::the summer of::

wasn't on purpose, 

just ended up with a loadful of Common Ground Fair Volunteer tee shirts

(because the cool kids volunteer)

Green smoothies, are my new favorite summer breakfast. And let me say that my idea of a green smoothie is maybe different than other ones, my concept is that it can't be OVERLY green-tasting! Or else: blech, I won't drink it. Which gives me zero health benefits. I use my Cuisenart because I do not have a Vitamix. Here is the rough guide for a recipe:

Pineapple-Kale-Chia-Mint Smoothie

2 T. chia seeds, presoaked for 5 minutes or however long it takes you to do the rest of the ingredients-gathering

2 cups fresh, RIPE pineapple, in chunks

Some (1-2 handfuls) baby kale leaves (chard is good too), de-stemmed and torn

Fresh mint leaves (I like it minty, so I am generous here)

1 cup or so fresh coconut water that you made yourself (below)

Maybe a splash of almond milk

Ice if you can stand the clunking noise your Cuisenart makes when it chops it

Put it all in the Cuisenart, including the soaked chia, then give it a few good pulses. Delish!

Coconut Water

1 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

4 cups warm water

Mix together in a bowl and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Then strain the coconut meat out. Voila, your own coconut water, a raw food! Store it in a jar in your fridge and use for smoothies when you like.

This was a strange adventure in culinary practice that we were inspired to try by a friend who has a yummy vegan food blog: GRILLED WATERMELON. Well, it was too weird not to try it! And I liked it, especially the yummy limey-spicy dressing. The leftover dressing could have made an awesome addition to my bubbly water, but someone had dumped it before I could get my hands on it!!! It was a fun addition to our non-vegan burgers on the grill and I would like to try it with a minty-limey-spicy dressing next time. (OK, I'm crazy about mint!) Read WhollyEats' blog entry here.

It's the summer of learning to roller skate. I am learning to be a roller derby referee for our local team, the Rock Coast Rollers! Learning to skate is a big one for me about conquering fears: of things that are new and things that are physical. There are lots of rules, people, and reading them is one thing, and then learning to SEE them in real-time is another thing. I am learning a new, visual, very physical language.

It is not. like. the. roller. derby. you. saw. on. TV. The analogy is televised dramatized fake wrestling is to actual skilled athletic wrestling. Same thing for derby. These athletes are all ages and shapes and it's an actual sport, with strategy (and lots of rules); it's not about beating people up on roller skates. Practices are all about drills, skills, and sweaty bodies, like any other sport. Have you let go of your previous associations yet?

One night a week, Sylvan is allowed to come to practice with me. He is, of course, brilliant. Which makes me proud and sometimes a little bit jealous, because it is just so effortless for him, so graceful, intuitive, and fearless (without being reckless). 

Here are his new 10th birthday wheels! Brand new Atom TrakAtak wheels for a boy who likes speed. The amazing owner of Turn Two Skate Shop in Portland researched wheels that would be right for his smaller sized skates and the wheels arrived in record time. We stuffed ourselves with birthday dinner and cake and ice cream, but then we just had to go to practice last night to try those puppies out. He's getting the feel for them, and the feel is very different from his old ones, so he took a couple of exploratory spills.

Just look at him, running on his toe stops like a pro.

There's that handsome boy, whose roller derby name is SylvInsanity, on his birthday:

Leaping through the air and life, as always...

The bluebirds are back! They were here ten years ago when we first moved here, tapping on the windows on the morning of Sylvan's birth.

Now they are nesting in the box on the end of my clothesline, overlooking our garden. The papa bird is not thrilled when I hang out the laundry, so he swoops around, and I just keep assuring him that we are so happy his family is here but also that hanging the laundry and weeding the garden are part of the rental agreement.

