I'm so glad you keep me company during the week. It's heartwarming.

DM, good luck with the procedure. That stuff is never fun but better to know than not. You can have some ice cream after.

Work work work. Blah!!!!! I pass a large garden with unheated covers over some plots every morning. I googled it and found out it's a worthy cause which is very interesting. Wood Street Urban Farm. Job training and coaching along with producing gorgeous vegetables. I think I'll donate. I should volunteer and maybe get training on how to work my own garden.

Have a good day everyone

Ok really? Just had a charms blow pop and there was no gum in the center?!?! What a letdown! :(

I'm aways envious of those community gardens. They look so bountiful.

Need to get my hair trimmed. I keep thinking I'm getting too old to have such long hair. I wonder if theres some sort of age protocol for long hair?

well now... I stuck my face in the fire place vents, then removed the seal from the duct vents and stuck my face in there. Nothing! Vents smell fresh and clean... I can't figure it out. I may have to pull a vacuum on the fireplace - or force air through it from the outside. Can't replicate the stench that was present yesterday... scratches head... maybe it was me and I just needed a shower?

wife just told vanity fair outlet is going to close... that means 'new' jeans for 2 bucks a pair. now if I had a warehouse I'd buy a truckload and e-b-a-y it.

No smell, Brain? Hmm.

Brynn, I think long hair can look good but it needs to be either super groomed or wildly curly. I gave up long hair. Shoulder length is about it for me. I have wavy hair so it can never be super groomed and it's not wildly curly. Just wild. However, I think it can also be horribly aging. Picture Jamie Lee Curtis with long hair. Looks better with the short.

Hi Ruby! I have been gardening with the Peterson Gardening Project at their Vedgewater garden for four years. They have a lot of community gardens around the city. There is a big emphasis on learning. They even have cooking, canning, vermicomposting and lots of other classes at the Broadway Armory. The founder of the garden says its 90% community, 10% gardening.

Every garden site holds 15% of plots to donate the produce to a local org. My garden donates to Care for Real. Volunteers take care of those plots. I really like Global Gardens on Lawrence bc the Hmong gardeners there have really built something amazing that sustains the families there. It's also part of the PGP.

The organization I do volunteer beekeeping for has several hives on community gardens as well as donated property... We teach beekeeping to formerly incarcerated and underemployed individuals.

Also, there is a garden in Lawndale called preSERVE. It's maintained in conjunction with Neighbor Space, Slow Food Chicago, North Lawndale Greening Commission and one other group, I forgot who. It's at 12th or 13th and Central Park. Their last volunteer day is this month, you can find it on the Slow Food Chicago page. You can bring the kids.

I have slowed down all volunteer activities in my efforts to hunker down and get my mind and body healthy, but these are the areas I like to allocate my free time when I have it.

Next year I'll be doing it for myself instead of volunteering. I'm starting nine beehives on land that was donated to me for the purpose. Not owning the land, just for the hives.

Urban agriculture is my favorite thing to be involved in, it leads to cooking delicious food and community!

Melina, that's awesome. I'd love to do that but it's so dang far for me. I really am south. Closer to Indiana time wise. One thing I miss about the Minneapolis farmer's market is the Hmong farmers. They had fabulous produce. When they first started at the market, they had traditional stuff that Hmong ate like pea greens and bitter melon. No one knew how to cook it so eventually the Hmong farmers brought tomatoes, cukes, carrots and green beans and it was boring. By the time I moved back to Chicago they were again offering traditional Hmong veg as people grew more comfortable and Minneapolis grew more cosmopolitan. It really was fascinating to see. I lived there for 12 years and saw a lot of change.

Gorgeous day here. I hope you're enjoying it!

.
An Italian Sales Engineer Pal from back in my Workin' Daze took us to the cleverly-named 'Eataly' in Torino [Turin] circa 2008. The veritable Slow Food Center Of The Universe; thanks to the Movement 'Founder' Carlo Petrini.

Amazing day, and Lunch...


http://i59.tinypic.com/2d14tw6.jpg

.

Happy hump day all!

Best wishes to Ruby and Brynn.

Home time for me. The visitors have left, so some couch time is needed!

Catch ye later miscreants!

B

^^^^Hey, another tractor guy (Behan!) :)

Nice, Behan! Couch surfing!

Mesa, those are lovely aubergines.

This is a public service announcement. While driving home yesterday I heard on the radio that canned pumpkin producers are warning that there may be a shortage this year. Stock up now if you're making pies, breads, cakes. I didn't know that Illinois farmers are the nation's number one commercial pumpkin producers. Much of the crop was rain damaged or destroyed, apparently.

Maybe I'll do pumpkin bread this weekend

Crud. Wish I would've seen Rubys post before I went to the store. My contribution to all holiday meals is bread and deserts so I'll definitely be stocking up on pumpkin!

I'm officially tired of peanut butter on toast. Time to broaden my lunchtime horizons.

I don't want to be on this planet if there is a pumpkin shortage.

There are still big piles of them in front of Safeway...:dunno

Small mercys DeathMental, I had endoscopy about 6 years age - other end though:dee

Ruby, Brynn you are both great, I hope things turn out well for you.

My hair was getting long a month or so back but I got self conscious if I wore a suit. Wish I had enough bottle to keep it

John Deere are a regular sight in UK and Europe now

Behan - i'm couch spudding as well

Clocks don't go back here for a couple of weeks so we 10 hours different to West Coast for a while. Always depressing when it does go back, dark at 4pm ugh!

This week seems to have flown by

Evening everyone

the procedure went fine they didn't find anything
see my dr at some point see what she says

I was looking up something and this song popped into my head. No idea why, but it happens often that some song just comes out of the blue into my brain... Not even remotely related to what I was looking at.

From one of the first albums I ever bought...

Judas Priest was my very first concert. I met them :)

The clouds over the Long Walk were looking pretty ominous yesterday!

What a fantastic pic Tetra

Lovely, Tetra! Even though ominous, it's a great picture.

Della, do tell!