Turkey Day

Today was turkey day here on the farm. We took 28 turkeys to be slaughtered and then spent the evening connecting customers with their turkeys. It's nice to have that over with--now we can relax and enjoy Thanksgiving. It's kind of nerve-wracking raising turkeys, and every year about this time I wonder--why do we do this to ourselves? But we do enjoy providing people with good food. We are keeping 5 heritage birds over the winter to hopefully lay eggs in the spring.

The pigs will go to slaughter soon and then the chores will be quite minimal, which is good since the days are so short--it is often dark by the time we get the chores done. I like winter, though, with all the extra evening hours to spend inside, cozied up in front of the stove. It's nice to just read, and bake, and play games without feeling guilty about things that we should be working on outdoors.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

SNOW?!

I can't quite believe it, but we got our first flurry yesterday, and enough to stick on the windshield this morning. It's always exciting to see the first snow, but October seems a tad early. A sign of things to come???

(photo from http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/)

Noteworthy Net News

The Drug Scare that Exposed a World of Hurt

The great honey drought:Winter viruses and the wettest August for years have combined to leave Britain's beehives dry

Rules Near for Animals' Engineering

Fast Food Hits Mediterranean; a Diet Succumbs

Herbal Vinegars

I've been experimenting this summer with making herbal vinegars. My daughter planted a small circular herb garden so, for the first time, we've got a steady supply of herbs. Unfortunately, fresh herbs don't seem to sell well at the farmers' market, so we are looking for other ways to use them. Herbal vinegar is very easy to make, lasts a long time, and looks beautiful in the jar as well. So far I've made: rosemary, dill/garlic/peppercorn, and basil/thyme/garlic. I tried lemon balm too but it didn't turn out as well.



Here is a good site to get started, and here are a few recipes using herbal vinegars. Another one here. Enjoy!

The Great Good Place--book review

I've been reading The Great Good Place by sociologist Ray Oldenburg. It's an interesting commentary on our need for public places, or "third places" as Oldenburg terms them; places besides home and work where people can gather and hang out. These may include coffee houses, cafes, bookstores, hair salons, bars, bistros, etc. Most of these places have been destroyed in our culture and replaced by "nonplaces" that look superficially the same, but aren't. As Applebee's replaces the local bar and grill, Rite Aid edges out the corner drugstore, and Borders quashes the downtown bookstores, we are left with fewer and fewer third places and more and more nonplaces. An excerpt:

“Where once there were places, we now find nonplaces. In real places the human being is a person. He or she is an individual, unique and possessing a character. In nonplaces, individuality disappears. In nonplaces, character is irrelevant and one is only the customer or a shopper, client or patient, a body to be seated, an address to be billed, a car to be parked. In nonplaces one cannot be an individual or become one, for one’s individuality is not only irrelevant, it also gets in the way. Toby’s Diner was a place. The Wonder Whopper, which stands there now, is a nonplace.” (The Great Good Place, p. 205)

And later...

“I find it irritating when those to whom I talk on the subject relegate third places to the past. “Oh,” they’ll say, “you mean like the old neighborhood tavern or the soda fountain that used to be in the drugstore.” They are, of course, more right than wrong. The third place does belong to the past in the sense that most of them are to be found “in the debris” of a previous order. My response is well rehearsed by now and it goes like this: We don’t want the past. We can’t have the past. We don’t need the past. We need the places!” (The Great Good Place, p.209)

You can read more about Oldenburg's work at http://www.pps.org/info/placemakingtools/placemakers/roldenburg.

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY ...
Outside My Window...cool breezes
I am thinking...about a busy week ahead
I am thankful for...a cozy home and healthy family
From the kitchen...come the sounds of jars of peaches rattling in the canner
I am wearing...capris and a black shirt
I am creating...a scrapbook journal (I'll show you this soon)
I am going...to bed very soon
I am reading...Made from Scratch: Reclaiming the American Hearth
I am hoping...to buy a new front door soon
I am hearing...the aforementioned peaches and not much else
Around the house...it has been dry but we had a welcome rain yesterday
One of my favorite things...is the quiet time after everyone is in bed

Here is picture thought I am sharing...chamomile hung up to dry


This Daybook idea comes from The Simple Woman. If you'd like to try this meme, check here for instructions.

I don't know quite why I've ignored this blog for so long. Summer is just too full, I guess. And I don't know if I have any readers left out there. Hello???!!!

Life is beginning to slow down a bit after having overcommitted myself for quite some time. I began writing a book with a friend, teaching an occasional class, and selling at the farmers' market in addition to my regular part-time job. I've cut back on the away-from-home work and the book is nearing completion, so things are becoming a bit more manageable. I've concluded that for this season of my life, I am happiest working from home.

The photos are from our farmers' market stand. This was our first real year of market--I had helped a friend a few times last year--and it's been quite a learning experience. I'll post more on that sometime later, and also on my latest experiment: soapmaking.

Hope you've all had a good summer and are reaping the fruits of your labors!