Blueberries, Peacocks, Oatmeal Bread, Snowden and Scheduling a Reluctant Self

This morning the blueberries are calling me from two pots out back. I have buttermilk in the fridge for blueberry pancakes, but there is a recipe I saw where you use regular milk and let  the batter sit for an hour for fluffy pancakes. I am a kitchen scientist. Always experimenting. I love to eat, even though I tend to get caught up in other work, overriding that necessary indulgence. I know I need to get a handle on my reluctant self, and schedule a routine. Perhaps it's after years of being overdrawn, raising 7 alone, and then taking care of my father, that I am just recouping. But, earning a living and getting flush with my economics is pushing me, as is behaving myself in the health arena, and getting more mindful.

Last night I watched a Youtube video from FullyRawKristina on her daily routine. She made the best-looking quart? of morning 'lemonade' to hydrate herself, using sliced lemons and oranges, basil or mint, infusing till morning. Her suggestions for health and a flat stomach were:
1. Hydrate-moves everything through to cleanse.

2. Eat 1-2 Raw Meals daily. She eats fully raw, and her recipes are phenomenal. Bright colors of juice, raw peach cobbler, mmmmm. Her green juice recipe is alkalinizing. A great cancer/disease prevention and tool for healing.

3. Eliminate meat and dairy. These are low in fiber and  high in saturated fat, have hormones and antibiotics, (and possible prions and the dairy produces mucous from casein.) I love yogurt and cottage cheese, and I've been experimenting with buttermilk recipes lately, so I try to use balance. Probiotics can come from fermented veggies. That is something I haven't made yet, but I think it would be great. Saurkraut in a can or jar? is not quite the form I'm looking for here. Keeping the gut flora balanced is a key to a good immune system.

4. She suggests taking out all wheat breads and pasta. There's a book she mentioned called Forks over Knives, so you get the idea of salads and juices and fruit over animal proteins. But her main #4 idea is doing 10 min. of ab exercises. It doesn't take much to tone up. She does:
*Squats, Bicycle crunches, 3 sets of 20, planks where you put our arms down and on your toes, hold stomach in and flat for 60 seconds, and she jumps rope, even if she doesn't have a rope.

5. Stop eating after 7 pm, or at least 3 hours before bedtime.
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Peacocks: We have a beautiful male peacock strutting around, holding court on rooftops, being watched and fed by the 55 and older community here. I cringe at the bread they feed him, so I bought some organic chicken scratch mix to contribute something better for this deep blue Persian-art-tailed iridescent creature. Yesterday I saw him spread that gorgeous tail of his for the first time, on a rooftop.

He came within 1-2 feet of me last night, after I shook a baggie of the grains and made a clicking noise. It's hilarious how he cocks his head, and gets serious. The pattern on his back to tail tip is fabulous! I came back from a bike ride to return my Redbox movie, Cloud Atlas, and saw the peacock walking down my road, with a resident watching. I then could run get my bag of scratch.

He calls early in the morning, around 4-5, and sometimes late at night, from the 50+ foot high Douglas fir trees he roosts in. Some neighbors don't like it, have probably tried fireworks and noise and lights at night, etc., to make him move on, but many of us enjoy this wonderful piece of nature. He has been a bright spot in my life, and those that miss a little bit of country.

I put out a mirror last night, at the corner of my little doublewide in the backyard. They are fascinated by their image, but during mating season, the males can fly at a mirror image, thinking it's a rival. He has already come to check out Duke, a metal rooster made of bicycle and garden tool parts that guards my backyard. My neighbor Bill reported that this peacock seemed very curious about this piece of yard art, and then the mirror, just before he shared a raisin bagel with the bird. I only hope my blueberries remain safe on their bushes. If not, there's always the Farmer's Market on Saturday in Gresham, but there's nothing like picking your own huge, warm blueberry from your own bush that you've nurtured with coffee grounds and manure and water. Anthocyadins and sunshine in a blue-staining bite...

