Nets and Buoys

Lately my life has been, well, complicated. All in all, things are fine, but the day to day of an injured dog and teens home for the summer is full of responsibility. Lux is doing really well, mind you. She is not in pain, and she has learned to hop on three legs very well. She is sweet and loving and our bond is growing as we go through this. The kids are doing okay, too. But, still, the constant mess of cleaning up after overnights (they *help* but, you know, teens are not as clean as I would be) is daunting. They whoop through food like a herd of buffalo on a binge. I have been making bread like crazy, and the girls have been keen on quinoa, so my rice cooker is full of it every day. They have also discovered rice pasta. Who would have thought that MY kids would be snarfing down quinoa and rice pasta????

Lux has been adjusting remarkably well to the raw diet. She now gets one muscle meal with a little organ meat in the morning, rice milk with flax oil and a sprinkle of a mixture I made of equal parts bone meal, psyllium husks and dulse seaweed flakes. She ADORES that!!! The evening is meaty bone dinner, either a turkey neck or a serving of ground raw chicken necks and backs and meat from Whole Foods.

There are a few things that keep me sane these days. My "nets" and "buoys", the things that keep me from going over the edge, those parts of my life which lift me up, are my friends the woods and books. I met a new friend this week, Megan, a history professor at Phillips Academy. She has a new puppy named Moose, a Red Tailed Coon Hound, who is all gangly and adorable. Lisa and I bonded with her right away, and we have all our cell phone numbers and are planning to get together often. I see some serious Scrabble games in my future.

One of the best parts of my day is the evening, just before bed, when I shower and crawl into my nest with my dog and a good book. Just the other day I passed a big bin on the sidewalk with a sign that said: "Free Books and Toys" and I looked in and scarfed up these:

Literary Keen!

I have already blown through Piggy Sneed/John Irving and Naked/David Sedaris. I will be diving into Russell Banks tonight. I hope he enjoys it as much as I will.

Your Daily Dose of Cool Things:

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Your Daily Dose of Wonderful Design:

Click Here to see more about this wonderful shelving system from J1 Studio


Click Here to see more of Joseph Alleman's AMAZING work

Your Daily Dose of Inspiring Words:

To vibrate, to accept, to expand… this is the new duty. To give oneself as is, to let life meet us as it really is, to live for the moment and extract from each moment all that it holds of truth, beauty and goodness, without scruple, without vain questioning, in the spontaneous desire of life, in childlike purity of heart… to be able to be oneself, to dare to be happy and at last allow one’s soul to spread its wings. - Jeanne de Vietinghoff

Your Daily Dose of Wicked-Good Food:

Pinto Bean and Chick Pea Salad

1 cup chick peas
1 cup pinto beans (I used dried/soaked/cooked for firmer texture)
1/2 bell pepper
1/4 medium red onion
fresh thyme
salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar or honey
cracked pepper
1 lime, juiced
1/3 cup olive oil

Rinse beans and place both in a bowl. Slice the pepper and onion thinly. Add to the bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. De-sprig (heh) thyme and drizzle the oil and lime juice. Toss and let sit for at least an hour before serving.