Havana Shakedown Wrap & Votes For Women Festivities

It's been another rough couple of days but I don't really want to talk about the negatives.  I'm really trying to focus on the positives but it's getting harder and harder.

A few weeks ago what I tried to do to 'get out of my funk' was to stop at a vegetarian place in Jamestown that I had not been to in a while.  Years ago I blogged about it.  The place is called The Labyrinth.  The wrap that you see here is what I had for lunch while I was in town for work.  They call it the Havana Shakedown.  It has beans, avocado, seasoned rice, sun seeds, carrots, spinach, tomato, onion, agave, lime, and hot sauce in it.  YUM!

Not too long ago I found these at ALDI.  They were pretty tasty.

Now on to some photos from the Votes For Women Festivities in our area.  In case you haven't seen my other VOTES FOR WOMEN posts...we have been doing a lot of celebrating and will continue to celebrate thru 2020...for the 100 years of Women's Right To Vote.

In this photo (above) you will see a replica of an old poster and clipped to the bottom left a photo of my niece from the rally we had back in June.  The other ladies in our local Suffrage Centennial Committee surprised me with her photo the one day!

We were able to get 3 downtown businesses to let us use their windows to promote a few upcoming events.  A few of my friends Jane and Barb did the decorating!

Here are some pics of those windows!  As you can see they are promoting the event we had on September 10th which was a portrayal of Susan B. Anthony.  More on that shortly.

I couldn't believe all of the replicas and memorabilia they were able to gather and decorate with!  So exciting!  We have lots of other events planned, too, so I will be sure to update you all!

When we did the Susan B. Anthony event on the 10th - we had a Rally prior to the show.  We had many of our committee members attend but also several from the community dress up as well!  The lady in the yellow hat is Karen and the one with the glasses in front/middle is yet another Karen.  They are both League of Women Voters Members (among other organizations).  Phyllis is pictured on the left and also in the photo below.

My friend Jane is pictured on the left with the yellow/white/purple poster.  She was one of the ladies who decorated the windows!  Phyllis is next to her...she's a local gem and involved in SO MUCH!  Annette is next to Phyllis.  All 3 of those ladies are League of Women Voters Members (as am I).  Then on the end is Carol.  Carol - along with Phyllis - are Zonta Club Members (as am I).  I adore these ladies!  They are wonderful!

Here is a snapshot of the crowd prior to the one-woman-show.  It was a wonderful evening and the portrayal was great!  The Historical Society received a grant from our local Zonta Club to pay for the actress to come to town.  

We are hoping to have an Alice Paul portrayal within the next year but we don't have the funding yet.

Community Involvement & Family Time

Taking a look back at June 24th...our community did something special to celebrating the ratification of 100 years of Women's Right To Vote.

Our Courthouse bells rang 19 times at noon and many of us gathered for a rally and fellowship.  There were several speakers and those who dressed up and held signs.

My mom and dad were watching Trinity that day and the stopped over for the first part of it.  Trinity was a HIT.

She even made the front page of our paper the next day!  This is her and me holding signs.  It was a lovely day.  I'm part of the Suffrage Centennial Committee and there are LOTS of things planned thru the end of 2020 so you will be hearing a bunch more about these events soon!

Here is a photo of the Courthouse lawn with those who participated.  The brick building in the back is our local historical society.

Another thing that I haven't really blogged too much about is that when our company was sold DH and I spent two days in Erie to not only help with their 70th Anniversary for WICU but to get to know some of the people at the main office and such.  Here are a bunch of us passing out fans, coloring books, and sports bottles.

Another thing I was able to do in the middle of July was with our Zonta Membership.  Each year we do a "Summer Surprise" and we don't know where we are going or what we are doing until we leave for the evening.  This year - we didn't travel too far.  We had a private tour and history of our local, historical Struthers Library Theatre.  Many of us have been in the theatre fairly often but it was nice to have a behind the scenes look and really take our time.

And I mean...REALLY behind the scenes...this was backstage!  I just LOVE all of the old signs we saw.

Here is some of our membership enjoying the tour!

