An Eye Opener

Well, I attended my first Town Council meeting last night and to say the least, it was quite an eye opener. The school budget was on the agenda and it seemed to me that you had the teachers and parents on one side and the senior citizens on the other. School programs are being cut and I feel that my daughter deserves the same opportunities that the people had who came before her. Students have to choose between taking art or a foreign language. The metal shop, wood shop and home ec classes are being cancelled in the high school. Those may be the only route that some students can go. And I found out that some of the town council members send their kids to private schools. Somehow, that doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. I know, I voted for some of these people so I am to blame too. Anyway, I hate to admit this, but I kept thinking that I'm lucky - I can always choose to put Rebecca in private school. Of course, it would mean a big argument with my husband, but that is another story.

On to more pleasant topics. Yesterday I renewed my pledge to eat locally (and healthier). Last summer I joined a coop at a local farm - I got to pick up my share of organically grown vegetables every week for like 4 months. So, I joined again this year and yesterday was the first pick up.

The only problem is that I don't have a clue what some of the stuff is. There are always ALOT of greens. I know I got some kale, cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, radishes, possibly beets (which reminds me, I need to ask Cate for her beet recipe) and a bunch of other stuff I can't identify. I need to invite Norma over and maybe she could help me out! So, last night I heated up some olive oil (EVOO as Rachel Ray says - for some reason, my daughter loves watching Rachel Ray), threw in some garlic, then quickly cooked the kale and some other green stuff. Added some sesame oil, salt and pepper and threw some cooked shrimp on top. It was yummy. Reminder - I need to look for some of that sea salt everyone talks about.

Here are some of the pictures I promised from last time. The beautiful green fabric that was hand dyed by Susan. She also made the stoneware charm. I have to think of some extra special way to use this fabric. The greens are even more vibrant than the picture shows. Thank you Susan for a wonderful gift.

I finally sent off my package for The Dulaan Project. In the box are a woman's mohair sweater, a baby sweater and matching hat, a toddler's vest and 2 hats (one child sized and one adult sized).

For some reason I can't seem to load my spinning pictures so they will have to wait for another time. Instead I leave you with a picture of one of my favorite flowers - with the ever prevalent raindrops that we seem to be having lately.