Fiber Farm

Thanks to Priscilla for the link to this great video about a small sheep and goat farm on Martha's Vineyard. The owner left her job in New York City and started her small operation from scratch, applying the CSA model (Community Supported Agriculture) to selling yarn. Customers buy a share of her fiber harvest at the beginning of the season and collect their yarn at the end of the season.

Here is a link to her web site. In the video below, pay close attention to the beautiful Maremma guard dogs she uses. An Italian breed that looks a lot like the other standard guard dogs, the Great Pyrenees, Maremma's are tenacious, loving, and loyal guards of the flocks they protect—and of their family-owners, especially children.

Note for reflection: A lot of vegans eschew using any animal products or by-products for human use. But in my evolving understanding of the symbiosis between human and non-human animals, I'm comfortable with the use of animal fibers (wool, alpaca, etc.) for human use as long, of course, as the animals are treated humanely like the animals in this video. A year of reading the Small Farmer's Journal, which deals mainly with the traditional use of horses, mules, oxen, etc., in small farm settings, has helped me understand that some of these domesticated animals seem to "enjoy," or derive a sense of pleasure from, "being worked" in a manner that honors their strength and intelligence (as in plowing, etc.). So much so that I donated funds last December for the purchase of two yokes of oxen (and two plows) to be furnished to two small-farm families in southeast Asia for the plowing of their fields, greatly enhancing their ability to raise plants for their families' sustenance. I can only hope the animals are used respectfully, though that's out of my hands. But I enjoy the Edenic vision of human and non-human animals working together, with human beings bearing the responsibility for godly dominion (servant leadership) over their fellow creatures.

Okay -- enjoy the video:

Wordle

I recently wrote about 3,500 words describing books I thought were needed in the Christian publishing world dealing with a biblical perspective on diet, health, animals, etc. Feeding those words into the interface at wordle.com produced the following graphic representation of what I wrote using the 350 most-used words. The more frequently a word occurs, the larger it appears in the graphic. It's easy to see what I felt needed to be emphasized in the books I was proposing. (The publisher wasn't impressed, turning down my ideas. If they had seen this cool graphic I bet they would have said, "YES!" jk)



Here's another representation of the 500 most-used words -- different font and colors:



Wordle will also pull words off a blog or website, but the results from my blog were less impressive since there's such a random collection of words.

England's Ron Paul

England's Daniel Hannan is an MEP (member of the English Parliament) who is being called "England's Ron Paul." He speaks with the eloquence of Alan Keyes and the fiscal sanity of Ron Paul. (Of course, these Brits could read the phone book with their refined speech and accent and we would love it, but in this case there is substance to accompany the style.) Here he takes on England's Prime Minister in a March 26, 2009 (yesterday) speech in the European Parliament: (Background: the current prime minister of England is Gordon Brown who was the Chancellor of the Exchequer, equivalent to the U.S. Sec'y of Treasury, under the previous P.M. Tony Blair. Therefore, Brown comes under attack here for years of bad policy, first in the Treasury and now as Prime Minister.)

Added later: I've just watched this video again and am just amazed at Hannan's eloquence as an orator -- a typically British trait. Watch how he draws on England's proud maritime tradition of having once ruled the oceans in her sailing ships, as a metaphor for England's leaky and sinking economy. Compare this oratical ability to speak from notes (Hannan appears to have notes in front of him) to the fact that president Obama used a wide-screen television as a teleprompter this past Tuesday night at his prime-time press conference! Granted, oratory is not the same as governing, but it sure builds confidence and gets the attention of listeners.



To get a similar perspective on the idea that debt can be fixed by more debt (the Obama plan), listen to legendary investor Jim Rogers as he takes on one of the talking heads at FoxNews this week. He can't find one thing that Geithner and Bernanke have done right so far in the current crisis. Use this link to see the video.

Water Barrels Connector Video

Pogue-o-Matic Product Finder

Last holiday season, David Pogue, technology editor for the New York Times, created an online shopping guide for technology gifts in four categories: cameras, camcorders, smart phones, and TVs. The Pogue-o-Matic is creative enough on its own (it actually works -- it's not a joke). What I found especially creative is what happens if you don't click a tab to begin shopping after Pogue finishes introducing the process. He stands there patiently waiting for you to choose . . . . Well, just click here to see if for yourself. Very funny.

