Author: Karen

I am an RN, Author, Coach, and Speaker. I write novels about relationships to help people find insight into their own. I guide people to create comfort, clarity, and connection in their lives. By combining metaphysical tools with over twenty-five years of nursing experience, I infuse the 'art of nursing' into my practice by providing partnership and resources help people compassionately honor their health.

Paul Parent in Kennebunk

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, gardening
Paul Parent broadcasting live from Estabrooks in Kennebunk

 

This Sunday morning was there was a nice treat for gardeners. Paul Parent, of Paul Parent Garden Club fame, was broadcasting his show live on 5/23/10 from Estabrooks on Route One in Kennebunk. Check out his radio  show on Sunday mornings from 6:00AM-10:00AM for great gardening tips. He even takes phone calls from listeners! 

If you waited to put in your vegetable garden, then you should be in the market for some seedlings this week.  

If you didn’t wait and took the risk of putting your little plants in the ground already, then the obsessive gardeners among you STILL may be in the market for some more this week. 

Reasons to get down to the farm store or nursery buy some more vegetable seedlings: 

  1. You were smart and waited until “all danger of frost has passed” and now have a blank canvas on which to plant.
  2. You planted already but were smart and left some room for future moments of weakness, like the Pineapple Tomato plants that you just couldn’t pass up.
  3. You find black bell pepper seedlings and find that you just couldn’t pass them up either.
  4. You’ve finished planting your garden and have no more room, but your friend is just starting to plant hers. You can vicariously experience the plant-purchasing thrill by watching your friend oufit her garden.
  5. You can split seedling 6 packs with your friend. After all, if those Pineapple Tomatoes really do get to be 2 pounds each, how will you fit (never mind eat) them all?

And of course, there are all those herb plants…many herbs will thrive in the worst conditions you can think of…but beware the invasive mint plants… 

So, what are you planting this year?

life’s too short…

by Karen, posted in books

to read bad books.  i loved the book Eat, Pray, Love by elizabeth gilbert (http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/eatpraylove.htm) and was every much looking forward to the release of her new book Committed. i waited for weeks on the library wait list for it and finally the day came! it had arrived! i picked it up right away and couldn’t wait to start reading it…but my excitement didn’t last long.

it started off just fine. she started telling the story of how she met her second husband, and it was an interesting one, but then it quickly morphed into something…else. what was it…what was it that it reminded me of? oh yes!  it read like a term paper. i could actually feel the footnote anxiety from my college days as i read it.

now, when i was younger i would have read any book that i started from cover to cover, no matter what. it was a point of pride. as i’ve gotten older, however, i have realized that life really is too short to waste it on undeserving books. i have also realized that some books that are very unappealing in print become tolerable, even interesting on audio.

so, i applied the “life’s too short” theory; i returned the book to the library and waited a few more weeks for Committed on audio.  it was read by the author. i’ve found i have a soft spot in my heart for authors who take the time to record their books for their readers themselves. this alone makes me predisposed to like the book. i’m glad i stuck with it, but i think that the core story would have made a good magazine article. it was really too short for a book, hence the term paper written around it, presumably to add more pages.

by the way, her book Stern Men was also much better in audiobook form. i even extrapolated the phrase “feet on you!” from the audiobook and applied it to my real life (much to my husband’s annoyance). 🙂

have any of you felt this pressure to read a book through to the end even if you thought it was awful?

Fisherman’s Catch strikes out

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, restaurants

it so happened one evening that the rest of the household had other dinner plans so i was left to my own devices, with only myself to please in terms of what my meal would be. after some thought, i decided that fried whole clams and sweet potato fries was what i wanted, with a lemonade chaser.

now, where i live there are plenty of places to get either of these things just a short drive away. i picked  Fishermans’ Catch in Wells, Maine. I’ve been there plenty of times with my family but never alone. tonight my plan was to pick up the fried clams and sweet potato fries to go, grab a fresh squeezed lemonade, and head down to the Wells Harbor Park with my book and my dinner, and think about how good life is, you know, between bites.

my bubble was soon burst however. i entered the restaurant, was happy to see that there was no line (a rare occurence) and ordered my food. i was told politely by the blonde woman at the counter that i couldn’t have what i wanted. i took a minute to confirm that they had the two items, which they did. and do they sell a clam basket dinner? yes they did. all i wanted to do was substitute sweet potato fries for the regular fries, and i was told once again that i could not have what i wanted.

she helpfully suggested that i purchase a side order of both, which would have cost me approximately $17 (tax, lemonade, and any potential tip not included). now, it’s not that i’m not worth it, but i really just wanted a dinner for one person (me!), the price of which would not make me choke on it.

