Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

9 March

Army Of Good: Your Pantry Food Donations Have Made Families Very Happy. Today, A Short Updated Food List

by Jon Katz

Your food donations have made an enormous difference for the customers at the Cambridge Food Pantry. Today, I got this message from Sarah Harrington, Director of the pantry.

“We get delivery from Regional Food Bank on Tuesday, so sometimes, the shelves run out of certain items by this part of the week. The Army Of Good items arrive just at the right time to supplement. Tuna, mustard, peanut butter, and toothbrushes are stocked! Great job, everyone! After yesterday’s delivery, vegetable beef soup is also stocked.”

That was great news for many customers who couldn’t afford these popular items, and the pantry couldn’t get them from grocery stores and other suppliers. The panty will keep the Amazon Cambridge Pantry Wish List up and running; they updated it again today. Thanks to you, they have been seeking canned chunk chicken, ranch dressing, and Parmesan Romano cheese, which are now also stocked. (The Pantry delivery address is Sarah Harrington, Cambridge Food Pantry, 24 East Main Street, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

If you need it for Amazon, the phone number is 518 683 6691. Look for Sarah Harringstons’ name below yours on the Amazon address list. Click on it, but it still needs to be set.

The new list is short and inexpensive: Cambell’s Chunky Soup, New England Clam Chowder, Ragu Old World Style Traditional Pasta Sauce, Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli, Wish-Bone Chunky Blue Cheese Salad Dressing, Progresso Plain Bread Crumbs, Suave Kids 3-in-one body wash and shampoo, Amazon Basics Dish Soap,  Zep Streak Free Glass Cleaner.

“It’s amazing, one customer told me,” we are seeing foods we have wanted for a long time but haven’t been able to afford. Please thank the good people sending it; we haven’t had mustard for a long time. The kids were so happy to see mustard again…” Vegetable soup is an essential and healthy food for them.

One Army Of Good member is sending the pantry a case of mustard every month.

The photo above is of Sumer Quickenton, who depends on the pantry to feed her and her son and, quite often, other kids in need of support. The dog is Sally, and their love for one another is mighty. People who love dogs this much are always good.

In my experience, this is a generalization, yet something I believe is true. Dogs can keep one’s heart and spirit going when everything else seems to be coming apart.

(Our food donations came in all week. thank you. It is so much better to do good than to argue about what good is.)

Sumer has had a rough road but has a strong spirit and is working to get her life in order. She was a drug addict until three years ago; her life was a living nightmare. She lost her job a few weeks ago and works a second job, which pays much less. She lost her temper when provoked and kicked someone’s door down. She has to pay the damages. She and the families very much appreciate the food pantry; the staff there is charming, she says,  and never makes her feel small.

She can come for good every week.

She needs food support. I’ll be talking with her regularly.

The food you send goes to people like her and many others who might surprise you. A lot of people are hurting for food these days. Thanks for your support. This is a powerful direction for the Army of Good; this is the path to small acts of great kindness. Thanks again; I hope we can keep this going.

All items in this wish list are for items not often available in the pantry. They are very much appreciated. In a week or so, the Pantry is publishing its website for the first time. I’m working with them to help use it well.

The Wish List will be updated constantly. Check it out.

9 March

Good Morning, Saturday, March 9, 2024. Rain On The Way. Mansion Fund Needs Some Help

by Jon Katz

Welcome to the weekend; rain storms are headed our way; before that, we’re heading to thrift stores so Maria can get some new reading glasses; she only goes to opticians a little.

We have company for dinner tonight; we’re making rice and vegetables from a recipe Maria found. I am asking for Mansion support from the Army Of Goods; the fund is getting low (Mansion Fund, Jon Katz, P.O. 205, Cambridge, New York. You can help via Paypal, [email protected], Venmo, Jon Katz@Jon-Katz-13. or by check, Jon Katz, Mansion Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

Yesterday, I bought $200 in games, puzzles, and glue guns for painting and drawing. The Mansion fund was down to $48 this morning.

 

8 March

Color Art Returns, Color And Light Too, As Promised. Have A Restful Weekend

by Jon Katz

Zinnia and I are now official regulars at the Cambridge Flower Shop, one of our town’s most successful small business openings in a while. Sue is a dreamer and a winner, and I love going into her story, often with Zinnia.

Sue has a gift for making people feel at home. Her shop was filling up with beautiful flowers for Easter, and she moved everything around to make room for them. This is good news for me.

Her flowers allow me to post fresh flowers ahead of the May re-birth of my garden beds.  I’m getting my photo back and working on these fresh new flowers. Today, I got some Gladiolos. They pick up sunlight beautifully.

And she has figured out the kind of photos I want and need to take some of my flower art photos. See if these gladiolos do it for you. I had a crazy-busy day, but a good and productive one. I’ll see you in the morning.

Thanks.

 

 

I’m learning once again how to single out features and focus on a beautiful background.

Flower paintings are what I call the good ones.

 

 

 

I look forward to seeing you in the morning.

8 March

Beautiful Morning, Beautiful Day, Bedlam Farm Journal, Friday, March 8 2024

by Jon Katz

It was a beautiful day. All kinds of things happened, and all sorts of photos were taken. I’m late getting to them, but the pictures below were taken in the morning as the skies opened up and the sun came out strong. We are expecting more weather tomorrow. We have people coming for dinner on Saturday and Sunday, so there will be a lot of socializing for us.


 

A purple succulent on a downstairs windowsill.

Sue Lamberti’s new floral business, Cambridge Flower Shop, has begun. She’s reorganized the space and is preparing for Easter. Her stop is stuffed with beautiful flowers. I bought some today to take photos of. I brought Zinnia along; she was a big hit there. So is Sue’s store. I love stories like this; Sue is due for a portrait.

One of Cindy’s older goats is a future mom, perhaps.

Cindy Casavant with one of her two newborn babies, cheese, and soap to come.

8 March

The Mansion’s Bingo Wars. Can Meditating Help? It Seems Members Of My Meditation Class Are Doing Most Of The Battling

by Jon Katz

My Mansion reading today: Sit Like A Mountain:  Sitting quietly, quietly breathing in and out, we develop strength, concentration, and clarity. So sit like a mountain. No wind can blow the mountain down.” – Thich That Hahn.

___

I talked to several Mansion aides recently, and they told me that the staff needs help running bingo games. The residents, I am told, get intensely competitive, even sometimes to the point of throwing things and yelling at the winners and each other.

(Above, Ellen from Memory Care; below, Art, who says little but loves anything related to cars.

When I asked where the problem was, members of my meditation class were cited as the worst sports at losing. After teaching three years of meditation and calming breathing, I was startled. The three mentioned were among my class’s  quietest and most enthusiastic meditators (none were present today.)

They love the breathing exercises and the meditations themselves. But it’s unfair to blame them for their behavior. In my class, they are lovely and calm. But it’s a difficult time, and Bingo takes on great importance to people who need a win.

One of the Bingo managers came to me today and asked if I could speak with the unruly meditation class members and give them tools other than shouting and throwing things to work with. I said I would take this up next week when everyone was present. Today was a shopping day at Walmart, and the problem was that people were absent.

This will be an exciting challenge, as the aides believe the ones who get angry get help themselves. They said they’d welcome any help. I’m going to do some research and come up with some ideas.

Art after meditating.

Every week, an aide walks Art from meditation class to the cafeteria, and he needs clarification if he walks alone. Art is a sweet and kind man.

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