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Last updated: August 10, 2016 | Ver. 1.1
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More About PINK_GODDESS
Visit My SparkPage Send Me SparkMail
Recipes I've Shared:
My Ground Turkey Tamale Pie
This is a delicious take on an old favorite. It doesn't taste lowfat or healthy, but it is!
Recipes I've Rated:
- Quinoa with Spinach and Feta Cheese
- Chicken Satay with Vegetables
- Lemon Cod with Rice & Veggies
- My Favorite Shrimp Gumbo
- Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Slow Cooker Chili with Corn, Black Beans and Ground Turkey
- Honey Mustard Chicken
- Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas
- Good for you Brocolli soup
- Slow Cooker Lasagna
- Easy Chicken and Cheese Enchilladas
- Quinoa-Black Bean Casserole
- Jer's Jambalaya
- Cashew chicken
- Cracked Fingerling Potatoes
- Ground Turkey Stroganoff
- Mexican Chicken Breast
- Cheesy Garlicy Cod Bake
Recipe Collections I've Shared:
|Pink_Goddess Can Cook

subset: commoncrawl


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Aaron Summers
DOB: 1 - March - 1988
From Adelaide, South Australia, Aaron is based locally to Berwick so has little travelling to do for home meetings now in comparison with previous gigs. He first came to the UK riding for Edinburgh and Buxton in 2007. He has since riden for Redcar, Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Swindon and most recently Glasgow. Aaron has accomplished a lot in his career - Premier Trophy, League and Play off winner; twice with Edinburgh winning the latter. He has also won the Fours with Birmingham and most recently the KO-Cup with Glasgow in 2016.


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(HOST) Even though she already has a house full of stuff, commentator Stephanie Montgomery went looking for bargains recently and stumbled over a sweet one.
(MONTGOMERY) The other day I whiled away an hour in my favorite consignment shop. It's an easy-going place where I can count on running into old friends and briefly making new ones. People start up conversations over handbags and hats and silken bathrobes.
No two items in the store are alike and neither are the shoppers. Women especially will occasionally regale others with life-histories telescoped through fashion, shoes for example, and every woman listening will nod her head in recognition.
My parents valued objects as much for their stories as their use. Early hardscrabble years coming out of the Great Depression made every acquisition an adventure in upward mobility, cementing the security they so coveted. Anything new gave added luster to small trophies that preceded them.
So in the consignment shop I listen carefully to freely offered sagas about wedding gowns and woolen snowsuits. Such unselfconscious and collective remembering works a kind of historical magic. Whether I buy something or not, I generally leave with a broad grin and a pocketful of second-hand memories.
At the rear this shop has several aisles featuring a trash or treasure assortment of oddments that offer a jumbled lesson in American manufacturing. Woolen blankets threaten to tumble over all manner of glassware. Hammers sit cheek by jowl with leather-soled baby shoes. That day I stubbed my toe on a small, heavy, mysterious machine in this hodgepodge of outmoded stuff.
After stubbing my toe I idly picked up a small scoop with a red wooden handle. The metal had been boldly stamped: Made in the United States of America. Level Full cup. But that was it. The manufacturer had expressed pride in his craftsmanship but neglected to add his own name. Now that captured my imagination.
Then I remembered the flood of imports in the 60s. When Mom and I went shopping we turned everything over and inside out. Brand names were irrelevant. But we marveled at toys and sweaters, and baskets: Made in Denmark, Ireland, Thailand. Stores teemed with items stamped with the names of far off places we never expected to visit.
We tried to imagine the people who made and used these splendid silks, these tiny, worry dolls (why so small?) these intricate puzzles. But their real stories eluded us. The world was a bigger and more mysterious place fifty years ago when nations embraced their identities more closely.
Then I looked down at the worn paint on the scoops handle felt a glad rush of national pride, a pride in which I recognized my parents' will to self-determination and prosperity as distinctly American.
Suddenly I had to have that scoop. I admired its practical and homely nature; its story was my legacy. For two bucks and two bits it was mine.
Stephanie Montgomery is the Director of Memoir Cafe, an online writing service for women.


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17,000 Thai nurses threaten to go on strike
BANGKOK - Some 17,000 nurses across the country will strike work in January if their demand that they be employed as civil-service workers are not met, a nurses' network announced yesterday.
The 17,000 nurses, who have long been employed as contract workers, are demanding that they be employed permanently by the Public Health Ministry by January. Their campaign is supported by fellow nurses. A petition bearing 32,874 signatures calls for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to take action.
Speaking yesterday at a Bangkok seminar, the Nurses' Association of Thailand also repeated other demands: designation of long-term nurses' positions; reserve retirees' job vacancies for only newly graduated nurses; official recognition of nurses on the same level as doctors and dentists; and permission to work overseas when the Asean Economic Community takes effect in 2015.
Association head Jintana Uniphan cited a recent Education Ministry enlistment of 12,000 teachers as an example that could be applied to the case of the 17,000 nurses.
The nurses' network would notify the hospitals where the 17,000 nurses work before the strike takes place.
Network head Wannipha Srihomchai said the nurses would not accept a condition that they remain as Public Health Ministry contract workers while procedures were underway - only immediate permanent employment as civil servants was acceptable.
A proposal that the 17,000 nurses be hired as contract workers for a minimum five-year period instead of one year was also not acceptable, Wannipha said. Such an arrangement might work for newly graduated nurses but not for the long-time workers, who have been on contract for eight years.
Jakkaree Khakamjad, head of the alumni at Boromarajonani College of Nursing, said morale among nurses is at an all-time low. Many are working 16-hour shifts. The ideal one-to-six nurse-per-bed ratio has been at one-to-10 for many years while the one-to-one ratio for intensive care is more like one-to-four in many hospitals.


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A Gypsy Life: Notes from the Diaspora
An Interview with Mokihana and Pete of The Mobile Bird and Vardo For Two
Something very special happens when all the former definitions of your self, your security, your entitlements change. If you live to tell the story that special something is REBIRTH. Our journey is that, a piecing or peacing together of many 1) thoughts and beliefs, 2) emotions and feelings and 3) intuitive knowing. – Mokihana
JG: Hello Mokihana and Pete. Thank you for agreeing to chat with us about your current project, The Mobile Bird, your journey with chemical sensitivity (MCS), and your vision. You recently completed your "Vardo for Two" mobile tiny home. Let's talk about the name first: Vardo, which is the name given to traditional horse-drawn English Romani (Gypsy) wagons. Even today, about 1% of Romani travellers are estimated to still live in the traditional horse drawn vardo. The Romani are a nomadic people who have experienced a lot of racism and discrimination. From your blog posts, it seems you identify with the Romani as a nomadic people, but also as a people who are not treated well by mainstream society. Can you talk a bit about these connections you feel?
Mokihana: Intuition drew me to the shape of the vardo very early on before MCS required us to build something safe. The shape connects me to the roundness of the Earth. Identifying with the Romani happens for at least a couple reasons: first the knowledge I have of their ongoing persecution touches me as a Hawaiian woman. The experience of the Island people has and continues to be one of displacement in their own land. Thousands of Hawaiians live a life of Diaspora, un-safe and illegal on beaches that are their places of birthright – just one of the examples of this contemporary experience. My blog Sam and Sally was my healing narrative trying to make sense of our experience living in the car as refugees and illegals.
Secondly, the Romani wander as nomadic people because it is part of their soul's imprint … I believe that imprint rests within me as well. The daily experiences of living with MCS bonds me to the enduring nature of Romani; we endure despite all the factors that would defeat us.
left: traditional Romani Vardo © Creative Commons;
right: Pete and Mokihana's Vardo © Mokihana Calizar
JG: The idea of the Gypsy wagon resonates strongly with me, as well. When traveling in the Middle East toward the end of '98 – at the beginning of my long downhill slide in health – I met and fell head over heels with a dashing, charismatic Bedouin (nomadic Arab) living in the desert. I spent the next five weeks learning to bake bread under the smoldering fire coals, play the Arabic hand drum, and say I love you in Arabic. Ultimately I left my love, and the desert. The conditions were quite harsh and the cultural challenges were huge. But the lessons I learned from this nomadic culture will stay with me for life. One of these: everything I need is inside me. It was a beautiful experience that helped prepare me to deal with what was yet to come.
I have often compared my experience there to that of having MCS, and how my life seems destined for the desert and its harsh conditions. Having such a nomadic soul myself, being "grounded" by MCS was especially painful in an emotional way. What I love about your vardo metaphor is it gives people like you and me that emotional outlet to feel connected to a nomadic life, to the Earth, to feel our feet planted on the ground while our soul travels the planet. It allows us to rise up and transcend the prison – or cage as you say – of MCS and create something more powerful for ourselves. Beautiful. This is why reading your blog made me cry! It speaks to that part of me, on a very deep, deep level. This is the power you have – anyone has – by following their truth and putting it out there. You don't know how many others you will affect, and in what ways.
Can you tell us a brief history of your journeys with MCS – how you got sick and how it's been for you both?
Mokihana: I've been trying to get to the point of a 'brief history with MCS' for fifteen years. So this will be an interesting answer. I had childhood asthma, triggered at least in part, as are so many children in the islands by the rampant use of chemicals by the military, the agricultural industry and the population at large. None of this was 'common knowledge' when I was growing up. I 'outgrew' asthma in my teens, never had asthma during my twenty three year of living in the Pacific Northwest. I worked for fifteen years in the retail and hospitality businesses. I didn't put the connection between the migraine head aches and anxiety attacks that started more than twenty years ago, with environmental and workplace illness/exposures to chemicals, fragrances, cleaning products and retail store construction…until now. The journey has been intense, humbling, exhausting and isolating. Grief and loss are a huge factor in this illness because as you've written on Planet Thrive, many people especially those friends and family closest to you simply don't or can't get it. So the learning curve is steep and then there's another and another. The process distills me to my essence, and I understand at a deeper level there is a purpose to the madness.