Second Rain Barrel

Daniel's pics of his connected rain barrels reminded me I had bought the hardware to connect a second one a few months ago and hadn't ever done it. So I finally got it connected today. Can't wait to see how the connector to the second barrel works when we have a good rain.

The two barrels:



The connector -- bulkhead fittings on each barrel connected by a clear plastic tube:



The idea for the connector being at the bottom of the barrels allows both barrels to fill together and empty together with only one outlet hose needed for both barrels. My neighbor, John, suggested this configuration last year when we were discussing rain barrels and it made sense. We'll soon find out!

And btw -- that avocado I discovered that made it through the winter? Not an avocado. After I dug it up and potted it and looked more closely, it's not an avocado even though the leaves are very similar. So that means 100 percent of the avos died during the winter -- glad to have that settled.

International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition

Discovered today that there was a huge International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition held at Loma Linda University in California, March 4-6 of this year. Loma Linda Univ. is affiliated with the Seventh-Day Adventist Church which adheres to vegetarianism as one of its tenets. The university's nutrition department, part of the School of Public Health, is apparently vegetarian-focused.

The Congress was attended by 400+ scientists (doctors, Ph.D's, nutritionists, etc) from around the world. It is held every five years and this was the fifth Congress -- a pretty amazing track record.

Here is a video of Dr. Juan Sabaté (MD, DrPh), chairman of the LLU department of nutrition, talking about the Congress. While the Seventh-Day Adventists have been advocating vegetarianism for a long time (the "Kellogg" who found the Kellogg cereal brand/company was an SDA vegetarian), it's great to see scientists gather from all over the world to share updates on the health benefits of a plant-based diet. (As always with YouTube videos, click in the video itself to be taken to YouTube for a larger format version.)

Survivor

A few weeks ago I discovered one avocado tree that made it through the winter outdoors with no damage. Indeed, it looks very healthy. It was growing in a sheltered place -- a space between the base of the bird bath and the house. I don't know how that provided protection from the freezing cold but apparently it did. I can't leave it growing there since it's too close to the house so will transplant it soon to a pot.

From inside, looking out the dining room windows:



Outside:

Nice Looking Garden

The apparent plan for the vegetable garden to be planted on the south lawn of the White House. (Click on the image to see a larger, readable version.) Mostly lettuce, spinach, and herbs -- but it's a start.

Want to See the Future?

I read a big article about this concept in Wired magazine a year or so ago -- looks like it has found traction. This segment was on the CBS Sunday Morning show this past Sunday. (Hint: It's about what your children will mean someday when they say "car" and "fuel.") You can read a longer article with much more detail about the concept here.)

Fighting Mad

Dr. Ralph Winter, founder of the U. S. Center for World Mission in Pasadena, (and who has successfully battled cancer in recent years) is one of the smartest people I've ever seen and one of the few evangelical Christian leaders I have ever heard use militant terms to describe the evil of disease in the human body. Instead of believing that God gives diseases (as I heard an elder in my church say not long before he died of cancer), Dr. Winter is biblical in labeling diseases as a tool of Satan who uses them to afflict and mar the glorious creation of God. The church should learn a healthy lesson in militancy from Dr. Winter.

Here's a short video of some cancer patients who are fighting mad about having cancer, from Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation:

Watch 60 Minutes this Sunday

Alice Waters, 64, is a legend in the organic, sustainable, slow food movement in America and internationally. She is the owner of the famous Chez Panisse restaurant (where the menu changes daily) in Berkeley, CA, the author of eight cookbooks, and one of the founders of the Slow Food movement. She is also the motivator behind the Edible Schoolyard movement, teaching children how to grow, prepare, and savor fresh food in sustainable ways right on the school grounds.

She and her work are going to be profiled this coming Sunday night on 60 Minutes (CBS, 7:00 EST). Here's a preview:


Watch CBS Videos Online

Eden

Lunch with the Girls

Enjoyed a nice lunch today at Santé Restaurant in Matthews with Lizzie and Anna. Liz heads back to Chicago tomorrow so this was our last get together. It was great having her here for almost a week!

Charlotte in a Tizzy

For the second time this spring, Charlotte has gotten to play hooky for a day due to a couple of inches of snow that fell last night. Unfortunately, it will be mostly gone by the end of the day.

Early this morning:



Sun on the branches:

Liz in Town

Daughter Elizabeth left the snow in Chicago just in time to experience snow in Charlotte -- in town for a week's vacation. We enjoyed a Sunday afternoon hanging out together: Dan, Jen, Ellen, and Arianna from Columbia; Anna and me from Charlotte; and the guest of honor, Liz, from Chicago.

Making smoothies:



Bunny ears and chocolate bunnies from Liz's store's Easter promotion:



Learning to play race-car games on Liz's iPhone:



Ears on the aunts, chocolate on the nieces' faces:



Never a dull moment with auntie Anna:



The third generation to play with these blocks and wooden men:





Just us girls:



The group:

New Safari Web Browser Is FAST!

UPDATE: While it's fast and cool, the Safari 4 browser has crashed a couple of times already, once freezing the entire Mac. (That's the nature of beta releases.) Doesn't appear to be ready for prime-time use. If Safari is your main browser I wouldn't download and install it since it overwrites 3.x.

News from Apple:

"Apple today announced Safari 4 public beta for Mac and Windows. With its new Nitro engine, Safari 4 runs JavaScript 4.2 times faster than Safari 3. And it features many innovative new features that make browsing more intuitive and enjoyable, including Top Sites, Full History Search, Cover Flow, Tabs on Top, and still others. Safari 4 beta is available for immediate download for the Mac and PC."

This is the FASTEST browser I've ever seen. And the new "Top Sites" feature is amazing. Every time you open Safari, or open a new Tab, you're presented with graphic thumbnails of the sites you've visited most recently. Clicking on the one you want takes you to it immediately. (See screen shot from my computer above.) Download the Safari 4 BETA here . When you install it, it overwrites Safari 3, but saves all your past prefs, bookmarks, etc.

Five Best Sources for Organic Gardeners

There are lots of great vendors of organic gardening supplies, but the following five are the most comprehensive in terms of what they offer (seeds, starts, tools, amendments, books, etc.) and how well they explain their wares in their catalogs. Most organic gardeners have already ordered spring/summer seeds, but the catalogs from these suppliers are worth ordering anyway. Reading them provides a mini-education in organic gardening methods. You can go to their web sites to request their catalogs:

1. Johnny's Selected Seeds
2. Territorial Seed Company
3. Peaceful Valley Farm & Garden Supply
4. Harmony Farm Supply & Nursery
5. Seeds of Change

Friends Old and New

My friend, Barry St. Clair, from years past in Atlanta, was through Charlotte last week. I met up with him and his associate, Strib Stribling, at EarthFare, and then brought them back to my house where they camped for the night. Barry is founder and head of Reach Out Youth Solutions, a far-flung international ministry to young people and the Christian leaders who minister to them. Barry also founded and pastored a church in Altanta which we attended for a few years (and, in his spare time, has cranked out 20-odd books for young people, their parents, and youth leaders). I haven't seen Barry for 15 (?) years, but have stayed connected with his ministry. Was great to reconnect for a brief visit.

Strib (l.) and Barry (r.):



Old pals:

Arianna Turned Six!

Went to Columbia, SC, on Saturday, February 14, for Arianna's sixth birthday party. It was a great event, as usual. Daniel and Jen never fail to create a fun time for kiddos and parents alike. A few snaps from the party; many of these pix turned out below quality in terms of lighting -- don't know why, but my apologies nonetheless: (more pix on my Flickr account page for viewing/downloading)

Friday afternoon, looking at leaves and pollen under the microscope:



Waiting to see something exciting:



Grandaddy's Happy Valentine Bears waiting to surprise the girls in the morning:



Saturday morning, to the toy store to pick out a birthday present:



The Valentine Bears made the trip as well:





Dad gets to assemble the jillion-piece Playmobile farm set:



All the party guests (about 15 for Arianna and a friend who held a joint party) made cool goodie bags . . .



And then played dress-up before sitting down for cupcakes:





Hey Aunt Anna!



Arianna whacked the head off the dolphin piñata:



A literal sugar rush:



Ruby, everybody's favorite baby:



Arianna counts her birthday cash:



The party and the dad winding down:



Proud parents still smiling after another birthday bash: