Here's a few pictures of the weird little scrap metal and grenade sculpture I made for my sister at Christmas. Have four more grenades to play with, but I'm going to wait until I learn to weld this Spring....
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Employment!!
I am pleased to annouce that the economy is turning around. At least, it's turning around in this little household in the Philadelphia suburbs!
Just in the nick of time, I've been offered a nursing position on a telemetry/PCU unit in a local hospital. I'll be starting the second week of February, with twelve weeks of full-time orientation before I begin working 40 hours bi-weekly on night shifts (11:00pm - 7:30am).
I cannot express how happy I am to have this job.
Since graduation, I've been working random shifts as a phlebotomist and teaching hoop to make ends meet. I was fortunate that two of my coworkers went out on maternity leave this past autumn, leaving plenty of working hours for me (I'm per diem, so I'm not guaranteed any specific hours in a working week). However, both of the ladies are coming back to work now, and my hours were very quickly drying up... this upcoming week was essentially my last week of regular work.
After literally dozens of applications and no bites, I was starting to come to terms with the fact that I'd have to start working as a waitress or store clerk again. I worked these kinds of service jobs since I was fourteen... and the idea of returning to an industry so far removed from my career of choice was pretty dreadful.
Luckily, I landed an interview at a local nursing home and had a job offer by the end of that week... and then landed ANOTHER interview at this hospital and got the job offer on Saturday. Such a windfall of good luck in such a short period of time! I had to choose between the two, and the choice was obvious... the telemetry experience will be extremely valuable, and I'll be able to get off of my homegrown "be really damn careful" healthcare plan and onto one that will provide something more in the way of security. That's pretty important, given that my hobbies include lighting myself on fire and dangling updside from fabric 20 feet above the ground.
So here's to hope, persistance, desperation, despair, and unexpected visits from the Employment Fairy!
Just in the nick of time, I've been offered a nursing position on a telemetry/PCU unit in a local hospital. I'll be starting the second week of February, with twelve weeks of full-time orientation before I begin working 40 hours bi-weekly on night shifts (11:00pm - 7:30am).
I cannot express how happy I am to have this job.
Since graduation, I've been working random shifts as a phlebotomist and teaching hoop to make ends meet. I was fortunate that two of my coworkers went out on maternity leave this past autumn, leaving plenty of working hours for me (I'm per diem, so I'm not guaranteed any specific hours in a working week). However, both of the ladies are coming back to work now, and my hours were very quickly drying up... this upcoming week was essentially my last week of regular work.
After literally dozens of applications and no bites, I was starting to come to terms with the fact that I'd have to start working as a waitress or store clerk again. I worked these kinds of service jobs since I was fourteen... and the idea of returning to an industry so far removed from my career of choice was pretty dreadful.
Luckily, I landed an interview at a local nursing home and had a job offer by the end of that week... and then landed ANOTHER interview at this hospital and got the job offer on Saturday. Such a windfall of good luck in such a short period of time! I had to choose between the two, and the choice was obvious... the telemetry experience will be extremely valuable, and I'll be able to get off of my homegrown "be really damn careful" healthcare plan and onto one that will provide something more in the way of security. That's pretty important, given that my hobbies include lighting myself on fire and dangling updside from fabric 20 feet above the ground.
So here's to hope, persistance, desperation, despair, and unexpected visits from the Employment Fairy!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Growing season approaches... slowly.....
It is January. The ground is frozen solid. We have to trick our chickens into laying eggs by setting up a light on a timer to bring "dawn" to them early in the morning. I leave for work before dawn, and by the time I come home I have maybe an hour or two of fading sunlight. It's a horrible time of year.
To get through, I am spending lots of time planning (and daydreaming) about my garden. We have a plot in full sun, already fenced in and currently being fertilized by our chickens. When the ground thaws enough to drive stakes into it, I'll build a new chicken run and begin working the soil to turn the current one into our new garden. I cannot WAIT. It's about 20x4ft with a high chainlink fence along two sides (perfect for climbers)... it's going to be awesome.
We are choosing to buy our seeds this year from the Seed Savers Exchange http://www.seedsavers.org/ . While browsing through seed catalogs, I had a hell of a time trying to find heirloom varieties... and it seems silly to harvest all of this wonderful food and not be able to save the seeds and plant again the following season. So, we're going to try some unfamiliar varieties and hope for the very best.
