ANO: The Seed

MAKING 'BUCKIES'

These are the unhulled, buckwheat groats draining after being soaked. The seeds will need to sprout overnight. They need to show their little tails before you dehydrate them.

This lovely trio of seeds is coming to life: The tray on the bottom with light green sprouts is WHEATGRASS, the other two trays are half BUCKWHEAT (hulls on) and the other half SUNFLOWER SEEDS. Pete is growing them inside the living room in front of the window. We have the radio on the table next to them and already this morning they have listened to a musical tribute to ODETTA who passed over just last week. They DON'T listen to the news!

This is how we use the stove in the kitchenette. Three jars of seeds (wheat grass, buckwheat and sunflower) already soaked and turned upside down for sprouting.

The rest and refueling that comes from an `ole cycle doesn’t mean there is no movement. Pete is always in motion, and I keep a running internal dialogue with ideas and new adventures. The four-day `ole cycle in early December was a time to call on practices we have done in the past – practices that have sustained us, practices we have set aside because life has changed/become busier and found us in different circumstances.

In a life not too far past, seeds were an essential and everyday part of our day and night. It all began shortly after we left Kuli`ou`ou Valley, my family land and the three-bedroom Hicks house that was home. I had not yet been correctly diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivities or environmental illness, but my body knew it all along. I knew it was time for us to leave the valley, leave the place that had been our family home for decades. It was my thyroid – messenger of love, who sent me clear and undeniable evidence that something was not right. Rather than accept the surgeons’ recommendations to remove my thyroid I found another option: Anne Wigmore’s Living and Raw Food Lifestyle.

This option and my choice to learn whether living foods could restore my health without surgery was the beginning of our life with ano … the seed. That was nearly five years ago. We learned and lived a completely raw and living foods lifestyle for more than a year and experienced the benefits of eating only organic, living and raw vegetables, fruit, seeds and grain. As with everything we learn, we shared what we had learned, created a wonderful small business teaching hands-on, play with your food classes from our rented cottage in Manoa Valley and met wonderful people who were curious about the healing qualities of living and raw foods. Our old living and raw foods website ALOHA LIVING BENTO is still alive (at least till March of 2009) so if you’d like to see what we were up to a few years ago, pre-MCS full-blown, link to it.

Our life and journey have been complicated with the daily reality of multiple chemical sensitivities. It takes time to re-group and regain a level of health and comfort. The Kitchenette is giving us a place to do just that. Building and sharing VARDOFORTWO gives us hands-on connection with a community that doesn’t need to pass the sniff test and is an antidote to isolation. What’s fun to do now is to add back more time with seeds. They (organic seeds of many kinds) are part of the 100 Items we’ll keep with us … we’ll grow some, sprout some and do all kinds of things with seeds.

Here’s one of our favorite living and raw seed recipes:

We call ‘em BUCKIES. Sprouted organic hulled buckwheat, that are dehydrated for a crunchy cereal.

BUCKIES

5 C. Hulled Buckwheat Groats
Gallon container (glass is best)
Filtered Water
Screen (large enough to overlap the mouth of the jar)
Heavy rubber band(s)

Fill gallon container:

With buckwheat groats and fill the jar with filtered water
Cover jar with screen and secure with heavy rubber band
SOAK FOR 15 MINUTES

DRAIN THOROUGHLY AFTER SOAKING TIME.
RINSE THE GROATS (groats are the buckwheat seeds).

Put the jar into a dish drain tipped on end.
It will continue to drain.

LET GROATS SPROUT at least over night.
You want to see the tails sprout at least half as long as the seed itself.

DEHYDRATE

Pour the sprouted groats onto dehydrator screenS. Spread the groats evenly over as many sheets as necessary (usually 5 cups of groats will spread over 4 trays).

Dehydrate for approx 4 hours or until groats are crispy. We needed to dehydrate them almost 12 hours because we did this outside where the temperature was not a 80 degree Hawaii day, but rather a near 40 degree Seattle night.

Use these as a breakfast cereal with fruit, sesame milk, coconut oil, flax or other milk you enjoy in the morning. Buckies are also a great healthy snack anytime, and add crunch to a salad or favorite cooked dish.

