Monday, September 20, 2010

London Here We come

On Tuesday, September 14th, we caught a flight from Ireland to London for a 2-night stay (thank you Andy & Erin!). The salad for this day was eaten standing up, in-a-hurry to get out the door from Mandy's apartment.

After our flight, and a long bus ride, we arrived in the heart of London in the early evening. It was here, in the train station, that I had to actually pay to use a toilet for the first time ever in my life.

This entire trip, I have felt like a territorial puppy leaving its mark (i.e. using the bathroom) every couple of hours. The Mister of the House suggested I should have taken a picture of every bathroom I have used on this trip and posted it on the blog. Now wouldn't that have been delightful? I'm sure I could have easily posted a collage of twa-leys numbering around 100. Go me. Or maybe I meant to say Poor Me.

So we headed out into London and eventually came across Buckingham Palace, where The Queen lives. Royalty that doesn't actually rule the country is still a weird concept that I don't quite understand. I wanted to see the guards with the big fluffy hats, but they had the day off and some smaller-hatted guards stood in their place.

Less formal and apparently moved by instinct or threat, was the main guard that sauntered between the front gates. He had a HUGE gun, and it wasn't casually slung by his side. He had both hands on it, the back elbow slightly bent, as if he was ready to aim and shoot at the least provocation. It seriously freaked me out a little. I wanted to zoom and take a picture of him but I thought he might start a fight with me.

Eventually we made our way to Picadilly Square, the entertainment district. So the saying goes you can't stand there longer than 37 minutes without seeing somebody famous. Much to our surprise, there was a huge opening premiere for the film The Other Guys and Eva Mendes and Will Ferrel were strutting their stuff.

At this point in our trip, my main thought was: I wonder if I got an autograph how much money I could sell it for on eBay. Such is the life of a cheap Mormon on vacation in Europe. What I really wished was that Mr. Ferrell would approach me and ask me if there was anything he could do for me, to which I would reply Could I please take a picture of your furry-as-a-sweater chest? Now that would have totally fetched a sum on eBay to be sure.

During our walk back we found London's version of Chinatown.

The wet pavement was a foretelling of the downpour we were to receive walking back to the station. Despite our umbrella that Mandy the Mom packed for us, I truly got soaked to the bone. It was after this night I was chilled for the remainder of my European vacation. I laughed wondering why I thought I could travel to the UK in the autumn without packing an actual raincoat. Idiot.

Labels: travels

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Wee Salad on the Giant's Causeway

On Monday we hit the coast and headed to the Giant's Causeway. On the way, we went across a rope bridge across to a lush, soft, green, coast rock thingie. Looking down from the bridge was....um....exciting.

Mandy the Mom, our hostess with the mostest, tapped the locals to find an eating place fitting for the coast. After winding down a road, we came to this beautiful shack, where I had a wee salad.

Eventually, we made it to the geographic wonder that is the Giant's Causeway. Rock-cooling perfection. You couldn't pay landscaper to attain such perfection.

And of course we are in castle country, this one was impressive. Called Dunluce Castle.

Labels: FreshGreens, travels

Monday, September 13, 2010

Weekend in Scotland

Over the weekend, we took a ferry from Ireland to Scotland and headed to the capital of Edinburgh. Just about the entire weekend we practiced our pronunciation: which is to say {Eh-din-burr-eh} (try to roll those r's just a bit) instead of Edinberrr-g. I have to admit, Edinburgh could be my favorite stop so far. There really is only one word to describe the town, towering with high rise stone buildings, lining the royal mile leading up to the castle, with parliament buildings, churches, and banks so grand each building could easily be a highlight if placed in a regular town. Okay so the one word to describe it before I began my run-on sentence is this: majestic.

When we first came to town square, we were immediately seized upon by a parade of sorts. Armies of Scots in kilts were walking through the streets, playing bagpipes, and hitting drums.

It wasn't until later that we found out that this was a "Protestant March". It seemed the natural extension of our black cab tour and the U.K.'s Protestant vs. Catholic history. Later in the day we learned that the pope is coming to Edinburgh next week, so perhaps fervor was brewing for the visit? Who knows.

If you see in the picture above of the high rise stone buildings, you get a sense of the presence of "The Royal Mile". It's a cobblestone street with buildings that old and that tall lining both sides of the street. It was on The Royal Mile that I tracked down my salad of the day.

A few things I'm starting to figure out about food over here.
A) Big Salads are rarely a menu item. Usually it's a side with something else.
B) Apparently my U.S. palette is sodium heavy, because I keep ordering all this delicious food but end up cranking the salt shakers all over it.

So I was excited to eat this salad because it had sweet potatoes, but the greens were bitter and the potatoes bland. My yellow split pea soup however, was divine.

