The Joy Diet: Truth

"Create and absorb at least one moment of truth each day."

I'm running a week behind. The kids were here for a week and I'm now catching up with The Joy Diet by Martha Beck. Above is my vision card for Truth: out of the mouths of babes. Kids seem to hit the nail on the head. They come out with some of the truest statements I've ever heard. Beck says to have your moment of truth you must be able to spend 15 minutes in Nothingness. So I tossed in the Buddha and the Lotus for my Nothing.

On the back of the vision card I've written the steps to Truth.

1. Start with daily dose of Nothing
2. First question: What am I feeling?
3. What hurts?
4. What is the painful story I'm telling?
5. Can I be sure my own painful story is true?
6. Is my painful story working?
7. Can I think of another story that might work better?

Lastly: Of the options open to me, which one brings the most love into the world? Or, as Martha also says, "offer compassion to your inner lying scumbag"! Oh, how I love this!

No one said Truth would be easy, but I'm working on it. Have to admit I think I'm looking forward to the next step: Desire!

I Promised

I promised, a few posts back, to share my recipe for split pea soup and I'm going to do that. First, I'm going to share a link to one of my favorite blogs. I've mentioned Geninne's Art blog before. I love her birds. Her watercolors make me smile. She has done several videos showing her process and this is the last one where she adds the white ink. Talk about a steady hand. Check it out!


Here's the recipe for Split Pea Soup. It comes from my favorite cookbook: Campbell’s Great American Cookbook: A Culinary treasury of more than 500 best-loved recipes from Colonial times to the present. (Copyright 1984) You would think, because it was published by Campbell's soup that it would be recipe after recipe opening a soup can. Nope! It was Campbell's attempt to define American cooking. It really is a wonderful book and if you can find it, get it. It is, if nothing else, fun reading. I'm not sure why the soup was so good last time, except (forgive me my vegan/vegetarian friends), I used smoked ham hocks. OH MY! We are now looking forward to the weekend when it is supposed to get cool again (highs in the 70's instead of 90's) and another pot of split pea soup will be in order! Straight from the cookbook:

Old Fashioned Pea Soup

American Indians knew how to grow and dry beans, but Europeans brought peas and lentils to this country.Colonial pea soup had meat and vegetables added to it daily, changing its character from day to day. The “Pease Porridge” really might have been served hot, cold or “in the pot, nine days old.”

Begin: Day Ahead Makes 6 Servings

1 package (16 ounces) dry green or yellow peas
1 ham bone with meat
2 medium onions, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1. Soak peas in 8 cups water overnight, drain.
2. About 2 hours before serving: in 5-quart Dutch oven over high heat, heat 6 cups water, peas and remaining ingredients to boiling. Reduce heat to low. Cover; simmer 1 1/2 hours or until peas are tender.
3. Remove bone; cool until easy to handle. Cut meat from bone; discard bone. Cut meat into bite-sized pieces; return to soup. Heat. Yields 8 cups.

SPLIT PEA SOUP: Prepare as above but substitute 1 package (16 ounces) dry green or yellow split peas for whole peas and add 1 cup chopped celery, 1 cup sliced carrots, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1 bay leaf. Discard bay leaf before serving.

LENTIL SOUP: Prepare as above but substitute 1 package (16 ounces) dry lentil for peas, and do not soak lentils in water. Add 1 cup diced celery, 1 cup diced carrots; 1 large clove garlic, minced; 1/4 cup tomato paste, 2 tablespoons wine vinegar, 1 bay leaf and increase water to 7 cups. Discard bay leaf before serving.

TIP: Soak peas the quick way: Add peas to boiling water, allowing 4 cups water for each cup dry peas. Over high heat, heat to boiling, boil 2 minutes, Remove from heat. Cover, let stand 1 hour. Drain and prepare as above. (For some reason, I don't think my soup tastes as good when I take the shortcut. May just be my imagination!)

My World

Visit My World to see more of our world or to participate yourself!

Last week our grandson and his parents were visiting.
We had a great time and now you get to see some of the pictures!

(Himself with the menu)

One evening we went to the Rain Forest Restaurant.
We were surrounded by animated animals.
Every 20 minutes there was a rain storm.
No water, but the lights flashed like lightening with plenty of sound effects.

The monkeys made monkey sounds.

The tigers growled every now and then.

The elephants raised their tusks and flapped their ears.

But it was Tracy the Talking Tree that HIMSELF really liked.

Click here to view all participants of My World Tuesday.

Joy!

I Took A Nap!

