65 Years

Recently my grandparents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. In a time when the American divorce rate is roughly 50 percent, this is an extraordinary milestone. At three years, I'm still somewhat of a newlywed, especially in comparison to their achievement, so I asked my grandparents for their best advice for a successful marriage.

My grandma said, "Learn to stand up for yourself." My grandpa said, "Keep your mouth shut."

I must admit, I was expecting something a bit more touchy feely, something more along the lines of "be a good listener," or "make time for each other," but I got a nice chuckle out of this. And I was reminded that relationships constantly change, and we all have to find what works for us for where we're at in our lives and relationships. I hope that we all find our own best advice for successful partnerships. Do you have any advice to share?

These pictures were taken right after my grandparents met, in one of those photo booths in which you receive a strip of small photographs that you have to cut apart. My grandparents are about 20 years old here, and got married shortly after. My grandpa managed to avoid World War II on a farm deferrment--he was the oldest son and his family needed him to work the family farm near Alma, Wisconsin.




They have three children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. My grandpa drove a cement truck and laid concrete for 40 years; my grandma worked 20 years at our local University, where I also work, and although she's been retired for 20 years, people here still remember her.

I spend every Monday night with my grandparents--it's a standing ritual that we always honor. I have learned so much from them and I consider time with them a great and special privilege.

A Season of Berries

I love how every growing season is unique. I don't remember having any berries last year. This year we've had a lot of rain and humidity, and we've had excellent berry crops. My freezer is full of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Here are a few pictures and the berries just keep coming....I can already taste the fruit smoothies all winter long....

After crawling through woods and high grasses, getting scratched by thorns and flanked by flying bugs, it's now clear to me why fresh berries are expensive. I never thought about this until I became interested in where my food comes from, and began harvesting and preserving some of that food myself.

Just Peachy

One of the things I look forward to in July is buying peaches off the TreeRipe Citrus truck, straight from Georgia. These peaches are so delicious--so utterly unlike anything we can buy in the Midwest--that this year I bought 60 pounds. Now I am a little conflicted about this, since I try to buy local and a lot of fuel was used in transporting these peaches a long distance, but at least I know where this food comes from. I figure it's better than buying from large grocery store chains, where I don't know where the food is from and often it's not even from this country.

Every June I anticipate the newspaper ad announcing that the TreeRipe Citrus truck is coming. This year I arrived about 15 minutes early and I stood in line for about 20 minutes. You must understand the whole experience of buying peaches. The sun was out, the weather beautifully warm. Everyone around me in line chattered endlessly about the quality of the peaches and what they did with their peaches last year and what they'll do with their peaches this year. By the time I bought my peaches, there were probably three times as many people in line behind me than there had ever been in front of me. As the line grew, traffic in and out of the small parking lot became chaotic and congested--people of all ages congregated to get their hands on those wonderful peaches.

Last year I bought 30 pounds of peaches and mostly froze them, but this year I did some research beforehand and got a bit more courageous. I stumbled on to a MAC DADDY food preservation site: http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/food/food_safety/preservation/
I like that their recipes are also available in printable PDF format. This site helped me be courageous enough this year to try canning and dehydrating, in addition to freezing my peaches.






As with all food preservation projects, it takes alot of time and effort. But I think one of the ladies in the peach line summed it up perfectly when she said, "You just feel so proud when you're done canning those peaches." I couldn't agree more.

Disappointed

The LTE reform meeting was not what I’d hoped for. I was disappointed. I know that it’s an accomplishment that people were willing to sit around a table and talk about the issue, which has probably never been done on this campus before. I should focus on that. On the other hand, I thought it was focused on protecting the rights of union workers and not focused on how we could all give up a little bit to encourage equity for limited term employees. Even the living wage issue was not well received because we couldn’t have LTEs making more than what union-represented permanent workers make…

Overall the way it came across to me was they are interested in protecting LTEs as long as it means securing additional permanent union-represented positions, but not specifically interested in LTE rights in any sense (the statement “it’s about the position, not the person” was repeated numerous times).

In addition there was a lot of time spent talking about a manual they made which basically consists of screen captures educating LTEs about how to apply for jobs on the Wisc site…and discussion of interviewing skills and other things. I understand these things are helpful but I don’t think that gets at the real issues…50% of our LTEs have college degrees. Many have applied for numerous jobs. I think we all know this isn’t about teaching people how to buff up their resumes or interview better. But, I also lack a complete understanding of all the politics and complexities involved….and at this point I’m starting to feel like I’m not sure I want to understand any more if I am going to hold on to any sort of a positive attitude. Anyway, that’s my take on it….

