HEALTHY MEALS BEGIN WITH SAFE COOKWARE

As you may remember, I gave away my microwave oven a couple of months ago. Some time before that, I had already recycled (in favor of Pyrex) all those plastic pans that were supposedly micro-safe, but aren't at all. So, those were my first steps in having less toxic meal preparation. And just this past month, I decided to throw out the last Teflon skillet that I had continued to use long after I swore to myself that it had to go. All my other pots are now stainless steel and an enamel stockpot. And I have one large iron skillet.

To make life even more confusing, recently, I heard that all my aluminum baking sheets and tins aren't trustworthy either. So there’s another step that I’ll have to consider, very soon.

Even though, I can’t spend a lot of cash - at any one time - for expensive cookware, I've decided to completely revamp my kitchen with healthier cookware. You’ll want to, too, after you hear how dangerous those late 20th century pots and pans are for you.

Just how bad is it?
Non-stick cookware
Nonstick/Teflon cookware is the most popular cookware in the US. These kinds of pots and pans pose health risks. Names for this cookware include: Teflon (round since 1946), Silverstone, Tefal, Anolon, Circulon, Caphalon and others. The Environmental Working Group, reports that nonstick coatings can “reach 700 degrees Fahrenheit in as little as 3-5 minutes, releasing 15 toxic gases and chemicals, including two carcinogens (fluoropolymers).”

Want more health-related statistics? Over 90% of US people tested have been shown to have significant levels of toxic chemicals in their blood directly related to the nonstick coating used in cheap cookware. And newborns at birth already have measurable levels, too. At high heat the nonstick finishes release various toxic fumes, including cancer causing ones that are also associated with increase cholesterol and birth defects. When overheated, the nonstick finishes release fumes that cause illness in humans and are known to kill birds. Manufacturers have been forced to warn against use of these pans in homes with pet birds. It is also known that these substances cause tumors in rats and increased cancer rates in exposed workers.

Aluminum cookware
All those aluminum pans -some may be in your kitchen - are made from toxic heavy metals. Aluminum is a highly reactive metal that can leach into food, especially when you are cooking acidic foods. The metal-food reaction can form aluminum salts that are associated with impaired visual motor coordination and Alzheimer’s disease.

While improvements have been made in aluminum cookware with the advent of anodized aluminum (a process that covers the aluminum with less toxic substances on the surface of the pan). On the other hand, there are still environmental and worker health problems related to the mining and processing of aluminum.

Wood utensils help protect cookware surfaces.

Copper cookware
While not as interactive as aluminum, copper cookware may also cause metal migration into your food (especially with highly acidic foods). Beyond that, there are sometimes other metals fused with the copper. So, all in all, it's best to avoid possible risk in copper pots and pans.

Thank Heaven, there is some safe cookware. 

Yes, there is safe cookware and you'd do yourself a favor in using it. Here is an overview of the basic materials that make for kitchenware safe.

Stainless steel
With stainless steel, the cooking surface includes less risky materials (iron, chromium, and manganese). It is also less prone to leaching. The exception would be stainless steel pots and pans that have been damaged by harsh scouring with an abrasive material like steel wool. If you keep the cooking surfaces intact, stainless steel is an excellent choice.

Cast iron
Cast iron is versatile and easy care. It works on the stove top or in the oven and requires no detergent for cleaning. It can be used – literally - for centuries. Well-seasoned cast iron cookware has a coating of polymerized fat that creates a non-stick surface and serves as a barrier between the iron and your food. That means little or no leaching under normal use. But to be safer, avoid the cooking and storage of acidic foods in cast iron. Enamel coated cast iron has the added advantage of both naturally non-stick and non-porous surfaces that allow for the preparation and storing of acid foods.

Glass, ceramic and enameled cookware 
All of these allow for safe, non-toxic use. And depending on the quality and size, they can serve multiple functions. Breakage and cracking are the main problems. Cracking will often lead to metal leaching in ceramic and enameled pots.

Take the leap.
Now, that you've likely as not, decided to toss out all that old, toxic cookware, it’s best to choose wisely what pieces are going to replace it. Sets are expensive and for the most of us that’s an obstacle. Picking and choosing well thought-out individual pots and pans over time helps avoid unnecessary costs. Just get what you really need.

