Beach Day

We worked on the farm for a bit this morning. Kate and I weeded the vegetable garden, while Bel fed the sheep and chickens near the house. Tommi and Max thumped German techno music and worked on this glass bottle igloo project and Tom plugged on with the outhouse construction. We BBQed burgers, and had pasta and potato salad. After a rest and some relaxation, we headed out to the beach to play some frisbee. If you know me--- you know I'm not sporty at ALL :( It's kind of funny actually... Trying to catch a frisbee lol

It was a beautiful day today. Wow. While at the beach, I ran into an old friend of mine, Margy, who I haven't seen for probably ten or so years! She, her husband and her inlaws were visiting her hometown all the way from NYC before she heads off to India to do some Mormon missionary work. WOW! What a coincidence. It was so lovely to see her, she hadn't changed a bit. Sweet and kind as ever <3

Emergency Room Visit

Max, Tom and Tommi were working on cutting wood for the outhouse they're building when something made Tommi's skillsaw jerk and almost slice his big toe off! While I was planting basil with Kate who arrived with Dave (the couple from Scotland) I got a call on my cell from Max who let told me he was at the ER room Tommi and told me the story of what happened. I brought Tommi his wallet he had forgotten in the rush to get to the hospital which had his insurance card and all that. Here they are at the Goleta Valley Emergency Room:

We found out Tommi's toe was fine, and the saw had just cut open his flesh but not touched any bone or anything. YAY! Unfortunately, he did have to fork over $500 for a simple cleaning of the the wound and a bandage. In the evening, he was even doing some P90x workout stints with Max, lol. Very silly...

We're having a lot of fun here!

First WWOOFing days at ArtFarm!

I've arrived at my first farm! Immediately, I'm surprised with what I find here...a house covered in bright graffiti art and painted murals of mermaids, fish transforming into hummingbirds, Jesus and the Mona Lisa, and even MickeyMouse. I hear a squeaking noise, and notice a young woman standing outside a colorful gate, with a basket of fresh brown eggs, squeezing a soccerball shaped horn under a sign that reads: "squeak the horn for Madeline." She introduces herself as Bel from Massachusetts, and then we go off in search of Madeline after a few minutes of waiting with no response. Later on, I meet Max (who is Bel's boyfriend, also from MA) and Tommi who is from Germany. Nans, from France, is scheduled to catch a train at noon for Mexico, so I get a short tour and work in the garden for just a little while before heading up to the house to make lunch for everyone. Bel and I work on a tofu stirfry, with a fresh mix of veggies from the garden and market and serve it with brown rice. Here's Max and Bel -

After lunch, Nans leaves and soon after that, Tom from England arrives. A bit later, I wander again through the garden, which is like a jungle maze of art and strange treasures like old windows, sinks and bathtubs filled with vegetables and herbs, and slightly alarming sculptures. There's a huge yoga and mediation deck, with a hammock nearby where I sit and read for a while in the afternoon. FUN DAY!

Tomorrow, two people from Edinburgh are supposed to arrive and another woman from Germany, Karo, should be coming in the evening. More updates as they come!

Lady Love!

Sorry for the absence - life just happened! I'm starting the blog back up, hopefully this time I'll be more loving and caring to it. No more neglecting, Miss Julia-Rose! ;) I am very inspired and hopeful currently, and I just have to share two great things!

1. I'm going to WWOOFing! I go to my first farm on September 1st, and I'll be there from somewhere between a week and 2 months (depending on many factors), then I'll move on to the next farm, and then the next, and the next! This first one is on an ARTfarm to boot!

I had a bit of epiphany (or life slapped me in the face, you choose) and suddenly things fell into place. I quit my job, didn't renew my lease on my house, sold most of my possessions, bought a used (but more reliable) car and now I'm going to do what I've been saying I want to do for years. Even if it's rash and considered odd or frivolous to some people, its not hurting anyone and I'll never know how happy it could make me unless I give it a full swing :) Living organically and learning about organic farming, permaculture, sustainability, homesteading, alternative living styles--it all sounds like heaven to me. AHH! While on this crazy adventure, I want to keep in contact with family and friends (and other WWOOFers I meet along my adventure!) so there will be a lot of farm posts :) Fair warning1! PS. If you're interested in it, talk to me! Or visit this website for the US: http://www.wwoofusa.org/


2. The second thing is that in our front lawn in which we planted a vegetable, herb and flower garden, there has been a most delightful batch of additions - baby ladybugs! I planted about 10 mega huge sunflowers in the front of the garden (to buffer the view for neighbors, who are more of the perfectly mowed lawn types), and they all became disgustingly infected with aphids! BOOOO. So my plan was to go buy a bunch of ladybugs and hope they stayed long enough to rid me of the aphid-pests. But slowly I noticed more and more ladybugs flying to the leaves on their own, and then doin' it! Soon after that, I saw little yellow eggs on the undersides of the leaves, but I didn't put two and two together. Then, I saw some ladybugs actually laying the yellow eggs on the leaves... aha! Sex = Babies! I waited and waited for something to happen with the yellow eggs, but for a few days it seemed I was finding more batches of eggs on the leaves, but the ones that were there the day or two before were all kind of dried out and gone :( I thought something was eating the eggs and I got upset and worried -- by now these were my welcomed and appreciated friends. (This may be the point where I became unheathily attached to the fucking bugs. Really Julia? *rolls eyes* ANYWAY) I was wrong! They were hatching and eating their egg sacks! Oh happy days in my little heart <3



I've heard that it's the little things in life that make us happy. In this case, they are REALLY tiny!

Cheers to changes, dreams and goals taking shape, new life, and seizing the day!

Good Morning!

Happy Saturday :)


For my Saturday (your Friday) I made pancakes for anyone in the house who was up by 8am (who ended up being just Katie, Dave and moi). I forgot how much I really really love pancakes. They were super light and fluffy, and sugary crunchy around the edges. Perfecto!

Katie and I have a date to visit Tahoe today. We'll get a map, only ride the small streets (no highways if at all possible), and drive in the direction of the lake, stopping along the way wherever our fancy takes us. We want to relive our road trip days! Woohoo! ...even for just a few hours. haha Pictures to follow!

Have a great Saturday :)

Foggy Friday (yes, I know it's only Thursday, but for me it's Friday!)

Last day of my work week, woot! I have some awesome cooking, gardening, and ragrug making plans for myself this weekend. This morning Katie and I were on our usual walk and boy was it foggy. You could barely see 200 feet ahead of you. I had to run back to the house and grab my camera for this kind of fog.



This row of trees stretch for over a mile, to give you an idea of how long you should be able to see for. Headlights were appearing out of no where and I had a few close calls taking these shots. haha





There is this old boat that just sits on the side of the road near my house. It's now growing moss.



On the way back from our walk, I noticed a splash of lovely pink flowers in a bush :) So pretty.



Shower time!

Quiche!

I made the quiche I promised myself I would. It was so delicious if I can say some myself, it was gone in 3 days!

For Christmas I was given a fabulous vegan cook book from my sister, Supermarket Vegan. Sometimes before bed I sit under the covers and read the recipes and then have crazy food dreams. haha I've seen some recipes with portobello mushrooms in them that look like fun to try, so on Saturday I bought a couple at the farmer's market along with my brussels sprouts and beets.

I keep coming back to these pictures I took of the house in Santa Cruz where my family and I all stayed after Christmas. The house had all sorts of hidden rooms, closets within closets, sun rooms and such cute country style decor! This was my favorite sun room.



More food! I had to share this super yummy breakfast I had: vegan plain yogurt, granola, peanut butter, agave nectar, and diced blackberries!

Room Pictures

Decorating my space is more fun than it used to be. I hadn't realized how many fun little trinkets and special items I had collected over the past few years. My Inspiration board is pretty bare right now, but slowly, things are being posted as they come by my way. Outside, the weather is dreary and dull, so I put up lots of flowers and butterflies to hopefully keep it lively and fun in my craft space. Who is excited for spring!? Who noticed the Michael's 40% off coupon on the board!? Awww yea, sweeeet!


I really need to get better lighting in here, damn. These pictures are coming out like crap! Ah piss, anyway, this is my little craft space in the corner. I need to find a new way to store my paper...my portfolio thing that I usually carry my paper in just broke and things are flying out whenever I move it. Grr.


One of my favorite dresses :) It doesn't look too hard to make actually. The fabric isn't stretchy or anything. I think i'll give it a try after I bust out sewing some more underwear and pillow cases. I still need to sew a pillowcase to use with my crocheted hexagons. Whenever I get around to THAT project, I'll post it. Don't hold your breath. haha


If I get off work on time today I'm going to make a vegan broccoli quiche. The last one I made was so yummy! Tomorrow is my Friday (YAY!), so this weekend I have plans to make vegan cinnamon rolls, something with sun-dried tomatoes and garbanzo beans, and go to the farmer's market for brussels sprouts. Sounds do-able, yes?

A corner of my room, decorated finally!


I've been cooking A LOT lately. Last weekend I made myself a vegan brunch...which ended up lasting me three meals! There was a lot of yummy food :)


Instead of meeting on Christmas Day (both my sister and I had to work) my family and I all got together a few days after in Santa Cruz. We rented a most lovely and cozy cottage where we all stayed. The last morning, we went to breakfast on the pier--a quick 5 min walk from our 'house!' These are my wonderful parents :)


Here's our halloween costumes for 2010! We spiced up our normal costumes and became pregnant. haha

I just can't get enough of this beautiful weather. Sarah and I sat in the park, crocheting, reading and soaking up warm sunshine. Here's me working on my little flowers!


We also went to the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens where we ventured into this really cool thatched open hut-type thing, found faces in rocks, danced in the redwoods, and bought a couple plants from the nursery!





I've been to the beach a lot lately too, here's Becca


I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and finding ways to keep cool :)