News, Newspaper, and Worm Friends!

I have been meaning to update and share some details from the past week, but I keep getting side tracked (i.e. yesterday's post). There was big news today that I'm just itchin' to get to, but I will try to get the other stuff out first.

I went to the farmer's market on Saturday morning, bright and early, to pick up some tea that I ordered from a local maker. I say 'maker' not 'grower' because she doesn't grow it, but instead, blends ingredients to create some of the most amazing, flavorful teas I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying. I first came across this magical brew two years ago when I was in Minneapolis for an Anthropology conference and the hotel I stayed at served the tea. I've patiently been waiting two years since to get my hands on it and I couldn't be happier! The blend that got me hooked is called Hi-C Punch, but I've found two other flavors that I can't live without -- African Fruit Bowl and Choco Mint (I drink this chilled with cream and sugar, brings out the chocolate flavor) -- AMAZING!!! Check out the Mrs. Kelly's Teas link on the side of the blog or click here (ships nationwide, just fyi).

Ok, got distracted again. While at the market, I bought a bushel of tomatoes, other veggies, and some strawberries. I spent the rest of the day and part of Sunday stewing tomatoes, making my homemade sauce to freeze, and trying out a new fruit leather flavor, strawberry banana! The tomatoes turned out great (this coming from the girl who loathed tomatoes until last year). The fruit leather also turned out great, but it took much longer than the first batch, almost double, because of the banana I think -- made it thicker and took longer to dry. Uneventful I know, but that was the majority of my weekend.

Ok, so my big news/ excitement for today is that I picked up my worms for my indoor compost! A girl was willing to give me some from her colony, so it includes some little bitty baby worms too. I brought them home, got their bedding together and introduced them to their new place. I have to give them a few days to settle in before I can start feeding them, but I already feel better knowing they are here and will help eat up even more of my waste!

I'm including some photos so you can see what they heck I'm talking about when I say 'indoor compost'...

Pile-o-newspaper pre-shredding, post shredding in bin, and worm friends and babies!

Here are some links about how to start your own indoor compost!

Vermicomposting

"How To" with photos (be sure to read a later entry of this blog before making yours, click here)

Where to Get Worms thought I got mine from someone on Freecycle.

Great Story! and some other stuff...

Some of you may know about the amazing 'Stumble Upon' feature that the Firefox web browser has. I am quite addicted. I was 'stumbling' today and came across this article someone else posted in their blog. It is a great story! I was disappointed that I had never heard of it before today.

Story

and for more information, they also have the official website.

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Not much new to report in Minneapolis today. The past few days have been spent doing small things around the apartment: cleaning, re-potting herbs (I had a really bad gnat infestation that I couldn't shake for the world!), laundry, etc. I applied for my new drivers license and also got my student ID and bus pass for the U, as every local calls the U of MN.

A few days ago I made homemade fruit leather which turned out really well! Fruit leather, for those of you unfamiliar with it, is basically pureed fruit that has been slowly dried either outside or in the oven at a low temperature. It is like a Fruit Roll-Up (a favorite lunchtime snack from my childhood), but all natural and without any extra sugar. I made blueberry...mmm! I'll attach the link I followed so you can give it a shot yourself. It really was the easiest thing I've ever made! I also made homemade granola, but I didn't follow a recipe and it needs a bit of tweaking. I'll post it when I finally come up with a good recipe.

The weather is a little cooler today than it has been (sad when 80 degrees is cooler!). Mea Kitty and I enjoyed some time outside as I brushed her. Other than that, not much new to report other than I start grad school in less than two weeks! Yahoo! I'm getting excited!

So...I Decided to Start This Blog Thing...

I'm always on the lookout for new ways to keep in touch with everyone back home. I'm not a big fan of email because I spend so much time on the computer with school or work. I prefer the phone, but its hard to track people down these days with everyone's (mine included) crazy schedules. This brings us to...

The Blog.

I've never been a big fan of blogs, maybe because they were pretty popular for a while and I tend to not like trendy things, or maybe it was because they are similar to a diary, which I've always felt is a little too self-indulgent (it usually turns into a giant b***h session).

Anyway, I've accepted the idea that a blog could be useful to me. I start grad school in two weeks and I'm not sure how busy that is going to be, I'm guessing very busy, but even if it is, I think I should be able to dedicate 15 minutes at some point during the week to post an update about what I'm doing, learning, cooking, etc. I think this will also be a more efficient way to share pictures than through email, and I know how people like pictures!

So, I ask that you be patient with me while I get this whole blog thing under control. I'm sure there will be lots of changes, updates, modifications in the next few weeks as I figure out what exactly I want this blog to be. Thanks for the understanding!

***Update***
During my summer travels in 2009 and 2010 I realized that seems to be what most people want from my blog - to hear about the places I am fortunate enough to visit and excavate, and the things I have learned about traveling through my experiences. Henceforth, this blog is dedicated to chronicling my past, present, and hopefully future trips around the world, and of course anything related to culture and travel.