RE: cringing about the bread being fed the peacock, and humans....The chemicals and GMO products in our breads and food in general are so gross, and knowing they produce cancer from studies and resulting pictures- that many public seem unaware of- makes me think we will all be developing eating disorders before the pendulum of this corruption is fixed. The contamination is abhorrent. Perhaps when all other nations ban GMO's, the US public will finally speak out for their own health, and children's health and lives. I don't know.

But, I have been experimenting with bread recipes of late. Yesterday I made an Oatmeal Bread with 2 cups of organic old-fashioned oats soaked in 2 c. of filtered boiling water, 1 Tbsp. salt, 1 tsp. cinnamon, about 1/2 c. cut-up raisins, (opt.) 1/4 c. molasses, 1/4 c. honey, 1/3 c. brown sugar.

 After an hour of soaking, I added 1/2 c. applesauce and 1/2 c. scalded milk-I've used what I had-canned milk straight without scalding, or 1/2 and 1/2, etc. Then I mix 1-1 1/2 Tbsp SAF yeast  in 3 c. of organic whole wheat flour, and add and stir, then 2 c. of unbleached White non-bromated Bob's Redmill flour, and knead for 6-8 min., incorporating another cup of the white flour.

(You can add spelt flour, or experiment w/ many different kinds of flours-rice, oatmeal, rye, some wheat germ, or what's left in your fridge or cupboard.)
Let raise in a greased clean bowl covered w/ a dishtowel-(I wet and wring a cotton towel using warm water) for an hour or so till doubled, and divide into two parts, roll each out and into a loaf. Put in 2 greased bread pans, raise till 1" or so over the top of the pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 min. till the tops are brown and hollow sounding. You can brush the tops with a little milk and sprinkle w/ cinnamon sugar if you wish before raising, or just after baking, brush w/ butter -I use a stick of butter still in the wrapper because it's easy-and cover w/ your now-semi-dry towel, to get a soft crust, if desired. 55 min. for me was about right. It could have used 5 min. more, as the applesauce and oats make more of a dense bread.

I cut a loaf when it was cooled a bit, cut the slices in half after buttering, put some of my strawberry freezer jam on half of the slices, put it on a platter with a stack of napkins, and shared with some of my neighbors. Food is for sharing, and feedback is key to knowing if the recipe is a winner, or not.

Next time I'll share the olive-garlic loaf that cooked up in less than 2 hours total. The smell throughout the house was heavenly. I also brought a tweaked smoky bleu cheese salad dressing to a dinner with this bread. Oh, my goodness! It's so good, I want any excuse possible to taste it with a spoon. Putting salad greens with it is almost criminal, as competing with the taste is an exercise in frustration. '-} I'll share that, also.
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Snowden: If I could speak directly to Mr. Snowden, I would want to hug him and tell him how proud I am for his acts of courage. We need men of courage, true patriots and citizens of the world, to act as checks and balances to protect mankind from the greed, power mongering, lies, harm and invasion of privacy to us all.

He is a whistleblower like Manning and Assange, but regardless of the arguments of how to classify each one, their acts stand as a beacon for the best of mankind. Bravo to all of you, and I apologize for Obama and his lost host of followers. I didn't vote for him. Some people don't recognize true leaders, or have radar for dishonesty. The only reason Obama is saying he's backing off somewhat (which is just another lie like the drone murders), is he knows there is a brewing resentment and growing drive to expel him from office, and give him the same treatment he has allowed for Bradley Manning, Leonard Peltier, and any other political prisoner that he could have 'manned' up for, and intervened to let justice prevail. Working for the Corporations, Bank, Pharmaceutical and other organized crime conglomerates makes him no less than a prostitute. Shameful.

Manning, Snowden and Assange are all in a prized category:
Making Your Life Count

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Father's Day June 16th, 2013

My father Alva Moishe Cohen, or Alvin Marc Cowden as he was known later in life, died December 11, 2008. I am still grieving his loss. Today, on Sunday, Father's Day, I think of him. My cousin Dierdre, who is now 60, whose father was Jerome, the oldest son of three boys, told me in a phone conversation that she grieved the loss of her dad 11 years.

