Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Bless the Beasts and the Children

If you remember, there was an amazing song back in the 70's from a movie called "Billy Jack" The song was sung by the Carpenters and there is this haunting melody line that says "Bless the beasts and the children, give them shelter from the storms, keep them safe, keep them warm."
I am a sensitive soul that feels the pain of the innocent.
We as adults and caretakers of this earth, the children and the animals have a strong responsibility to be the voices for the innocent. When they are abused or neglected we MUST try to help them.
I posted this beautiful song here and I do hope you will take a moment to listen and to remember the message.

The Carpenters - Bless the Beast and the Children


Monday, July 15, 2013

The fat facts from a skinny girl

When I was a little girl fats meant butter. Lots of butter and cheese and well, butter. I remember butter on pancakes and butter on bread and butter frying the chicken and butter on popcorn. Our lives were a generation of butter and then came this whole movement of low fat foods being healthy for you. So the country embraced carbohydrates which spiked our blood sugar which caused inflammation and metabolic syndrome which causes belly fat, heart disease and diabetes. (All the things the "Fat" was supposed to cause)
The body needs two types of fats, Omega 3's which is found in wild fish and Alpha-linolenic acid which comes from plants such as flax seeds, avocados and walnuts. Omega-3 is excellent in lowering inflammation in the body which decreases disease. The second type of fat is Omega-6 which is an overabundance in our American diet. It is highly inflammatory as average Americans are eating it at a 20-1 ratio with the Omega-3. The healthy ratio would be more like 2-1. Animals fed commercial corn instead of grass have an inflated level of omega-6. It is much better to eat grass fed, organic meat. Never eat farm Salmon as they too are fed an unnatural diet with corn which is now probably raised with GMO seeds.  So only eat wild Salmon and sardines as they are high in omega-3.
By far the best balance for fats would be eating organic extra virgin olive oil for the omega-9 fats, walnuts or Flax oil for ALA and Borage seed, evening primrose and black current oils  for omega-6. The body needs protein from grass fed sources and above ground vegetables with an occasional root vegetable and a piece of fruit. Fermented vegetables like cabbage, beets, carrots are excellent for your digestion. In that mix I say it's ok to occasionally eat organic rice or oats, and organic butter. Yes Butter, your skin will thank you as well as your smiling, happy self because the "butter' craving has been soothed.
If you wish to stay skinny my tip is eat your fats, the healthy ones and don't eat after 6. Exercise by walking every day. Eat to live, don't live to eat. Fill up on things other than food, like art, music, dancing, crafting, gardening, talking with a friend. If you eat less statistics say you live longer.  Enjoy life and remember to just relax when you eat. Food will become a friend, not an addiction. www.trolleyfarm.com

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Simply love Organic: Home sweet home

Simply love Organic: Home sweet home: I used to live in the land of "what's next?" What is going to happen tomorrow? Will I get a phone call that will change my lif...

Home sweet home

I used to live in the land of "what's next?" What is going to happen tomorrow? Will I get a phone call that will change my life? Is the public going to hear my music or read my blog or go to You tube and watch my video? I know, hidden amongst all of the million other singer/songwriters and their thoughts of "What's next?" Will some rich philanthropist fund the next well for the orphans whom I so love and for whom I write the music and do the work.
 So the past few weeks I have been blessed with some pretty neat stuff for a gal like me. I won the Independent country music award Folk artist of the year! My sweet man ran up the stairs and jumped up and down on the bed hollering "you won!" I was given a lot of shout outs and a plaque or a statue of something is coming and talk of an awards show in Nashville and a radio rotation for my song River High (The one I wrote in the dawns early light after a night from hell) Yea, art comes with a lot of suffering. I was interviewed on the "American Perspective" by a journalist who has interviewed Maya Angelo and Michael Jackson. They called her the "Italian Oprah" In the past I have been filmed and pampered and back lit and special taped to pull back the waddle under my chin. You know basic "star" for a day kind of stuff. Over the years with the help of a lot of friends I have raised over $48,000. for orphan work in Africa. I guess when you cross a certain number people start to pay attention which is fine by me because the whole point of the music and the writing and the marketing is for them. Little wonderful kids without parents who pray every night for food and a place to lay their head. I found my life's work in those babies and I pray to be the answer to some child's prayer.
One thing I have noticed in my life of up's and downs is that there comes a time after the television lights or the radio interview or the book signings or hearing your song on the radio when life becomes "my" life again. I wander around my house without makeup and my hair under a baseball cap and my garden boots are on my stocking feet with a bathrobe over the top and I water the gardens and I muck the horse stall and I weed the walkway and I do laundry and listen to the sounds of Bach in my boom box and I hear my dog snore under my feet and I get centered in GOD who lives with me at our little farm. I have never felt so thankful of the blessings around me as I do now. Thankful for it all. So very thankful and I am learning to live right here right now and just breathe in the moment and notice every little thing that I have come to know as home.