Friday Pillow Talk – The Clarity Quest Dreams

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

In 2001, before September 11, someone at the old big corporation a few miles north of the current Big Corporation suggested a book called “Clarity Quest” by Pamela Ammondson.  The subtitle of the book was “How to Take a Sabbatical Without Taking More Than a Week Off.”

I love the word “clarity” and so I bought the book and followed the 8 week program religiously.  I worked on improving my sleep, eating better, exercising more, fiddling with my finances, and enhancing my relationships.  In the final week, I took a trip to Deer Isle, Maine and did a lot of thinking and writing.  It was magical because I had never been to this part of Maine before.

The author outlined a number of “Clarity Insights” and “Clarity Insight #2” was “Your dreams can help you reach a deeper understanding of yourself.”  Ms. Ammondson elaborated how our night dreams were the doorway to the unconscious and by understanding them better, we could reach a world beyond our physical reality.  The book suggested writing down any remembered dreams.

In 2001, I probably believed “Clarity Insight #2.  These days, I am more of the Ebenezer Scrooge school of thought on dreams; a crazy dream may just be some undigested red meat or a piece of kale stuck in my teeth.  Although I have suggested placing seed catalogues under the pillow, I don’t actually believe it will lead to Technicolor flower power dreams.

During my “Clarity Quest” I wrote down quite a few dreams; what is interesting about them in retrospect is that many of the people I dreamed about are still in my life.  For example:

  • I dreamed I got a voice mail message from Bobby Knorr but he didn’t leave a number for me to call him back.  I dialed “411” and reached James Earl Jones personally and he connected me with Bobby Knorr’s dentist’s office.  I left a message.
  • I dreamed I was traveling on a small twin-engine plane with my brother and the pastor of the church I attend.  We landed near a Wal*Mart and then we couldn’t find a place to take off.  When we finally did take off, we were flying in the fog and the plane hovered close to the ground for the entire dream journey.
  • I dreamed someone had left all kinds of dirty silverware in my silverware drawer.  In my dream log I wrote “I showed my mother and she was repulsed.”  (Helen, Help Us!)
  • I noted a dream about my brother’s dog, Bernie.  Sadly, Bernie is no longer with us.  He was a good dog and we miss him.

  • I dreamed my friend Samantha Van Hopper was singing the praises of Barlean’s flax oil and then she washed down several Barlean’s pills with a glass of Moxie.
  • The last dream I recorded in my dream log was about the owners of the Deer Isle bed and breakfast I stayed at – Sal and Lou Cooper of The Red House Bed and Bath.  They had returned from a chamber music concert at Kneisel Hall in Blue Hill.  I asked them how the performance was and they said “Horrible!  It was like listening to a 7th grade band concert!”

No, I don’t think night dreams mean much because if you’ve ever been to Kneisel Hall, you know it never sounds like a 7th grade band concert.  This weekend will be the last summer concert at that beautiful and musical place in Blue Hill; I can only dream of being there.

Dreams and schemes!  There may be no hidden meaning to our night-time dreams, but I’m going to keep day dreaming!

What are you dreaming of doing this weekend?

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Stepping Out

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

It’s hard living without ice cream in the summer.  I’m devoted to Webber’s, but it’s a long distance relationship.  I decided to try another local ice cream stand here on the Seacoast.

I won’t give you any names.

Let’s just say…it’s not going to work out.

It’s sad when things aren’t quite what you expected, especially when there was potential.

I miss you, Webber’s Ice Cream.  Let’s get together soon!

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Your Daily Kale

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

Although I don’t have a Tee Vee, I do know that kale has “arrived.”  I am reminded of kale’s super food status by an automobile commercial during Red Sox games which says “kale is the new Brussels sprout.”  Just plug the word “kale” into a search engine and see for yourself; I won’t repeat all the wonderful and miraculous health promises that are being made on kale’s behalf.

They might not be true.

Please don’t misunderstand my cynicism.  I think kale is an excellent green vegetable.  It is probably better to eat than Doritos.  I love kale and I’ve dreamed about it.  Unfortunately, when something reaches a certain level of popularity, it becomes a commodity and sometimes commodities are abused and taken for granted.  Commoditization of anything can lead to overproduction and an inferior product.

I don’t want to eat an inferior product and neither do you.

Since kale is a leafy vegetable, the growing medium is important.  Dark green, leafy vegetables absorb and accumulate nutrients and other products from the soil in their leaves.  This means when you eat kale leaves, you are eating the good and bad things from the soil.

The solution is to buy organic, local kale!  Field grown kale is abundant right now and more farmers are growing kale throughout the year with the help of a hoop house.  Don’t buy mystery kale from unknown fields treated with unnatural fertilizers and chemicals.

Better still, if you have a garden, consider growing kale.  It’s easy to grow and can handle both heat and cold.  Carla Emery, in her “Encyclopedia of Country Living” says kale is “likely to be the hardiest vegetable ever raised.”

I grew two kinds of kale this year:  Red Russian and Lacinato.  I like the Red Russian better because the leaves are tender and delicate.  The Lacinato, which is sometimes called “dinosaur” kale, has leathery, wrinkled leaves, like a dinosaur.  The woodchuck who made a brief appearance in Uncle Bob’s garden liked dinosaur kale.

The previously mentioned automobile commercial, in its obnoxious tone, reminds us that “what is new today is overused tomorrow.”  Apparently, kale’s super food status is tenuous at best and that’s just fine.  I’m going to keep eating kale whether it’s trendy or not.

You eat kale too.

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A Visit from Big Boy

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

Back in March, I got my big blogging “break” by interviewing Serena Thompson, one of the two original “Farm Chicks.”  Remember?

I still visit Serena’s blog almost every day because it’s a good place to rest and recharge my battery.  I get good ideas when I stop by her blog.  Just this week, she posted two pieces on recycling vintage textiles and a little piece that just made me cry.

Yesterday, she posted a “challenge” of sorts.  You can read about it here.

I threw my hat in the ring and offered to host Big Boy for a tour of Maine and New Hampshire.  Then, I started thinking about how small New England really is and so I offered to host Big Boy for a tour of all New England.

As you can see from the post, I will be hosting Big Boy for a tour of New England!

I have a lot to do here at The Coop to get ready for Big Boy’s visit.  I don’t really know when he’s going to arrive; when I study the list of places he’s scheduled to visit, I wonder if he’ll really be able to make it to all those places before he gets to New England.

Stay tuned for updates on Big Boy’s travel schedule.

Where in New England would you like to see Big Boy visit?  Let me know!

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Harvesting Cuke-a-Melons

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

We’ve passed the midpoint of August and things are going by in the garden.  Uncle Bob pulled out his last two rows of beans and cucumbers last week.  I was a little sad when I saw the empty rows next to my tomatoes.

Uncle Bob ate his last cucumber on Saturday, too.

I told him I had planted a late batch of cucumbers at The Hampton Victory Garden in July, but he seemed skeptical.  The plant is flowering right now with little cucumbers forming.  I can’t wait to bring him some.

Uncle Bob is a bit of a joker; he always liked to tease us kids when we were little.  He’s easy-going and he doesn’t get wound up about much.  He likes to have fun and if someone is naïve, watch out.

When I first started gardening with Uncle Bob a few years ago, I really didn’t know what I was doing.  I didn’t grow things Uncle Bob grew, mostly because I didn’t know how.  Growing lettuce and radishes and spinach was easy.  Growing cucumbers seemed difficult.  I would look at Uncle Bob’s plants and admire them.  The flowers were magically beautiful.

Uncle Bob always said I could pick my own cucumbers, but I was nervous about it.  I don’t know why.  One day, in early August, I noticed that there were a lot of big yellow cucumbers in the garden.  I shyly asked Uncle Bob if they were still good for picking.  He said “That’s a cuke-a-melon!  Help yourself.”

There were a lot of cuke-a-melons in the patch and since I didn’t really know what I was doing and I trusted Uncle Bob, it seemed likely that a big yellow cucumber was just part of the cucumber life cycle.  I picked one and brought it home.

When I sliced it, I noticed it was mostly great big seeds and it didn’t taste very good.

The next week when I went home, I didn’t see Uncle Bob until Sunday afternoon.  He and Dave, one of his cronies from the Roberts 88’ers, were sitting on the porch in the cool of the evening.  I sat down and joined them and Dave asked me how my garden was going.  Uncle Bob asked me if I wanted any more cuke-a-melons.  I said no, and then I ventured out onto that dangerous limb of truth.

“You know, it wasn’t very good.  It was full of big seeds.”

Uncle Bob and Dave looked straight ahead like mannequins and didn’t say anything.  It’s possible the corner of Dave’s mouth turned up just a tiny bit and that’s what clued me in that I had once again fallen right into the trap set by Uncle Bob.

I’m sure they had a good laugh when I left and at least once every summer Dave will ask me, straight-faced, how the cuke-a-melons are doing.

Here’s the truth about big yellow cucumbers:  big, yellow cucumbers are beyond ripe and should be discarded.  Although there are a few varieties of yellow cucumbers grown in India called Dosakai, Uncle Bob does not grow these.

The other day, someone left five or six cuke-a-melons on the Hampton Victory Garden picnic table.  It was kind of them to share their bounty.

I guess they never had an Uncle Bob.

Did you grow any cuke-a-melons this summer?

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Some Things Take Time

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

There was an article in a local Maine paper today; it was about Hydrangea.  Some people don’t like it when their Hydrangea flop.

I love Hydrangea.  This one is probably a “PeeGee.”

I’m not a good judge of plant age and I don’t know if this Hydrangea ever flopped.  I wonder what the planter thought about flopping when they planted it.

I’d like to plant a PeeGee Hydrangea on The Farm.  Not today, though.  Today is for rest.

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Talk of the Toile – The Bones of It All

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

The Junior League of Boston orchestrated their last decorator show house in the spring of 2006; since that time, stylish folk and design voyeurs in the greater Boston area have had to satisfy themselves with the lovely little show houses promoted by the Museums of Old York, local kitchen tours, and occasional random design events.  These events are perfectly wonderful and enjoyable; they’re just not Junior League of Boston show houses.

This past Tuesday, I attended a “Bare Bones Preview” of The Potter Estate in Newton, Massachusetts.  This estate, currently owned by the Sisters of Saint Joseph, will be transformed into the Junior League of Boston’s 35th Show House and will open to the public beginning October 16, 2012.  Tuesday’s preview was the public’s last opportunity to see the house before the renovations begin.

I had seen pictures of the Potter Estate, but could only guess at its true scale.  Walking through the empty rooms on Tuesday, I was overwhelmed by the Junior League’s good fortune.  The house, with its distinctive Second Empire mansard roof, has three full floors of large rooms, unique spaces, and many (many) original details.  There is a wrap-around veranda and a conservatory.  There are fireplaces, marble floors, staircases, magnificent woodwork, original tiling, and very ornate door hinges.

(Often in a show house, doors are removed to allow traffic to flow easily through the house; you may or may not see this stunning detail when you visit.)

I had spent half an hour strolling through the house in solitude when Chairwoman Elizabeth Tyminski joined me and we talked “show house” talk.  She eagerly told me about the designer excitement and she went through the notable list of talented individuals who would be responsible for turning bare bones into beauty.  It was thrilling to think about 34 decorator spaces and five glorious weeks of Show House!

As I was leaving, I met the talented individual who had designed the Front Porch of the Junior League of Boston’s show house in 2006.  She was running in with flooring and wallpaper samples; the samples were gorgeous and glamorous.  I could see that wallpaper in my mind’s eye as I merged into traffic on Route 128 and I wondered to myself “will I ever get over my love of this shiny object called the decorator show house?”

Given the size and scope of the Potter Estate, I think there will be plenty of things to write about until the renovations are finished and the house opens.  A lot has changed since 2006; even designers are blogging now!

Do save the dates:  October 16, 2012 through November 18, 2012.

And, yes, I volunteered to staff the house when it opens!

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A Little Fiction

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

She walked west toward the secret garden, the one she didn’t like much.  Were the sunflowers finally blooming?  She couldn’t tell until she opened the gate.

Like a sunflower, she turned her face toward the sky and smiled thankfully, a snapshot of grateful happiness.

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They Follow the Sun

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

My sunflowers have started blooming and as I look at them, I realize I didn’t put much thought into planting them.  I made random decisions about the type of sunflower seeds I planted and as a result, I have a disappointing row of sunflowers this year.

One type of sunflower I planted was called “Ring of Fire.”  I planted this variety because I like the Johnny Cash song “Ring of Fire.”  I used poor logic in selecting a sunflower variety.  People make bad decisions based on bad data every day; I’m glad it was only sunflowers at stake and not a week’s pay.

