Something Good

I have a friend at work who is trying to improve his diet. He knows that I'm kind of a health food nut, so he asked me if I had any suggestions.  He already knew that he should be eating mostly fruits and veggies, but it was hard for him to come up with interesting ways to eat them.
I love yogurt and I'm a firm believer that ever since I started ingesting massive quantities, I've been a lot healthier.  I suggested he add more yogurt to his meals, but I wasn't convinced that he would.  I decided to bring him a sample dish to show him how yummy yogurt could be.  I brought  in a large plastic container of my Yogurt Apple Salad, a spoon, and a bowl.  He gobbled up his bowlful and said he would rather have that than dessert.  Yeah! I left him the rest of the container. I was thrilled that he enjoyed it. I know that my salad alone won't make the world healthier place, but I was happy to have given him a healthy and tasty option.  The next day I came in to work and he had finished the last spoonfuls, told everyone else about it, and asked for the recipe!
So here it is:

Kathy's Yogurt Apple Salad

1-2 apples chopped (peeling is optional, I keep the peel on because it's good for ya!)
1 stick celery chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped grapes
About 2 cups French Vanilla yogurt (I use Stonyfield Farms whole milk variety)
chopped pecans-optional
About 1 T of honey or to taste

Simply mix the apples, grapes, and nuts(if using) in a bowl.  Mix in the yogurt to thoroughly cover all the ingredients.  Add the cinnamon and honey.  Mix and serve and enjoy!  Store refrigerated.

Kathy

Piano Trouble

My son has grown up with music.  My girls have played the piano and violin since before he was born. It was only natural that he would want to start playing himself instead of merely watching their lessons.  This year, as he turned 6, he decided he wanted to try piano.  The first few trial lessons went very well.  He seemed to catch on quickly and the teacher suggested he have his own 1/2 hour lesson.  This last week however, we hit a major bump in the musical road.

 He was told by his teacher that he needed to practice his 4 songs 6 times every day.  We sat down to practice one night and he asked me how many total songs that meant.  When I told him 24, I thought he was going to run out of the room.  He did however sit on the bench and begin to play, but not the songs he was supposed to practice.  He wanted to make up his own songs.  I sat behind him and let him play his own composition until I felt he might not stop on his own. We turned to his song and we started to review the notes. (I'm far from a musician myself but I know enough of the basics to guide him.)  He read the first three notes keeping the time as he spoke.  The fourth note he said incorrectly and he knew it before I even said anything, so he started over. This time he made it to the 6th note, so he started over.  Now he reached the end of the first line.... and he started over.  By this time his short fuse was about to ignite and he hadn't even played the song yet.  He felt he had to be perfect and if he wasn't he had to start over. I told him he should keep going but he refused. After about 20 minutes of this, I was able to get him to begin playing.  Unfortunately, we went through the same routine.  I quickly decided that our practice session of 24 songs was going to have to be trimmed down to maybe 1.  

I finally told him that as soon as he made it through the whole song (which was only 2 lines), we could get ready for bed.  Despite how much he wanted to be done practicing, he continued to start over at the slightest mistake in note or tempo. I wasn't even pointing out the errors, he did it all himself and I just sat there behind him.  I honestly had no idea what to do.  But I felt that if I let him give up and go to bed it would set a bad precedent.  So we continued to sit at the piano, both of us now exhausted.

After about an hour of this he finally finished the whole song and it was almost perfect, he made one tiny error on the last note.  But I quickly said,"Okay you're done. Great job!"  He sat on my lap on the couch and we listened to my daughter play Beethoven's Fur Elise. We were both so glad to be finished.  I asked him if we could finish tomorrow's practice a little bit quicker.  He smiled a knowing smile and said, "Mom, I love you."

