Yosemite

      Close to the end of October I took a day trip to possibly one of the most beautiful places in the US- Yosemite National Park.

     It was sadly a solo trip but was absolutely stunning. I hope to return next summer for a few days backpacking with a friend. (But first I need gear and maybe an easy weekend trip to warm up to it first!)

     Looking through these photos has me missing California. It's hardly been half a month since I left to return to Washington but I miss it.

     SO far the plan has been to find a job, apartment (check!), and small space to farm. That;s right, I'm starting a farm! It's still a major work in progress, but my plan is to grow mostly medicinal herbs to sell bulk and as teas, salves and the like at one of the local farmers markets as well as online. One step at a time though- I'm still on the hunt for land low-key as it is (regular job is more important at the moment. Also it's December, there's not much I can do anyways. Another lesson in patience). So keep your eye out, there will be more changes to the blog as this develops.

Little Meals

      First allow me to start with the disclaimer that I am not a food blog. My photography skills leave something to be desired but golly gee I really need to share this before we run out of awesome tomato time here.

Herb salt! Crucial ingredient. I make my own with sea salt, white pepper, dried chives, onion, celery and whatever else I feel like getting from the bulk section. A cups worth only ran me ~$3 too.

      Cheesy tomato egg toasts. Oh man, what wonderful little packages of goodness. Crunchy bread, soft stewed tomatoes, farm-fresh eggs (with yolk the color of pumpkins), soft melty cheese... Regretting my salad lunch decision already.

      This easy meal is incredibly simple, and easy to adjust for one or more people; just add one or two more eggs and a tomato for every one.

      Good for every meal, you can even make it heartier by adding some ground sausage and browning it before sautéing the alliums.

Cheesy Tomato Egg Toasts

Ingredients (one serving):

- 2 slices of sturdy bread (kalamata olive sourdough has a special spot in my heart for this)

- one large or a few smaller heirloom tomatoes, diced

- 1 or 2 eggs

- seasonings of choice

- yummy cheese; mozzarella or a good sharp cheddar are both wonderful

- one small red or yellow onion, chopped

- garlic cloves of choice, minced

- butter or olive oil

 

Pop the toast in the toaster for desired amount of time. Heat up a pan on the stove and melt your oil of choice. As soon as its hot, add the onions and garlic and sautee until translucent. Add the tomato chunks and mix. I like my tomatoes pretty soft, so I let them stew for a little bit, but experiment to see how well done you like them. Make little nests for the eggs in the tomato mix and crack them into place. Sprinkle with seasonings and cover until the eggs are cooked to your liking. Take the toast and place the cheese on top before covering with the tomato- egg nests. Eat with your hands or a fork, and enjoy!

Farm in Fall

My camera lens got a bit dirty, so this was the best photo I could get of our rooster who is, to say the least, peculiar.

      As I sit here lightly editing the post and making plans for the rest of my day I realize I only photographed our livestock! As the days get shorter again and there is a cutting cold in the early mornings before work we still have many, many vegetables in the ground that are doing wonderfully and deserve some acknowledgement, but it appears that may be for another post...

      Fall, as much as I adore it (Layers! And changing leaves! And time to read and knit and cuddle!), has turned into a stressful time of year for me. A time for choices, moving and letting go. As much as I love California and especially here in the northern foothills, the Salish Sea is calling. Not to mention on a more practical note- I've been organizing my finances and creating a budget (really rather functional for a 23 year old)- I realized I don't have the funds for the very necessary irrigation system or water here. I also realized I won't have money to do even a quick road trip this winter to the desert which I desperately wanted to do this winter, but alas,  if it means I get to have my own farm this winter I'm forcing myself to be content with that.

      Speaking of letting things go, four of our six pigs are enjoying their last few days on the farm. I have mixed emotions about this, as I have grown rather fond of them. Having never raised or butchered my own animals, only hunted them which is a totally different dynamic, I am sad, but happy to know that these hogs never had to endure the discomforts of a conventional pig farm, had a large area to rut around in, plenty of mud for wallowing, and all the fresh, organic produce to gorge themselves on every morning. They had a happy, carefree life; a life I wish more livestock had.

      But the sheep are all staying with us; we've even taken on a male called R17 (affectionately called "R") who will hopefully help our herd grow. He's more comfortable with us and loves a good back scratch some mornings when I cut through their area to let the chickens out.

      Some days I wonder how, or if the animals mark the passing of the seasons; or if it is merely instinct that causes their changes in behavior. What do you think?