Pete: I am chemically sensitive from a lifetime of working construction and being exposed to too much too often. I have stepped into many brain fog clouds not knowing what is coming or going.
JG: I think anyone with severe chemical sensitivity has had to process a lot of grief and loss – we all have such interesting but sad stories to tell. Mokihana, you are originally from Hawaii – how is life with MCS there? It seems like a nature lover's paradise but I have heard horror stories from one MCS woman who lives there.
Mokihana: Pesticide use in the islands is out of control. I read somewhere that the islands have become a mecca for genetically engineered plantings. Monsanto is the biggest employer on the island of Molokai. It makes me so sad to even write this. Chemical manufacturing and distribution is a big deal in the island, it makes money for the manufacturer and keeps people employed. I've touched on the issue of chemical spraying in the previous answer. Back in the early 1950's spraying DDT to control mosquitoes was common practice. Normal city and county road maintenance practices today include routine spraying of Round-up to keep the rapidly growing flora and fauna under control. We fled a beautiful rental cottage on the North Shore of Oahu two years ago because we woke to see a county tank truck spraying Round-up to the road outside our windows. Neighbors and golf course use pesticides and herbicides just as the city and counties do. The reality of life with MCS in Hawaii is difficult at best. We are FROM there because we can't BE there. This loss is perhaps my deepest grief. I love the islands that were paradise, especially the warm salt water and mourn the fact that I cannot be there.
JG: That must be so hard; to grow up in such a place of beauty and watch it get bludgeoned by ignorance and greed. Through my own experience of having MCS, I do feel a similar type of grief about the entire planet, and how humanity is destroying every last inch of it with its unrestrained use of chemicals and digital technology. Our idea of "home" becomes drastically altered.
Let's talk a bit about the physicality of your vardo. It's 7 feet wide x 12 feet long and weighs around 3,800 lbs.total (including the 950-lb trailer). Did you have to estimate the weight of all the materials before building it to make sure it was transportable?
Pete: Yes, we did have to do a rough estimate of the weight of the materials for the Vardo because the trailer is rated for 5,000 lbs. We made sure there was plenty of weight to spare for the first trip to determine how it would handle on the highway at 50+ miles per hour. The Vardo trailered very well on the highway and hills.
Interior view © Mokihana Calizar
JG: It's essentially a bedroom on wheels. How is it for you and Pete to share such a small living space, being that you are both chemically sensitive?
Pete: The luxury of living as chemical free as possible is a wonderful way to learn to appreciate the goodness of clean air, organic food and simple living. I have enjoyed being and working outside and continue to do so. I always change clothes and often take a shower before entering the Vardo for time with Mokihana, meals and sleep.
JG: You used 28 gauge stainless steel for the interior walls with unsealed solid white oak for the interior roof, which was painted with milk paint. Can you share your recipe for the milk paint?
Pete: We purchased all our milk paint from Homestead House in Toronto, Canada.
JG: How long did you off-gas your interior furniture and belongings for prior to bringing them into the safe oasis room?
Mokihana: Nothing in our vardo is new. The off-gassing in essence was done years ago. The air filter and ceramic heater were purchased new, wiped down with vinegar and water and then used for more than six months prior to use in the vardo. The bed frame is poplar, but I react to poplar. So that is wrapped in Denny Foil and after 2-3 days of airing we were sleeping on it. The flannel sheets we use for wall coverings were purchased at a thrift store in late fall of last year, washed several times in milk and baking soda over the winter and then left out in the snow to finally let nature have its way with the toxic smells.
Some of the bedding we purchased in late summer of 2007 had to be kept out until we could re-wash and air in the fresh air where we live now. Our very old and worn flannel sheets remain our safe bedding today. It can take a very long (6 months) to get even organic cottons to the point where I tolerate them.
JG: That's funny – six months to get organic cotton sheets tolerable seems like a very short time to me! (Some of my things can take years to outgas.) From your blog, I see you have built an outhouse and have an outdoor kitchen encampment. Prior to that, was there any allowance for a bathroom/shower or kitchen set-up in the interior?
JG: How have you provided electricity to the trailer? Are you electrically sensitive as well – did you have to take EMFs into account in the design and construction?
Mokihana: We run an extension cord from the house across the driveway that provides us electricity. We have enough electricity for a ceramic radiant heater, an air filter and a light with a 40 watt bulb, and our 10 year old lap top computer. I knew the electricity would need to be kept to a minimum. In such a small space, any electrical use could trigger a body over-load.