Kathy              

For the Birds

I was excited to hang my new bird feeder.  I found the perfect place for it.  I could see it from the kitchen window or the the patio door.   Soon my feathered friends appeared and happily feasted on the seed mix.  I had woodpeckers, tufted titmouse, cardinals, chickadees, goldfinch and the occasional Eastern Mountain bluebird.  The kids were so intrigued by all the different species that we borrowed a bird book from the library.
Then the squirrels came.  At first, it was funny to see how the they jumped from the deck rail to the feeder, or how they hung upside down from the tree managing to get only a few seeds before twisting and plopping to the ground.  Soon, however,  the squirrels taught themselves how to bat at the feeder to knock the seeds onto the ground, where they could gobble them all up in minutes.  One even figured out how to hang upside down, stretch  out, pull the feeder up with his tiny paws and stick his nose into the seed tube.  Of course all this squirrelly activity frightened the birds.  I kept refilling the feeder naively thinking that eventually the squirrels would have their fill.  Who was I kidding, even I don't turn down free food when I'm full!  This went on for a while until they had eaten the plastic tubing as well and the feeder didn't even hold seeds anymore.  Now it was war.  I bought a suet feeder.  They can't knock the seeds out and the wire cage prevents their pesky little noses from getting in.
It was peaceful again, and the birds returned.  I had won!  I had outsmarted those little tree rodents.
I woke up the next morning eager to see my birdy neighbors.  I looked out the window and all the suet was gone! Maybe the squirrels are smarter than me after all.


Kathy

Harder Than I Thought

"The hardest part is the writing", people said about making a blog.  I kept putting it off, feeling I should read  Computers for Dummies, first. Then, my daughter started one.  Even though she has taught me all I know about cellphones and Facebook, I figured, if she could do it so could I.  I decided it was time to try.
The set up wasn't hard, until I had to insert some code onto my site.  I read over the directions.  I read them again.  I couldn't figure out what they meant.  It was like I was trying to read Chinese. I kept trying all sorts of things, but nothing worked.   My older brother, who designs software, could have done the task in two minutes.  I sat staring at those words for three days.  It haunted me in my sleep.  I searched the internet.  Every search resulted in the same foreign words.  I was about to give up and email my brother, when I happened across a slightly different explanation, one with real words not written for a computer to read.  It worked! "I figured it out!" I yelled.  I jumped up from the computer and pumped my fists to the sky like I had just scored the winning goal of the Stanley Cup.  My brother will be so proud!  I thought. The kids were just happy that now I could leave the computer for awhile.

Apple Pie Part 2

My girls and I had a great time making apple pie together.  They helped me peel the apples, mix the filling, make the crust and roll it out.   Usually, when I make a pie, they aren't all that interested in helping.  They might add a few ingredients and then get distracted by something more interesting.  But this time, I loved it that they seemed to want to learn how to make a pie and to spend time with me.  I felt so honored that my teenager and almost teen wanted to spend their day that way.
Even my son helped out with decorating the top crust.  We put it in the oven and eagerly awaited for it to be done.  After about 40 minutes, the top was golden brown and tempting us with its aroma of cinnamon and sugar. We could hardly wait for my husband to get home so we could eat dinner and then have a slice.  It was worth the wait.

Kathy

Fall's Splendor

Okay, I haven't written much the last couple of days. We have been thoroughly enjoying the glorious fall weather.   We spent most of the weekend outside taking in the gold and crimson trees and the crsip air.  I worked in the garden, replanting lilies that had patiently waited months for my attention. My son helped me dig and my 12 year old captured fall's splendor with my camera.  We went to an apple orchard/cider mill and bought a few more cinnamon doughnuts than we really needed, but they were delicious with fresh cider.

Sunday, we spent 3 hours hiking. We let our  6 year old son lead us through the trails. He loved glancing at the trail map and figuring out where we were.  It was a little slow going, as he often stopped to pick up sticks or look at leaves. The girls busied themselves taking pictures of mushrooms. It was wonderful seeing them share the joy of being in the woods together.
We arrived back at the car and my son said, "That was one of the best days ever!"

Kathy

Apple Pie

I'm teaching the girls how to make apple pie.  It's their first time.  I'll write when we're finished.

Kathy