(Himself at the Children's Museum)

I took a nap today! We both were exhausted. We really enjoyed our visit with the kids and HIMSELF, but keeping up with a 3 1/2 year old is real work. Easy to forget how much work it is. We could make a fortune if we could harness his energy! HIMSELF is a very lucky little boy. He has parents who love him. We are very proud of all of them.

I'm trying to catch up with all of you. My class at Joggles with Carla Sonheim has ended. I'm busily watching Super Nova and Spill It videos and just started a class I'm really excited about:
Point and Shoot Journaling. A big box arrived from Herrschners filled with yarn for several Halloween projects I want to do and all my book making materials have arrived. I don’t know where to start! Do I flip a coin? My fingers are itching to start something, but I still have the counted cross stitch to finish. I’m thinking that stopping, taking a deep breath, putting my feet up and relaxing might just be the perfect place to begin!

***

(From Google images and ASU)

Do you know the Moon Festival? It is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Asian people and dates back over 3,000 years.
This year the date was October 3. It is a date that parallels the autumn and spring equinoxes, when the moon is supposedly at its fullest and roundest and comes in the fall around the time of our Harvest Moon. The traditional food is the moon cake of which there are many different varieties.
It is the stories of the Moon Festival that I love. The one about the rabbit in the moon is my favorite. In this legend, three fairy sages transformed themselves into pitiful old men and begged for something to eat from a fox, a monkey and a rabbit. The fox and the monkey both had food to give to the old men, but the rabbit, empty-handed, offered his own flesh instead, jumping into a blazing fire to cook himself. The sages were so touched by the rabbit's sacrifice that they let him live in the Moon Palace where he became the "Jade Rabbit." The next time you see the full moon, be sure to wave at the rabbit!
Then there is the story of the Moon Cake. During the Yuan dynasty (A.D.1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D.960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without it being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Backed into each moon cake was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644). Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend.
Just a little trivia for you. I love legends and stories. Our shared histories and cultures are all so rich. We know so little about each other. It is nice to know more.

***

It's a good thing I'm retired.
I have some time to play with my new goodies!

Joy to You!

It's Quiet Around Here ....

It's quiet around here! The others have gone to the park with HIMSELF to let him run off some energy before going to dinner. I've tried to do a little catching up with all of you during nap time. You all have been busy! I suggest that next time, we all take the same time off! Ha!





While I've been playing and laughing, I've received two awards. The first one is from my friend Sarah at Cottage Garden Studio. This award is a very special one to Sarah and is not to be passed on by me. I know how much this award means to Sarah and I'm overwhelmed that she decided to bestow it on me. Here's what she said: "Snap is one of those folks that has been with me from the very beginning of my blogging here and has been a constant, amazing support and I think a good friend. I have watched her blog bloom as she has too! I guess I think of her as kind of a mentor -- not sure she knows this -- LOL! Hope she does not mind too much!! Yes....I really like her too!!!"

Thanks, Sarah. I'm delighted to have the tag "mentor". It is an honor. And, I really like you, too!


The second Award is the OVER THE TOP award from my blogging buddy, Barbara at A Bird In My Hand.


So, here are the rules for this one:

Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's quite tricky to use only one word answers! Once you have filled it out be sure to pass it on to 6 of your favorite bloggers. Alert them that they have been awarded! Have fun!

One word answers have got to be the hardest- but here goes:


1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket
2. Your hair? reddish
3. Your mother? Missed
4. Your father? Missed
5. Your favorite food? Pasta
6. Your dream last night? Stormy
7.Your favorite drink? Tea
8. Your dream/goal? Art
9. What room are you in? Studio
10. Your hobby? Gardening
11. Your fear? Illness
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Comfortable.
13. Where were you last night? Museum
14. Something that you aren't? Skinny
15. Muffins? Apple
16. Wish list item? Farm
17. Where did you grow up? Albuquerque
18. Last thing you did? Drank
19. What are you wearing? Comfy
20. Your TV? On.
21. Your pets? Cats.
22. Friends? Yes!
23. Your life? Adventure
24. Your mood? Happy
25. Missing someone? Grandson.
26. Vehicle? van
27. Something you're not wearing? Shoes.
28. Your favorite store? Michaels
29. Your favorite color? Yellow
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Today
32. Your best friend? Husband.
33. One place that I go to over and over? Neighborhood
34. One person who emails me regularly? Carol
35. Favorite place to eat? Home

It is always hard for me to pass on awards, so this is what I've decided to do. I'm going to pass the OVER THE TOP AWARD on to some folks I've just met and a couple of *old* friends.

Here we go:

- Carole
- Melita
- Marie
- JC
- Margo
- Sherry

Please visit them and say Hello and send them a little JOY!