At 58 years old, I met my Jewish cousins for the first time, thanks to helping a friend out with a search for an old friend of his, on Ancestry.com. I found some family information and a partial family tree. I contacted Geoffrey and his wife Billie, and later talked to Dierdre. On Sundays when cell phones for them cost less, or my 71 yr. old Baptist Pastor cousin is done with his Church meeting (Geoffrey is a Messianic Jew) I think of calling them to keep in touch and get to know my family history from an extended family. I know they are waiting for my packet of pictures, which are waiting for me to find, in boxes in a storage unit. Billie typed up the first installment of their history, complete with inserted pictures and sent the letter. I want to reread it. Getting to know family after a lifetime is a bit overwhelming. They lived in Massachusetts, Maine and Florida, (I'll have to recheck the letter) and now South Dakota. I have greatly enjoyed Geoffrey's account of his distant and then close relationship with his father-my Uncle Jerome. As we mature, we can appreciate our parents for their strengths, and not focus so harshly on our less than positive memories. We realize we are just like them, in that despite our good intentions, we are human, also. Learning takes time, and making mistakes in life, or as parents is part of the deal.

My father had two brothers-Jerome and Morton Cohen. They changed their names to Cowden, as in Philly, Jews were still discriminated against in some places, like getting into the universities. There was some quota on how many Jews were allowed in. My Uncle Jerome went to Harvard Law School, and when he graduated, he walked back across the stage and said they had graduated a Jew. As an Attorney at Law, I learned his court documents were so professionally done, well-researched and stated and accurate, complete with being professionally printed, that my Uncle easily won his cases-pretty much before the case was heard. Collecting from his clients was not his strength, nor choosing lasting partners. The boys were raised in Strawberry Mansion, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was no mansion, says Geoffrey. It was the ghetto. My Grandmother, Rebecca Fleet was an impeccable housekeeper, and despite their humble beginnings, inspired her sons to educate and develop themselves.

In their Jewish Orthodox home, the oldest son was treated as the most important. My father and his brother were scarred because of this diminishment and lack of acknowledgment and love. I saw the result of this pain in my father's expression of perfectionism and frustration. His pain was immense, and the world around him often paid dearly for the scars of his history. Later in his life, I took the pieces of his history and let my father see them in a different light, and make sense of them. He said it was the best therapy session he  ever had. Another circle of life, with meaning and closure. The daughter that he had left deep lessons in, took her genetic abilities and personality, searched for answers, and delivered them finally, to help her father and herself find peace. The video I made on his history, where his parenting skills, chronology, etc. were discussed, was sent to my sister Alison to distribute to my siblings, so their own lives could be healed after our traumatic childhood. She said she didn't finish the video, and nobody else (8 sibs) wanted to see it. When I was a child, I felt like an orphan, and I still feel like I came from another tribe. One that wanted to know the truth. Someone with some courage. Even as I say that in frustration about my siblings, I know that we all have fears.

Education was stressed, and all of the 3 sons excelled. Morton became a Professor and President? of a Chicago University. Jerome was an Attorney, and later up for appointment for Federal Judge, though he got involved with some interstate fraud with an acquaintance and served time and was disbarred. His father Barney, did not set a great example of honesty, borrowing money and not paying it back. He did this to my father, and feigned running to the train as it left the station at Pottstown, Pa, as my father traveled to Reed College (the Oxford of the West) in Portland, Oregon.

He felt betrayed by his father, and never forgave him, urinating on his grave in San Antonio, Texas. It seems my grandfather had to leave his Philly homegrounds. Not too surprising. My father said he went to Texas, "to be among other thieves." My father said his dad was a screamer, and he hated it, but my father did the same thing.

