Ahhh, Kohlrabi!

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Beth F.

This year's fresh out of the garden kohlrabi harvest! Kohlrabi is greeted with eager anticipation from some and scrunched up "icky" faces by others!

This year’s fresh out of the garden kohlrabi harvest! Kohlrabi is greeted with eager anticipation from some and scrunched up “icky” faces from others!

Last night I finally harvested my three kohlrabi plants. After doing some research, I realize I probably should have done it last week. The ideal size for taste is approximately a 2-3 inch diameter.

I brought two of the kohlrabi from my garden in to work today and discovered that apparently I am the only person who appreciates this vegetable. My daughter Aurora happened to be in the office for a while this morning and after much cajoling, reluctantly put a tiny piece of kohlrabi in her mouth and started chewing. Looking like a cat about to tarnish the floor with a hairball, she started making gagging noises and heaving her shoulders up and down. Sheree in our office quickly told her to spit it out before we all started following her lead. She did and I’m pretty sure that she won’t be trying kohlrabi again anytime soon, or probably ever.

I wanted to learn more about this vegetable that my aunt Nora in Oregon and my Mom & Dad absolutely love but my children run screaming from.

Here’s what I learned:

Merriam Webster Dictionary says: “a cabbage (Brassica oleracea gongylodes) having a greatly enlarged, fleshy, turnip-shaped edible stem; also : its stem used as a vegetable”

Wikipedia says: “The name comes from the German Kohl (“cabbage”) plus Rübe ~ Rabi (Swiss German variant) (“turnip“), because the swollen stem resembles the latter, hence its Austrian name Kohlrübe. Kohlrabi is a very commonly eaten vegetable in German-speaking countries.”

Juicing For Health website says: “Kohlrabi is found to be rich in dietary fiber, carotenoids, vitamins A, C, K and the B vitamins. As with the other vegetables in this family, it is rich with various anti-oxidants that protect against colon and prostate cancer.”

And check out the Vegetarians in Paradise newsletter for a GREAT article about kohlrabi, including how to select it, how to prepare it and a great recipe as well!

Personally, I think kohlrabi has the texture of a potato and tastes somewhat like a mild radish. I’ve never eaten it cooked, only raw, but I always enjoy it!

What are your thoughts on kohlrabi? Do you enjoy it or do you scratch your heads and wonder how people can eat that weird veggie? 😉

Posted in gardening | Tagged delicious, Garden, Kohlrabi, Vegetable, weird, yucky | 2 Comments

The earth laughs in flowers. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Beth F.

“The earth laughs in flowers.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I found this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson and thought it was a wonderful saying to go along with some of my new and old favorite photos of flowers. Enjoy! 🙂

Posted in Beautiful, gardening, laughing | Tagged beautiful, earth laughs in flowers, Flowers, Ralph Waldo Emerson | 2 Comments

America The Beautiful!

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Beth F.

Happy Independence Day! There are so many beautiful places in the USA. Here’s one that inspired the poem that led to the song, “America The Beautiful”!

The view from the top of Pike’s Peak!

Riding the cog railway up to the top of Pike's Peak! Geoffry and Nathan and Muriel, our exchange student from Dusseldorf, Germany!

Riding the cog railway up to the top of Pike’s Peak! Geoffrey and Nathan and Muriel, our exchange student from Düsseldorf, Germany!

This photo was taken near the top of Pike’s Peak in Colorado.

Check out some great info about this song here:

Tween US page, “9 things you didn’t know about America The Beautiful”

Posted in thankfulness | 2 Comments

Memories…

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Beth F.

“There are lives I can imagine without children but none of them have the same laughter & noise.” ― Brian Andreas

Life would definitely not be the same without my kids. It would, no doubt be much quieter, but a lot less fun! There’s nothing like seeing things through the eyes of a child. They have a special, unique way of viewing the world and give me perspective that I am often lacking. Here are some of the fun moments from our recent California vacation! 🙂

A serendipitous moment when we realize Nathan is wearing his Dusseldorf t-shirt the same day we see a sign at the art gallery with the distance to Dusseldorf!

San Diego Zoo gorilla area with the kiddos and a bonus kiddo, Todd’s daughter Hannah, quite a brave soul for joining our wild crew for the week!

I was told by the kids that this type of photo-op just doesn’t work with smiles, so I let them have an “accurate” photo before I made them smile in the next photo

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~

Mark Twain

Enjoying a walk with the kids during the “bonus” day of our California vacation

We didn’t see Casper or any of his friends but we had fun on our ghost tour of Old Town, San Diego regardless!

Filippe’s in Little Italy. A fantastic meal with wonderful ambiance! We loved eating Italian food in Little Italy!