So far, our crop list looks like this:
Tomato, Nebraska Wedding
Tomato, Black Sea Man
Pepper, Napoleon Sweet
Pepper, Sweet Chocolate
Soybean, Fiskeby
Squash, Black Beauty Zucchini
Potato, All Blue
Potato, French Fingerling
Peas, Thomas Laxton
Green beans, Jade
Carrots, Scarlet Nantes
Carrots, Rainbow Heirloom mix
Swiss Chard, rainbow
Various greens, lettuces, spinach
Obviously, we're not going to have room to plant ALL of that. But we'll thin the list as we go, plant some stuff in containers... the seeds we don't use, we'll store.
We've also joined the Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA through http://www.farmtocity.org/. As far as I can tell, CSAs are the most responsible and economical way to get fresh, organic, local produce (aside from growing it yourself!). CSAs provide small farmers with cash flow at the start of the season (when they need it most). They minimize the amount of fossil fuels required to bring food to your table. And it gives you a very real sense of connection to the land, and the people, who supply you with your food.
On top of all of THAT, we're splitting a full vegetable share and a fruit share with our neighbors... and this builds community. Together, the four of us will share not only the cost and the bounty. There are other more subtle advantages as well. The way the CSA works is that the farms pack up a selection of fresh items for us on a weekly basis. It varies depending on what is in season and available, which helps you develop a connection with the seasons in terms of plant cycles.
With this particular CSA you don't have the option of picking and choosing what items you get. I personally like this idea, because it will foster creativity and diversity in our diets... and splitting the share with our neighbors removes many of the problems that might arise with this kind of system. If we get a vegetable that one of us dislikes, like a bunch of artichokes (which I LOATHE), our neighbors will be able to use them and they won't go to waste. If we get a vegetable with which one of us is unfamiliar (mikuza? say what?), one of us is likely to know a way to prepare it... and if not, we can have fun experimenting and learning together.
The farmer's market on the way home from work carries Merrymead milk, we have our eggs covered (AND I buy their feed from said farmer's market)... we buy our honey in bulk from Lancaster, and make our wine from it... the last piece of the locavore puzzle is going to be local organic grain, and I believe I've found a small Lancaster mill that will sell me wheat flours in bulk.
If we plan well and stick to our guns (with a few exceptions for avocados, hemp and chia seeds), we should be able to feed ourselves on food grown within 70 miles of our house.
If we get the dehydrator up and running on a regular basis, borrow some room in our neighbor's chest freezer, and can fruits and tomatoes like crazy... we might be able to do this through next winter.
It's an exciting concept. My lifestyle right now doesn't allow for a true hobby farm, or for the massive garden of my dreams. But we are blessed to live on a very fertile area of the world... and an hour's drive from an entire community of farmers committed to sustainable food production. This makes a goal like ours really possible, even while working fulltime and doing things OTHER than gardening occasionally :)
To get through, I am spending lots of time planning (and daydreaming) about my garden. We have a plot in full sun, already fenced in and currently being fertilized by our chickens. When the ground thaws enough to drive stakes into it, I'll build a new chicken run and begin working the soil to turn the current one into our new garden. I cannot WAIT. It's about 20x4ft with a high chainlink fence along two sides (perfect for climbers)... it's going to be awesome.
We are choosing to buy our seeds this year from the Seed Savers Exchange http://www.seedsavers.org/ . While browsing through seed catalogs, I had a hell of a time trying to find heirloom varieties... and it seems silly to harvest all of this wonderful food and not be able to save the seeds and plant again the following season. So, we're going to try some unfamiliar varieties and hope for the very best.
So far, our crop list looks like this:
Tomato, Nebraska Wedding
Tomato, Black Sea Man
Pepper, Napoleon Sweet
Pepper, Sweet Chocolate
Soybean, Fiskeby
Squash, Black Beauty Zucchini
Potato, All Blue
Potato, French Fingerling
Peas, Thomas Laxton
Green beans, Jade
Carrots, Scarlet Nantes
Carrots, Rainbow Heirloom mix
Swiss Chard, rainbow
Various greens, lettuces, spinach
Obviously, we're not going to have room to plant ALL of that. But we'll thin the list as we go, plant some stuff in containers... the seeds we don't use, we'll store.
We've also joined the Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA through http://www.farmtocity.org/. As far as I can tell, CSAs are the most responsible and economical way to get fresh, organic, local produce (aside from growing it yourself!). CSAs provide small farmers with cash flow at the start of the season (when they need it most). They minimize the amount of fossil fuels required to bring food to your table. And it gives you a very real sense of connection to the land, and the people, who supply you with your food.