The four outlets inside are positioned as far away from the bed as possible with that in mind. The four windows and the window-topped Dutch front door were designed to allow maximum natural light and are doing that very nicely in the often gray and sun scant Pacific Northwest.
Mokihana applying milk paint to the exterior. © Mokihana Calizar
JG: Living in the wet Pacific Northwest, were any precautions taken for mold growth?
Mokihana: We used milk paint with a beeswax finish to seal as gently as possible on the outside and prevent mold. Rather than use any additives to the paint we do spot checks, and will need to continually spot check for mold, clear and clean with vinegar early on and use a citrus based non-petroleum/caustic agent cleaner to kill mold spread.
The unique flooring and sealing method (using no plywood) that Pete used to make the Vardo both road-ready and sealed from moisture and road travel are another part of the precautions we took.
JG: You have a washing machine – how do you power it, and where is it located?
Mokihana: We share the washer with the friends who share their land and their lives. The washer is in their basement and is run on electricity.
JG: How long did it take to build from start to finish, and how soon after it was built were you able to tolerate it? Where did you live during this time?
Mokihana: This answer does not include the planning time of about a year prior to the actual building time. From the time the trailer arrived until the Vardo was hitched up for travel it was ten months. Once the Vardo was road-ready, we cleaned and cleared it with vinegar and water, I did an energy clearing, set crystals for blessings and let the Vardo clear for three days. We slept in the Vardo the first night we arrived on the Ledge with complete tolerance and incredibly deep sleep.
During the building process, we lived in the Kitchenette … one room of a standard two bedroom basement apartment in Seattle. There was a bathroom and laundry room that was perfectly useable. We had hot showers, indoor plumbing and a washer and dryer with no residual stink from the previous renter's detergents or fabric softeners. We could not use the living room or bedrooms and instead made the kitchen and adjoining seating area our home. We called it the Kitchenette. Our cooking was done outside from July of 2007 until April of 2008. The Vardo was built on the lawn just a few yards from the space we used as home during building.
JG: It's pretty incredible you were able to sleep well in it the very first night! How did you choose – and test – the materials for it?
Mokihana: The choosing started with months of research first, reading everything I could find on the internet and then talking with MCS friends in Seattle. At a MCS picnic last summer a friend suggested using the glass jar method: placing the material in a jar and after a week or longer in the sun or shade, open carefully to measure the degree of off gassing. It's a gambling exercise that requires extreme caution and/or a trusting third party to do the deed. Foam insulation failed where as wool insulation passed.
Like Pete said, the testing process is a trial and error experience because for me, and I believe for others with chemical sensitivities, the degree of tolerance or acceptability to a material will be different when the body and mind are in a weakened condition. That's where the extended period of time for choosing places a big part. Sometimes you simply must wait, recoup and then retest for the next or same material. We worked very closely with an NAET practitioner through every choice. I took samples of nearly every material we considered into her office for muscle-testing and reactivity. I learned to trust her objectivity and her skill with sorting the materials, and then learned to trust my body's wisdom through that process. I continue to learn how to do this.
JG: You touch on a very important point, one that I don't hear too often. Our reactivity level changes daily, or even throughout the day, based on our nutrition, our exposures that day, and other factors. It's important to keep this in mind when testing materials. Pete, what was the most difficult thing about building the vardo – and your most favorite thing about it? What was the biggest mistake, and how did you fix it? Did you work alone most of the time or did you have help?
Pete: Some areas were difficult and some enjoyable. Shopping for and choosing the right material was time consuming and stressful. My first roof choice, a soldered copper roof design proved to be faulty choice. That set us back in timing by weeks. Eventually we were led to a more costly but very practical tight seam metal roof that works well.
My favorite part was knowing in my heart that the Vardo would be a place that Mokihana and I can depend on to be a safe place to live and sleep. That made my day everyday.
With Mokihana always there giving me encouragement, help in making decisions and doing lots of the painting and art work, ordering material for the interior; the bed and bedding, wall covering, shopping for and preparing lunches and dinners, creating the VardoForTwo blog, I had lots of help.
Mokihana: Pete worked alone at all times of the day and night and on snow days the neighbor next door would look out to see him hard at it. The only times people helped him on site was when the roofers lay and set the roof; and when the neighbors and our friend helped Pete move the Vardo out to the street for hitch-up time. He searched and found quality craftspeople who would treat our requirements for a chemical free process with respect and follow-through. These craftspeople and fabricators built a modified trailer to meet our needs, four custom oak windows, a Dutch front door, and metal roof, cut sheet metal and completed steel fabrication for walls.
Pete working on the vardo outside. © Mokihana Calizar
JG: It sounds like all the pieces fit together perfectly, from the great way your skills complimented each other, to the temporary housing you found, and the craftsmen who helped. I think you might have someone looking out for you from above. What are your top five tips to prospective builders of a tiny MCS-safe home?
