Looking for Spring - Mom in her Garden

We still have snow on the garden and lawn. I am looking forward to Spring so that we can plant our gardens. I usually have two vegetable gardens, one at my house and one at my Mom's house about three miles from my home. I am looking forward to planting lots of heirloom tomato plants and flat parsley this year. We also grow squash but most other crops are eaten by our rabbits. We don't mind sharing but they rarely leave anything for us. Some squirrels take tomatoes.

This year we hope to plant many of the tangerine type heirloom tomatoes as they have the good cis-lycopene, that researchers say, is not the form of lycopene found in the red tomato varieties.
We love all types but have a special interest in heirloom tomatoes as they breed true, one can use the seed or much better, should a plantlet show itself in the garden next year, it would be just like one of the heirlooms we planted, and not an unknown offspring of a hybrid. We seem to have many tomatoes reseed themselves in our garden and when using hybrids, one never knows what a seedling might turn into. Since my Mom cares for every seedling that shows up from a tomato from the year before, we will switch to planting heirloom tomatoes that are homozygous and should breed true, the seedlings producing tomatoes like the parents. Of course the exception to this would be if some heirlooms would cross via bee pollination and then we would have an interesting phenomenon. Tomatoes most often self-pollinate.

Most Precious Birthday Morning

Today is my Mom's 91st birthday and it is also Easter. It is hard to believe that she is 91 and receiving so many cards in snail mail and the web from friends near and far. She is enjoying a very special breakfast and is looking forward to a quiet day of visits from my youngest sister, Maria, perhaps a wonderful concert from her son, Andrew, and playing with our kitty, Precious. Our dear friend Gerd Schlinke of Freiburg, Germany, sent this picture of daffodils that we are enjoying much, as we still have high snow over our lawns and flower beds here in Cleveland, Ohio, this beautiful, sunny morning.

Thanks also to our friend Judy Fox for sending Mom a lovely card. Judy's new book appeared on Amazon for the first day yesterday entitled,


Voices of Strength: Sons and Daughters of Suicide Speak Out .

Memorable Books

This is one of the most memorable, colorful and interesting covers I have seen on a book of this nature. The book is authored by Carin L. Cunningham & Gerard A. Banez.

I have helped many authors through the years, but the book that stands out as most precious to me is Pediatric Gastrointestinal Disorders: Biopsychosocial Assessment and Treatment by Carin L. Cunningham & Gerard A. Banez. I learned much from this book that sits as comfortable on a general physician's book shelf as on my shelf at home.

This concise book, appropriate for families and medical professionals, is easy to understand and of great value to the fields of pediatrics, gastrointestinal disorders, and psychology. Pediatric Gastrointestinal Disorders: Biopsychosocial Assessment and Treatment, in my opinion, is appropriate for the general public, students, and medical professionals.

I was trained and worked in the sciences, yet until I read this book authored by Carin L. Cunningham & Gerard A. Banez, I had no idea that serotonin (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin) was manufactured in the human gut rather than exclusively in the human brain, as I had thought for years. Why did I not know this? What had I missed? What was I reading? This is just one small piece of data that I learned from reading this book that changed my understanding.

When I told my sister that serotonin was made in the human gastrointestinal system she said, of course it is. She is a Professor of English, a journalist, creative writer, and superb teacher. She had a premature child with severe gastrointestinal distress. I would have loved to purchase such a reasonable text for my sleep deprived sister and the rest of our very upset family to read 15 years ago when my nephew was born. To our surprise, my nephew turned out to have multiple food allergies. My sweet nephew, now 15 years old, continues to have 30 food allergies, is fine, and will be playing violin at Lincoln Center of the Performing Arts in NYC this Spring.

I did not know what I did not know, until I read and reread this wonderful book. I started wondering how others feel about the book and if they agree with me regarding the importance of this book to a home, public or medical library? I checked if it was included in databases and searched for reviews. Since the book is timeless, reviews and success stories continue to be published. If you have a story, enjoyed reading this book, or found it helpful in understanding the gastrointestinal system, please share your story with us and feel welcome to add to this Blog.

I have known the first author's name, Carin Cunningham, since I first saw it in 1987. I had not actually met her at the time, but knew that she read much and loves libraries.

