Some Plans

(My sister, Crystal, and a rescued chicken. Aren't they both so beautiful?!)

I don't have much planned for this week, but I do have several things I'd like to accomplish:

* A lunch date with my recently-converted vegetarian sister at one of my favorite restaurants.
* It's time to make more bread. Does anyone have a good wheat sandwich bread recipe??
* A trip to the library, for myself. I have a few books I'm looking for. Like this. And this.
* I'd really, really like to visit my local spinning guild's monthly meeting Tuesday night.
* We'll be visiting one of our favorite neighborhood farmer's markets.
* And, since it'll be raining this week (again! my poor garden..), I'm certain a trip or two or three to the children's museum will be happening.


Have I mentioned how much I love reading each and every one of your comments? I really do. Wouldn't it be so nice if we could all sit together and chat? Oh how I'd love that!

What are some of your plans for the week?

Around My Neighborhood

Some photos from a late evening stroll last night.

A few things I love about my little neighborhood:

We live at the end of two dead-end streets
We have easy access to the freeway
We have a good grocery store within a mile (but it doesn't have a safe path to walk there)
There's a native growth preserve in front of our home

What are some things you love about your neighborhood?

We Missed Him (And A Question)

Alex went to a wedding last week, and was away from me and Burl for 6 days. 6 days too many. We could have gone with him, but I opted not to fly 5 hours with an active 2 year old who is still very particular about sleeping in our own bed. (My anxiety over flying and being away from my dogs and my home may also have had something to do with my choice to stay home.)


We all missed each other so very much. We're the type of family who all prefer to be together in the same room. All the time. When we're working, sleeping, playing, eating, we simply love being together. Being separated was strange for all of us, but I'm sure it was the strangest for poor little Burl, who couldn't stop talking about "dada" and couldn't quite completely understand why his dad was gone for so long. No worries though, we picked Alex up from the airport, Burl didn't leave his side for a few days, and all is back to normal now. We missed him. We missed his hugs, his kisses, his smell, his jokes, his clothes, his presence. We missed his buckwheat pillow that he so attachedly sleeps with every night. Which brings me to my question..

When you travel, what is the one thing you must take with you?

My Dad, the Bee Charmer

He's so cute, he isn't just a charmer of bees!

I've Been Saving My Pennies

I love film photography. In my collection of cameras, I have several film cameras but only two digital, which are both broken. As Burl has been getting bigger and more mobile, it's been difficult for me to capture him on film. This boy just doesn't sit still.

We have a big glass jug where we save our change. Every few years we'll count the coins, which usually adds up to a few hundred dollars or more, and do something fun with the money. This year we decided to upgrade to a better digital camera.

I take my film cameras to be serviced by a local man who owns a camera repair shop. I've had my eye on a Nikon D40X sitting in his little shop for a few months now. It's in mint condition, and he wasn't asking much for it. So we bought it. I'm a little afraid of it, it's so fancy and fragile and has so many modes and buttons. I can't tell you how many times I've dropped or bumped my old clunker pentax k100 and it just keeps on clicking. Let's hope I don't brake this one.

National Egg Month

Did you know May is National Egg Month? I thought I'd share a little information about the cruelty that takes place in the egg industry (even with free-range). I find it empowering to learn more about where my food comes from and the impact it has on the lives of other living creatures. I hope you do as well. I'm in no way perfect, just trying to be a little more compassionate in the way I live my life. So in honor of this month, I'm boycotting eggs. We don't eat many eggs in our home. When we do, it's usually when I've baked something with them. And even then, it's usually eggs from rescued chickens.



The eggs in these pictures are from rescued turkeys, ducks, geese and chickens. These eggs weren't appropriate for consumption, because the flocks had just been dewormed. But they sure are beautiful, aren't they?

Our Week

I have many things I'd like to accomplish this week. A few from my list:

• Make a new apron with some recently thrifted linen.
• Restock the pantry with nuts and grains.
• Make several loaves of wheat bread for storage and freezing.
• Finish skirting and cleaning the fiber from one sheep.
• Friday I'm giving a presentation on Animal Welfare to a group of high school students. I'm especially excited about this one.
• And I'm sure there will be several trips to our local parks and beaches throughout the week.
  

Alex will be leaving Thursday for a week-long trip to Hawaii. I'm not looking forward to his absence.

What are some of your plans for the week?