On top of all of THAT, we're splitting a full vegetable share and a fruit share with our neighbors... and this builds community. Together, the four of us will share not only the cost and the bounty. There are other more subtle advantages as well. The way the CSA works is that the farms pack up a selection of fresh items for us on a weekly basis. It varies depending on what is in season and available, which helps you develop a connection with the seasons in terms of plant cycles.
With this particular CSA you don't have the option of picking and choosing what items you get. I personally like this idea, because it will foster creativity and diversity in our diets... and splitting the share with our neighbors removes many of the problems that might arise with this kind of system. If we get a vegetable that one of us dislikes, like a bunch of artichokes (which I LOATHE), our neighbors will be able to use them and they won't go to waste. If we get a vegetable with which one of us is unfamiliar (mikuza? say what?), one of us is likely to know a way to prepare it... and if not, we can have fun experimenting and learning together.
The farmer's market on the way home from work carries Merrymead milk, we have our eggs covered (AND I buy their feed from said farmer's market)... we buy our honey in bulk from Lancaster, and make our wine from it... the last piece of the locavore puzzle is going to be local organic grain, and I believe I've found a small Lancaster mill that will sell me wheat flours in bulk.
If we plan well and stick to our guns (with a few exceptions for avocados, hemp and chia seeds), we should be able to feed ourselves on food grown within 70 miles of our house.
If we get the dehydrator up and running on a regular basis, borrow some room in our neighbor's chest freezer, and can fruits and tomatoes like crazy... we might be able to do this through next winter.
It's an exciting concept. My lifestyle right now doesn't allow for a true hobby farm, or for the massive garden of my dreams. But we are blessed to live on a very fertile area of the world... and an hour's drive from an entire community of farmers committed to sustainable food production. This makes a goal like ours really possible, even while working fulltime and doing things OTHER than gardening occasionally :)
Monday, January 11, 2010
Carrot Cupcakes
I made these yummy little things last night partly because I'd bought a ridiculous amount of organic carrots from BJ's Club, and partly because I'd received a cake decorating tool set for Christmas and wanted to start practicing with the tips :) They turned out to be quite tasty, and a nice change from the traditional spiced, nutty carrot cake recipes I'd tried before.
Carrot Cupcakes
12 tbsp softened butter
1 packed c finely shredded carrot
1.5 c sugar
2.5 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
4 eggs
0.5 c milk
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place mini cupcake papers in pans. Blend the carrots with 0.5 c of the sugar. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl. Cream the butter and remaining sugar together in another, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth. Add the carrot mixture, then begin mixing in the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk and finishing with the dry ingredients. Fill the cupcake papers 2/3 of the way, and bake until set (toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean). Let cool, then ice with cinnamon frosting.
Cinnamon Frosting
12 tbsp softened butter (or replace 6 tbsp of that with vegetable shortening)
2.5 c powdered sugar
pinch of salt
0.25 c milk
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
Cream the butter/shortening, then slowly add in the sugar, cinnamon and salt, alternating with the milk. Stir in the vanilla and beat until light and smooth.
I highly recommend sharing these generously with friends and neighbors... unfortunately making them miniature doesn't magically make them low-calorie treats!!
Carrot Cupcakes
12 tbsp softened butter
1 packed c finely shredded carrot
1.5 c sugar
2.5 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
4 eggs
0.5 c milk
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place mini cupcake papers in pans. Blend the carrots with 0.5 c of the sugar. Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl. Cream the butter and remaining sugar together in another, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth. Add the carrot mixture, then begin mixing in the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk and finishing with the dry ingredients. Fill the cupcake papers 2/3 of the way, and bake until set (toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean). Let cool, then ice with cinnamon frosting.
Cinnamon Frosting
12 tbsp softened butter (or replace 6 tbsp of that with vegetable shortening)
2.5 c powdered sugar
pinch of salt
0.25 c milk
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
Cream the butter/shortening, then slowly add in the sugar, cinnamon and salt, alternating with the milk. Stir in the vanilla and beat until light and smooth.
I highly recommend sharing these generously with friends and neighbors... unfortunately making them miniature doesn't magically make them low-calorie treats!!
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Unemployment
Can someone enlighten me on this.....
Why is it that someone like me, who has the training, work ethic, and passion to be an excellent asset to the nursing team of any hospital, CAN'T FIND A DAMN JOB!?
Thank you for your time.
Gelfing, RN
Why is it that someone like me, who has the training, work ethic, and passion to be an excellent asset to the nursing team of any hospital, CAN'T FIND A DAMN JOB!?
Thank you for your time.
Gelfing, RN
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