by Roxanne -

Patio Zen Garden

The truth is that I don’t enjoy gardening that much. But I’ve learned that it doesn’t take a lot of effort to make an attractive small patio garden. A chair or two, a few colorful plants in various containers, or maybe just a large clay pot with herbs.

Photo EHow.com
Photo Sunset.com

 

Photo Apt. Therapy Water Garden

Above, a planter with water plants and a few terracotta pots create an enchanting summer space.

Last year DH made a simply designed 3-square-foot raised garden. We planted greens, peppers, tomatoes and herbs. The bare wood design gives it an Asian zen-like appearance. It also provides some privacy on one side of our patio.

This year we continued the Zen theme. Our patio is a small space that is partially shaded by the deck above. A few carefully placed pots of flowers and herbs bring color, scent and texture – not only to the patio, but into the living room as well. Viewed from the inside, it feels like a secret garden.

Photo R. Meshar
Photo R. Meshar
Photo R. Meshar
Photo R. Meshar

Use bricks, stones and upside down pots, seen above, to create texture and varied heights. I like our mix of perenial hostas, junipers and flower shrubs. These were already planted and return each year on their own.

DH, who enjoys gardening, selected the vegetables for the 3-foot square planter. This year we have three varieties of tomatoes, peppers of various kinds, onions and carrots.

My part consists of selecting attractive flowers and herbs in two large pots. I go for color, scent, texture and varied height. Some years are better than others.

Now add a hurricane candle for evening atmosphere. Mix with iced tea, sit back and watch the sun set.

You may also like Small Space Living – Boat Style, Citron Presse and Homemade Ginger Ale.

by Roxanne -

What is White Privilege?

Ever wonder what Native Americans think about the Fourth of July? It is a reminder of genocide from their point of view. Who were the savages?

Europeans came and took what did not belong to them. As someone of European descent, I continue to benefit from this today.

White privilege refers to benefits that I receive that I do not earn. I receive them by virtue of my skin color. To get a better understanding of how I benefit everyday day of my life from having the skin color I do (“white”) read Peggy McIntosh’s famous essay on white privilege: “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack“.

My advantages are not “blessings” – they are unearned benefits of belonging to a particular class and skin color. I did not pull myself up by my bootstraps. Rather our “bootstraps” are unearned benefits inherited from prior generations. For example:

  • If both your parents spoke English add one inch to your bootstraps.
  • If you didn’t need to worry about when you would eat next, add one inch to your bootstraps.
  • If your parents were college educated add one inch to your bootstraps.
  • If no one in your household had a serious medical illness add one inch to your bootstraps.
  • If you didn’t move frequently in order for your parents to work add one inch to your bootstraps.
  • If you had access to good nutrition and good medical care growing up, add one inch to your bootstraps.
  • If your parents were of a class, religion or skin color that allowed them to buy property or own a home, add one inch to your bootstraps.
  • If your family could leverage that home or property to pay for college education, low interest home equity loans or to start a business, add one inch to your bootstraps.
  • If you grew up in a neighborhood without violence add one inch to your bootstraps.

Not everyone is given the same bootstraps. Our bootstraps (our abilities, skills and benefits) are the result of privileges given to some, but not to others.

Benefiting from a system that favors some over others is NOT “pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.” We need to start speaking truthfully and seeing reality as it really is.

Now that you know, what will you do?

Recognizing the systemic nature of discrimination isn’t about working for rights for blacks, Hispanics or women, etc. It is about changing laws and practices so that we have the same human rights for everyone.

Learn more.

Listen to Michelle Alexander on YouTube or read her book The New Jim Crow to learn how our nation’s prison system has become another racial caste system in use in our country today.

You may also like Myth of Objective Reporting, White Privilege, Poverty is a Luxury We Can NOT Afford and Truth or Consequences.

by Roxanne -

Romantic Porch Inspiration

We have a room that needs some TLC. However, like every room in our home, this room has many functions. It is mainly an office for DH. Occasionally it serves as a quiet reading room. Now I would like it to function as a front porch as well.

Here are some inspiration pictures of light, bright work spaces.

Photo OfficeDecordir.com
Photo OfficeBlog.Americanchic.net
Photo OfficeEhomee.com
Photo OfficeFopple.com
Photo OfficeHousedesignet.com

These pictures are useful because they are in small spaces, using a lot of white with some shots of color for interest. For the most part they can all accomodate more than one function in the room. Lastly, they are casual so could easily blend with a summery or “porch” feel.