A few saucepans or pots with lids
Quality stainless steel is non-reactive with most everything except the highly acidic things cooked at high temperatures. So, for those things, you might like at least one that's ceramic, enameled or glass. With an enamel-coated Dutch oven, you can make do with just a couple of stainless pans.

A big stockpot
Every working kitchen needs a big stockpot. It’s a necessity for making stews and broth, and you’ll also use it for spaghetti and for all kinds of other home-cooked foods.

A couple of skillets 
For most of my skillet usage, a cast iron pan fits the bill. An 8” or 10-incher will do nicely for most everything. A 14" ceramic-covered, stainless skillet gets a big workout for most everyday stove top casseroles and serves as a fry pan. Skillet lids are essential.

Bake ware
You want to avoid bake ware with non-stick coating. Regular aluminum isn't good, either. So, keep that in mind and make plans to purchase stainless steel or ceramic baking pans. In the meantime, you don’t have to toss your aluminum. Parchment paper and paper baking cups (unbleached paper, please) can keep your bake goods away from the metals. Pyrex glass dishes are great bake ware. Some even come with lids. Those with lids do double duty as storage containers - a real plus in small kitchens..

TAKE GRANDMA'S 100 THING CHALLENGE

Despite the materialistic hype that's pounding at us every day, having overflowing basements, closets, garages, and drawers doesn’t make us better or more attractive people. And, it won't make us miraculously happy either - quite possibly the opposite. I think a lot of us feel that in our bones, but where do we start? A book and blog have been written about this dilemma. It’s about the 100 Thing Challenge, and it tells us how one person pared down his worldly possessions to an amazing, minimalist 100 things. He says that he’s been convinced by his experience. Here's what he recommends to reach such a goal: "Reduce (get rid of some of your stuff); Refuse (to get more new stuff); and  Rejigger (your priorities)."

I bet you'll feel joyful and spiritually uplifted, too, if you take on your own minimalist challenge. This is, of course, a tough choice to make. Many, if not most, US households have so many extra things. So, paring back to 100 – even a 1000 - things may seem like a monumental task. It’s clearly a decision that shouldn't be taken lightly – especially when there are other family members who may not want to sign on to such an ordeal.

Grandma's 100 Thing Challenge

It’s a smaller challenge, by far, than living with only 100 things but I believe it’s something we all can do and feel good about. It makes minimalism a work in progress. So, start out slow and do a little at a time. That way, it won't be so much of a burden. You’ll know that you can halt the process if suddenly you see (or feel) the need. My challenge to you is to give up one thing - duplicated in function or unused in several months - in your home every day for 100 days. Then, if you like the results you can continue giving up some more things for another 100 days, and so on. Maybe, then, you'll find just the right number of things for you - 100, 200, 300, etc.

Whatever the number of things you can get rid of, you'll be living without that much household disorganization and have more time to do meaningful things for yourself and others. Like many others, the very clutter and dust-accumulation around may be so depressing that you go out to shop for new things or plan more vacation trips - just to get out of the house.

I believe that people find grace through balance, and we can only achieve this when we take control of our own lives (not having our belongings own us) and pursue what's really important. Possessions, beyond a bare minimum, just get in the way. Having a suburban McMansion, despite the TV and movie hype, isn't “living the good life”. When we endlessly acquire more things, including duplicating stuff in our homes, we never settle in and enjoy what we've got.

Over and over, we’ve mistakenly told ourselves that life wouldn’t be complete without this "special" thing we are buying. But just as soon as this thing is brought home and tucked away, we start out the next day to the mall or the big box store to look for the next "special" thing - in what ends up being a never ending process. We mindlessly seek that momentary reward of finding that next thing - whatever it is and whether we need it or not. With this kind of consumerism, we are the dog chasing our own tail. You can just stop that cycle.

This is what the 100 Thing Challenge is about. If you try for a certain period - say, two or three months - to not buy anything beyond your basic needs, while recycling and repurposing all you can, you'll have a great sense of liberation. You will find that very few things make the new purchase cut - a useful tool, a book, a good wine, a small gift for someone who needs cheering. And, hey, you don't have to ditch family photos and heirlooms. The very best can be incorporated, into your new, organized lifestyle or given to a loved one who promises to cherish them.

Grandma's take on this challenge
If you remember, I already recommended the wardrobe editing challenge. For me, personally, wardrobe editing meant paring back to a total of 50 items. I continue to practice the wardrobe discipline - just buying a new item - usually the thrift store variety - when I really don't like something I have or have worn it out.

I give back the no-longer wanted items to charity or tear them apart, to use as fabric strips (or yarn, in the case of sweaters) to make needlework and other craft projects. I must say that I've seldom regretted giving something away or had a hard time replacing an item that later I found I needed. My personal goal is to have only enough needed for daily life and make absolutely no frivolous purchases. That means taking home nothing that hasn't been considered for at least a week. I’ll cheerfully give up just about anything with only a few exceptions. My rule is: If I haven't used it in three months, I can probably live perfectly well without it.

So, here’s where I’ve started with my own paring down process. Everything is fair game right now, except:
- Stuff that’s my husband’s
- Some few books
- Good quality and super useful tools for crafts and for fixing things.
- Collections count as one item. If everything goes in one small case, I count it as one item. But I can and will edit objects from any collection that I have.

I’ll know I’m well on my way to winning this challenge when all my personal things, including clothing, fit comfortably into a tiny room room or one small commercial storage locker.

Steps to begin your 100 Things Challenge
Put one item in the Challenge Box every day for 100 days.
Things that are "just trash" need to go out and not be included in this box.
Start out with duplicated items. Then move on to things that haven’t been used in 3 or more months
Make a list of what goes in the Challenge Box and add boxes as needed.
Take a picture of each box as it fills up, if you want a visual record.

After 100 days, you'll have accomplished these things
- Big “give-away” pile for charity
- Plans and organization to have a garage sale. To make sure that most stuff goes, try labeling a majority of items with "Make me an offer." (You might try selling the really valuable things on EBay.)
- Happier for having a lot less to store and/or dust.
- A bit more money in your pocket or savings account because you are thoroughly aware of what it means to buy and hold on to so many useless things.

Where to from there
So, I hope you start out your minimalism challenge by choosing to get rid of 100 things. You'll find it's true that the less you have, the less you have to worry about. You’ll amaze yourself at how free you feel - no longer burdened by the need to organize, store and maintain all that stuff. Just keep on paring down and you’ll feel even better. And that relief can be extended to other areas - if you're both convinced and brave. (You might try a week-long camping trip to see if 100 (or even less) items are enough to live with on the short term.) Besides your belongings, you could then move on to other minimalistic challenges that can cover other areas that tend to complicate our existence and contribute to the carbon burden of the Earth, such as:
- New digital gadgetry
- Media consumption
- Costly dietary items
- Non-essential energy and water use
- Long-distance and long-commute travel

Related posts
EDIT YOUR WARDROBE
EMBRACE A SIMPLE HOME
REDEFINE YOUR PRIORITIES, REMAKE YOUR LIFE

DON’T STASH YOUR CLIPPINGS, JOURNAL THEM.

“Life is all memory except for the one present moment that goes by so quick you hardly catch it going.” – Tennessee Williams

Some time ago, I wrote about the advantages of personal journaling. And, now – the same as a few months ago – I suggest that you keep a journal to capture some of those moments that go flying by so quickly. Your journal will help you hold onto the tiniest part of what happens or what you see or think about from day to day.

Most of the time when we speak of journaling, we are thinking about something that’s written – like a diary. But not all journals are a collection of written pages. The kind that I’m talking about here is a binder for clippings – a place to collect all kinds of printed, hand-written, and/or sketched material that can serve to motivate you to carry out new projects.

A clippings journal can save you time and effort.
If you’re like me, you consider yourself a creative person. Creation is everything you do that involves art and dedication. It’s when you make something, cook a special recipe, draw a picture, day dream, sing a song, sew, knit, build, etc. That said, unfortunately, you and I don’t have 12 or more hours a day to be creative. Sometimes we have no more than a half hour or even only a few minutes in a whole day to dedicate to our creative urges. So, we have to make the best use of those few hours or minutes and make sure to jot down any great ideas we come across.

Your clippings journal will be a filing system that allows you to categorize and store ideas for projects in the form of pieces of paper of different types and sizes. And your clippings binder won’t take up any appreciable space in your (probably) already crowded bedroom, dining room or whatever place in the house where you keep your creative materials. And things you want to review will take only minutes to find instead of hours of searching.