We toured the castle, imagined life as royalty, and later in the day did a tour called "The Real Mary King's Close". That was a fascinating look into the everyday lives of people living here centuries ago, particularly the poor. With such huge buildings, the basement levels were generally fallout shelters, just one big dark enclosed room. They explained that usually 2-3 families shared this space, slept on floors, and the only light was from a wick burning the cheapest oil available: fish oil (gag me now). And in the corner was a bucket where everyone went to the bathroom and which could only be thrown into the alleyway twice a day, draining down the roads and into the lake below.

We also took a bagillion flights of stairs up the Sir Walter Scott Monument. Here we are about one-fourth of the way up.

Next we stayed in Glasgow, but didn't really hit the city scene at all. We strolled through a HUGE park with a museum showcasing the private collection of John Burroughs. Lots of Degas, Rodain, and this sculpture, which I disturbingly related to the most:

This park was huge rolling countryside hills. Apparently, Scottish cattle had nearly been lost in farming practices until a recent resurgence to bring back heritage breeds. Very cool. Check out this particular herd at the park. They are owned by the city council, and they have enough pasture to remain clean and eat a healthy grass-fed diet. So cool! My little farmer husband got up close to pet one.

Other things in this park was a community garden, horse riding stalls, the miles and miles of soft green grass and forest. It seemed to me what every park should try to be. So lovely.

At the park we hit some old house where the former "servants kitchen" was turned into a restaurant. It was there I had my salad for September 12th. Perfect with a little quiche on the side.

And a kiss to end the post.

Labels: FreshGreens, kiss, responsible agriculture, travels

Friday, September 10, 2010

Greens for Peace

Today I caught a more gritty perspective of Ireland. The idyllic rolling hills, leprechauns, and pots of gold took a backseat on my black cab tour through Belfast. Evidently, this town in Northern Ireland was not, should we say, "tourist friendly" ten years ago. We are here after a concerted effort at peace and new beginnings. It has worked to the point that we walked a couple miles to the farmer's market, safe as a baby in a carriage, and bought some goods for dinner. So to start, here's my salad for this day, Friday September 10th, 2010.

While tourism is making a comeback to the point there are "black cab tours", I was fascinated by the evidence of a violent and passionate past. Here's a little slideshow of the many murals of Belfast. The murals are:
* remembrances for the dead
* criticisms of the "other side" (Protestants vs. Catholics)
* Hope for the future
* and marking of territory
We were taken by Billy the Irishmen, to the "Protestant Neighborhoods" and the "Catholic Neighborhoods" where these murals inform the present and form culture. Check out the massive fence to keep folks from throwing bricks or tear-gas into the neighborhoods of the "other side".

Things I didn't know: that after Frederick Douglas escaped from slavery (with the help from some Irish), that he lived in Ireland and spoke about equal rights for all.

To my small perspective, things are changing for the better. No recent bombings or killings, and safety in the streets to the point that I could walk to the market for fresh greens.

It has been a great day of learning, and a day of gratitude for the peaceful existence that was my childhood and my current state of living. Yet, I find that tonight my prayers will have a more earnest petition for peace.

Signing off!

Labels: FreshGreens, travels

Friday, September 10, 2010

The First Gifts of Ireland

Gift One: Hostess with the Mostest. Beautiful Mandy....in a tree.

But lives in a hip post-modern apartment with a spare bedroom (wahoo!)

Gift two: A raw salad on day two of the trip!

Gift three: We visited a castle, and followed a trail to a cave on the hillside. Wouldn't you know that growing wild and free all along the trail were some blackberries. They were delicious with my cereal this morning.

This is me "posing" for a photograph, when I really wanted to capture this quintessential irishman walking through the woods. Tweed jacket, newsboy cap, and an umbrella that poses as a walking stick. I just knew that should I have passed him on the trail, he would have said "Top o' the morning to ya". Right?

Hey Offspring....love and miss you (thanks Grandma!)

Labels: FreshGreens, travels

Thursday, September 9, 2010

City of Steel, Bowl of Greens

Yesterday, I was "en-route" to my European Vacation for just over 24 hours. Ugh. What time is it? One of my fears on this trip has been: Will I be able to get my salad a day? Well yesterday, during our 7-hour layover in New York, I put these fears to the test. Check out my little mini New York adventure below:

Upon emerging from the swarthy subway tunnels, I emerged into the cliched version of New York that is Times Square. Immediately we were dazzled by the lights, the energy, people, shops, and advertisements.

My first thought was this: I wonder if any trees can grow here. It was several blocks before I found this.

Not technically a tree, but living and green. Maybe my miniature adventure should have been to Central Park huh?

So since we went straight for the cliche New York life, my next thought was this: I want a New York Dawg.

I had images of Tina Fey, long lines of weary corporate workers, and downing some meat the farmgirl in me doesn't want to think about with onions, relish, catsup, and mustard.