Photo CountryLiving.com

Do you have a porch? Porches remind me of summer. I like the idea of a space where you can wind down at the end of the day.

I also like the idea of a space that connects us to our neighborhood and the world outside our doors.

It’s also nice to have a quiet, easy spot away from the main area of the house.

:Photo SouthernLiving.com
Photo Lowes.com

So, how to have a space like that in our house? We don’t have front porch – but we do have a small room with a large window that faces the front of our house. It also faces east, so cooler at the end of the day. Hmmm. . .

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by Roxanne -

Why We Should Listen

Two thirds of the world’s population live on $2 per day or less. The world’s poor are mainly women and children. Capitalism alone can’t solve global poverty. This is because capitalism can’t provide equal access to resources and markets.

So what can we do? We can listen and learn from local people with local wisdom. Like Mary’s Pence ESPERA Funds, Jacqueline Novogratz – a previous financial executive – has a better idea about what we can do. Listen to her here on TED Talks.

She has a number of TED talks dating from 2006. Most are 10 minutes or less and worth listening to.

“Why you should listen to her:

One of the most innovative players shaping philanthropy today, Jacqueline Novogratz is redefining the way problems of poverty can be solved around the world. Drawing on her past experience in banking, microfinance and traditional philanthropy, Novogratz has become a leading proponent for financing entrepreneurs and enterprises that can bring affordable clean water, housing and healthcare to poor people so that they no longer have to depend on the disappointing results and lack of accountability seen in traditional charity and old-fashioned aid.

The Acumen Fund, which she founded in 2001, has an ambitious plan: to create a blueprint for alleviating poverty using market-oriented approaches. Indeed, Acumen has more in common with a venture capital fund than a typical nonprofit. Rather than handing out grants, Acumen invests in fledgling companies and organizations that bring critical — often life-altering — products and services to the world’s poor. Like VCs, Acumen offers not just money, but also infrastructure and management expertise. From drip-irrigation systems in India to malaria-preventing bed nets in Tanzania to a low-cost mortgage program in Pakistan, Acumen’s portfolio offers important case studies for entrepreneurial efforts aimed at the vastly underserved market of those making less than $4/day.

It’s a fascinating model that’s shaken up philanthropy and investment communities alike. Acumen Fund manages more than $20 million in investments aimed at serving the poor. And most of their projects deliver stunning, inspiring results. Their success can be traced back to Novogratz herself, who possesses that rarest combination of business savvy and cultural sensitivity. In addition to seeking out sound business models, she places great importance on identifying solutions from within communities rather than imposing them from the outside. ‘People don’t want handouts,’ Novogratz said at TEDGlobal 2005. ‘They want to make their own decisions, to solve their own problems.’

In her book, The Blue Sweater, she tells stories from the new philanthropy, which emphasizes sustainable bottom-up solutions over traditional top-down aid.” – TED Talks.

You may also like Does Everyone Have a Voice? and What Can You and I Do?

by Roxanne -

Greeks Resist Public Bank Bailout

Timothy Garton Ash spells out what is at the core of the violence we are seeing in Greece, Ireland and other European countries. Again, language plays a role here. “Public bank bailout” is almost NEVER referred to on CNN or mainstream media. Rather it is described as “austerity measures.” Published today at ekathimierini.com, “The end of Europe as we know it” by Petros Papaconstantinou:

For his part, Timothy Garton Ash wrote in the Guardian on June 15: “It’s not just Greece. In Ireland, Portugal and Spain the anger is boiling over, as people feel that the young, the poor and the unemployed are being forced to pay for the selfish improvidence of their politicians — and of French and German bankers.”

Bold emphasis is mine. The same is true for us here in the U.S., since our banks actually started this financial crisis – now rippling through the global economy.

NET – Pushing bank losses from unethical sub prime mortgage loans and investments onto the public should not be tolerated by people anywhere. Why are we tolerating it here in the U.S.? Because, unlike Greece, we haven’t experienced, or don’t understand, the costs of paying for it . . . yet.

You may also like Budget Policy Choices, Truth or Consequences, On Osama bin Laden’s Death and Power of Framing.