Lisa and I have been members of NOWBC, a local food co-op for the last six months. They are a small organization dedicated to delivering organic food and creating connections between local farmers and local eaters. They need MORE members to reach a level of financial sustainability. If you like eating organic and want to support the local food industry, check out and join: http://www.nowbc.ca/.
Lisa and I and our tour gang arrived in Abadiânia this afternoon after a rather long journey here. Our connecting flight from Atlanta to Manaus was delayed by 6 hours so we missed our final flight to Brasilia. After a 10 hour hang out in Atlanta we were airborne again, arriving at Manaus where we managed to get on a later flight. Manaus is quite remote and really in the Amazon.
Hello friends! I’m working on a school project exploring the idea of regenerative communities from a real estate developer perspective. My group is curious to know if there is a place in the market for real estate development infused and guided by the ethics and principles of permaculture. We are trying to validate our gut sense that there is latent demand for living in patterns of community that allow people to realize a fully regenerative lifestyle.
Most of the questions are close-ended so I don’t think it will take you more than 10 or 15 minutes of your time.
http://bit.ly/regenerative-communities
in gratitude
Justin
This summer we are fortunate to be spending a couple of months in the Northern Ontario, on Manitoulin Island, the pretty little land where from Justin was birthed. We took the train again, and wow is Canada ever beautiful during the summer!
On the train we met a formidable gentleman from the US who suffered a horendous mountain bike crash on his bike in Whistler.
He took some pictures of me spinning yarn on the train (there is nothing more romantic than spinning yarn on a train across Canada, people!)
Overall, the trip was pretty uneventful (a good thing for all): the engines worked, the staff was great, the beds were comfy. In fact, I had even more fun than I have had in the past because of the simultaneous occurrence of week three of The Artist’s Way - Reading Deprivation. Who would have thought a reading deprivation could be so interesting and informative? I spent a lot of time chatting, knitting, spinning, playing with tarot cards, playing chess and cuddling with JT. As a result, I found my dreams to be more vivid, my creativity through the roof and my will to be stronger…. maybe The Artist’s Way is onto something?
We will post some photos soon of Manitoulin Island! Bye for now.
Lisa and I have been canning food for several seasons. Last year was by far the biggest and best with about 800 lbs stored. We had Hart from FoodTV on hand to film what we called Fruitapolooza 08 and Food TV called: Preserving Summer.
Our motivations are twelve-fold:
Read the complete Post.
In my constant quest for inspiration, I found a post by TriKnitty, where she proposes a most excellent and inspiring challenge, which I have decided to undertake. I challenge you to do the same, with a little prize from me for your commitment!
The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. (No refunds… no exchanges!!!!)
2. What I create will be just for you, with love from me.
3. It’ll be done this calendar year (2009).
4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. I may even create something totally unbelievable and surprise you!! It will be handmade and may be any medium I choose. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange…or awesome…or lovely!
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text into a note/post of your own and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to it.
7. State your email address so that we can confer about mailing addresses etc.
Just released: http://100mile.foodtv.ca/webisode/guerrilla-gardening.
Our fledgling guerrilla garden got some great press last season and the video has finally been released!
Enjoy!
Yesterday, my fabulous husband decided to start dinner, which was super sweet because I was out for the afternoon. I cam home and found him and the Sun Oven out in the Garden, cooking away. Since the chicken was only at 80 degrees F, we decided to turn it and come back in a while.
The thing was, when Justin went out to check the chicken, it was gone, along with our garden potatoes, thermometer and Sun Oven. Someone stole the whole show.
Justin came in to tell me - and if you know how much stuff we’ve had stolen, you could understand - he was defeated. Neither of us could believe it. We decided to go for a walk and see if we could find it, maybe someone just tossed into the bushes. Nope.
We did find some homeless people under the bridge though, and asked them to please let us know if they see anyone with it, or get it back if it was in their power at all. We decided to finish the trail under the Burrard bridge and head to GI to get another chicken. Then, the most amazing thing happened.
One of the guys that was under the bridge, cycled up to us and tossed a 20 at Justin. He told us to go buy ourselves some dinner and that it is wrong to steal someones food. If he could, he would find it and bring it back to us. And no, he would not take the twenty back. Then he zoomed off.
I burst into tears. Someone with apparently so little, and sadly the last person I would expect, just gave us something that we lost a long time ago - a sense of greater community outside of our friends.
I have no doubt that he will find the Sun Oven and bring it back - hopefully he will except a hot meal in return.
Wow. I am pretty pissed at this point. Knitted the back of the sweater - too big. Ripped and knitted it again - soooooo small. Added side pieces (ack!) - fits better. KNITTING UNEVEN?? Look at this. Just LOOK!
See my finger there in the left hand corner? See how the front is coming up over the back? Then see the other side - upper right hand corner, how there is a bit of ripped knitting there? See how the ripped knitting doesn’t meet up with the back? Those two sides of the front, they are supposed to be even with the back two sides. Neither one of them are! ARGH!
Justin suggested that I not worry about it, and give the sweater to him. He would wear it even if it is a bit crooked. Sweet of him. But I said no.
He then suggested knitting a triangle and sewing it in there (he is clearly less of a perfectionist than I am) I said no.
He asked if I was going to frog it. I said yes.
And I did. Then I washed it, and put little hooks in the wall so that I can look at it.
And think about how much I am dreading trying again. I think I have depressed knitters syndrom (DKS). I think I need to knit something very easy to bring my confidence back up.
Handspun. Who would have thought.
Farm Love
Justin and I really enjoyed our stay at OUR Ecovillage. We spent some time hanging out with the great posse that lives there, and spent some time in the garden transplanting sege.
Great things about OUR Ecovillage:
- We vibed with the residents. Its rare that you find people who speak the same language as you. People who get God in the same way you do, and feel the same passion in the same way for the earth and people who desire the same level of communication and co-operation. This is what we found at OUR, people who were just like us.
- The ecovillage is old enough to have gone through a lot of the zoning issues. Sure, the farm is still an infant, but they have moved through a good portion of the zoning challenges, have applied for grants and have dealt with some of the major money issues. (The most stressful parts I think)
- The ecovillage is small enough for a new family to influence the process. One of the major things that drew us to OUR was their openness and changeability. There are no homes built on site, except the house that was originally there. They are just establishing their program, their specialities and are still looking for experienced people to teach courses (and not so experienced people to grow into the roles available). Justin and I both felt that our energy could make a difference there.