SILHOUETTE MACHINE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

SILHOUETTE MACHINE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Kathleen from Grosgrain is giving away a Silhouette machine. It looks like a lot of fun. Check it out!

The Oh Dear Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

The Oh Dear Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

Escaping Worms

Last night I went to feed my worms some oats that had fallen on the kitchen floor, and sadly saw this:

There weren't many worms to begin with, so I need to try to keep these buggers in their 'home' as well as possible. Now, it's been cold outside, and until a day or so ago, there was still about 15 inches of snow on the ground, so I didn't add the recommended handful of soil to the bin. Other than that, I think it was pretty good. I thought I had the right moisture -- most references say the bedding should feel like a wrung-out sponge.

But when I tried to figure out why the worms might be escaping, all I could find was that the bedding might be too dry or too wet. So, I'm not sure what to do. I put in some banana peel and eggshells, so hopefully if they were trying to find food, they can now find it in their home.

Another thing that might be the issue is that it's pretty darn cold in that basement. It's not freezing, but they continue their escape tactics, I may have to bring them upstairs to warm up. (Just don't tell Eric... He'll probably never know if we don't tell him).

Worms!!!

These came in the mail yesterday:

Yes, that's right.  The pictures are a little hard to see, but they are worms.  Eric ordered them for me for Valentine's day.  Romantic, huh?   Actually, I asked for them.   I've been looking for them for a while around town, but no one seems to have any extra.

I've set up a bin for them with torn up paper that's been moistened.  I drilled holes in the bin for aeration and now I'm letting them accumulate before I add any food.  Did I mention these are for composting our kitchen waste?  I'm excited!

From what I've read, worms can eat their weight in food each day.  So, 1 pound of worms will eat 1 pound of food waste.  I've also read that a typical two-person household will create 1-2 pounds of waste.  The ones we received were ~ 0.5 lbs, so we might have to take it easy on them.

I'll post pictures of the bin and updates as I get them.  Cheers!

An Update -- What?!

So, a friend recently told me that neither Eric or I have updated our blog since February. I thought it was earlier than that, even. But a lot of time has passed since then.

Unfortunately, not a lot of interesting things have happened in our lives. Since Feb., I have been able to visit Eric in VA many times. It has been interesting getting to know the area and the people before I move down in Dec/Jan. I'm excited to move to a new place, especially back 'home-away-from-home' in the southeastern part of the country, "God's country".

Yet, I'm still somewhat sad about leaving. I hated NE Indiana when we moved here 2.5 years ago. It was flat. No mountains, just corn, beans, and flatness. The city was large, but still boring. And the winters were frigid with wind that cuts right to the bones.

But I'm close to my family: my parents, Eric's parents, one brother, sister-in-law, and my almost 18-month-old niece. Plus lots of extended family. It has been a lot of fun to meet for birthday parties (Seeing Grandma D wearing a sombrero or attempting Wii bowling) and various other celebrations.

Plus, I have come to love the department I work in. The faculty, staff, and my fellow graduate students have become my community, and I'm sad to leave them. It's scary to think I'll have to start all over again, learning work-place cultures and making new friends.

So, short and sweet, while I don't want to stay here a minute longer than I have to without Eric, I think I'm going to have a hard time adjusting to being the 'new girl' again. But, I do know that I will make more friends, and I will get used to more co-workers (whatever I do), and when we have to move from SW Virginia, I will have these same thoughts again.

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On a happy note, Eric sent me this pictures as encouragement to write my thesis. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Vegetarian - Day Something or Other

I completely forgot I was going to blog about my experiences. Basically, I'm still going strong. No meat since February 1st. I learned to enjoy tofu (firmness really does matter), tempeh, and dried tofu. I had it yesterday (dried tofu) for lunch and one of my labmates thought it was chicken. It's difficult to find, but well worth the effort (I had it at a restaurant in Lafayette once and they called it vegetarian chicken). I've only tried the "spicey/spiced" variety, but texturally/flavor/visually, it resembles chicken. Otherwise, it really hasn't been that tough. Evidently I don't eat meat that much or it wasn't something I absolutely have to have on a daily basis. Unfortunately, come March 1, I'm pretty sure I'm getting some sushi or a cheeseburger. Other than those two things, I may stick to this.

One side note/difficulty, go out to eat sometime and tell yourself you won't eat meat. That has been the biggest struggle. Not only are you limited to about 10% (or less) of the menu, but the social aspect of dining is gone. No sharing appetizers with friends. Most of the people I go out to eat with don't know I'm doing this, but when there's talk of ordering bacon cheese fries, it's not easy. I'm sure if I made it known that I'm not eating meat they'd accommodate me, but it still changes the dynamic a bit. I don't want to be that guy who forces everyone to order the spinach/artichoke dip because it's the only thing on the appetizer menu without meat in it.

Anyhow, have a good one and hopefully everyone is doing something for lent to celebrate the season.

Vegetarian - Day 1

I recently decided to see if I go without eating meat for a month. It is not for moral or religious reasons, I am just hoping to learn a little from it. My goal is to be more conscious of others and learn new recipes with ingredients I don't always use. I have friends who have chosen this lifestyle and I've always been curious to see what it is like. The rules I've set for myself are simple. I am not a vegan, just no skeletal or smooth muscle from any animal. However, if offered a dish by someone as a gift, I will not turn it down. I don't want to take away someone's joy of giving. Otherwise, no meat for the month of February. I started yesterday (a day later I know, but the super bowl was going to be difficult with multiple meat containing offerings from others) and thus far it hasn't been too bad. Last night I had tempeh for the first time in my life. Honestly, it was pretty good. I can easily see myself eating more of it. Plus, the protein content is through the roof. I cooked it until brown on the griddle and then tossed it with a soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha sauce (one of my FAVORITES), and rice vinegar over brown rice with nori added. I'm pretty sure my wife would like the meal too which is always a major plus.

I'll try and periodically post about the new foods I try, but no promises.

Look up tempeh and definitely sriracha sauce.