Roasting Beans

My entanglement with coffee - not a fetish, not an addiction, not a love affair, not encyclopedic knowledge, but just plain pleasure in the morning.

I grind my beans and make a pot.

I sometimes have green beans and roast them like Daughter-In-Law taught me. She has bags of beans in her pantry and closets. Big burlap bags of green beans. Currently I have no green beans.

The coffee lady at the farmer’s market said she would sell me a couple pounds of green beans for $6/pound. She forgot to bring them last weekend. She must have felt threatened as she then said, “You’re not going to start selling coffee, are you?” That thought never crossed my mind! My response, “I don’t intend to sell anything ever!”

(You might recall that I take My Little Free Library bookmobile to the farmer’s market most Saturdays.)

I buy the roasted beans at WalMart and really like the 8 o’clock brand.

However, I feel so homesteady when I roast my own.

One time Daughter-In-Law sent me many bags in the mail. I would like that to happen again but don’t know how much money to send her. Maybe I will text her and ask. She sent a variety that lasted for several months.

There are online companies, of course, where one can buy beans, sign up for subscription services and receive beans every month. I am considering that option. Coffee Bean Corral is one company that Daughter-In-Law recommended. That would be fun! I am talking myself into the subscription.  Hawaiian Green Coffee Beans - Coffee Bean Corral

I am pleased with my roaster. Amazon.com: Coffee Bean Roaster Machine for Home Use, Coffee Roaster Machine with Timing, 110V 1200W: Home & Kitchen

You roast, then raise the temperature, roast, then raise the temperature, each time setting the timer. I have not played around with the temperatures, but need to read a forum or two and maybe not follow the instructions precisely that came with the machine. Sometimes the coffee is quite strong, but surely that is the type of bean……not my lack of roasting knowledge. 😁

After the roasting is complete you spoon the beans into one of these:

Amazon.com: CNCEST Coffee Bean Roaster Coffee Bean Cooler Roasting Baking Machine Home w/ Filter: Home & Kitchen and all the wispy silver coatings flutter through the screen. I guess the fan is pulling them off and down. For me it is all magic!

So now. as I go grind and make a fresh pot of delicious coffee, I shall once again go down the green bean rabbit hole.

Buen cafe!

Thimble Full

 

you can get from here

to where you please

grab a thimble of gratitude

(just in case)

Big Bird

 Can't resist sharing my post today on Tri-Writing (Maya Stein), write about something yellow.

"Co-op! will get it done," sings Big Bird.

Send one canary to the Whitehouse1

Not blue, not red but a very pleasant YELLOW!

Bing Videos

 Can't resist sharing my post today on Tri-Writing (Maya Stein), write about something yellow.

Enjoying the Corner Intrusion

In response to Jill Badonsky's prompt this morning to write a "review" and she suggested home decor as a possibility. Mine submission is not really a review, but a decor turned positive that I originally thought to be rather....hmmm...obnoxious?!?

Angled in the corner, who could have guessed?

One black ominous obtrusive conspicuous demanding
brick container of twigs logs ashes rack would radiate
and mesmerize with such sensuous flickering flames.

Posted by: Joan | 01/21/2024 at 05:51 AM

Feeding the Birds

Remember National Bird DayJanuary 5th and my resulting trip to the Wildbirds Unlimited store?

I purchased one bird feeder and suet and they gave me a free small bag of food. I felt it was spendy, but what can I say! It’s for the birds!!

I did learn that my new feeder could be hung six feet from the window by the recliners where, as you might expect, hours are being spent these cold days. Actually I have since seen bird feeders that suction to windows, so obviously they come closer to the house than I realized.

I gathered the bird feeders that weren’t being used and lined the edge of the patio with them. Last count I now have two feeders in the trees beyond the backyard and five feeders out the back window. 

There are two cheap models that have no canopy on them so if it rains the seed gets wet. They are under the roof. The spendy one from Wildbirds is front and center. I have a yellow tubular feeder designed for finches filled with thistle seed. And then my most recent acquisition is a green metal  feeder found yesterday on sale at Walmart. It is designed for mealworms and//or peanuts depending on how I slide the whatchamacallit up or down. 