We succeeded. Here's my man with our New York Dawg. I was disappointed only catsup and mustard were available, but after a 5 hour flight with a small cup of water and some nuts, I was ready to eat a roasted rat.

Not really, that would be gross. My point is, I try not to buy or eat hotdogs, but man was that dog good!

Bonus! Snapped a photo of the Times Square Naked Cowboy's competition. What is she? The Naked Cowgirl? I'm not sure, but I learned The Naked Cowboy recently sued her for...infringement? I shouldn't put things on the blog I don't know anything about, but there you have a fairly naked woman amongst the lights and action of New York.

My last and final thought before we had to jet back onto the subway was this: Where can I get a salad?

Then we found a little deli that sold raw greens, fruits, sushi, and pastas for $7.99 a pound.

The noodles make it look gross, but it was the perfect end to my mini New York adventure. For just five bucks, I snarfed fresh strawberries, kiwi, ginger dressing, and a couple sushi rolls that had no chance in heck of growing within 20 miles of the deli, but which tasted absolutely fresh and delicious.

Well that's it for now. Good night/afternoon/morning...I'm not sure which one.

Labels: FreshGreens, New Year's Resolutions, travels

Monday, August 30, 2010

My How They've Grown

Remember this view from Bok Bok Cottage recently?

This was one of the three "hens" our neighbor gave to us, of which all turned out to be roosters. So this rooster was pretty young, not yet fully grown and born in April. Since we decided to raise all of our meat this year, we raised up some "broilers" and processed them this month. Much to the pleasure of can't-bend-over-for-chicken-feed-without-getting-blindsided hens, we got rid of 2 roosters with our batch of meat birds. So check out this next photo, it is a picture of two chicken thighs. One belongs to the rooster, and the other to a younger (by about a month) genetically hyperdriven meat bird.

proceed with caution vegetarians...

Fascinating right?

I don't mean to disrespect the life of these birds by the way.

Speaking of genetically hyperdrives, my little guy turned 5 this month.

Lucky for me, Grandma Cozy had the kids for a sleepover (in the camper wahoo!) and Vanilla Wafer was able to wake up with a special breakfast and wishes for a good time as a 5 year old. Here's Grandma with princess cousins Olivia and Ruby.

It was just one year ago I was pulling out all the stops for his 4th birthday party.

Adorable right?

...Here's another recent view from Bok Bok Cottage. Our little baby goats when they were a few days old.

Cheesy I know, but sometimes it's nice to hold something like a baby that you didn't have to bleed, sweat, and cry for.

But even these little goats grew up faster than I wanted. Here they are just a couple weeks back.

That picture was for the online classifieds. Boo!

I was relieved when a young family bought them to help their kids learn how to raise goats for 4-H (no immediate butchering...yay!). But my mother heart was breaking when the mama goat Matilda was desperately bleating for her little babies for a couple of days.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm really cut out to be a farmgirl.

over and out...

Labels: chickens, goats, responsible agriculture, Vanilla Wafer

Thursday, August 19, 2010

9 hours 49 minutes

What do you do when your husband's sister has red hair, lives in Ireland, and has a spare bedroom?

Which is just what we did. After months of stalking, Orbitz finally delivered a good price on our tickets. We leave in less than a month!

What do you do when your brother-in-law is an up and coming Hollywood writer on an HBO series (currently filming in Ireland)?

You decide to peruse the book series penned by George R.R. Martin as a show of support, only to discover a story so mysterious, epic, intriguing, and fascinating that your house goes to the pits while you swallow an 800-page novel. Four times.

The Mister of the House and I are soooo excited to get a peek at the The Game of Thrones series, coming out in 2011. For real, I'm nervous.*

What do you do when the American Dollar is worth 64 cents to the British Pound?

You jump at the chance to do data entry for a deliciously busy marketing company. Which is why the quaint idea of "working from home" meant that for all my kids knew, I had just started another Martin Novel. Yesterday they got ignored for 9 hours and 49 minutes.

What happens when you sit on a hard wood chair for an entire day trying to earn vacation money?

You throw your back out opening the windows in the morning. Sometimes it sucks being a granny in your thirties.

What do you do when you've been eating a raw salad every day in August....okay and then when you stop by the office to pick up some papers, you drop into the public restroom, and go into a stall and lock the door.....and sitting there on top of the toilet paper holder is a perfectly sealed and wrapped chocolate truffle....you are locked inside with a truffle...a commercially sealed truffle, but it's a public restroom ya know....What do you do?

So I will answer this question later in the comments, but I am dying to know what you would have done!

*p.s. I'm not recommending this book to folks that are unmarried, or to my mother. The intrigue is well handled by adults, we'll just say that. If you are judging me right now by that comment, please open the Old Testament and read about Lot's daughters.

Labels: FreshGreens, Keeping it Real, Olsen Multimedia