TROUTS
LATEST PHOTOS
May, 2011 Issue #120
STRAWBERRY
SEASON
It happens every
year and we generally invest in a flat. This is 24 pounds of strawberries
which ended up as jam.
JAMMIN’
Bob found time to
make jam and boy is it tasty! Here he holds one of the strawberries from
our patch outside the front door. Most of those got eaten fresh, a few
found their way into jam and the deer and slugs made off with some, too.
For more photos of stuff we grew, please visit Trouts Farm Gardens
HOMESTEADING
At least until UPS
stops delivering, this is what modern homesteading looks like. Part bulk
food order. Part CSA. This year we’re getting our summer CSA box
from CCCC’s Land Lab and our winter box will come from next door. Not to
mention Bob’s prolific garden. See link above.
THE HUB
Our house has
turned into a neighborhood gathering place. We are lucky to have the time
to keep up a space people enjoy relaxing in. Sebastian lived next door in
a tent for a while when he was working as a volunteer on the farm and of course,
got to meet Spot.
A shoe pile on the
back porch is a common sight because we ask guests to remove their shoes before
stepping inside. We learned this trick while living in China, Guam and
Hawaii and can’t believe we once used to wear our shoes inside the house.
The custom of removing footwear has cut our housecleaning time by a third.
PASSING
THROUGH
Both the snapping
turtle and the thirteen-year cicada made temporary appearances in our yard this
month. For more see Wild Kingdom
WORK IN
PROGRESS
Just so you don’t
go thinking we live in a palace, here’s the view of our back porch with its
leaky roof. But, like anything else, home is what you make of it and we
love ours. We recently replaced the roof on the rest of the house and had
roof over the front porch rebuilt. Our next project will be to add gutters
so we can catch water for the garden. After that we’ll think about getting
the back porch roof rebuilt. As all home owners know, it all takes money
and money takes time. Meanwhile, speaking of time and money, Jason and
Haruka are plugging away at their root cellar next door.
WHAT IN
THE?
Bob was at the
college one day, standing in the parking lot. One minute there was no
donkey and the next there was. He could could only deduce that the young
lady who had just driven up in her Honda Element had unloaded a donkey. So
he went over and asked her if she had brought her donkey in her car and she said
yes she had. Now, that’s something you don’t see every day! Reminds
us of rodeo clown Leon Coffee pulling a little burro from his pants…
VACATION
TIME
Here we go again,
just like we do every May. This year we got smart (well, Bob is the smart
part here) and rented a car rather than drive one of our old cars which have
close to 500,000 miles between them. Read about all of our exploits here: Annual Trip North
NORTH TO
PENNSYLVANIA
After a night in
Armentrout land we drove up to Illo land for five nights. We spent time with
John and Mom, to name a few. More on this here: Shippensburg Visit
DICKINSON
FARM
While we were in
Pennsylvania we hooked up with Matt, who happily hosted our annual tour of Dickinson College
NEW YORK
In a completely
self-indulgent move, we took the train to New York City and booked a B&B in
lower Manhattan for two nights. The highlight of our trip was spending
some time with cousin Frank.
THIS MONTH’S QUOTES:
“Look at some of the older,
more stable cultures in the world: Their organizing principle is not self but
community. You don’t just do what is good for you. Our culture is
paying the price of self-interest as an organizing principle.” Peter Coyote
from his interview in the June issue of The Sun magazine
“Please do not mistake your
empire-building for creation or your mutual palm-greasing for cooperation.”
from E.T. 101 – The Cosmic Instruction Manual for Planetary Evolution by Zoev
Jho and Mission Control
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