Coffee Break?

St. Patrick’s Day

Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? This week’s theme is all about St. Patrick’s Day – what are your thoughts and if you do celebrate, do you have traditions or do you just wear green?

How do I celebrate St. Patrick's Day?  Well...I don't, really.  No green beer, green milkshakes, no wearin' o' the green, no soda bread or corned beef.  I will gleefully do cabbage though..lol.  And before I go further it certainly isn't due to any imagined rivalry.  I might be by myself in this thought but to me there is little difference between Scots and Irish...we are all Celts.  I go so far as to say a Celtic soul is a Celtic soul whether it be Scottish or Irish...and the similarities between us are endless.  But...St. Patrick's Day...probably due to my upbringing in Scotland...is, to me, more of a Catholic recognition than anything else.  Not being religious I have no problem with that, either.  The big thing is...this is the only country in which I have lived that celebrates St. Patrick's Day in the manner described above.  I never saw a St. Paddy's Day parade until I came to the US and found almost every city...and perhaps town...has one.  I used to watch them on tv...I think Regis used to always have a big thing on the day but I have to tell you...having watched  just a couple I found them confusing!  They pipers played "Hielan' Laddie" (Scottish) on the Scottish bagpipes as they marched down Broadway swinging their Scottish tartan kilts!!  And I still haven't figured that one out, yet.  Mind you, it is quite likely that the tune most often played could just be a variant of "Hielan' Laddie" belonging to the Irish.  Then again, could be I'm just ticked off that it has taken centuries for us Scots to get a parade here.   (That would be on our patron saint's day...St. Andrew..tic) 

But no...unless maybe it is a hold over from childhood when our educational institutes were divided between church and state.  Everyone but Catholics went to state schools while most, if not all, Catholic children attended Catholic school, usually (at least elementary level) attached to their area chapels.  St. Patrick's Day was certainly recognised  and celebrated...Catholic kids wore something, anything, green but on that day all non-catholic children wore something...anything...blue.  There's a fashion ditty..."Blue and green should never be seen" which, when we were kids was the chant of kids on  St. Patrick's Day and it was played out.  No matter how many BFF's we had of the opposite persuasion, on that day none had any.  Days before the threats went from one side to the other..."Jist wait...St. Paddy's Day is comin'...".  And on the day itself, each side terrorized the other after school...me, I was terrified of both...LOLOL!  Such a wuss...such a coward.  Of course, Mum didn't help that much with her warnings of ..."Mind now...come richt hame...an' keep clear o' onybody thowin' stanes (rocks)..."  You can bet I flew like the wind, heart pumping, the minute school let out...after first peeking out the school doorways and gates to see how big a gang there was I'd have to run a marathon through.  Not being a runner to start with my odds of making it without incident were slim to none..hahaha. Safely home, we. would all..okay, that "all"  most likely only be me and my sister...did not venture out again until next day for school for we knew what was out there.  I've mentioned before that my earlier childhood we lived in one of two very large tenement buildings with a horde of kids between them all similarly aged...5-10yrs. old with a few slightly older thrown in.   Three-hundred and sixty-four days a year we were the proverbial "village", all got along, played, had spats...nothing serious.  But that one day best friends wouldn't look at each other unless to make a threatening face and ask  "Catholic or Proddy?" (Protestant).   Depending upon who asked the question it's was often worthwhile...and forgiveable...to lie.  Of course the parents didn't subscribe to the shenanigans but then again they had all lived through the same in their childhood.  Catholic/Protestant mothers yelled at their kids...and just often, yelled at the Protestants, then they'd all yell at the collective for fighting, chasing (oh, yeah...that's right, that was the worst for me...being chased and threatened.  the threats didn't worry me but knowing I couldn't outrun my chaser did..a lot!), threatening, spitting.  Then all would be dragged upstairs and inside for bed.  Next morning, we were knocking on each other's doors asking if our friends were ready for school and off we'd go...laughing, pushing, shoving but in a much more benign fashion than that of the day before.  All forgotten and forgiven...if even thought about.  That's how we used to celebrate St. Patrick's Day...and to all my Irish/Catholic friends and acquaintances I wish you a wonderful day with many blessing but this one in particular:

May your glass be ever full.

May the roof over your head be always strong.

And may you be in heaven

half an hour before the devil knows you're dead

Tags: Blue and Green, Catholic and Protestant, St. Patrick, St. Patrick's Day, St. Patrick's Day Traditions

Sure...could refer to the deluge we're enjoying (??) after heavier than usual snowfalls but...no. For me it's KW and her cohort in crime. Yes...crime! Perhaps not punishable by law but Ms. Goody-Two Shoes here (yours truly) they are crimes. What one doesn't think of the other (that would be out friend, D) does and then they figure it's a done deal. Yesterday, for instance...home a little early KW decided we should run out to Lowe's and I readily agreed. Though not a gardener myself I was happy in the prospect of checking out which plants had come in so we could shortly be enjoying a riot of colour in the yard. But nooooooo...a few nights ago we were discussing redecorating. Actually, she was...I was just along for the ride. Perhaps the great room and kitchen DO need refreshing and we need a change of colour but I'm in no rush. Then again, she's right...I never am. Anyway, I thought (silly me...you'd think I'd have learned LONG ago!) it was just idle conversation...discussing 'some time in the future'. A few colour combinations appealed to us both, we moved on to playing laser tag with the cats and that was the end of it. I just couldn't figure out why there was this uneasy nipping at the back of my head. Til yesterday...the gardening items became a quick palliative for me while her intent was to get paint swatches, ideas, look at cabinets etc. Fine...we did get a few things to liven up the yard but, mostly, the dining room table is now awash in paint chips, booklets, brochures. But hey...I felt lucky that there were also no cans of paint...yet.   But guess...just guess...where we are going this afternoon?

Anyway, while we were out at Lowe's we...well, she...stopped to check out shower stalls.  Been thinking and talking of ripping out the guest bathtub and just putting in a smaller footprint stall.  We've had a plethora of ideas discussed, discarded, back into the discussion but happened to see one we both really liked.  KW wanted to order delivery there and then...I suggested (after looking at the entry to the shower and visualizing this bathroom) that we should wait until we measure, see if it would fit.  Seemed to me that how this stall would have to be set we'd be climing up onto the commode to climb down and into the shower.  Not that we use that bathroom but, still.  Soon as we got back home it was duly measured...nope, wouldn't work so onto plan B...a stall of a slightly different style where no climbing would be involved.  Being Friday night...game night...we left soon after for our friend, D's.  We were barely out of the garage when I heard KW ask her..."Hey...want to come over Sunday and help me rip out a bathtub?"  Eh????  THIS weekend??  Needless to say D was game, sounded like a blast...yeah, to whom?  "Now wait a minute..." I said.  "You guys are going to rip out the tub and do what, exactly?  We haven't ordered a shower stall yet and when we do, most likely not have it until middle of the week and THEN it has to sit around waiting for next weekend...."  (I hate clutter!)  ROFL was their response.  "But we don't use that tub or shower so...big deal.  We can get the tub out Sunday and what's a few days?" I was asked.  And then D broke in with "Yeah, I'll be there...but what are we going to to do with the tub once we get it out?"  Blank stares at each other, those two..."I'll cut it with my Sawz-All...no problem.  Oh, wait...we DO know that it will burn...!"  (Gales of laughter).  Yes...we do.  Some time last year...or year before...you remember Frankie, the big ol' tortoise KW had adopted for her store?  Yes, well...he came home on furlough one weekend but having no pen for him, she lines the bathtub and places him in there.  Safe enough...he can't escape to chase, or be chased by (and he DID chase), the dogs or cats.  He'd be warm "if I put a heat lamp above him..." (he's a South American yellow legged/footed/something tortoise and needs that rain forest environment)...and that's what we did.  No...correction...SHE did.  Well, at some point the lamp fell out from it's anchor and I was alerted by the aroma of something burning.  Like the Keystone Kops we, dogs, cats, all bolted towards the bathroom.  Sure enough...bigger than dirt an ugly scorch mark on the tub...which is really why we knew it had to be replaced.  And THEN...D fully aware of the inherent nature of KW...her eyes lit up.  Before she could utter another word I nixed the idea of using the old tub as a planter for veg..or any other living thing.  Nope, not a fish pond either...we have three little ponds...sans fish...we don't need another and least of all one obviously a burned bathtub.  I mean our outdoor electricity use in winter has to be as much if not more than our indoor.  Three ponds, home to bull frogs and little frogs so...tarps to cover with water heaters to protect our amphibians;  heat lamp set up under our deck to provide some little comfort to our feral kitty friends and a pet heating pad in an igloo on the deck for the one cat the others have snubbed so he can't go under the deck.  We aren't even sure he goes in the igloo for the minute the front door opens, they all bolt.  No more ponds.  And then here came the solution of what to do with the bathtub.  "OOH...set it to one side of the yard..in the trees...get a mannequin to put in it and we'll come up with fake bubbles, plaster or something...we'll come up with something.  Your neighbours will love it!"   Somewhere between mannequin and fake bubbles I lost my eyebrows.  They both turned to look at me...probably for my approval but you'd think THEY would have learned by now.  I had only one thing to say...looking at KW..."Should I pack now or later?"   Because, believe me...we are all surprised she didn't think of that idea first.  Her eyes sparkled, she hooted in glee, that charming grin which would usually have anyone agreeing with whatever she said.  The bathtub comes out tomorrow, I'm going into nervous hiding and having a quiet breakdown.  We shall see what happens with the old tub but my hope is that the suitcase by the front door will at least give someone pause for thought!   

Tags: Lowe's, Remodelling a bathroom, Spring

TWO  THOUGHTS  ON  TUESDAY! 

No..don't run off!  This isn't a vendetta against those whom others may think "too thin", "too heavy", "too fat".  Personally, as far as I'm concerned the most important thing is that we are all...or will become...(regardless of weight, shape, build or height) happy, comfortable and healthy in our own skin and not set store by what friends, media or anyone says to the contrary.  Just a couple of observations about what we eat (not how much or how little) and the insidious manner in which strange and not so wonderful things end up in our daily diets affecting our wellness.

For example, watching the national news a week ago CBS ran a series of farming questions.  How the farmer's...not all but likely most...feed their cattle and dairy herds with cocktail of grains mixed with anti-biotics and hormones.  Have to admit I was gratified that, finally, this was being brought to the public attention because I have long been opposed to this practice.  A decade or more ago we began hearing how a super-drug was needed...and being researched...because standard anti-biotics were no longer very effective in fighting infections.  Wasn't too much later we began hearing of MRSA, C-Diff and even lesser infections being difficult to combat.  Well...seemed to me all those years ago and more, not so surprising that we'd begin having difficulty with what were then standard treatments.  Pumping our beef and dairy cattle full of antibiotics surely can't help any more than the over-prescribing of them for even just a sniffle.  Animals being fed in this manner aren't necessarily (or usually) sick but expected to have rapid growth and get to market much sooner than range/grass fed.  Which is when I switched to organic, free of such additives.  Only problem is organically raised beef is still not easy to find in this area.  Poultry...yes;  some dairy (mostly milk)...yes, although one does have to be careful for not all "organic" milks are equal (read that...as they promise or the word "organic" implies).  Eggs...oh, the dilemma!  I can readily find organic eggs free of  the additives;  great!  I can also find organic eggs free of additives but with Omega-3's and even those plus "cage free".  But look closer...and that you have to really research for most still are not free range.  Of course free range may have a new definition...they aren't in little cages, all squashed up and unable to move, just in a huge chicken house vying and jostling for a square foot of space with thousands of others.  But they aren't caged!!  Are any of you young enough to remember going for the groceries where mother would buy a dozen or so eggs in a variety of shell colours, some speckled, several often found to have double yolks or, better yet, to a nearby by poultry farmer who would go to his henhouse and collect however many eggs needed for Mum's order?  And they came from hens running around the yard eating what nature intended...plant life, bugs, grit and some grain tossed around several times a day, roosting where they felt like it and not regulated by artificial light/music but the crack of dawn and dusk.  (Good grief...occasionally you'd even break one to find it rotten!)  To yearn for the days when a bottle of milk would have two inches of cream sitting on top for the kids to fight over...and, should it be a hard, cold winter, you had an instant iced-cream "popsicle"?  How about when a steak or even a burger had a succulent flavour without having to season with salt, pepper, garlic, steak seasoning or steak sauce?    European farmers have ceased and desisted using those chemicals over the last decade or more and while our farming community tell us this would greatly increase the price to the consumer...well, apparently not by that much and certainly, a few pennies more paid at the check-out is infinitely better than hundreds at a hospital or pharmacy, yes?  Take a look at this:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6191894n

Why can't we take a leaf out of their books...or off their farms...and do likewise instead of mocking or sniping at the methods?  The govt. won't necessarily change our way of producing our essential food supplies but consumers can by demanding first that these practices be stopped and then by supporting farmers who are willing to change.  One thing which has always puzzled me, though...with beef, poultry and dairy plus all the chemicals and preservatives added to packaged and canned staples...why, when they are omitted and gone back to "organic"...should they cost more?  Seems to me the more we add the more it would logically "add up", the less we add the more cost effective but apparently it's cheaper to add toxins etc. than it is not to.

Then we come to genetically modified practises...I'd heard a few years ago that it was looming but only fairly recently did I realise how extensive it already is.  I don't want GMO's in what I eat or drink.  I don't want irradiated produce or meats.  Hydroponic I'm happy about but, again, stick to organic where and when I can find it or grow my own.  I will admit I'm still behind on gleaning information on GMO's so I'd rather you checked this site which is much more informative than I can be here.  But it IS worth while and here is a preface:  "If you're just starting to learn about GMOs, you might not know quite where to begin. These links provide an introduction to the issues, players and politics of the GMO controversy. Once you're a little more familiar with the issues, you can search the site or visit the yearly update pages to find additional information".  And here is the link:

http://www.saynotogmos.org/

And also:  http://gmo-watch.com/pages/hfcs.asp

One thing I was very interested to read the other day was how to at least identify whether produce is conventional, organic or GMO (although I don't believe there is any law mandating those labels have to be applied) so here's a little tip:

If the label # on your fruit is five digit and begins with 9 it's organic

If the label # on your fruit is four digit and begins with 4 it's conventional in origin and herbicides/pesticides have been used

If the label # on your fruit is five digit and begins with 8...as they say, "RUN!"...it is genetically modified

All I can tell you is of the choices I've made and exercise where and when I absolutely can and hope you might find enough here to check/consider further what you may find for yourself.

My second thought for Tuesday is this.  If you have HBO (and if not, run and by this DVD!) and not only if you have children...do a quick scan to see if you can still find a listing for "Classical Baby:  The Music Show".  It is amazing...yeah, really!  I came across it by channel surfing a week ago while performing drudgery...hanging up and putting away a pile of folded laundry..lolol!  Sure made the time and chore fly but since it was already showing...and I already loved it...I had to find a future showing so I could DVR it, see it in it's entirety.  Success on a plate for me...I did find it, DVR'd it and now am saving it.  Watched it late one night when, off to bed I really didn't want to watch my usually bedtime sitcoms repoeats for the umpteenth time.  Put on my wireless headest, laid back and was enchanted.  A lover of classical music myself, the animation accompanying these pieces was adorable...I could just imagine sitting with...well, now it would have to be a grandchild or even (!!!) great-grandchild...a tiny tot, enjoying and hopefully encouraging the beginnings of appreciation for classical music.  It makes me go "Awww...", makes me smile, makes me laugh and sing...and even with all of THAT activity, lulls me to slumber!        In fact, over the weekend KW and I both watched it...initially, I think she was sure "Oh-oh...her second childhood is here...now what!" but we both really were so tickled at both animation and music.   Check it out...this is merely a series of short clips taken from the show.

Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday...and rest of the week!

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