The various seeds from the spendy store and wally world are to attract the myriad of birds that I have yet to identify. I know cardinals and red wing blackbirds, maybe a chickadee or a nuthatch, a finch and the many doves that eat the seeds I spilled on the ground under the trees. Out come the bird identifying books this coming week. The various bags of food I purchased have big seeds, little seeds and a mixture for songbirds. My research is rather sloppy since I don’t remember exactly what food I put in what feeder.

I hope they all tweet their buddies about the bird buffet in Bumblebee Hills.

Oxymoron of the Day: Barefoot Shoes

 

Oxymoron of the Day: Barefoot Shoes

I love to go barefoot. I was not aware of its benefits. I just have ugly feet, deformed toes, thick toenails….aarrrggghhh! I do not go for a pedicure anymore. I am quite sure that my feet would be discussed and these feet are very sensitive, not sensitive to physical distress, but sensitive to being discussed in any form or fashion.

Speaking of form and fashion, the form of my bunion-riddled feet is crooked and my shoe fashion is Birkenstocks. However, I google “barefoot shoes” and am intrigued with their potential, also Zero shoes, almost another oxymoron.

So I would like to promote barefoot strolling around the yard, house, anywhere one can get away with it - definitely the beach,  Aaaahhhhh, plodding through the sand is so exhilarating to me, close to water’s edge where crooked toes leave footprints that are soon washed into eternity.

I was introduced to “grounding” in a writing class last session. 

Grounding, also known as earthing, is a therapeutic technique based on the belief that, by allowing our skin to come into direct contact with the earth (be it dirt, rock, the sea or river water), we are literally ‘grounding’ ourselves – electrically reconnecting with the earth by soaking up its negative charge, to help us rebalance

What is grounding? Health benefits, risks and evidence explained (netdoctor.co.uk)

I love this concept. It is suggested that one walk in the grass for 30 minutes daily. I think about that possibility and wish my lawn was like the soft beautiful green patches of grass that I grew up with in Iowa.

Quickly I will list the other benefits of going barefoot. You won’t be surprised.

1. Reconnect with the earth

2. Improvement in balance

3. Eliminate pain through proprioception (body awareness)

4. Better foot mechanics which improves hips and knees

5. Maintain appropriate range of motion

6. Relief from improper shoes which is what caused my bunions, hammertoes, etc. to begin with!

7. Strong leg muscles, therefore better lower back support

8. Also grounding barefoot can reduce inflammation and improve sleep

I paraphrased the above from various sites. Of course walking barefoot for 30 minutes has additional advantages as weight loss, releasing endorphins and all those medical reasons one should be walking, walking, walking.

No need to surf the web for barefoot shoes. I already own one pair of bare feet!

Wanted: Ashes

 I am addicted to Maya Stein's tri-writing monthly class. She posts a visual prompt five days each week with a few words. Then the participants post their three line responses with or without a photo.  Maya Stein  Commenting on one another's posts is optional.

I pay $21/month for this delightful experience. Then you have unlimited access to your classes so it is conceivable that one could return and make a book of their selected entries. I am not sure if the prompt could be included, but probably not - just the individual's response.

The prompt was to write a non-romantic personal ad. I used a bit of dark humor in this entry.

wanted:

ex-husband ashes to render

remains are the purities 

bring a very small test tube 

Joy Versus Happiness

Yesterday at the senior center when facilitating the writing class on the topic of gratefulness, one of the participants said she was taking the class to learn the difference between joy and happiness. Well, having never thought of discussing that philosophical thought, I decided to do my homework and google! I must confess that the title of the class is “Finding Joy and Gratefulness in the New Year.” Wake up, Joan! I had better stay the course, don’t you think?