Mokihana: 1) It is possible and it works; 2) Go slow; 3) Spend time and reflection on the 10 things to ask before building a birdcage; 4) Make lots of room for new lessons; 5) Make friends with time. Here's a motivator: the cost for our trailer/home on wheels license = $20.00. What a deal for property 'tax'!
JG: Nice! Why did it take so long to build such a small space?
Mokihana: The answer is in the reply we gave about research, choosing material, testing materials and retesting materials and finding suppliers and craftspeople to help with building. The other part of that answer comes from building a small space that must also be able to withstand road travel. Pete's methods and procedures always ensured a bolting and securing style that would lock a bolt in place under pressure or movement. Jim Toplin master building and craftsman of vardo and caravan reinforced that style of building for beauty and endurance. Pete took that approach and applied it to MCS.
JG: One beautiful result from tiny home living is that the outdoors becomes your living room. How much of your time is now spent outdoors?
Mokihana: Pete spends most of the hours between wake-up and go to bed outside. I spend a lot of time inside. Depending upon what the outside environment is like for me (pollens, near-by construction) I spend time two hours at a time outside, less if my health is weakened or in a recuperative stage. Having the Vardo to rest I can go in and out on the best of days until early evening.
A gypsy life: view of the vardo, outdoor kitchen, and seating area. © Mokihana Calizar
JG: What happens in winter months – are you both snuggled in bed hibernating during the coldest part of the year?
Mokihana: We know we must seek a different encampment for the winter. Our friends who share their land with us burn wood to stay warmer in the winter, and we cannot tolerate wood smoke for extended periods like all winter. Snuggled in bed hibernating will be part of the scene.
Our hope is to find something similar to the Kitchenette (see our blog for the stories of the Kitchenette) we had while building the vardo. This winter we'll have the vardo as our bedroom and need a place to park it, an electrical outlet to plug into and a safe kitchen and bathroom with laundry would be ideal. We pray for this or something better. Any readers with a winter VardoForTwo encampment, please give us a shout!
JG: Oh, I hope one of our readers can help you out! Can you share how much it cost to make your vardo with materials alone? Did you have to pay for any third party labor?
Mokihana: We spent approximately $25,000 for materials and labor for the work we mentioned in the other questions.
The finished vardo: a work of art. © Mokihana Calizar
JG: How did you choose the land to park it on?
Mokihana: We have long-time friends who live on eight acres of woods in Washington State. A year ago we began exploring what it would take to move our MCS selves and the vardo onto their land and share their lives. Not many others offered to share their homes plus change their lifestyle to become chemical and fragrance free. We work at the process every day and every night. It's one of the learning curves we navigate and so far the love and respect remains foundational, and the willingness to learn about the illness and accommodate our needs remains.
JG: You are very fortunate to have such accommodating friends. Tell us your vision for the intentional community.
Mokihana: Living with our two friends who share the Ledge on their eight acres is a starting point for this vision to create intentional community. The shared in-house space arrangements – we use one bathroom for showers and use the freezer; learning to ask for and establish needs and limits; and gathering regularly for a shared meal teach all of us what it means to re-assemble the "American Dream" during a time when all four of us ought to be sliding into 'retirement.' Our combined skills, talents, histories and personalities in our four-person, two familiar (a feline and a canine) community teach us the art of what it takes to care and share intentionally.
With this experience we hope our abilities to share and live intentionally will grow to include other encampments with other folks with similar goals and resources… much like the Romani have done throughout their history, in different places. I think our original vision for intentional community was more idealistic. With each day and night of life from the Vardo that vision tempers. I see how slowly change comes and try to keep it simple. An intentional community might include the following basics:
- clean air
- clean water
- safe sleeping spaces
- quiet times often
- organic local food/growers and garden space to tend and harvest
- respectful human relationships
- openness to sharing resources
- laughter whenever possible, if not more
- fragrance- and chemical-free
- a spiritual connection with Earth and Ke Akua (Source, Higher Power) that is the foundation
JG: Count me in! I lived at an intentional community for two months in 2004, just before sliding into severe MCS. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life, and the possibilities it opened up kept me sane during some of my darkest moments.
I see you are growing wheatgrass and sprouts. I juice them myself 4-5 days a week. It's also very inspiring to see your organic compost garden beds. People who garden in the high desert climate I live in must protect their beds with wire mesh from the rabbits, chipmunks, and other local critters who would devour any plant life quickly. What creatures do you share the land with, and how do you protect your food?
Mokihana: So far all we do is grow enough so the bugs get some and we get some. We'll let you know when the season progresses how successful this method is.
JG: I will be anxious to hear! I have always aspired to being self-sufficient but not very good at creating it in my life (I am a former NYC-girl after all). Getting MCS was a blessing in that regard because it's forcing me to live truer to my essence. Finding others who have allowed MCS to guide them back to the land and find their rhythm with the earth is deeply inspiring and gratifying. Thank you for putting your truth out there.
You built your vardo almost entirely from savings but many with MCS are not so lucky and most of their life savings have been drained by the time they decide to build a safe home. Do you have any suggestions for people without savings – are there any creative ways to finance that you can recommend?
Mokihana: We built the vardo with savings. The cost to continue to live and learn this lifestyle, finish the inside of VardoForTwo and get ready for winter puts us right in there with "most of their life savings have been drained." About suggestions for people without savings … I am very interested in creating communities of 'Saving Circles.'
JG: What are Saving Circles – and how do you envision them being used in the MCS community?
Mokihana: I am always on the look out for localized successes with small process. That is what a Saving Circle is. Rather than go into much detail here, I've attached a link to the first post on Saving Circles on VardoForTwo.
You have hit the nail on the head when you noted that most people living with MCS have depleted their life savings (if they have savings) by the time they decide to build safe. Daily tasks like washing clothes and getting food or buying safe clothes/bedding are a huge energy requirement and yet these are the basic things a person living with MCS must have to maintain a life. Add to this the health supportive or maintenance costs and its no wonder 'life savings' are gone when building a home is the goal.
What I hope to materialize for the MCS community is a forum of some sort (online?) where people within a localized area read about the principles for starting a Saving Circle, find a way to gather in a group regularly that suits their health needs, and begin to practice the principles of a Saving Circle. Initially the circle would save money to purchase the very basic and necessary goods/products that might serve an MCS community.
Examples of these basic things: make sure each member has an inventory of baking soda in bulk, vinegar in bulk, cotton and organic bedding that is washed and sleep ready, clothing that is fragrance fresh in different 'variations.' The list can go from there. The goal would be to practice the principles of Saving Circles by saving regular amounts in a collective and supportive environment. The growth and changes will then come organically from the process. With practice and resources a member of a Saving Circle might be able to purchase larger, necessary items (e.g., a washer, a dryer, an electric ceramic heater, an air purifier). In time the process and success of Saving Circles could lead to collectives that have buying and building resources to 'raise a barn' a la MCS or build a mobile bird cage.
JG: Ooh, I like the sound of that! You are also now interested in building vardos – or "mobile birdcages" as you have affectionately named them – for others. I'm not clear from what you've written so far whether you would actually do the building and then ship it to the owner, or if you would merely provide guidance and support. Can you clarify the services you'd like to supply?
Mokihana: We aren't sure exactly how we could serve. Building a home such as ours for someone else is difficult at best. We are exploring the needs and listening to the queries we get. At this time we think the service we are able to offer is support and guidance through the process of planning and research and testing. The 10 Questions to Ask Before Building a Bird Cage is critical. If we are able to effectively work through these steps with a canary in need it would big. Perhaps the service is to work together with others as we continue to learn what it takes to live from an oasis on wheels. Go slow is our mantra, there's no rushing the process of building safe and solid.
JG: Selecting tolerable building materials is one of the most critical stages of the building process for someone with severe chemical sensitivities. One wrong product could ruin the entire project for someone. If you were to build vardos for others from a distance, how would the materials selection work?
Mokihana: Someone with severe chemical sensitivities going through the process of building a safe home will need time to test for tolerance and have support/medical treatment/NAET treatments to sustain the trial and errors that are unavoidable. We see from the preliminary contact we are having with interested folk that this process of painstaking testing and support must be done prior to any building steps. Build a Vardo for others from a distance? Good question. We're not sure of the answer yet.
JG: From your list of 10 questions for those planning to build a vardo: "Why do I believe a safe oasis room is right for me?" What was your answer to this question?
Mokihana: I wrote an entire story to answer that question on the blog Sam and Sally. A safe place seemed an impossible dream and our real life just had to be someone else's science fiction. What happened during the alchemy of writing that blog and finally finding a safe-enough place was to build VardoForTwo. We have moved thousands of miles, searched places on both sides of the Pacific and each time we had to move again.
The safe oasis room on wheels became the right answer for us when our savings and resources could no longer pay the asking price for renting unsafe space and gravity was working against us as well. We are aging faster than we can continue to recover from Diaspora. The small space we have built is what we could manage and afford to build. If the choices of others affect us, we'll move our home. When it boils down to is this: the inconvenience that make up our daily kuleana (Hawaiian word for responsibility) today is no less inconvenient than Earth's endurances. We have admittedly been part of the problem when it comes to living with environmentally triggered illness. Now we have a chance to be part of the solution. Let's see how well we do.
JG: What is your blog Makua O`o about?
Mokihana: Makua O`o in Hawaiian means "adult with digging stick", and refers to the spiritual and life practice of becoming an elder. It is the practice shared with me by a great lady and teacher Aunty Betty Kawohiokalani Jenkins from Waialua, Oahu. This practice of learning to become an elder based on the teachings of ancient Hawaii is a corner stone of my life. It grounds me to look keening and broadly to my experiences while remembering Ke Akua (creator, mother-father source) is in all things. Makua O`o is my on-going practice of mindfulness that tethers me when life lets the air out of my balloon, and it reminds me of my roots to the culture of my mother. I took a break from writing the daily posts on that blog while we adjusted to life on the Ledge and began to focus on the possibilities for service through The Mobile Bird. That doesn't mean this makua doesn't need to practice using her o'o though. Perhaps the break from writing Makua O`o, simply means I needed more with the o`o. Time will tell.
JG: I think that is a beautiful approach to aging and a much more humane role model than the one offered by the plastic surgery-worshipping and diet-crazed culture we live in the midst of. Thank you for sharing your story with us, and for creating your entertaining and highly informative blogs. This is one canary whose soul has been enriched by the reading.
Julie Genser is the founder of PlanetThrive.com, a hip, rockin' community for those who are ready to kick convention to the curb and reclaim responsibility for their health, and MCSsafehomes.com, a free service provided by Planet Thrive, Inc.
This article was originally published on the now defunct website MCSsafehomes.com on July 10, 2009 and transferred to the re|shelter website on February 22, 2011 under the original publication date.
Community Feedback
July 15, 2011 at 2:33 pm
I'm inspired by your story! I'm about to embark on building a tiny bedroom on wheels, and would love to access your blogs to learn more.
I can't access them as they seem to be closed to the general public, and I'm not sure how to request to be added to your viewing list!
Hopefully someone reads this post and can offer a suggestion,
November 21, 2012 at 9:39 pm
I too would be intersted in accessing the blog, as I have often thought of building/renovating a caravan (trailer) to suit my needs. I also have a couple of other questions. How do the stainless steel walls work out in varying weather conditions? Are they prone to excessive condensation? Also, are they excessivly conductive of heat and cold from the outside? I am also interested to know how mobile living has worked out in the long term. My family and I lived in our old well outgassed caravan for 3 years untill I no longer tolerated it and finding suitable places to park was one of the biggest challanges.
November 21, 2012 at 11:44 pm
Laura and Eliana,
The last link is still working so you can try to contact Mokihana through her blog here: http://www.makuaoo.blogspot.com/. Best, Julie
December 20, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Hi –
I am at the beginning of my most recent journey with MCS. Although I have been experiencing symptoms for 34 years it is only lately where housing is suddenly a big issue. Although I am trying to remain optimistic, there is so much about the future that is unknown and this has been difficult to deal with at times.
I have been encouraged by your outlooks and your refusal to let setbacks deter you or keep you from having a life you love. I would would love to follow your blog. However, I have not been able to access it. Is there a way that I might be able to do so? Thank you and best wishes to you both.


text:
When Bulgarian architect Iwan Iwanoff arrived in Fremantle in 1950, he helped redefine the state's architectural landscape by introducing international design and construction techniques to Perth. In the lead-up to this year's Open House weekend, design and architectural enthusiasts have their chance to look inside one of the famous architect's homes this Sunday.
"Iwan Iwanoff really captures the innovative spirit of the time," says Open House Perth's creative director Carly Barrett. "While many people would recognise modernist houses as icons of design internationally, not many may know that Perth was a global leader in housing innovation. Alongside California, Western Australia was also known as a pioneer in using steel for domestic construction."
Iwanoff's Brutalist-inspired abodes, and their signature concrete breezeblocks and wooden craftsmanship, are scattered throughout suburbs such as Mount Lawley, Karrinyup, City Beach, Floreat and Dianella.
Today, his mid-century homes are some of the most tightly held properties in Perth. There's even a Facebook page that tracks when an Iwanoff-designed home goes onto the market and is open to the public.
"Iwan Iwanoff also designed many commercial projects that are open, but because Iwanoff was predominately a residential architect, most projects are private," says Barrett. "This is the first Iwanoff to be associated with the Open House Perth event but we are definitely looking for more."
Open this weekend, the Frank House (5 Patula Place, Menora) was built in 1969 and features Iwanoff signatures such as open-plan living and extensive wood panelling. The home is open 2pm to 4pm on Sunday July 2.
As well as the Iwanoff opening, this weekend will see the opening of the Bottleyard Apartments by MJA Group, developed by the Handle Group. Open on Saturday 10am to 3pm, the project is described by Barrett as a great example of new architecture, inspired by both colonial and Indigenous heritage.
"This year we are highlighting some of WA's most innovative homes and apartments that tackle big issues like density, community and affordability," she says.
These two openings are a preview of the main Open House Perth event being held November 11–12 (full program still to be finalised). For more details visit www.openhouseperth.net.


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TORRANCE, Calif. – Aug. 9, 2017 – Just in time for summer, American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) and International E-Z UP, Inc. (E-Z UP) have partnered up to enhance the fun family experience d...
Aug 09, 2017
How a Local Community Pulled Together to Help AYS...
Two weeks ago, Region 146's equipment shed was broken into. With the fall season looming near, the Daly City Region requested donations from their local community.
Aug 03, 2017
AYSO and Bownet Sports Partner to Improve the Soc...
TORRANCE, Calif. – August 3, 2017 –The American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) and Bownet Sports have partnered together for a three-year agreement. Bownet Sports is now a National level sponsor ...
Aug 03, 2017
The Lancaster National Soccer Center Welcomes AYS...
The City of Lancaster will soon host the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) National Open Cup 2017.
Jul 12, 2017
Show Your Team Spirit at the National Open Cup wi...
Help support AYSO by dining at Chipotle with this flyer during the national Open Cup!
Jul 10, 2017
4 Safety Tips for the 4th of July
The Fourth of July is one of the most exciting holidays of the summer. However, as one of the busiest weekends in the year, there are several factors that can lead to accidents.
Jun 27, 2017
AYSO-U News!
The American Youth Soccer Organization AYSO is excited to report the successful launch of AYSO-U in just its first two weeks.
Jun 16, 2017
AYSO-U News!
The American Youth Soccer Organization AYSO is excited to announce a new Learning Management System, AYSO U, as a way to train volunteer coaches, referees and administrators online.
Jun 05, 2017
3 Tips to Staying Safe this Memorial Day
As one of the busiest weekends in the year, there are several factors that can lead to accidents.
May 25, 2017
Links of Interest
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US Soccer
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Bard College Women's Soccer
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Ulster County Community College Soccer
Field Status
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Updated: 08/02/2018 11:26AM
5U/6U Field #5
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Bookings can be made here: www.cycologylab.com/book-now


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Sam inhabits home with his adorable guardians, Ron and Judy, and all is by all accounts well with the world. At the point when Sam's dad takes him to purchase another auto, things begin to go astray. The old yellow Camaro that Sam picks in the utilized auto parking area ends up being Bumblebee, an Autobot who can't talk, however can unveil his feelings through different melodies on the radio. The Autobots are a race of outsiders who have seethed war against the vile Decepticons.
The great folks are going by Optimus Prime, while the terrible folks are going by Megatron. Like The Lord of the Rings, the two sides battle about a strange protest known as an Allspark, which has the intensity of decision over everything and everybody. Sam doesn't pick Bumblebee out of unadulterated fortuitous event. This present youngster's granddad really unearthed Megatron while looking into in the Arctic Ocean. The Decepticon pioneer was detained in the ice, yet at the same time ready to engrave the guide to the Allspark on the glasses of Dr. Archibald Witwicky, Sam's granddad.
Sam is presently possessing his granddad's glasses with the guide to the Allspark. The Autobots advance up to ensure that mystery, while the Decepticons start to wreak devastation and endeavor to free Megatron from his frigid grave. There's a side plot including Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson as warriors in the deserts of Qatar. However, the whole storyline is the meaning of superfluous. Sam is the place the activity is, and Sam is the place Transformers ought to stay centered. The acting is tolerable. LaBeouf knows how to play out these parts with his eyes shut. He's a troublesome, shrewd talking young person, much like a large portion of alternate parts in his resume. Fox is all cleavage and deliciousness.
There's very little to the character, and the performing artist doesn't include anything. I discovered White's turn as Sam's mom very entertaining, yet, generally, Transformers is possessed by the CGI manifestations, not the meaty ones. There is greater identity and subtlety in Bumblebee and Optimus Prime than any of the human performers. This clearly demonstrates the twofold edged sword that is Michael Bay's true to life yield. His visuals are a comment, however once in a while are they moved down with sensible characters and sound plots.


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Weekend Food Prep
Prepping meals and healthy eats ahead of time is a huge lifesaver in our household. Between training, work and other activities, there's very little free time (or extra energy) for me to cook during the week. Lunches are especially important, since I tend to get to work very early and the hubby will eat oreos if I send him empty handed! Reality: without healthy choices on hand, we both tend to default to a bread and PB or bread and eggs diet (not completely a bad thing some days... just not everyday).
While I still do some prep during the week, having a head start on the leg work certainly helps provide a little extra momentum to get going after a busy day. One of the main things I focus on is taking evaluation of what's already in the fridge and needs to be used. I try to base our meals around veggies, so I start the process by turning on some music, spending time chopping up all unused produce in the fridge (can't stand food waste!!), and making a plan from there.
Benefits of Weekend Meal Prep
What You Will Need
It can be overwhelming at first so start small! Prioritize and pick out a few key items each week and build from there. It doesn't happen every weekend for us, especially when we travel, but it's definitely a habit I'm glad I've developed more over the years.
Happy Prepping!
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About Kristen
Kristen Chang is Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD) and triathlete residing in southwest Virginia with her husband and dogs. Follow along as she shares favorite fueling recipes, general wellness and sport nutrition tips and stories from her athletic endeavors.
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