What’s in a clippings journal?
A clippings journal can contain prints of all sorts, cut outs, written notes and sketches – anything that can inspire you for your creative projects in the near or distant future. It’s not everything that you come across, of course. It’s just what captures your fancy as you leaf through printed material or surf the Internet. These bits of info and pictures are your “gems.” It’s whatever makes you say: “I think I can make use of this sometime later."

Sometimes useful ideas arrive to our doorstep in the form of cards or mail. Put all those great notes or greeting cards into your binder. Parts of them – their words, pictures, etc., -- can later be reviewed to produce new projects. Other things that can go in the binder include labels, stickers, fabric swatches, yarn samples, stamps – almost any kind of materials that are flat enough to be pressed onto the pages. Don’t worry about if and when these new projects may get done. Your clippings and notes are only another page or section of your journal, and not any kind of commitment.

So, find some kind of binder and make the clippings journal that you think will be most helpful to you. The materials arranged in your journal are some of your favorite things at a certain moment. Those hundreds of bits of media and added comments will surely jog your memory and serve to inspire future creations. Once placed in your binder, you’ll have them for as long as you want. It goes without saying that you’re going to collect a whole lot more stuff in your journal than you can ever use. That’s really not so important. And it’s great entertainment just to leaf through what you collected some months or years later.

You may want more than one.
After doing months of handicrafts and other domestic arts (and blogging about them), I’ve found that it’s handy to have a number of different clipping journals – for recipes, for decorating, for eco-friendly projects, and for handicrafts. I’ve put together two for handicrafts, one related to things for my own home and another for gift-making. (I use large photo album binders for my clippings. Before assembling these binders, I had a collection of all kinds of papers in shoeboxes. I found that the boxes took up a lot of space and weren’t a good way to store or find things later. Binders are much more accessible. When I consider it useful, I also write my own notes beside or under the clippings.)

You can even share your clippings journals with other people from time to time. When friends want ideas for projects, you can tell them: “I have something that you might like to work on.” Then, you can let them see some clippings in your binder. Your friends may not be inspired by whatever you show them. It doesn’t really matter so much. You’ll be sharing your inspirational treasures with them, and that kind of collaboration and the discussion that follows can be a great creative motivation to the both of you.

Related posts
KEEPING AN INSPIRATIONAL JOURNAL.
HANDICRAFT SKILLS - AN INTRODUCTION.
REDEFINE YOUR PRIORITIES, REMAKE YOUR LIFE
COLOR THERAPY CAN HELP YOU REJECT CONSUMERISM

CLOSETS NEEDING DECLUTTERING? TRY WARDROBING.

Does wardrobing make sense for you?
Wardrobing is a system of acquiring clothes in a few basic colors - usually 2 or 3 - so that all pieces work well together in a well-defined and consistent style. The purpose of wardrobing is to create multiple outfits from a rather limited number of items. To achieve successful wardrobing, you'll have to pull out all of the items in your clothes closet and drawers, go through an editing process, and only put back pieces in your main colors. When you master the art of wardrobing, you will have enough outfits to feel comfortable and look good in any season of the year. As an extra bonus, your clothes drawers and closets will be almost miraculously decluttered.

My experience with wardrobing
I'll describe my experience with wardrobing to illustrate how you can achieve these goals. (Since I live in an area that doesn’t have a lot of cold weather, wardrobe editing has been somewhat easier for me than it may be for you.)

I picked 3 basic colors: black (true black and charcoal gray), blue (blue jean blue and medium-blue) and white. Most of my clothes are in solid colors, and the few that I have in prints include one or more basic colors. By careful editing, I've seen that every piece coordinates well with all the others. A few beige and pastel tops and shirts still appear in my wardrobe because I’ve yet to find their replacement in black, blue or white.

So, here is my wardrobe strategy. My wardrobe is made up of 40 garments. When I get something new, I simply pass on a similar item to family, friends or a charitable organization. With those 40 items, I now have a useful wardrobe for myself as a homemaker in my retirement years. I feel fairly sure that my wardrobe is correctly edited. Whether or not it represents a minimum number of pieces on a relative scale, either from a worldwide or an ecological viewpoint, is another question. (And, I don't want to think about that - at least not right now). Anyway, the 40 items don't yet constitute a capsule-wardrobe and are probably still more than I need. So, I may decide to further edited my clothes sometime in the future.