Earlier in the summer...my mom, dad, sister, Trinity and I went to Waldameer which is a theme park/adventure park in Erie.  It's been YEARS since I have been there but it was Trinity's first time so it was SO FUN!!!

On the way home that day she was super weird and starting sucking her toes like a thumb and I couldn't stop laughing.  Even funnier was the oh-so-serious look on her face while she was doing it!

Total Evolution really kept me fed this summer with all the running around!  WOWZA!  Here is their Avocado Toast - vegan style, of course!

And here is one of the build-your-own chia bowls.  I chose Peanut Butter, Granola, Raspberries, and it was great!  They use Soy Milk as a base.

Vegan Finds, Vegan RVing, Nature, Volunteering, & Playing Catch-Up

First I want to say THANK YOU for those who commented on my last post and sent words of encouragement.  I truly appreciate you all!  This post will be more on the positive side.  I have LOTS of vegan finds to share with you over the last several months.  As well as some of the volunteering, family, nature, and camping posts to share!  So...here...we...go!  The photo above is one of the new vegan butters I found.  Since I found this months ago it could very well be old news but I think it's still worth posting!  Country Crock jumped on the plant-based train and came out with this new 'butter' made from Avocado Oil.  I have to say I do like it.  I found this one at my local Tops Market.

These next TWO photos are vegan yogurts I found.  The flavors were good but they were a tad on the thin side.  I believe I found these at Wegman's.

Of course, I LOVE Lemon Meringue flavored things so I had to try this one at the very least!

Here are 4 of the dressings and such that got me thru this season of camping!  I have been trying to follow more and more vegan RV'ers and vegan campers to connect with, too!  I know I have posted the Daiya dressings before but I don't think I have featured the Field Organic Goddess Dressing or the Annie's Lemon & Chive but I enjoyed all 4 of them!

Here is a shot of my cabinet for the camping season.  Of course there were other trips to the grocery store in between but I thought it was worth a corner in this blog post.  I tried the new Daiya Bac'n & Cheddar and I wasn't that much of a fan but at least I can say I tried it once.  It was too salty for me.  I'm just now getting to the point were I am eating the soups because it cooled down for a few days.  Rice is always a good choice.  Trinity and I shared the organic applesauce.  There are some Nature's Bakery items in there and a few Coconut Silk Milk's in there, too!

On to the snacks!  My father went to a snack and candy show and brought back a bunch of munchies for me.  Over the last several years he has noticed more and more vegan options!  YAY!  This was one of the new flavors back in April from Vegan Rob's!  I have to say I LOVED them!  A nice kick!  Addicting!  YUM!

And speaking of addicting...THESE GUYS!  OMG!  I adore them!  The only negative?  I can't find them around here!  Maybe that is for the best...I would eat them TOO MUCH then if they were readily available.

While camping this year we found MANY birds nests!  And some of them were in the strangest places!  This one was behind our camping in between the fence and the water hook-up.  It was built AFTER we hooked-up.  I checked on it each time I went to the camper and the eggs were so small!  Too small to be Robins.  After researching it for a bit, I found out these were Chipping Sparrows.  3 out of the 4 eggs hatched and I was actually able to see them fly out of the next a couple of weeks after they hatched, too!

Another thing that happened in the spring was another Refugee Hike.  Once again I helped with the food - as did my mother!  These kids were AMAZING!  The youngest was about 14 and the oldest of was 24.  There were also a few chaperones, too.  Unfortunately, I missed the canoe trip they did in early August because of the volunteering I do at our fair.

Also in the spring, I was inducted as a new Zonta Board Member.  I'm pictured here in the black shirt with red scarf.  I really LOVE being a part of the Zonta Organization.  My only regret was that I didn't join sooner.  In addition to being on the board now I am the Service Committee Chair for a 2nd year in a row.  This year I am also on the Advocacy and Media/Communications Committee (as I was last year) and new-for-me this year is becoming a member of the Fellowship Committee, too!  I'm VERY excited about the new year!

You may remember that last year our club started collecting bras for Free The Girls.  We have continued to do so and have collected 2,001 bras so far.  I doubt we will be slowing down anytime soon!

These next TWO photos are from some of our Suffrage Centennial Committee Meetings.  We have been discussing and planning various events with several other organizations around our county to celebrate 100 years of Women's Right to Vote.