Aurora enjoying all the little creatures in the tide pools

Posted in Celebrate, laughing, living life to the fullest, relationships, Vacation | Tagged fun, ghost tour, kids, making memories, San Diego, Vacation, zoo | Leave a comment

5 Happy Habits to Practice Every Day

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Beth F.

Excellent ideas!! I always enjoy this blog! 🙂

Posted in thankfulness | Leave a comment

Let Yourself Be Surprised!

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Beth F.

One of the neatest things I saw at the San Diego Zoo wasn’t even on display there!

I am a planner. Before I visit a place, I’m the one who checks Trip Advisor, does numerous web searches for “fun things to do while visiting _____”, checks admission times, prices, etc. In short, I want to make the most out of a trip. There’s nothing wrong with this and because I am a planner and a researcher, I’ve gotten to see some incredible things that I most likely wouldn’t have stumbled upon otherwise.

However, some of my favorite moments from a vacation are often the spontaneous, unplanned events. While going through the San Diego Zoo on our recent family vacation, we happened upon a mother duck with her ducklings who was visiting the warthog enclose and letting her babies have a swim. We also got to see the natural maternal instinct in full force when one of the young warthogs wandered over to take a sniff at the ducklings. Mama duck got her feathers riled then and pecked her beak at the young warthog, probably twice her size. She got him to move away quickly, though! It was a wonderful moment and one that I think we will always remember. You can’t plan things like that! 🙂

You never know what you might find while you’re looking for something else! Be open to the possibilities and let yourself be surprised!

Posted in Nature, nurturing | Tagged ducklings, ducks, maternal instinct, planning, San Diego Zoo, surprise | Leave a comment

Oh the things you can see!

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Beth F.

From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere. ~ Dr. Seuss

These beautiful creatures were on display at the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, CA. I was mesmerized by them. It makes total sense to me that Dr. Seuss was from La Jolla! With amazing creatures like this for inspiration, and the wonderful ideas he had, it’s no wonder that he’s one of my very favorite authors of all time. Watching these little creatures most definitely brought a smile to my face! I hope you enjoy the photo!

Sea Dragons. The most fabulous sea creatures I’ve ever seen!

Posted in Beautiful, Nature | Tagged Birch Aquarium, Dr. Seuss, La Jolla, Sea Dragons | Leave a comment

Expect something good!

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Beth F.

Aurora just KNEW something good was going to happen! And it did!

It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. – Muhammad Ali

On the first night of our San Diego vacation, we got to enjoy a game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Once the game started, during the field changes and between innings, we started seeing the cameras focus on people in the crowd, some of whom were engaging in silly actions and some that were completely oblivious to the cameras. While we were enjoying this people watching, my daughter, Aurora, decided that she was going to get on the big screen somehow or another. I was trying not to be a naysayer, but I also didn’t want her to be disappointed if it didn’t happen, so I was tentatively encouraging. I said that it would be awesome if she did get up there, but with the large number of people at the game, it might not happen.

This didn’t discourage her a bit. She said, as if it were fact, “Mom, I just know that something good is going to happen for me at the game tonight.” Somehow that darned camera kept panning over what seemed like everyone else but her. Still she remained optimistic. When the Padres mascot came out on the field during a time out for switching pitchers, he had a handful of little soft souvenir baseballs with the Padres logo on them. I saw her eyes light up and she immediately jumped up and started waving her arms in the air. Lo and behold, one of the little souvenir balls headed toward our section and was heading a bit to the left of where she was standing. I held my breath, hoping that she wouldn’t be too disappointed when she didn’t get it, and then a hand reached out and grabbed the ball out of the air. No, it wasn’t Aurora’s, but it was my boyfriend Todd’s. No sooner had he made the miraculous catch than he handed the ball to Aurora. I could almost feel the beams of happiness shooting out of her! 🙂

She held the ball up, looked at me and said, “I told you, Mom! I knew something good was going to happen!”. While she didn’t get her face on the big screen, she got something even better, an awesome souvenir and the belief that good things will keep coming her way! I guess we all sometimes need a lesson in believing and in affirmation. It might not be what we anticipate, but if we keep our mindset open to positive possibilities, they will come, just not always from the direction we thought.

“Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of travelling.” ~Margaret Lee Runbeck

May today bring good things and happiness your way!

Posted in accomplishment, anticipating good, Celebrate, living life to the fullest, persevere | Tagged affirmations, anticipating good, expectation, happiness, optimism, San Diego | 2 Comments

Enjoy the simpler things!

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Beth F.

There is joy in a job well done! I love the way my yard looks when it’s freshly mown.

One worthwhile task carried to a successful conclusion is worth half-a-hundred half-finished tasks. ~ Malcolm S. Forbes

I love seeing the progress of the garden and anticipating the fresh veggies I’ll soon be enjoying!

