In which Bob turns 56, we host another potluck, revisit Camelina, discover the perfect place to walk during spider season, replace some flooring, grow the biggest squash ever and make some soup.
2014 – 1964
Bob celebrated his fifty-sixth birthday this month. Here’s a picture of our beloved Bob celebrating another milestone, his graduation from Kindergarten fifty years ago.
POTLUCK
On potluck night Spot welcomed new neighbors Chris and Ingrid, not so new neighbors Nickolas and Hannah and caught up with Graham who had somehow managed to elude him until now.
LATE AFTERNOON ON THE FARM
We caught our farmer neighbors Jason, Haruka and Graham working until the sun went down around 7:30 on September 10th.
CAMELINA
The infrastructure that was once Oilseed is on its way out. Chatham Park Investors and Preston Development reclaimed the 83 acres and three houses that we once leased as a community. The farm house, barn and fencing are still in place. The lower house is gone and our home of two years, Camelina is on wheels and ready to roll out of there. Oh, and the blue boat with the hole in the side that was filled with bags of garbage – it’s still there.
A REFRESHING VISTA
Our new favorite place to walk is at Jordan Lake Dam, a sweet little admission-free park with a great view of the lake and wide open trails. Read more about this beautiful place on our blog.
Barbecue Sauce and the US Army Corps of Engineers
SPIDER-FREE ROUTE
We generally park in the lot to the South of the Haw River, then walk across the river along the base of the dam and across the spillway onto a gravel road that winds up through two stands of trees.
VISITOR’S CENTER
Across the dam and on up the stairs to the visitor’s center for another great view of the lake.
GOOD CLEAN FUN
It’s a great place to take our friends, get a little exercise, clown around and come home without any spiders in our hair. Eventually the first frost will knock down the spider population and we’ll regain the option walking in the woods behind our house.
UPSTREAM – BYNUM BRIDGE ACROSS THE HAW
Bob and Andy spent the day at the Haw River with a group of environmentalists, pushing their dream forward of making hydro electric power at the old power station in Bynum.
OH BOY!
Bob’s favorite thing to do – not! Although using the sawsall does make home maintenance a bit more palatable. This month we had to rebuild the sub floor near the HVAC system and replace it with an expensive new unit. Happy Birthday, Bob!
SWEET!
Bob’s first attempt at growing sweet potatoes was an unequivocal success with the added benefit of some startling shapes.
PURPLE GLOBE
This beautiful eggplant cried out to be photographed and soon found its way into our vegetable bins. We look forward to eating it either fried, in sauce or stew or as baba ghanoush, a dip akin to hummus.
THE BIGGEST SQUASHES WE’VE EVER SEEN
Right here in our own garden! Man oh man! These three “Long of Naples” weighed in at 32, 23 and 8 pounds.
WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU SQUASH, MAKE AN IMMUNE BOOSTING SOUP
The change in weather precedes the cold and flu season and we have a lot of winter squash on hand so it makes sense to turn that squash into a hearty immune system boosting Autumn bisque. Check out our step by step photo essay: Autumn Bisque Recipe
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THIS MONTH’S QUOTES:
“Our society assigns us a tiny number of roles: We’re producers of one thing at work, consumers of a great many other things all the rest of the time, and then, once a year or so, we take on the temporary role of citizen and cast a vote.” – Michael Pollan, from Why Cook? in the March, 2014 issue of The Sun Magazine
“We praise you. Lord, for creating gluten, an important yet humble source of protein enjoyed for centures by the peoples of many nations, the great majority of whom didn’t even know it existed until recently. God, you sent gluten into this world as you sent your own Son, to save us, not to torment us with vague and possibly imaginary physical symptoms.” – Wendy Brenner
“As a culture, we’ve become upset by the tobacco companies advertising to children, but we sit idly by while the food companies do the very same thing. And we could make a claim that the toll taken on the public health by a poor diet rivals that taken by tobacco.” – Kelly Brownell, Yale University
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