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A MONTH OF GARDENING, TINKERING, TUMBLING AND RECONNECTING WITH FAMILY

May, 2008 - Issue #84

 

FAMILY PICNIC

This photo was probably taken in the 60's of Grandpa Frank at the head of the table with Nana Helen on his right.  At the far end of the table are Irene (Wallace) and Nicky Edigio.  If anyone knows the identity of any of these other folks, please give us a shout.   Nana's family name was Kaminski, and her sisters married into the Lipski and Harucki families. Some other names from the way back machine are Marguite Lyons, Frank Harucki, Steve & Agnes Wallace, and William & Ann Cominskey.

 

A GOOD EGG

    

Link was given an Emu egg by a friend and brought it by for us to admire.  Nice way to start out the month!

 

MUSHROOM CLINIC

 

In the woods behind Camelina, Bob and Rob seeded some cardboard with Oyster Mycelium.  Two months later, Rob was happy to see significant growth. More photos on this page: Our May Garden

(Look for links to other pages within the text or on the bottom Navigation Bar)

 

RIDING WITH ADAH AND GRINDLE

 

Camille must confess, riding on Wednesday mornings may be the highlight of her week.  Adah has great balance because she often rides bareback.

 

NOT HURTING FOR CALORIES

 

The one constant in our home is an abundance of fresh, local food.  These vegetables represent a one week share of our Piedmont Biofarm CSA membership.  Bob makes Tempeh and keeps a large container on marinade for frying.

 

We've been harvesting greens from our garden and putting them up in the freezer for those cold winter months when nothing is happening in the garden.  More photos on this page: Our May Garden

 

THE THRONE

 

This is how to make a composting toilet from a chair and an three five-gallon buckets.  We picked up the perfect chair at the Thrift Store for $5.00.  It was tall enough for a five-gallon bucket and had no seat.  Next we bought a piece of plywood and a toilet seat.  Camille traced the shape of the chair seat and drew out on the plywood.  Bob cut it out using a jigsaw.

 

Bob later cut a hole in the middle to match the diameter of the bucket and bolted on the toilet seat.  We placed our composting toilet in an unused shower stall adjacent to the master bedroom.  A bucket of peat moss with a scoop sits beside the throne.  Every time we use it, we scoop some peat moss on top.  The third bucket allows us to sterilize one bucket in the sun  for a day after we empty it and bring the clean one inside for use.  The waste we collect must be composted, which cooks out any pathogens and turns it into a great soil amendment.  Our inspiration for this project is Joe Jenkins, the guru of composting toilets.

 

GYMNASTICS AT CAMELINA

   

We were amazed at how agile our friends are one evening when they decided to get a little exercise on the lawn.  More photos on this page:  Tumbling

 

BACK PORCH OFFERINGS

 

On Mother's Day we found these beautiful flowers from Jack and Adah on our back porch.  On another day, we found this handsome cicada.

 

GOING HOME

 

The climax of our month was an eleven day trip to visit family and friends up north.  Bob got to meet Mom's older sister, Camille's Aunt Jeanette, whom Camille had not seen for about 20 years.  Cousin Brian came out with his wife Maggie and sons Tommy and Bobby.  We spent a little time reminiscing with Aunt Jeanette, before heading down to the dining room at Sunrise Village for lunch.  After lunch, we went out on the patio to take some pictures.  Click on the photo or here to see the full sized file.

 

IT ALL STARTED WITH AN OVERNIGHT STAY IN NED'S NEIGHBORHOOD

 

Ned and Bob were college roomates.  Since he lives in Washington DC, we thought we'd break up our drive with an overnighter.  More photos on this page: Hanging Out with Ned

 

SHIPPENSBURG

 

After a night at Jim and Kathryn's in New Jersey, in which Joe flew in from California, we went to see Mom and spent three days at John and Darla's house.  More photos on this page: The Pennsylvanians

 

MATT MAKES BIODIESEL AND GROWS VEGETABLES

    

While we were in the neighborhood, we took an afternoon to visit Matt Steiman. He brews biodiesel at Dickinson College and runs a CSA on a farm outside of town.  More photos on this page: Matt's Farm

 

THE NEW JERSEY CONTINGENT

 

We stayed with Jim, Kathryn and Christina on our first day up north and on the last before heading south again.  We all took a day trip to the neighborhood where we spent countless hours as children and where Aunt Kathy and Cousin Mark still live.  More photos on this page: New Jersey Family

 

THE HOME PLACE

 

Camille's cousin bought their grandmother's home when she died and has kept it up and added family memorabilia to it.  Unfortunately, he was unable to be there as he often has to work long hours in the city. He gave us permission to explore at will, which we did with much delight.  More photos on this page: The Home Place.

 

FRANKIE AND JESSICA

Next we headed south and stopped, once again in Washington DC to spend the night with our friends Frankie and Jessica.  More photos on this page: Frankie and Jessica's DC World

 

WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA

 

This historic town was on our way to the Shenandoah Valley, so we stopped in for a couple of beers.  More photos on this page: Winchester

 

FUEL FARMER

 

A growing number of inspired farmers grow, crush and brew their own fuel.  This man was nice enough to give us a tour and show us how he does this on his farm. More photos on this page: The Chronic Tinkerer 

 

GETTING CLOSE TO OUR DISTANT RELATIVES

 

Our last visits were to Mark and Catherine and Melvin and Betty Armentrout in beautiful Shenandoah Valley.  More photos on this page: Armentrouts

THIS MONTH'S QUOTES:

"Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to."  - John Ed Pearce

“When you finally go back to your old hometown, you find it wasn't the old home you missed but your childhood” - Sam Ewing

"You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right." - Maya Angelou

"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." - Robert Frost

For more observations, opinions and musings, visit our blog at Plastic Farm Animals.

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