You may be interested in how I acquired this wardrobe, so I'll tell you a bit more about it. I bought many of my clothes in thrift shops. Other pieces came from discount stores. The more expensive clothes (black suit, little black dress, and leather jackets) were purchased on sale in department stores 10 or more years ago. Since these better clothes have classic tailoring, they have never gone out of style - at least not by my standards. At any rate, I stopped going to department stores about that time because I thought - still think - that we have to fight mindless consumerism in all the ways we can. Besides, for the past five years, I haven't even had enough money for downtown or mall department stores.

Other benefits
And there are some added benefits of having an edited wardrobe. There’s no need for clothes clutter anywhere since everything fits in: 2 big drawers, ½ of a not-so-big, regular bedroom closet, and one suitcase (for lesser-used pieces). Accessories, like scarves, caps, gloves, sleep wear, bathing suit, yoga clothes, etc., all fit in another big drawer. And, as to upkeep economy, only the 2 suits, the dress pants, the jackets, and the little black dress need dry-cleaning. Thankfully, the better clothes are only worn on rare occasions and seldom need cleaning. Absolutely everything else in my wardrobe goes in the regular home wash.

Shoes
My shoes are also edited. I have 6 pairs of black shoes: medium-heel for dress; nice flats; tennis shoes; cold-weather, low-heel slip-ons; low-heel sandals for warm weather; and rubber sandals for around the house and in the gym shower room.

The whole wardrobe package
Pairs of slacks - 4
- Nice black, lined; black, all-season; blue, all-season; blue jeans
Capri-length pants - 2
- Black; blue-patterned
Blue jean shorts - 1
Just under the knee-length skirts - 2
- Black, all season
- Blue denim
Sleeveless tops - 6
- 3 white
- 3 solid-colored (pastel shades)
Sleeved tops - 6
- 3 white
- 2 blue
- Nice patterned blouse in black and beige
Sleeved, blue denim shirts - 3
- Simple, long-sleeved
- Simple, ¾ sleeved
- Short-sleeved, embroidered
Nice suits (4 pieces)
- Blue suit, jacket and skirt
- Black suit, jacket and skirt (black lined slacks also go with the jacket)
Black leather jackets - 2
- Nice mid-thigh-length, winter
- Sporty hip-length
Dresses - 2
- Nice sleeveless, little black dress
- 3/4 sleeve black dress, all season
Nice light-weight, multicolored jacket 1
Cardigans - 2
- Black
- Beige
Pullovers for cold weather - 3
- Fleecy pink (also makes great sleepwear in the winter)
- Gray knitted
- Gray sweat shirt
Light-weight, black sports pants and jacket (2 pieces)
Total 40 pieces

Have you done something like this?
If any of you, my readers, have had similar, or somewhat different, challenges with wardrobe editing, I would like to hear about your successes (or failures).

MAKE A TOY HAMMOCK FOR YOUR YARN

[HANDICRAFT SKILLS - 4]

Make a toy hammock for your yarn.Since we live in a very small house, we are short on closet space. This has posed numerous challenges. The situation that I refer to today is a problem I have with too much leftover yarn. Even though I have a long list of projects to use up extra yarn, I almost always end up buying more to finish one of the projects that I started with the idea of using up my leftovers. So, the process begins again, and where do I put all that yarn? Well, I have two large clear plastic bags where I keep yarn. One bag houses leftovers and the other has my current handicraft projects. Both plastic bags of yarn are almost full right now, but that isn’t the problem I’m writing about today.

My dilemma is that I don’t have any more space in my closet to put the two plastic bags of yarn. The bag of leftovers is stashed, but not in the most organized way. The bag for current projects is in a basket on the floor. So, I recently remembered something that I read somewhere. It said that excess yarn can be kept hanging in a toy hammock in a corner on the wall. I liked that idea and looked at pictures of toy hammocks on the Internet. I also looked at blogs that showed instructions for making them using several different handicraft methods, including knitting, crochet, and macramé

After looking at the price tag of commercial toy hammocks, I knew what to do. Instead of purchasing one, I decided to crochet one. I am by no means a crochet expert, but I looked at several examples in pictures on the Internet. From the pictures that I reviewed, I realized that special skills weren’t necessary for this project.