am i missing something here? they had the clams. they had the sweet potato fries. why was i not allowed to substitute the fries that  i did want for the fries that i did not want? What i thought, but did not say, is that Duffy’s in Kennebunk, just a short trip down route one, gets it. they give me their menu items the way i ask for them. if i want to substitute sweet potato fries for regular fries at Duffy’s, they couldn’t be happier to do it.

so, Fisherman’s Catch lost my business. which is not good business.

here’s a quote to inspire those businesses that are falling short in this area:

If we don’t take care of our customers, someone else will.
UNKNOWN

Have any of you ever left a restaurant that refused to serve you what you were asking for?

hula hooping for beginners

by Karen, posted in family, fitness, health

after i wrote my prior post about hula hooping, i took things one step further and actually signed up for the WOCSD class, Hula Hooping for Beginners. it runs for 6 weeks on monday evenings and started may 17th.

when i called to sign up they said it was a big class. it was; there were 17 other brave women like myself who were daring to do something different, and risking looking like a fool for the sake of  fitness.  we ranged in age from twenty-somethings to over fifty-somethings. we all dropped our hoops and bumped into things, but it didn’t feel foolish, it felt…FUN!

the instructor, Christine MacDonald, is engaging and encouraging. she brought everything we needed, which turned out to be the hoops and the tunes (on her ipod). oh, and the enthusiasm!

you know how half an hour at the gym can feel like half a day? well, an hour of hula hooping for beginners felt like ten minutes.  so, if you are feeling like trying something different and coming out of your comfort zone, consider hooping.

Christine MacDonald teaches…well, wherever you are, most likely. here’s her website: http://www.missfithooping.com/

plant the “dirty dozen”

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, gardening, health
3 planted raised beds

What is the dirty dozen? they are the most pesticide-ridden foods at the grocery store, according to an article in the Portland Press Herald ‘s food section last week. if you’re a gardener, why not consider this a call to action?

if you have been contemplating planting vegetables, maybe this article will give you the nudge off the fence and into the yard for which you’ve been waiting.

for me, this is very motivating. scanning the list, i was happy to see that some of the plants are already in my garden: strawberries, spinach, cherries, grapes, apples. some i am planning to plant: potatoes, spinach, and bell peppers. some recommended vegetable varieties for maine gardens can be found on this website:

http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/2190.htm

a word of warning: we live in maine~wait until after memorial day to plant your seedlings outside. remember that night last week with the frost? you know, the one that came after those 70 degree days?  ‘nuf said.

have any of you gamblers put your seedlings outside already?

summer wish list Top Ten

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, books, family, fitness, gardening, health, restaurants, shopping, tweens

Remember every fall when your new teacher would ask you to write an essay on “what I did on my summer vacation”? and you could never think of a thing? Well, how about getting a jump on things this year by writing “what I am going to do on my summer vacation”!

Inspired by Laura Dolce’s column in the York County Coast Star this past thursday, who was talking about her summer wish list, I decided to put together my own. I actually do this every year, but not usually this early.  see if you can notice any recurrent theme in my list.

First, the pre-to-do list (it’s short):

  1. Read the Tourist News every week. it’s not just for tourists anymore.
  2. Check out the local library for summer programs for your kids. they’re free, and fun!
  3. Get online and google the dates of the annual events

Now, here’s what i want to do this summer (this is the top 10):

  1. Big Daddy’s in Wells for a Kahlua  Browie ice cream cone.
  2. Mini-golf at Wonder Mountain in Wells…although a friend told me about Shaw’s Ridge in Sanford, which we may be checking out instead
  3. The (annual) Strawberry Festival in South Berwick. Every year we mean to go and never make it. this year it’s on saturday 6/26, and it’s been on my calendar for 2 months already.
  4. Scarborough Downs Family Fun Day on sunday august 8.
  5. Congdon’s Doughnuts at least once, for blueberry donuts (me) and blueberry turnovers (my daughter) for breakfast.
  6. Ogunquit Playhouse; there are shows for adults as well as for children all summer. note: please do not bring kids to the evening adult shows…nothing will cramp the style of the actors more than a bright-eyed 12 year old front and center when he is trying to say his risqué lines.
  7. Kennebunkport, to walk and poke around in all the little shops.
  8. Kennebooks…visit the bookstore near me as often as possible!
  9. Go for a trolley ride…
  10. Old Orchard Beach for pier fries.

This is my jumping off point. I will add to it as necessary, and hopefully not have to cross too much off from it!

Do you make a summer vacation ‘to-do’ list?

hula hoops; not just for kids anymore

by Karen, posted in education, family, fitness, health, tweens

who knew? hula hooping is now being touted as a way to get aerobic exercise and stay fit, even to help aid weight loss efforts. 

if you are thinking about trying it, you will find that there are options.