Sunflowers are easy to grow.  They will grow just about anywhere; they thrive in rich soil and poor.  There are many varieties ranging from 5 inches tall to 14 feet tall.  There are single stem sunflowers, which produce only one flower per stem; there are branching sunflowers which are like shrubs with lots of flowers on multiple stems.  The classic sunflower face is brown with yellow petals.  A yellow-faced flower with yellow petals is beautiful too.

Sunflowers have “heliotropism”, meaning their heads turn from East to West each day, following the sun until they reach full maturity and stop growing.

Tithonia is a Mexican sunflower and Helianthus is sometimes called a “false” sunflower.

Vincent Van Gogh painted sunflowers.

One of Uncle Bob’s friends left a flat of sunflower seedlings in the garden this spring.  I was skeptical because sometimes, Uncle Bob’s friends play jokes on him, but I planted most of them in my home garden and 2 of them in the Hampton Victory Garden anyway.

I don’t know the official name of these sunflowers, but they are tall, single stem sunflowers.  They haven’t opened up yet, but it looks like they will have yellow faces and petals.  The ones I planted in The Hampton Victory Garden are currently 12 feet tall!

Sunflower trees!

I’m studying sunflower facts, properties, and varieties right now.  I want to make good decisions next January when I order my seeds.  Thank you, Mr. Nadeau, for leaving such a simple and wonderful gift for me this spring.  At least I’ll have a few decent sunflowers this summer.

How are you sunflowers this year?

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A Junior League of Her Own

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Julie-Ann Baumer

Today is the birthday of a person who may not want to be written about on this blog.  Some people don’t want their lives microscopically analyzed in public.

I can understand that; I’ll try to stick to the facts that have been published in the Lewiston Sun-Journal or other community newspapers over the years.

In 1974 or 1975, I played summer softball for “Faye’s Clippers”.  I had two coaches, Faye Brown and Jack Cunningham.  I was not a very good softball player so I got to be the catcher.  Some of the other girls on the team were very good; I can remember how these young women would hit the ball into the woods like they were swatting flies.  I didn’t like softball.  I wanted to read books and ride my bike.  I played on “Faye’s Clippers” for two years; long enough to be in a team photograph and ride on a team float in the Lisbon Frontier Days parade.

That’s how I got my picture on the wall of Faye’s Barber Shop.

Many years went by before I ran into my old softball coach again – maybe decades.  Flipping the calendar forward to 2000 or so and I found myself divorced, living in New Hampshire, and starting on a volunteer career in The Junior League of Boston.  It’s a fancy women’s organization and their tag line is “women building better communities.”  They never asked to see my papers.  They just asked me to pay my dues, raise a certain amount of money, and volunteer at a community project for a number of hours per week.  I could dress up and go to Boston and that seemed important to me then.

Around this same time, Faye had started fundraising for the “Gazebo Project” in my hometown of Lisbon Falls.  I ran into Faye when I stopped at The Barber Shop to make a donation to the Gazebo Project.  If you drive slowly up Route 196 in Lisbon Falls today, the high school is on the left and the Gazebo is on the right.  It’s a beautiful park now, just one of the many lovely community gardens in Lisbon, Lisbon Center, and Lisbon Falls.

Faye was instrumental in creating those gardens when she founded The Green Thumb Gang.  The Green Thumb Gang is the only gang I’ve ever belonged to and it’s not quite The Junior League.  The Gang did have a fancy dance once and I got to work with Faye on planning it.  I thought I knew a lot about volunteer work, based on my Junior League credentials.

I had a lot to learn.

Organizing volunteers in a small town with no budget is hard work.  Faye doesn’t have a headquarters with a staff, like The Junior League of Boston.  But Faye has been trying to build a better community most of her life and she makes it look fun and easy from her headquarters at the Barber Shop.

I know it’s not always fun and it’s never easy.

My brother wrote a blog post about volunteerism, from which I quote:

“More often than not, the expectation is that someone else—an organization, government, boosters, whoever—will do what’s necessary for success—not the person complaining, or with all the advice for others.  Often, these individuals are more likely to spend their evenings sitting at home in front of their TV or laptop, rather than finding a way to roll up their sleeves and become part of the solution.”

I’m glad I can stop by the headquarters of Faye’s “Junior League of Her Own” and find out what needs to be done because Faye has been rolling up her sleeves as part of the solution as long as I’ve known her.  She’s managed to create a few fellow volunteers along the way, including me.  I hope she doesn’t mind that I’m using her birthday as an opportunity to say “good job” and “thank you.”

Happy Birthday, Faye! 

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