Porcelain Sky

Vox is moving and I probably will, too.

Let me know if you want to follow me around and I can let you know once I've found my new digs.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Hey y'all. 

Like everyone else, I'm figuring out where to pitch my tent now that we'rebeing evicted. 

I will definitely move to typepad for now, but could very likely end up somewhere else.

The Big Change here at Vox made me wonder whether or not to keep things going, writing on the internets. 

Do I want to do this?
Is it worth my time (which is at a premium these days)? 
Do I like doing this?

And I looked back on porcelain sky here and though, yep.  It may not be much, but I'm ok with that.

Hopefully I won't lose too many of you in the moving process!

Read and post comments

Our garden is doing pretty well right now.  The hot weather veggies are flourishing with our 30+ degree days: tomatoes are ripening and the cukes have been a daily part of our meals, we've even given some away.  The other cool weather veggies are slower, of course.  The peas are long gone, only sitting on the vines so I can save seeds later, and the kale and kholrabi are slowly getting there and I'm very thankful that the lettuce I chose this year is slow to bolt. 

It's all good food and I love that we're doing a good thing in a few ways: environmentally, financially, and health-wise. 

It's the health matters that get to me the most these days.  I've known for a long time that organic produce is the way to go for all sorts of reasons but it's never felt like a priority for me.  What has taken precedence instead is being cheap when it comes to our grocery bill.  However things have been changing and our health has been elbowing it's way to centre stage in my mind.

I know people who are very sick right now.  I know people who have been very sick, and then died.  My husband's recent blood work showed an anomaly that may mean nothing, or may mean something.  My kids have a history of heart disease on one side of the family and colon cancer on the other.  I see the possibility of celiac disease in my future and since I've rarely ever had a 'normal' BMI and love sweets, I carry a fear of developing diabetes.  I get colds regularly every winter.

I know these factors are by now means a guarantee that health problems will swoop down on me, but if there's a possibility that we can be healthier for now, (and diet is included in the risk factors of many conditions) I want to take that route.  Especially when my kids are young.  Theoretically, my body being bigger can handle more toxins than theirs can (though I am nursing right now, so that lumps me in, too).  I can't pursue a radical change in our diets all at once, but I can make baby steps.  To start, I've decided I want to increase our organic produce haul.  The baby step for me means starting with replacing the Dirty Dozen with organic alternatives.  The grocery store I currently frequent has a pitiful supply of organics, so I have to work harder at it, but I'm willing to do it.

My husband though, is slow to jump on the bandwagon.  Our grocery bill has jumped significantly over the last 2 years as our family has grown and to top it off, our income has shrunk with no income whatsoever coming in for me. 

This is another one of those times when I wish I could remember details when I read.  Remember the statistics and the facts, the arguments and rebuttals.  Instead, all I come away with are random details and the conclusion.  Now simply recalling the conclusion is fine for me, but when it comes to sharing with someone else, it's all in the details.
    

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Though not big on writing in the last months, I've still been plugging away on my reads.  I'm not quite on track for finishing 50 books this year – only hitting the halfway mark now – but I have more steam now, finding my groove.  I've began a few books that I just couldn't find my way through in the end.  While I'm perfectly comfortable with not finishing a book, I can't add it to my count, so that messes with the timing a bit.  Since it's been awhile, I won't comment on everything here.

Persuasion: My interest to re-read this one came after finishing The Jane Austen Book Club (another re-read).  It's one I quite like, but couldn't recall exactly how they all get their act together in the end.  A comfy read.

The Year of Living Biblically: I was impressed by Jacobs ability to explore this subject with a great deal of respect for the religion and those who practise it even if he didn't come out with the same conclusions as religious folk.

Messy Spirituality: Yaconelli emphasizes again and again that we are all messed up and the church is, (or at least should be) a home for all us messed up folks.  Live isn't neat and tidy and neither are we.

Stones into Schools:  If you've read and enjoyed Three Cups of Tea, you'll want to follow the continuation of the work of CAI as they begin building schools in Afghanistan.  I cruised through this one and hope that this organization has still more years of school building to tell us about for years to come. 

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built: Another installment of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.  Delightful.  And that's all I have to say about that.

Prayer: I took part in the study that accompanied the book earlier in the winter offered by the church I attend and was loaned the book itself by one of a member of my book club.  I have yet to read a book by Yancey that I didn't like and this one didn't disappoint.  He tackles all sorts of problems people tend to have with prayer.  After all, the subtitle is "Does it make a difference."  And in the end, yes.  A significant point he returns to often is that we pray because Christ, our example, did.  For me, I came away with a lot to think on, and the point that seems to stick with me the most is that in many cases, praying may have less to do with changing a situation and more to do with changing me in the process.

May to July Reads to come… 
 

Read and post comments | Send to a friend