ONO! (Delicious)

DREAM Coming True Week 6

Aloha! We are back after a very full four-day `ole cycle, and before this weekend slips into history I get to post a 6th week of "Dream Coming True." It is a miracle to be here period. I marvel at the resiliency of the human spirit and smile (a big one) thinking about VARDOFORTWO gorwing (what IS that word?... oh, that would be growing)... here in blog form and outside the Kitchenette on the Iron Eagle trailer. Transformational evidence that affirms for me what does happen when a seed of hope is nourished. We've been in the Kitchenette for seven months and our life is being transformed.

This week I have $3,200 of dream money to spend on a composting toilet. Yes a self-contained composting toilet that will travel with us(though not necessarily inside VARDOFORTWO) wherever our mobile life leads us.

The Ten Things for Which I am Appreciative are:

1. I appreciate shadows (because that means the sun is shining ...smile, smile, smile!).
2. I appreciate organic seeds (because that means new life, new healthy food is always possible).
3. I appreciate massage (because it feels great).
4. I appreciate the sound track from Chocolat (because I am enlivened, transported and reminded without leaving the farm.)
5. I appreciate compost piles (because that means the organic seeds will have a place to grow).
6. I appreciate the experience of forgiveness (because there is more room in my life).
7. I appreciate storytellers (because I love the sound of a tale).
8. I appreciate unscented soap (because it makes smelling easy ... that sounds funny).
9. I appreciate a warm hat (because my head doesn't like to be chilled).
10. I appreciate Pete (because he is Pete).

I have so much to share, and glad to be back at the blog. We're off to the West Seattle Farmer's Market soon in search of whatever the local farmers have on offer. A great Sunday to you where ever you are today!

Thanks for visiting. Mokihana

Shelter

`OLE DAYS

Today is Wednesday, and the start of the four-day `ole cycle on Ke Ala O Ka Mahina (the Hawaiian Moon Calendar). As is our practice, we honor the traditional approach of aligning with all that is -- like farmers and fisherfolk, we use the `ole days to review, weed, and rest the projects already began. There is plenty to reassess, parts in the building of VARDOFORTWO can continue although new projects will wait until after `ole days; there's a 100 Things Challenge to review and complete, a compost pile that needs turning, a kitchenette to clean, and horizontal time to refuel.



I usually refrain from new posts during the `ole cycles, yet if comments are made to posts I will reply(I reply to all comments); and if an email of import comes our way I may post it, too. If you haven't seen the 'WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MULTIPLE CHEMICAL SENSITIVITIES' Poll yet, it's to the left of this post. Vote if it interests/affects you. We'd love to hear from you.



So we'll be posting again after `Ole Pau (which is Saturday). A hui hou, Mokihana

I've been out surfing and, learned something today

We were in the cruise-out-from-the-day zone last night when my son called. He made it back to the Island after the four-day Thanksgiving visit, and had just gotten out of the water...warm, Pacific Ocean water...stand-up surf boarding off of Kaimana Beach. In an instant I went from watching old Hercule Peirot mysteries to being in the warm salty water of the Pacific. This morning I've been surfing visiting sites and blogs and found a story and link from Miss Molly who blogs over at I LEARNED SOMETHING TODAY.


Today is Tuesday, and on many Tuesdays (including this one) since we have lived in Washington I have an appointment with Chulan Chiong my NAET practitioner. The one hour treatment I have with Chulan is one of the things that makes the experiences/physical symptoms and discomfort of living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities less debilitating. I find the treatments reassuring, giving me a regular and non-invasive comfort. I don't go to Chulan to be "fixed" because I'm not broken. On some days I think "it's gone" ... I've been feeling so good for weeks at a time. On other days I can't remember when or why I've lost my old self/old life/used-to-be-able-to... Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivites can really piss-me-off. My Tuesday appointments release some of the pressure. Along with my calls to supportive and 'I get it' friends who also just let me be down low if that's where I need to go, I get out of the depths and learn something.


So...to the point where I was out surfing and found Miss Molly's post. It was the perfect find. See what you think. Her post linked to this:

Gary McClain, president of JustGotDiagnosed.com, said that chronic illness
can leave patients feeling that their life is spinning out of their control ...
"When we feel out of control, anger is a natural response," McClain
said in a statement.
"People with serious health conditions often feel that they shouldn't show their anger, but instead try to just accept their lot and have a positive attitude, so this strong emotion is often kept inside and pushed to the background."