In 2004, I finally met Dr. Carin Cunningham. She is a most dedicated, caring professional that devoted much time to write a book that would be appropriate for all of us to read to help us understand ourselves, and anyone with a gastrointestinal issue.

I would like to suggest that you obtain a copy of the book via purchase, suggest it to your librarian, try to borrow it from someone or read a chapter on line. Find out for yourself what you don't know and forward a review to a group you belong to, a newsletter to your organization, a local newspaper, your favorite book review source, to this blog, to Carin Cunningham via her email at Carin.Cunningham@case.edu or to me at rosaraskin@hotmail.com

Our kitty, Precious, before Mom's 89th Birthday Party

Our kitty Precious was 4 years old at the time of my Mom's 89th birthday party and wanted to give Mom a birthday kiss in this picture, where my husband is holding Precious. Mom will be 91 years young on March 23, 2008. We wonder how Precious will behave at Mom's celebration at our house this year? Two days before Mom's birthday it will be our 40th wedding anniversary. This will mean lots of excitement for Precious.

This year Mom's birthday coincides with Easter. Mom has expressed a desire to spend several days with us and her dear Precious. This is wonderful for me as I own my own information business and answer questions from members of the public, professionals, corporations and trade associations. I welcome inquires and have my contact information on my business web site at http://www.raskinfo.com

Since my parents were entrepreneurs and had a business of their own for many years, my Mom is a great resource and has helped me more than once in finding a solution to a challenging project. She encourages me, inspires me, is meticulous in accounting, and blessed with a superb memory on which I often rely. I am the scientific and technical type, experienced in business research, and most appreciative of those with the entrepreneurial spirit and business sense.

My husband is strong in finance, accounting, general business and serves as a maufacturer's representative for plastic and steel strapping and related products and machinery.

Having a background from consumer products to polymers and engineered products, there are few questions that I am not interested in. I truly enjoy having my own business, helping others to increase their bottom line, and identify timely, innovative solutions to their needs.

I believe I have my mother's pioneer spirit but admire her courage. She became a displaced person on marrying my father. She subsequently entered a D.P. camp before being allowed to immigrate to the United States after World War II with two small daughters. She was a great help to my father who had nothing but a shirt on his back. It was her idea to start a business selling notions that developed into a successful fabric business in the city in which I was born, Karlsruhe, Germany. She not only excelled in sales but is talented in all aspects of running a business.

It is amazing how cats seem to know what hurts. Mom has arthritis in her hands and Precious licks them often. Precious's fur is thick, soft and feels like a fur blanket. She likes to keep us warm in the cold winters of Cleveland and loves to keep Mom company, as Mom enjoys playing with Precious. Mom loves to pet Precious and Precious responds with tricks to keep her grandmother's attention.

This may be hard for some to believe, as it was to me, but my Mom taught Precious to understand words when she took care of Precious as a young kitten while my husband I were on an extended trip.

Precious understands the lullaby my mother sings to her and both words and phrases including "fresh water", "treats", "turkey", "chicken", "no", "roll over", "go in your own bed" and one of our kitty's favorites "huggy, huggy". Precious hates going to the vet although we have a most understanding veterinarian. Precious hates to have her fur combed or brushed yet never complains about getting a shot. She does not want the vet or anyone to touch her long, thick fur with a comb. She is not happy about having her nails cuts but tolerates it, as we play a game called "one, two three". She truly hates her hairball medicine and I have tried many flavors.

Since she was raised by hand and was only a few days old when we found her exposed in our green bean patch on a hot August day, shortly before a major storm, it has been a challenge
raising a feral kitten. My Mom helped us from the beginning. Today, Precious weighs 9 1/2 pounds, mostly fur and muscle. She is very long compared to many cats. As a calico, she has the typical calico personality and we call her "miss personality" as she is much more emotional than the red tabby we had for years whose name was Goldie.

If anyone has suggestions or information about calico cats that they would like to share, we very much welcome your comments on this blog.

I have become so attached to Precious that the first time I left her to fly to Austin, Texas, to give my niece a wedding shower, I was like a new mother leaving her baby for the first time and my husband was a bit worried about the responsibility as newborns kittens do not urinate on their own.

To my surprise, on my return from my niece's wedding shower, Precious was totally bonded to my husband. He did an incredible job taking care of our Precious.