An update on "limited term" employee reform

In an earlier post I wrote about my involvement in LTE reform issues for the approximately 200 "limited term" positions here on campus in which people work long term for low wages and minimal benefits. The latest development was a May article in the campus newspaper highlighting our work in this area.

After that article was published I was contacted by some folks at UW-Madison, where they have a comprehensive LTE reform plan, about coming to our campus for discussions on how we might achieve what they have. And now it's a reality! The following link to a press release describes the meeting that will take place on our campus next week. I view this as a true milestone as we've never gotten this far in our discussions of this very sensitive topic on our campus. I'll keep you updated. Regardless of what happens, I feel lucky to be part of something so important, as it has the potential to improve working conditions for so many people.

http://www.uwec.edu/newsreleases/10/july/0707LTEAdvisoryCommittee.htm

Homemade Pizza, Wheatberry Salad, and Jam

One reason I love summer so much is the abundance of fresh, home-grown ingredients available for cooking. Here are a few recipes for things I've made recently.

Bread maker Pizza Crust

I got this recipe from my sister when we visited her in Rochester, and she got it from a co-worker. It's funny how good recipes make their way around...

¾ C warm water from faucet
1 T oil
1T sugar
1 T dried milk
½ t salt
2 ¼ C bread flour
1 t dried yeast

Use the dough cycle in your bread maker (mine took about an hour and 24 minutes).

I added fresh pesto, spinach, mozzarella, parmesan, cherry tomatoes, and sweet pepper.

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until crust is brown.

Wheat Berry-Black Bean-Edamame Salad

My mom found this recipe in a magazine and she thought it was delicious.

Serves 6 (3/4 cup servings)

4 C water
½ C dry wheat berries
½ of a 15-ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 C frozen, shelled edamame, thawed
1 C chopped tomato
½ C chopped red onion
3 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine water and wheat berries in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 55 minutes or until wheat berries are tender. Place in a fine mesh strainer, run under cold water to cool quickly, drain. Combine the wheat berries with the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 8 hours in advance.




Jam

The harvest season has begun! I used the following recipes to make about 20 jars of jam. These recipes are from Aunt Dee's Caldwell Family Cookbook, which was given to us when we visited Colorado for a family reunion.

Rhubarb Jam

4 cups finely cut rhubarb 4 cups sugar
1 package Strawberry-flavored Jello

Mix sugar with washed rhubarb in a bowl and let stand overnight. Put in a heavy kettle and cook until rhubarb is tender (about 10 minutes). At this point I like to add about 2 cups of fresh berries. I’ve even substituted raspberries for the strawberries and used Raspberry-flavored Jello in place of the Strawberry Jello. Add flavored Jello; stir until mixed and Jello is dissolved. Pour into hot sterilized jelly glasses or jars. Seal with covers or pour hot paraffin over top of hot jam.

AMISH RHUBARB JELLY
5 cups cut-up rhubarb 1 cup crushed pineapple (canned)
4 cups sugar 3 oz pkg Jello (Raspberry, Strawberry or Orange)
Stir together first three ingredients. Put on heat and stir till all juicy. Boil 15 minutes. Add Jello and mix in. Seal in jelly jars with paraffin. Refrigerate if desired.

A Little Patio Project

Busy. Why is the summer so busy? It seems like the winter takes so long, and I wait so patiently for summer, and then the summer just flies by. No time to write!

Last week we completed a project for my 85-year-old grandparents, who live in a condo where they have a 10' x10' patio area to customize however they'd like. The "before" picture below shows that the weeds were getting to be too much to maintain. We filled in the space with patio block. It took a half day to load and then unload about 500 pounds of brick and sand, and a twelve hour day to remove the plants, rocks, extra soil, level and fill in with sand, and lay the bricks.

Who would have thought that revamping such a small space could require so much time and money?! The final cost for supplies was around $450. But they are happy with it, and that is all that matters.

While we were there we got to experience the uniqueness of condo life, as various neighbors visited throughout the process, observing and offering insights (mostly positive, fortunately!). Grandma made a pork roast, cookies, jello, and strawberry shortcake...the weather was beautiful...Although those long hours were very tiring, I think there is something very satisfying about doing challenging, physical work, especially when you know how much it is appreciated.

Before: Too many weeds and too much maintenance required!


In progress: Extra plants removed, filled in with sand and leveled:

Final product: Bricks in, azalea bush boxed in, locking sand applied to the bricks:

Another view of the final product: