't be enough to carry even a traditionally produced magazine for a period of 3 - 5 years, let alone one that is done with the more costly sustainable practices as a priority.

so, we're doing what we do well - getting creative with what we have. i think that is a sustainable attribute jen and i both carry rather naturally.

we do have these wonderful electronic platforms and we're not afraid to use them! so watch out world. we may be sad because we don't have a beautiful color magazine in our hands today, but all is not lost and with your help, we will find ways to help communicate the news and resources everyone's come to use and enjoy from the print side.

i declare that print is NOT dead . . . is is just in a coma until we can find better, more sustainable ways to produce the printed word!

please let us know your thoughts.

;)
meg

I Hate Global Warming

is it my imagination or all this hype about climate change OR in the last few years have more snow storms than not turned into rain here in NJ??????

back to my basement. because we had a nice snow yesterday, then the sleet, now the rain, there is no ground water absorption near the outside steps to my basement so the water is just running right down the stairs and bypassing the wonderful new subpump my handy manly man, wayne installed last week. so, i'm down there EVERY 15 MINUTES with a giant broom sweeping the water to the corner where the hole (which is mostly empty) for the subpump is.

i hear it is going to rain heavily all day. yeah! guess i don't need to go to the gym this afternoon! if i do it right, i can burn a mess of calories on those narrow, steep stairs. the cumulative affect will be like going to a step class!

if this were snow, i wouldn't be having this problem (and i'd have to go to the gym).

i need to do some meteorological research to see what the patterns have been, but i just don't remember all this nasty rain-after-snow stuff when i was growing up in this very same area.

if my back weren't so painful and the fact that i have to go up and down the stairs EVERY 15 MINUTES and sweep the water, i might not be so crabby.

was hoping to blame global warming or climate change.

it is fun owning your own home, right?

how can i make all this fun more sustainable? on second thought, not sure i want to sustain this particular brand of aerobic exercise.

i'm open for suggestions.

:)
meg

Sustainable Design in Morristown, NJ -- Who Knew?

It was a snowy, grey Saturday - we decided to truck on down to The Morris Museum as they were holding one of their Saturday Family Workshops entitled Recycled House where we were invited to create a model of a house using recycled materials, wood scraps and found objects. This workshop was being offered in conjunction with a new exhibition set to open there on February 12th called The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture & Design.

This highly interactive exhibit, which was created by the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C introduces visitors to the concept of “green” or sustainable architecture and design for all types of buildings and demonstrates the emerging collaboration between tasteful architecture, interior design, and environmental responsibility.

That's James' cousin Hannah above right with her house. Below left is James with the house he and Dad, Jim, built (solar panels courtesy of yours truly) -- and below right is James' cousin Elias with his bold creation!







A good time was had by all!

:) Jen

knitting, voting & other recent events

it's been a busy week so far! hard to make time to write here. sorry.

update on sustainable knitting project:





yours truly in the superbowl hat! i know, i know, it should be blue . . . go giants!

i've decided knitting is an amazing therapeutic activity that fits into the sustainable category of making useful stuff for ourselves, distracting oneself during challging times, AND the simple satisfaction of creating something.

i'm very proud of my little hat - and not just because it makes me about 3 inches taller with that giant pom-pom my daughter made for it either!

i feel like mike nesmith of the monkees. for anyone over 40, they'll know who i'm talking about. anyone younger, can go to the links provided and familiarize yourself with some odd and colorful bits of the culture i grew up in. when i was a kid, i thought he was the cutest . . . maybe it was the knitted hat he ALWAYS wore with the pom-pom on top!

rock the vote:

DID YOU ALL GET OUT AND EXERCISE YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS THIS WEEK?

hillary kicked ass in Jersey. yes, i'm coming out for hillary. i'm announcing my endorsement of hillary clinton. not sure anyone cares, least of all the senator herself!

i really like mr. obama. he gives great oration! i do think he has incredible potential, but i feel strongly that we are in desperate need of someone who has the experience and capacity to WORK the whitehouse game on 'day one' as hillary says (perhaps a wee bit too often).

i'm among those who feel a clinton/obama ticket would be a powerful match for anything the republicans could come up with. and now that mr. morman has gracefully bowed out, we're looking at good ole mccain.

okay, i'll restrain myself from ranting at this point.

spooky:

if you are a feline lover and saw the image of our goofy spooky with the catnip toy on her head (see earlier post about testing sustainable pet toys), please send out some good energy to her. she is currently sobering up from getting knocked out for tests today. she's been really sick for the past couple of days. we are worried.

:)
meg

A doc to look forward to

a friend of mine, sent a link for this trailer to an upcoming documentary on 12-step recovery and faith.

i'm a documentary slut and a fan of AA, so it is a no-brainer for me, but i thought some of you might be interested in it for various reasons.



check it out.

:)
meg

Knitting on Game Day, and other non Superbowl activities

i suppose if our basement hadn't flooded and wiped out our hot water heater, things might be easier today . . . alas, sorely in need of a hot shower, i've been sidetracked today, NOT by the Superbowl and all the game-day preparations involved, but by knitting primarily.

my little artist and creative daughter, jessie has caught the knitting bug from her grandmother, who she has been living with. apparently this virus is spreading. jessie came in yesterday with some cotton yarn (i'm allergic to wool), some knitting needles for me. she made herself a hat a couple of days ago that we both marvelled at, so now it is my turn.

here i want to give some inspirational credit to my new and most interesting blogger friend, yarny old kim. i have seen her knitted socks live and in person and i'm not sure i'll ever get there, but it is something i aspire to.

i should be cleaning the house because we have a small crowd decending upon us for festivities (which really means, I cook a lot of food, and they sit in front of the TV cheering and groaning depending on the Giants' performance). i have a lot of cooking to do too.

instead i've alternated between sitting on my little couch in the sun room with the cat on my lap, reading Pattie Boyd's book about being married to both George Harrison AND Eric Clapton. seems greedy to me, but whatever . . . and then sitting in the other chair with the foot stool and knitting or attempting to anyway. i made significant progress in the knitting and then dropped a couple of critical sticthes at the end. my daughter is sitting here now trying to help me fix it.

i suppose this is a good time to get busy cooking and cleaning, but i thought blogging would be much more fun!

i wonder how disappointing the ads will be this year . . . saw a CBS Sunday Morning story about how they are ALL geared towards the web . . . even traditional broadcast media is bowing to this new media beast!

hope you all enjoy your sunday, no matter what you are celebrating or doing!

:)
meg