Archive for November, 2012

Welcome, winter

Posted on November 28th, 2012 by Tonia 3 Comments

We’re back from Chicago, and a certain someone-who-has-had-the-bed-all-to-herself-while-we-were-gone is not overly excited about it. Nice to see you too, Cleo.

“Oh, hi. This spot is taken.”

“No, seriously. There’s no room for you.”

Good to know she was just fine here all alone, I guess.

How was your Thanksgiving? We quite enjoyed romping around the city with our family.

As predicted, we arrived home to a significant amount of snow on the ground and coating the trees. It’s a full-blown winter wonderland! I have to say I am excited to usher in the next season. Winter means things like soup, hot chocolate, saunaing, skiing, knitting, and baking get to happen on a regular basis, and I’m a fan of all of those things.

Cleo can keep the bed– I’ll be out playing in the snow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on November 20th, 2012 by Tonia 1 Comment

We’re jumping in the car tomorrow and whisking off to Chicago, where most of my extended family lives, for the holiday weekend. Looking forward to seeing the city all dressed up for the holidays {I love going downtown and looking at all the beautiful store window displays}, visiting with relatives, the traditional pre-Thanksgiving-feast flag football game with all my cousins, and of course THE FOOD! Is there anything better than an enormous homemade Thanksgiving feast, shared with family? Nope.

We’ve been rushing around this week, getting the homestead ready for its long sleep under the snow. The forecast is looking quite gray, and we expect it will snow while we’re gone. We harvested the last of the onions, carrots, potatoes, squash, and leeks– left in the ground a little longer because I swear they taste better after they’ve withstood a frost or two.

One thing we haven’t gotten around to yet: Butchering the turkeys. Their time will come when we return home. I’m envisioning a big turkey dinner with our friends here in Washburn sometime in early December. Until then, the turkeys are still alive. And very, very fat. I think they’re setting a record for longest living domestic turkeys, ever.

Have a wonderful holiday, readers! Travel safe, stay warm, and may the spirit of the season seep into your bones and tickle up your spine. I hope that, no matter your situation, you’re able to feel thankful for all the precious gifts of this life.

Date Night Done Right {and The Greenhorns}

Posted on November 14th, 2012 by Tonia No Comments

Mike and I went on a date last night to our local theater {StageNorth} where the Bay Area Film Society was showing a film called The Greenhorns about the recent wave of young people across the country who are turning to farming as a career and lifestyle. There was good turnout for the event- mostly farmers and people interested in farming/local food- and the film society got a local BBQ master to cater. We loaded our plates with pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad and chatted about hoop houses and winter composting with our friends.

When the film started, we were handed bags of organic heirloom popcorn, covered in organic butter provided by one of the local dairies, and a bar of dark organic chocolate. As much as we enjoyed the film {although, it was preaching to the choir a little bit…}, the movie-snacks were a highlight for me! I’m a sucker for dark chocolate, what can I say! It was so fun to snuggle up next to Mike with our delicious snacks, surrounded by most of our closest friends.

After the film, there was a panel discussion with five organic farmers from the area {all of which are in their late 20’s and early 30’s}. The film was a great conversation starter, and some great questions were raised and discussed. It was unanimously decided that we are all so lucky to live in an area that is supportive to the local food movement, and that we have so many young people who are willing to devote their lives to the hard, hard work of growing food for the community.

The party eventually moved to a pub in town, and we didn’t end up getting home until after midnight. Not bad for a Tuesday!

Reuse Tues: Art from Trash

Posted on November 7th, 2012 by Tonia 2 Comments

President Obama {yay! Four more years!} mentioned global warming in his acceptance speech last night, and immediately I saw my Twitter feed light up with excitement from all my greeny friends- cries for the government to finally take notice and action on this serious issue. I hope that Barry’s second term succeeds in being more aggressive on matters of protecting and restoring the environment, but regardless, we all need to keep doing what we can on a micro scale, everyday.

This couple is making a difference in a really beautiful way. I would love a couple of their colorful prints for my walls- as a reminder to not let my life be consumed by “stuff” but to value what is really important, to continue working hard to find new uses for old things even though it’s so much easier to just go buy what I need, and to think hard about things before tossing them in the trash.