Many of the ladies have been purchasing and making banners, sashes, flags, and more!  It's really neat to see!  Tonight we actually have an actress coming to town to portray Susan B. Anthony.  I will try and take pictures and blog about it soon!

And, finally, here are some photos from Warren County Serves that took place in Mid-May.  It's a group that formed a year or so ago and they lost many of their members even before the first annual event.  I've always wanted to do something like this to encourage and promote volunteerism in our area so I ended up joining the group!  We had projects that included beautification at our local Humane Society as well as tagging and sorting at the thrift shop they have on the other side of town.  There were several parks that also did beautification projects during that weekend.  There is a community house for those with mental and physical disabilities that a group helped scrape, paint, and stain steps, too!  We also have an organization in our county that houses and pairs service dogs and emotional support dogs to those who have PTSD and other emotional difficulties and that group helped clean-up their parking lot, outside of the building, and such.  Another place that had volunteers was our fairgrounds.  We did a LOT of painting, and I mean a LOT.  And others helped with cleaning some of the buildings and landscaping.  There were other projects, too, these are just a few.

I'm already pondering my post for tomorrow.  I still have a lot of catching up to do.  Let me know if you think these posts are too long or if you prefer them.

Tofu Tacos, Around The Community, Wegman's Vegan Finds, Nepal Tea

While I am still catching up on blogging and posting pics from my everyday life - here are some other things that have been sitting in my TO BE POSTED File.  First up, is my meal from Mad Mex in Erie.  They have some really wonderful vegan options.  This time around I decided to try something I haven't tried yet which was this plate of Tofu Tacos!  As you can see they were soft tacos with lots of sprouts, vegan sour cream, guac, rice, black beans and it was all sorts of YUM!  That was for my Birthday Dinner back in the middle of March.

March was also Women's History Month and our local library has a very creative and involved staff.  They had a nice display of Women's books and Authors.  They even did little bookmarks and such!  Really nice!

Another thing taking place at our local library last month was the Youth Art display in their gallery!  Here is just one of the pics I took of the walls.

Oddly, March was a REALLY BUSY month!  Yet another thing I participated in was an evening at the Library where we could speak with 3 electronic voting machine vendors to see which ones our county wants to go with moving forward.  It was open house style and you could come and go.  Some people stayed for a few minutes or up to an hour - but I found myself returning to each vendor with more and more questions and I think I was there nearly the whole time (2 or 3 hours).  I was there on behalf of our local League of Women Voters.

In this photo, you will see a really old staircase and wallpapered ceilings.  This was part of a tour I took in our community.  It's a historic home that was purchased by a non-profit that houses women who were just released from prison.  It helps them get back on their feet, find work, find housing, and rehabilitate.  A few of us are trying for some grant money for a Day of Hope we would like to do.

Another community event I attended last month, was our historical society's annual meeting.  It took place in our county courthouse.  This is a photo of the main courtroom.  What's significant about this courtroom is that it's the first (and maybe the only) courtroom where a sitting judge was shot and killed.  That took place in 1954.  The wood is still present and you can see where one of the bullets grazed it and I believe the other bullet might still be in the wood to the right (not shown).  But during this specific community event and annual meeting a speaker talked about a local home that he purchased.  Because it was the recipient of a Pennsylvania Historical Marker he told us what he could and could not do with the property and showed LOTS of photos of the house and land.  I found it very interesting because it's not even a mile from my parents house.  

Here is a tea sampler set I recently received from Nepal Tea and I will be writing reviews over at Sororitea Sisters in the coming months!

A while back I grabbed some Vegan Tofu Ravioli at Wegman's.  It seems like it's been forever since I have tried anything from Soy Boy which is a company in Syracuse, NY.

Another item I found that day was these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Cybele's.  I have to say I had not seen them anywhere up until this point.  They were darn tasty!

And...behold...I finally got my hands on the JUST Cookie Dough.  OMG!  I'm eating it right out of the container.  Forget MAKING cookies!  

