SEPTEMBER 2015, ISSUE #172

A whirlwind month of perfect weather in which we pulled off a long-planned conference, celebrated Bob’s birthday, entertained the neighbors, saw some pigs, grew some roses and ate edamame.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOB!

20150912Bob

It’s hard to believe Bob turned 57 this month. Handsome devil just keeps getting better looking every year. Must be all that clean living…

 

LITTLE PIGGIES

20150902Pigs  20150902Piggies

Jules picked up half a dozen weaner pigs and set up a nice little home for them at The Plant. Weaners are two to three-month old pigs that have been weaned from their mothers milk and are ready to venture out into the world.

 

MONEY AND MEANING

20150910JudyTami  20150912CamilleShelley

Tami brought in inspirational local economy activist Judy Wicks to kick off a conference that Tami, Lyle, Carol and Bob have been planning for months. Slow Money Southeast Regional Gathering: A Money and Meaning Summit was held over three days and involved many of our friends. Shelley and her walking buddy Camille pose in front of a restored Dye House and Cotton Mill during a bus tour to revitalized river town of Saxapahaw.

 

BUS TOURS ARE ALWAYS A BLAST

  20150912BobMark  20150912LyleTourGuide

Every conference deserves a field trip and Bob organized a doozy. His clipboard indicates that this tour will run like a Swiss train, and thanks to the most excellent tour bus driver Mark Dragon, everything went as planned. Lyle livened up the day by playing tour guide, explaining the history of North Carolina’s mill towns and why Saxapahaw was such a special example of local economy in action. See more conference photos on M&M Summit

 

LITTLER PIGGIES

20150917Boar  20150917Sow

Soon after Jules brought piglets to the plant, Alisa’s Pot-bellied pigs had a dozen tiny babies. That’s the boar on the left and the sow with piglets on the right.

 

CUTE AS BUTTONS

20150917SarahPiglet  20150917Piglet

Sarah holds a tiny pink and black two-day old piglet. Camille was taken by the feral brown and black swirls on this little fella.

 

I WANT MY MAMA!

20150917PigletCry

Although Sarah handled little pink and black with extreme loving kindness, at one point he/she spooked and hollered out for his/her mother.

 

SECOND BLOOM

20150923StainlessCloud  20150923StainlessCloudVase

Cooler weather has brought out new buds on all our flowering plants, including hybrid tea roses Stainless Steel and Fragrant Cloud. A Double Delight bloom lays at the base of the vase.

 

BIRTHDAY POTLUCK

20150924JoeBob  20150924CakeCamille

In which we celebrate Bob’s and Joe’s birthdays with a passel of neighbors and some cake.

 

AS PER USUAL

20150924JasonClaire  20150924TamiTedHelen

A good time was had by all!  More at Birthday Potluck

 

A HAPPY SPOT

20150924SpotEden  20150924SpotBobJudy

Eden waves a fluffy stalk of pampas grass while Spot prompts her to smile at the camera man. Bob and Judy look forward to training Spot to saddle.

 

20150924SpotSarahJoe  20150924SpotEvanAbigail

Spot brought out the silly side of Sarah and Joe and was quite chatty with new neighbors Evan and Abigail.

 

EDAMAME

20150926EdamameBowls  20150926Edamame

Bob grows the tastiest edamame ever in his Sunken Gardens of Moncure. Yum!

____________________________________________________________

THIS MONTH’S QUOTES:

“We’ve come to think that a good time means spending a lot of money and burning a lot of carbon traveling to distant places to be entertained. But we can have more fun with our friends and neighbors right in our own communities.”- Judy Wicks from “Good Morning, Beautiful Business”

“Liberation from the dominant technocratic paradigm does in fact happen sometimes, for example, when cooperatives of small producers adopt less polluting means of production, and opt for a non-consumerist model of life, recreation and community.” – Pope Francis in his Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ On Care for our Common Home

“In the United States we feel guilty for wasting time. Every American should repeat this affirmation” “I will waste more time today. I will be unproductive. I will become more and more like a birch tree.” Sparrow from Small Happiness in The Sun July, 2015

____________________________________________________________

SearchBinoculars

The best way to locate a page or photo from past issues is with this handy Search Engine

PFA Banner

Get the back story via our blog at Plastic Farm Animals

____________________________________________________________

[Troutsfarm] * [September, 2015] * [M&M Conference] * [Birthday Potluck]

____________________________________________________________