Beautiful new irises I was able to enjoy while mowing the lawn

Sometimes we can get the greatest pleasure from the simplest things. My yard and garden, small though they may be, offer me such enjoyment. Tonight I mowed the entire lawn, which took longer than I expected, but gave me a great sense of accomplishment! There is such satisfaction in watching the mower cut through the grass and leave a trail of crisply cut, even green grass in its wake.While I’m mowing, I take in all the sights around me; the new irises blooming, the robin perched on the neighbor’s roof, the green berries on the currant bushes that will, with the help of the sun, be turning red and ready to eat. Knowing that these flowers, plants, bushes and the lawn itself are here because of my efforts makes me happy. Picturing the future of my lawn, with my mind concocting a lush green utopia of plant and animal life, makes the time spent mowing go more quickly until finally my task is completed! Such bliss! All this for a couple of gallons of gas and a little effort on my part! Take time to smell the roses and the freshly mown grass! There’s nothing like it!

What tasks make you feel great while you’re doing them as well as once they’re completed?

Posted in accomplishment, completing tasks, gardening, persevere | Tagged accomplishment, enjoyment, freshly cut grass, gardening, lawn mower, mowing lawn | Leave a comment

Fathers

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Beth F.

Nothing I’ve ever done has given me more joys and rewards than being a father to my children. – Bill Cosby

A new iris that opened this morning, just in time for Father’s Day!

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: he believed in me. ~Jim Valvano

New iris blooming

On this day when we honor our fathers, I’d like to thank mine for instilling my love of gardening and nurturing and growing plants, vegetables, fruit and flowers. As far back as I can remember, we had a garden in our yard and he and my mom taught me and my sister and two brothers how to put the seeds into the soil and then tried to teach us patience as we waited for the seeds to give us the peas, radishes, cucumbers, strawberries or whatever the crop was that season. He must have taken care of the watering and weeding because I don’t remember that part of it. I’m sure my childlike attention span didn’t make it too far past pushing the seeds into the ground. I do remember the delight of finding a new strawberry or pea pod on the plants and the sweetness of sneaking one of those strawberries or pea pods and savoring the taste in my mouth. To this day, the smell of fresh garden vegetables takes me right back there again. I’m happy to say my dad is still busy with his gardening; flower, fruit and vegetable, and delights in showing off the beautiful blooms and bountiful harvests he achieves.

Thank you Dad for all the good traits you’ve instilled in me and for teaching me patience and love by showing it, not just saying it. I am proud to be your daughter and more than delighted when people say that I’m just like you! Happy Father’s Day!

Posted in Fathers, gardening, nurturing | Tagged father, Father's Day, Flowers, fruit, gardening, iris, nurturing, patience, planting | 2 Comments

Choose something that scares you & just DO it! :) You’ll be glad you did (when it’s over!)

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Beth F.

As you grow older, you’ll find the only things you regret are the things you didn’t do. – Zachary Scott

I am not afraid to admit that I am very scared of heights. Well, maybe not so much heights, but the thought of falling from heights. To be anywhere high without tall guard rails all around me is a panic-inducing activity for me. Unfortunately, if I give in to my fear of heights, I risk missing some gorgeous sights. I was lucky enough last January to be able to take a trip to Cancun and while there did a day trip to the ruins of Coba. This ancient Mayan site is very impressive and is the place to go to see the tallest standing pyramid in the Yucatan, Nohoch Mal. Nohoch Mal towers over the ruins of Coba at almost 140 feet tall. Even though it’s crumbling in spots, knowing that I had the opportunity to climb a pyramid dating back to 600-900 AD was enough for me to face my fear and tell that little voice inside me which was telling me to keep my feet firmly on lower ground to hush up already!

The smile on my face masks the panic and the fact that my heartbeat felt like it was going a million beats per minute. Just thinking about letting go and crossing that five foot space to the side was enough to strike terror in me!!

I started out just fine and actually made it just about to the top without any problems. This was probably because I was basically climbing steps, albeit small, steep ones, and not looking back. Once I got to the point of the pyramid that required me to turn around and walk around the side to get to the plateau, the panic set in. After what seemed like an eternity, Todd finally convinced me to let go of the rope ring and I made it (albeit by crawling) over to the side and to the vista. The view WAS breathtaking and made me glad that I had managed to temporarily overcome my fear.

The view really WAS worth it!

Coming down was much more of a challenge for me than going up had been. I’m sure I looked like a little baby as I scooted down on my butt, hanging on to the rope for dear life. Pride goes out the window for me when I’m facing a descent like that one 😉 And, for me, watching the other people walk down without holding on is just about as bad because I’m imagining what one misstep would do to them.

I did it!!

I didn’t kiss the ground when I got to the bottom, but I was VERY happy to be back! I don’t know that I would do it again, but I am proud to say that I did live to tell the tale of climbing the Nohoch Mal pyramid!!

What frightens you, and what steps can you take to overcome your fear?