Eating Out of the Pantry, Coins from Malaysia, & a Snail Named George

I was going to blog about another restaurant today but I thought I would save it for another day...SOON!  Instead, I thought I would do a post about current happenings and upcoming events.

One thing is for sure...I don't have a whole hell of a lot of food in my house!  This photo above is from a few months ago and it's already 'ancient history'.  I have a feeling I will be doing a lot with Quinoa and Lentils next week because that is what I have in my pantry.  It will surely be 'slim pickings'.

And speaking of that phrase - I had to Google the origin.  I knew it was old but I didn't know it went back to the 1600's!  And that is according to Dictionary.com...and what they had to say about what it alludes to is a bit ironic due to me being a vegan and all but I still thought it was interesting...

A small amount left after others have taken a share. For example, After each of the children took what they wanted of Mother'sthings, it was slim pickings for the rest of the family. This expression alludes to animals devouring a carcass. [Early 1600s] 

Something that is LONG overdue is a THANK YOU to Suituapui for these wonderful coins from Malaysia!  I received them a few months ago and totally forgot to blog about them!  YIKES!  So sorry!  Because we are in the 'thick' of winter I'm sure I will be sorting out coins over the next couple of weeks again!  We are supposed to get anywhere between a foot of snow up to 2 and a half or even close to 3 feet of snow in some spots!  YIKES!

This is a photo of George the Snail.  It was reported that he passed away on or around the 10th of the month at the age of 14.  He was a land snail species, Achatinella apexfulva, which used to be plentiful on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, and George was believed to be the species single survivor.  He lived his last days alone in a terrarium in Kailua, Hawaii, alongside an ample supply of fungi (a food his ancestors liked to scrape off leaves in the wild). (Article)

According to Wikipedia...as of January 2019, the IUCN's 1996 conservation status assessment (the most recent IUCN coverage of the species) still lists the species as Critically Endangered.

A few things that I am in Planning Mode for have to do with several boards, groups, and committees I belong to.  Such as...celebrating the 100 years of Women's Right to Vote...we have a planning meeting of how various organizations can work on the local level to celebrate for a full year!  Another project in the planning stages is our county's first annual Weekend of Service.  We are trying to promote Volunteerism and trying to encourage more people to volunteer!  That will be the weekend of May 17 thru the 19th.  We have a lot of things in the works for League of Women Voters and Zonta International, too.  And, we are in full force for obtaining new vendors for the county fair in August!  In addition, I have been trying to submit more reviews again over at Sororitea Sisters.

10-Minutes or Less Vegan Recipes, Women's Right To Vote Coin, & Hail Merry Chocolate Mint Tart

Yesterday it hit 70 degrees!  Woot!  I sure enjoy that much more than -7 degrees!  I have to say between the weather getting better - or being better for the moment - and my pain management - PLUS - my new volunteering and cookbooks I have been in a pretty good mood as of late!

This book - Real Food, Really Fast is the next book I wanted to share with you!  I'm embarrassed to say that this is the first of Hannah's books I have bought so far (So Sorry) but I have a feeling it won't be my last!  This is a pretty neat book!  I already see LOTS of things I want to try!  And with the recipes being ready in 10 minutes...no one has an excuse, eh!?

Last night I attended a League of Women Voters Coffee & Conversation topic on Refugees.  We had a nice turnout and the feedback on the topic and speaker was great!

Speaking of women and voting...

I recently received this coin from a swapping buddy!  It's the 100-year commemorative coin for Women's Right To Vote in Canada. 

Rumor has is the US might release one for their 100 year - which is 2020.  I hope they do!

I now have 146 different coins present in my Foreign Coin Collection!

This was another item I picked up over the last weekend.  I found this at the Erie Wholefoods Co-Op and it wasn't badly priced.  There were only 2 left so I decided to try it.  Last night I cut it in 4's and only had 1 small piece.  That was really all I needed!  It was very sweet and rich!  Mint Chocolate and Orange Chocolate are my two favorite kinds of chocolate when I do eat it so this was FAB!  Oddly, I thought it tasted a bit like coconut.  I re-read the ingredients and it DOES have coconut oil in it but I doubt it was THAT flavorful.  Regardless it was tasty and I'm looking forward to another little piece tonight after dinner!