My husband just sent me a link to this newsclip about the Bayer company. You absolutely, positively must watch it.

If you have any Bayer products in your home, please throw them away and do not buy any more Bayer products. Do not support this company whatsoever. I would even suggest that you write you congressional representatives to ask for a thorough criminal investigation of the Bayer company and the FDA. Please send a link of this video to as many people as you know.

It is a sad day. My dad had to put his dog, Micky to sleep today. It is funny because my dad always talks smack about people who treat their dogs like humans (you know making them part of the family), but for him that was all talk, because he was very attached to his dog. Mickey had his own engraved doggie collar, went camping and traveling with my dad and was generally spoiled. Do not pitty Micky too much. He had a great life. He lived to be 18 1/2 years old, which is amazing. He was in a lot of pain from a severe spinal injury and arthritis and is wasn’t fair to keep him alive much longer, but he will be greatly missed. My dad is having him cremated and will be taking his ashes with him on his next camping trip to spread Micky’s ashes on the campsite, since this was one of Micky’s (and my dads) favorite things to do.
My son is at school and I will have to tell him when he gets home. He will be very sad because he liked to follow Micky around the yard and would help my dad feed him almost every day.

I can’t believe it is Friday. We are on a more regular schedule now that my son is back in school. Friday has always been a fun day for us. We pick my son up from school and go and do something fun, like go to the park (today we are going through the machine carwash. It was my son’s pick). After our fun activity we go out to dinner and then come home and watch a movie.

Wednesday’s posts and K’s comment have left me very reflective about the steps I have been taking to be kinder to the planet and areas in which I can improve. As I was on my walk today I was counting the number of gus guzzler’s on the street. There were so many that I finally gave up counting and was amazed at the number of people who refuse to take action to protect our planet. I understand some people may not be able to afford to get a new car and exchange their gas guzzlers for something more economic, but it makes me upset to see brand new expeditions and explorers on the road. Don’t people understand the price that will be paid for our continued reliance on oil, both economically and environmentally. I guess it is just like with the whole “meat” issue. People choose to put it out of their head that animals suffer for their food and people choose ignorance as it relates to the environment.

I know it has been a while since I have posted. It has been a rough couple of days. Temperatures here have topped 110 degrees and we don’t have central air conditional, just a couple of window units. For some reason city planners in this area thought it was perfectly acceptable to not put air conditioning in most homes (except very new) in this area. It has been too hot to get to my computer. On Saturday, my four-year-old son got heat stroke. He was very sick for the past three days. At last, he has finally started sweating today for the first time in three days. He was running a temp of 103.4 on Saturday and had an average temp of 102 over the past couple of days. We were able to block out our livingroom and set the window unit and fans going to try to keep him cool, plus wrapping him in cool towels (which did not make him happy). We were able to bring his temp down some, but when he went outside for even a minute it shot right back up to 102. He had a fever during the night for a while last night, but his temp is now back to normal, and as I stated he is sweating when he walks outside, with no rise in temperature. So it seems we are past the danger zone, but I think I will keep him inside for the next day or two regardless, because the past couple of days have been really scary. I know I promised to post pictures of my husband’s birthday cake and the recipe. I haven’t forgotten. I will remind my dh to download the pics today and will hopefully post the recipe later today. If not for sure tomorrow. Hope everyone had a good weekend and is staying cool.

~My hands are dirty, my muscles ache, but fresh fruits and veggies are on my plate~

I worked in my garden for three hours today. It was hot outside. Grass got into my garden and it was time for me to say goodbye to it. It always feels so good to work out in the garden. For one of my psych classes I had to write a paper on humanistic psychology. I chose to write about ecopsychology. One of the main concepts of ecopsychology is that people are totally disconnected from their food sources. We buy our food in a grocery store, a lot of times already prepared and sometimes it even comes on its own plate. All you have to do is cook, eat, and throw away the dishes. This disconnect from our food is part of our disconnect from nature and the collective whole. When I garden, I always think about ecopsychology, because I have a greater appreciation for the food that I grow myself. I plowed the earth (okay I used a pick axe), then racked the dirt and planted my seeds and plants. I water the plants and watch as they grow. Then I get to enjoy the fruit of my labor. It is a lot of hard work, but so worth it. Nothing tastes better than fresh picked fruits and vegetables.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of the huge zucchini I picked from the garden and a recipe to go with it. I am going to make stuffed zucchini for my whole family Friday night, and I will definitely have leftovers because these zucchini are huge.
[tags] vegan garden vegetables fruits food vegetarian blog blogs ecopsychology [/tags]

I have finally posted The Vegan Place Ezine and Eating Vegan Recipe book. Both of which are free. I am excited about these projects. Both are a work in progress so let me know how you like them. The Vegan Place Ezine is designed for vegan and vegetarian women. It provides helpful resources, articles, vegan fashion, health related topics and more. If you have an idea for an article or a new section that you would like to see added please let me know. Next month I am hoping to add a section on beauty and will be adding some poles this month so check back.

The cookbook includes many of my favorite recipes, some have been adapted from nonvegan recipes and some are creations of my own. Let me know if you have tried any of the recipes and how you like them. I am looking forward to getting your feedback. I have tried all of the recipes on my family and they have been quite successful, but I am always curious to find out what others think. Suggestions to make the recipes better are always welcome.

Tell all of your friends about the new additions to my site and I hope you enjoy the articles and the different sections.

[tags] vegan vegetarian ezine blog blogs recipes free [/tags]

IceRocket Tag: vegan

I am almost sorry to post this article. It is very difficult to read. But those of you who love animals please read click on the link: The Phoenix New Times I was horrified when I read through it. But it is a testament to the amount of animal cruelty that is occurring in the world. I could not believe the callousness of the people in this article. It made me sick to my stomache. Please write to PETA about the cruelty that is occurring in Phoenix. It is important that this chef and those who partake in what he makes are stopped.