My father worked in the financial world, in the stock market, but was offended by anti-Semitic remarks by his associate and boss, and left. My father never suffered fools, or had a lot of tolerance for ignorance. In my opinion, we all are ignorant in many areas.
He became a salesman, and had a tough life. His biggest project, (and I see my ability to multi-task and collate/integrate many ideas to create) was to get permission from David O McKay, the Mormon Prophet/Leader to put together a Mormon book of Scripture, or Family Bible. During the collaboration of that project, there was jealousy of my father's abilities, blackmail, etc., until he got a Mormon Attorney, Chris Ronnow from Cedar City, to file a lawsuit against the people involved: Gordon B. Hinckley, Loren Wheelwright (publishing), etc. My father won the suit, but in the small pay-out, never realized the fruition of his work with the royalties,  and birthright of intellectual gifts, and struggled financially the rest of his life. He said he saw the corruption of the Mormon Church, and admitted he had also become corrupt in the process. He never discussed how.

He engaged the artist Arnold Friberg to do the artwork, like pictures of Lehi, Nephi, (Book of Mormon characters) etc., and he petitioned other religious organizations like the Catholics to include their art and frescos within the book, to tell the stories of the Bible.

When my father came to stay with me at a time in his older years, we discussed the event of his father's betrayal and fraud, and how he expected his father to act differently than his established behavior. Despite how disappointing it was, and how predictable this scenario might have been, a son would still feel betrayed, so he couldn't help but take his father's habits personally. My father seemed to have a deep loathing of men in general, but revered women. I didn't get to see this, as his relationship with my mother was terribly caustic and flawed.

He loved his Grandma Fleet, or Bubba Fleet as he called her, and found it an honor to accompany her to get the streetcar after her visits. I can only appreciate this softer love and influence, or my father may have been a total monster. People with a high intellectual capability tend to observe more keenly than others, and this analysis can cause despising and retribution,  based on one's background wounds, especially those of personal victimization. They have the ability to settle scores and bring justice without much feeling attached. True intelligence is using ones abilities to do good, and leave the world better than found. Arrogance, rationalization and rage create monster behaviors. Intellectual ability is only one area of intelligence, as there is emotional and spiritual intelligence.

Not until I reminded my dad of how much I had to forgive to be able to take him in now that he was old and vulnerable, did he begin to see the lesson had come full circle. Of course with vascular dementia, where the short term memory may be 30 seconds to 5 minutes, we had that discussion several times. I observed that the repetition of short term memory loss was somewhat like I'd imagine Chinese water torture to be. Perhaps it is also to indelibly remind me of these scenarios and lessons for my own life.

My father was so independent, that his social contacts with young Jewish girls whose fathers began making plans for my then-young father to marry their daughters and join them in business, created a breaking off of that relationship. Between the dirty air and water, the sinus problems my father suffered, the traumas of childhood when chased by gangs of kids that could bring pulling ones pants down to show circumcision and beating of a 'Jew', the fathers greedily eying my handsome, intelligent dad, and a host of hurtful family memories, made my father want to get as far away from Philly as he could. Thus came Reed College, on a scholarship, to get to the other coast.

He worked for an extra year after high school as a Pharmacy delivery boy to gather enough money for his other expenses, to get to college. It was this money that his father 'borrowed', and didn't pay back. Just a few short months after arriving at Reed College, World War II began, and everything was disrupted. My father was color blind, and so made oculars for the war effort. After time in Laguna Beach, mixing drinks and making barbecues for his friends, he went to Texas selling oil leases. There he met my raven-haired beautiful Welsh/English/Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutch) mother, when he went into a Phone Company to get some paper. Ten children and 22 tumultuous years later, they divorced. (He later married Sara Leonti in California, lived in Los Gatos and Palo Alto, until his health began to fail. Before my mother, he was married to Florence Blickenstaff, a nurse he met while in a hospital.) He was put on medications, too trusting of his docs, unmonitored, until it affected him by seizures, strokes and behavior issues which lost him his life-saving lunches at the local Senior Center. It was at this point that I was contacted by a brother advising me to leave him there in California to die alone, as 'he was never going to change'. I believe in honoring ones parents, and always felt a bond to my father. I was not his first choice, as I am honest and confrontive. It was indeed what he needed.

My father brought his dislike of men, his impatience for privacy invasions, a superior intellect and short term memory deficit with him. When he lost his personal Physician who had married and went on Pregnancy leave, and my own health failed me with cancer so he had to enter a care facility, the ensuing ignorance and medical abuse eventually cost him his life. He should have been able to live and die at home, in the safety of his daughter's care. The institutions make sure that this much less costly way to support our elderly is not done in this country. If a person has little money, the taxpayer will swallow that bill for monthly care, to the tune of $13,000 to $20,000 while your loved one is held without rights, decent food or proper attention and drugged into a stupor and adult diapers as there is inadequate numbers of staff. One of my father's lasting thoughts was: "But, I didn't do anything."
It was the criminalization of the poor. Unrepresented. Powerless. Uncared for.

Without any Respite Care provided for by the state, except the 96 cents an hour they paid for Relative Foster Care (full time) the system is burning out family members and advancing them closer to their own graves. This practice will perhaps take years to change, if the grip and fraud of pharmaceutical euthanasia and elder care institutions are ever properly investigated and challenged. My father's support systems were thin because of the way he lived his life, but wealthy people all over America are finding themselves with appointed Guardians and their entire life savings looted by the collusion of the judicial system. Maybe one day the American people will wake up to how they treat their elderly, how powerful the Pharmaceuticals have become to push for their profits with drugs and vaccines, and the fact that the 'them' of the elderly has become 'us'.

That story is for another day. On another blog, I wrote a little about it:
http://ladyofthelake-vernonialake.blogspot.com/2009/03/pharmaceutical-euthanasia.html



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I Am Bradley Manning...

Bradley Manning is a hero, who could not in good conscience cooperate with the corrupt military, and kill innocent civilians, quietly going along with war crimes, becoming complicit.

People all over the world are supporting Bradley Manning. 'I am Bradley Manning' is the movement's strongest statement. The Obama Administration has punished more Whistleblowers than any other Presidency in our history. (When I hear O complaining about the delay to adopt his appointees, that the Constitutional process should be followed, I am disgusted and humored at once. Wahhhhh. You can't have it both ways, O. Tearing up the Constitution and wanting to selectively have it honored. ???)

What are Obama and Holder and Clinton still going through the motions of office for, anyway? Get out!

Like Daniel Ellsberg in the Vietnam Era, Bradley stood up and marched forward, knowing what he had to do, so the American public knew what was going on in Iraq, and was no longer conned by the Conglomerate-One Owner US Media.



Bradley has been tortured, allowed no sun or daylight for 23 hours a day, kept in a solitary 8x6' cage, stripped each night, only allowed to stand or sit w/ feet on floor, on duty, until he looks like a ghost. The deficiency of Vitamin D is perhaps the largest indicator of coming disease and cancer for him. Additionally, the forced 'vaccinations' with their toxic adjuvants and foreign proteins if not the food, etc. will finish the job to quiet Bradley. This is all done to make him the 'example', of what will happen if you tell the truth.
He has already acted. Will you?

Visit: http://www.bradleymanning.org/




***So, in other interesting areas: why has the media covered up nuclear silos being shut down by UFO's, the goal of the World Banksters to take over each country left-Syria, Libya, Iran, etc.



It is time for the energy to change from oil to what the UFO reverse science has already given us. See YouTube for 'The Disclosure Project.'



So, who holds the schemers accountable? Russia and China are not going to allow Iran's oil and monetary system to fall. The schemers who think money and power are the reasons for life, will be the cause of WWIII if we allow it.

Like Leonard Peltier (whoops. a slip. Leonard Cohen. Peltier is just another political prisoner. Don't get me started.) sings, "It's a cold and a very broken, Hallelujah".


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Finally. An Admission of the World Bank Corruption and US Media owned by One Corrupt Conglomerate.

Finally...an Admission of Corruption of the World Bank, and that the US Media is owned by one Conglomerate so the American People won't be told what is going on. Watch this female attorney Whistle blower, who is being threatened with jail. Anything to shut her up. She has been working with the 50 Governors, and insists Eric Holder is going to jail.



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