Community Supported Agriculture…

Or CSA for those who want an easy out for that mouthful!

We joined Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative this year. Their CSA program provides “seasonal, local, Certified Organic produce year - round.  The Cooperative is built on family-owned farm partnerships to produce sustainable food from some of the best, nutrient-rich soil in the country - right here in Lancaster County.”

I’ve created another blog to document our CSA journey… Clean Living and Eating – a little bit of rambling about the new foods (to me) and what I do with them.  So if you are interested you can mosey over there to take a look.

On this Blog I talk more about my family and hobbies… over there I’ll limit it to the CSA – organic foods and simple living.

Now back to family…

We made a trip out to South Carolina mid-May to visit with the grand kids!  Not nearly long enough…

Here we are leaving for a carriage tour through Charleston.

The littlest one (2 in July) loves this little scooter and rides it very well.  Mom is going to have to rustle up a helmet.

The oldest turned 9!!!! She had helpers opening presents.

The little guy is just too funny… he was enjoying a chocolate beater… look at my shirt!

Pops got to watch Kai surf early one morning.  “Pops did you see me surfing – I was awesome!”  The boy is too funny!

We had lunch one day at a crab shack place.  We taught the little guy how to open and eat boiled peanuts… too cute!  He would pull a piece of shell off hold it out for me to see and then start to bring it towards his mouth – his way of asking if he could eat that part.  I’d shake my head no… and he’d throw it in the bucket in the middle of the table. 

It is a long drive out there but one I’ll gladly do again and again!

Thoughts on Twitter & Indoor Composting…

Early last week I was pondering what I believe to be the silliness of Twittering or Tweeting.  I was even working on a post that day listing all the truly earth shattering thoughts and events in my day… you know like…

• Good God it’s 4:20 AM already?
• Oatmeal anyone?
• I need to turn off the news and get busy…
• I need to turn off the computer and get busy…
• I need to get off my hiney and get busy…
• Who didn’t run the dishwasher yesterday? Oh that would be my bad…
• Why does the dog get to sleep all day?
• Kitchen & dining room mopped and dishwasher running for the second time.
• Laundry - I’m adopting a 2 load limit per day… enough on that sad subject!
• I can hear the garden calling me… but my sore muscles are drowning it out!
• If I were a princess then I would not have to go shopping for groceries… “we need fruit? Send the gardener out for fruit… Cream for my tea?  Where is that milkmaid?”

Yeah… so I had cleaned my way upstairs and was ready to tackle the bathroom and then shower my stinky self so I could go run errands… until the phone rang…

It was the hospital… my MIL had had an accident…

The good news is that she wasn’t seriously hurt and nobody else was involved.  But she did spend the better part of the week in the hospital and is now in rehab.

So my week was a blur of trips to the hospital, trips to her house to pick up the newspaper and again later to pick up the mail and back to the hospital… I think we ate dinner at the hospital 3 nights, I had cookies for dinner one night at 9:30 pm (I know not my best decision) and lunches were a mix of fruit and almonds if I had lunch.

OK so now you are wondering about the “Indoor Composting” thing…

That is what I call laundry when it gets out of control… and this does not show the towels that have already been washed, a load of darks pants or the load of whites that are running.  I was already behind on laundry so this week of running around only made that worse… indoor composting level laundry.

Since I haven’t been cooking… I’m not sure if anything has died in my refrigerator… I suppose I should check that out today too…

So I need to get off my hiney and get busy…

What’s This?

My sister found this at a yard sale or goodwill and thought I’d like it… which I do – it’s very pretty.  However I have no idea what to do with it…

It has this little open well in the center that has an opening at the bottom.

EDITED to ADD:  The bowl is about 6 inches across and the glazed part inside is about 1.5 inches deep.  The bottom is solid – no other openings.

I suppose you could stick flowers in the center but they couldn’t be very tall or very big.

The Engineer thought it might be for scented oil with the reeds sticking up in the center… but again those reeds couldn’t be very tall and I don’t think I like the idea of scented oil in such an open container.

So… any good guesses out there?

Do Fish Grieve?

I know – silly question huh?

When we bought this Old Stone House it came with a very murky Koi pond that had 2 Koi, and a Catfish.

It has been evident from the beginning that the 2 original Koi ‘Candle’ and ‘Light’ were buddies (my granddaughter named them when she was 3).  They were always side by side.  Even during the winter when they settled to the bottom of the pond – those 2 were side by side.  We added 3 more fish a few years ago but they are all loners – paying no mind to each other and pretty much staying scattered from each other but those 2 original fish were always together unless they were feeding.  The catfish we only see when food is present – he blends in with the bottom and usually stays tucked in along side the water lily plants.

Over the years the big one ‘Candle’ has jumped out of the pond on several occasions – fortunately always when someone was nearby to scoop him up and put him back.  He did it again the other week just before I headed up to MA.  On that day there was a gardener working next door at my neighbors who heard the splash, put him back in the pond and then knocked on my door to tell me.  I tried to keep an eye on the pond through the day and sure enough I saw him laying out on the driveway later in the day.  I was afraid he was dead but he moved his mouth when I came up to him so back in the pond he went.  Later when I was watching them – it seemed that ‘Light’ the smaller one kept motivating ‘Candle’ to keep moving around in the pond – nudging him and making him swim.  He seemed to be OK – but when I returned from MA it was clear there was some damage to his scales along one side and on the ends of his fins – most likely from laying on the driveway… it wasn’t hot out but the pavement was probably at least warm from the sun that day.

I wasn’t surprised when Candle died one day last week… I saw him laying on his side in the pond late in the afternoon with his buddy floating right next to him. 

We measured Candle when we took him out – he was 21 inches long and 3.5 inches thick… a really big guy. 

Light seems kinda lonely now… just hanging out by himself in the pond… and a little more skittish all by himself.  When I walk up to the ponds edge he swims away back into the water lily plants.  Maybe Candle was his protector...  I do feel bad for him that his buddy is gone.