general updates and goings on. (with an exciting announcement at the end)

First of all, it's time to update you about my itsy-bitsy garden. I'm sure you're all wondering how my radishes and carrots are doing, so here are some photos:

 

about 1 week after planting

1 

 does this mean good luck?

taken today!almost 1 month since planting

It's hard to tell if the radishes are doing better or if they're just maturing faster than the carrots. I know they are faster growing plants. At any rate, it's fun to grow things from seed! 

Let's see, what else is new on the home front? 

I'm still on the "no-poo" bandwagon, which has been a fun experiment. I've perfected my regimen and now here is what I do, for those who are curious:

1. I use diluted apple cider vinegar (about 1/2-1 oz vinegar to 12 oz water...just an approximation) as a rinse about every day. Sometimes I can skip a day, but if I just use water I notice my hair becomes dried out. We have very hard water where I live, maybe that is why. I just wet my hair and run my fingers through as though I'm shampooing (but I'm only using water) and then I rinse with the vinegar solution. I rinse the vinegar out with water. 


2. Twice a week or so I clean my hair with baking soda. I put a few tablespoons of baking soda in a little dish/ramekin and add warm water. I stir it up with my finger and then pour over my dry hair in the shower. The baking soda solution is definitely watery. I had to play around with the amount of water to get a consistency I liked. I then scrub my scalp with my fingertips and let sit for a minute or so. Any longer and it starts to dry out my scalp and make it itchy. Then I rinse and follow with the vinegar solution as described as above. 


I've noticed I can't use the baking soda more than twice a week because it dries out my scalp. But if I don't use it at all, my hair is too oily. I still have some days that are more oily than others, but I'm much happier with my new "hair cleaning" method. No more trying to find a shampoo that works for me, no more spending so much money on hair products. And my hair is SO HEALTHY! Oh, and as far as the vinegar smell goes, once your hair dries the smell is gone. I'd like to try infusing the vinegar with herbs (lavender?) - I'll let you know how that goes if I do it. 


Oh - and while we're on the topic of home-made cosmetics, I've been exclusively using coconut oil and jojoba oil as facial moisturizers and have been loving the results. The coconut oil is heavier, so I use it at night and on days where my skin is more dry. The jojoba oil is lighter and can be used any time. 


Switching gears completely, I went on a trip home to visit my parents in the SF area earlier this month. While they worked during the weekdays, I busied myself in my dad's garden:

jalapeno peppers, still blooming

 these roses have a lemony-delicious scent

 

strawberry blossom

cherry tomatoes

1/2 of the cherry tomato crop!

on a roasting pan, getting ready for oven-drying

 sprinkled with salt...yum!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the final results of the oven-dried tomatoes (which we put in 2 jars, covered with olive oil, peppercorns, and basil). Which means I'll have to make them again the next time my dad has a plethora of tomatoes that need to be used up. But I will say that they tasted soooo good on some crackers with the feta cheese I picked up at Happy Acres Family Farm on the way up to my parents house. I took some pictures there to supplement my previous post about the farm, when J and I took a tour and learned how to milk a goat. Here are those photos: 

quizzical duck

how are goats so photogenic??

 my favorite is when they awkwardly stand on rocks and other tall things.

 lazy farm dog

their farm stand, decked out in October attire

I will now conclude my longest-blog-post-ever by sharing one more fun-fact:


Our church is starting a community garden! Eeeeeeeeeeeeee! I am very excited. J and I spent our car-ride on the way to meeting his parents for lunch making up names for our future plot. His parents have already made requests as to what we should put in it (his dad wants some of those saucer-shaped squash). How fun is that! The plots are 4' x 6'. Not sure when they will be available yet - I think they're still working out what the financial commitment will be and all of that nitty-gritty stuff. But I'm excited! Keep your eyes peeled for more about that! 

Phew!

Enjoy your last week of October

<3
M

three cheers for the goats.

J and I decided to take a much needed vacay over Memorial Day Weekend this year. As our first "official" vacation together, I decided to consult Sunset Magazine's opinion on where to spend our time. Being a loyal subscriber for 2 years now, it's time I used their services :)

We decided to make San Luis Obispo our home base. One would think we would have spent our weekend wine tasting, but no we zoomed past the wineries in search of true white gold - goats milk.  Yes, it's true - as we pulled up into the driveway of Templeton's Happy Acres Family Farm I felt a twinge of what I can only describe as embarrassment; and I turned to J for reassurance. "Wait, is this the kind of thing that families are supposed to do together? We must be the strangest couple ever!! Look at all of the little kids..." He smiled his trademark patient smile and patted me on the shoulder - "We'll have a great time, M." And then I remembered the promise of fresh goat cheese that we'd get to make and take home. Yep, we will have a great time.

                                          (how can you say no to that face??)

In short, the tour was a BLAST. We (or I, rather - J is less self-conscious than I am) were relieved when we walked over to the gathering group, where families and couples like us stood browsing various goat milk products in the farm store. Stephanie, owner and tour guide extraordinaire took us on the educational adventure of a lifetime - her sheer energy testimony enough to the fact that she loves what she does. Her goats all have names and personalities. We got to learn how to milk (J and I proudly won the milking competition), we took a tour of the farm which includes not only goats but Alpacas, chickens, and some miniature ponies, we got to flavor and take home our own fresh (not to mention organic) goat cheese, oh and then we topped off our tour with some freshly-churned strawberry goat-milk ice cream, which had a refreshing taste and a texture somewhere between sorbet and frozen yogurt.  Fun, delish, educational, a place we'll definitely come back and tour again when we have small-children in tow (a crazy thought).

                                         (the unveiling of our goat cheese)

We spent the rest of our weekend frequenting local SLO restaurants (Big Sky Cafe remains my favorite), making our mark in bubble-gum alley,  tasting at a microbrewery and taking an ocean kayaking tour which led us through sea-caves and introduced us to some new friends.

As far as our adventures in dairying go, I'm sure the next time we're driving up 101 to visit my family, we'll stop in to say hello and to load up on our new favorite goat-milk products.

<3 Meg

                       (we're the tandem kayak in the middle)              

                                                                                                                                                                                               

  

(our contribution to bubblegum alley)