Starting Over!

Starting over  with  the flowers

One thing about living in the South is the long growing season!  My zinnias are near the end of their flowering so I cut a few heads off and dried them.  I planted these Sunday and watered them with a high ph water that we get from our Kangen water system. Not sure how it works, but it said the 11.5 ph water would make seeds sprout faster.  I believe it! We drink the 9.5 ph out of the same system.  Here's a link  for  more info.  http://www.enagic.com/watertheory.php

Not pictured is a squash sprout.   I've heard Fall squash is good so I pulled up so hills of Zuchinni that weren't doing much and started some yellow crookneck directly in the ground.  I want to see which sprouts quicker; the ones  in the ground or peat pots.  

A few tomatoes still  coming  in

I can't get over how good home-grown tomatoes are!  I'll miss them.  I might try to grow them in the greenhouse again this year.  Last winter didn't go so well.  Plants grew fine, but I  think  I didn't  keep the greenhouse  warm enough. I wonder  if  Terry will  let me grow some in the dining room?  Not likely unless they match the decor.

Speaking of decor, I think I  might have to  repaint the  living  room (see previous  post about Terry's angst with the paint color).  What didn't  help  was her friends at Bible Study today telling  her in a nice  way that her fear was probably right.  Get out  the paint chips  again!  It won't be  too  bad  this  time since the prep work  and  baseboards are done.  I think it  should be  black  since  it  goes with anything!

Help me!

No, I seriously do not know what to do!.......Here's what the living room looks like after 2 coats.  I am not going to hang pics or ANYTHING until I figure out if this color will work.  What do you think?  I think it should be called "mustard" - it just doesn't seem gold to me.

Do you want to juice with me? If you do not have any health issues, you can try it out with me.  I am starting round two this week.  I have found it is easy to maintain the initial weight that I lost, but I need to go back to juicing to lose more.  The last few days, I have been juicing and eating some, BUT weight loss is so much slower.  So, back to the green juice and cutting out food! Email me at terry@waft.org if you have any questions or want someone to be accountable to.  I'll basically be using the green juice #2.  Here's the recipe: Mean Green Juice #2

handful spinach
3 stalks of kale
2 golden delicious apples
 1 lemon
1 cucumber

This will be my staple - and all my body needs for this go around.  I'll probably use the cranberry orange on occasion too! Bill is good to go so he'll be working on his running! (He just juices for breakfast.)

There was a photo of a clever idea going around on FB that I thought was ingenious. I tried it myself and it works like a charm! It holds single sheets easily and light books.  It's eye level and if you're like me, you won't splash or spill anything on it!  I just love this idea!

Our square foot gardening needs to be prepped for the Fall.  Bill will be adding some more squash, he's starting some more zinnias (they did really well this year), and keeping an eye on our sweet potatoes.  The vines are soooooo long, it's unreal.

What now?

Life goes on, and on, and on.....I haven't posted too much this week because we keep doing the same thing!  Work at WAFT, juice, paint the living room, and put up tomatoes in the freezer!

Let's start with the painting....the color is Brass Mesh.  I thought it would be more of a soft gold. Bill describes it as a medium gold. It seems a little bright with an orange hue to me. I honestly do not know! What complicates things is that the living room and dining room are open to each other and I don't think they blend very well together.  Paint the dining room?  I haven't mentioned that to Bill yet! Haha! He is going to touch up the trim and then he'll be done in the living room. I guess we'll put the furniture in and then see........I'll post a pic when we move things back into the room so you can get a better idea of the color. I feel an urge to go to Kirkland's or Hobby Lobby!


We are still enjoying juicing.  We basically use the same few recipes over and over.  I think we will continue juicing even after I finish losing weight!  Yes, it is that beneficial!   Today we had a treat!  We bought a boston butt and a turkey breast from the Refuge of Hope.  They were both so good.  We usually split with my mom, that's why we get two different things. They were mouth watering good.  I need to get back in the habit of making some menus and doing a little more cooking. This juicing is spoiling me!

Name these worms found in Bill's compost.  Viewer discretion advised!!

WAFT has a Precept Bible Study on Thursday nights. We're doing the Kinsman Redeemer and we have such a great group.  I have enjoyed the study.  Gail commented on how courageous Ruth was to leave her country, family, all that was familiar to go to Bethlehem with Naomi.  Just think of the blessings she would have missed if she had not stepped out.  What an application for us!  Sometimes God calls us to step out by faith into the unknown, trusting Him, I wonder how many blessings we have missed  by not going forth.

It's that time.  Grapes are coming in!  We love just grazing up and down the vines! Happy weekend! Be sure to join us Monday morning from 7-9 for Jumpstart Your Morning with Bill and Terry! WAFT 101.1 or waft.org

Panic!!!!!

Notice the original light yellow

I am really nervous!.....We matched the living room paint to a gold in the couch...it is really bold!  I don't know!!! Bill is going to put a second coat on and then we'll know whether it is too much.  I do think wood furniture would be a pretty accent...but still!!!! Yikes! What do you think?? Like I said before, life is never boring around here.

We ate lunch out today, so we'll be having a glass of juice for supper. (Yay, no dishes!) In case you can't remember, it takes a fair amount of fruit/veggies for a pitcher.  This is crazy, Bill ran to town to get some more kale last night, and while looking for some in the produce department ran into another guy buying the same fruits/veggies.  Of course, Bill just had to find out if he was juicing!  Yep, he was!  It seems that juicing is getting to be more and more popular.  The one common remark is always, "It made me feel so much better." 

This much juice...

Eggs anyone?

Out of the blue, Bill decided to scramble an egg for himself this morning.  I have been indoctrinated, one look and I was like, "No way, juice for me!" My stomach has already decided that juice is the best way to start the day. If I really feel the urge for eggs, I'll plan to have them at supper (or dinner), or whatever you call the evening meal. 

....from this much produce.

So we're painting, and juicing, and making watermelon baby buggies.  This was for a shower I went to on Sunday.  I have seen so many fun carving ideas with watermelon!

Took to a baby shower

Another fun project we made

Organic or not organic?

That is the question........We tend to be bombarded on every hand about buying organic.  I think there are pros and cons on the subject. So, what's the big deal? Here's a good article from the Chicago Tribune with a response from the Mayo Clinic:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-health-organic-or-not,0,5851333.story  If you don't feel like tracking down articles, here are the basics: If you are concerned about pesticides and fertilizer chemicals, then organic is a good option. On the other hand, there are regulations in place and there hasn't been a clear connection between non-organic food and health risks.  Organic is more expensive, but sometimes very close to the same.  Here is an article that compares several items and has recommendations on which you should or should not buy: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/JustOneThing/organic-nonorganic-buy/story?id=13310727#.UByS5rTOV3Q   Here's our scientific method of deciding - if it is close to the same price, we go organic. If not available or much higher, we go with what is on the shelf.  What's your opinion?? And don't even get me started on buying meats.....! Don't forget to wash your produce. There are many good products available.

Fruit/veggie wash

Saturday was crazy for us.  I put up tomatoes, basil, made pesto - and that was just my morning! Bill was swamped outside.  We went (for WAFT) to the BBQ competition downtown, bought fruit to make a watermelon baby buggy for a shower and decided how to paint our living room.  If it were not for the extra energy we're getting from juice, I don't know if we could have kept going...but we did! lol

As I write this blog, Bill is masking off the living room.  It's time to spruce things up and move things around. We've been in our house for 10 years and we need to repaint baseboards, fix a few things, re-carpet a bedroom upstairs; well, you know how a house gets. We took this pic when the grandkids were here. (We rearrange things to accommodate them.) Here's our fun for tonight!

LR set up for grandkids!

Tonight's fun - painting!

What do you really want to know?

What's your question?......It's funny the number of questions we are asked apart from our blog.  Feel free to post a question below, others may be wondering the same thing.  You can ask about juicing, the bio assessment, square foot gardening, our prize albino bluebird...or whatever.

Bill hit the Farmer's market today and spent about $15, the fruits/veggies should last a couple of days. Although, he did buy some peanuts to boil.  I did sorta cheat a little today.  I juiced till lunch, got a gluten free pizza from Dominos for lunch, juiced this afternoon and then ate some popcorn at the movies tonight. The pizzas only come with a thin crust (which is my favorite). I am only supposed to be eating one time a day and juicing the rest of the time; but I don't think the occasional treat should hurt too much!  I'll know when I get on the scales tomorrow!!  lol (Don't have a heart attack, but we went to see The Hunger Games.) I will say by the time we got home I was pretty nauseous. Your body does change when you are juicing. This is the second time in the last couple of weeks that I tried something I shouldn't have....it's just not worth it. You would think I would learn by now. Bill just juices in the morning and eats food for lunch and supper.  He seems to be maintaining okay, I'm still working on the losing end.

In case you are gluten free, the BEST book out there is Cooking for Isaiah by Silvana Nardone. Her flour mix is out of this world.  Every recipe I have tried of hers has been really good.  Here's a link to her site: http://silvanaskitchen.com/ She has a ton of recipes you can try.  Among other things, Silvana was the founding editor-in-chief of Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine, has been on several TV morning shows and featured in several magazines.

Tomorrow we'll need to put up some more tomatoes.  They sure are good.  I saw a recipe today where you toast a piece of bread, sprinkle
with olive oil add slices of tomatoes, feta, seasonings....it looked so
good!

Our next project is to paint our living room. I'll show you the before and after pics.  I'm having a hard time finding that 'perfect' color.  Seems like we're always trying something......that keeps things interesting.

Got chicken?

Still curious?!......And the questions keep coming......"Are you feeling better?" "Can you tell a difference?" The answer is yes and yes!  Juicing gives your body nutrients that you might otherwise be missing, and because it is juice it gets into your system much faster than just eating fruits/veggies raw. Plus, it is quite convenient not cooking!  Yah! I can't see the down side!  What's keeping you from trying it?

Well, today was the BIG day!  Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day!  For lunch, I had grilled chicken nuggets, FF and sweet tea!  Soooo good!  We appreciate the testimony of Chick-fil-A!  We felt special because the owner, Charlie Crews, waited on our table. He is a wonderful guy who loves the Lord. I loved the comradery of believers today!  It was a GREAT day.  We juiced until lunch, ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A, then juiced the rest of the day!  See, you don't even miss out on the good fun!

I got most of the tomatoes in the freezer today; still have quite a few on the counter that aren't quite ripe.  I can tell I'll have to put them up in stages.  Oh yeah, in case you didn't hear the BIG NEWS!  We have an albino bluebird!  How crazy is that?! I need to get a clearer photo, we took a couple using Bill's phone - I just had to have proof!

So, the non-deodorant seems to be working.  At least no one has started sniffing around me yet! Honestly, around here, I think we'll try anything!