      Before it gets too hot out today I'll be off hunting mushrooms in the woods, celebrating the recent rains and scouring the ground for the huge acorns that have started to drop.

Coming up: tarot spreads, paintings, delicious noms for the end of season tomatoes and miscellaneous adventures!

Changes

     Maybe it's tonight's blood-super moon- eclipse conglomerate tonight in Aries but I am definitely feeling the change in the seasons (not temperature wise, naturally, but leaves are starting to change and the mornings feel an almost unperceivable touch crisper) as well as internally. I often wonder if this is what it is like for moths and butterflies just before they emerge from their chrysalis; trying to fit Too Much Self into a place that's well grown out by now, but being forced to wait for the right moment to explode into the world.

     To mark this change, I've decided to change most things about this blog. The old posts and content will all still be here, but I have changed the name and site to Sun, Moon and Tea Nest and am changing what my little spot here looks like. I have a feeling there will be a period of frequent changes until it becomes just perfect.

     For those who don't know, tonight is the full moon in Aries- the start, more or less, of the astrological cycle. With the high energies of this moon I've decided to treat this as a new year and have a ritual planned for tonight, as well as some resolutions for life in general.

1. Wrap things up! In the grand scheme of things this involved letting go of the past, negative people (almost at the point where I might drop Facebook all together), and my own mistakes. Tonight this will involve burning physical representations of some of these things, and some ties in a small fire. On the small scale I am a chronic Starter. I have a number of projects started that are taking up space both physically and mentally which is beginning to be a source of stress. I have half-knit yarn balls, most of one sock, a t-shirt quilt in need of a binding, several paintings and the list goes on and on. It needs to stop. I've decided that a sub-goal of this is no new projects until I finish all of the ones I have started.

2. Make more connections. Both here through the blog and other social media outlets but in real life as well. Definitely in real life. My internship here in California is coming to an end and it looks like I will be moving back north to Washington state this winter, hopefully after a visit to the South West to see the desert. Once I am in Washington I am hoping to start my own farming venture, and probably in a city where I know no one, so making meaningful personal connections will be crucial.

3. Be more honest about myself. I was a shy child growing up and because of the cruelty of high school have problems opening up to people sometimes, and even when I do there are parts of me that stay tucked away neatly where few ever even catch glimpses of them. For example- I've been reading tarot since, oh gosh, 9th or 10th grade (seven years now at least) and I think maybe four people know, and this is something I do pretty regularly. I don't think anyone is fully aware of my relationship to plants; the more actual magical aspect of a not-quite-religious form of nomadic bioregional animist witchery I have going on (Wow, I said it. Out of the cauldron.) that is heavily influenced by Buddhism. So here I am, I suppose. Being honest with myself and you on this pseudo-anonymous platform. It's a start.

4. Take better care of myself. Ugh. Yeah, this might be a very generalized form of the Classic New Years Resolution. I'm not overweight, but my knees and back struggle doing farm work so exercising is back on the schedule. As well as really improving my relationship with food; when my dear co-worker isn't here I stop caring about what I eat which needs to stop as I'll likely be living alone in a couple of months. Hopefully this will also improve my sleeping habits and make managing the dips in my anxiety-depression rollercoaster easier.

5. Go on more adventures. Bonus points if with friends. This season I've been pretty good about this- one big hike, plenty of river trips, the weekend camping trip at Point Reyes, a week on Bainbridge for my best friend's wedding, and I'm going to Yosemite in a week or two. But I could have done more. I live an hour from Sacramento and less than three from San Francisco but haven't really been to either. I haven't eaten at this really awesome pizza shop not 7 miles away or hiked the gorgeous trail in Colfax. It's not totally a negative thing, but I only have a month and a half left here and I'm trying to not let it feel like this, but it feels like crunch time. Needless to say: more adventures. Even little adventures if it means exploring the town by bike or spending a day at the park. I feel ready to really know a place, to have an intimate knowledge- where a visitor could ask for a recommendation and not realize I didn't grow up in the area. I want to never have a reason to be bored.

Whew! One of those lists where it feels absolutely massive but still a mere 5 items... I also would like to change up the blog content a bit. And by that I guess I mostly mean just doing more. I'm planning on sharing what herbal stuff I'm up to, maybe share some recipes, random outfits and art I make, keep it more like a journal that gives me an excuse to use my camera more often (it's been collecting dust in my cabin the last couple of months). There will be more photos of what I'm doing, heck, a few of me for once, tarot, little magics and delicious food.

Now it's time to work on a shawl I've had the yarn for since last January.