  1. the color, the size, the heft of the hoop…all can be predetermined by you, depending on your goals (have fun? lose weight? Have fun with your tween or teenager? ) and your budget (extra colors can cost ya).
  2. if you’d like to order your own custom made hula hoop, check out HoopaLula! or maybe you’d like to try making your hula hoop yourself? here’s online instructions from hooping.org.
  3. if you investigate, you probably can find a hooping class to “try before you buy”. there’s one upcoming in Wells offered through WOCSD Adult Ed: Hula Hoop Fitness for Beginners.
  4. are there risks? well, if you have any history of back problems, you may want to check in with your doctor before trying this. check out the mayo clinic website fmi.

have any of you out there over 12 years old tried hula hooping lately?   what did you think?

women of note

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, tweens

my daughter and i went to see Women of Note in Kennebunk on Mother’s Day, as we have for the past several years in a row. we appreciate that this free concert is given year after year, hosted by the Atria and open to the public. The concert lasts about an hour and there are hors d’hoevres provided afterward, to which my eleven year old especially looks forward (because for us, it is so often ‘all about the food’!) :).

her favorite song is “mr sandman” and so far, she has never been disappointed. they perform it every time we’ve seen them. we also love it when they incorporate props into the songs. they tease each other mercilessly which makes the show even more fun to watch.

Women of Note also have performed as part of the Wells Harbor Summer Concert series in recent years at the Wells Harbor Park.

if you ever have the opportunity to see them, go! you’ll be happy that you did! it’s so nice to know that your tween may enjoy listening to music and seeing a show that you will also enjoy! and there isn’t one jonas brother in the bunch!

Lilacs

by Karen, posted in family, gardening

my absolute favorite flowers are lilacs. i cannot pass by a lilac bush without admiring them, often audibly, to the subsequent annoyance of those around me forced to listen to my tributes over, and over, and over…in a prior residence, my husband planted a lilac garden and included one of every kind of lilac he could find: pink, blue, light purple, dark purple, white-edged purple, yellow…it was amazing. since we moved from that house, we’ve had houses with a)no lilacs or b)houses with one or two tiny ones that did not flower.

this year, for my upcoming birthday, that sad story came to an end. my husband removed the existing shrubs flanking our front door that came with our house (which involved heavy machinery) and in their place he planted the two largest lilac bushes he could find, one pink, one purple. underneath he planted a smaller garden with my other favorite flowers…hyacinths and tulips. balloons were tied to the lilacs that said “happy birthday!” now, these lilacs in the picture i bought at the farmer’s market in portland last wednesday, but i consider them a harbinger… 🙂

10 tips for a working mother’s garden

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, gardening, tweens
3 raised beds

10 things you will need to have a vegetable garden if you are a working mother:

  1. something to grow things in. now, it may be a patch of ground, a raised bed (if your lucky, your significant other will build it for you; i’m lucky), or even a half whiskey barrel or window box if that’s what you have time/space for.
  2. you will need a plan. trust me. i always make one. i never follow it, but it will make you feel virtuous that you did at one time have some sense of restraint. or, just some sense.
  3. you will need some time. this might be the hardest part of the list, especially if you leave for work before dawn and return after dark. i have no ideas here. you’re on your own.
  4. you will want some assistance. it may come from books (The Garden Primer, Second Edition by Barbara Damrosch is a great reference), friends who know what they are doing, and maybe your kids? hint: your kids probably are not interested in your garden agenda and will not want to help you. options: pay them; beg them; exclude them completely (reverse psychology).
  5. also, consider miracle grow, compost…take any leg up you can get. i have used this in the past with some success: Neptune’s Harvest Organic Fertilizer.
  6. depending on what you are growing (zucchini, string beans), you will need a dedicated appetite that celebrates monotony.
  7. you will need poisons of some sort. if you plant it, they will come: the invaders that love to search out and destroy what you have planted and (if you had time) lovingly tended. show no mercy; the invaders won’t.
  8. you will need protection of some sort from the mosquitos, black flies, dragon flies, and other insects that are hell-bent on getting in your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. a bug headnet is worth it’s cost. Cabela’s makes one. i’ll warn you; it’s not pretty, but neither is trying to extract a bug from your nasopharynx. the choice is yours.
  9. be prepared for surprises. the crookneck yellow squash seedling that you purchased just may surprise you and turn out to be just another ordinary green zucchini plant. these things happen.
  10. lose with dignity. if the invaders are winning, sometimes it’s better to sacrifice one plant for the good of the whole garden. rip it out. don’t look back.

(early!) on sunday mornings, Paul Parent has a radio talk show where you can call in and ask questions. check out his website for more information.

and remember: give yourself a break. we can’t control everything.

if things turn out well, share the wealth! maybe your neighbor or friend had good luck growing tomatoes this year, and you had good luck with string beans. share; everyone benefits.

and remember, in the real world, the working mother’s garden may turn out to be a Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter and a Chia Pet herb garden!