We discussed the difference between gratefulness and gratitude, concluding that the latter depends on specific circumstances for which we’re thankful. Gratefulness is the big umbrella, the constant feeling of thanksgiving and spiritually existing in a mode of “all is well” even when it may not seem to be. Perhaps I should simply say that gratitude is temporary whereas gratefulness becomes a plausible constant existence.

My quick overview of happiness versus joy (that’s what I put in the google box) appears to be of that same wavelength.

Happiness vs Joy - Difference and Comparison | Diffen

Joy seems to me a step beyond happiness—happiness is a sort of atmosphere you can live in sometimes when you’re lucky. Joy is a light that fills you with hope and faith and love. - Adela Rogers St. Johns, Some Are Born Great

I am currently taking my Bible study more seriously than I ever have in my life. I have decided if I keep desiring to be in His Will, I had better read what He has for me. So I did pull up a 

Joy vs. Happiness - The Biblical Difference Explained (biblestudytools.com)

The difference in the Biblical definition of joy is the source. Worldly possessions, accomplishments, even the people in our lives, are blessings that make us happy and fuel joyfulness. However, the source of all joy, is Jesus. God’s plan from the beginning, the Word made flesh to dwell among us is rock solid, allowing us to navigate difficult situations in the absence of happiness, while sustaining our joy. 

Time for me to conclude today’s writing. I think I am beginning to get a handle on this topic and look forward to paralleling it with gratitude and gratefulness for next Tuesday.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! 😀

Hooray! Book Club Meeting

I am looking forward to attending a book club this morning at the senior center. We are discussing 1984 and the person presenting is a former journalist, very confident and knowledgeable. When I present, I am none of those. However, as a former teacher I should have the techniques well polished, one would think.

I have vacillated for months regarding what book to present this year. I am still selecting. I read daily and buy books voraciously. I also reserve and pick up at the library weekly. Some books I scan and some chick lit books I devour. I should be embarrassed regarding the latter, but heck, this girl likes to lighten up her reading every couple weeks.

I read 1984 online, borrowed to my kindle, so will not have the hardcopy during our discussion. That’s ok because I am not into citing quotes and being that specific regarding 1984. I will use my ipad and have a summary online to refresh my memory.

Authors that I am considering for my selection are Octavia Butler or Marylynne Robinson. Both are highly respected writers. I have read only one book each. I need to revisit both authors this week and submit my choice and ask to be placed on the calendar in May. 

The club used to meet every Monday, spending two weeks on one book. When the facilitator retired and a new one miraculously appeared to take over the reins, she presented and we voted unanimously to meet twice a month. I am happy with less meetings because it has allowed me to join a poetry group at a neighboring library forty minutes away. This month the two conflicted and I chose to “stick with the local book club.”

Unfortunately, I had to cancel picking up Alison for the poetry group. Everyone loves to have Alison attend. She quit driving and appears so frail but is quite the firecracker. Alison is 93, extremely independent and lives in a local apartment where she has to scamper up a flight of steps, a steep flight.  I climb up like the old woman I am, holding onto the railing. Taking Alison is a trip in itself and she verbalizes that I drive too slow and “you missed that turn” and chatters while I am trying to keep us alive in a truck that makes it difficult for me to hear any conversation.
“Sorry, Alison, but I am staying local today.”
.

Going with Gratitude

The teaching of gratitude to a group of adults at the local senior center is on my agenda for next week. The class consists of four sessions, each one and one-half hours, Tuesday mornings. I have taught memoir and journaling previously. This is a new class for a new year. I turned in my short blip about the class on the spur of the moment to be included in the catalog. So far four folks have signed up for the class. An article in the newspaper mentioned the class so perhaps, the class size will increase.

Today I am outlining my self-made curriculum. Each Tuesday I would like to have a theme under the gratitude umbrella. Out come the books and my challenge to keep the class interesting.

My addiction to books gives me plenty of ammunition, so to speak. I pile the books into my cart on the Thriftbooks site. When the sum is $15 or more, I click submit. Yep, it’s that easy. Is that an addiction or just my trendy spend?. I  usually check with the local library first and reserve or download an ebook if available.

I have five books piled next to me to peruse for gratitude ideas. Probably the best known one is Wake Up Grateful by Kristi Nelson. I have read it thoroughly and will base my classes on my favorite chapters. 

I also will use: 

Brother David Steindle-Rast’ Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer

The Gratitude Diaries by Janice Kaplan 

To Bless the Space Between Us, John O’Donohue’s masterpiece of blessings.

I infuse poetry in my classes beginning with a chair poem. I literally place a poem on each chair for the participants to read as they enter. We then read the poem in community and write to a line or prompt  within the poem that speaks to the individual. Sharing is always optional. I enjoy selecting the poems and always write with the class.

Let me begin at the beginning now and go through poems that I have set aside for just this purpose.

For The Birds

wild birds to appease

what fun! find the feeder and

more at the seed store

That says it all! I’m off tripping to the local Wild Birds Unlimited Store. I have never been in one and evidently they have a good business model since they’ve been in business for years.

Today is National Bird Day! I am celebrating our avion friends, free to be a flutter in my backyard. I have two small Walmart feeders but want to treat myself and the birds to a nice $$$ feeder and nourishing food. I am sure the bags I buy at the discount store are discounted in nutrients. 

Give those winged entertainers a better diet, better feeder and surely, “they will come.” And just to take this one step further there is an article: 

National Bird Day: Celebrate the kind you are based on your zodiac sign (nypost.com)

informing me that I definitely relate to a certain bird according to my astrological sign. 

Sagittarius is the sign of indomitable hope and because the swallow was often the first bird a sailor/pirate would see when approaching land, they have come to symbolize renewal, return and homecoming.

The swallow is my go-to! Perhaps my first tattoo should be a swallow! Well, I don’t plan on drowning and a tattoo is not on my 2024 agenda. (I didn’t even ask my daughter a couple days ago where her next tattoo is to be placed as she had an appointment!)

Also: a swallow tattooed on a collarbone could carry a drowned man’s soul heavenward. I like that - some days I feel like a trip heavenward would be, well….heavenly! I could speculate that “downing” for me doesn’t necessarily mean in the water.

And so this Bird Day is fine with me. I hope I find something in my price range and this isn’t just another wild goose chase. 🙂

 

2024 and One Goal

I am part of Jill Badonsky’s Underground Railroad community - writers and artists who post twice a week. Her prompts delight me and my understanding is that we can use them for purposes other than UGRR….IF WE GIVE CREDIT!

Today’s prompt was to write a poem, haiku or prose regarding how we hope to feel in 2024.

§.      §.       §.        §

These four haiku illustrate one of my hopes these coming months.

own my creativity

step up to the challenge

self-critiquing stops!

weave - main attraction

as paints, pastels, collage, ink

inspire tapestry

cartoons develop templates

colorful yarns with

textures soothe my fingers

joy in the journey

as contentment emerges

results TBD

2024 and Gratitude

Aaaahhhh yes, the beauty of a fresh new year with commitments and prayers, thoughts and regrets all just shaken and stirred together into a new pot of possibilities.

Mary Oliver has written a poem, Gratitude, which I am spinning off of for today's blog. She asks the following questions and then answers them with her stunning poetic ways!

(excerpted from Oliver_Gratitude.pdf (aspeninstitute.org)

What did you notice?

What did you hear?

When did you admire?

What astonished you?

What would you like to see again?

What was most tender?

What was most wonderful?

What did you think was happening?

Today, the first day of the rest of my life, the second day of 2024, the day I rejoice in being one of His sheep as yes, I have heard His Voice and I want to know Him more intimately.

And so today I shall go outside, this sunshine-less day, and praise the gifts of nature and reflect on the questions above as Mary O. did. She envelops nature, birds, one dog and the sea and yes, she concluldes with "so the gods shake us from our sleep."

May you awaken spiritually with me this year. 

May you reckon that God will shake you with His beauty and His being ...... as you allow.

Praise be to Him!