Actually, the plan I have is for two hammocks. I needed two sizes, large and small, to be hung in different corners of my bedroom. I plan to put a larger one in a corner away from the bed for the bulk of extra yarn, and the other in the corner where the bed is, for current projects. I only have one or at most two hours per day to devote to these projects. (I never find days, not even a weekend in which I can dedicate my full attention to a handicraft project.) So, I’m usually tired when I begin to work on my project and end up falling asleep, throwing the project at the basket I leave on the floor (and often missing the basket). Worse yet, I sometimes just push the work to one side of the bed and sleep with it. That’s not a recommended procedure because more than once I’ve awakened with a knitting needle or a crochet hook sticking me in the back or in the ribs.

I decided to crochet the smaller hammock first. It’s also the one I need most right now. Here is my plan for myself, as the tired ‘handcrafter” -- I'll crochet until I can’t keep my eyes open and then throw the project at the hammock in the corner above the bed. Under these circumstances, I believe that the project is more likely to be successfully stowed in the corner, than thrown at a basket in the floor.

I decided to do some research and experiment a bit to see if I could come up with what I wanted. I looked at two different examples on the Internet and came up with my own pattern for a mesh hammock -- a loose and open design. I used an F-size crochet hook and some red fingering-weight cotton thread that I already had. It looks a lot like string. I doubled the thread because I wanted the project to be strong.

After some trial and error attempts, I arrived at a pattern for the smaller hammock, which is about 18 inches across. Here is a brief description of the hammock that I’m making now.

****************************************************************
UPDATE: 8/4/2009
My hammock reached 18 inches, but it's way too small for my needs. I chose 18 inches because that was the size of a toy hammock that I saw on the Internet. I don't think very many toys would fit in a hammock that size -- maybe 2 or 3 Barbie dolls or one medium-sized stuffed animal! The 18 inch triangle that I crocheted would only hold the out-going mail on a busy day, and certainly wouldn't hold any of my handicraft projects. So, I'm still crocheting, and this project will be the 36-inch hammock that I thought would hold my extra yarn (see below). I guess I'll need to crochet a 50-inch hammock for leftover yarn.
******************************************************************

The hammock is a crocheted regular triangle. It has chains of stitches to make “loops” on each of the three points of the triangle. The loops will hold the hammock to the walls in the corner of the room. It will hang from 3 sturdy cup hooks, two on the walls at the same height and the third exactly in the corner, a few inches higher than the other two. I’ll be using wall anchors, as well, to be sure that the hammock doesn’t fall down. The bag that is formed in this way will hold my projects and yarn.

I began last night, and it's going pretty fast. From the progress I see right now, I think it will take me less than a week – about 8 hours -- to finish the project. The bigger hammock that I'll make later will be three feet long and will follow the same pattern. I’ll just keep on adding rows until it measures 36 inches. (I'll probably use heavier yarn, a larger hook, and make four chains to form the loops for the mesh -- that way it will go even faster.)

The only stitches I’m using are double crochet and chains -- I use three -- to form the mesh loops. I started with the point of the triangle at the first loop and am increasing one stitch in each row. I increase in the next to last mesh loop of each row so that the sides of the triangle stay fairly even. I’ll stop making rows when the hammock measures 18 inches. Actually, this is the reverse of what I read in the pattern– supposedly you can start with 18 inches worth of stitches and decrease until you reach the point. I guess it doesn’t make any difference when you are producing a mesh. Also gauge isn’t very important, so don’t worry about that. That’s the beauty of a mesh project – it’s very forgiving of small errors. So, you can proceed confidently, even if there are some small irregularities in your work. That’s a blessing.

I hope that you will be motivated to make a hammock for your yarn, or for the toys of a special youngster, as it was originally intended for, or for some other purpose that you can imagine. The only limitation I can think of is weight. These hammocks are meant to hold only a few pounds of items, so please don’t plan to put the baby in this hammock. You would need different material and probably different crochet stitches, along with a lot stronger support system to make a safe hammock for a baby.

DO YOU NEED A BROOM CLOSET?

This post has now become a part of Grandma Susan’s Almanac Calendar.
(See month of July.) -


 

HOME MANAGEMENT: find storage space in your home.

This article has now become a part of Grandma Susan’s website
(See month of September)-

http://grandmasusans2010almanac.yolasite.com

Grandma Susan still publishes her blog with lots of good pages to read, but now the blog includes only recently published pages. Check out new articles on Grandma's Home Page.