The Web site JustGotDiagnosed.com has posted anger-management guidelines to help people deal with the anger that often springs from living with serious or chronic illnesses. The Anger Management Checklist suggests:
-- Find a safe person to release the feelings of anger, someone with an open mind, without judgment and without the need to "fix" you. Once released, anger loses its power.
-- Avoid the positive-thinking police. Don't let anyone, badger you into suppressing your anger and putting on a happy face.
-- Take time to grieve what you have lost.
-- Let go of the need to be in control. Humans often cling to the belief that they are always in charge of their own destinies, and when they find out they aren't they get angry.

NEW POLL: How much do you know about Multiple Chemical Sensitivities?

I've just added a new poll to VARDOFORTWO. In the weeks since we gave birth to our twin blogs, we have watched our Map of Visitors grow. We aren't sure what attracts you to our blogs yet appreciate each of your visits. Since the effects of multiple chemical sensitivities is the major thread of our posts here we'd like to know how m.c.s. influences your life. You can choose more than one answer in this poll. We'll keep it going for a week.

Hope you are well, Mokihana

Building the Vardo: Dealing with dampness

Ah, the sun's out and the sky I see from the kitchenette is baby blue. It's been a long stretch of rain and sogginess. We thought (the best laid plans...) we would be further along, avoiding the challenges of working with the change of season and winter weather conditions. Auwe, alas, today we are assessing how to procede with the dampness. We've posted our progress and building steps to get VARDOFORTWO to her current state, and for this point forward the posts will all be 'BUILDING the Vardo" in real-time fashion.

A quick summary. Here's where we are on building:

1. All four sides are framed in white oak and reinforced with metal wind sheer.
2. The base of the Vardo is sealed with sheet metal.
3. The two wheel wells are flashed and sealed.
4. TuTuff moisture barrier surrounds the four walls.
5. 3 of the 4 walls (all but the front) are complete: sided with white oak tongue and groove, caulked, milk-painted and beeswax sealed.
6. The 4 windows are installed, caulked, painted(on the outside) and trimmed. The brass latches inside are fixed.
7. The base of the vardo is insulated with foam board (but it will be removed before we lay the floor) and replaced with ???probably the denim.
8. The ceiling boards/base roof --also white tongue and groove--are in.
9. The cross beams of the ceiling (the ribbing above) have been reinforced with custom fitted plates. A step Pete found necessary after VARDOFORTWO sat for a few weeks.
10. (see photo above)
11. Roof insulation, moisture barrier of Denny Foil and TuTuff encase denim insulation.
12. A skin of birch plywood is attached, caulked and waxed over the insulation.
13. The decorative corner wall trim is in place, painted and waxed.
14. Electrical boxes are in place on the front outside wall, and inside walls.
    

Here are the challenges and questions we face now:

1. The front door is not ready yet, so the dampness fills the inside.

(see the photo above)

Pete's got a heater inside today warming things up. Dehumidifier??

2. Mold. Pete found mold starting to grow on the exposed edge of the birch plywood in the roof.

I researched and found a couple products that sounded like acceptable and mcs-safe options.

We went with an enzyme-based mold solution called Spori CLEAN. The website offered information and a FQA section that didn't set off any red lights for me. (no ingredients that are on the toxic lists). Pete spoke at length with the creator of Spori CLEAN, and found him kind, understanding and aware of multiple chemical sensitivities. He said he sells a lot of his product to people in Washington and Hawaii (where mold is an ever-present reality).

Pete used Spori CLEAN to clean the shower stall. The product is very concentrated and when diluted still has a very lemony smell that I don't particularly like. I stayed away when it was 'working' to eat up the mold, and Pete washed it off with a baking soda and water wipe.

It does the job, and after a week there is no mold and no residual smell.

Pete went after the mold on the roof, followed the directions on the bottle. To make sure the wood was dry he bought a hair-dryer and dried the wood off, then caulked the edges and sealed with beeswax.

I hear the saw cutting siding for the front wall, and notice puffy clouds have moved in. Time to say 'a hui hou.'

Have any experiences with mold and solutions that work for you?