Full Fall Day

Green Smoothie Part II
Remember my Green Smoothie Experience from my last post? Well I wanted to show you how my yummy 2nd Green Smoothie turned out. This time I had mostly chard (rainbow, the chocolatey brown leaves) and only a little kale (the first one was too kale-y), a banana, thawed strawberries from our local organic U-Pick, and water. Tomorrow, I will try it all again and go work out. Hmmm, a little fresh pineapple?
Sylvan Rides Again
Sylvan and George, our local adopted Grandpa and also our plumber, took an excursion by motorcycle to the Owl's Head Transportation Museum to look at some old cars and were gone most of the day. Sylvan even got to ride in a Model T! Here is our little dude in his riding gear:
Bye, Mom, and they were off.
Golfing
While Sylvan was gone, we three wanted to do something in the lovely fall weather.
I wanted to hike, but was out-voted by some golfing fans. Not being a golfer (more of a bowler), I took along my knitting.
(New socks on the way for Jake, two-at-a-time method! Do you love this Kaffe Fassett yarn or what?)
But I did try out one hole. It was OK, but not better than knitting. Mostly I was just happy to watch for balls flying into piles of leaves, being with my boys out in the sunshine. Jonas had some great shots.
Scarecrow Contest
Then we hustled over to our local breakfast place/farmstand to find out the results of the Scarecrow Contest, in which Jonas and Sylvan had an entry called Two Brothers. Awww.
They didn't win. But no one was too disappointed, and the Brothers will stay on display til Halloween.

And there were plenty of Delicatas on sale (79 cents a pound!), my favorite squash. A little butter and maple syrup makes them even better.

I'm ready for bed!
Good night.

Picking Greens By Moonlight, Boys, Bags, and More

Well, it was me and the small guys this week---Jake was out on a tiny island with his middle schoolers in the beautiful fall weather, looking at the ocean through the trees of the campsite.

One boy made it into the newspaper, in a story highlighting Soup Day (Tuesday) in his kindergarten class. We feel lucky when we ( and I am using the Royal "we" here) remember to bring our vegetable contribution.

Here is a birthday present for Sylvan's friend who is having her 6th birthday tomorrow!

The colors are such gorgeous pinks and purples, sadly they are a tiny bit washed out here, but the lighting was tricky. And I finished a small bag to hold those monthly Girlie Items for the sweet daughter of my friend and gave it to her today---in the same fabric as the above bag. Carly's bag has a flap and velcro and I gave it away without taking a photo of it. Simple and so fun to make.

And I shopped my own Stash to make these lovely wristers from a Knitty pattern called Fetching. I love shopping the Stash. These were quick to knit, out of a merino Filatura Di Crosa yarn---super soft and warm. I added an extra cable at wrist and at knuckles to fit my hands better. I made these to wear at work at the library because no matter how high we have the heat, sometimes I can just never stay warm on certain days and my hands freeze while at the desk. Pris, you'll know what I mean! I'm hoping these will help keep the fingers toasty while still able to clatter away at the keyboard.


Green Smoothie Part I
Last night, I was really inspired by Heather's recent post about Green Smoothies. I really like reading her blog and since I have bundles of chard and kale still hanging on out there in the garden I decided to try it this morning. Actually, I was so inspired that after reading the post I went out to the garden and picked my greens by moonlight, knowing that I would NOT keep my motivation if left til this morning!

So I whipped up kale, chard, an apple, and frozen blueberries and strawberries, with water to thin it, and swirled it up in my Whisky-Frisky (aka Cuisinart, since I have no high tech blender). Jonas recommended that if I were selling it, I might want to consider adding food coloring to make the drink look more palatable. But the rich dark purpley-brown color was fine by me and I thought it tasted yummy, even with no sweetener or dates. Full of fiber, veggies, fruit, and totally raw.

The best part: I think it was the perfect thing to eat before my workout. I have been in search of the "right" thing to eat on workout days...not wanting something too heavy, but something that will fill me up in a not-too-full way. I felt terrific all morning.

Will have photos soon...